Sunday, December 16, 2012

Gaudium et Spes



Vatican II: Gaudium et Spes

A Summary Article by Gerald Darring




The Council expresses a desire to engage in conversation with the entire human family (a. 3) so that the Church can help shed light on the human mystery and cooperate in solving contemporary problems (a. 10). It addresses this Constitution to Catholics, to all Christians, and to the whole of humanity (a. 2).

The Church has the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel (a. 4), and in line with this the Council expresses its own view of contemporary society. It says that we are in a new age of human history, since the social and cultural circumstances of life have profoundly changed (a. 54). The human race has passed from a rather static concept of reality to a more dynamic, evolutionary one (a. 5). We are undergoing a cultural and social transformation (a. 4) resulting in rapid changes in industrialization, urbanization, communication, and socialization (a. 6) as well as changes in attitudes, values, and norms of behavior (a. 7). We are witnessing a healthy evolution toward unity and a process of wholesome socialization (a. 42). Increasing socialization can cause problems but it also offers opportunities for the positive development of the human person (a. 25). Modern technical advances are promoting a growing interdependence among people (a. 23), which tightens and spreads by degrees over the whole world (a. 26).

We are on the road to a more thorough development of human personality and to a growing discovery and vindication of our rights (a. 41). There is growing awareness of human dignity, of rights and duties that belong to everyone and cannot be taken away (a. 26). People are claiming the rights deprived them through injustice or unequal distribution (a. 9); they thirst for a full and free life worthy of humans (a. 9). A keener sense of human dignity is leading to a political environment more protective of human rights (a. 73).

There is a mounting increase in the sense of autonomy as well as of responsibility: we are witnessing the birth of a new humanism in which humanity is defined in terms of social and historical responsibility (a. 55). Under these circumstances it is now possible to free most of humanity from the misery of ignorance (a. 60).

These positive signs noted by the Council are countered by several negative signs. Splits have developed within individuals, families, races, and nations (a. 8). Many find it difficult to identify permanent values and apply them to changing circumstances (a. 4), and one of the more serious errors of our age is the split between people's faith and their daily lives (a. 43).

Social disturbances take place, resulting in part from natural economic, political and social tensions, but at a deeper level they result from pride and selfishness (a. 25). The magnified power of humanity threatens to destroy the race itself (a. 37). Wars continue their devastation, and the fierce character of warfare threatens to result in unsurpassed savagery (a. 79). Even when no war is being waged, the world is constantly beset by strife and violence (a. 83).

The Council concludes that the modern world shows itself at once powerful and weak, capable of the noblest deeds or the foulest; before it lies the path to freedom or to slavery, to progress or retreat, to community or hatred (a. 9).

The Council sets out to establish a working relationship with the world in which it finds itself, for the Church goes forward together with humanity and experiences the same earthly lot which the world does (a. 40). The followers of Christ share the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of today's people, especially those who are poor (a. 1), and Christians are joined with the rest of society in the search for truth (a. 16).

The People of God and the human race render service to each other (a. 11). The Church serves as a leaven and as a kind of soul for human society (a. 40). It can contribute to making people and history more human (a. 40), opening up to people the meaning of their own existence (a. 41). The Church can inject into modern society the force of its faith and love put into vital practice (a. 42). The universality of the Church enables it to serve as a bond between diverse human communities (a. 42). The Church respects all the true, good, and just elements found in human institutions (a. 42), and Christians living and working in the world are bound to penetrate the world with a Christian spirit (a. 43). The Church can and ought to be enriched by the development of human social life, and indeed the Church has profited richly by the history and development of humanity (a. 44). Whoever works to better the world contributes to the Church as well (a. 44).

While defining the Church's relationship to the world, the Council restates as well the mission of the church. The Church has a saving and an eschatological purpose which can be fully attained only in the future world (a. 40). The Church's mission is religious and not in the political, economic or social order, but this religious mission can help the human community structure itself properly (a. 42).

The mission of the Church includes these religious and less specifically religious goals: to reveal the mystery of God (a. 41); to make God present and in a sense visible (a. 21); to communicate God's life to people and cast the reflected light of that life over the entire earth (a. 40); to carry forward the work of Christ under the lead of the Spirit (a. 3); to preach the Gospel to everyone and dispense the treasures of grace (a. 89); to guard the heritage of God's Word and draw from it moral and religious principles (a. 33); to work that God's Kingdom may come, and that the salvation of the whole human race may come to pass (a. 45); to scrutinize the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel (a. 4); to hear, distinguish and interpret the many voices of our age, and judge them in the light of God's Word (a. 44); to promote unity (a. 42); to stimulate and advance human and civic culture (a. 58); to foster and elevate all that is found to be true, good and beautiful in the human community (a. 76); to shed on the whole world the radiance of the Gospel message, and to unify under one Spirit all people of whatever nation, race or culture (a. 92).

Asserting that the Church can open up to people the meaning of their own existence (a. 41), the Council addresses the human person and human activity and experience. It says that people are more precious for what they are than for what they have (a. 35). The dignity of the human person applies to the human body, good and honorable, which God created and will raise up on the last day (a. 14); the human intellect, which shares in the light of the divine mind (a. 15); and the human conscience, the most secret core and sanctuary of a person where one is alone with God (a. 16). Human dignity demands the freedom to direct oneself toward goodness (a. 17).

Human work constitutes an unfolding of God's creation, and human accomplishments are a sign of God's grace (a. 34). Human progress is good, but it tempts us to seek our own interests and not those of others (a. 37). We find ourselves fully only in giving ourselves sincerely to others (a. 24)

Human experience includes both the call to grandeur and the depths of misery (a. 13). All human activity is threatened by pride and must be purified by the power of Christ's cross and resurrection (a. 37). The human mystery takes on light only in the mystery of the Word made flesh, whose Spirit offers to every person the possibility of being associated with the saving events of Jesus (a. 22). The riddle of human existence grows most acute in the face of death, yet revelation tells us that God created us for life beyond death and Christ has freed us from death (a. 18).

The Council acknowledges that people want to know the meaning of life and death, and they can never be altogether indifferent to the problems of religion (a. 41). The recognition of God is not hostile to human dignity (a. 21), and indeed the basic source of human dignity lies in our call to communion with God (a. 19). There is not a mutual opposition between faith and science (a. 36), nor is there an opposition between professional and social activities on the one hand, and religious life on the other (a. 43). Religion is being purified of superstition at the same time that growing numbers of people are abandoning religion in practice (a. 7).

The Council argues against a concept of religion which includes only worship and moral living: it asserts that religion also includes involvement in earthly affairs (a. 43). It also argues against discriminatory attitudes involving religion. All discrimination based on religion is contrary to God's intent and must be overcome and eradicated (a. 29), and we ought to respect and love those who think or act differently from us in religious matters (a. 28).

Noting with approval that there is a steadily growing respect for people of other religions (a. 73), the Council attempts to conduct a respectful dialogue with atheists. Atheism is one of the most serious problems of our age (a. 19). The word atheism is used to cover a number of different attitudes and approaches (a. 19). Atheism arises from different causes, and believers themselves frequently bear some responsibility for the atheism of others, concealing rather than revealing the authentic face of God (a. 19). Atheism often reflects a desire to be totally independent of God, so that humans can be an end unto themselves (a. 20). Atheism can also result from the anticipation of human liberation solely through economic and social efforts, while viewing religion as an obstacle because it arouses hope for a deceptive future life (a. 20). Atheism raises weighty questions, which should be examined seriously (a. 21). The remedy to atheism is a proper presentation and living out of our faith (a. 21). There must be dialogue so that believers and unbelievers can work together for a better world (a. 21).

In line with the mission of the Church to guard the heritage of God's Word and draw from it moral and religious principles (a. 33), the Constitution includes some general moral statements which the Council wants us to reflect on before proceeding on to the concrete problems of today's world: --All human activity must harmonize with the genuine good of the human race (a. 35); --We cannot, through laziness or lack of concern, be satisfied with a merely individualistic morality (a. 30), for God created us not for life in isolation but for the formation of social unity (a. 32); --Serving and living and working with others strengthens our freedom (a. 31); --Only in freedom can we direct ourselves toward goodness (a. 17); --One must obey one's conscience, for according to it one will be judged (a. 16); --An improper hierarchy of values results in self-centeredness (a. 37); --The acknowledgment of personal rights does not imply exemption from every requirement of divine law (a. 41); --What divine revelation makes known to us conforms with experience (a. 13); --We often experience an imbalance between a concern for practicality and efficiency, and the demands of moral conscience (a. 8); --We can love and respect others who think or act differently from us without becoming indifferent to truth or goodness (a. 28); --We must distinguish between error and the person in error: the error must always be rejected while the person never loses the dignity of being a human person (a. 28).

In addition to these general moral statements, the Council also offers a number of guidelines for social justice intended to help humanity establish a political, social and economic order which will serve people and affirm and develop their dignity (a. 9).

The Council promotes respect for both individuals and the community. It asserts that the beginning, the subject and the goal of all social institutions is and must be the human person (a. 25). Respect for human dignity means that everyone must have what they need to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, shelter, the freedom to choose a state of life and found a family, the right to education, employment, a good reputation, respect, appropriate information, action in good conscience, protection of privacy, and religious freedom (a. 26). God made us into one family, and we should treat one another in a spirit of community (a. 24). Every social group must respect the needs and aspirations of other groups as well as the general welfare of the entire human family (a. 26). We must make ourselves the neighbor of every person without exception, and each of us must consider every neighbor without exception as another self (a. 27).

The dignity of the individual and the community demands respect for life: whatever is opposed to life poisons human society, harms its practitioner, and dishonors the Creator (a. 27). It also demands respect and love for those who think or act differently from us in social, political, and religious matters (a. 28). We must recognize the basic equality of all people: all discrimination is contrary to God's intent and must be overcome and eradicated (a. 29).

Both the individual and the community have obligations to each other: human institutions must work to safeguard basic human rights (a. 29), while at the same time each person must contribute to the common good and must support the private and public institutions which work for a better world, and one of our primary duties is the observance of social laws and precepts (a. 30)

The Council teaches that we have a mandate to govern the world with justice and holiness (a. 34), so that we have a duty imposed upon us to build a better world based upon truth and justice (a. 55). Believers and unbelievers alike must work for a better world (a. 21); we must work together without violence and deceit to build up the world in genuine peace (a. 92). This task demands that we recognize that technical advances are worth less than the work we do for justice, community, and social order (a. 35), and that the effort to establish a universal community is not a hopeless one (a. 38).

The Council has some messages directed primarily to members of the Church. It says that our hope related to the end of time does not diminish in any way our duty to address contemporary problems (a. 21); the expectation of a new earth must not weaken but rather stimulate our concern for cultivating this one (a. 39). Christians should seek and think of those things which are above, but this duty should increase their obligation to work with others for a better world (a. 57) and those Christians are mistaken who think they can shirk their earthly responsibilities just because we seek a life to come (a. 43). The Christian message holds us bound to build up the world and be concerned for the welfare of others (a. 34), and the teaching of Christ requires that we forgive injuries and love our enemies (a. 28). We must foster within the Church itself mutual esteem, reverence and harmony, through the full recognition of lawful diversity (a. 92).

After laying out its theoretical program, the Council turns its attention to several problems which it says are of special urgency (a. 46). The first topic is marriage and family. The companionship of male and female produces the primary form of interpersonal communion (a. 12). The Council notes that modern economic conditions are causing serious disturbances in families (a. 47), and this is important because the condition of families has a decisive bearing on the dignity, stability, peace and prosperity of human society as a whole (a. 48). Everyone should work for the welfare of marriage and the family: parents, children, those who exercise influence in society, Christians, researchers, pastors, and various organizations (a. 52).

The second topic taken up in the Constitution is culture. People arrive at full humanity only through culture, those things by which people develop and perfect their bodily and spiritual qualities (a. 53). A more universal form of human culture is developing, one which promotes and expresses the unity of the human race (a. 54). For the first time in human history all people are convinced that the benefits of culture ought to be and actually can be extended to everyone (a. 9).

The Church is not bound to any particular form of human culture (a. 42), to any particular way of life or any customary pattern of life (a. 58). Because there are many ties between the message of salvation and human culture (a. 58), the Church is involved in a living exchange with diverse cultures of people (a. 44), although sometimes it is difficult to harmonize culture with Christian teaching (a. 62).

The Council lays down the following guidelines for evaluating the role of culture in society.

Culture needs freedom and autonomy, and it demands respect (a. 59). We ought to respect and love those who think or act differently from us in social, political, and religious matters (a. 28).

Culture should be subordinated to the integral perfection of the human person and the common good of society (a. 59).

Individuals should be educated to a higher degree of culture (a. 31).

All cultural discrimination is contrary to God's intent and must be overcome and eradicated (a. 29). There should be no discrimination in the satisfaction of the right to culture because everyone has the right to culture and the duty to develop themselves culturally (a. 60).

Women must be affirmed as participants in cultural life (a. 60), and they ought not to be denied the right to cultural benefits equal to those recognized for men (a. 29).

Increased exchanges among cultures cannot be allowed to disturb the life of communities or destroy ancestral wisdom and the peculiar character of each people (a. 56).

The refinement of the culturally competent cannot stand in the way of others' participating in the cultural values of the world (a. 56).

The recognition of the autonomy of culture cannot give rise to an a-religious or anti-religious humanism (a. 56).

The arts and disciplines should be free to use their own principles and methodologies, and people must be free to search for the truth, express opinions, and practice art (a. 59).

Culture cannot be made to serve as an instrument of political or economic power (a. 59).

The third topic taken up by the Council is socio-economic life. It teaches that people are the source, center, and purpose of all economic and social life (a. 63), and that the purpose of economic production is to serve people in their material needs as well as in the demands of their intellectual, moral, spiritual, and religious lives (a. 64). The Church is not bound to any particular economic system (a. 42), but it is critical of the excessive economic and social differences among people or groups of people which violate social justice, equity, human dignity, and social and international peace (29). It is also critical of the dangerous lack of balance between developed and other countries, and also between agriculture, industry, and the services (a. 63).

Of special concern to the Church is poverty and the poor. The followers of Christ share the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of all people, but especially of those who are poor (a. 1). The Council notes with sadness that even with unprecedented wealth, resources and economic power, we are still tormented by hunger and poverty (a. 4); the greater part of the world is still suffering from so much poverty that it is as if Christ himself were crying out in these poor to beg the charity of the disciples (a. 88).

Subhuman living conditions are opposed to life, thereby poisoning human society and dishonoring God (a. 27). Moreover, human freedom is often crippled when a person encounters extreme poverty (a. 31). Economic development sometimes results in contempt for the poor (a. 63), but the Council calls on us to react differently: love of neighbor means that we cannot imitate the rich man who had no concern for the poor man Lazarus (a. 27). People must help the poor, and not merely out of their superfluous goods (a. 68). At the same time, those in extreme necessity have the right to procure what they need from the riches of others (a. 68). The Council condemns the arms race, which it says ensnares the poor to an intolerable degree (a. 81), and it proposes the establishment of an organism of the universal Church which would be set up to cultivate both the justice and love of Christ toward the poor (a. 90).

The Council offers a vision of a just socio-economic order. This vision is based on the principle that the right to have a sufficient share of earthly goods belongs to everyone (a. 68). Based on this principle, the Council asserts that everyone has the right to work and the duty to work faithfully (a. 67), and that wages should be such that people and their dependents can live worthy lives (a. 67). Workers have the right to form unions and to take part in them without fear of reprisal (a. 68). Disputes should be settled by negotiation, but if necessary by strikes (a. 68).

Private property is an extension of human freedom, and access to ownership should be fostered, keeping mind the social obligations attached to private ownership (a. 71). Investments should be based on concern for the common good (a. 70). Everyone involved in an economic enterprise should share in its administration and profits (a. 68), and the largest possible number of people and nations must have an active share in directing economic development (a. 65).

Economic growth cannot be controlled exclusively by market forces or government authority (a. 65). Special attention must be given farmers, immigrants, the sick and the elderly (a. 66). All discrimination based on social condition is contrary to God's intent and must be overcome and eradicated (a. 29).

More international cooperation is needed in the economic field (a. 84). The international economy demands an end to profiteering, national ambition, appetite for political supremacy, militarism, and ideological propaganda (a. 85).

The next topic taken up by the Council is political life. Political community exists for the common good--the sum of social conditions within which people attain their perfection (a. 74). The Council welcomes the fact that more and more people are becoming politically active (a. 73), and it teaches that the Church is not bound to any particular political system (a. 42, 76), and can work under any kind of government which recognizes basic human rights, the demands of the common good, and the freedom of the Church to exercise its own mission (a. 42).

People should be free to choose their political system and their rulers (a. 74). Political authority must be based on appeals to people's freedom and sense of responsibility. It must always be exercised within the limits of the moral order and directed towards the common good (a. 74). It can never be based on dictatorial systems or totalitarian methods which violate human rights (a. 75). Political systems should not hamper civic or religious freedom, victimize people through avarice and political crimes, or serve special interests (a. 73). People have the right to defend human rights from abuse by public authority (a. 74).

Citizens and governments have duties to each other which must be carried out for the common good. People have the right and the duty to use their free vote to further the common good. Political parties can never give their interests priority over the common good (a. 75). We ought to respect and love those who think or act differently from us in political matters (a. 28).

The final topic taken up by the Council is peace. Peace is an enterprise of justice and the fruit of love: it is not merely the absence of war, or the maintenance of a balance of power, or the calm enforced by dictatorship (a. 78). It must be born of mutual trust among nations and not be imposed through fear of available weapons (a. 82). Excessive economic and social differences among people or groups of people violate social and international peace (29), and building up peace involves rooting out the causes of discord, especially injustice (a. 83).

Governments have the right to legitimate defense when peaceful means of settlement have been exhausted. Those in military service who fulfill this role properly contribute to the establishment of peace, but conscientious objectors should be protected by law. Orders should not be obeyed which are immoral, such as those designed for the methodical extermination of an entire people (a. 79).

The new circumstances surrounding war force us to evaluate war with an entirely new attitude (a. 80). In its own evaluation of war, the Council declares that any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of cities and populations merits condemnation (a. 80). It teaches that the arms race is not a safe way to preserve peace, and may even aggravate the causes of war. It is a trap for humanity, ensnaring the poor to an intolerable degree (a. 81). Our goal should be a time when all war is outlawed by international consent (a. 82). Christians should work with all true peacemakers, and especially praiseworthy are those who renounce the use of violence in the vindication of their rights (a. 78).

Throughout its Pastoral Constitution, the Council returns time and again to Christ because, it says, God provides a full answer to human questions in Christ, so that whoever follows after Christ, the perfect human, becomes more human (a. 41). Christ is the model and guide for all that we seek in social justice. He is the perfect human being, providing us with an example for our imitation (a. 22). He taught us by his example to share in human community, revealing the human vocation in terms of the most common of social realities (a. 32).

Christ entered the world to rescue and not to sit in judgment, to serve and not to be served (a. 3). Christ through his Spirit can offer us the light and the strength to measure up to our supreme destiny (a. 10). The Father wants everyone to recognize Christ our brother and love him in word and deed (a. 93). Marriage is a reflection of the loving covenant uniting Christ with the Church, manifesting to everyone Christ's living presence in the world (a. 48)

The Council bases its hopeful perspective on the saving acts of Christ. Christ won the victory for humans when he rose to life, for by his death he freed us from death (a. 18). People are equal because they have all been redeemed by Christ (a. 29). All human activity is threatened by pride and must be purified by the power of Christ's cross and resurrection (a. 37). Christ is now at work in human hearts through the energy of his Spirit (a. 38).

Christ is himself the cause of the justice and peace we seek. He is the author of peace, the Prince of Peace reconciling all people with God (a. 78). In Christ can be found the key, the focal point and the goal of humanity and of all human history (a. 10); he is the goal of human history, the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the center of the human race, the joy of every heart and the answer to all its yearnings (a. 45). Only in Christ can the human mystery take on light (a. 22). He entered the world's history as a perfect human, taking that history up into himself and summarizing it (a. 38).


Source
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Ecclesia in America

DECEMBER 14, 2012


As I returned from Rome this afternoon I learned of the tragic events that unfolded in Newtown, Connecticut today.

There are no words that can adequately express what the children and families at Sandy Hook Elementary School experienced and the shock and grief that have befallen the Newtown community and our nation. As people of faith we denounce and abhor violence of any kind. There is no circumstance that justifies the taking of innocent life and it is incomprehensible that children were the victims of this heinous act. At a time of such great distress we turn to Jesus, who is with us always, even in our most difficult moments, and extends His healing graces in the midst of our pain. We pray for those who lost their lives today, trusting that they have been received into the presence of the Lord, for their families and for all who are impacted by this national tragedy. Coming together with genuine care and concern for all people, we will find the strength to support one another going forward, confident that there is no darkness that can overcome the light of Christ

- – -

I have just returned from attending the Ecclesia in America international congress in Rome, which was held from Sunday to Wednesday. It marked the 15th anniversary of Blessed John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America.

However, before I get to the details of the congress, I want to mention an event that took place last week.

Each year during Advent, we host a Mass and luncheon here at the Pastoral Center for our senior priests who reside at Regina Cleri, the archdiocese’s residence for senior priests.


It is always wonderful to be able to gather with these men who have given so much to the life of the Church over so many years.





I also want to take this occasion to remind readers within the Archdiocese of Boston that our collection at Christmas Masses is one of our most important efforts in ensuring the care of our priests.

Joe D’Arrigo, the executive director of our Clergy Funds, wrote a wonderful article on this topic for this week’s Pilot. I urge you all to read it and to be generous in your support of them as they were generous in their ministry to the people of God.

- – -

After arriving in Rome on Sunday, I celebrated Mass at my church in Rome, Santa Maria della Vittoria.




Joining us at the Mass, in addition to the seminarians and Friars, was Dan Kelly who is the head of the Order of Malta in the United States. We met him on the plane, so we invited him to join us for the Mass and the lunch following.


Dan Kelly is pictured on the far left

- – -

The conference itself was inspiring. About 200 bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay people were invited to be a part of this congress, held to once again rekindle the efforts of Ecclesia in America to build a united Church out of all of North and South America. The Knights of Columbus were instrumental in sponsoring the congress, as well as the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.




The congress centered around the theme of the new evangelization under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was a wonderful opportunity to be together with people from all over the hemisphere and to reflect on common problems and solutions; and to talk about the new evangelization in the context of immigration and the many other challenges of our hemisphere. We also spoke about sharing clergy and help that is being given by priests from Latin America.

Sunday night, we celebrated an inaugural Mass, at which the Holy Father addressed us.




The congress featured many different talks and workshops.

We heard an address from Supreme Knight Carl Anderson who spoke on the laity’s role in the new evangelization and the example of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego.

There were wonderful talks by Msgr. Eduardo Chávez, who was postulator for the cause for canonization of St. Juan Diego, in which he talked about the theology and ministry of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the great role that the apparitions played in the evangelization of Mexico.



Until the apparitions, there were practically no conversions to Catholicism in Mexico, however, after the Blessed Mother appeared there were an immediate explosion of conversions.

In my talk, I spoke about the different ways the churches can collaborate. I gave examples from my own ministry working with immigrants from Latin America and gave a bit of history of past collaborations.


For example, I spoke of the Seminary of Montezuma in the Southwestern United Sates with the help of U.S. bishops to train Mexican seminarians during the time of the persecutions in that country and now there is a seminary in Mexico that is sending seminarians to work in the United States. I also talked about the challenges of trying to evangelize the culture, the need for the Church to find a voice in the public square, and the need to find articulate lay people to help in political life and the needs of communications.

At the general audience with the whole congress, we once again had an opportunity to be with the Holy Father and to congratulate Msgr. Georg Gänswein who has been appointed take Cardinal Jim Harvey’s place as Prefect of the Pontifical Household.

We also had the privilege of being present for the occasion of the Holy Father sending his first tweet.




I think this is an important sign that the Holy Father wants to be present in the world of communications, particularly in the forms of communications being used by young people.

This was a wonderful event which allowed many young people to feel a special connection to the Holy Father and to the Church.

In the audience hall was a beautiful life-size crèche brought by the Mexicans made out of beeswax.


We ended at the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a Mass at Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s titular church, Santa Maria in Traspontina, on the Via della Conciliazione.



- – -

During this time, reflecting on Our Lady of Guadalupe, I wrote a special blog post that I published on Tuesday. In case some of you may have missed it I would like to share with you here:

Embracing the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe during this Year of Faith

I have been attending the “Ecclesia in America” conference in Rome, which addresses the history and future of the Church in America. The conference runs from December 9 to 12, concluding with an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

I wanted to share with you a message regarding the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and my hope that all Catholics will embrace the celebration of this important feast day in the life of our Church.



12-12-12 is an interesting date, as it represents the last time in this century that the month, day and year will all match. But December 12 for Catholics, during this Year of Faith, is also a very important day.

First, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI (@pontifex), begins his tweeting ministry, symbolizing in a new way the Church’s embrace of technology and tools of communication as a way to share the eternal and saving Truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The other reason for the day’s importance, and one of the factors in Pope Benedict’s choosing of this day to launch his newest communication initiative, is that it is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who we revere as the Mother of the New Evangelization and the Patroness of all the Americas (North, South and Central). After Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego 481 years ago, one of the most rapid periods of evangelization in the history of the Church began.

During this Year of Faith, I ask all Catholics to study the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego. Our Catholic brothers and sisters from Mexico and in Central and South American countries are devoted to her motherly care, but many Catholics raised in the United States are not as aware of what happened in December of 1531 as I hope they soon will be. Now is a great time for this connection with Our Lady of Guadalupe to be established, renewed or deepened. We can begin by attending Mass and praying a family Rosary on December 12.

God has often called unlikely people to great missions. It was true with St. Peter, many of the saints, and for St. Juan Diego. This is a great lesson for all of us as we are all called to do our part in the New Evangelization.

When the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill, he was a simple, humble, 57-year-old widower known for walking with his head down and shuffling his feet. He was an Aztec Indian who had been baptized only seven years before by the Franciscan missionaries. Every Saturday and Sunday he would walk 15 miles each way to Mass. As he was journeying one cold Saturday morning, he heard a voice calling from the top of a hill, “Juanito,” “Dieguito,” “Come here!” He scaled the rocky slope, where at the top he saw the Blessed Virgin Mary arrayed in splendor.

Our Lady announced she was on a mission of mercy and wanted him to be her messenger to the bishop of Mexico City to ask him to build a church on Tepeyac Hill. Obeying simply and immediately, Juan Diego headed in his simple peasant’s outfit to the bishop’s residence, where he was forced to wait for hours in an outdoor courtyard. Eventually the bishop received him, treated him with kindness, but was skeptical regarding the message. Juan Diego left feeling like a complete failure.

Returning to Our Lady on Tepeyac Hill, he said that he had struck out. “I beg you, Noble Lady,” he implored, “to entrust this message to someone of importance, someone well-known and respected, so that your wish will be accomplished. For I am only a lowly peasant and you, my Lady, have sent me to a place where I have no standing. Forgive me if I have disappointed you for having failed in my mission.”

The Virgin smiled tenderly on him and said, “Listen to me, my dearest son, and understand that I have many servants and messengers whom I could charge with the delivery of my message. But it is altogether necessary that you should be the one to undertake this mission and that it be through your mediation and assistance that my wish should be accomplished. I urge you to go to the Bishop again tomorrow. Tell him in my name and make him fully understand my disposition, that he should undertake the erection of the teocalli (temple) for which I ask. And repeat to him that it is I in person, the ever Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, who send you.”

With trepidation, Juan Diego went again. The bishop’s overprotective staff greeted him with exasperation. He was told the bishop was busy with more important matters. He told them he was willing to wait — and did, for several hours in the frigid outdoor courtyard. When he finally met the bishop again, he repeated, with fervor and tears, the message of Our Lady entrusted to him. The bishop asked some questions. Though moved by Juan Diego’s sincerity, he wasn’t going to build a church in a desolate spot on the basis of one native’s unsubstantiated word. To test the message, the bishop asked him for a special secret sign from Our Lady. Juan Diego left at once to ask for the sign.

Arriving back at Tepeyac, the Virgin told him to return the following day to receive the sign to bring the bishop. That sign turned out to be Castillian roses, which had not yet been introduced to Mexico, growing on the top of a stony hill in frigid December temperatures. Juan Diego was instructed to bring them back to the bishop in his tilma (a tilma is a cloak or apron). When he returned to the bishop, as he opened up his tilma, the bishop saw the roses from his native Castille, the sign he was seeking. He and everyone else also saw something even more miraculous: some of the roses had melted into the tilma and produced the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe: our Lady, dressed like a pregnant Aztec princess, was giving witness that she was ready to give birth to Christ among the Mexican people and on our continent. The bishop immediately fell to his knees, and came to believe in Juan Diego’s message. A church was built on the spot of the apparition, as Mary had requested.

Until that moment, there had been relatively few conversions among the Mexican people, who associated Christianity more with the conquistadors than the Franciscans. But in the decade after the appearance of the Blessed Mother as one of them, over ten million Mexicans were baptized.

Juan Diego’s tilma has been the subject of much research. The tilma, woven out of coarse cactus and vegetable fibers, should have disintegrated after 20 years, but although nearly 500 years have passed the tilma is still in great condition. The pupils of Mary in the picture reflect the Indians and clergy present at the time of the first revelation of the image. No paint was used, and chemical analysis has not been able to identify the color imprint. Additionally, studies have revealed that the stars on Mary’s mantle match exactly what a Mexican would have seen in the sky in December of 1531.

Juan Diego thought there were others who would have been more fitting ambassadors to bring such an important message from so important a person, but the Blessed Mother chose him and she helped him fulfill the mission. She will also help each of us fulfill our part in her Son’s plan of salvation.

Let us turn to Our Lady of Guadalupe during this Year of Faith. She desperately wants the birth of a New Evangelization. May she continue to bring her motherly care to the Americas, the United States and to us in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Until next week,

Cardinal Seán

By: Cardinal Seán | 2012/12/14


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In Newtown, Sunday services honor victims of tragedy


Yamiche Alcindor and Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY10:44a.m. EST
December 16, 2012


A Connecticut town grapples with deaths and anguish after senseless shooting spree.


(Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Early services draw hundreds of worshipers
Police officers stationed in church parking lot
Sign in the sanctuary says of victims: 'You will never be forgotten'


NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Sunday dawned here with many grieving residents joining religious services paying homage to the victims of Friday's explosion of violence and death at a local elementary school.

At one site, Saint Rose Catholic Church, a 7:30 a.m. mass drew hundreds of worshipers. Outside the church, which has kept its doors open since the tragedy, signs of the grief gripping Newtown lined the front lawn. A table with dozens of dimly lit candles bearing images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary overlooked mountains of flowers and stuffed animals.

Directly across from the front door more lighted candles have been placed at the feet of a large statue of the Virgin Mary. Small white plastic angels hung in a bush bordering Churchill Road -- which has been filled with traffic for days. A nearby flag remained at half staff.

Msgr. Robert Weiss, the church's leader, has been counseling people since the Friday morning, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza's shooting spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School took the lives of 20 young students and six adults before he turned a gun on himself. On Sunday, several wary police officers were stationed in the parking lot of the church observing those entering the church.


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Northern Fairfield Professionals - Newtown

Networking Group Moving To Newtown


Northern Fairfield Professionals, a networking group focusing on people in transition, has updated its meeting dates, times, and location to better accommodate members.

Beginning December 11, the group will meet the second Tuesday of every month from 5:30 to 8 pm at the Knights of Columbus building at 46 Church Hill Road (behind the St Rose Church Rectory, to the far left of the parking lot).

Attendance remains free.

On December 11, the group will host networking, followed by a Personal Pitch/Ask a Recruiter session. Guests will meet and network with peers, managers, local business owners, and professionals.

NFP is a local business professionals’ networking group that allows individuals to meet and network with peers, managers, local business owners and professionals.

For more information, e-mail NFP@itechcp.com or call Amanda at 203-270-0051, extension 310.




Related:

Business calendar
Published 8:26 pm, Friday, December 7, 2012

THE NORTHERN FAIRFIELD PROFESSIONALS, a networking group focusing on people in transition, will meet from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Knights of Columbus, 46 Church Hill Road, behind St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown. The meeting will be followed by an opportunity to meet and network with peers, managers, local business owners and other professionals. Attendance is free. For information, email NFP@itechcp.com.


Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Business-calendar-4100821.php#ixzz2FEE1SR23





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Saturday, December 15, 2012

Update: Obama to visit Newtown for memorial Sunday



2 hr ago By MSN News with wire reports


President Obama will visit Newtown, Conn., on Sunday for a memorial service for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. A medical examiner says victims were killed by multiple gunshots.


NEWTOWN, Conn. — President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Sunday in Newtown, Conn., the site of Friday's deadly elementary school shooting.

Twenty-six people, including 20 children, were killed when a man opened fire inside the school.

Obama's visit to Newtown for an interfaith vigil would be the fourth time he has traveled to a city after a mass shooting.

Investigators are trying to figure out what led a bright but painfully awkward 20-year-old to slaughter 26 children and adults at a Connecticut elementary school.

A medical examiner says the victims were killed by multiple rifle shots, some of them up close. Dr. H. Wayne Carver said at a news conference Saturday he believes "everybody was hit more than once."

Authorities have released the names of the 26 people gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Of the 20 children who were shot to death, eight were boys and 12 were girls. All the children were ages 6 or 7.

All six adults killed at the school were women.

RELATED: List of shooting victims

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says the "innocent little boys and girls" were "taken from their families far too soon."

Carver said at Saturday's news conference that the deaths are classified as homicides.

"This is a very devastating set of injuries," Carver said.

The gunman used a rifle as his primary weapon, Carver said.

Each of the bodies Carver examined were shot three to 11 times, and all the victims were shot multiple times, he said. He said he did seven of the autopsies.

He said the children he examined were wearing "cute kid stuff."

The massacre of 26 children and adults at a Connecticut elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, a 20-year-old described as brilliant but remote, was driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims.

Investigators were trying to learn more about Adam Lanza and questioned his older brother, who was not believed to have been involved in the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary. Police shed no light on the motive for the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

Infographic: Connecticut mass shooting

Investigators have questioned the gunman's older brother, who's not believed to have been involved in the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary in prosperous Newtown, 60 miles northeast of New York City.

In tight-knit Newtown on Friday night, hundreds of people packed St. Rose of Lima Church and stood outside in a vigil for the 28 dead — 20 children and six adults at the school, the gunman's mother at home, and the gunman himself, who committed suicide. People held hands, lit candles and sang "Silent Night."

"These 20 children were just beautiful, beautiful children," Monsignor Robert Weiss said. "These 20 children lit up this community better than all these Christmas lights we have. ... There are a lot brighter stars up there tonight because of these kids."

Related: Hundreds pack Conn. church for vigil after rampage

Lanza is believed to have suffered from a personality disorder and lived with his mother, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the investigation. Authorities said he had no criminal history.

Asked at a news conference whether Lanza had left any emails or other writings that might explain the rampage, state police Lt. Paul Vance said investigators had found "very good evidence" and hoped it would answer questions about the gunman's motives. Vance would not elaborate.

However, another law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that investigators have found no note or manifesto of the sort they have come to expect after murderous rampages.

The tragedy plunged the picturesque New England town of 27,000 people into mourning.

"People in my neighborhood are feeling guilty about it being Christmas. They are taking down decorations," said Jeannie Pasacreta, a psychologist who volunteered her services and was advising parents struggling with how to talk to their children.

Related: How to talk to your kids about Conn. mass shooting




Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, drove to the school in her car with at least three of her guns, and opened fire in two classrooms around 9:30 a.m. Friday, authorities said.

A custodian ran through the halls, warning of a gunman, and someone switched on the intercom, perhaps saving many lives by letting them hear the chaos in the school office, according to a teacher. Teachers locked their doors and ordered children to huddle in a corner, duck under their desks or hide in closets as shots reverberated through the building.

Among those killed was the school's well-liked principal, Dawn Hochsprung. Town officials said she died while lunging at the gunman in an attempt to overtake him. A woman who worked at the school was wounded.

Related: Principal among victims in Conn. shooting rampage

Maryann Jacob, a clerk in the school library, was in there with 18 fourth-graders when they heard a commotion and gunfire outside the room. She had the youngsters crawl into a storage room, and they locked the door and barricaded it with a file cabinet. There happened to be materials for coloring, "so we set them up with paper and crayons."

After what she guessed was about an hour, officers came to the door and knocked, but those inside couldn't be sure it was the police.

"One of them slid his badge under the door, and they called and said, 'It's OK, it's the police,'" she said.

A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said investigators believe Lanza attended the school several years ago but appeared to have no recent connection to it. It was not clear whether he held a job.

At least one parent said Lanza's mother was a substitute teacher at the school. But her name did not appear on a staff list. And the official said investigators were unable to establish any connection so far between her and the school.

The law enforcement officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation.

Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, of Hoboken, N.J., was questioned, and investigators searched his computers and phone records, but he told law enforcement he had not been in touch with his brother since about 2010.

For about two hours late Friday and early Saturday, clergy members and emergency vehicles moved steadily to and from the school. The state medical examiner's office said bodies of the victims would be taken there for autopsies.

The gunman forced his way into the kindergarten-through-fourth-grade school, authorities said. He took three guns into the school — a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both semiautomatic pistols, and a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The weapons were registered to his slain mother.

Related: Conn. gunman recalled as intelligent but remote

Lanza and his mother lived in a well-to-do part of prosperous Newtown, about 60 miles northeast of New York City, where neighbors are doctors or hold white-collar positions at companies such as General Electric, Pepsi and IBM.

His parents filed for divorce in 2008, according to court records. His father, Peter Lanza, lives in Stamford, Conn., and works as a tax director for GE.

The gunman's aunt Marsha Lanza, of Crystal Lake, Ill., said her nephew was raised by kind, nurturing parents who would not have hesitated to seek mental help for him if he needed it.

"Nancy wasn't one to deny reality," Marsha Lanza said, adding her husband had seen Adam as recently as June and recalled nothing out of the ordinary.

Catherine Urso, of Newtown, said her college-age son knew the killer. "He just said he was very thin, very remote and was one of the goths," she said.

Lanza attended Newtown High School, and several news clippings from recent years mention his name among the honor roll students.

Joshua Milas, who graduated from Newtown High in 2009 and belonged to the school technology club with him, said that Lanza was generally a happy person but that he hadn't seen him in a few years.

"We would hang out, and he was a good kid. He was smart," Joshua Milas said. "He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius."

The mass shooting is one of the deadliest in U.S. history, and among school attacks is second in victims only to the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, which left 33 people dead, including the gunman. Reaction was swift and emotional in Newtown and beyond.

"It has to stop, these senseless deaths," said Frank DeAngelis, principal of Colorado's Columbine High School, where a massacre in 1999 killed 15 people.

Lanza's family was struggling to make sense of what happened and "trying to find whatever answers we can," his father, Peter Lanza, said in a statement late Saturday that also expressed sympathy for the victims' families.

In Washington, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence organized a vigil at the White House, with some protesters chanting, "Today IS the day" to take steps to curb gun violence. In New York's Times Square, a few dozen people held tea lights in plastic cups, with one woman holding a sign that read: "Take a moment and candle to remember the victims of the Newtown shooting."

President Barack Obama's comments on the tragedy amounted to one of the most outwardly emotional moments of his presidency.

"The majority of those who died were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," Obama said at a White House news briefing. He paused for several seconds to keep his composure as he teared up and wiped an eye. Nearby, two aides cried and held hands.

Related: Conn. school shooting reopens debate over gun laws

Video: Obama: 'We grieve for the families' of shooting victims

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the attack as a "senseless and incomprehensible act of evil."

"Like President Obama and his fellow Americans, our hearts too are broken," Gillard said in a statement.

In Japan, where guns are severely restricted and there are extremely few gun-related crimes, the attack led the news two days before parliamentary elections. In China, which has seen several knife rampages at schools in recent years, the attack quickly consumed public discussion.

In Newtown, Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher. "That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave. He waited for his friends."

He said the shooter didn't utter a word.

Kaitlin Roig, a teacher at the school, said she implored her students to be quiet.

"I told them we had to be absolutely quiet. Because I was just so afraid if he did come in, then he would hear us and just start shooting the door. I said we have to be absolutely quiet. And I said there are bad guys out there now and we need to wait for the good guys to come get us out," Roig told ABC.

"If they started crying, I would take their face and say, 'It's going to be OK. Show me your smile,'" she said. "They said, 'We want to go home for Christmas. Yes, yeah. I just want to hug my mom.' Things like that, that were just heartbreaking."

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Pat Eaton-Robb and Matt Apuzzo and videographer Robert Ray in Newtown; Bridget Murphy in Boston; Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J.; Pete Yost in Washington; Michael Melia in Hartford; and the AP News Research Center in New York.



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President Obama To Attend Sunday Memorial In Connecticut

Posted: Sat 7:20 PM, Dec 15, 2012

Reporter: ABC News





Saturday, December 15, 2012

President Obama will travel to Newtown, Conn., on Sunday to meet with the families of the the 26 people who were slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the White House said today.

The president, who will also meet with first responders, is scheduled to speak at an interfaith service in Newtown at 7 p.m., according to a statement from the Office of the Press Secretary.

One day after Obama addressed the nation, mourning the children who "had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own," the world learned just how grim the scene inside Sandy Hook was.

The gunman massacred 20 first graders, shooting some of them as many as 11 times, the medical examiner said today.

"I've been at this for a third of a century so my sensibilities may not be the that of the average man, but it's probably the worst I've ever seen," said Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver II, who has been a medical examiner for 36 years.

A team of 14 medical technicians worked through the night to complete the grisly job of identifying the children killed by Adam Lanza, 20, in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre so their names could be released today.

Several weapons were found in the school, including a semi-automatic rifle.

"All the wounds that I know of at this point were caused by the long weapon," Carver said, and many were shot at close range.

"I believe many of them were hit more than once," and he said the wounds were "all over" the children's bodies.

"I only did seven of the autopsies. The victims I had ranged from three to 11 wounds a piece," Carver said.

The names of the children slain Friday in the school were released today.

To carry out the identifications, Carver said they "did not bring the families and the bodies into contact." He said the identifications were made through photographs of the children's faces.

"It's easier on the families," he said.

Additional work is needed to complete the autopsies and identifications of the seven adults slain in Lanza's killing spree.

Fresh details of the massacre emerged, including the fact that all of the young victims were first graders in two rooms.

Based on the Sandy Hook school directory, all the kids killed were in the first grade and were in two classrooms.

In one class, 15 of the 16 students listed were killed. In the other class, five of the 16 students died along with their teacher, Victoria Soto. Also, nine of the deceased students have siblings in the school.

At a nearby firehouse that has become a center for the town, a makeshift memorial and vigil has emerged under a sign that reads "Sandy Hook School." People have left flowers, candles, signs that read "Rest in Peace" and "God Bless Sandy Hook Elementary," as well as a cross made of blue flowers and a wreath of teddy bears

With the tally of Lanza's carnage complete, authorities and the grieving people of Newtown are left to wonder why he turned the elementary school in this quaint New England town into a slaughter house.

Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said the investigation "did produce some very good evidence" about motive, but he would not go into further detail.

He indicated the evidence came from the shooting scene at the school as well as at the home where Lanza's mother, Nancy, was slain.

Also key will be the lone person shot by Lanza who wasn't killed. The female teacher has not been publicly identified.

"She is doing fine," Vance said at a news conference today. "She has been treated and she'll be instrumental in this investigation."

Vance said it appears that reports of an altercation involving Lanza at the school in the days before the mass slaying are not checking out.

Vance said that Lanza forced his way into the school, but did not say how.

Evidence emerged today that Lanza's rampage began in the office of school principal Dawn Hochsprung while the school intercom was on. It's not clear whether it was turned on to alert the school or whether it was on for morning announcements, but the principal's screams and the cries of children heard throughout the school gave teachers time to take precautions to protect their children.

Hochsprung was among those killed in the Friday morning killing spree.

Authorities have fanned out to New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts to interview Lanza's relatives, ABC News has learned.

According to sources, Lanza shot his mother in the face, then left his house armed with at least two semi-automatic handguns, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, and a semi-automatic rifle. He was also wearing a bulletproof vest.

Lanza then drove to the elementary school to carry out his murderous plan, authorities said.

It appeared that Lanza died from what was believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Lanza's father, Peter Lanza, released a statement today saying the family is "grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy."

"No words can truly express how heartbroken we are," he said. "We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why. We have cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so. Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired."

This is the second worst mass shooting in U.S. history, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 when 32 were killed before the shooter turned the gun on himself. The carnage in Connecticut exceeded the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.

Friday's shooting came three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts opened fire in a busy Oregon mall, killing two before turning the gun on himself.

The Connecticut shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which includes 450 students in grades K-4. The town is located about 12 miles east of Danbury, Conn.

ABC News' Emily Friedman, Michael S. James and Shushannah Walshe contributed to this report.

Source

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Hillary Clinton gets concussion; can’t testify on Benghazi



DECEMBER 15, 2012 13:56 PM


by BRIDGET ·



Since it’s Saturday, we have a little more latitude on what Charlie let’s us post. This breaking news simply makes me “shake my head.” On one hand you get completely ticked off that a politician can get away with something like this; on the other hand you think “wow, she’s goood.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Party’s frontrunner for the 2016 presidential election, fainted and suffered a concussion — and is now recovering at home — according to a statement from the State Department.

According to the AP, Clinton, “who skipped an overseas trip this past week because of a stomach virus,” sustained a concussion after fainting, and is now recovering at home and being monitored by doctors.

An aide, Philippe Reines, says Clinton will work from home next week, at the recommendation of doctors (which will prevent her from testifying at congressional hearings on Thursday into the September 11 attack against a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador).


Source
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Hillary Clinton Faints, Now Recovering After Concussion

Posted: 12/15/2012 12:22 pm EST | Updated: 12/15/2012 12:29 pm EST




Hillary Clinton fainted and had a concussion, the AP reports.

The State Department said an ill Clinton is now recovering at home after the incident, according to the AP.

CBS News' Margaret Brennen reports Clinton was dehydrated from a stomach bug.

This is a developing story.. Check back for more..


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P.S.

My perspective of what's actually happening behind the scenes:

According to the media Hillary Clinton the U.S. Secretary of State cancelled a schedule meeting last Monday Dec. 10, 2010.  This same week on Thursday Dec. 13, 2012, regarding Susan Rice the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and purported candidate to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, it was announced: Susan Rice drops out of running for secretary of state ...

This Secretary of State post has become a political (proverbial) HOT POTATO.

Apparently the musical chair games don't end in Elementary School. 

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Report: Obama Advance Team Scouting Spots for Newtown Visit

U.S. President Barack Obama may visit Danbury and Newtown early next week in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children.

By Mark Langlois

3:17 pm



Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton Tweeted the helicopters people heard over Danbury today were an advance team setting up for a possible presidential visit early next week.

"We don't know when at this point," Boughton said.

The helicopters visited Danbury Municipal Airportand other locations in the city. The mayor didn't know if the helicopters visited Newtown yet.

"Those helicopters you hear are the Presidential advance team. No details on what day the President is coming," was one of the mayor's Tweets.

Airport Administrator Paul Estefan declined to say anything at all about the helicopters or the president or any visit. Estefan said when President Clinton visited Danbury, the advance team arrived three months before the visit.

"They are scouting landing locations. He's not with them," Boughton Tweeted, referring to the president.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting began at about 9:30 a.m. Friday. In all, 27 people were killed, police said, including 20 children. Among the adults killed were the school’s beloved principaland psychologist.

The identities of all victims have been established, according to State Police Spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance. Families of those killed have asked that no media members press them for interviews.
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Related:

On Saturday afternoon, state and federal officials were preparing for the expected arrival of President Obama on Sunday.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting-20121214,0,3124907,full.story

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Sunday shopping dates in Germany

SUNDAY SHOPPING
OCTOBER 21, 2012
BY: SAMANTHA SMITH





BERLIN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 25: Shoppers leave a Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) store on October 25, 2012 in Berlin, Germany.
Credits:
(Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)



Many Americans are surprised when they find out the stores in Germany are not open on Sundays. Indeed, this is the case in most European countries.

There is an actual clause in the German constitution that Sunday be a day of rest and "spiritual elevation," and the labor unions have also supported the closures to allow workers time to spend with family.

However, it can be tough being a tourist when you have limited time to shop and it's also hard on the locals as it makes Saturdays stressful as you race here and there trying to get everything done.

However, the rules have been relaxed in recent years to allow some retailers to open on certain Sundays, especially the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Heidelberg will have their Sunday opening or Verkaufsoffener sonntag on November 4 this year.

To see the dates for other cities in Germany's 16 states, check out this site.

"Sunday as a day off is a great gift," says Die Tegeszeitung, a left-leaning Berlin newspaper. "...After all even the strictest atheist needs the switching off that Sundays allow."


Source
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Rochester pastor who shot granddaughter thought she was intruder

Article by: PAM LOUWAGIE , Star Tribune
Updated: December 14, 2012 - 5:44 AM

Pastor who shot granddaughter thought intruder was at patio door.


This is the house of the minister who accidentally shot his granddaugh...

Elizabeth Nida Obert ,Rochester Post-Bulletin



Stanley Wilkinson had a plan on how he would use his gun if an intruder ever came into his home: He and his wife would hole up in the bedroom and call 911, using the gun only to let an intruder know there was someone in the house.

But late Monday night, when he heard a noise outside his Rochester home and thought his granddaughter was sleeping upstairs at the other end of the house, the 61-year-old grabbed his pistol and went to investigate while his wife called 911. He told police that when he saw a figure at their patio door, he believed it was an intruder and fired two rounds, hitting the person once. That person turned out to be his granddaughter.

"Even if you have a plan for an emergency, you don't know what you'll do out of fear," Wilkinson said in a brief phone interview Thursday. "You get so frightened and something happens like that so, everything happens so quick ... you just don't know what you'll do when, out of fear you do things that you wish you hadn't ever done."

The granddaughter, 16, was hospitalized Monday night with a wound to her upper torso and was expected to survive, police had said. She was improving in the hospital Thursday, Wilkinson said: "The more we find out that she's going to be OK ... that's everything for us right now."

Wilkinson, a pastor at the Rochester Seventh-Day Adventist Church, agreed to speak with the Star Tribune as a caution to others who might find themselves in a similar situation.

"I had a plan but I didn't follow the plan," he said. "I thought somebody was breaking into my house and it just scared us to death."

Their granddaughter had moved from another state to live with them about two months ago, he said.

"She hadn't been there long enough for it to sink in for me to even fathom that she was outside," he said. "No way was I thinking she was out there at all. I was thinking she was up in her room. Like us, she had gone to bed."

Just before going to bed, he said, he had seen a report about a burglary that had happened nearby.

Members of Wilkinson's congregation were praying for Wilkinson and his family. Wilkinson and his wife are the "salt of the earth, the kindest, most wonderful people you could ever want to have for friends," said Peggy Vevang, who teaches a Bible class at the church once a month. Wilkinson is an avid canoeist and does good works in the local community as well as leading mission trips, including one to India, Vevang said.

Their granddaughter had been at church every week and helped in the kitchen with potlucks, she added.

"I can't imagine anything more devastating to them than for something like this to occur," Vevang said.

Wilkinson still could face charges. Police plan to talk to the girl, a lieutenant in the department said Thursday.

Under Minnesota law, a defender can use a gun if he reasonably perceives that there is a threat, such as someone in the house committing a felony, or if he believes he is in danger of death or great bodily harm.

Rochester police released a 911 transcript of the call from the house, with the pastor's wife begging for help in saving her granddaughter. According to the transcript, the woman told a dispatcher "there was an intruder, my husband thought there was an intruder, here it's our granddaughter was outside, she's been shot, please!"

"She's bleeding, bleeding bad!" she said later, explaining to the dispatcher that the girl was bleeding from the chest.

Responding to dispatcher questions, the woman said the girl was breathing and talking at first, then later she was just breathing.

"Please save her!" she told the dispatcher.

Wilkinson said he "would not want anybody to ever have this horrible, horrible experience."

Pam Louwagie • 612-673-7102

Related:

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Synchronicity or what?



1. Two attacks on school children on the same day (in USA and China) :

Elementary school massacre: 20 children among 28 killed in Connecticut slaughter

NBCNews.com (blog) - ‎14 hours ago

The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School shook everyone in Newtown, Conn., including the first responders, who will be undergoing counseling.


Chinese man attacks 22 children, 1 adult with knife outside primary school - NY Daily News

New York Daily News ‎- 19 hours ago
A knife-wielding man injured 22 children and one adult outside a primary school in central China as students were arriving for classes Friday, ...


Former South African President Nelson Mandela Cuba Chavez.JPEG

2. Two presidents undergo operations (in South Africa and Venezuela):

Mandela Has Surgery for Gallstones

New York Times - ‎17 minutes ago‎

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa - Nelson Mandela, South Africa's ailing former president, had surgery to have gallstones removed, the government said on Saturday, as he began his second week of hospitalization.


Looking ahead in Venezuela

Los Angeles Times - ‎4 hours ago

When Venezuela President Hugo Chavez announced last weekend that his cancer was back and he was returning to Cuba for surgery, he was flanked by two men: On his left was his vice president, Nicolas Maduro, and on his right was Diosdado Cabello, ...

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Iron and Clay—Mingled Churchcraft and Statecraft



We have come to a time when God’s sacred work is represented by the feet of the image in which the iron was mixed with the miry clay. God has a people, a chosen people, whose discernment must be sanctified, who must not become unholy by laying upon the foundation wood, hay, and stubble. Every soul who is loyal to the commandments of God will see that the distinguishing feature of our faith is the seventh-day Sabbath. If the government would honor the Sabbath as God has commanded, it would stand in the strength of God and in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints. But statesmen will uphold the spurious sabbath, and will mingle their religious faith with the observance of this child of the papacy, placing it above the Sabbath which the Lord has sanctified and blessed, setting it apart for man to keep holy, as a sign between Him and His people to a thousand generations. The mingling of churchcraft and statecraft is represented by the iron and the clay. This union is weakening all the power of the churches. This investing the church with the power of the state will bring evil results. Men have almost passed the point of God’s forbearance. They have invested their strength in politics, and have united with the papacy. But the time will come when God will punish those who have made void His law, and their evil work will recoil upon themselves (MS 63, 1899). 


S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 4, pp.1168-1169.

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Iron Mixed with Miry Clay


538 A.D. - Present Day


And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And [as] the toes of the feet [were] part of iron, and part of clay, [so] the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. Daniel 2:41 - 43.



"The element of weakness symbolized by the clay, pertained to the feet as well as to the toes. Rome, before its division into ten kingdoms, lost that iron tenacity which it possessed to a superlative degree during the first centuries of its career. Luxury, with its accompanying effeminacy and degeneracy, the destroyer of nations as well as of individuals, began to corrode and weaken its iron sinews, and thus prepared the way for its subsequent disruption into ten kingdoms.

The iron legs of the image terminate,… and the kingdom represented by that portion of the image to which the toes belonged, was finally divided into ten parts." You may well ask, "Do the toes represent the ten divisions of the Roman empire? We answer, Yes; because,


The image of [Daniel] chapter 2 is exactly parallel with the vision of the four beasts of chapter 7. The fourth beast of chapter 7represents the same as the iron legs of the image.

The ten horns of the beast, of course, correspond very naturally to the ten toes of the image; and these horns are plainly declared to be ten kings which should arise; and they are just as much independent kingdoms as are the beasts themselves; for the beasts are spoken of in precisely the same manner; namely, as "four kings which should arise." Verse 17. They do not denote a line of successive kings, but kings or kingdoms which exist contemporaneously; for three of them were plucked up by the little horn. The ten horns, beyond controversy, represent the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided.

We have seen that in Daniel's interpretation of the image he uses the words king and kingdom interchangeably, the former denoting the same as the latter. In verse 44 he says that "in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom." This shows that at the time the kingdom of God is set up, there will be a plurality of kings existing contemporaneously. It cannot refer to the four preceding kingdoms; for it would be absurd to use such language in reference to a line of successive kings, since it would be in the days of the last king only, not in the days of any of the preceding, that the kingdom of God would be set up.



This division was accomplished between the years A.D. 351 and A.D. 476. The era of this dissolution thus covered a hundred and twenty-five years, from about the middle of the fourth century to the last quarter of the fifth. No historians of whom we are aware, place the beginning of this work of the dismemberment of the Roman empire earlier than A.D. 351, and there is general agreement in assigning its close in A.D. 476. … The map of the Roman empire during that time underwent many sudden and violent changes, and that the paths of hostile nations charging upon its territory, crossed and recrossed each other in a labyrinth of confusion. But all historians agree in this, that out of the territory of Western Rome, ten separate kingdoms were ultimately established, and we may safely assign them to the time between the dates above named; namely, A.D. 351 and 476.

The ten nations which were most instrumental in breaking up the Roman empire, and which at some time in their history held respectively portions of Roman territory as separate and independent kingdoms, may be enumerated … as follows: The Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards.

Each of the four monarchies had its own particular territory, which was the kingdom proper, and where we are to look for the chief events in its history shadowed forth by the symbol. We are not, therefore, to look for the divisions of the Roman empire in the territory formerly occupied by Babylon, or Persia, or Grecia, but in the territory proper of the Roman kingdom, which was what was finally known as the Western empire. Rome conquered the world; but the kingdom of Rome proper lay west of Grecia. That is what was represented by the legs of iron. There, then, we look for the ten kingdoms; and there we find them. We are not obliged to mutilate or deform the symbol to make it a fit and accurate representation of historical events.




Daniel 2:43 - "And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."


With Rome fell the last of the universal empires belonging to the world in its present state. Heretofore the elements of society had been such that it was possible for one nation, rising superior to its neighbors in prowess, bravery, and the science of war, to attach them one after another to its chariot wheels till all were consolidated into one vast empire, and one man seated upon the dominant throne could send forth his will as law to all the nations of the earth. When Rome fell, such possibilities forever passed away. Crushed beneath the weight of its own vast proportions, it crumbled to pieces, never to be united again. The iron was mixed with the clay. Its elements lost the power of cohesion, and no man or combination of men can again consolidate them. This point is so well set forth by another that we take pleasure in quoting his words:--

From this, its divided state, the first strength of the empire departed; but not as that of the others had done. No other kingdom was to succeed it, as it had the three which went before it. It was to continue in this tenfold division, until the kingdom of stone smote it upon its feet, broke them in pieces, and scattered them as the wind does the chaff of the summer threshing-floor! Yet, through all this time, a portion of its strength was to remain. And so the prophet says, 'And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.'


Daniel 2:42 - "And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken."

How in any other way could you so strikingly represent the facts? For more than fourteen hundred years, this tenfold division has existed. Time and again men have dreamed of rearing on these dominions one mighty kingdom. Charlemagne tried it. Charles V tried it. Louis XIV tried it. Napoleon tried it. But none succeeded. A single verse of prophecy was stronger than all their hosts. Their own power was wasted, frittered away, destroyed. But the ten kingdoms did not become one. 'Partly strong, and partly broken,' was the prophetic description. And such, too, has been the historic fact concerning them. With the book of history open before you, I ask you, Is not this an exact representation of the remnants of this once mighty empire? It ruled with unlimited power. It was the throned mistress of the world. Its scepter was broken; its throne pulled down; its power taken away. Ten kingdoms were formed out of it; and 'broken' as then it was, it still continues; i.e., partly broken;' for its dimensions still continue as when the kingdom of iron stood upright upon its feet. And then it is 'partly strong;' i.e., it retains, even in its broken state, enough of its iron strength to resist all attempts to mold its parts together. 'This shall not be,' says the word of God. 'This has not been,' replies the book of history.

"But then," men may say, "another plan remains. If force cannot avail, diplomacy and reasons of state may; we will try them." And so the prophecy foreshadows this when it says, 'They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men;' i.e., marriages shall be formed, in hope thus to consolidate their power and in the end to unite these divided kingdoms into one.



"And shall this device succeed? -- No. The prophet answers: 'They shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.' And the history of Europe is but a running commentary on the exact fulfillment of these words. From the time of Canute to the present age, it has been the policy of reigning monarchs, the beaten path which they have trodden in order to reach a mightier scepter and a wider sway. And the most signal instance of it which history has recorded in our own day, is in the case of Napoleon. He ruled in one of the kingdoms.... He sought to gain by alliance what he could not gain by force; i.e., to build up one mighty, consolidated empire. And did he succeed? -- Nay. The very power with which he was allied, proved his destruction, in the troops of Blucher, on the field of Waterloo! The iron would not mingle with clay. The ten kingdoms continue still. 'They shall not cleave one to another.' … And how marked the emphasis with which history affirms this declaration of the word of God!" -- Wm. Newton,Lectures on the First Two Visions of the Book of Daniel.



Now we can continue our study into the parallel beast in Dan 7…

Daniel 7:7 - "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns."

It had ten horns, which are explained in verse 24 to be ten kings, or kingdoms, which should arise out of this empire. As already noticed inchapter 2, Rome was divided into ten kingdoms, enumerated as follows:
These divisions have ever since been spoken of as the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire.

Huns or Alemani Germany
Visigoths Spain
Franks France
Suevi Portugal
Burgundians Switzerland
Anglo-Saxons England
Lombards or Bavarians Italy
Ostrogoths Wiped Out
Vandals Wiped Out
Heruli Wiped Out


Daniel 7:8 - "I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." Daniel 7:19 - "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows."


Daniel considered the horns. Indications of a strange movement appeared among them. A little horn, at first little, but afterward more stout than its fellows, thrust itself up among them. It was not content quietly to find a place of its own, and fill it; it must thrust aside some of the others, and usurp their places. Three kingdoms were plucked up before it. This little horn, as we shall have occasion to notice more fully hereafter, was the papacy. The three horns plucked up before it were the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals. And the reason why they were plucked up was because they were opposed to the teaching and claims of the papal hierarchy, and hence to the supremacy in the church of the bishop of Rome. [Editors note: Note the similarity of this power, Papal Rome, to the iron monarchy of Pagan Rome. The priciples remain unchanged.] And "in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things," the eyes, a fit emblem of the shrewdness, penetration, cunning, and foresight of the papal hierarchy; and the mouth speaking great things, a fit symbol of the arrogant claims of the bishops of Rome [from whom the Pope was elected ].

As these horns denote kingdoms, the little horn must denote a kingdom also, but not of the same nature, because it was diverse from the others. They were political kingdoms. And now we have but to inquire if any kingdom has arisen among the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire since A.D. 476, and yet diverse from them all; and if so, what one? The answer is, Yes; the spiritual kingdom of the papacy. This answers to the symbol in every particular, as is easily proven; and nothing else will do it. See the specifications more particularly mentioned in verse 23.




In verse 22 three consecutive events seem to be brought to view. Daniel, looking onward from the time when the little horn was in the height of its power to the full end of the long contest between the saints and Satan with all his agents, notes three prominent events that stand as mileposts [Editors note: If you would like more information regarding these events and what has happened as they have been fulfilled you may email your questions to hff@theofficenet.com. I will be happy to answer them.] (1) The coming of the Ancient of days; that is, the position which Jehovah takes in the opening of the judgment scene described in verses 9,10. (2) The judgment that is given to the saints; that is, the time when the saints sit with Christ in judgment a thousand years, following the first resurrection Rev. 20:14, apportioning to the wicked the punishment due for their sins. Then the martyrs will sit in judgment upon the great antichristian, persecuting power, which, in the days of their trial, hunted them like the beasts of the desert, and poured out their blood like water. (3) The time that the saints possess the kingdom; that is, the time of their entrance upon the possession of the new earth. Then the last vestige of the curse of sin, and of sinners, root and branch, will have been wiped away, and the territory so long misruled by the wicked powers of earth, the enemies of God's people, will be taken by the righteous, to be held by them forever and ever. 1 Cor. 6:2,3; Matt. 25:34.

Daniel 7:23 - Thus he said,
"The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end."



We have here further particulars respecting the fourth beast and the little horn. Perhaps enough has already been said respecting the fourth beast [Rome] and the ten horns, or ten kingdoms, which arose therefrom. The little horn now more particularly demands attention. As stated on verse 8, we find the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning this horn in the rise and work of the papacy. It is a matter of both interest and importance, therefore, to inquire into the causes which resulted in the development of this antichristian power.

The first pastors or bishops of Rome enjoyed a respect proportionate to the rank of the city in which they resided; and for the first few centuries of the Christian era, Rome was the largest, richest, and most powerful city in the world. It was the seat of empire, the capital of the nations. "All the inhabitants of the earth belong to her," said Julian; and Claudian declared her to be "the fountain of laws." "If Rome is the queen of cities, why should not her pastor be the king of bishops?" was the reasoning these Roman pastors adopted. "Why should not the Roman Church be the mother of Christendom? Why should not all nations be her children, and her authority their sovereign law? It was easy," says D'Aubigne, from whom we quote these words History of the Reformation, Vol. I, chap. 1 "for the ambitious heart of man to reason thus. Ambitious Rome did so."

The bishops in the different parts of the Roman empire felt a pleasure in yielding to the bishop of Rome some portion of that honor which Rome, as the queen city, received from the nations of the earth. There was originally no dependence implied in the honor thus paid. "But," continues D'Aubigne, "usurped power increased like an avalanche. Admonitions, at first simply fraternal, soon became absolute commands in the mouth of the pontiff. The Western bishops favored this encroachment of the Roman pastors, either from jealousy of the Eastern bishops, or because they preferred submitting to the supremacy of a pope rather than to the dominion of a temporal power."


Such were the influences clustering around the bishop of Rome [and the influx of religion into the state.] Thoughts On Daniel And Revelation, pages 62-142, Uriah Smith.

The mingling of churchcraft and statecraft is represented by the iron and the clay. This union is weakening all the power of the churches. This investing the church with the power of the state will bring evil results. Men have almost passed the point of God's forbearance. They have invested their strength in politics, and have united with the papacy. But the time will come when God will punish those who have made void His law, and their evil work will recoil upon themselves. Ellen G. White, 4 Bible Commentary, page 1168.To learn more, here are two valuable books:



This first one by A. T. Jones was written in 1889 as a response to the proposed Sunday legislation of that day called the Blair Ammendment. The National Sunday Law, by A.T. Jones 1889
(find it at the bottom of the page)



This book, written about 100 years later goes into detail explaining what the Bible says about the future and Sunday Legislation. It is only 70 pages and very well documented. It will take you only a few hours to read.
National Sunday Law, by A. J. Marcussen
There are over 25 million of these in print in 52 languages. They are very helpful.


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