Paul Luvera Journal

Patricia Sitkin of Linden, California wrote a recent letter to the National Catholic Reporter about an article by Stafford Betty, "Why Catholics are heading for the exits" which I had commented about a short time ago. (https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2008/10/why-catholics-are-abandoning-ship.html( Sitkin makes a point worth noting. She notes that traditionalist Catholics disparagingly refer to those us who are critical of Church polices as "cafeteria Catholics" or as she says "salad bar Catholics." These conservatives think it is an all or nothing situation with regard…

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The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem has been historically venerated by Christian religions as the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It’s located at the end of a street Via Dolorose, the path of sorrows. The Roman emperor Hadrian had erected a temple to Venus in this location. In 326 the mother of Emperor Constantine came to the city looking for sites associated with Christ. She decided this was the site of the resurrection and felt she…

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I get a monthly pamphlet Our Daily Bread with scriptural medications for each day of the month. Today, the reading said that Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham once saw a sign along the road that read "End of Construction – Thank you for your patience." After reading it, she said that that was she thought belonged on her gravestone. A life of being under construction. After her death in June of 2007, her gravemarker had the Chinese…

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As we move close to the voting for presidential and other candidates I anticipate the conservative Catholic bishops along with the Evangelical church’s to urge that it is immoral to vote for a candidate that doesn’t stand foursquare against abortion and gay marriage as the sole test for voting. I anticipate reading pronouncements in my diocesan newspaper applying moral tests to how Catholics should vote. I’ve commented previously about my views regarding this kind of convoluted, myopic vision of what’s…

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In the 2007 movie The Bucket List Morgan Freeman’s character tells Jack Nicholson’s character that in ancient Egypt they believed when they died the gods would ask them two questions before allowing them to enter: (1) Have you found joy in your life? and (2) Has your life brought joy to others? I was impressed enough that I began a search of ancient Egyptian religions to verify this, but I didn’t find anything to support the movie. It seems that…

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I've already commented on the attempts of some Catholic bishops to dictate their morality on American voters and elected Catholic officials. However, in doing some research I was reviewing Brian Meyer and Mary Murray compiled a book of quotations of Mario Cuomo entitled Quotable Cuomo which I read some years back. I was reminded of the attacks made on then New York governor Cuomo by New York City’s Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Austin Vaughn in 1990. Governor Cuomo refused to ask…

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There is a connection between Daniel Ellsberg of Watergate fame and Dorothy Day founder of the Catholic Worker. Daniel Ellsberg was famous in 1971 for his role regarding "the Pentagon Papers." Ellsberg was a military analyst employed by the Rand Corporation as a Vietnam expert. During that year Defense Secretary McNamara commissioned the company to analyze information about the Vietnam war. When Ellsberg began reviewing the papers he discovered that, contrary to government statements, the war was not likely ever…

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I’ve subscribed to Dr. Julian Whitaker’s Health & Healing newsletter for a number of years. While I don’t agree with everything he recommends, I find his ideas, research and recommendations about alternative medicine remedies reliable. Over the years I’ve followed, in his newsletter, the events involving Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski M.D. In the 1960’s Dr. Burzynski, found new and successful way of treating cancer. His treatment was based upon his discovery that peptides or protein fragments were absent in the blood…

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I went to Sunday Mass in Tacoma today. My penance for being distracted during the service is to confess it to you. To start with, a young woman of about twenty five came in before the services started to the Choir section. She had with her a Down’s Syndrome youngster in his early teens who looked like he was probably her brother. She helped him get off his coat and sat him in the chair behind her. He had a…

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We see so much discrimination against women in religions around the world . We read about the strict enforcement of the Islamic dress code and the burqa the dress code police enforce in Muslim countries, but we also find all of the major religions of the world putting women in a status below men. This includes major Christian religions. On the other hand, in the Book of Judges we read about Jewish hero’s which includes aN extraordinary woman, Deborah. Here…

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