Not many - More like such a vast majority ARE racist that statistically the others hardly count.

And I certainly wouldn't use that rare-as-hen's-teeth possible exception to lessen the seriousness of the general offense. There's probably an honest used car dealer somewhere too.
.................

Cool!

I read the entire article

And here's the part I most agreed with:

"Families have a right to liturgy, just as we all do, and communities have a responsibility to welcome them. But families also have a responsibility to participate in ways that do not disrupt those around them."

I was an Army brat with all that entails, but when the whole family was together, we kids would never dream of embarrassing our parents at Mass because it came with serious consequences. When Dad had to be away w/o us, Mom was hardly on her own, with grandparents and other relatives around. On 'civilian time' we might act like little demons - which we probably were at times - but I think attending Catholic schools had a lot to do with appropriate behavior, too. Show me the kid willing to cross a nun and I'll show you a real live idiot.

Which is not to say the nuns I knew were abusive. I loved them dearly, even though like the other kids I called them Penguins behind their back. But they ruled well enough with moral authority.

That said, I want to share a few short stories of my most memorable times at Mass involving kids. At one point we had a priest who, after a baby was baptized, would hold the child aloft in his arms and march all the way up and down the aisle while everybody cheered, like he was daring the dark one to even think of coveting one of Christ's own.

Then there was one little baby who stayed perfectly silent during its entire baptism except when the Holy Spirit was mentioned, when it would squeal with joy at the top of its little lungs. Makes me quiver just remembering.

Lastly, there was one little toddler who loved our priest so much that the parents could hardly keep the kid in the pew. Once he managed to escape and run up front, so Father performed Mass with the little rug rat clinging tightly to his leg, and when Father took a seat, the kid was right there on his lap, hugging him for dear life. More than once people could see a literal, special aura surround that priest during services. I saw it myself a time or two, and now that I'm an old lady, I never run out of happy memories. Been very blessed, I have.

Very edifying. Thank you.

I knew there was an ongoing effort at mutual understanding but was totally unaware of the latest developments. The Anglicans are heavily involved also, to the best of my knowledge.

As an aside, it was always my own belief that we are justified by faith but duty bound to good works as well. Otherwise 'faith' is dead. In other words, justified by faith but known by our works. Hard if not impossible to separate the two.

There was a beautiful (though scary) episode on 'Criminal Minds' last night

I don't know if it was from a previous season or not, but it was new to me. I try not to miss that show. Anyway, they quoted a few bible verses including the one where Jesus tells his disciples, "A new commandment I give you, to love one another." Without sounding preachy at all, at least not to me, they made some very good points about the evils of gay bashing.

I hope the community prospers and grows.

With people that dedicated, you'd think the bishop would simply re-open their congregation officially. That would be the decent, quiet, Christian way to go. Does he think Jesus would ever tell people they had to attend Mass somewhere else besides their home area? It's more than ridiculous.

In the long arc of history

even the GOP fat cats are morons because they foul the nest and can't even admit to themselves (at least Buffet does) that fat cows give MORE milk. But what can you expect from sociopaths?

President Obama could read the phone book and make it spectacular.

Exquisite perfection

Sometimes people say that Moonlight Sonata is God's favorite piece of music, and I love it too; but surely Ode to Joy is a close contender. One should follow the other.

It boggles my mind, too.

And it makes me wear out my knees in prayer for the man, because he once asked for a prayer shield. There's precious little else I can do for him, but that is within anyone's reach, and it does make a difference.