Book Review - Parallel Lives by Richard F. Cassady

Excerpt:

By comparison, the achievement of Francis of Assisi marked a beginning rather than an end. It is true that Francis's dream of a monastic order that renounced the encumbrance and corruption of property was frustrated by the papacy and by his own successors. Mr. Cassady regards this as the destruction of Francis's work and points to the magnificent and costly double basilica at Assisi as the ultimate betrayal. But it is more complicated than that.

Although the Franciscans were obliged to accept a limited form of property holding, their founder's ideal of a group of missionaries living among the people but marked out from them by a simpler and purer way of life survived intact. The Franciscans transformed the spiritual life of 13th-century Europe, especially among the laity in the growing cities, very much as the Benedictines had transformed the spiritual life of a more rural society centuries before. Although the initial inspiration waned with the passing decades, as such inspirations always do, the Franciscans remained a significant influence on Christian spirituality until the Reformation, and their missionary work since the 16th century has been more impressive, over a longer period, than that of any other group.

Read the entire article here.

Face the Truth Tour - Chicago Area

Face the Truth Tour - Summer 2011

This is such an important issue. I urge everyone to attend any of the locations listed below. I will attend Naperville on July 9, and Daley Plaza on July 12. If you are unable to attend any of these events, I humbly ask you to pray for the participants and the unborn babies.

Tom, S.F.O.

From the Face the Truth web page sponsored by Pro-Life Action League.

Across the country, babies—and their parents—are being saved from abortion by Face the Truth—a bold and effective pro-life initiative that exposes the truth about abortion:

We Need Your Help To Save Babies

Throughout the year, pro-life activists all around the country are conducting Face the Truth tours. Holding pictures of beautiful unborn babies and huge graphic signs of aborted babies, we line the roads at major intersections, to show Americans the truth about abortion.

We need you to help show people that abortion is the deliberate taking of an unborn child's life. If you believe that abortion is murder, this is your chance to stand up and be counted. Join us this summer as we line the roads at major intersections to show our fellow Americans the ugly truth about abortion.

Go Forth and Teach

Jesus told His followers to "go forth and teach." Face the Truth responds to the Gospel call by teaching the truth about abortion. The truth is that abortion kills innocent human beings, made in the image and likeness of God. That is why we must take the pro-life message to the streets of our cities.


We are living in the midst of a national atrocity. Since the 1973 Supreme Court abortion decisions, over forty million children have been destroyed before they were born. Our signs depicting prenatal life and the aborted child reveal the hidden victims of this atrocity.

While the signs are displayed along the roadways, other volunteers distribute literature to passing motorists and pedestrians to help them understand the gravity of the Culture of Death.

See the article and a video at the Pro-Life Action League page at: http://www.prolifeaction.org/truth/

2001 Summer Truth Tour

FRIDAY, JULY 8
JOLIET AREA
9:00-10:30 Joliet
W. Jefferson Street and Larkin Avenue
11:30-1:00 Shorewood
Brook Forest Avenue and Black Road
3:00-4:30 Joliet
Route 59 and Caton Farm Road

SATURDAY, JULY 9
WESTERN SUBURBS
9:00-10:30 Aurora: Planned Parenthood
Eola Road and New York Street
11:30-1:00 Naperville
Washington Street and Ogden Avenue
3:00-4:30 Aurora: Fox Valley Mall
Route 59 and New York Street

SUNDAY, JULY 10
DAY OFF

MONDAY, JULY 11
DOWNTOWN CHICAGO
Note different start and end times this day.
9:30-11:00 Chicago: Kennedy Overpasses
Madison Street and Desplaines Street
11:30-1:00 Chicago: Daley Plaza
Washington Street and Clark Street
3:30-5:30 Chicago: Union and Ogilvie Stations
Madison Street and Wacker Drive

TUESDAY, JULY 12
DOWNTOWN CHICAGO
Note different start and end times this day.
9:30-11:00 Chicago: Buckingham Fountain
Lake Shore Drive and Jackson Boulevard
11:30-1:00 Chicago: Art Institute
Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street
3:30-5:30 Chicago: Union Station
Adams Street and Wacker Drive

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13
WESTERN SUBURBS
9:00-10:30 Elmhurst
Route 83 and St. Charles Road
11:30-1:00 Westmont
Cass Avenue and Ogden Avenue
3:00-4:30 Wheaton
Butterfield Road and Naperville Road

THURSDAY, JULY 14
NORTHWEST SUBURBS
9:00-10:30 Lake Zurich
Rand Road and Main Street
11:30-1:00 Palatine
Rand Road and Dundee Road
3:00-4:30 Arlington Heights
Rand Road and Arlington Heights Road

FRIDAY, JULY 15
SOUTH SIDE
9:00-10:30 Chicago: Washington Heights
99th Street and Halsted Street
11:30-1:00 Chicago: Avalon Park
79th Street and Stony Island Avenue
3:00-4:30 Chicago: Pilsen
Cermak Road and Ashland Avenue

SATURDAY, JULY 16
NEAR NORTH SUBURBS
9:00-10:30 Niles
Milwaukee Avenue and Golf Road
11:30-1:00 Evanston
Davis Street and Ridge Avenue
3:00-4:30 Lincolnwood
Touhy Avenue and McCormick Boulevard

Jerusalem = Heaven

Canterbury Tales has an interesting post entitled "14 Biblical Names for Jerusalem (and How to Read the Psalms like a Catholic)"

Excerpt:

Saint Paul identifies the communion of saints in Heaven as "Jerusalem" and as our mother: “But that Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother” (Galatians 4:26, D-R).

This is another reason why Catholics refer to the Church as the New Jerusalem and as Holy Mother Church. When Catholic priests, monks, and nuns chant the 150 Psalms of David, they often mentally apply the meaning of "Heaven" or "Church" to those passages that refer to "Jerusalem." Saint Paul's use of allegory in Galatians serves as an interpretive key to reading the Old Testament in a spiritual way.

Read the rest here.

Korea's Got Talent - Sung-bong Choi

H/T Deacon's Bench

Great News - Divine Office for Android

Many of us are familiar with the Divine Office Online, http://divineoffice.org/

I while ago they came up with an iPhone/iPad application.

Well I'm happy to tell you there is now an app for Android phones.

You can download it to your phone from:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.surgeworks.divineoffice&fea...

It has a one time charge of $14.99. I'm about to download it for
myself. I will review and post as soon as I can.