Month: February 2014

Pope Francis: ‘Be Courageous, and Go to Confession’

Oh my, is this wonderful, or not?

“Don’t be afraid of confession,” Pope Francis stressed. “When someone is in line for confession, he feels all these things, even shame; but then, when he finishes confessing, he leaves (feeling) free, great, beautiful, forgiven, clean, happy.”

Pope Francis: ‘Be Courageous, and Go to Confession’

The Holy Father spoke of the healing available in the sacrament of reconciliation at his Feb. 19 audience: ‘Forgiveness is not a result of our efforts, but is a gift. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who showers us with mercy and grace that pours forth unceasingly from the open heart of Christ, crucified and risen.’

by CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY 02/19/2014

VATICAN CITY — During his Wednesday audience on Feb. 19, Pope Francis encouraged the pilgrims filling St. Peter’s Square to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.
“Everyone say to himself: ‘When was the last time I went to confession?’ And if it has been a long time, don’t lose another day. Go, the priest will be good. And Jesus, (will be) there, and Jesus is better than the priests. Jesus receives you: He will receive you with so much love.”
“Be courageous, and go to confession,” urged the Pope.
Acknowledging a popular objection to the sacrament, Pope Francis noted, “Someone can say, ‘I confess my sins only to God.’ Yes, you can say to God, ‘Forgive me,’ and say your sins. But our sins are also against our brothers, against the Church. This is is why it is necessary to ask forgiveness of the Church and of our brothers, in the person of the priest.”
“While the celebration of the sacrament is personal, it is rooted in the universality of the Church,” which “accompanies us on the path of conversion,” he explained.
“Forgiveness is not something we can give ourselves,” cautioned the Pope. “One asks forgiveness; one asks it of another person, and in confession, we ask forgiveness from Jesus.”
“Forgiveness is not a result of our efforts, but is a gift. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who showers us with mercy and grace that pours forth unceasingly from the open heart of Christ, crucified and risen.”
The Pope went on to recognize that many people feel ashamed at the idea of confessing their sins and might say, “But Father, I am embarrased.”
“Even embarrassment is good. It’s healthy to have a bit of shame. … It does us good, because it makes us more humble.”
“Don’t be afraid of confession,” Pope Francis stressed. “When someone is in line for confession, he feels all these things, even shame; but then, when he finishes confessing, he leaves (feeling) free, great, beautiful, forgiven, clean, happy.”
“The sacrament of reconciliation is a sacrament of healing,” he pointed out.
“When I go to confession, it’s for healing: healing the soul, healing the heart, because of something that I did to make it unwell.”
The Pope pointed to the biblical story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man, which expresses the “profound link” between “forgiveness and healing,” since “the Lord Jesus is revealed at the same time as the physician of soul and body.”
He also recounted the Parable of the Prodigal Son, who sought his father’s forgiveness and was welcomed home with open arms.
“But I say to you,” he stressed to the many pilgrims, “every time we go to confession, God embraces us.”

Now you see concealed-carry, now you don’t:: D. Harmon’s proposal

Oak Park Chronicles

A new twist on Sen. Harmon’s proposed twisting of concealed-carry to insert in the law the presumption of no-guns-allowed, as envisioned by a guns-fearing woman:

Nicole said she sees signs indicating gun-free zones are currently posted at her child’s pre-school, and finds them to be a frightening reminder of the tragic mass-shooting of young children in Newtown, Conn. in 2012.

She told FOX 32 news that Senate Bill 2669 would render gun-free zone signs redundant and unnecessary at places like her child’s school. She also said local businesses would benefit from posting positive signs as opposed to negative ones.

The positive sign would say guns allowed, presumption being not allowed. Progressive Dem sleight of hand, right?

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Ride the South Side with Leo HS pride and Clyde: a Hickey report

Leo HS Morning 2/11/2014 -I Ride With Pride and Clyde By My Side!

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I am blessed with a great life and the opportunity to work for Leo High School. I get to Leo at about 4:45 most days and start the boilers, do some paper work and get the one of the vans ready to pick up between seven and nine guys participating in early morning activities.

My crew is usually Cyde, Chris, TJ, Mick, Joe, Latrell, Caleb, Gaylon, and Sydney. I begin in Englewood at 74th & Normal, go to Grand Crossing at 66th & King Drive, take that beautiful, historic and inspiring Boulevard north to 35th and Dunkin Donuts!

For more more more . . . Take it away, Hickey . . .

GOP Natl team reports on winter meeting

Oak Park Republicans

Republican Natl Committee report from Ill. Chairman Jack Dorgan has 2016 news.

The committee . . . elected members of the 2016 Convention Site Selection Committee.

Important stuff that — Midwesterners are from Iowa, N. Dakota, and Indiana. But the hoi polloi resonate more with this:

Among . . . cities vying to host the convention . . . are Las Vegas, Kansas City, Phoenix, Denver, and Columbus.

Would be a case of (a) what happens in Vegas not staying there or (b) everything being up to date or (c) rising from the ashes of the Obama trainwreck presidency or (d) thin air being no obstacle to high-energy performance or (e) saying goodbye (guess: Roth novel) without regrets.

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DC lawyer fingers IRS for criminal misconduct

No Congress member interrupted her:

Cleta Mitchell may be the most dangerous woman in America. She is the prominent Washington attorney who represents several clients victimized by the criminal misconduct of the IRS over the past four years.

She speaks with authority when she asserts, as she does in the video below, that the Obama administration is responsible for “lies upon lies” covering up the multifarious, politically inspired wrongdoing of the IRS.

She gave a short course (seven minutes) for interested citizens at a House hearing yesterday. Listen to what she has to say. She knows what she is talking about

PowerLine cites article 2 of the Nixon impeachment, trying to get IRS to punish White House enemies — but not succeeding because IRS was full of Democrats. Heavy stuff here.

PowerLine’s hat tip is to Debra Heine and Breitbart. Mine too.

President Obama’s fool-proof strategy

The president wants to help young black men and so bustles about calling for commissions, committees, and meetings.

Wants to get down to some serious across-board social engineering. But . . . but . . . but . . . !!

School vouchers, in study after study, have been shown to boost black graduation rates and college attendance. In other words, they help keep kids in school and out of trouble. Yet the president opposes the school voucher program in D.C. and is trying to shut down another one in Louisiana. Not helpful.

Mr. Obama advocates for a higher minimum wage, which will make it more expensive to hire young blacks who are already experiencing 38 percent unemployment, or double the jobless rate among white teens. Again, not helpful.

The Obama administration hassles businesses that do criminal background checks on potential hires, even though research shows that employers who perform criminal background checks are more likely to hire black applicants than employers who do not. Blacks, who currently face 12 percent unemployment, don’t need this kind of “help,” either.

He’s like the fellow one night looking for his lost wallet under a lamp post. Lost something here? he is asked. Not here, he says, over there, pointing. So why are you looking for it here? The light’s better, he says.

It’s his comfort zone, you know.

Danny Davis answers a question. Finally.

Oak Park Chronicles

Asked where he stood on the five-day week for mail delivery yesterday, Feb. 10, at the library, Rep. Danny Davis gave a litany of experts who had chimed in on the matter — lawyers, economists, and others, including “actuarians.”

It’s “an old issue,” he mused, picking his words with deliberation but ignoring the question. “Sometimes Congress quickly decides a thing, sometimes not,” he said.

Businesses, unions (as letter carriers), and other groups have opposed the change, he said — including Amazon, a major U.S. Postal Service customer, the USPS district supervisor, Peter Allen, added later.

“I’ve been in countries,” Davis continued, “where five women are put to clean a hotel room. In one of these, he asked the government host about this. “You Americans don’t understand. We believe that it’s important for as many to work as possible.’

“We have not reached that point,” Davis said, reporting the incident as…

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