By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
This might be a fun question to pose the next time you encounter a driver sporting the original version of this bumper sticker on his or her car, Save Jerseyans:
Category: Religion
Pope Francis’s Easter Vigil
“That is Not the Place to Look for the One Who is Alive” (VIDEO)
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Pope Francis delivered his first Easter message on Saturday evening during the Vatican’s annual Easter Vigil liturgy.
This guy sure knows how to give a speech homily, Save Jerseyans, if you hadn’t heard already:
What’s So “Good” About This Friday?
Understanding the Political Implications of the Arrest, Crucifixion and Death of the King of Kings
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
*** Originally Posted April 5, 2012 ***
There’s both a theological and political answer to this age-old question, Save Jerseyans, one which every Christian ponders at one point or another during childhood.
After all, what’s so “good” about an objectively nice guy — Jesus of Nazareth — being arrested without cause, denied due process, condemned without evidence, ridiculed by his own people, betrayed by his closest friends, and brutally put to death by a tyrannical foreign power?
That’s a pretty “bad” Friday by anyone’s yardstick. The ACLU would’ve been all over this one.
Ghoulish though the scene may’ve been, it was truly “good” from a theological perspective because Jesus wasn’t just Jesus the regional political pariah or run of the mill desert preacher. He was the “Christ” incarnate, and He proved it by subsequently overcoming death and rising from the grave just three short days later. Having done so, He successfully ransomed mankind from eternal death and purchased eternal life for everyone audacious enough to believe in Him. So He quite literally saved us from ourselves… Jersey and all!
But like any great heroic tale, the “how” here is no less significant than the “why.”
Mr. Smith Goes to Rome
Speaker Tasks Smith to Lead Congressional Delegation to Pope Francis Inauguration
By Art Gallagher | MoreMonmouthMusings.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Speaker of the House John Boehner has tasked Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and leader on many international human rights efforts, to lead the bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation to attend the investiture of former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis.
“It is an honor to lead this bipartisan group of House members to this international event,” said Smith, who chairs the House Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee. “The world is a challenging place, in terms of wars and peace, basic human rights and freedoms. The Holy Father has a major role to play in global affairs. I wish him well as he begins his pontificate and am honored to be a part of this historic occasion. The Pope is more than a spiritual leader for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, he is an inspiration of holiness and goodness, and above all, the faithful proclamation of the Gospel.”
Can Pope Francis Take Over CPAC, Too?
First Impression? Francis I Seems to Know How to Communicate Traditional Christian Values Without Alienating His Flock
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Pope Francis I (photo credit: www.vatican.va)
There’s little doubt that the newly-elected Pope Francis I is a conservative like the rest of the College of Cardinals of which he is now an alumnus, Save Jerseyans.
The man who used to be called Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is also known a “compassionate conservative” and a straight-shooter. I thought this block quote from the former cardinal in today’s Washington Times, purportedly from a speech delivered back in his home archdiocese of Buenos Aires, was very revealing:
In our ecclesiastical region there are priests who don’t baptize the children of single mothers because they weren’t conceived in the sanctity of marriage,” Bergoglio told his priests. “These are today’s hypocrites. Those who clericalize the Church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it’s baptized!”
Bergoglio compared this concept of Catholicism, “this Church of ‘come inside so we make decisions and announcements between ourselves and those who don’t come in, don’t belong,” to the Pharisees of Christ’s time — people who congratulate themselves while condemning all others.
Hmm. The Church now has a man who, at first blush, seems to have the ability to articulate, in clear language, fundamental Christian principles without coming across as mean or divisive. If he succeeds in turning the Church around, perhaps he can teach the CPAC crowd a thing or two about outreach?
First Non-Euro Pope of Millennium (VIDEO)
New Pope Elected as White Smoke Rallies Epic Vatican Crowd in St. Peter’s Square and World Waits to Meet Him
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Habemus papam, Save Jerseyans!
77-year old Jorge Mario Bergoglio… the first non-European to be elected pope in approx. 1,300 years and a purported member of the anti-Curia “reformer” wing. Wow.
Watch here as we meet the new pope together:
Conclave Begins in Rome
115 Cardinals from Around the Globe Begin Process to Elect New Pope
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
It’s officially underway!
Moments ago, a dramatic scene unfolded inside the Vatican’s walls as cardinals processed, two-by-two, into the famous Sistine Chapel as a full choir sang the “Litany of the Saints.” The conclave’s singular goal? Keep voting until the Roman Catholic Church has a new Supreme Pontiff.
I’m a Catholic so I’ve always been fascinated by this stuff, Save Jerseyans. A plurality of New Jerseyans are Catholic. In fact, the Garden State is one of the most Catholic states in America, with approximately 37,000 Catholics per 100,000 state residents according to the 2010 census and a growing bench of Catholic public officials.
Click here (or on the image to your right) to visit the official Vatican Radio website for more audio/video coverage of the conclave. Just don’t expect another peek inside the Sistine Chapel until after white smoke appears and the bells ring out… and keep your fingers crossed for Timothy Dolan!
Vatican video of the procession into the conclave, oath of secrecy and other rituals straight up until “extra omnes!” is below the fold…
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