Lent is a time when followers of Christ spend 40 days in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for Holy Week and Easter.
When I was growing up, the emphasis was on “giving up” things we liked — from candy to favorite television shows. Penance and self-sacrifice are still important aspects of the Lenten season, but they may take on different forms.
To the editor:
With great interest I read a reprint of the “Latin Mass Appeal” op-ed originally published in the New York Times on November 29, 2009. The op-ed discussed some developments underlying the construction of the Novus Ordo Mass, specifically liturgical changes forced by Cardinal Annibale Bugnini that were not called for by Vatican II, bringing liturgical “chaos and banality” to the Sacrifice of the New Law “in which Christ, through the ministry of the Priest, offers Himself to God.”
In addition, the op-ed pointed out an ongoing counterrevolution fueled by Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum with its liberation of the Tridentine Mass or the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
To the editor:
In the Declaration of Independence, it states: “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.”
In the 14th amendment it states: “nor shall any State deprive any person of life . . . nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Just when it looked like state and federal abstinence-based sex education programs were set to lose funding, a new study shows that abstinence-only programs do work.
But is it too little, too late to change minds, hearts, and government programs?
I hope not.
To the editor:
One of the readings this week (Jeremiah 1:5) said, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”
Moral decisions on life are not between a woman and her doctors, for doctors are not God.
As we celebrate February as Catholic Press Month, I would like to comment on the continued importance of Catholic media in today’s world.
With a plethora of communication tools today (printed materials, computers, cell phones, electronic books), we seem to be bombarded by information. How do we sort it all out? How do we separate truth from fiction? What is important for us to know and what is just garbage?
We may not always be aware of them, but they are there: people living in poverty. They are hanging on by a thread, barely making ends meet. They are often too proud to reach out for help.
To the editor:
The Senate version of Obamacare, despite rhetoric to the contrary,would greatly expand the federal government’s role in abortion coverage and even direct payment for abortions at taxpayer expense.
The House version which includes the Stupak/Pitts language would negate all of the following problems in the Senate version:
To the editor:
Recently a local attorney announced in a Wisconsin State Journal letter to the editor that he had quit the Catholic Church after 22 years because he was dissatisfied about a lack of preaching the Gospel.
Mother Teresa has been quoted as saying, “I do not pray for success; I pray for faithfulness.” Many people in the pro-life movement haven’t seen much success in the past 37 years, but they have continued to be faithful in fighting for the lives of unborn babies.
The January 22, 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade which legalized abortion set in motion a fierce debate in this country. The court decision has not been overturned, but there are signs of hope as we begin the year 2010.
