C.f The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy.

We made a musical blunder… Mea Culpa.

It’s Lent! - We deal with it and we hope you do too! Joshua talks theology, Fr. Chris talks theology, Fr. Ryan talks Nuts & Bolts.

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, The Zoom H2 Digital Audio Recorder
• Fr. Chris, Ancient Faith Radio, both a news and a talk stream.
• Joshua, Webcam Max

The CU Metro

• A 12 year old is making waves on YouTube with her spirited defense of life.
• Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, the CEO of Salt+Light Media Foundation and Friend of The Catholic Underground was named a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications for a five-year term.
• Bp. Chaput says that some Catholic exhibit “a spirit of adulation bordering on servility” toward President Barack Obama.

We love LOLSaints.

We discuss a bit of the debacle within the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, Old Errors and New Labels, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
• Fr. Chris, Delta Airline Blog
  
• Joshua, ConvertObama.com
• Daniel, OpenTable.com

The CU Metro

• Bishop Tobin has a daydream conversation with President BHO
• Gallop Poll on religious belief yields some fascinating results.
• Professors at Jesuit run Boston College are outraged about Crucifixes and Icons in university classrooms.
• The USCCB is accused of Simony… (”Simony” defined on the wikipedia)

Thanks to all our friends at LCCS who listened to us talk about Faith in Media IRL.

Pope Benedict lays out the real cheddar in his message for World Communications Day. It’s awesome.

Here are a few salient quotations:

“I am conscious of those who constitute the so-called digital generation and I would like to share with them, in particular, some ideas concerning the extraordinary potential of the new technologies, if they are used to promote human understanding and solidarity. These technologies are truly a gift to humanity and we must endeavor to ensure that the benefits they offer are put at the service of all human individuals and communities, especially those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable.”

“This desire for communication and friendship is rooted in our very nature as human beings and cannot be adequately understood as a response to technical innovations.”

“Those who are active in the production and dissemination of new media content, therefore, should strive to respect the dignity and worth of the human person. If the new technologies are to serve the good of individuals and of society, all users will avoid the sharing of words and images that are degrading of human beings, that promote hatred and intolerance, that debase the goodness and intimacy of human sexuality or that exploit the weak and vulnerable.”

“It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this ‘digital continent.’”

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, KidRex
• Fr. Chris, FoxMarks Bookmark Synchronizer
• Joshua, Feed43.com & The CatholicExchange Forums
• Daniel, CatholicEdition.com (Much like the Drudge Report for Catholics)
  

The CU Metro

• Religious Women in the United States can expect a Vatican Visitation.
• Scientists in Brazil are moving forward with Stem Cell Research that doesn’t require the brutal murder of innocent children (AKA Embryos).
• Extinct ibex is resurrected by cloning.. See also, Jurassic Park…
• President Obama speaks on Religion.

Lots of Quotations

From The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (browse • buy)

383. What is temperance?
Temperance moderates the attraction of pleasures, assures the mastery of the will over instincts and provides balance in the use of created goods.

490. What are the means that aid the living of chastity?
There are many means at one’s disposal: the grace of God, the help of the sacraments, prayer, self-knowledge, the practice of an asceticism adapted to various situations, the exercise of the moral virtues, especially the virtue of temperance which seeks to have the passions guided by reason.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (browse • buy)

1809 Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable.

2521 Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance.

From the Catechism of Pope St. Pius X (browse)

On the Virtues and the Vices, Question 61 What is temperance?
Temperance disposes us to control the inordinate desires that please the senses and makes us use temporal goods with moderation.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia

It is the virtue which bridles concupiscence or which controls the yearning for pleasures and delights which most powerfully attract the human heart. These fall mainly into three classes: some are associated with the preservation of the human individual; others with the perpetuation of the race, and others still with the well-being and comfort of human life.

from the Catechism of the Council of Trent (browse • buy)

An overloaded stomach begets impurity. This our Lord intimates in these words: Take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness…

The body is to be mortified and the sensual appetites to be repressed not only by fasting, and particularly, by the fasts instituted by the Church, but also by watching, pious pilgrimages, and other works of austerity. By these and similar observances is the virtue of temperance chiefly manifested. In connection with this subject, St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says: Every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things; and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. A little after he says: I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest, perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway. And in another place he says: Make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscence.

Music: Jon Bauer

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (browse • buy), par. 1808

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. “The Lord is my strength and my song.” (Ps 118:14) “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)

Music: Wahba

The Pope is cooler than us because he has his own YouTube Channel.

We talk about the facts and implications surrounding the Pope’s lifting of the excommunication upon the four head-honcho bishops of the SSPX.

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, DropBox
• Fr. Chris, Vimeo (His Bus Safety Vid)
• Joshua, Wii Fit
• Daniel, Things

The CU Metro

• The March For Life happened, and Catholic Bloggers were the only ones to cover it…
• President Obama as one of his first executive orders repealed the Mexico City Policy, basically funding oversees abortions with American Tax Dollars.
• Fr. Z has an excellent article written by a who is newly celebrating Holy Mass Ad Orientem. His candid and balanced thoughts and experiences.
• The USCCB has launched an anti-F.O.C.A. Postcard Campaign

Only two quotations this week.

First, from the Baltimore Catechism (browse • buy), no. 134

Q. How do prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance dispose us to lead good lives?
A. Prudence disposes us in all circumstances to form right judgments about what we must do or not do.

Next, from the Catechism of Pope St. Pius X (browse), no. 58

Q. What is Prudence?
A. Prudence is the virtue that directs each action towards its lawful end and consequently seeks the proper means in order that the action be well accomplished in all points of view and thereby pleasing to Our Lord.

Music: The Hollyfelds

As Quoted, Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est is here.

Six quotations this week.

First, From the Baltimore Catechism (browse • buy), no. 124

Q. What is charity?
A. Charity is the virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

Next, Several from the Catechism of the Council of Trent (browse • buy)

#45 Q. What is meant by loving God above all other things?
A. To love God above all other things means to prefer Him to all creatures, even the dearest and most perfect, and to be willing to lose everything rather than offend Him or cease to love Him.

#46 Q. What is meant by loving God with our whole heart?
A. To love God with our whole heart means consecrating all our affections to Him.

#47 Q. What is meant by loving God with our whole mind?
A. To love God with our whole mind means directing all our thoughts to Him.

#48 Q. What is meant by loving God with our whole soul?
A. To love God with our whole soul means consecrating to Him the use of all the powers of our soul.

#49 Q. What is meant by loving God with all our strength?
A. To love God with all our strength means striving to grow ever more and more in His love, and so to act that all our actions should have as their one motive and end the love of Him and the desire of pleasing Him.

#55 Q. How is charity regained?
A. Charity is regained by making acts of the love of God, by duly repenting and making a good confession.

From Pope Bendict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (browse • buy)

#39 Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love. Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practise it because we are created in the image of God.

#33 With regard to the personnel who carry out the Church’s charitable activity on the practical level, the essential has already been said: they must not be inspired by ideologies aimed at improving the world, but should rather be guided by the faith which works through love (cf. Gal 5:6). Consequently, more than anything, they must be persons moved by Christ’s love, persons whose hearts Christ has conquered with his love, awakening within them a love of neighbour. The criterion inspiring their activity should be Saint Paul’s statement in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “the love of Christ urges us on” (5:14).

From The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (browse • buy)

404. What else is required for an authentic human society?
Charity requires and makes possible the practice of justice and is the greatest social commandment. (paraphrasing)

An Act of Charity

O my God, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.

Music: Matthew Casteel

Carol
Gloria, Cat Jahnke

1st Lesson: Gen 3:8-15, 17–19

Carol
Shen Khar Venakhi

2nd Lesson: Gen 22:15-18

Carol
In Dulci Jubilo

3rd Lesson: Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

Carols
Noel nouvelet
Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem. Ray Greene featuring Dow Brain

4th Lesson: Isaiah 11:1-9

Carols
Lo, How a Rose Err Blooming, Susan Bailey
Of A Rose Singe We (Lute) (anon)

5th Lesson: Lk 1:26-35, 38

Carols
Angels We Have Heard On High, Friction Bailey
O Theotokos and Virgin Rejoice

6th Lesson: Lk 2:1-7

Carols
O Holy Night, Cat Jahnke
Silent Night, Karmyn Tyler

7th Lesson: Lk 2:8-16

Carols
Rise Up, Shepherd, And Follow, Cat Jahnke
Allison Crowe, The First Noel

8th Lesson: Mt 2:1-12

Carols
We Three Kings, Motherlode
What Child Is This, Jennifer Avalon

9th Lesson: Jn 1:1-14

Carols
Adeste Fidels
O Come All Ye Faithful, Merry Ellen Kirk
Hark! The Herald Angles Sing, Rob Astor

Christmas Carols made stupid by political correctness… Check out what this C of E vicar has to say.

We talk Christmas Consumerism… Deaths on Black Friday and the real reason we give gifts…

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, SoundSource from RogueAmoeba
• Fr. Chris, The Brand New cu Podcast Widget
• Joshua, Dell 24″ 2408WFP Monitor
• Daniel, Neat Receipts for Mac

The CU Metro

• Avery Cardinal Dulles, RIP (More info here and here)
• Catholics and Orthodox Unite to Defend the Family
• Christmas Gifts for Priests
• Cardinal Canizares, New Prefect for CDW, speaks concerning communion in the hand.

As Promised, Pope Benedict’s excellent encyclical, Spes Salvi is here.

Six quotations this week.

First, From the Baltimore Catechism, no. 123

Q. What is hope?
A. Hope is the virtue by which we firmly trust that God, who is all-powerful and faithful to His promises, will in His mercy give us eternal happiness and the means to obtain it.

Next, From Pope Benedict XVI, Spes Salvi

[St. Paul said to the] Thessalonians: you must not “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Th 4:13). Here… we see as a distinguishing mark of Christians the fact that they have a future: it is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness. Which means simply that Christianity is not just a moral system of the here and now. It is a religion which worships God and that is not just informative but substantial… It changes us and it changes the way we see the world.

Third, from The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 387

Q. What is hope? (see also, Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 1817-1821, 1843)
A. Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire and await from God eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit to merit it and to persevere to the end of our earthly life.

Fourth, also from The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 216

What is the hope of the new heavens and the new earth? (1042-1050, 1060)
After the ?nal judgment the universe itself, freed from its bondage to decay, will share in the glory of Christ with the beginning of “the new heavens” and a “new earth” (2 Peter 3:13). Thus, the fullness of the Kingdom of God will come about, that is to say, the de?nitive realization of the salvi?c plan of God to “unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10). God will then be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28) in eternal life.

Fifth, from the Catechism of Pope St. Pius X, no. 38

Q. What grounds have we to hope that God will give us Heaven and the means necessary to secure it?
A. We hope that God will give us Heaven and the necessary means to attain it, because the all-merciful God, through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, has promised it to those who faithfully serve Him; and, being both faithful and omnipotent, He never fails in His promises.

Sixth, also from the Catechism of Pope St. Pius X, no. 39

Q. What are the conditions necessary to obtain Heaven?
A. The conditions necessary to obtain Heaven are the grace of God, the practice of good works, and perseverance until death in His holy love.

Music: Marc Gunn

Apologies for any audio troubles.  We’re testing some new software for the benefit of our live listeners, so there are bound to be a few more bugs than we’d like!

“Daddy, What’s a Bishop?”

Oxford University Press has removed words associated with Christianity from its Junior Dictionary

Oxford University Press has removed words like “aisle,” “bishop,” “chapel,” “empire,” and “monarch” from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like “blog,” “broadband,” and “celebrity.” Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled.

The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society.

We also want to keep you informed - for both of you who are interested - as to what’s happening in our - occasionally interesting - lives.

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, My New Hyundai Sonata
• Fr. Chris, 24 Ways
• Joshua, The Holy Season of Advent
• Daniel, The MOMA Store

The CU Metro

• Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard law professor, will be leaving her post as US ambassador to the Vatican on January 19.
• Irish Broadcasting Commission Rejects Christmas Ads From Catholic Bishops
• Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow died Dec. 5.
• First Vietnamese-American in Congress is former Jesuit seminarian.

The Music

Two Quotations

First, From the Baltimore Catechism, no. 22

Faith is the virtue by which we firmly believe all the truths God has revealed, on the word of God revealing them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

And from The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 28

Faith is the supernatural virtue which is necessary for salvation. It is a free gift of God and is accessible to all who humbly seek it. The act of faith is a human act, that is, an act of the intellect of a person - prompted by the will moved by God - who freely assents to divine truth. Faith is also certain because it is founded on the Word of God; it works “through charity” (Galatians 5:6); and it continually grows through listening to the Word of God and through prayer. It is, even now, a foretaste of the joys of heaven.

Music: Friction Bailey

Apparently, an entire Russian Orthodox Church disappeared… Feared stolen by thieves.

In bigger news, Don’t Let Wi-Fi Leave Your Prayer Life Dry.

“In the age of the cell phone and the internet it is probably more difficult than before to protect silence and to nourish the interior dimension of life,” Fr. Lombardi observed.

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, The Teaching Company
• Fr. Chris, The St. Nicholas Center
• Joshua, Plurk (on Principle, Fr. Ryan is witholding the URL)
• Daniel, Trace (iTunes Link)

The CU Metro

• The Paul VI Audience Hall is now Green
• 188 Japanese Martyrs were recently beatified
• St. Thérèse Relic Makes Space Flight

The Music

Music: Nathan Long

The Oxford top ten most irritating phrases.

1. At the end of the day
2. Fairly unique
3. I personally
4. At this moment in time
5. With all due respect
6. Absolutely
7. It’s a nightmare
8. Shouldn’t of
9. 24/7
10. It’s not rocket science

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, Brideshead Revisited by Eveyn Waugh
• Fr. Chris, Feed for All, RSS Graphic Tool
• Joshua, Fullness of Truth Conference, Houston 2008
• Daniel, Choosy

The CU Metro

• The USCCB Meeting is underway. The agenda items during the portion of the meeting that is open to media include:
  • an address by Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago and president of the bishops’ conference
  • the election of the USCCB secretary
  • the election of chairmen-elect for five committees (the Committees on National Collections, Cultural Diversity, Doctrine, Pro-Life Activities and Communications)
  • a vote on whether the Revised Grail Psalter should replace the 1970 New American Bible translation at Mass and the 1963 Grail Psalter in the Liturgy of the Hours as the nation’s official liturgical Psalter
  • a vote to accept the International Committee for English in the Liturgy’s translation of the Proper of Seasons– a translation rejected in June
  • a vote on an Order for the Blessing of the Child in the Womb
• Becket Fund to Award Canterbury Medal to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap
• The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is a questionable collection…
• Pope Benedict XVI sent a personal message to President-elect Barack Obama on Nov. 5

The Music

• The Taters, Must be Trouble
• The FuMP, “Redneck Ninjas by Tom Smith”
• ANEMO, MusicBox

EA Recommends Users Guess Their Serial Number.

Our Picks

• Fr. Ryan, Holy Mass celebrated in a cemetery (as an example)
• Fr. Chris, OneBabyOneVote
• Joshua, Zoom H2 Handy Portable Stereo Recorder
• Daniel, Crossover for Mac

The CU Metro

• Pope’s Prayer Intentions for November
  “That the testimony of love offered by the saints may fortify Christians in their devotion to God and their neighbor, imitating Christ who came to serve and not to be served”.
  Mission intention, “That the Christian communities of Asia, contemplating the face of Christ, may know how to find the most suitable ways to announce Him, in full faithfulness to the Gospel, to the people of that vast continent so rich in culture and ancient forms of spirituality”.
• Apple Computers says to Vote No on Prop 8. Bad Steve, bad.

The Music

• Jason Harwell, Declaration Song
• .22, ninfurseiben
• The Deadstring Brothers, Heavy Load