*Fr. Francois Murad was murdered in Syria. It was not quick or clean. God bless you, son of St. Francis. Pray for us.
*Civil marriage is dead but we knew that. For the last five or so decades it's been like a zombie shuffling along. It died when the middle class America accepted divorce and contraception. Our society is like a man who's being slowly poisoned with tiny doses of antifreeze. He's aware that something is off but nothing gets done until he recieves the really big dose that sends him to the hospital or the morgue.
So, what happens now? I hope Christians will take this as a chastisement and readjust our attitudes. First, the bishops need to stop taking Federal money. Second, brides and grooms need to treat a wedding like a sacrament and not a LasVegas review. Catholics should not get married like pagans do and we ought not discourage our brothers and sisters who can not afford or just don't want the big fat show boat wedding. I remember one engaged woman who after hearing me describe the very simple (three witnesses and one priest in a dark church) way Rocky and I got married, unconsciously curled her lower lip in disgust and backed two steps away from me. She eventually wed like the only child of royalty and was such a bridezilla that I pitied the young man she was involved with.
*This is one of the best things Fr. Rutler ever wrote.
Cardinal John Njue, you absolutely rock!
*"Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. -Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC