Ground Hero WELCOMES our Fleet! 

....However, there is something happy to reflect on this Memorial Day weekend. Fittingly, West Pointers are graduating from the Military Academy tomorrow (Sat, May 22). The West Point Graduation Ceremony will be broadcast Live via the Internet. [Just click the Link.]

And last Wednesday, May 26th, a flotilla of 12 vessels strong sailed through the Narrows under the Verrazano Bridge and into the "Big Apple" port of call to celebrate our 17th Annual Fleet Week here in NYC. The USS Barry led the flotilla with the amphibious assault ships, the USS Iwo Jima, bringing up their rear. (The full compliment of ships are listed in the enclosed link.) They received a 21-guns salute from the gunnery battery at Fort Hamilton while fireboats sprayed a red, white and blue welcoming spray. They are docked over at Manhattan's Piers 86 & 88 on the West Side, and at Staten Island's Stapleton Pier. Eleven US Navy & two US Coast Guard vessels brought thousands of US Marines and sailors back home among us. Come on over and welcome them to New York The Fleet Week vessels will be open to the public from Noon to 5:00 P.M. during this weekend. Here's the NYC FLEET WEEK INFO

While all of America's sailors look forward to partying in Gotham, many exclaimed that they want to see first hand & up front why they are wearing military uniforms and fighting for us. The hallowed World Trade Center "Ground Hero" tops most of their lists. It was here that WWIII began on Feb. 26, 1993 when radical Islamic fundamentalists first attacked the Twin Towers. (9-11 was their promised "unfinished business" -- with yet another looming terrorist hit aimed at NYC. This may be the "capital of the world", but to Moslems it is America itself - the "bulls eye" of the globe.) Expect to see most of these 4,000 men and women silently praying their tributes to fallen comrades there this weekend.

+ UNITED WE PRAY +

(God Answers Knee Mail.) 

Say what you mean - and mean what you say.

"HAPPY Memorial Day", people mindlessly chime. But what's so "happy" about it (other than still being here in this hard-earned land of the free)? This is our annual national day of mourning. It's only because of what that day represents - that the rest of the days of the year can become happy holidays.

[INTERMISSION: Appropriate MUSIC VIDEO ]

Instead of using Memorial Day as a time to honor and reflect on the sacrifices made by Americans in combat, many Americans misuse the day as a celebration of the beginning of summer and a signal to begin wearing white. WRONG! Rather, our Flag should fly at half mast on that day until Noon -- and the "POW/MIA Flag" as well. This is the fourth year that our "National Moment of Remembrance" is reserved for 3:00 P.M. (local time) on each Memorial Day. [In May 1996, the idea of the "Moment" was born when children touring Washington, DC, were asked what Memorial Day meant. They responded, "That’s the day the pools open!"]

The traditional day of observance of Memorial Day is May 30th -- NOT the last Monday of May. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. (Waterloo, New York, was the birthplace of Memorial Day. On May 5, 1865, the people of Waterloo had honored soldiers who had died in the Civil War.) When Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for us to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day.

To keep the number of three day Federal Holidays the same, Armed Forces Day -- the third weekend of every May --could easily become a three-day holiday. On that holiday we can go out and enjoy and celebrate the freedoms won and maintained by our Armed Forces. On Memorial Day we should once again solemnly reflect upon the high cost of that freedom instead of partying.

Keep in mind that 2004 marks the 60th Anniv. of D-Day when the allied invasion of Normandy begun on June 6, 1944. Also, the formal Dedication Ceremony of the World War II Memorial takes place Saturday, May 29, 2004 on the National Mall between 4th and 7th Streets in Washington, D.C. The World War II Memorial is the first and much belated national memorial dedicated to all who served during the Second World War.

Memorial Day has always had a special significance for me. I was named after my father's younger brother, a US Army Air Force Capt. who was shot down over Europe in WWII.

-- "These heroes are dead. They died for liberty-they died for us. They are at rest. They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, the embracing vines. They sleep beneath the shadow of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or storm, each in the windowless palace of rest. Earth may run red with other wars-they are at peace. In the midst of the battles, in the roar of conflicts, they found the serenity of death." ~ (Author Unknown)

Please wear a bloody red poppy to Mass this Sunday. They were our first "yellow ribbons." Proceeds from them benefit our needy servicemen and veterans...


In Flanders Fields
By John McCrae (1915)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

+

Please meditate on this somber MUSIC VIDEO - but prepare to be blown away.

Lefferts City rounds 

Brethren,

Ut oh, after almost 50 years, bishops are suddenly sprouting balls. It could also be said that some have erected raging hard-ons in defense of Christ in The Holy Eucharist. Following their lead (after reaching the saturation point following the abuses of Vatican Council II) Roman Catholics are finally reclaiming their Church. ....Better late then never.

Three weeks ago, the newly installed Ordinary of Camden, NJ, Bishop Joseph Galante, excommunicated the adulterous, liberal Governor James E. McGreevey (Dem.). Others are following suit... This week free-reeling Extraordinary Ministers of Communion NOT "ministers of the eucharist") were finally reigned in while sit-in deacons and priests were kicked off their lazy asses to do what they are ordained to be doing themselves.

Who roused these sleeping purple giants? Did someone slip them viagra? It's a pity that these ultramontane bishops make our own prelates seem cowardly and impotent by comparison. Where is THEIR backbone and intestinal fortitude?

Ever since Francis Cardinal Arinze of Africa, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, presented a new Vatican instruction last month, "Redemptionis Sacramentum" (The Sacrament of Redemption)" On Certain Matters to Be Observed or to Be Avoided Regarding the Most Holy Eucharist," aimed at ensuring the proper celebration and reception of the Eucharist -- and declared that politicians who support abortion must not go to Communion -- a new courage has revitalized The Church.

The 70-page document was written at the request of +John Paul II by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, in collaboration with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Pope's last encyclical "Eucharistia de Ecclesia," published last year, was pastoral. This document is juridical.

There is nothing new within it. In fact, the document does not give new norms, but "specifies" them, the Cardinal said. Simply put: LONG TIME ABUSES HAVE FINALLY BEEN CURTAILED! Because, as the Cardinal also wrote, "The Holy Eucharist is too great for anyone to permit himself to treat It according to his own whim." "....All abuses regarding the Holy Eucharist are not of the same weight," he said. "Some threaten to make The Sacrament invalid. Some are manifestations of deficiency in Eucharistic faith. Others contribute to confusion among the people of God and to growing desacralization of Eucharistic celebrations. They are not banal."

Like a mighty gust of wind, The Holy Spirit is at work!

FOOTNOTE: On March 30, 2000, I wrote, >> "....I expect that the next Pope will be one of the 13 black Cardinals from Africa -- + Francis Cardinal Arinze, Archbishop of Onitsha, Nigeria, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue since 1985. His father was an African witch-doctor and the Cardinal a RC convert. He is dynamic." <<

Thank you, Jesus.
-- Fr. Steve +

Read the document: http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=52462 Anyway, this is what my spiel is leading into...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Defiant Catholic Voters Shouldn't Receive Communion, Say 2 Bishops
Prelates in Colorado and Oregon Extend Warnings Beyond Politicians

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, MAY 14, 2004 (ZENIT) --- Bishop Michael Sheridan says that Catholics should not receive Communion if they vote for politicians who defy Church teaching by supporting abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia or stem-cell research. (AMEN! -- Steve+)

The Colorado Springs Bishop delivered this message in a pastoral letter published last week.

A similar idea was presented by Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland, Oregon, who also spelled out his position in a newspaper column last week.

Bishop Sheridan, 59, wrote in his pastoral letter: "Anyone who professes the Catholic Faith with his lips while at the same time publicly supporting legislation or candidates that defy God's law makes a mockery of that Faith and belies his identity as a Catholic."

In a telephone interview, the Bishop told the New York Times: "I'm not making a political statement. I'm making a statement about Church teaching." (HALLELUIAH! -- Steve +)

In his pastoral letter http://www.diocesecs.org/home%20page/bishopSheridan.htm he wrote: "Among the many distortions and misrepresentations that prevail in the current debates about the relationship between religion and the social order (politics) is the assertion that faith and politics are to be kept separated. This, apparently, is based upon the American doctrine of the separation of church and state.

"In fact," he continued, "the wall that separates church and state is the safeguard against both the establishment of a state religion and the imposition of sectarian religious beliefs and practices, such as particular denominational forms of worship or theological tenets. In no way does the American doctrine of separation of church and state even suggest that the well-formed consciences of religious people should not be brought to bear on their political choices."

After explaining the obligation of the faithful and Catholic politicians to show their faith in public, Bishop Sheridan wrote: "There must be no confusion in these matters. Any Catholic politicians who advocate for abortion, for illicit stem cell research or for any form of euthanasia 'ipso facto' place themselves outside full communion with the Church and so jeopardize their salvation."

"Any Catholics who vote for candidates who stand for abortion, illicit stem cell research or euthanasia suffer the same fateful consequences," wrote the prelate.

"It is for this reason that these Catholics, whether candidates for office or those who would vote for them, may not receive Holy Communion until they have recanted their positions and been reconciled with God and the Church in the Sacrament of Penance," Bishop Sheridan stated.

Archbishop Vlazny, in his column in the Catholic Sentinel newspaper, touched on the same points.

"Should Catholics who choose to vote for pro-choice politicians refrain from reception of the Holy Communion?" he asked. "If they vote for them precisely because they are pro-choice," the Portland prelate continued, "I believe they too should refrain from the reception of Holy Communion because they are not in communion with The Church on a serious matter.

"But if they are voting for that particular politician because, in their judgment, other candidates fail significantly in some matters of great importance, for example, war and peace, human rights and economic justice, then there is no evident stance of opposition to Church teaching and reception of Holy Communion seems both appropriate and beneficial."

Archbishop Vlazny, 67, added: "Catholics who do support pro-choice politicians still have serious responsibilities with regard to their stance on this matter. They must make it very clear to these politicians and governmental leaders that their support is in no way based on the pro-choice advocacy of these political leaders."

### 30 ###

<==============<<<< T >>>>==============>
"Ecce Crucem Domini; fugite partes adversae!
Vicit Leo de tribu Judae, Radix David, Alleluia, Alleluia!"
Behold the Cross of the Lord; fly, all hostile powers!
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Root of David,
hath conquered, Alleluia, Alleluia!
"Begone, hostile fiend, vanquished by the Lion of Judah!
Here reigns the Tau Cross of Saint Antony!
Thou has no power over the clients of St. Anthony of Padua!"
T <===<<<< "SAINT ANTHONY'S BRIEF" >>>>===> T