Pope Francis Named "Person of the Year!" Time Magazine Doesn't Miss Chance to Stir Up Trouble

 Being named Time Magazine's person of the year is a big accomplishment. However, myself and so many other people may be wondering what the real reason is behind this award. Time Magazine initially wrote that "Pope Francis rejected some church dogma and teaching and brought many Catholics back to the church who had previously lost hope." Although they quickly corrected this mistake as Pope Francis does not reject any teachings or traditions, it kind of makes me wonder if that was the initial reason why they named him as "Person of the Year."

I can see Pope Francis receiving this award for renewing hope in Catholics by stating that he upholds the significant teachings of the Catholic Church, but was this rewarding him for what Time thought was a willingness to reconstruct the teachings of the church as a whole? My point is, the media just seems to feast on the Catholic church and anything their leaders say. When they listen to Pope Francis speak, they are not listening with earnest and sincere hearts, but are instead waiting for any sentence that they can twist around in order for a good story suggesting change or upheaval. We have seen this with Pope Francis' words against abortion, gay marriage and women priests.

 One day I just want the secular media to reward a church leader, who is in good standing, for actually bring people closer to God through the church's great dogma and teachings, not because they want to twist certain words around.

-USA Today:

Calling him "The People's Pope," Time magazine on Wednesday named Pope Francis its Person of the Year.
"What makes this pope so important is the speed with which he has captured the imaginations of millions who had given up on hoping for the church," Time said in its cover story announcing the news.
Time's other 10 finalists were a mixed crew that included President Obama, NSA leaker Edward Snowden, Syria President Bashar Assad, Iran President Hassan Rouhani, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, gay rights activist Edith Windsor -- and singer Miley Cyrus,

Pope Francis, 76, was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires. He was named archbishop of Argentina in 1998, became a cardinal in 2001 and was elected pope by the papal conclave in Vatican City on March 13. He replaced Pope Benedict XVI, 86, who announced his resignation Feb. 11 citing a "lack of strength of mind and body" due to his advanced age.
Francis had earned a reputation for humility and commitment to the poor long before assuming leadership of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

"As Pope, he was suddenly the sovereign of Vatican City and head of an institution so ­sprawling—with about enough followers to populate China—so steeped in order, so snarled by bureaucracy, so vast in its charity, so weighted by its scandals, so polarizing to those who study its teachings, so mysterious to those who don't, that the gap between him and the daily miseries of the world's poor might finally have seemed unbridgeable," Time says. "Until the 266th Supreme Pontiff walked off in those clunky shoes to pay his hotel bill."
Obama was Person of the Year in 2012 -- and in 2008. He is the only person among last year's finalists to make the list again this year.

Time selected its first "Man of the Year" in 1927. The selection is based on the person who the magazine's editors believe most influenced the news this year, for good or bad. Time's readers, in a poll completed last week, selected Egypt's General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi as their Person of the Year.

Real Catholic Men Stand Up For The Faith

This story just showed me how much our world needs so many good strong Catholic men to stand up for the faith and all of the Catholic Church's teachings. Please pray for our world. Pray to end abortion, obsession with contraception and sinful same-sex marriage. Pray that God has mercy on our souls.

Horror: Violent mob of topless pro-abort feminists attacks praying men defending cathedral (VIDEO)

by Sofia Vazquez-Mellado

Buenos Aires, December 2^nd, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Extremely disturbing video footage from Argentina shows a mob of feminists at a recent protest attacking and sexually molesting a group of Rosary-praying Catholic men who were peacefully protecting the cathedral in the city of San Juan from threats of vandalism.

The women, many of them topless, spray-painted the men’s crotches and faces and swastikas on their chests and foreheads, using markers to paint their faces with Hitler-like moustaches. They also performed obscene sexual acts in front of them and pushed their breasts onto their faces, all the while shouting “get your rosaries out of our ovaries.” (Note: Some of the most graphic content has been removed from the video. Uncensored footage is available here. Viewer discretion strongly advised.) 

According to InfoCatolica, some of the women chanted a song, with the lyrics: “To the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, who wants to get between our sheets, we say that we want to be whores, travesties and lesbians. Legal abortion in every hospital.”

During the attack some men were visibly weeping. None of them retaliated against the abuses heaped on them.

While the site of the protest was the front of the cathedral, InfoBae reports that "the whole city awoke to graffiti in favor of abortion."

Inside the cathedral, 700 people were also in prayer accompanied by their bishop Mos. Alfonso Delgado.

After unsuccessfully trying to get into the building, the women burned a human-sized effigy of Pope Francis. “If the pope were a woman, abortion would be legal,” they shouted.
The attack took place on Sunday, November 24^th during the National Women’s Encounter, which annually brings together Argentinean feminists who support “women’s rights.”
The police reportedly told the media they were unable to intervene because “they are women."

The parish priest Fr. Rómulo Campora said to the Diario de Cuyo that “the burning of the image of Pope Francis is an offense, not just to the Church but to every Argentinean because the pope is Argentinean.”

Archbishop Listecki: Love One Another Weekly Communication

One of the things that I have been grateful for in this Archdiocese of Milwaukee is a new communication resource that Archbishop Listecki has started entitled "Love One Another." In this weekly initiative, I feel that Archbishop Listecki seeks to reach out to the Archdiocesan community on a more personal level, sharing personal stories and experiences along with updates on local church news, events, and feast days of saints. You can find these articles on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee website and sign up to have it emailed to you. Below is the latest edition.

Love One Another
December 3, 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There are certain romantic images that captured our imagination as students in Catholic grammar school. One such image was that of the missionary. The scene of the cassock dressed priest holding the crucifix, preaching and converting the natives, or the image of the religious sister dressed in habit and surrounded by children as she introduced them to Christ through the words of sacred Scripture. Those images were as influential as the recruitment poster of Uncle Sam with his finger pointed outward, saying, “I want YOU for the U.S. Army.”

Well, Christ wants you. The idea of being a missionary and bringing Christ to the world was attractive to anyone of faith. However as we grew older, we realized that the missionary life was not as romantic as it may seem in the pages of magazines or presented in the movies. It was a difficult life of sacrifice.

Today we honor St. Francis Xavier, S.J., one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Church. St. Francis was one of the first members of the Society of Jesus. Influenced by St. Ignatius and the Spiritual Exercises to dedicate his whole life to Christ, he fought against those in authority who would abuse the native population, cared and nursed the sick and catechized people throughout the Far East. As John Coulson wrote:

“When one considers the conditions of travel, the means of transport, the delays and difficulties which beset him at every stage, the area he covered is physically an astounding achievement. It is even more remarkable when one considers that he left behind him a flourishing church wherever he went and that the effects of his labors remain to the present day.”

St. Francis fell sick and died at the age of 46 while attempting to enter into China. He left the mark of Christ on southern India, Ceylon, Malacca and Japan. He is the patron of foreign missions. The Jesuits hold a special place of honor for St. Francis Xavier, alongside of St. Ignatius.

We should all be grateful for the work of the missionaries who carry the message of Jesus to every part of the world. Hopefully their image and work will challenge us to boldly proclaim Christ in this foreign land of secularism. We should do it not because it’s romantic, but because we love Christ, who commands us to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Alive in faith,


Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee

Surrender

                                                        photo courtesy of go.tonyevans.org                                                                       
Every Wednesday I attend the Catholic young adult event called Cor Jesu, held at St. Robert Parish in Shorewood. This weekly event usually led by Fr. Luke Strand, Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and Fr. John Burns, associate pastor at Christ King Parish in Wauwatosa, draws a great crowd of young adults to participate in a Holy Hour and Mass.

In his homily this past Wednesday, Fr. John reminded us that Jesus fully surrendered to His Father's will, giving up everything in order to take away our sins. Fr. John encouraged us to follow Jesus' example to hold nothing back from our Heavenly Father, to put our stubbornness aside and learn to place all of our trust in Him.

This homily reminded me that even though we are people of God, we don't always trust in God's love and mercy. We know that God wants us to give up everything that we struggle with, all of our sins and failings, yet we are so afraid of opening up to Him. Just as in any other relationship, being an open book can be scary sometimes. We don't want to become vulnerable. We don't want to pour out our hearts to someone, only to be hurt in the end. We so often say to God, "Here, take me as I am. Help me to grow closer to you. I hold nothing back......except for this incident that happened to me where I didn't do what would have wanted me to do.... Don't take this from me, God. I can handle that on my own. I don't really trust in Your love and mercy."

What we often fail to realize time and time again though, is that God's mercy knows no limits. He wants every ounce of our trust. If we want to be a follower of God, then we can't hold anything back. God will constantly forgive us of our past transgressions as long as we lean on Him completely. We need to start learning to let our guards down.

Let's Go To Work

                                                             Photo Courtesy of sfgate.com

“Have Courage! Go Forward! Make noise!” - Pope Francis’s address to youth from the Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio

It’s almost a phrase that one might hear at a sporting event.

Knowing that our world is riddled with sin and destruction, Pope Francis encourages Catholics to wake up and get serious. 

Now is the time for us to put an end to being silent. No longer should we be satisfied with going to Mass with good intentions, and then once it is through, return to our jobs and hide our faith. We need to make an impact in every way possible. Making a noise means to have the courage to express your belief in God everywhere we go. God’s message needs to be heard in the highways and the byways, in our schools, at our jobs, on the playgrounds and street corners. Teach others about Christ and his abundant love and mercy. Be a light to illuminate the darkness in our world. Be a beacon of hope for the broken and downtrodden. 

People need God now more than ever.

The Church needs YOU to bring them back to Him.

This is our battle cry. 

Let’s go to work.