WYD SYD 08!

World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia! July 15-20, 2008. Thousands of Catholic youth from all over the globe converged Down Under to gather with Pope Benedict XVI for prayer, fellowship and learning.

What a marvelous event to see on-line or via TV, thanks to EWTN's coverage. Did you have a chance to see it? If not, you can download the various events under "World Youth Day 2008". Lots of video to view. Apparently this was the first time that WYD had live feed on-line. How great that technology can serve us so well to proclaim the Good News of the Lord Jesus and help build up the Body of Christ!

As a "virtual" participant, it was thrilling to see so many young adults gathered to worship God within our Catholic traditions. Cardinal Pell of Sydney welcomed all the pilgrims and the Holy Father to Australia, and the Prime Minister of that country welcomed the youth of the world on their pilgrimage of peace. He had noted that many -- all too many -- times such a physical movement of young people from one location to another was associated with warfare. (Curiously, while he mentioned the words "faith", "Christian" and "Catholic" he omitted the word "God"! It seems to speak of the obvious reality of Australia's secular culture.)

At the end of World Youth Day, when addressing both Pope Benedict and all the participants at the Sunday Mass, Cardinal Pell noted that WYD has now become part of the Catholic reality and is an eagerly anticipated event in the life of the Church world-wide.

Pope Benedict XVI, continuing the tradition of the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II

in promoting and participating in World Youth Day 2008, at Sydney, Australia (15-20 July 2008)

Getting Ready for Chapter 2008

We Franciscan Friars of the Assumption BVM Province are getting ready for our triennial Chapter. A chapter is an official meeting of the community. During the chapter decisions are made which may affect the entire provincial brotherhood. The chapter is bound by certain canon laws, which are given to guide the order of the provincial community and for the benefit of the members.

Our Franciscan documents call it the "supreme legislative body" of the Province. The decision made are then entrusted to the provincial administration (provincial minister, his vicar and the councilors) to carry out. During the week-long meeting all assignments are suspended and the brotherhood deliberates on issues, reviews where we are, elects new leadership and decides on new directions.

This year we will not be electing a new provincial minister or vicar. Their terms are for six years (with the possibility of re-election for another three years). They were elected at Chapter 2005 and will continue in office until 2011. However, we have five elected councilors who have a three-year term limit. These positions are up for election (either re-electing present members or electing new ones).

While very serious, it is also a wonderful opportunity for the Friars to gather for prayer, fellowship, rekindle friendships and celebrate, too!

Boycotting HBO -- Bill Maher bashes Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church

Preparing for the papal visit to the USA almost two weeks ago, HBO's Bill Maher made some rather negative (to say the least!) and outrageous statements about the Holy Father and the Catholic Church.


For his April 11, 2008 live broadcast, (HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher", Maher said of the Catholic Church:

"In fact, whenever a cult leader sets himself up as God's infallible wingman here on earth, lock away the kids. Which is why I'd like to tip off law enforcement to an even LARGER child-abusing religious cult. Its leader ALSO has a compound, and this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats! That's right, the Pope is coming to America this week, and ladies: he's single! . . .

. . . How DOES the Catholic church get away with all of their buggery? Volume, volume, volume! If you have a few hundred followers, and you let some of them molest children, they call you a "cult leader." If you have a billion, they call you "Pope." It's like, if you can't pay your mortgage, they call you a "deadbeat," but if you can't pay a million mortgages, you're "Bear Sterns" and we bail you out."

Someone I know decided to cancel his household subscription to HBO based on this. When he called up the satellite company to cancel the HBO subscription, the agent on the other end of the line tried to persuade him that one month of HBO equals two DVDs. He stated that wasn't the point -- it wasn't about pricing.


The agent continued and asked what the cancellation was about. He stated that he was doing so in protest over Bill Maher's caustically negative remarks about Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church in general and the pope's visit to the USA.


The agent was quiet and then commented that she agreed with his position. In fact, she noted, she had just been working one hour that day and had already received over two dozen cancellations for HBO -- all for the same reason! She further suggested that HBO would likely be hurting over this.


The man who called to cancel his subscription is a Franciscan. And he apparently became an unwitting, yet willing, participant in a movement to boycott HBO!



What do you think about this? How might you handle this situation? Boycotting can be a very powerful instrument -- via the proverbial pocketbook! -- to bring about justice.