St. Marys Catholic Church - Newton Kansas

Here are a few pictures I took of the parish I grew up in and went to school at.

St. Mary's Catholic Church - Newton Kansas

He is Risen!

Happy Pasch everyone

Its been a interesting lent and I took a blogging break things are gearing up around here getting ready for baby #3 Seen to the left




Also here are some quick Pictures/Links of my local travels:

(note: Prayer at the location above was abruptly interrupted by a Loud Rock band playing from the basement)

We Also checked out the Ligurgy of St. Gregory at a local Orthdox parish for educational purposes.

We also prayed a very reverent Novus Ordo (as last time See old Post) where Greek was sung, incense was used, some latin including communion given in latin.

There were also rumors of a very nice liturgy of the presanctified on Good Friday at the St. Lawrence Catholic campus center in Lawrence. Including the prostration at the beginning of mass and latin used as well.

Holy Thursday was celebrated beautifully -as always - at Old St. Patrick's Oratory.

With the Solemnities of Solemnities upon us I have an urge to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his one true Church to other Ecclesiastic Communities , sitting down and talking scripture and prayer for their conversion, but of course with this feeling to spread the word about the Catholic church it is not without some reservation, as I have never really gone and knocked on doors for the faith so any suggestions would be helpful.

and last but not least I have come into some interesting books recently if anyone has any feedback on these titles put them in the combox.

Book Titles:

The Celebration of Mass I: General Rubrics of the Missal
The Celebration of Mass II: The Rite of Celebration of Low Mass
The Celebration of Mass III: The Rite of High Mass and Sung Mass
(By Rev. J. O'Connell)
The Sacred Ceremonies of Low Mass (By Rev. Felix Zualdi, C.M.)
The Splendour Of the Liturgy (By Maurice Zundel)


and a few others.

I will try and post more frequently also have another church to post so look for it soon.

My Visit to Mount St. Mary's Seminary

Hello from Baltimore Maryland, As stated in my last post I have been sent out east for travel, now there are many sights to see and places to visit in this area but with my work schedule I have been limited as far as being a Tourist goes.

There is a good friend of mine whom I have known since Kindergarten whom is enrolled in his second year of theology at Mount St. Mary's Seminary and that is located in Emmittsburg MD. About 15min from the Pennsylvania Border. Since I was in the area about an hour away I decided to go pay my friend a visit for the first time in about Six years.

At the Mount I spoke with the Monsignor who was the rector, and we spoke of Catholic things, and the Moto Proprio, he said that he plans to start praying the traditional mass next semester so the students can see it and feel it, he said he would train any man who's bishop requested them to be trained in the extraordinary form, I find this interesting in light of THIS recent letter from the Pontifical commission Ecclesia Dei. But over all the Seminary was very good and Orthodox, I suppose it must be since Bishop Bruskewitz would send his men there.

Below are some pictures from "The Mount" As its called. I'm sorry they are not better but it was the best I can do at night

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Please pray for these fine young men that the Good lord will make them the best Priests that they can be and be the men that we deserve.

One foot in hell and the other on a banana peel...

This upsetting story is found in full at The Telegraph.

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Sperm cells created from female embryo

Sperm cells have been created from a female human embryo in a remarkable breakthrough that suggests it may be possible for lesbian couples to have their own biological children...

[Right away the Irony that they are using EMBRYONIC stem cells to create sperm that they hope will create an embryo is not lost on me]

...It raises the possibility of lesbian couples one day having children who share both their genes as sperm created from the bone marrow of one woman could be used to fertilise an egg from her partner...

[Ya know.. there might be a NATURAL reason as to why no new life could come naturally out of same sex relationships, Maybe there is a way to reproduce the human species that would seem much more natural than bringing a scientist into the equasion... but naw... lets waste Millions of dollars on research to find alternate ways to Reproduce humans and then murder those embryos that are not wanted]

...Men and women differ because of what are called sex chromosomes. Both have an X chromosome. But only men possess a Y chromosome that carries several genes thought to be essential to make sperm, so there has been scepticism that female stem cells could ever be used to make sperm...

[You Think there would be a natural reason that a male is needed to reproduce but lets ignore the natural evidence too!]

“I think, in principle, it will be scientifically possible,” Prof Nayernia told New Scientist.

He said that he has applied for ethical approval from the university to use bone marrow stem cells from women to start experiments to derive female sperm...

However, Dr Robin Lovell-Badge, a stem cell and sex determination expert at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, doubts it will work: “The presence of two X chromosomes is incompatible with this. Moreover they need genes from the Y chromosome to go through meiosis. So they are at least double-damned.”

[Once again the Irony is not lost on me here... we could add a Third Dammed as well.. and thats the one that lasts forever]

If all these experiments pan out, then the stage would also be set for a gay man to donate skin cells that could be used to make eggs, which could then be fertilised by his partner’s sperm and placed into the uterus of a surrogate mother....

“I think it is possible,” says Kerkis, “but I don’t know how people will look at this ethically.”

[Oh really... You think it might be a problem?... These are suppose to be some of the smartest folks around and they are looking at the ethical issues AFTER the fact?]

The UK parliament is now debating changes to the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, and the government is under pressure to include an amendment that would allow the future use of eggs and sperm grown in the lab from stem cells.

However, a clause added to this amendment would restrict this to sperm from genetic males and eggs from genetic females.

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Lets do some extra penance this Lent.. this world is going to need it

Our Lady of the Most Precious Blood... Ora Pro Nobis...

Since its an Election Year....

With Osama Bin Bama in the area and Mrs. and Mr. Clinton trying to earn your vote, and since the Candidate that I feel would be the best for this country does not get the coverage he deserves. What is an ill informed voter to do?

Get the Catholic Answers "Voters Guide for Serious Catholic's"
this guide goes in depth and is sure to guide your conscience to make the best Catholic choice for this Election Year.

I am still undecided but I'm sure this guide will help me along, Our dear bishops at the USCCB has one as well but... well... um... its the USCCB... so I will concede to the Thumper rule in this case.

To Close I shall quote the New Catechism on this topic:

"Duties of civil authorities

2235 Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant."41 The exercise of authority is measured morally in terms of its divine origin, its reasonable nature and its specific object. No one can command or establish what is contrary to the dignity of persons and the natural law.

2236 The exercise of authority is meant to give outward expression to a just hierarchy of values in order to facilitate the exercise of freedom and responsibility by all. Those in authority should practice distributive justice wisely, taking account of the needs and contribution of each, with a view to harmony and peace. They should take care that the regulations and measures they adopt are not a source of temptation by setting personal interest against that of the community.42

2237 Political authorities are obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person. They will dispense justice humanely by respecting the rights of everyone, especially of families and the disadvantaged.

The political rights attached to citizenship can and should be granted according to the requirements of the common good. They cannot be suspended by public authorities without legitimate and proportionate reasons. Political rights are meant to be exercised for the common good of the nation and the human community."

Kansans For Life - Rally For Life - Topeka Kansas

Today as a family we braved the early morning frost and participated in the Kansans for Life Rally for life on the Steps of the Capitol Building in Topeka Kansas

Here are some pictures from the Rally and some from the Mass.

(as always you can click on the pictures for the larger version)

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Sacred Heart Parish - Gardner Kansas

As I have this more free time due to being out of work, I decided to take some more pictures for my readers at another local Catholic church, also I wanted to share some pictures from our new digital camera. Most of the time the pictures of churches I take are from after the Saturday evening vigil Mass.

Tonite I ventured out to Gardner Kansas to check out this parish that was built in 2004

I don't usually comment on my visit to the parish as mostly it is your typical Ordinary form mass, you can check out THIS POST for more detail about what I usually find around the area.

I must say that the Vigil Mass was one of the most reverent, heartfelt, prayerful masses I have participated in.

First as a shock to me as I kneel to pray I notice that the thurable and boat are missing from its stand near the altar.... sure enough incense was used throughout the mass.

Next when Father went to read the gospel, another shock (of the good kind) bellowed forth from the pulpit "DOMINUS VOBISCUM" the priest exclaimed, my jaw about hit the floor, this would be the first of about three DOMINUS VOBISCUM's he would say during the mass.

Father also sung (in english) the Eucharistic prayer, and then the entire Pater Noster (in english) was sung as well.

It was all topped off with the final blessing given in Latin.

I hope you enjoy these pictures.

God Bless