Photos forthcoming...

UPDATE AT 2:45pm SATURDAY: Still working, but nearly complete. I must break to take my mother to Mass and will resume work this evening. There are 149 pictures that will be viewable at a third-party site and approximatley 30+ of those were uploaded to a blogpost that is in draft. I just need to put the final notes onto it before I can post it.


ORIGINAL POST:
I'm in editing mode right now for literally hundreds of photos taken during today's Mass and burial of miscarried and aborted infants at Assumption Grotto. Barring a loss of power due to the many storms in our forecast, I should have them up tonight or tomorrow afternoon sometime.

If I am absent for a time, it could be that I've lost power. I only say this because there have been so many, nearly daily power outages all around me.

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; rather, it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world! Obedience is a choice only the free can make.

It's Official: Abp Burke leaving St. Louis to Head the Apostolic Signatura

I hadn't wanted to blog on rumor, but now that it is official...

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will be leaving St. Louis to the Vatican where he will head the Apostolic Signatura, which is the highest court in the Church. There are several resources you can read:

• Catholic News Service: Pope appoints U.S. Archbishop Burke to head Vatican's highest court
• Canon Lawyer Ed Peters gives his initial thoughts
• Fox news: St. Louis Archbishop gets Vatican Post

Now, some people have been expressing great disappointment because Abp Burke is involved with so many different things here in the US - important things. What will become of them without his leadership?

My answer is that we have to trust God. I'm sure that if Fr. John A. Hardon were here with us today, he would have the greatest smile on his face. St. Louis' loss is the universal Church's gain.


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Bishop Quinn to step in for Bishop Flores at Mass for Aborted Babies

From Monica Miller:

Pray for Bishop Flores--he is unable to celebrate the funeral mass for the Women's Advisory aborted babies due to a death in his family. Please pray for him.

We are totally grateful that Bishop Quinn has so graciously accepted our invitation to take Bishop Flores' place. May God bless him a thousand times!!

She also points out...

Also the Michigan Department of Community Health, Bureau of Health Professions has opened an investigation of abortionist Reginald Sharpe and his abortion clincs--Women's Advisory and Sharpe's Family Planning. PRAY SOMETHING COMES OF THIS!!!

The burial is this coming Friday at 10:00 at Assumption Grotto with graveside eulogy by Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. See details here.


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Burial of Aborted Babies with Bishop Flores and Fr. Frank Pavone at Assumption Grotto

Catholic bloggers - please get the word out for readers in the metro Detroit area:

As advertised on Ave Maria Radio, this coming Friday, June 27th, 2008, the remains of aborted babies discovered in a dumpster behind the Women's Advisory abortion clinic in Livonia, Michigan in April of this year, will be buried at Assumption Grotto.

Bishop Daniel Flores will celebrate Mass. Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life will be there, as well, and will do a graveside eulogy.

Our parish is hosting this Mass and burial in the Grotto cemetery and it is all sponsored by the Citizens for a Pro-Life Society. The babies will have a beautiful, final, resting place.

From their website:

Burial of Aborted Babies
with Bishop Daniel Flores
and Fr. Frank Pavone

When: Friday June 27, 2008
Time: 10:00am

Where:
Assumption Grotto Parish
13770 Gratiot Avenue
Detroit, MI
(Google Map for Assumption Grotto)

The Funeral Mass and Burial for aborted babies that were retrieved in April, 2008 from the trash dumpster behind the Woman's Advisory abortion clinic, Livonia, Michigan will be held on Friday, June 27, 2008 at 10:00 AM at Assumption Grotto Parish located at 13770 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, MI. The chief celebrant of the funeral Mass will be Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Daniel Flores. The burial service will take place immediately after Mass in the Assumption Grotto cemetery. Fr. Frank Pavone will deliver the graveside eulogy.

Fr. Frank Pavone, in a blogpost at Catholic Exchange, speaks about another funeral which took place recently in metro Detroit, in which another set of babies were buried at another cemetery. In that post he said, in part (emphasis mine):

This is no ordinary funeral. There are still too many of our fellow citizens who don’t even acknowledge that the people who will be buried this Saturday are people at all. To mourn their deaths publicly, therefore, is not just to honor them, but to sound a wake-up call to our nation that we are living amidst the biggest holocaust of all time. That is why I have called upon my brother priests nationwide to bring to the attention of their congregations this weekend that children are being buried who were brutally, legally killed, and that the killing has to end.

THE FINAL RESTING PLACE
If you go to Assumption Grotto or have been there for a visit, you may have noticed a monument for the aborted unborn in our cemetery behind the Church. I have been there for over three years, and never knew that there were other babies buried there. I heard a first-hand account from a parishioner who was involved with the earliest burial.

Fr. Perrone told me that there are already three caskets buried at the monument with the remains of aborted babies. I had asked him if we could approximate how many had been buried there, and his response was a chilling reminder of the horrors these babies faced as they were dismembered:

Anonymity is a small part of the scourge of the crime of abortion.

I saw today that the grave has been opened to the right of the monument for the unborn.

WHAT YOU DO TO THE LEAST OF THESE...
For those of you who are not obligated to work or other commitment, I would ask you to strongly consider coming for the Mass on Friday. It is an act of mercy to bury them and treat them with the dignity they deserve, and to show that they were loved, even if only anonymously.

Please, come! I would suggest getting there early as it could be somewhat crowded, given publicity on local Catholic radio and other sources.

If you cannot come to the Mass, please take a moment to pause and offer up your work, your pain, or a brief prayer with these aborted babies in mind.

MORE REFERENCES
If you are pro-choice or even uncertain about whether abortion is wrong, please take the time to see what you are protecting.

Abortion Photos at Priests for Life

Partial Birth Abortion

If you have had an abortion and are experiencing pain and suffering as a result of your choice, please know that there are resources out there to help you. Visit these websites and you will see that you are not alone in your spiritual and emotional pain and that there is help and hope. God forgives a soul who seeks forgiveness appropriately. Learn more....

Silent No More Awareness Campaign

Rachel's Vineyard

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Dr. Edward Sri on Salvation-History Approach to Mary as the New Queen Mother

A closeup of the Blessed Mother stained-glass window directly behind the celebrant's throne used in the Novus Ordo Masses. It is the most difficult to capture because it faces North where little light penetrates the dark glass

Some time ago I had started reading a book by Dr. Edward Sri, who had a series on EWTN on the Blessed Mother, "Knowing Mary through the Bible". I purchased his book, "Queen Mother - a Biblical Theology of Mary's Queenship" (link below) and was amazed at how extensively he treats the subject. If Dr. Sri does not inspire you to study scripture through this topic, I don't know who will. Our protestant brothers and sisters would do well to read this book, especially those who are considering the Catholic faith and are struggling with how Catholics look at Mary. Dr. Scott Hahn was involved in editing.

It is so easy to look at Mary as Queen, but to not really contemplate it that much. I highly recommend the book and will provide here only a small segment of chapter 1.2.4. I am breaking it up into several paragraphs as the whitespace will make for easier reading (empahsis in bold is mine)...

We will now consider a final approach for demonstrating the biblical foundations of Mary's queenship. Especially since Vatican II, many scholars addressing this topic have taken a salvation-historical approach, using the Old Testament queen-mother tradition as the primary backdrop for understanding Mary's queenship. In the late 1950's and 1960's, scholars such as H. Cazelles, A. Del Moral, D. Stanley, B. Ahern, C. Struhmueller and R. Laurentin specifically used this theme in order to explain Mary's royal office.

A number of them discussed how in several ancient near Eastern kindgoms the queen-mother figure was given a special place ruling in the royal court. They also examined how various biblical texts in 1 and 2 Kings and the Book of Jeremiah show that, in the kingdom of Judah, the queen mother held an official position as queen, participating in her son's reign by serving as an advocate for the people and as a counselor to her son.

It is commonly noted how Bathsheba gained considerable power when she became queen mother after her son Solomon assumed the throne. Pointing to a scene in 1 Kings 2, many have shown how King Solomon honors his queen mother bowing before her, having her sit at his right hand, and saying he will grant her any request she makes.

Some scholars also demonstrate how the queen-mother figure plays an important role in two passages from Israel's tradition, which eventually became associated to some extent with the Messiah: Isaiah 7:14 and Genesis 3:15 closely associate a royal mother with her royal son and his work.

These scholars conclude that, with this Old Testament background in mind, Mary should be understood as the queen mother in the new kingdom of her Son. For example, in the New Testament, Mary and Jesus are shown fulfilling Isaiah 7:14 (Mt. 1:22-3; Lk 1-26-31), thus connecting Mary with the queen-mother concept. Most of these scholars also point out how Mary is queen mother by returning to the Visitation scene, where Elizabeth calls Mary, "the mother of my Lord" - words probably used in reference to the queen mother in the Old Testament.

More books by Dr. Edward Sri at Amazon

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In the news....

I need to turn my attention to my home which looks like a hurrican blew right through. I was out of town on business yesterday and came straight back to Assumption Grotto for adoration and Mass knowing I was too tired to do anything else when I returned. The meeting was in the Grand Rapids area. I was feeling a bit grimey as my coffee slipped out of my hands and into my lap as I was driving. Needless to say, my car seat looks like I had an accident! Why didn't I buy seat covers?!?!?

There is a very important event coming up at Assumption Grotto and I have more details forthcoming, but because readership is much lower on the weekends, I am waiting to post on Sunday and will likely step back from posting as much as possible to give it the greatest visibility to those visiting my site (and to catch up on some other things).

Friday, June 27th at Grotto - Save the Date!!!
There has not been much publicity at Grotto yet, but it has been mentioned on Ave Maria Radio and in some other places. This weekend, I'm sure it will be announced, and perhaps

Next Friday, June 27th, at 10:00am, Bishop Flores will celebrate Mass for aborted babies found in a local dumpster. He will be joined in our cemetery by Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life who will eulogize these infants. And, they will be buried in our cemetery behind the Church. Please set the date aside and come back to read a more detailed post Monday morning.

I am starting my weeklong vacation a day early on account of this. I know another person who is doing the same. By whatever means possible, please try to come if you are able, and give these infants the love they deserve during their Mass and burial.

Recent News...

This first article highlights why God chose to give Peter - that is, Peter here on earth, the keys to the kingdom - to bind and lose. The Anglican situation reveals what happens when each person (in this case various church leaders), choose to let their own [malformed] conscience guide them. Please pray for the conservative Anglicans - may they find that all they desire in unity can be found in the Catholic faith, where the Magisterium is unwavering in it's teachings. Man has tried to loosen those teachings through relativism, but the Holy Spirit has kept His promise enabling the Church to prevail against those kinds of assaults seen now amongs Anglicans and other denominations. There can't be two or more truths and some would like us to believe we can have it all ways.

• Conservative Anglicans to announce schism (CWNews)
• More rumors on Vatican personnel shifts (CWNews)
• Eucharist and Authentic Adoration (Zenit)
• Cistercians hit the Charts (Zenit)
• Father would have persuaded daughter against legal abortion that killed her (LifeNews)
• Media cover up adult stem cell success with misleading terms (LifeNews)
• Dialogue among the Religions. The Vatican Prepares the Guidelines (Sandro Magister)
• Tim Russert and the Follies of Life (Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus - First Things)

On the political front is an interesting collection on Obama and Infanticide at the Catholic League. It doesn't get any worse than this.

Also noteworthy at the blog of the American Papist for those in metro Detroit:

• *Save the Date* "Co-Creating with God: Humanae Vitae Today" (Sep. 20) - (AmP)

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Only the free can choose obedience to Magisterial teachings. The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; rather, it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!.

Fr. Perrone on Authentic Unity in the Church (5th Sunday after Pentecost - EF Mass)

During the 9:30 Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite Mass (TLM) this past Sunday, Fr. Perrone talked about true unity in the Church. Father was kind enough to supply us with his words which can also be found on the Assumption Grotto website, under Fr. Perrone's Sermons .


5th Sunday after Pentecost (EF Calendar)

One of the identifying signs that the Church is of divine, not human, making is its unity. There are, as you know, four marks of the true Church: one, holy, Catholic and apostolic. None of these four can possibly be due to human efforts alone. If it were left to man, with his tendency to go wayward, the Church’s marks would be: many, unholy, provincial, and spontaneous–which is precisely what happened as a result of the Protestant Reformation. But the Catholic Church has, although with constant struggling, managed to maintain its true character through the protecting hand of the Holy Ghost. And so, even yet today, we’re still all together, although it seems like comrades having survived a war, after many casualties and much suffering.

One of these four marks of the Church is unity, and our scriptures today make us concentrate on this theme. As I mentioned, the fact that the Church has remained one Catholic Church is evidence of the working of God. The fire that came down from the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day forged a union of believers in Christ. Before that experience the disciples of our Lord had no inner principle of cohesion. They were certainly attracted to the Lord by the power of His words and the witness of His miracles, but this was not sufficient to bind them together in a lasting union. By themselves, there were incapable of organizing and of sustaining themselves in a permanent bond. It’s important to recognize the helplessness of men to unify themselves in a complete and comprehensive way without the help of God. The natural relapsing tendency of man towards disunity stems from the imposed confusion after the vainglorious attempt to build the tower of Babel.

If we examine the ways of God to try to figure out how He does it, how He keeps the Catholic Church in unity, we’ll discover that there is a bond or a link of charity that unites the Church. Love is a unifying thing. Every marriage first began when boy met girl, two individuals at first, and then a bond between them was created out of love. Friendship works in a similar way and the varied degrees of friendship depend on the varying degrees of love between friends. There can’t be friendship among thieves, nor intoxicated drunks. Unity cannot be forced or simulated where real love is lacking, and in the Church, this unity among believers requires a supernatural kind of love. How important it is to know this when we consider the life of the Church! You are I, and you with everyone in this church, and each of you with every Catholic in the world are linked together. If you do not have the love of God which is a gift of the Holy Spirit, you can’t be in the inside. And what makes us persevere in love after it’s been first given is, among other things, our willful agreement of mind and heart. We voluntarily believe in the Catholic faith and we wish that everyone be saved by Christ. Without a common faith (that is, unless we all agree on the creed and all the articles of Catholic doctrine) we can’t be one; in the same way, if we do not will the salvation of all souls we can’t be of one heart. Vain then are all the artificial and superficial attempts to create a unity that is not founded on this oneness of mind and heart. We can’t play ‘pretend’ by assembling together in one building, singing songs, holding hands, exchanging signs of peace and smiling at one another. This is as ephemeral as the passing breeze. Real unity first requires the action of God to unite the Church membership and then it requires the further preserving work of Christians to sustain that unity through faith (agreement of the mind) and through love (that is, the good will coming from their hearts). Saint Paul urges us today to ‘maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Eph 4:3). God gives it initially but we have to keep it going not through sentimentality but effective acts of the mind and will.

There are some practical points to be made from these observations. The first is that we Catholics can’t remain in the one true Church if we are heretics, that is, if we disbelieve even in one thing taught as binding by the Church. In fact, were one to be so bold to do so (and I fear there may be many such) despite the fact that what we believe comes from God and not from men, then such a one would be by that fact excommunicated from the Church, even without any formal decree issued by the bishop. Heresy is a voluntary pulling away from the unity of the Church by an individual who’s attached to his own wish for his own truth rather than the reality of God’s truth. With heresy there can be no agreement of mind with the Church and so disunity and separation must ensue. Only God knows how many there are of these (I would say that there are many who think they’re Catholics but who have made themselves outsiders). They have actually severed themselves from the Church through their refusal to believe. What a terrible blotch on the Church is this the feigned unity of those who gather with loyal Catholics but who are in fact no longer members of the Church through their petulant disbelief!

The other practical point to be derived here is that since neither charity nor unity can be faked, one should not pretend to have them. Where true love does not exist in the Church it’s the result of some sin or other. When sin is removed the pathway to unity opens. Unless each one wills the good of all the others in the Church, there is no bond of love in the soul. And this is why it so vital for a parish such as ours to be one in faith and in love rather than to attempt to be one through artificial, imposed gestures. If there is a Christian fellowship, a community spirit and a social life in a parish, it follows from the unity of belief and charity. If we’re not one here at Mass in the adoration of God and in Communion with Him, our parish social life will be shallow and a pretense. I would like to see great devotion and love for God and neighbor through what we do here at Mass and then, and only as a result of this, will there be a happy getting along in our parish activities and social events.

In the course of the Mass today, I will give you the sign of peace. (Don’t worry! I’m not going to rush down the aisles, shaking your hands.) I will first kiss the altar which represents Christ and thus receive a symbolic kiss from Him, and then I will turn and give it to you: Dominus vobiscum. By this gesture Christ through me wishes you to have His peace and to be at peace with one another. This peace is willed by our Lord in words from this Gospel: ‘be reconciled to your brother’ and it is expressed by Saint Paul: ‘be ye all of one mind.’ To sum up this last point: I would like to see reverence in your conduct in church, then you will be able to show me how our Lord has graced you by your smiles, your glow of joy and in your greetings to each other outside and after the Mass.

The psalmist said it very well: ‘how good, how joyful it is when brethren dwell as one.’



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Helpers of God's Precious Infants June Vigil in Photos

Helpers of God's Precious Infants of Michigan held a prayer vigil outside of two eastside abortion clinics this past Saturday. St. Edmund's parish in Warren was gracious enough to host the early morning Mass at 7:30am, which was celebrated by Msgr John Zenz, who also led the Rosary procession to 8 mile. I would estimate a couple hundred people were in attendance, perhaps more for the Mass. Not everyone can make the walk due to physical or time constraints and a number of people remained after Mass in church to pray a Rosary.

I'll start with the vigil and then go back to the Mass.

After the prayer vigil, many participants went to Assumption Grotto for Benediction which is near the clinics. There was a slight scheduling conflict, but Fr. Perrone improvised and did Benediction for the Helpers immediately following a memorial Mass. People were then invited to the school gym for refreshments and a brief meeting which closed the day, ending about 11:30.

More photos from the Mass with Msgr. Zenz...

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Saint Monica Sodality Event: Talk on St. Augustine by Rev. Earl C. Muller, SJ

This just in (click the pic for details)

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Grotto K of C's 1st Annual Golf Outing - Raising Money for Seminarians

1st ANNUAL GOLF OUTING

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
ASSUMPTION GROTTO
COUNCIL 13419

SATURDAY – AUGUST 23, 2008
OAKRIDGE GOLF COURSE (THE MARSH OAKS)
35035 26 MILE ROAD NEW HAVEN, MI 48048

FOUR PERSON SCRAMBLE
2 P.M. SHOTGUN START
(Please arrive at 1pm for registration)

· 18 Holes of Golf with Cart
· Banquet Following with Steak Dinner
· Prizes for Top Three Teams
· Great Door Prizes
· Closest-to-the-Pin and Longest-Drive Contests
· A Check for $10,000.00 Will Be Awarded for a Hole-in-One

$100 PER PERSON / $400 PER TEAM

OPEN TO MEN AND WOMEN GOLFERS

Other info and ways to help....

Proceeds

The proceeds from the Golf Outing will be donated to the Monastery of Santa Cruz (Mosteiro da Santa Cruz), a Canons Regular of the Holy Cross monastery in Brazil. Recently, Fr. Basil Nortz, the prior of this monastery, contacted Council 13419 asking us to adopt two seminarians of his order. The Council voted to organize this Golf Outing in an effort to raise additional funds for the seminarians. I have attached a copy of the letter we received from Fr. Nortz. See letter here



Dinner

If you are not interested in golfing but would like to attend the banquet dinner following, you are more then welcome to. The cost of the dinner will be thirty dollars per person. Please fill out the registration form and write on the golfer #1 dinner only. Please make the check payable to the Knights of Columbus.


Hole Sponsorship

Those participants who are interested in making a special donation or sponsoring a hole can use the following guidelines:


Gold Patron

Patrons donating $400 will be recognized as an outing sponsor with a large sign at the entry table and on the first hole, and recognition comments from the podium after the outing.


Silver Patron

Patrons donating $250 will be recognized as a hole sponsor with a sign on the hole and recognition comments from the podium after the outing.


Bronze Patron

Patrons donating $100 will be recognized as a sponsor with a sign at various holes.



See details and form here.

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Butchery to continue in Michigan as Granholm veto's Partial Birth Abortion Ban

Some have challenged me on being a "single-issue voter" because I am pro-life and vote pro-life. There can't be a better example than this: MICHIGAN GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM VETOES PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN (LifeNews).

The butchery continues here in Michigan, even after the will of the voters was made known through the Michigan House and Senate.

Lansing, MI (LifeNews.com) -- As expected, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban on Friday. She said she vetoed the bill because it doesn't have a health exception, even though the three-day-long abortion procedure is never necessary to protect the health of the mother.

The language of the state ban mirrored the federal ban Congress approved and that the Supreme Court upheld as constitutional.

That measure didn't have a health exception either and the high court noted abortions cause both physical and mental health problems for women.

Now that Granholm has vetoed the bill, the state legislature needs a two-thirds vote to override the veto.

The legislature sent Granholm the ban after the Senate backed it on a bipartisan 24 to 13 vote and the House 72-34. While the House would easily be able to do that, the Senate is five votes short from having enough to make the ban law.

Michigan Catholic Conference Vice President for Public Policy Paul Long told LifeNews.com that Governor Granholm showed continued indifference to human life" with her latest veto.

One has to wonder whether Granholm's bishop will have similar communications with her that Abp Naumann had with Gov. Sebelius in Kansas. Bishop Earl Boyea, a former auxiliary bishop from Detroit, just took the helm in Lansing. Bishop Boyea was active with local pro-life groups here in Detroit. Please pray for him. I am hoping that a statement will be made on the Diocese of Lansing website, so we'll keep checking and if one comes up, I'll update this post.

Additional Reading (to be updated in the coming days):

• Michigan Catholic Conference Reaction
• 
  
  
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NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert Dies at 58

Many people here in the US are deeply saddened with the sudden passing of Tim Russert, the NBC News Washington Bureau Chief. MSNBC has had continuous coverage, understandably, as people learn of his passing throughout the evening. There are many great interviews for those of you who loved to watch this man who was about as authentic of a journalist as one could find out there.

My prayers go out for the repose of his soul, and for his grieving family, friends, and co-workers. I give tremendous credit to his co-workers who are continuing to work on MSNBC right now, just mere hours after he collapsed at work of an apparent heart-attack as he prepared for this Sunday's, Meet the Press. Resuscitation attempts were made immediately with no success, and he could not be revived at the hospital.

He had just returned from Italy where he and his family were celebrating the graduation of his son from Boston College. Cardinal John Patrick Foley was being interviewed moments ago and had met with the family in Rome just this week while they were there. Please pray for them on what will be a most difficult Father's Day.

Before I came to Assumption Grotto, I was a somewhat of a political junkie and use to watch all of the Sunday news shows which is where I developed my fondness for Mr. Russert's skills. My faith took center stage and I suddenly lost interest in all of that, but was looking forward to tuning in during this election year.

I can tell you that Tim Russert was among my favorite's to watch because I truly had no idea what his views were. That's because the man was being a true journalist and putting others in the center, as it should be, not himself. He always treated those he interviewed with dignity and respect and not in a condescending manner, even when they were evading his skillfully laid out questions. He was a rare breed for a journalist today in many regards. In addition to his uncanny ability to draw out people's positions without badgering them, he did his homework, and knew other's positions sometimes better than they knew them. He was objective. I only learned a few minutes ago that Tim was a registered "independent", even though he had a short political career working for Democrats early on.

Tim Russert did not twist people's words, but would aid those being interviewed into conflicts created by their own words from past speeches, books, and other media. He did not trip people up; they tripped themselves up. He knew how to end the "BS" - politely and constructively - to get back to the point at hand, but he did it with class.

He was always happy and full of joy - that likeable kind of guy that gets along with everyone. We can only hope that all young people interested in journalism will study his life and his abilities to learn from him what authentic journalism is all about.

How ironic that his life should end before his Dad's and so close to Father's Day. His book Big Russ and Me was a big hit.

He was a gentleman, a Catholic, a true journalist, and a family man. Only Our Lord knows why he was called in the peak of his career and at such a happy time in his life. Thanks be to God that he and his family got to spend some quality time together before his passing.

Requiescat in pace, Tim Russert.

More News Results

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Musings for June 12, 2008

A photo taken during one of the Fatima Devotion Days at Assumption Grotto last year. Fatima Devotions are held on the 13th of each month starting with Mass at 7:00pm, followed by a Rosary procession to the Grotto area with banners, and finally - a talk or video and refreshments in the parish school

I just moderated a comment that had been sitting unmoderated for three days. The strange thing is that I've been checking daily, and it didn't show up until today. Anyway, comments are posted - thanks for the participation.

You have probably noticed that I have not been posting much of late. As you can imagine blogging takes time and I find myself looking for balance between my prayer life as a secular Carmelite, a member of the Assumption Grotto Choir, my liturgical photography, work, family, housework, and the endless "projects" I have in my queue, including audio, video, and a website yet to be developed, not to mention some writings in the pipeline. I have a spiritual director and I know that balance will be a focus....soon. I can tell you this much - in order to blog, something else doesn't get done. So, I am going to be experimenting with how I blog and what I blog on. I ask that you bear with me as I try to find the right mix. I have a heavy emphasis on liturgy and Assumption Grotto which is how I want to keep it, along with a few other items peppered in.

Unfortunately, I am unable to act on requests to post many of the good things sent to me. I can only encourage people to create a blog for this purpose - you can reach more than with mass email.

Making several posts daily can take 1-2 hours or more and I'm looking at cutting back to several times weekly. I will continue with the Virtuous Catholic Blogging site with periodic posts, but have not had time to do much there yet. I have some really good content planned for that blog so stay tuned.

I can't emphasize enough that if you want to know what is going on "out there" you need to check a variety of blogs and some Catholic news sources, such as Zenit, LifeNews and CWNews. I highly recommend visiting the blogs of priests, religious & deacons (see my sidebar).

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY THIS WEEK
There are some upcoming events at Grotto, starting with the Fatima Devotions this Friday. I don't know that I will make it this month. If I do come, I'm likely to leave the camera home. The other event I want to plug again is the Helpers of God's Precious Infants vigil this weekend. I am tentatively planning on going, but may leave the camera home if it is threatening rain. Also, I feel the need to participate fully, in a spiritual way, sometimes. So, I'll save photography for when the weather is 100% safe for my particular camera.

There are some news items of interest that caught my eye....

• Working Document Ready for October Synod (Zenit)
• Scripture Synod Working Paper (Zenit)
• Watch Out Facebook, Here Comes Something Catholic (Zenit)
• Faithful Need Beatitude-Living Bishops (Zenit)
• Neocatechumenate Gets Final Approval (Zenit)
• Cardinal Pell launches World Youth Day 'faithbook' (ABC-Australia)
• BLACK PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES PLAN MASSIVE ABORTION PROTEST OUTSIDE NAACP MEETING (LifeNews)
• PARENTS OF TEEN TAKEN FOR SECRET ABORTION WANT CULPRIT JAILED LONGER (LifeNews)
• Bp. Trautman doesn’t think you are smart enough to understand the proposed new translation of Mass (Fr. Z)

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A Scene from Corpus Christi 2008

So many people I know are without power after storms ripped through Michigan, and many other states. Our prayers are with those most affected, especially in Indiana where flooding has forced many from their homes and even trapped some.

I'm going to pause on this blog unless there is something significant to post on. This will allow others time to catch up on recent posts when they get their power back. I myself am hoping to keep power as another round or two will pass through this area later today.

• Helper of God's Precious Infants Prayer Vigil this Saturday
• Angel Statue Re-installed... (Photo Post)
• Eagle Scout Badge Project: The old tombsones (Photo Post)
• Trumpets of Jericho - the best approach to getting solid bishops
• Zenit: Food Crisis Forces Nigerian Seminary Closure
• Traditional parish turned upside down by new pastor...
• Update on Andrew Johnston - Bullied Choir Boy.... (Video)
• Lots of Liturgical Eye-Candy - Ordinations in Wigratzbad, Nebraska, and Chicago
• Fr. Perrone's 30th Anniversary Celebration - Grotto Style! (Photo Post)
• Urge Gov Granholm to sign partial-birth abortion ban (Act Now!!!)
• Abp Naumann on Governor Sebelius - a Q & A
• Classic Fr. Perrone during informal talk on "Tridentine" (Photo Post)
• Memorial Day 2008 at Assumption Grotto (Photo Post)

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

Only the free can choose obedience to Magisterial teachings. The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; rather, it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!.

Helper of God's Precious Infants Prayer Vigil this Saturday

Helpers of God's Precious Infants is having their quarterly prayer vigil this Saturday - the day before Father's Day, beginning with Mass at St. Edmund's in Warren at 7:30am. Those who will pray at the vigil itself will then commute to St. Veronica's in Eastpointe for the roughly 5-6 block Rosary procession to 8 Mile Road where they will continue to pray before two abortion clinics. This is entirely peaceful and non-confrontational and typically draws anywhere between 150-300+ people in recent years. The vigil will be led by Msgr. John Zenz. It concludes with Benediction at Assumption Grotto which is just under two miles from St. Veronica, and a refreshment/meeting in Grotto's lounge.

Click on the pics to enlarge for details.






See a photostory from the last prayer vigil.

Te Deum Laudamus! Home