 |
THURSDAY March 16, 2000 vol. 11, no. 54 SECTION TWOSee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
e-mail: webmaster@dailycatholic.org |
|
| ||||
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened."
For the Daily LENTEN REFLECTION for Thursday, March 16th and Devotions of the WAY OF THE CROSS,
see LENTEN REFLECTION.
Special Prayer for the First Thursday in Lent
Look down favorably, we beseech Three, O Lord, upon the devotion of Thy people, that they whose bodies are mortified by abstinence, may through the fruit of good works be refreshed in mind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"Credit-wealth - stocks, bonds, bank-balances - have no set limit, at which we say, 'No more.' They have in them a caricature infinity, which allows men to use them as false religions, as substitutes for the true Infinity of God. Like money, love and power can become ersatz religions: those who pursue these things as ends will never find satisfaction. Such men are all in pursuit of God, but they do not know His name, nor where to look for Him."
In Poland, birthplace of the Holy Father who is in retreat all this week, a number of Polish companies are backing a Catholic Church-sponsored family television network. The network is co-owned by the Franciscans in this country and is expected to go on-air later this year in fulfilling the need for a wide selection of programs with Catholic morals and values stressed in all shows. This is one way to turn the the "tabernacle of satan" back to God. continued inside
WARSAW (CWNews.com) - Several large, Polish companies will
provide backing for a new Catholic Church-sponsored family
television network, the firms announced today.
The state-owned firms, including copper giant KGHM, oil
group PKN, the Polish Power Grid (PSE), and life insurer
PZU Zycie, said they will invest 120 million zloty
(US$29.35 million) to TV Familijna, co-owned by a local
Franciscan order.
"Good, decent, family television is treated as a niche
investment," PSE's Chief Executive Krzysztof Zmijewski told
a news conference. "But there is a large group of people who
listen to normal music, read normal newspapers and will want
to watch normal television. And I, as a head of one of the
firms investing in Familijna, want to profit from this."
The station plans to begin broadcasting in late 2000 and
plans to focus on family-friendly programming reflecting
Catholic values. Officials said TV Familijna will not
accept advertising for contraceptives or other
morally-illicit products, but will accept most other forms
of advertising.
Florida's Governor Jeb Bush, brother of presidential hopeful George W. Bush, expressed extreme disappontment over a state judge's ruling that tuition vouchers for private schooling cannot be used when constitutionally all states are required by law to provide a public education system. This is a blow to an already sorry education system nation-wide. Ignorance begets ignorance apparently, and justice is indeed blind to the true need for a stronger educational system with morals intact and family oriented.continued inside.
PENSACOLA, Florida (CWNews.com) - A state judge struck down
Florida's fledgling school voucher program on Tuesday,
saying the state constitution requires the government to
provide a free, public school system.
Circuit Judge L. Ralph Smith said the 53 children currently
enrolled in the pilot program may finish out the school
year, but they will not be granted tuition vouchers for
next year. "Tax dollars may not be used to send the
children of this state to private schools," Smith said. The
judge did not consider any evidence, relying solely on the
language of the state constitution.
Gov. Jeb Bush was "extremely disappointed by the judge's
ruling," said spokesman Elizabeth Hirst. She contended that
thousands of Florida students already attend private schools
with public funds, referring to programs that serve children
with disabilities and special needs. She said Bush will
continue to fight for the program. The decision will be
appealed to the 1st District Court of Appeal, but both
sides agreed the case is unlikely to end before it is
considered by the Florida Supreme Court.
Under Florida's voucher law, students at public schools
that earn a failing grade two years out of four can ask for
vouchers that use tax dollars to pay for private school
tuition. Only two of Florida's 2,500 public schools -- both
elementary schools in Pensacola -- now qualify.
Election year 2000 is a hotbed for all politicians to drag up the dredges of our government's misdeeds and it seems Republican congressman have uncovered a whopper. They are calling for an investigation into the U.S. Agency of International Development over reports that the government is funding sterilization of Peruvian women. This would not be a stretch of the imagination when you consider the Clinton administrations, including Al Gore's culture of death agenda.
continued inside.
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - Republican congressmen on
Tuesday called for an investigation into the US Agency for
International Development and allegations the Peruvian
government is using US aid to force poor women to have
sterilizations.
Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kansas, was responding to a report by
the Population Research Institute (PRI) which showed that
poor women were coerced into sterilization, forced to
receive injections of contraceptives during pregnancy,
sterilized without their knowledge after caesarian
delivery, and the subject of population control quotas by
government officials.
Although USAID told Congress last year that it had curbed
the abuses in the Peruvian population control programs, PRI
said its investigations found that abuses are rampant, with
the Peruvian Ministry of Health setting quotas for
sterilizations among poor minority women.
In response to PRI's revelations of Peru's use of US aid in
these programs in 1997, Tiahrt sponsored legislation in
October 1998 that prohibits US funds from going to
non-voluntary foreign population control programs. Based on
the latest findings, Tiahrt said USAID should begin an
internal investigation into the allegations.
Steven W. Mosher, PRI president, said victims and Peruvian
doctors who furnished investigators with evidences of
abuses declined to testify in public for fear of reprisals
by Peruvian authorities. PRI investigators cited examples
of women who told them that Peruvian medical personnel had
recommended last-minute cesarean deliveries and
sterilization, in violation of the Tiahrt amendment.
The Clinton administration has promised to increase foreign
aid for family planning to record levels this congressional
year. But abuses in existing programs such as those found
in Peru should be corrected before consideration is given
to additional funding, Mosher said.
The Head of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes has once again spoken out in an effort to find relief and aid for the flood victims of Mozambique. Archbishop Cordes met with journalists in Rome after returning from the ravaged southeastern province on the Indian Ocean. He strongly reasserted that the peoples there need everything to sustain life and called again for other governments to lift red-tape and, like the Vatican is doing, get supplies to the people as soon as possible for minutes can make the difference between life and death. continued inside.
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, the head of the
Pontifical Council Cor Unum, has issued an urgent new request for
international aid to the survivors of devastating floods in Mozambique.
Meeting with journalists in Rome after a visit to the African country,
Archbishop Cordes said that thousands of people are in need of food, shelter,
and medical supplies after the flooding that followed a cyclone in
Mozambique. As head of the Pope's official charity, the archbishop had
brought $150,000 in relief from Cor Unum, and stayed to assess the needs of
the relief agencies working with the flood victims.
While in Mozambique, Archbishop Cordes also met with the country's
president, Joaquin Chissano and with leaders of the Catholic Church and the
relief agencies active in the area. The archbishop remarked that many of the
people of Mozambique are suspicious of outsiders-- and especially those who
come from South Africa or the United States. Therefore, he said, it is
important to provide support for the missionaries who have already been
working among the people, and gained their confidence.
Scripture tells us that "the queen of the south will rise up and defeat the north." In the Sudan Tuesday, the Sudanese government dropped bombs on the Voice of Martyrs hospital in the southern part of the country where Christian and Islamic rebels continue to wage war against one another. As in all wars, there are no winners; only losers as has been evident for quite some time in the Muslim dominated Sudan.continued inside.
KHARTOUM (CWNews.com) - Sudanese government warplanes
dropped bombs on a missionary hospital in southern Sudan on
Tuesday, killing two people and injuring several others.
The Voice of Martyrs, which sponsored the hospital in
southern Sudan where rebels of the mainly Christian and
animist south are fighting a decades-long civil war against
the mainly Islamic north, said about a dozen bombs fell in
the area of the hospital. Tombek Marcello Daniel, who works
for Far Reaching Ministries in the region, was one of the
two people killed.
The VOM hospital was the third medical facility bombed by
Sudanese warplanes this month, in addition to a Christian
school where several children were seriously injured when
bombs were dropped there. Khartoum Bishop Max Gassis said
after that bombing that the radical Sudanese Islamic
government was targeting civilians to inflame sentiment
against rebels.
Maybe it's time American bishops took a page out of the Serbian Orthodox Church in refusing Communion to known pro-abortionists. In this country so unravelled over the years by communism and war, the people are taking note of the declining birthrates and realize something has to be done. It is proving that only when people realize that God must increase as we take stock of our nothingness will such atrocities as abortions cease and the bishops have the clout to follow through on it. It's time to get tough with lukewarm, cafeteria Catholics who call themselves "Catholic" but refuse to abide by Rome's teachings and doctrines. continued inside.
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CWNews.com) - The Serbian Orthodox
Church today issued a order that abortionists would be
refused Holy Communion in all of the church's diocese,
according to the independent Beta news agency.
The church's Holy Synod sent a letter to all priests
mandating they refuse Holy Communion to doctors and
midwives who perform abortions. "Abortion is a grievous sin
before God, condemned by the Scriptures," the Synod's letter
said. "As such, it threatens the entire Serbian nation with
biological extermination."
The abortionists can return to Communion only after
repenting of abortion. While abortion is legal under
Serbian law stemming from the years under Communist rule,
many observers have noted a sharp decline in birthrate in
the country due to the practice. Some fear a potential
collapse in the country's population.
In a surprising upbeat manner, a new book published in Italy, "I Chose God" reveals that high society figures, women of fame and fortune, have abandoned all for the simplicity of convent life as religious. The new book deals with one particular woman, Antonella Moccia, but a magazine article reveals others who have heeded Our Lord's invitation to turn their back on riches and follow Him. continued inside.
WASHINGTON, D.C., MAR 14 (ZENIT.org).- American gossip columns are
reporting the almost unbelievable phenomenon of well-known, high society
women who are abandoning it all, to enter the austere life of a convent.
In its latest issue, "Talk" Magazine dedicates six pages to the
phenomenon. The article, entitled "Italy's La Dolce Vita Nuns," recounts
the stories of the daughters of Roberto Gucci, of the Marchionesses
Rossi di Montelera, and of Della Chiesa, who is the sister of Princess
Barberini.
Last year, the vocation to the consecrated life by prominent persons,
was the subject of a long interview with a famous fashion model. The
interview was published by the largest Italian publishing house,
Mondadori.
The book published by Mondadori, entitled "I Chose God," was edited by
journalist Orazio La Rocca, and recounts the story of Antonella Moccia,
who went from a high fashion house to the simplicity of convent life.
ZE00031403
For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site at the
CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales and the Dossiers, features and Daily Dispatches from ZENIT International News Agency CWN, NE and ZENIT are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC, but provide this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.
NOTE: We respectfully recognize and accept the final authority regarding apparitions, locutions and prophecies presently being reported around the world rests with the Holy See of Rome and the Magisterium of Holy Mother Church to whose judjment we humbly and obediently submit.
"Dear children! Wake up from the sleep of unbelief and sin, because this is a
time of grace which God gives you. Use this time and seek the grace of healing of your heart from God, so that
you may see God and man with the heart. Pray in a special way for those who have not come to know God's
love, and witness with your life so that they also can come to know God and His immeasurable love. Thank you
for having responded to my call."
Through the stewardship of Catholic Journalism you can help us reach more souls by sending whatever you can to help keep the DailyCATHOLIC going strong since it is the only daily publication of its kind for Catholics anywhere in the world in daily promoting the truths of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
