2008 December | Religion & Values

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Vatican + iPhone = iPrayer

Posted by religion

on December 30, 2008 at 1:03 pm

The Vatican has found that new technology like the iPhone has some definite advantages.

According to the Associated Press, the Vatican is endorsing new technology that brings the book of daily prayers used by priests straight onto iPhones.

The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications has given its approval of the iBreviary, an iTunes application created by an Italian priest, the Rev. Paolo Padrini, and an Italian Web designer, the AP reports.

The application includes the Breviary prayer book — in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Latin and, in the near future, Portuguese and German. Another section includes the prayers of the daily Mass, and a third contains various other prayers.

Padrini’s proceeds are to go to charity.

(Above: AP Photo)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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More religion quotes of the year

Posted by religion

on December 27, 2008 at 12:28 pm

There were so many interesting religion quotes for 2008, that I couldn’t get them all in today’s newspaper.

Here, I have included more quotes culled from those compiled throughout the year by the Religion News Service.

I keep a file of the quotes and then pick my favorites or those I think are the most interesting and provocative to share with readers.

Many of these quotes prove once again that faith and religion have become more prominent than ever in today’s culture:

1. “I would advise politicians, however, to be careful about faith in the public arena …. They should recognize — at least I have recognized that I am a lowly sinner seeking redemption and therefore have been very careful about saying … if you don’t accept what I believe, you’re a bad person.” — President George W. Bush, in an interview with StoryCorps’ National Day of Listening project.

2. “ … I had missed an opportunity … to clearly assert the following: Nonbelievers have just as great a stake as believers in defending religious liberty. If a society takes it upon itself to prescribe and proscribe certain streams of belief — to prohibit certain less-favored strains of conscience — it may be the nonbeliever who is among the first to be condemned.” — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaking at a May 8 dinner in

New York where he was honored by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He was referring to the speech he gave on religious liberty during his recent presidential campaign.

3. “This studio, I thought of it as the ‘

church of

Tim.’ He was also the great uber priest. I would actually get a pass from my own pastor not to go to church on Sundays if I was going to be on ‘Meet the Press.’” —
Washington journalist Gwen Ifill, a regular on “Meet the Press,” on the death of the show’s host Tim Russert, who died June 13.

4. “I can see by the language he uses why people think he could be the antichrist, but from my reading of Scripture, he doesn’t meet the criteria. There is no indication in the Bible that the antichrist will be an American.” — “Left Behind” co-author Tim LaHaye, on whether presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama is the antichrist.

5. “(God) owns everything; He owns the gas. All we to do is ask, and we shall receive.” — Seventh-day Adventist Rocky Twyman of Rockville, Md., explaining why he holds vigils to pray for lower fuel prices.

6. “We demand the Americans leave us alone and stop creating religious controversies. First, they shot the Quran, and now they come to proselytize inside Fallujah.” — Mohammed Amin Abdel-Hadi, leader of the Sunni Endowment in Fallujah, Iraq, who accused

U.S. troops of acting like Christian missionaries.

6. 7. “I would love to be fair for everyone. But sooner or later, if they can see through me God, that’s what I want to try to do. I’m not God, and I can’t drive them to God, but I can pray for them.” —

U.S. Olympic archery coach Kisik Lee responding to charges that he tried to impose his faith on his team.

8. “In my most difficult moments it feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has cut me out of the herd.” — New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, about being uninvited to the Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade meeting in

England of all Anglican bishops.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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Something for animal lovers

Posted by religion

on December 27, 2008 at 8:00 am

I know there are lots of animal lovers out there.

I just learned of a neat feature on the Human Society of the United States’ Web site. It’s called the “Francis Files.”

The society invites readers to share a story of how an animal has influenced their faith or how their faith has influenced their view of animals.

The society shares many of the stories with its readers. Each month one story is featured in the society’s e-newsletter, the Humane Steward.

The Francis Files are, of course, named after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

For more information or to submit your story, click here: Francis Files.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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Catholic League gives Comedy Central a lump of coal

Posted by religion

on December 24, 2008 at 1:35 pm

Comedy Central re-broadcast actor Denis Leary’s 2005 Christmas special and this has raised the ire of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

The special also is set to air Christmas Day.

However, the Catholic League is asking its members and associates to e-mail Doug Herzog, the president of Comedy Central, to ask that he cancel the special’s Christmas showing — and any future showings.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue said Comedy Central’s repeated airing of the 2005 special is proof that there is still a “War on Christmas.

“They are well aware that this special is offensive — indeed mocking Catholicism is the goal — and they repeatedly re-air it, particularly on Christmas, the maximize the offense,” Donohue said in a recent news release.

Leary’s holiday special includes a skit about lesbian nuns, among other things. But his monologue, in which he scoffs at Christians’ belief in the virgin birth of Christ, is apparently deemed the most offensive by Donohue.

Read more about the issue on the Catholic League’s Web site at www.catholicleague.org.

(PHOTO: Actor Denis Leary)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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Online Prayer of the Day

Posted by religion

on December 23, 2008 at 6:04 pm

Look for local clergy to share a Prayer of the Day online at NewsOK.com.

The video Prayer of the Day is part of an occasional series as we strive to include and highlight our local religious community to become a vital part of our online presence.

An online video prayer will be offered Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, and Dec. 25, Christmas Day.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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Obama to use Lincoln’s Bible

Posted by religion

on December 23, 2008 at 5:00 pm

A historic Bible will be used at the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.

The Religion News Service said today that Obama has chosen the Bible used at President Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration.

According to the RNS, it will be the first time a president has used the Bible at an inauguration since Lincoln used it in 1861.

“President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress had made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in,” Emmett Beliveau, executive director of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, told the RNS.

“The president-elect is committed to holding an inauguration that celebrates America’s unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage.”

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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Finding room at the inn

Posted by religion

on December 20, 2008 at 8:00 am

The Rev. George Back and his book “Christmas Joy: Let Heaven and Nature Sing” came into my life at just the right time.

If you’ve ever had something happen that you can’t quite define as coincidence, you will understand what I am saying.

Due to an upcoming assignment and the very premise of Christmas, I had been thinking of Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary and their search for shelter thousands of years ago.

The phrase that kept ringing in my mind as I have heard the story told through songs and oration, “Is there room in the inn?”

One particular day, it struck me personally, that Christ asks on a daily basis “is there room” in one’s heart for Him?

Then I picked up Dean Back’s book and it opened to the page that included the following essay:

“Baby Jesus as Spiritual Guide”

The Gospel of Luke tells the story about how Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus into the temple when he was eight days old. Many old people like Simeon and Anna came to the temple in order to spend their final days in the presence of God, then to die and be buried in that holy place.

When Jesus was brought as a baby into the temple, old Simeon and old Anna immediately saw what their souls yearned for. They had come to the holy polace to complete their lives, and in looking at this newborn, they saw fulfillment of life.

“Now let your servant depart in peace,” proclaimed Simeon.

What he meant was, “I have seen God’s presence in this baby and now I am ready to be born from above.”

Birth and death, breathing in and breathing out, beginning and end, new and old — all these counterparts belong to one spiritual stream of divine grace.

The treasure of a pilgrim’s soul lies in the immensity of its immaturity. Within this immaturity lies the possibility for freedom, growth and development.

Babies rejoice in spiritual incompleteness; they don’t worry about their weakness and incompetence. A baby enjoys being merely a baby.

Likewise, we should let our souls rejoice that we have so far to grow.

When Mary realizes that she is pregnant with God she sings the first Christmas carol. It is the song of one who is mired deep in a poverty of spirit, but who then recognizes the immense possibility of God alive within her. Like Anna and Simeon who came to die but see abundance of life, Mary sees the glory of god springing forth from the depths of her humility. So it is that Mary sings the words we now call “The Magnificat”:

My soul magnifies the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

for he regards the lowliness of his handmaiden (Luke 1:46-47).

The spiritual pilgrim will see in the baby a helpful guide. Babies live by grace, not by competence. They ask for food from the center of their hunger.

Jesus teaches his followers to pray to his Father in heaven, who knows how to give good gifts to us. In Gospel parables he urges us to pester God — like the persistent widow who nags the dishonest judge, or like the host who annoys his neighbor in order to provide hospitality for a guest.

Do not attempt to speak to God from a posture of confidence in your worthiness, but from your spiritual, intellectual and emotional neediness.

Like Anna and Simeon, seek God in your dying. Like Mary, the unmarried-yet-expectant mother, seek God from your humiliation.

Like a baby, cry deeply from an empty stomach, to be filled with the presence of God.

——-

Dean Back’s book is available at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral bookstore and Full Circle Bookstore in 50 Penn Place.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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Rick Warren speaks out

Posted by religion

on December 19, 2008 at 12:16 pm

Pastor Rick Warren has released a statement concerning his participation in the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.

The statement, sent out through Christian Newswire, reads:

“I commend President-elect Obama for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn’t agree on every issue, to offer the Invocation at his historic Inaugural ceremony.

“Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America.

“The Bible admonishes us to pray for our leaders. I am honored by this opportunity to pray God’s blessing on the office of the President and its current and future inhabitant, asking the Lord to provide wisdom to America’s leaders during this critical time in our nation’s history.”

——

Stay tuned. This story just keeps evolving. Oh, and you might want to watch Warren’s interview with Ann Curry at 8 p.m. tonight on NBC’s Dateline. I watched excerpts of the interview on the Today show and I think many people, particular the faith community, will be interested in hearing what Warren has to say.

Curry said it was conducted before Warren’s role in the inauguration was made public.

(AP Photo: Sen John McCain, R-Ariz., Pastor Rick Warren and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. stand together at an August forum at Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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More on Warren and Obama

Posted by religion

on December 18, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Megachurch preacher Rick Warren’s role in the upcoming presidential inauguration of Barack Obama will likely be the topic of conversation for weeks to come.

Beliefnet.com and Wall Street Journal columnist Steven Waldman offered his views on the issue on huffingtonpost.com. Waldman just conducted a video interview with Warren last week in which he shared his views on some hot button issues including gay marriage.

Go to Beliefnet.com to view Waldman’s interview of Warren: Beliefnet.com Warren interviews.

To read Waldman’s commentary about Obama’s choice of Warren to deliver the inauguration invocation, click here: Defense of Obama’s choice.

Read Rabbi Brad Hirschfield’s commentary on the issue here: Rick Warren’s Selection is Great for Faith … Hirschfield has a column “Windows and Doors” on Beliefnet.com.

(AP PHOTO: In this Aug. 16 file photo, then Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, joins Pastor Rick Warren at Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., for a discussion on moral issues.)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

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Rick Warren to pray at inauguration

Posted by religion

on December 17, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Megachurch pastor and author Rick Warren, whose best-selling book ”The Purpose-Driven Life” propelled him to international acclaim, will give the invocation at the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will deliver the benediction, according to the Religion News Service.

The preachers’ roles in the inauguration were announced today by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

The news about Warren’s involvement with the inauguration is causing some consternation in some quarters.

In a news release e-mailed today, People For the American Way President Kathryn Kolbert said she was disappointed that Warren was selected to deliver the invocation because of his stance against same-sex marriage, among other issues.

“I’m sure that Warren’s supporters will portray his selection as an appeal to unity by a president who is committed to reaching across traditional divides. Others may explain it as a response to Warren inviting then-Sen. Obama to speak on AIDS and candidate Obama to appear at a forum, both at his church,” Kolbert wrote.

“But the sad truth is that this decision further elevates someone who has in recent weeks actively promoted legalized discrimination and denigrated the lives and relationships of millions of Americans.”

(AP PHOTO: Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of “The Purpose-Driven Life.”)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Religion news with an Oklahoma angle

Vatican + iPhone = iPrayer

More religion quotes of the year

Something for animal lovers

Catholic League gives Comedy Central a lump of coal

Online Prayer of the Day

Obama to use Lincoln’s Bible

Finding room at the inn

Rick Warren speaks out

More on Warren and Obama

Rick Warren to pray at inauguration

Carla Hinton

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