Pray for the Dubruiel Family

Updates below ↓

I just got this from Dom Bettinelli of Bettnet.com and Thomas Peters of the American Papist concerning Amy Welborn (of Charlotte Was Both blog) and her husband who passed away this morning:

Michael collapsed this morning at the gym and was not able to be revived despite the efforts of EMTs and hospital personnel.

We are devastated and beg your prayers.

Please keep Michael, Amy, and their beautiful family in your prayers.

May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Eternal light grant him, O Lord.  And please, Holy Mother of Sorrows, be with Amy and their poor children as they face this tragedy.

(Thank you Mark Shea, you are so good with words when it comes to prayers)

Update #1 (2-4-2009 AD, 4:45pm CST):

A collection to support Amy Welborn and her surviving family has been started up by Danielle Bean.  For the link click here.

(Biretta Tip: Jay Anderson)

Update #2 (2-4-2009 AD, 5:25pm CST)

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf is celebrating a Mass for Michael Dubruiel and his surviving family here.

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Sad Days For the Legionnaires & Regnum Christi

Via Amy Welborn:

A year ago last week – January 30 – Legionary of Christ founder Marcial Maciel died in Houston and was, a few days later, buried in Mexico, rather than the tomb that had been constructed for him in Rome.

Over the past week, with more intensity over the weekends, rumblings have been heard about the Legionaries of Christ and their founder, Maciel. The rumblings have now reached the level of blogs, so here we go.

Dissidents & Mainstream Media Attack Papa Bene

Updates below ↓, Hans Küng accuses His Holiness of being “egomaniacal” (more below).

A dissident Catholic theologian from Germany is calling on the Pope to “resign”.  Hermann Haering is the “theologian” in question who is asking for His Holiness’ resignation.  Even the German Chancellor, Angela Merkell, has asked the Pope to strongly rebuke Williamson and distance himself from it–which he has already done though many in the secular world fail to recognize.  What do they want, Richard Williamsons’ head on a stake?
 
We should always take what the mainstream media reports with a grain of salt.  The mainstream media has more times than not, reported with a bias against the Catholic Church.  With dissident Catholics such as Hermann Hearing, anything they say will be grasped upon quickly for a cheap shot against the Catholic Church.  The smear campaign has begun in full throttle just as Fr. John Zuhlsdorf forewarned us about;  Anti-Catholics and dissidents are coming out of the seeping cracks to take potshots at our Pope.

The Poor You Will Always Have With You

We have a very strong tendency to throw around certain Bible passages when we feel they suit our needs. First and foremost of these in dialogue about Catholic Social Teaching and the proper role of government in aiding the needy is Matthew 26:11, in which Jesus states: “The poor you will always have with you.” (NAB)

The most unfortunate tendency in using this quote is to justify doing very little to help the poor. In arguments, it is used to excoriate any governmental welfare program, noting that since the poor will always be with us, the governmental efforts will not succeed, and therefore that justifies doing nothing at all. We all know, of course, that Jesus never meant this statement to be an acknowledgement of futility, or an advocation of doing nothing. But certainly the context of the quote seems telling.

Hope

Our President is first and foremost a political animal.  The fact that his reversal of the Mexico City Policy banning the use of funds for foreign groups that advocate abortion was, according to Gallup, supported by only 35% of Americans will hopefully give him food for thought.

The Coming Persecution?

Hattip to Jay Anderson at Pro Ecclesia, who has an unerring ability to snag stories that pass underneath my radar.