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Member's Blog
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Monday, 6 February 2012 00:19
By Fr. James Farfaglia, Suffering is a part of human life. Living faith enables us to see it differently by joining it to the sufferings of Christ Jesus does not take away human suffering; rather he transforms it and gives it new meaning. In his book Compassion, Henri Nouwen, no stranger to sorrow and pain, expresses this idea with these words: "The mystery of God's love is not that our pain is taken away, but that God first wants to share that pain with us. Out of this divine solidarity comes new life. Jesus' being moved in the center of his being by human pain is indeed a movement toward new life. God is our God, the God of the living. In the divine womb of God, life is always born again. The great mystery is not the cures, but the infinite compassion which is their source"
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - A young newly ordained priest was assigned by his superior as the chaplain of a large Catholic high school. The priest, enthusiastic and engaging, was very endeared by the students. He was so well liked, that the parents of the students would call him, instead of the local parish priest, for all of their pastoral needs, including sick calls to the local hospitals and funerals.
Written by News
Sunday, 8 January 2012 03:17
Commenting on Pope Benedict’s selection of 22 new members for the College of Cardinals, John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter notes that the Pontiff has increased the strength—already disproportionate—of European and especially Italian cardinals among the group that will choose his successor.
Writing just before the Pope made his list public, Andrea Tornielli of La Stampa confirmed his standing as a reliable Vatican analyst by correctly identifying 17 of the 18 prelates who would be named as cardinal-electors. Tornielli missed only one of the Curial officials on the Pope’s list. Among the archbishops he named as likely to receive a red hat only one--Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai—was not among the Pope’s selections. Along with the European influence, Allen notes the remarkable number of cardinal-electors who work, or have worked, in the Roman Curia. Finally, Allen notes that only one cardinal was chosen from Latin America, and none from Africa. Thus the Pope’s choices come largely from a continent where the Catholic faith is on the wane, and not from the emerging nations where the faith is growing. The selection of New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan is noteworthy because it breaks an informal rule: ordinarily, a residential archbishop is not named a cardinal if his successor is alive, under the age of 80, and thus eligible to vote in a conclave. Archbishop Dolan’s predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan, is still a cardinal-elector. Nevertheless he will receive a red hat, apparently because of the Pope’s respect for Archbishop Dolan personally, for his post as president of the US bishops’ conference, and for the importance of the New York archdiocese.
Written by News
Saturday, 24 December 2011 01:11
According to a transcript posted on the “60 Minutes” website, Obama said he would hold his accomplishments so far as president against those of Lyndon B. Johnson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. “I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history,” Obama told CBS’s Steve Kroft. Watch the interview below.
In Response to the statement of President Obama - SuperPAC "American Crossroads" release an Ad on ranking & opinion to the fourth President in American History - Watch the video :)
Written by News
Wednesday, 21 December 2011 01:30
Jeffrey H. Anderson is a former professor of American government and political philosophy at the U.S. Air Force Academy and the director of the Benjamin Rush Society. In his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama will reportedly issue a call for "responsible" efforts to reduce deficits (while simultaneously calling for new federal spending). In light of the President's expected rhetorical nod to fiscal responsibility, it's worth keeping in mind his record on deficits to date. When President Obama took office two years ago, the national debt stood at $10.626 trillion. It now stands at $14.071 trillion — a staggering increase of $3.445 trillion in just 735 days (about $5 billion a day). To put that into perspective, when President George W. Bush took office, our national debt was $5.768 trillion. By the time Bush left office, it had nearly doubled, to $10.626 trillion. So Bush's record on deficit spending was not good at all: During his presidency, the national debt rose by an average of $607 billion a year. How does that compare to Obama? During Obama's presidency to date, the national debt has risen by an average of $1.723 trillion a year — or by a jaw-dropping $1.116 trillion more, per year, than it rose even under Bush. In fairness, however, Obama can't rightly be held accountable for the 2009 budget, which he didn't sign (although he did sign a $410 billion pork-laden omnibus spending bill for that year, which is nevertheless tallied in Bush's column). Rather, Obama's record to date should really be based on actual and projected spending in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 (plus the $265 billion portion of the economic "stimulus" package, which he initiated and signed, that was spent in 2009 (Table S-10), while Bush's should be based on 2002-09 (with the exception of that same $265 billion, which was in no way part of the 2009 budgetary process).
Written by Malek
Monday, 19 December 2011 22:31
by Steve Hamm, Every year IBM predicts the future of technology via the IBM 5 in 5 initiative–our forecast of five innovations that will help transform aspects of modern life, making the planet smarter, within the next five years. We assess not just the availability of a new technology but also the likelihood of its large-scale adoption. This year’s predictions: · People power will come to life
Click here to vote on the coolest prediction. Making this kind of prediction is difficult. (In fact, to me, sadly, the one about eliminating the digital divide seems impossible.) So, every year, IBM researchers stick out their necks. Which is risky. “A lot of people wait for things to happen. It’s rare than an organization says: this is a big change, and it’s coming,” says IBM Fellow Bernard Meyerson.
Forecasting Innovation
Written by By Michael Terheyden
Monday, 21 November 2011 03:07
By Michael Terheyden
In a shocking turn of events on November 11, 2011, Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois announced that it intends to split from the Belleville diocese and offer adoptions and foster-care services to homosexuals and unmarried heterosexual couples in direct opposition to Church teaching. NOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - In a previous article titled "Catholic Charities Forced to Shut Down Services around the Country," I informed readers about the state of Illinois using the homosexual agenda to attack Catholic Charities. Now, one of the worst developments that could happen has happened: Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois has succumbed to the pressure of the secular state and its homosexual agenda and intends to split from the Diocese of Belleville. It began with the implementation of the "Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act," which went into effect this past summer in Illinois. This law allows homosexuals and unmarried heterosexual couples to adopt children and become foster parents under the guise of tolerance. However, the law has absolutely nothing to do with tolerance or religious freedom. We know this because the state could easily allow secular and religious adoption and foster-care programs to coexist, but it does not want to. Instead, the state is forcing all adoption agencies operating in Illinois to place children into these promiscuous relationships or shut down. Consequently, Catholic Charities from three Illinois dioceses--Springfield, Joliet and Peoria--filed a lawsuit against the state. Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois in the Belleville diocese later joined the suit. However, state officials found a way to thwart the lawsuit by cancelling Catholic Charities' 40-year contract to provide services in Illinois, thus rendering the suit moot. This forced Bishops in three of the Illinois dioceses to drop their lawsuit against the state and shut down their adoption and foster-care programs.
Written by By Deacon Keith Fournier
Saturday, 19 November 2011 00:39
The Catholic Church supports adult stem cell research and opposes embryonic stem cell research. Human embryonic stem cell research is always deadly. A human embryo is not distinct in kind from a human being, but a human being at an early stage of development. "Extracting" their stem cells is a form of embryonic execution. Efforts to promote the tired old "Catholic Church is against science" argument is perpetuated by those who do not like the Catholic Church's uncompromising defense of the dignity of all human life, at every age and stage.
VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - Last week the Pontifical Council for Culture - in collaboration with NeoStem, Inc. and its educational foundation - cosponsored an important conference entitled "Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture." The Pontifical Council is involved in a 5-year, $1 million partnership with NeoStem, Inc. to promote research involving adult stem cells and their potential use in medical treatments.
Adult Stem Cell research is fully supported by the Catholic Church. Vatican Information Services reported last June that " international biopharmaceutical company NeoStem Inc. and the Pontifical Council for Culture have announced a joint initiative between their charitable organizations to expand research and raise awareness of adult stem cell therapies. "NeoStem's Stem for Life Foundation, formed to create awareness about the promise of adult stem cells to treat disease, and the pontifical council's STOQ Foundation (Science Theology and the Ontological Quest), will work to advance research on adult stem cells, to explore their clinical applicability in the field of regenerative medicine, and the cultural relevance of such research especially with its impact on theological and ethical issues". The Pontifical Council for Culture through its charitable foundation STOQ International made an economic commitment of one million dollars to this collaboration with NeoStem, an international biopharmaceutical company with operations in the US and China.
Written by By Sarah Frier and Maryellen Tighe
Tuesday, 15 November 2011 00:38
Warren Buffett, who said he was unable to predict the prospects for Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc., is betting more than $10 billion that International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is a different kind of technology firm. Buffett previously focused the stock portfolio at his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) on consumer brands like Coca-Cola Inc. and financial firms like Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), saying he was able to understand their business plans. The strategy meant he missed the rally in technology companies like Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) and Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) and then their subsequent slumps. Buffett invested $10.5 billion to $10.7 billion in IBM, betting on the company’s ability to maintain its market dominance in computer services and expand outside the U.S. Armonk, New York-based IBM gained 19 percent in the first nine months of the year as global stock markets plunged. “Yes, they’re a tech company, but they will not have the wild swings that we’ve seen throughout history, like a RIM or a Nokia where they catapult up but then the technology shifts against them and they plummet,” said Louis Miscioscia, a Collins Stewart LLC analyst in Boston with a “buy” rating on the stock. Before making the investment, Berkshire surveyed its own information-technology departments to see how they worked with suppliers and found many tended to stick with IBM, Buffett said today on CNBC. “I probably read the annual report of IBM every year for 50 years,” he said. “I don’t think that there’s any company that I can think of, big company, that’s done a better job of laying out where they’re going to go and then having gone there.”
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