Fifity years a priest: Our golden jubilarians of 2009

The April 24 issue of The Tidings has an article (click on this post's title) that profiles this year's golden jubilarians of 2009. It's good reading.

And, of course, it serves as a reminder to you and me to pray often for these wonderful priests who have selflessly spent their lives in service to God and neighbor, and to do them any kindnesses we can. We can also, of course, pray for the repose of the souls of their classmates who have entered eternal life.

Latin Mass at St. Victor Parish this Friday, May 1, 2009

Thanks to commenter Mark for the news that there will be a Latin Solemn High Mass at St. Victor Church in West Hollywood this Friday, May 1, at 8 p.m., with Gregorian Chant and Sacred Polyphony.

An announcement I've seen says that the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey will be in charge and Fr. Darrin Merlino, C.M.F., of the Hollywood Project will be the guest homilist.

In conjunction, but I don't know at what time, the First Friday Holy Spirit in the Media group will have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a Rosary and the Litany of the Holy Spirit.

There will be a reception in the parish hall afterwards.

Una Voce is involved in the Mass. Also involved are Open Call, St. Charles Borromeo's Catholics in Entertainment, Catholic Underground, Bibles and Brew and Act One.

Catholics in the entertainment industry will be at the Mass, but the sponsors emphasize that the Mass is for everyone.

St. Victor Parish is at 8634 Holloway Drive, West Hollywood. (310) 652-6477.

This is the extent of my knowledge about the Mass and the overall event.

By the way, I did a post about St. Victor Parish itself on this blogspot on September 10, 2006, and quite a few people added comments.

Good news: St. Monica Parish's statue of Our Lady is all fixed

This week's issue of The Tidings reports (click on this post's title) that St. Monica Parish's statue of Our Lady has been repaired.

Thanks to commenter Gigi of St. Monica Parish for telling us the same good news a few days ago.

As you might recall, someone recently attacked the statue, knocking off its head. The police in Santa Monica were investigating the attack as a hate crime. Sure hope they catch the perp.

Lila Rose and James O'Keefe, super-effective UCLA student pro-life activists

Today's Los Angeles Times profiles (click on this post's title) Lila Rose, 20, and James O'Keefe, 24, the pro-life student activists at UCLA who have been using undercover videotapes to expose Planned Parenthood abortion centers' refusals to report statutory rapes to law enforcement.

Lila has been conducting highly successful sting operations at PP abortion centers in various states. She pretends to be a 13-year-old whom an adult male has impregnated; and, using a hidden video camera, she captures PP staffers telling her they won't tell, and to lie about the situation.

Asked about complaints that these sting operations employ "deception," James answers, "It's a pretty complicated ethical issue, but we believe there is a genocide and nobody cares, and you can use these tactics and it's justified."

He's 100% right.

Planned Parenthood's annual report for 2007 brags that PP abortion centers took the lives of 305,310 American babies that year.

Planned Parenthood representatives keep insisting that not reporting statutory rapes is against their "policy." Yet their abortion centers keep getting caught in these pro-life stings.

Be sure to visit Lila's and James's pro-life web site: http://liveaction.org/

Tim Rutten is in a rut -- an anti-Catholic, anti-life rut

Columnist Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times has never been a friend of the Church or of abortion-slated babies. He shows that again in his column of today (click on this post's title).

Rutten is scared that our Catholic bishops will excommunicate Catholic pro-abortion politicians and will tell Catholics they may not vote for pro-abortion politicians.

As we know, our Church's discipline of the Sacraments is none of Rutten's business.

Rutten cites the case of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (Democrat), Barack Hussein Obama's nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services. Rutten is angry that pro-life bishops, pro-life U.S. Senators and rank and file pro-lifers keep pointing out that she is anti-life and unfit for that office or any public office.

Incredibly -- and conveniently -- Rutten writes his entire column about Mrs. Sebelius without mentioning George Tiller, the high-volume abortionist of late-term babies who has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Mrs. Sebelius get in office and stay there.

Rutten also fails to mention that Mrs. Sebelius has taken all kinds of official actions as governor to protect Tiller in his baby-aborting business. She has vetoed bills that would have saved some babies' lives and would have mandated health standards for abortion businesses.

Another convenient omission by Rutten is that Mrs. Sebelius hosted a gala party for Tiller and his whole staff at the governor's mansion and was photographed beaming with him.

(Her defenders claim, without any evidence I've seen, that the party wasn't for him, it wasn't official, etc.; but pro-lifers have strong evidence to the contrary.)

Interestingly, Rutten praises our Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles for not denying Communion to the Catholic politicians who enable the abortions of millions of babies:

"...in the past, when more conservative bishops have forbidden Communion to Catholic officeholders, some cardinals -- McCarrick and Mahony in particular -- have declined to enforce the ban."

We Catholic Angelenos have every right and every reason to wonder out loud why our Cardinal remains silent as Catholic politicians boldly continue to receive Communion even as they continue to vote to protect and fund abortionists' mass slaughter of God's precious babies.

Cardinal Mahony should break his long silence, in order to protect the babies -- and to counter any impression anyone might have that he would ever favor or tolerate a Catholic politician anywhere who is pro-abortion.

About Latin Masses in the Archdiocese of L.A.

A commenter kindly wrote recently to ask where Latin Masses are celebrated in Los Angeles.

The web site of the Archdiocese has a list at:
http://www.la-archdiocese.org/directories/parishes/indult.html

I suppose the list is current.

Cardinal Arinze has said that there should be at least one Latin Mass every weekend in every parish everywhere. We have a way to go to meet that goal, don't we? (I don't have the citation handy for that statement by Cardinal Arinze.)

Liberals always contradict themselves

Everybody is writing about Fr. Jenkins of Notre Dame and his decision to award the abortion zealot Barack Hussein Obama an honorary law degree and to have him give the 2009 commencement address.

So Ole Q hasn't said anything. And after all, Notre Dame is not anywhere near L.A. -- except deep in the hearts of the many Angelenos who are faithful sports fans of the Fighting Irish.

But LifeSiteNews.com recently pointed out something about the scandal that calls for repeating.

It is this: Fr. Jenkins has said his invitation to Obama is about "dialogue" (as if the abortion-pushing Obama is interested in that) -- but when pro-life students at Notre Dame asked to have a dialogue with Fr. Jenkins about the invitation, he turned them down.

So much for "dialogue!" Yes, liberals contradict themselves.

By the way, maybe you've read that at last count (today), 42 U.S. bishops have publicly come out against Fr. Jenkins's invitation to B.O. One of the latest to speak out, Bishop Robert Finn, has even said Fr. Jenkins is likely to lose his job over the scandal.

When will Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles say Notre Dame should disinvite Obama? Cardinal Mahony had Slick Willie Clinton speak in St. Vibiana's, so now would be the perfect time for His Eminence to atone for that by asking Fr. Jenkins to tell B.O., "Sorry, Charlie."

The police are treating the attack on the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a hate crime

It is good to read (click on this post's title) that the police are treating the attack on the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at St. Monica Church in Santa Monica as a hate crime.

Far too often around the USA, law enforcement agencies have bent over backwards to not treat attacks on Catholic churches as hate crimes.

Let's pray in reparation for a sacrilege

You and I need to pray in reparation for a sacrilege committed this past Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Jesus, Mary, I love you, save souls!

Commenter Gigi reports on the sacrilege:

"I wanted to get the word out that St. Monica's beautiful statue of the BVM that stands on the corner was decapitated to the shoulders sometime after midnight when the church closed after the Easter Vigil and before 6:00 AM Easter when one of the priests saw Msgr. holding the pieces of her head in his hands in the rectory.

"This was the statue donated to the parishioners in gratitude for permitting the filming of 'Going My Way' at the church; she has been there almost 50 yrs. We are very upset, to say the least."

So I wrote Gigi to thank her for sending along the news, sad as it is. Our heartfelt sympathy to pastor Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, his fellow priests and everyone at St. Monica Parish.

Below are two prayers we can say in reparation for the sacrilege. The first:

O Most Holy Virgin Mother, we listen with grief to the complaints of your Immaculate Heart surrounded with the thorns placed therein at every moment by the blasphemies and ingratitude of ungrateful humanity. We are moved by the ardent desire of loving you as Our Mother and of promoting a true devotion to your Immaculate Heart.

We therefore kneel before you to manifest the sorrow we feel for the grievances that people cause you, and to atone by our prayers and sacrifices for the offenses with which they return return your love. Obtain for them and for us the pardon of so many sins. Hasten the conversion of sinners that they may love Jesus and cease to offend the Lord, already so much offended. Turn your eyes of mercy toward us, that we may love God with all our heart on earth and enjoy Him forever in heaven. Amen.

The second prayer is the Angel's Prayer, one of the Fatima Prayers:

O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.

Happy Easter! And let's pray that all "C & E" Catholics will return to the Sacraments, especially for this Divine Mercy Sunday

May this beautiful photo of Our Eucharistic Christ and the Vicar of Christ John Paul II inspire you and me to pray for all the "C & E" Catholics we know -- the Christmas and Easter Catholics.

May our hearts burn to tell the C & Es of all the graces and blessings they deprive themselves (and their children) of when they stay away from Mass and the Sacraments and only show up twice a year!

We can pray for them, and ask Jesus and Mary to help us help them -- to help them gently but clearly, and never self-righteously, just always in love.

We all need forgiveness. We all need Divine Love. May you and I find the way to help our C & Es find forgiveness and Divine Love through prayer, Mass and the Sacraments. Amen!

This year's Divine Mercy Sunday is April 19, one week after Easter

Do all your family, relatives, and friends know about Divine Mercy Sunday? Click on this post's title to go to a great site about that glorious Sunday and the entire Divine Mercy message, including the Novena that starts on Good Friday -- as well as the invitation to His mercy that Jesus has made to you and me and everyone, and the deeds of mercy He asks of us.

As we know, every one of us needs to hear and re-hear and pray about these words that Jesus spoke to St. Faustina Kowalska in 1931:

"I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment."

That is a merciful and mighty promise, and what a deed of mercy it is for us to spread it as far and wide as we can -- and, as we know, Jesus said no soul should fear to approach Him even though "its sins be as scarlet." Amen.

That Fresno case

On April 3 a jury in Fresno, by a vote of 9-3, found the diocese there not liable for a priest's sexual abuse of two boys decades ago, the Los Angeles Times reported last Saturday (click on this post's title).

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles testified during the trial, says the Times, that when he was a diocesan official in Fresno he was not told about the abuse, and that another official of the diocese was in charge of personnel matters.

Did you know there is a Latin immersion course for high school students?

Liberal Catholics won't like it, but Catholic high school students are learning Latin and even becoming fluent in it.

That is what the kids above are doing, in a summer course (click on this post's title) that Christendom College (in Front Royal, Virginia, in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley) offers.

Christendom says its Latin immersion course is "designed to introduce aspiring Latinists to the beauty and power of the ancient language of the Church."

That ancient language of the Church continues to be relevant and necessary today, of course. Learning it well can only benefit anyone who wants to read:

(1) the documents of the Popes and the Holy See in the original Latin and minus mistranslations

(2) the sublime text of the Tridentine Latin Mass

(3) the works of the saints and other spiritually and intellectually great authors throughout history who have written in Latin.

L.A. Times takes note of cardinals and bishops who are nearing retirement age

Today's (Sunday's) Los Angeles Times has an article (click on this post's title) by Duke Helfand that points out the following:

"Nearly one-third of 265 active U.S. bishops must submit letters of resignation to the pope within five years because they will have reached the mandatory retirement age of 75. More than half the bishops will reach the milestone within 10 years."

The article notes that Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles is 73, as is Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, and that Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and Cardinal William Levada are 72.

Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco is 72, as is Bishop Tod Brown of Orange (Calif.).

As we know, when members of the hierarchy reach age 75 they must submit letters of resignation to the Holy Father -- who can then accept the resignation immediately but usually takes some months or even a year or more to name a successor.

So let's pray that the Pope names truly orthodox, truly pro-Latin Mass and truly anti-abortion successors to all the cardinals, archbishops and bishops who will retire in the next few years.

Stations of the Cross

As we know, we can pray the Stations on the Cross online (click on this post's title).

Best to do the Stations in church, of course, but "online" is for anytime use.

And here is a prayer:

Prayer to the Holy Cross

Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Him flee from His presence.

As smoke vanishes, let them vanish; and as wax melts from the presence of fire, so let demons perish from the presence of those who love God and who sign themselves with the sign of the Cross and say in gladness: Hail, most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, for Thou drivest away the demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified on thee, Who went down to hades and trampled on the power of the devil, and gave us thee, his venerable Cross, for driving away all enemies.

O most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, help me, with our Holy Lady, the Virgin Mother of God, and with all the Saints throughout the ages. Amen.

Letter from the Santa Rita Jail (by the Rev. Walter B. Hoye II, pro-life prisoner of conscience)

If you want to read a remarkable Christian and pro-life message, one you will remember all your days, be sure to go to the March 31, 2009, second entry at http://johnmalloysdb.blogspot.com/

There you will be able to click on and access a (pdf) letter that pro-life prisoner of conscience Rev. Walter B. Hoye II wrote from the Santa Rita Jail on March 26 in the midst of his 30-day sentence for refusing to submit to a judge's demand that he not sidewalk counsel for three years.

The Rev. Hoye is on a 40-day, juice-only fast.

Be sure to read this heartfelt and eloquent letter, and please be sure to spread it around widely. It deserves a place on every pro-life website in the USA and around the world.

And let's all be sure to pray every day for the author, the Rev. Walter B. Hoye II.

Please write a note of solidarity to pro-life prisoner Rev. Walter B. Hoye; he is on a 40-day, juice-only fast

Two weeks ago Oakland Judge Stuart Hing put the Rev. Walter B. Hoye II (above; whoever captioned this photo got his first name wrong), a dedicated pro-life sidewalk counselor, in jail for 30 days for refusing to submit to the judge's demand that he stay away from abortion businesses for the next three years.

The Rev. Hoye is on a 40-day juice-only fast and is converting his fellow prisoners, reports S.F. Bay Area blogger friend Gibbons Cooney (click on this post's title).

Remembering the words of Our Blessed Redeemer in St. Matthew 25, "I was in prison and you visited Me," let us each write a note of solidarity to Walter and do it today:

Walter B. Hoye II PFN# BGR852
Santa Rita Jail
5325 Broder Boulevard
Dublin CA 94568-3309

Hebrews 13:3 -- "Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body."