CERC Weekly Update

CERC Weekly Update - December 23, 2015
Web version of this CERC Weekly Update here
Previous CERC Weekly Update here
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New Resources

• The Genealogy as Symbol of Advent Gestation - Caryll Houselander - from The Reed of God - It is not only in work, in the realization of faith, and in conscious prayer that we need the season of Advent; we need it in suffering, in joy, and in thought.
• The Meaning of Christmas: Look Deeper - Peter Kreeft - The National Catholic Register - While Christmas is so familiar that we sometimes wonder whether anything fresh and true can be said about it, there is a way to explore its meaning that may seem new to us today, yet is in fact quite traditional, dating back to the Middle Ages and the ancient Fathers of the Church.
• Foreword - Father John Horgan - from Canadian Saints - I grew up in a Catholic family, in a working class Catholic neighbourhood in New England where there were two parish churches less than ten minutes walk from each other.
• How the Church Has Changed the World: The Miracle of Jasna Gora - Anthony Esolen -Magnificat - "What is the man doing? Is he mad? Does he want the world to fall about our ears?"
• What 2016 Grads Need to Hear - George Will - Prager University - College commencement addresses often are collections of bromides and boring advice.
• A Deeper Vision: Catholicism and the Past Century - Robert Royal - Catholic World Report - Most people — even most Catholics — don't realize it, but the twentieth century, or at least the first two-thirds of it, were a kind of golden age for Catholic intellectual and cultural life.
• The Contemporary Denial of Reality - Anthony Esolen - Crisis - Prudence, writes Josef Pieper, is the root of all the natural virtues, and there is an obvious reason why. It is the virtue of seeing reality as it is.
• Darkness and light - Father George W. Rutler - From the Pastor - It would seem odd that as Christmas draws closer, the Church makes a point of reminding us of Hell.

Editorials of Interest

• Pope Francis' Listicle of Needed Virtues - Aleteia - Taking the initials of the Latin word for mercy, misericordia, Francis identified 12 virtues one can live out during the Year of Mercy.
• New Vatican Document on Jews, Salvation, and Evangelization - NC Register - The text is a reflection prepared by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews on current theological questions that have developed since the Second Vatican Council.
• Abortion: Why I confessed 25 years later - National Post - I fear being judged; I'm equally tired of judging myself. But this fall, Pope Francis announced the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. He decreed that, starting this week until Nov. 20, 2016, all priests would have the power to absolve penitents of the sin of abortion.
• A Penitent's Guide to Reserved Sins - Aleteia - Everything you need to know about Pope Francis' announcement that he is granting authority to priests to pardon sins normally reserved to the Holy See.
• Mercy in the Mall: Priests Hear Confession in an Unexpected Place - Aleteia - Ireland is getting into the spirit of the Year of Mercy, by offering confession at a shopping mall.
• In Solidarity With Persecuted Christians: From a Conference in Rome - Arc of the Universe - "Under Caesar's Sword: Christians in Response to Persecution" was designed to learn how Christian communities around the world respond to persecution and to increase solidarity with them.
• ISIS announces systematic killing of children with down syndrome — but they're not the only ones -Catholic Vote - According to reports nearly 40 disabled infants in ISIS territory have already been suffocated or given lethal injections.
• Kenyan Muslims shield Christians in Mandera bus attack - BBC .- They told the militants "to kill them together or leave them alone."
• NASA has called the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe living - Matrix Drops - The eyes of Mary's retinas, when exposed to light, expand and contract and scientists have measured a pulse of 115 beats per min at Mary's belt, which corresponds to a fetal heart rate.
• National Geographic Names Virgin Mary "Most Powerful Woman in the World" - LifeNews - From featuring Mary on its December cover to airing an episode on the worldwide Marian devotion this coming Sunday, National Geographic is recognizing the gentle power of Jesus' mother.
• #openthesedoors: A Movement To Turn New York's Closed Churches Into Shelters - Religion Dispatches - As of 2015, there are approximately 60,000 homeless people in New York, including close to 25,000 homeless children. As with most other cities, available shelter to meet these needs is inadequate.
• Bishop: Separation of Biological and Social Gender Is Basic Error of Gender Theory - NC Register - Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, Germany, taught that "the essence of man and woman is the potential to become a father and the potential to become a mother, respectively. These are not exchangeable roles, but, rather, gifts from the Creator, and, in the last instance, a calling."
• Children are a gift to civilization - Acton Blog - Throughout most of human history, children were most often the brightest light in an otherwise bleak existence of poverty, toil, and high mortality. Now, however, our priorities have significantly shifted.
• Does divorce cause disbelief? - OSV - Children of divorce are often left to figure things out on their own — and that includes religion.
• Fasting Isn't Just Good for the Soul but the Mind and Body Too - Aleteia - Fasting has long been touted as having spiritual benefits, but studies show that intermittent fasting is good for the brain and body as well.
• Hope: A radical virtue - The Feminine Gift - Hope is a radical virtue because it takes away all our power, and places it in the hands of a power beyond us.
• 'Not everything happens for a reason': The magic words to say when everything is going wrong -Bright Side - Platitudes keep us from doing the one thing we must do when our lives are turned upside down: grieve.
• Are You Alone This Christmas? - Regina Mag - Don't spend so much time longing for the future that you forget to enjoy the present. Trust that God has your back. His timing is always so perfect. Remember that God is walking with you. He is good and will not abandon you. Your time will come.
• 'O Holy Night': A Call to Fall to Your Knees - The Atlantic - Welcome to The 12 Days of Christmas Songs: an attempt to uncover the forgotten history of some of the most memorable festive tunes. From December 14 through 25, we'll be tackling one secular song and one holy song each day.
• Padre Pio's Christmas Meditation - Shield of Faith - This celestial child, all meekness and sweetness, wishes to impress in our hearts by his example these sublime virtues, so that from a world that is torn and devastated an era of peace and love may spring forth.

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman and St. Justin Martyr, pray for us