Catholics Care. Catholics Vote.

Tuesday, November 8

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A Priest First, and Always

Rev. Theodore  M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.

Veni Sancte Spiritus.  Come, Holy Spirit.

With these daily words of prayer, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., implored the Holy Spirit to fill the hearts of thefaithful and to kindle in us the fire of God’s love.  Last night, at theage of 97 and after 71 years of priestly ministry in the Congregation of HolyCross, Father Ted has gone home to the Lord. 

(from statement of Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C.)

Personal note:  Fr. Ted was a Catholic priest who brought together in one special man the identity of the American Catholic.  In the mid 1970's, during late night strolls on the campus, I recall often seeing the light from his office under the Golden Dome. Working, studying, praying, he was ever dedicated to the service of God, Country and Notre Dame. 

One Nation Under God

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

 

(Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776)

God or Caesar

Rembrandt:  Stoning of St. Stephen
(source:  http://www.artbible.info/art/large/682.html )

As a Roman Catholic in America, where do you stand?   Notre Dame’s faculty cabal apparently missed the original lecture: “Render unto Caesar . . .” (Mark 12:17.)    Cf. Discourse of first martyr, Saint Stephen (Acts 7) 

The Writing on the Wall

Art source:  USCCB

Religious liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or pray the Rosary at home. It is about whether we can make our contribution to the common good of all Americans. Can we do the good works our faith calls us to do, without having to compromise that very same faith? Without religious liberty properly understood, all Americans suffer, deprived of the essential contribution in education, health care, feeding the hungry, civil rights, and social services that religious Americans make every day, both here at home and overseas. 

from, A Statement on Religious Liberty
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty 

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Fortnight for Freedom

Stop HHS Mandate - San Francisco
(C) 2012 On Being Roman Catholic in America

On July 4, 2012, the fireworks in the night skies over America will have special meaning for those who participated in the Fortnight of Freedom. Find out more, here.

Staying on Message

On the HHS mandate for religious "employers," Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, keeps the focus, where it belongs, on religious liberty.  Read the interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Citizen and Believer

Benedict XVI in Cuba (from Denver Post photo gallery)

"The right to freedom of religion, both in its private and in its public dimension, manifests the unity of the human person, who is at once a citizen and a believer. It also legitimizes the fact that believers have a contribution to make to the building up of society.”

Excerpt from March 28, 2012 homily of Holy Father Benedict XVI at Havana's Plaza de la Revolución José Martí  (Source: Vatican Information Service)  Full text here.