Saint Joseph Parish: $1,581.00 from the Sunday envelopes; $97.00 from the second collection (plate); $15.00 from the Dues envelopes; $254.00 from the Rice Bowl envelopes; $35.00 from the Easter flowers envelopes; $136.00 from the loose. Thank you.

Saint Vincent DePaul Parish: $1,581.00 from the Sunday envelopes; $97.00 from the second collection (plate); $15.00 from the Dues envelopes; $254.00 from the Rice Bowl envelopes; $35.00 from the Easter flowers envelopes; $136.00 from the loose. Thank you.

You may anticipate that this guarantee is in effect, at least implicitly, in 99% of Catholic parishes, but I want to make it explicit in regard to the Catholic parishes of Girardville PA.
GUARANTEE: Regardless of the gravity of the sins you confess and / or the number of times you have committed them, you will hear not one word of condemnation nor rebuke from the priest in the confessional. We dispense God’s mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance. We save all exhortations and fulminations for the pulpit.

Men Objectify Women in Semi-Nude Images Study Reveals

by Hilary White

April 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Researchers in psychology at Stanford and Princeton universities have found that semi-nude images of women can cause men to view them as objects.

The research, conducted by a team including Princeton psychologist Susan Fiske, who first presented the findings in mid-February at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, found that pictures of bikini-clad women activated brain regions associated with objects or tools.

A lead researcher in the project said, "What the brain scans show is that they are reacting to this photograph as people react to objects. It is as if they are not fully human." "They are not treating them as fully three dimensional humans."

Twenty-one undergraduate male students at the University, who identified themselves as heterosexual, were shown images of men and women, some fully clothed and some wearing only bikinis. Areas of the brain associated with empathy for other people's emotions and wishes shut down after looking at the pictures. Brain scans showed that with some of the group, those identified by questionnaires as having "sexist" tendencies, a part of the brain that usually activated during social interaction actually de-activated when they were shown pictures of semi-nude women.

The study found that the images of the semi-nude women remained in the memories of the subjects longer than other images, with the men particularly recalling the bodies rather than the faces most clearly.

Dr. Susan Fiske said that men's perceptions of scantily clad women may be closely related to the ways people "dehumanize" groups from which they wish to distance themselves, such as homeless people and drug addicts.
The study "does relate to the effects of having pornography and sexualized images of women around and in the media because they spill over into how people treat women in general."

"You have to be aware of the effect of these images on people," Fiske explained. "They're not neutral. They do have an effect on how people think about other women."
Daniel Weiss, senior analyst for media and sexuality at Focus on the Family Action, told CitizenLink.com, "Women are viewed as less than human, or they're viewed as objects to be used or acted upon rather than as human beings to interact with."

Weiss said that the images used in the study "were not what most people would consider to be pornography, but they still have an effect."

"That type of sexualized imagery is all around us," he said. "This study gives us pause to consider the impact of all this sexualized media, particularly as it applies to young people."

WE SHARE THE MAIL

Dear Father:
Yes I saw the story on the 6:00pm news. I really like how you “cursed” the statue.
If I had not told you “officially” I will certainly support your cause. It is wrong to display such a thing publicly, especially on the main street! What does that even have to do with an antique store?
I saw on TV that one man said it was “art”. This cannot be true. Obviously, the statue is meant to be for “pleasure” and to attract people into the store. It is not any form of art worth the name. There seems to be this confusion of “art” and “soft porn”.
The lady interviewed said “They should go after the things you see on TV, that’s a lot worse than this!” It is true that there are things a lot worse on television, but obviously we cannot go after everything and the things we see on television are pretty much far beyond our control. But the least we can do is go after the things in our community.
In addition to the moral sense Father, I fell it is my duty to support you.
Tomorrow Father, make sure you watch the news at 5:30pm. They will have people calling on the phone to complain or support you.
I hope the owner will realize what she is doing and will remove the statue.
Your “15-year-old Saturday office boy” -
Ian
P.S. — Do you know who called the news?
If you are not already aware Father, you can find many more comments about the statue story on the Republican’s website.

www.republicanherald.com/articles/2009/03/31/news/local_news/pr_republican.20090331.a.pg3.pr31statue_s1.2411355_loc.txt

Dear Ian:
No, I don’t know who called the Channel 16 News. I know I didn’t. They just showed up at the door of St. Vincent Rectory on Monday morning.
Some of the points you make in your email are very deep and insightful.
I’m beginning to realize: You are not just smart (I already knew that) but you also have some wisdom (not very common in teenage boys).
Thanks for the heads-up about the 5:30 pm news today (Tuesday). Maybe I’ll set the DVR to record it.
I wasn’t aware of these comments until you pointed them out to me.
There is no particular point in my commenting on the comments, but they do make for interesting reading.
EBC