Turning the other cheek is tough...

A lot of people think I'm either too sensitive or paranoid re: attacks on the church today. But just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get me.
In the news today, more than 500 Christians were murdered by the Muslim Fulani ethnic group in Nigeria where the Catholic Church has been under persecution for years. (story here) A few months back I had the opportunity to share some time with a young priest from Nigeria who related several stories that I found hard to understand in this day and age. Persecution is alive and well.
In another story on Saturday I read of the Muslim journalists who apologized after having boasted that they had desecrated the by receiving and spitting out a communion wafer in Malaysia. The apology claims that any insult was unintentional and resulting from ignorance. (story here)
I'm sure the Christian response will be a bit more moderate that might be expected of the Muslim community had the tables been turned.
At least in the United States persecution of the Church tends to be more limited to attempts on the part of politicians and secular society to marginalize Christians or to deny Catholic bishops the right to weigh in on moral issues in the public sphere.

Have you had your "Death Cookie" today?

The Deacon's Bench carries the story of the Baptist church in Tennessee publishing a pamphlet which in addition to describing the pope as the anti-christ, refers to the eucharist as a "death cookie." (link here)
I often wonder how these "Bible Believing" groups manage to skip over so much of the Bible and contort themselves to creatively interpret John 6.

Time sure flies...

Apparently the magnitude 8.8 quake that rocked Chile last week shifted Earth's axis re-distributing the planet's mass and shortening the day by 1.26 microseconds. (story here) Here I thought the days seemed shorter just because I'm older.

Got time for a "quickie'?

Fr. Michael Kenny of Galway has garnered attention for the number of worshippers flocking to his "quickie" Mass. (story here) To attract people who have to go to work, Fr. Kenny moved his Mass time from 9 am to 7:30 am and limits the duration of the Mass to 15 minutes.
I definitely have mixed feelings about this. While I laud initiatives that succeed in getting people to address their spiritual life, I can't help but recall that two of my favorite saints -- St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) and St. John Vianney -- were noted for Masses that ran great lengths of time causing people to enter more fully into the mystery of the Eucharist.
Getting crowds is a good thing, but are we merely putting our schedules first and expecting God to adapt, thereby avoiding the metanoia required to adjust our lives to Him?

A little black spot on your head today...

Greg Kandra has this on "The Deacon's Bench" but it is too good not to share on Ash Wednesday.

I guess it's just funnier if they are Catholic...

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League makes an interesting point between how sexual abusers in public schools are treated far differently from those in the Catholic Church.

Good Script for ComediansThere is no end to the comedians who like to rip the Catholic Church for the sexual abuse scandal, but precious few seem to have any interest in the contribution that the public school industry has made to this problem. That’s too bad, because there is plenty of script available.

Take New York City, for instance. The New York Post reported on Feb. 9 that Alan Rosenfeld has been charged with ogling girls as young as 13, but still manages to keep his job. Though he hasn’t worked since 2001—he is assigned to what they call a “rubber room”—he has managed to receive $700,000 in salary.

Rosenfeld is not alone. There are more than 600 educators who are being bankrolled by the taxpayers for doing nothing: they, too, occupy a seat in the “rubber room.” One teacher, Francisco Olivares, allegedly impregnated a 16-year old when he began teaching 32 years ago. He still collects $94,000 a year.

Why is this happening? Because of the teachers unions and antiquated laws that give them cover.

This story never ends, yet the Bill Mahers of this world never open their mouths when it comes to teachers and their unions. Even though conditions in the priesthood have improved markedly, while the sexual abuse scandal continues to grow among the ranks of teachers, it’s still priests the so-called comedians go after.

And some wonder why the Catholic League, which fights anti-Catholicism, is busier than ever.

Which organization is more likely the culprit?

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has issued a report entitled Stand and deliver - sex, health and young people in the 21st century. In that report "young people" are defined as those between 10 and 25 years of age. As might be expected, IPPF targets the Catholic Church (along with Islamic madrasas) as imposing "..barriers that prevent young people, particularly, from obtaining information and services related to sex and reproduction."
IPPF likes to point to growing rates of teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS infection as evidence of the failure of religious groups reliance upon teachings of abstinence and chastity. They fail to note that the growth of these problems more directly coincides with a secular society treating sex as mere recreation.
Does not the growth of the problems of promiscuity, teen pregnancy and STD infection rates more closely mirror the growth in influence organizations such as IPPF have had on society?
It appears to me the problem stems not from the degree of sanctity with which religious institutions regard human sexuality, but rather the low esteem in which it appears to be held in secular society as encouraged by the ilk of IPPF. They treat sex as something which could be substituted for Coca-Cola in the old ad campaign "Have a Coke and a smile."