Month: May 2015

Aside

My struggle to keep the Sabbath holy

This year, I’m more fully committing myself to keeping the Sabbath holy beyond merely fulfilling my obligation to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

But one of the challenges I’m facing is squeezing everything I previously split into Saturday and Sunday into just Saturday. I’m single; I’m not sure whether that should lighten the burden or not. For example, I don’t have a girlfriend or wife to split duties with; I also don’t have children to transport to weekend soccer games or whatever. I try to complete all my shopping, housework, and so forth on Saturday.

Some weekends, such as this one, involved family obligations on Saturday. That took several hours. So I had to finish some shopping today, Sunday.

Generally though, I’m striving to avoid unnecessary labor on the Sabbath, or purchasing anything not of necessity. That includes no restaurants, because then I’m forcing others to labor on the Sabbath. Imagine if ALL the Catholics in the United States refused to work, shop, or eat out on Sunday!

May we all strive to rest on the Sabbath and offer thanksgiving, praise, and honor to the Holy Trinity for creating and redeeming us.

Teacher executed for raping or molesting 26 students

May 29, 2015

The New York Post reports by way of the Associated Press,

A former Chinese elementary school teacher has been executed for molesting or raping 26 students, some as young as 4, in a case underscoring the vulnerability of rural children left behind by parents seeking jobs in cities.

Police: Waukegan man tried to meet boy for ‘sexual acts’

May 27, 2015

The Lake County News-Sun (Ill.) reports,

A Waukegan man is scheduled to appear in Lake County Circuit Court on June 1 after being charged with indecent solicitation of a child.

Olvin Renato Mendoza, 26, of the 1500 block of Muirfield Avenue, was arrested Tuesday after allegedly making an online request through a social networking site to meet with a person he believed was a 14-year-old boy, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Lawsuit accuses Notre Dame professor of sexual assault

May 27, 2015

The Post-Tribune (Northwest Ind.) reports,

A Roman Catholic priest who is a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame is accused of sexually abusing an unidentified boy more than 30 years ago in a lawsuit filed against him, the Archdiocese of San Antonio and a former priest who is believed to have gone into hiding more than a decade ago.

One Woman’s Crusade for U.K. Town’s Young Rape Victims

May 22, 2015

The Wall Street Journal reports,

Jayne Senior’s child-abuse reports, ignored for years, now deepen a national soul-searching

…an independent investigation confirmed the widespread sex abuse Ms. Senior identified, concluding that at least 1,400 girls in Rotherham had been sexually abused from 1997 through mid-2013, allegedly by a gang from the Pakistani community.

Many girls told her stories about British-Pakistani men befriending them after school in arcades, fast-food restaurants and parks. The men would pick them up in expensive cars, buy them gifts like cellphone cards and ply them with alcohol—and, they said, eventually rape and sometimes prostitute them.

Gurnee man gets 16 years for sexual abuse of girl, 7

May 19, 2015

The Lake County News-Sun (Ill.) reports,

A Gurnee man who pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of a 7-year-old girl was sentenced to 16 years in prison Tuesday in Lake County Circuit Court.

Former Carpentersville teacher charged with sexually assaulting minor

May 18, 2015

The Elgin Courier-News (Ill.) reports,

A former Community Unit School District 300 teacher is charged with having sexual contact with a minor she knew, according to a release from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office.

L.A. Unified after-school coach is suspected of molesting nine girls

May 15, 2015

The Los Angeles Times reports,

A coach for a Los Angeles Unified School District after-school program was charged Friday with multiple felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.

…

Roman is accused of inappropriately touching seven girls at Cahuenga Elementary School in Koreatown between January 2012 and September 2014, the district attorney’s office said.

Roman also allegedly molested two girls at Vine Elementary School in Hollywood between August 2001 and July 2002, prosecutors said.

All of the students were between the ages of 7 and 11, according to the district attorney’s office.