St. Joseph was, The Man

I’ve written a decent amount about St. Joseph over the past 2+ years.  He was awesome.  He was an incredible example of  faith, trust, husbandry, fatherhood and obedience to God.  Watch for more on St. Joseph later in the week.

Pope Benedict, just a few days ago, had this to say about St. Joseph:

ST. JOSEPH, LEGAL FATHER OF JESUS AND “NEW MAN”

VATICAN CITY, 19 DEC 2010 – At midday, fourth Sunday of Advent, the Pope appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Today’s reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew, he said, “recounts the birth of Jesus from the point of view of St. Joseph. He was engaged to Mary who, ‘before they lived together, … was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit'”.

In the text “St. Joseph is presented as a ‘righteous man’, faithful to God’s laws and ready to do His will. For this reason he is admitted into the mystery of the Incarnation after an angel of the Lord, appearing to him in a dream, tells him: ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins’. Thus Joseph abandons his plan to repudiate Mary secretly, and takes her to him because now his eyes see in her the work of God”.

Despite having suffered some anguish, “Joseph acted ‘as the angel of the Lord commanded him’, certain he was doing the right thing. By giving the name of ‘Jesus’ to that Child Who upholds the entire universe, he entered the ranks of the humble and faithful servants, similar to the angels and the prophets, similar to the martyrs and the Apostles. … St. Joseph announced the prodigies of the Lord, bearing witness to Mary’s virginity and to God’s gratuitous action, and protecting the earthly life of the Messiah. Thus we venerate Jesus’ legal father because in him we see the emergence of the new man, who looks with trust and courage to the future, who does not follow his own plans but entrusts himself entirely to the infinite mercy of the One Who fulfils the prophecies, the One Who opens the time of salvation”.

The Pope concluded his remarks by entrusting “all pastors” to St. Joseph, universal patron of the Church, “encouraging them”, he said, “quietly to present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world. … Let us trustingly invoke the Virgin Mary, full of grace ‘adorned by God’, that, during the Christmas which will soon be upon us, our eyes may open and see Jesus, and our hearts may joy at this incredible encounter of love”.

TrueMan up!

Victims of Addiction

During the month of November, one of Pope Benedict XVI’s prayer intentions is for victims of addiction, both those who are addicted, as well as those effected by the addiction of someone else.  It’s important for us to pray for one another, whether we’ve had or have an addiction or not.  For those who are addicted to pornography, I want to say to you that there is hope.  There is freedom outside of pornography abuse.  There are ways to find help and resources out there for you.  If you would like more info, or specific help, or possibly to be referred to a psychotherapist who specializes in pornography addiction, please email us at Info@TrueManhood.com and we can get you in touch with the correct resource.

Take a few minutes to watch this video.  Fr. Kubicki reflects on PBXVI’s prayer intention for November.  Please watch it the whole way through, as there is helpful information about addictions towards the second half.  All the best.

TrueMan up!

World Cup Promise

Just thought it was a cool story…

Madrid, Spain, Jul 14, 2010 / 06:05 pm (CNA).- Spanish soccer player Andres Iniesta, who scored the winning goal during the World Cup final in South Africa, has promised to walk the Way of St. James, which leads to Santiago de Compostela.  The Way of St. James is a pilgrimage route that for centuries brought the faithful from across Europe to the city of Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of the saint are venerated. 

According to the Spanish newspaper, Marca, months before the 2010 World Cup, the members of the Spanish team sent the newspaper sealed envelopes with the promises they would keep if they won the title.

Marca opened the envelopes after Spain’s historic victory on Sunday and found that Iniesta, along with Fernando Torres and Carlos Marchena said they would walk the Way of St. James.

Iniesta also revealed his promise in an interview prior to the World Cup.  Speaking on Spanish television he said he would make the pilgrimage “somehow…I’ll do it however I have to!” His teammate Sergio Busquets, who was with him, made the same promise.

The Spanish media is reminding the players of their promise and although no plans have been officially made, reporters were convinced many fans would share the pilgrimage with them.

This year, Pope Benedict XVI will travel to the city for the Holy Year of St. James 2010, which is celebrated each year that July 25, the saint’s feast, falls on a Sunday. 

The next Year of St. James will be celebrated in 2021.

The Holy Father’s Week

This week marked Pope Benedict XVI’s 83rd birthday.  Happy Birthday to him, and may he have many more!  Recently, in the news, the Holy Father has been under siege by the secular media.  I’ve been debating with myself whether or not to join the discussion, and have decided to say only a few words.

First, Pope Benedict XVI is the successor of St. Peter and with that comes both a great deal of responsibility and [should also come with] a great deal of respect.  Secondly, the media has been everything but respectful, and honestly, they have been downright scandalous in regards to their comments, attacks and accusations.  (I expect nothing less from the media; they are anti-Catholic and despicable.)  Thirdly, Pope Benedict has not, nor does he, nor will he, condone abuse of children, whether it comes in the form of pedophilia, ephebophilia, homosexual acts by priests or other.  He has never, nor will ever, cover up sex-abuse scandal and simply does not operate that way.  The secular media paints a picture of Pope Benedict as the responsible party in the sex-abuse cases over the past 50+ years, and simply put, PB16 does not deserve to be treated this way.

If the faithful take time to realize what’s going on, each of us will see that the salacious claims against PB16 are another ploy by the culture to discredit, undermine and attempt to destroy the Catholic Church.  Pope Benedict is a great shepherd and is leading the Church well.

Knights of Columbus, and others, all around the world have united to pray for protection, strength and clarity for Pope Benedict XVI.  I recommend you join the cause.

TrueMan up!

A Change of Command

In a move that many see as an absolute must, Pope Benedict XVI appointed a new Archbishop to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest diocese in the US, however at the same time, one of the worst off.  Archbishop Gomez, formerly of San Antonio, will be fully installed as Archbishop early in 2011.  His orthodoxy speaks for itself; we should expect to see some big changes in L.A. soon.  I came across this video and laughed quite hard around the 3:00 minute mark, along with other smirks, laughs and downright joy throughout other sections.  If you don’t understand what’s going on here please email me (Dave@TrueManhood.com) or find me on Facebook so that I can answer your questions, clarify any seemingly ‘gray’ areas or explain what’s happening more indepth.

I’m unable to embed the video in the post, so click HERE to watch it.  Wish I could post it directly.

TrueMan Up!

Caritas in Veritate

I snagged this from Zenit.org.  Pope BXVI’s words in this encyclical are a more-than-fitting follow up to my posts on love.  Check it out.

Cardinal Bertone: Encyclical Not Just for Catholics

Based on Natural Law, Appeals to Atheists Too

ROME, JULY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- “Caritas in Veritate” is directed to believers and nonbelievers alike, since it is based on natural law, the Pope’s secretary of state affirmed today to the Italian Senate.

In a presentation which he discussed last week with the vacationing Benedict XVI, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone showed how the Holy Father was able to unite the themes found in the title of his third encyclical: “caritas” and “veritas,” love and truth.

“The Holy Father enables us to understand that these two fundamental realities are not extrinsic to man or imposed in the name of an ideology, but rather are deeply rooted in the human person,” Cardinal Bertone said. “This truth is not only vouched for in Biblical revelation, but can also be understood by every person of good will who uses his reason uprightly in reflecting upon himself.”

The secretary of state explained in this regard that the proposals the Pope makes in his encyclical are based on natural law, which, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms, “expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie.”

In this sense, Cardinal Bertone linked the encyclical with the document recently published (so far only in French and Italian) by the International Theological Commission precisely on natural law. This document, which was begun under the direction of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when he was president of the commission, was explained by the Pope in his April 2008 discourse at the United Nations.

Human rights, he said on that occasion, “are based on the natural law inscribed on human hearts and present in different cultures and civilizations.”

“Removing human rights from this context would mean restricting their range and yielding to a relativistic conception, according to which the meaning and interpretation of rights could vary and their universality would be denied in the name of different cultural, political, social and even religious outlooks,” the Pontiff contended.

Cardinal Bertone explained at the Senate that the document from the theological commission “precisely illustrates how truth and love are essential exigencies for every person, deeply rooted in their being.”

“In his search for the moral good,” he added, “the human person harkens to what he is and becomes aware of the fundamental inclinations of his nature, which move the person toward the goods necessary for his moral fulfillment.”

Man, the cardinal continued, is therefore made to know “the truth in all of its fullness, that is, he is not limited to acquiring technical know-how so as to dominate material reality, but rather open to encounter the Transcendent and to fully live the interpersonal dimension of love, the principle not only of micro-relationships — relationships of friendship, family and groups — but also of macro-relationships — social, economic and political relations.”

“Precisely ‘veritas’ and ‘caritas’ indicate to us the demands of natural law that Benedict XVI presents as the fundamental criteria for reflection of a moral order on the current social-economic reality,” Cardinal Bertone affirmed. Thus, the “proposal of the encyclical is neither of an ideological character nor reserved for those who share faith in divine Revelation, but rather based on fundamental anthropological realities, as are, precisely, truth and charity.”