This is a syndicated post from On This Rock. [Read the original article…]
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Wikatechesis™ – Catholic Teaching on Subsidiarity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Political decisions should be taken at a local level if possible, rather than by a central authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority […]
PASCENDI DOMINICI GREGIS – ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X ON THE DOCTRINES OF THE MODERNISTS
To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See. Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction. The office divinely committed to Us of feeding the Lord’s flock has especially this duty assigned to it by Christ, namely, to guard with the greatest vigilance the deposit of the […]
Wikatechesis™ – Catholic Teaching on Purgatory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Purgatory is the condition of purification or temporary punishment by which those who die in a state of grace are believed to be made ready for Heaven. This theological notion has ancient roots and is well-attested in early Christian literature, but the poetic conception of purgatory as a geographically situated […]
Wikatechesis™ – Catholic Teachings on Contraception
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Background The Catholic Church has been opposed to contraception for as far back as one can historically trace.[3][4] Many early Catholic Church Fathers made statements condemning the use of contraception including John Chrysostom, Jerome, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus of Rome, Augustine of Hippo and various others.[5][6][7] Among the condemnations is […]
Wikatechesis™ – Perpetual Virginity of Mary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary expresses the Virgin Mary’s “real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to Jesus the Son of God made Man”. According to the doctrine, Mary was ever-virgin for the whole of her life, making Jesus her only biological son, […]
Answered the Pope Francis Baptism Challenge
Syndicated from Father John Hollowell on February 6th, 2015
The King, the Pope, and the President at the National Prayer Breakfast
Syndicated from NCRegister on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from The Daily Register. [Read the original article…]
By Peter Jesserer Smith | King Abdullah II of Jordan, Pope Francis, and President Barack Obama each had messages for Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, all of which conveyed that the true nature of religion lay in the paths of peace, mercy and…
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Writer, Major Gifts – Catholic Relief Services (Baltimore, MD)
Syndicated from CatholicJobs.com on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from CatholicJobs.com. [Read the original article…]
WRITER, MAJOR GIFTS
Fundraising, FT Employee
Catholic Relief Services (Baltimore, MD)
Dept/Location: Charitable Giving/Baltimore, MD
Band: D
FLSA: Exempt
Reports to: Senior Managing Editor, CG
About CRS:
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Job Summary:
The Major Giving Writer creates written materials for use in stewardship and solicitation of individual major donors, family foundations, planned giving and annual giving. Primarily, she/he will be responsible for the stewardship reporting process and related communications resources for Family Foundation and Philanthropy, major gifts. Cross divisional writing projects will also be assigned as necessary for the advancement of projects and other related priorities of the organization.
Job Responsibilities:
• In collaboration with the Editorial and Stewardship, create stewardship reports for restricted gifts and other materials to facilitate cultivation of individual major donors and to meet reporting needs of family foundation grants, in keeping with CRS branding and editorial standards.
• Manage the stewardship report pipeline, anticipating due dates for reports, communicating with country programs, request draft reports on a timely basis, writing and/or editing the reports as necessary, and liaise with the Regional Development Directors and HQ team to ensure quality and an efficient system.
• Provide stewardship support for Signature Funding Opportunities (SFOs) as needed, including developing talking points for Regional Development Directors, coordinating communications on SFOs, and coordination with Editorial, Marketing and Communications staff and other appropriate staff/departments with regards to strategies and communications plans for the SFOs.
• As requested, prepare compelling proposals, appeals and brochures for the solicitation of major gifts (over $10,000) for individual and family foundation grants to fund CRS’ programming.
• Prepare written materials for Planned Giving, Annual Giving, Alternative Giving, and mass communications as assigned.
• Develop good working relationships across Charitable Giving and the agency, attending cross-divisional meetings as required.
• Manage the Major Gifts online proposal and report libraries, ensuring solicitation and stewardship resources for use by Major Gift Officers are current.
• Produce cover letters, acknowledgements, and related documents as needed.
• Other writing and reporting duties, as assigned.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning
Supervisory Responsibilities: None
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: Editorial Team, Major Giving Unit, Charitable Giving, Country Programs, Communications Department in HQ and Regional Information Officers, Creative Services, Publications, Overseas Operations, US Operations,
External: Major Donors, Family Foundations, Annual Giving and Planned Giving; Prospective Major Donors
Personal Skills:
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Ability to quickly read, comprehend, analyze and synthesize reports and other materials about agency initiatives and related global issues.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines
• Ability to work well across departments and country programs; build and strengthen relationships; encourage timely reporting while respecting the demanding context at the field level
• Team player who can work independently in a complex environment
• Creativity, confidence and communicative
• Highly organized
• Shows good judgment regarding when to involve others in decision making
Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s Degree in English, Communications, Humanitarian Development or related field
• Demonstrated research, writing, and editing skills; writing samples required
• 3-5 years’ experience in fundraising or nonprofit communications preferred; successful experience in proposal writing preferred
• Proficient in PC software packages, including: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint etc.
• Background in global relief and development issues, a plus
• Advanced document design experience a plus
Physical Requirements/Environment: Standard office environment
Disclaimer:
This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
Note: All candidates must be legally eligible to work in the U.S. at the time of application.
EOE/M/F/D/V
https://www5.apply2jobs.com/CRS/ProfExt/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExternal.showJob&RID=2217&CurrentPage=1 (5)
Day Shift Unit Manager – Full Time – St. Ignatius Nursing and Rehab Center (Philadelphia, PA)
Syndicated from CatholicJobs.com on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from CatholicJobs.com. [Read the original article…]
DAY SHIFT UNIT MANAGER – FULL TIME
Healthcare/Medicine, FT Employee
St. Ignatius Nursing and Rehab Center (Philadelphia, PA)
A mission driven, not-for-profit, five star nursing and rehab center is looking for a Full Time Day Shift Unit Manager. This position will direct our newly renovated Rehab unit. You must be passionate about enhancing the quality of life of our residents and staff. We have an excellent nursing/resident ratio and stable and supportive administration. Short Term, and or Step-Down experience preferred.
Bring your nursing and management skills and help us continue our sixty-two year tradition of excellence. Excellent salary, benefits and work environment. Call 215-349-8800, x213 or send a letter of interest and a resume to Bob Gilbert at [REMOVED – SEE ORIGINAL LISTING] Fax 215.222.3078. EEOC Employer (6)
St. John Paul II’s Seven Lessons for Statesmen (and Sinners)
Syndicated from NCRegister on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from The Daily Register. [Read the original article…]
By PETER JESSERER SMITH | WASHINGTON —St. John Paul II’s pontificate offers seven valuable lessons on exercising prudence in the modern world, according to the saint’s Witness to Hope biographer.
“No pope, going back to St. Peter, gets everything…
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Mk 6:1-6 Of Music and God
Syndicated from Fr. Alfonse on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from Daily Meditations with Fr. Alfonse. [Read the original article…]
Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(Click here for readings)
By SOPHIE DRUFFNER
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples… He was amazed at their lack of faith.
“Thursday of the Do you believe in God?”
The assistant orchestra director stands in front of the Honors Orchestra, asking us the all-important question. She is asking us this question because we are playing religious music, written by a composer who was deeply in love with God, and she wants us to understand the attitude in which the composer wrote it. Looking down at my plaid skirt and saddle shoes, there seems to only be one answer: “Of course.” Didn’t I go to mass every weekend and participate in the prayer before every class and advisory? Didn’t I talk about religion and morals with my friends, discussing different viewpoints and situations? Didn’t I believe in God?
Of course.
Just as all this is running through my mind, another student says: “Sometimes. It’s kind of off and on.”
The gift of being open-minded is about stepping into the other person’s shoes, imagining what they are feeling and their prior experience. So I stepped into this student’s shoes, and it didn’t take me long to figure out why he had replied “Sometimes.” As I walked down the hallway after class, I asked myself if I believed in God, right at this second. I asked myself if every single time the priest held up that little wafer that I believed that God was present within it. I asked myself if I believed that he was out there right now, at this very nanosecond, just being Himself. And it was much harder to say “Of course.”
Again, in the dining hall, I was talking with my friends about something another classmate had said, and everyone laughed. Although I giggled, I asked myself again: Do I believe in God?
As I fixed my hair in the mirror before class (a usually fruitless task), I asked myself a third time: “Do I believe in God?” “Right now?” I responded. In the restroom, in front of the mirror? And it was a little harder to say “Of course.”
You see, for me, believing in God was a question for theology and philosophy classes (“The possibility that there is not a God does not disprove the possibility that there is a God”), for school masses and chapel. It was a question of beliefs, beliefs which I didn’t think about at every moment of every day. God was there whenever I needed Him because that was the way I viewed our relationship. When I didn’t need Him, I didn’t think about Him. I didn’t think that He wanted me to; after all, he was too busy looking after the sparrows and the seven billion others in the world.
And then it was school mass, and the priest held up the bit of flour and water and said “This is the Body of Christ.” It is so unbelievable that this was the same wafer that martyrs died for, that Jesus died for, that this was truly the torn and bloody Body of Christ taken down from the cross over two thousand years ago. When I lifted the Cup to my lips, I imagined myself touching my lips to the wounds of Christ, the same blood shed now that was shed over two thousand years ago. It cannot be scientifically proven; it is not a theory backed up by studies and evidence. Yet it is faith, backed by the reason that within Christ’s very self was the link between Heaven and Earth, for He was wholly divine and wholly human. Christ, both fully human and fully divine, told us that this Bread was his Body, that this Wine was his Blood; and for that reason, it must be the ultimate truth.
Remember how much a paper cut hurts, and how so much more a scar from surgery pains one? The Son of God loved you so much that he endured a myriad of papercuts and innumerable scars because He loves you so much. He wants so much that you think of him almost every second, that you pray without ceasing, that you show a huge amount of faith and believe that there is more than death. And he wants your faith in works, not just empty “Amens,” spirited hymns, or the Creed proclaimed loudly. He wants you to constantly ask yourself that, if you believe in God, if what you are doing is in accordance with his way of love, if what you are doing is truly Christian. Even if you do not believe in the saving death of Jesus, if you are Muslim or Jewish, you can ask yourself, Am I doing what God wants me to do? And any faith tradition can ask themselves the question: Are my actions following the teachings of my faith tradition? Am I honoring others by my actions? (Hindus believe in many gods with one ultimate reality, and generally, Buddhists do not believe in a personal God).
Are you telling the truth, are you truly listening to a person and giving them the full dignity that they deserve, are you defending a person’s right to life, liberty, and happiness, are you stepping into someone else’s shoes…on all issues?
Do you believe in God?
He, the Person who created your first neuron, walks with you. He is above you and beside you, to the right, and to the left. He is watching your back and he knows where you placed things before you lost them. He is your partner and he is always there. Touch your lips to the wounds of God the Son, imagine His pain, imagine his Sacrifice, and remember to “pray without ceasing,” in your every syllable, in your every hand gesture, “for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
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Director of Theological Studies – Saint Lawrence Catholic Campus Center (Lawrence, KS)
Syndicated from CatholicJobs.com on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from CatholicJobs.com. [Read the original article…]
DIRECTOR OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
Education: University/College, FT Employee
Saint Lawrence Catholic Campus Center (Lawrence, KS)
The Saint Lawrence Institute for Faith and Culture invites applications for Director of Theological Studies. The successful candidate will teach a broad range of introductory courses, e.g. apologetics, moral theology, salvation history, as well as elective courses in theology to students at the University of Kansas. While the position is for a generalist, we welcome those conversant in the work of Aquinas. Applicants should hold at least an M.A. in theology but a Ph.D. in theology, S.T.D., or equivalent (ABD considered) is preferred.
This person will be responsible for the Institute’s theological curriculum and be a part of the Saint Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, one of the premiere Catholic campus centers in the country. The person will teach from six to nine hours a semester. The ideal candidate will have a heart for university students, be able to engage with them outside the classroom and expand enrollment.
A significant number of students enrolled in the theological courses are part of the Institute’s newly-created Humanitas program for KU students. The theologian, as part of the normal course offerings, will teach the core theology classes for this program and serve on the faculty of Humanitas. A qualified candidate will have an appreciation of a Catholic, integrated, liberal arts education, the Great Books and an entrepreneurial spirit. Additional responsibilities include advising graduate and professional student groups and editing the Institute’s journal, Thesauri Ecclesiae.
The Saint Lawrence Institute for Faith and Culture also provides formational and educational opportunities for Catholic faculty and staff at KU. For more information view the Institute’s Philosophical Statement and Academic Catalog.
Qualified applicants should send (1) a cover letter, (2) CV, (3) a statement of teaching excellence, and (4) three letters of recommendation to: Patrick Callahan, Dean of Humanitas, St. Lawrence Institute for Faith and Culture, 1631 Crescent Road, Lawrence, KS 66044. Applicants are encouraged to submit materials via email to [REMOVED – SEE ORIGINAL LISTING] Initial review of applications begins March 2, 2015. (10)
Principal – Our Lady Academy (Bay St. Louis, MS)
Syndicated from CatholicJobs.com on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from CatholicJobs.com. [Read the original article…]
PRINCIPAL
Education: Middle/High School, FT Employee
Our Lady Academy (Bay St. Louis, MS)
Our Lady Academy – Call for Candidates for Principal
Mississippi’s Only All-Female Catholic School
Grades 7-12
222 South Beach Blvd. – Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
(228)467-7048 / www.ourladyacademy.com
Established in 1971, Our Lady Academy (OLA) is Mississippi’s only all-female Catholic school. We are pleased to announce that we are seeking a results-oriented, visionary leader for the position of Principal to officially begin on July 1, 2015 or earlier. The selection process will be complete by April 1, 2015.
Do you have what we are looking for?
• Spiritual – A Catholic in full communion with the Catholic Church and a participating member of a Catholic Parish with the ability to build a Christian community as the spiritual, educational and managerial leader of the school;
• Educational – An administrator with demonstrated responsibility and accountability, who holds a license in School Administration from the State of Mississippi, a Master’s degree in Administration and Supervision (required), and has administrative experience (preferably at least 3 years) and 5 years of teaching experience in a Catholic school.
• Managerial – A visionary leader with a proven track record of accountability who is adept at curriculum development and faculty supervision, and can inspire others to believe in the mission and identity of our Catholic schools;
• Advancement, Public and Alumnae Relations – Ability to increase enrollment, market the school and engage stakeholders to share their time, talent and treasure.
Compensation/Benefits
• Competitive base salary depending on experience
• Comprehensive and competitive benefits plan including a diocese healthcare and retirement plan
What should you do to apply?
If you are an ideal fit to be our Principal and have the drive and determination to lead our school to the next level, please complete the application on www.biloxidiocese.org. (Go to Ministries, Education, Department of Education Documents, Employment Application) or access directly at
http://www.biloxidiocese.org/documents/1648_Teacher_Employment_Appli.pdf
Questions? Contact Search Committee Chair Yvonne Gelpi at [REMOVED – SEE ORIGINAL LISTING]
RESUME DEADLINE MARCH 16, 2015
To learn more about OLA, go to www.ourladyacademy.com.
To learn more about the community, a Quality of Life link can be found at www.HancockMSMyHome.com. (10)
"The song of truth needs the song of beauty."
Syndicated from Kathleen Pluth on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from The Chant Café. [Read the original article…]
Would you speak the Happy Birthday song? Then why not sing the Mass?
Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth on The Spirituality of Gregorian Chant.
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Modern martyrs are massacred by ‘corrupt people who hate Jesus,’ Pope says
Syndicated from CNA Daily News on February 6th, 2015
This is a syndicated post from CNA Daily News. [Read the original article…]
Vatican City, Feb 6, 2015 / 07:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his homily on Friday Pope Francis said that he is moved whenever he thinks of the many Christians killed for their faith, and encouraged faithful to remember them and their courageous witness.
“I think of our martyrs, the martyrs of our times, men, women, children who are being persecuted, hated, driven out of their homes, tortured, massacred,” the Pope told attendees of his Feb. 6 Mass, held in the chapel of the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse.
This martyrdom, he said, “is not a thing of the past: this is happening right now. Our martyrs, who are meeting their end under the authority of corrupt people who hate Jesus Christ.”
Friday also marked the feast of Japanese martyr St. Paul Miki and his 25 companions, who were killed in hatred of the faith in Nagasaki on Feb. 5, 1597.
On the feast commemorating their sacrifice, the Pope said that it would do the Church well to think about martyrs. While Paul Miki and his companions were an essential witness of their time, the pontiff urged attendees to “think of our present-day ones! Of 2015.”
Pope Francis also recalled the death of John the Baptist in the day’s first reading, who was beheaded after speaking out against Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife.
Although John the Baptist is referred to in scripture as “the greatest man born of woman,” at the end of his life he becomes “so very small” through his imprisonment and death at the hands of a king “both fascinated and puzzled” by him.
“That perplexed king becomes capable of making a decision, not because his heart was converted, but because the wine gave him courage,” the Roman Pontiff observed.
“So John ends his life under the authority of a mediocre, drunk and corrupt king, at the whim of a dancer and the vindictive hatred of an adulteress. That's how the Great Man ends his life, the greatest man born of woman.”
The Pope confessed that “I get emotional” when reading the passage because it reminds him of all those who give their life for the faith.
Pope Francis said that John the Baptist’s final days before his death, during which he suffered doubts that Jesus was truly the one for whom he prepared the way, makes him think of the road we all take, and “where we will all end up.”
“This makes me think of myself: I too will meet my end. We all will. No one can ‘buy’ their life,” he said.
He concluded his homily by noting how each person is traveling on the road of “the existential annihilation of life” faced by both John the Baptist and Jesus on the cross, and prayed “that this annihilation is as similar as possible to that of Jesus Christ.”
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