Salute to Catholic Schools Scheduled Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2007

Theme is "Catholic Schools: the Good News in Education"

Washington, D.C. -- The nation’s nearly 8,000 Catholic schools will celebrate Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 28 through Feb. 3. This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools: the Good News in Education.”

The theme was chosen because of its appeal to Catholic schools and for the strong message it sends to parents and supporters.

Catholic Schools Week is an activity of the National Marketing Campaign For Catholic Schools, a joint project of NCEA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Dr. Karen M. Ristau, president of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA), said, “Catholic Schools do good work all year around. But on this week we want to focus everyone’s attention on the fact that Catholics schools are good news. In addition to learning reading, writing and arithmetic, students also learn responsibility—and how to become persons of character and integrity.”

Father William Davis, a priest of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales and interim secretary for education at the USCCB, said “High achievement rates, high retention rates, high moral values and high student and parent satisfaction are the distinctive marks of a Catholic school. That’s the good news and we want to share it.”

National Appreciation Day For Catholic Schools will be observed Wednesday, Jan. 31. National Appreciation Day was established to encourage supporters nationwide to showcase the great accomplishments and contributions of Catholic schools to our country. In Washington, a delegation of more than 150 Catholic school students, teachers and parents will visit Capitol Hill to meet with congressional leaders to promote Catholic schools. They will hand-deliver letters from chief administrators of Catholic education to their representatives and provide a background package on Catholic schools to every congressional office.

Schools in other parts of the country are encouraged to carry their message of good news to local and state officials.

Why Communion Could Be Denied to Anti-Life Legislators

Zenit News Agency - The World Seen From Rome
Click above to read the whole article:

Code: ZE04042622
Date: 2004-04-26
Why Communion Could Be Denied to Anti-Life Legislators
Interview With an American Theologian in Rome

ROME, APRIL 26, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Moves by the Church to deny Holy Communion to staunchly pro-abortion Catholic politicians are growing. At a Vatican press conference last Friday, Cardinal Francis Arinze said that politicians who unambiguously support abortion must not go to Communion and priests must deny them the sacrament. Last January, then Bishop Raymond Burke of La Crosse, Wisconsin, issued a decree forbidding Catholic legislators who support abortion or euthanasia from receiving Communion. To learn more about the canonical and pastoral implications of these declarations, ZENIT interviewed American theologian Father Thomas Williams, dean of the School of Theology of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum.

Q: Is the Church beginning to adopt a hard-line stance regarding the reception of Holy Communion?
Father Williams: The Church has always taken this issue seriously. In very strong terms St. Paul admonished the Church in Corinth: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup." That's in 1 Corinthians 11:27-28.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law, echoing the teaching of the Council of Trent, Canon 11, states that, without a very serious reason, a person who is aware of having committed a mortal sin should voluntarily abstain from Communion. "A person who is conscious of grave sin is not … to receive the Body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession," says Canon 916 of the 1983 code.

Q: But isn't there a big difference between encouraging those in a state of sin to abstain from Communion and forbidding Communion to determined persons?

Father Williams: Yes, of course. Whereas anyone who is aware of having committed a grave sin of any sort, hidden or public, should willingly abstain from Holy Communion, only grave sins committed overtly or publicly provide grounds for non-admittance to Communion on the part of priests and bishops. The pertinent reference in canon law can be found in Canon 915. In its entirety, this brief canon reads: "Those who are excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion." This canon treats two instances where members of the faithful are not to be admitted to Communion. The first deals with excommunication and interdicts -- ecclesiastical censures forbidding participation in the sacraments -- and the second refers to obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin.

Q: So in the case of pro-abortion politicians we would be dealing with a situation of manifestly grave sin? What does this mean?

Father Williams: The technical language of the code which refers to those who "obstinately persist in manifest grave sin" must be carefully parsed. Four essential elements come into play, all of which are necessary to fulfill the conditions laid out in Canon 915.

The first element is "gravi peccato," or grave sin. This can only be taken to refer to the matter of the action -- or omission -- without necessarily implying a judgment of subjective culpability. "Grave sin" in this case simply means objectively evil conduct of a serious nature.

The second requirement specified by Canon 915 refers to the "manifesto," or overt, character of the sin. This stipulation limits the sanction to sins of a public nature, and reiterates the public and ecclesial dimension of Holy Communion, which signifies moral, spiritual and doctrinal union with Christ and with his Church.

Thirdly, to be refused Communion a person must persist -- "perseverantes" -- in this openly sinful behavior. To say that a person persists in a public sin means that he somehow makes it known that he plans to continue engaging in his sinful behavior.

Finally, the code speaks of obstinate persistence. The Latin adverb "obstinate" here means that the person has been duly informed of the evil of his behavior but deliberately chooses to persist in it anyway. There is such a thing as inculpable persistence in evildoing, when a person is unaware that a certain habitual activity is sinful. But once the evil of his actions has been brought to his attention, his persistence qualifies as obstinate.

Judging from the foregoing considerations, it seems clear that a politician who votes in a way that fails to defend innocent human life on a consistent basis and gives every indication of his intention to keep doing so despite warnings from ecclesiastical authorities can be said to obstinately persist in objectively evil behavior of a public nature. And in this regard he fulfills the requirements of Canon 915.

Q: In Bishop Burke's Notification, made public this past January, he speaks of scandal. To fail to "uphold the natural and divine law regarding the inviolable dignity of all human life," he writes, "is a grave public sin and gives scandal to all the faithful." How does scandal fit into the equation?

Father Williams: Though in common language "scandal" often refers to something shocking or disgraceful, the word comes from the Greek "skandalon" -- a stumbling block -- and properly means "an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil," as the Catechism says in No. 2284. Because of their high public visibility and moral authority, politicians can, by their example, lead others to good or to evil.
According to the Catechism, No. 2285: "Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others." We further read in No. 2286 that "they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals."

Along with its practical role of making certain actions punishable or permissible under the law, civil legislation has a pedagogical role as well and thus contributes to the formation of public opinion and private conscience. The criminalization or legalization of determined activities influences the way people view the morality of such activities since it represents a social judgment on this sort of behavior. Thus legislators, even more than other public figures, are called to a higher standard of accountability because of their moral authority and the influence that their decisions have on others.

Wow! Look at all the ICE!

Well, the ice storm gave us an extra day for the Martin Luther King holiday weekend! All the kids are having a blast, (photo from KOTV web site) though us parents and teachers are just getting blasted by all the ice! I know, that was not a great pun but it works in a pinch (I think). This was Not the Winter Wonder Land that we looked forward to, it was a solid sheet of ice that is horrendous to get around in!

The devestation is terrible for people in McAlester (where no one has power), the ice has taken down trees, power lines, etc. Our prayers are with those that are without power in McAlester, Muskogee, and all across the state of Oklahoma.

Rest In Peace Joe Cummins

Born: 10-31-1911

Died: 1-03-2007

It is with sadness and joy that I write this new news item for our family. The first of 2007, it is also the end of an era. Joe Cummins passed from this world to the next, joining his beloved wife, Mary. Funeral services were Monday, Jan. 8th, 2007. Joe was buried next to Mary, his wife of 60 years in Nowata, Oklahoma.

Linda worked with Joe for the last 4 years and had the joy of spending time with him, playing Skip-Bo, visiting, learning about his life. Joe was 95 years old and is survived by children, grandchildren, great-grand children and friends too numerous to count. He looked forward to joining his wife and Savior after a long, fruitful, fulfilling life. What Joe gave Linda, and I, is the love that cannot be measured. He was like a grandfather to Linda and the hole that is left behind with his passing is indescribable.

Our actions have a tongue of their own; they have an eloquence of their own, even when the tongue is silent. For deeds prove the lover more than words.
– St. Cyril of Jerusalem

We will all miss Joe.

Prayer Intentions of the Pope for Jan, 2007

Pope Prays for Peace and for the Church in Africa

Vatican City, Dec. 29, 2006 (CNA) - The Vatican released the prayer intentions of Pope Benedict XVI for January, this morning. The Holy Father will offer his first general intentions of 2007 for a renewed commitment to peace in the world and for the Catholic Church on the African continent.

The Pope prayed, "That in our time, unfortunately marked by many episodes of violence, the pastors of the Church may continue to indicate the way of peace and understanding among peoples."

Announcing his mission intention he prayed, "That the Church in Africa may become a constantly more authentic witness of the Good News of Christ and be committed, in every nation, to the promotion of reconciliation and peace."