Merry Christmas To All

He who transcends time...

...has entered time.

Thank you, God.


Happy "Birth"day to Our Saviour.

When the Law's Not the Limit

The mainstream media are trying to cast pro-lifers as the big losers in the 2008 election.

Granted, the most pro-abortion Presidential candidate in history won the White House. Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion operation, boosted its support in Congress. And pro-life ballot issues in three different states went down to defeat.

In fact, you can even find reference in cyberspace to the pro-life movement being dead.

Some media "experts" are suggesting that the pro-life movement has to give up the goal of making abortion illegal. Outlawing abortion "can't be done" is the media rallying cry.

But the fact that abortions are legal in the U.S. is not inconsequential. In his book, "Friendship: The Art of Happiness," Dr. John Cuddeback writes, "One of the most serious ways in which the flaws of a civil society are manifested is in its laws." He adds that, "Since it speaks of the judgment of the community regarding right and wrong in action, it has a formative effect on the judgment of citizens regarding right and wrong."

Cuddeback points out that philosophers have long spoken of the teaching value of the law. In a society with a bad law, youth, in particular, can become corrupted.

Abortion-on-demand teaches young people that they should strive for convenience at all costs. It instills the frightening idea that killing is an acceptable solution to both personal and social problems. It teaches them that a child's value is less than dirt and that women are to be used, discarded, and their offspring are to be eliminated. It shatters the heart, darkens the soul, and coarsens society.

As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops states in its brochure, "A People of Life," "The Supreme Court decisions legalizing abortion--Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton--must be reversed."

No matter how long it takes.

But, I hope, sooner than we could ever expect.

By Maria Vitale, Education Director PA Pro-Life Federation

vitale@paprolife.org

Warning From the Past

A friend of mine sent me this article....

WHAT is this strange spell which seems to have bewitched America? What is this enchantment which has befallen the mainstream media? What is this strong infatuation which has inebriated a large portion of the electorate? Yet, for many others, there are enormous and very loud alarm bells ringing this eve over the next likely President of the United States: Barack Obama. I am a Canadian, and so I am usually reluctant to express my thoughts on another country’s politics. However, I feel more and more that what is happening is setting the stage, in part, for many things I have written about of the trials which are coming upon the Church and the world.

A STRANGE SPELL

As always with the internet, there are the wild and extreme opinions, the conspiracy theorists, the bizarre extrapolators. CONTINUE READING...

Election Day 2008

Tomorrow is Election Day.

Most think it's a "defining day" in our country's history, because the economy's at stake. I think it's a defining day in our history, because at stake are the lives of those without a voice: the unborn, the elderly, and the sick.

No matter the outcome tomorrow, all will not be tip-top. Suffering is temporary. Heaven is eternal...


Our Lady of Victory...

...PRAY FOR US!

Miracles can happen...

Truth, Freedom, and Abortion

Another great piece, this being from Archbishop Gomez of San Antonio:

Abortion is not a “Catholic” issue. It is a matter of fundamental human rights. In fact, I believe it is the foundational issue of our time. Because it is so important, the Church has spoken clearly about it and believes it is an essential aspect of the Catholic faith.

One of the misleading arguments is that the question of when life begins is “a matter of faith.” I think that modern biology clearly shows us that human life begins at conception. Embryologists can show us that within just a few weeks the embryo has developed recognizable features, including his or her face, arms, and legs.

CONTINUE READING...

In the Holiness of Truth...

Great piece by New York's Cardinal Egan...

Just Look
The picture on this page is an untouched photograph of a being that has been within its mother for 20 weeks. Please do me the favor of looking at it carefully.



Have you any doubt that it is a human being?

CONTINUE READING...

Crusade Propaganda

I've always figured/known there's been a lot of propaganda concerning the Crusades, but what couldn't be answered is why if they were so "bad," we have many Saints coming from that era?

Before I open up my first book on the subject, I was treated to a 2001 article by a friend of a friend. Thank you, Professor Madden for setting us straight - us being those that listen:

Since September 11 the crusades are news. When President Bush used the term "crusade" as it is commonly used, to denote a grand enterprise with a moral dimension, the media pelted him for insensitivity to Muslims. (Nevermind that the media used the term in precisely the same way before the "gaff.") Attempting to capitalize on this indignation, the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, crowed "President Bush has told the truth that this is a crusade against Islam." Yet clearly the crusades were much on the minds of our enemies long before Bush brought them to their attention. In a 1998 manifesto, cosigned by the leaders of Islamist groups in Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, Osama bin Laden declared war against the "Jews and the Crusaders." If you didn't guess, the Americans are the crusaders here. On the day the U.S. strikes on Afghanistan began, in a live-from-a-cave address, bin Laden declared Bush to be "the leader of the infidels" in a worldwide war against Islam. He previously warned that "crusader" Bush would lead the infidel forces into Afghanistan "under the banner of the cross."

CONTINUE READING...

"Today, Children of All Races Are Denied Recognition as 'Persons'"

I get disgusted hearing politicians say they cannot bring their religious convictions into the political arena. Having said that, I guess people like Joe Biden cannot pass laws against slavery, theft, murder, et. al. because the Catholic Church is against ALL of those issues...

Dear Senator Biden:
I write to you today as a fellow Catholic layman, on a subject that has become a major topic of concern in this year's presidential campaign.

The bishops who have taken public issue with your remarks on the Church's historical position on abortion are far from alone. Senator Obama stressed your Catholic identity repeatedly when he introduced you as his running mate, and so your statements carry considerable weight, whether they are correct or not. You now have a unique responsibility when you make public statements about Catholic teaching.

On NBC's Meet the Press, you appealed to the 13th Century writings of St. Thomas Aquinas to cast doubt on the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion.
There are several problems with this.

First, Aquinas obviously had only a medieval understanding of biology, and thus could only speculate about how an unborn child develops in the womb. I doubt that there is any other area of public policy where you would appeal to a 13th Century knowledge of biology as the basis for modern law.

Second, Aquinas' theological view is in any case entirely consistent with the long history of Catholic Church teaching in this area, holding that abortion is a grave sin to be avoided at any time during pregnancy.

This teaching dates all the way back to the Didache, written in the second century. It is found in the writings of Tertullian, Jerome, Augustine and Aquinas, and was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which described abortion as "an unspeakable crime" and held that the right to life must be protected from the "moment of conception." This consistent teaching was restated most recently last month in the response of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Statements that suggest that our Church has anything less than a consistent teaching on abortion are not merely incorrect; they may lead Catholic women facing crisis pregnancies to misunderstand the moral gravity of an abortion decision.

Neither should a discussion about a medieval understanding of the first few days or weeks of life be allowed to draw attention away from the remaining portion of an unborn child's life. In those months, even ancient and medieval doctors agreed that a child is developing in the womb.
And as you are well aware, Roe v. Wade allows for abortion at any point during a pregnancy. While you voted for the ban on partial birth abortions, your unconditional support for Roe is a de facto endorsement of permitting all other late term abortions, and thus calls into question your appeal to Aquinas.

I recognize that you struggle with your conscience on the issue, and have said that you accept the Church's teaching that life begins at conception - as a matter of faith. But modern medical science leaves no doubt about the fact that each person's life begins at conception. It is not a matter of personal religious belief, but of science.

Finally, your unwillingness to bring your Catholic moral views into the public policy arena on this issue alone is troubling.

There were several remarkable ironies in your first appearance as Senator Obama's running mate on the steps of the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois.

His selection as the first black American to be the nominee of a major party for president of the United States owes an incalculable debt to two movements that were led by people whose religious convictions motivated them to confront the moral evils of their day - the abolitionist movement of the 19th Century, and the civil rights movement of the 20th Century.

Your rally in Springfield took place just a mile or so from the tomb of Abraham Lincoln, who in April 1859 wrote these words in a letter to Henry Pierce:

"This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to
have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves;
and, under a just God, cannot long retain it."

Lincoln fought slavery in the name of "a just God" without embarrassment or apology. He confronted an America in which black Americans were not considered "persons" under the law, and were thus not entitled to fundamental Constitutional rights. Today, children of all races who are fully viable and only minutes from being born are also denied recognition as "persons" because of the Roe v. Wade regime that you so strongly support. Lincoln's reasoning regarding slavery applies with equal force to children who are minutes, hours or days away from birth.

The American founders began our great national quest for liberty by declaring that we are all "created equal." It took nearly a century to transform that bold statement into the letter of the law, and another century still to make it a reality. The founders believed that we are "endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable rights," and that first among these is "life."

You have a choice: you can listen to your conscience and work to secure the rights of the unborn to share in the fruits of our hard-won liberty, or you can choose to turn your back on them.

On behalf of the 1.28 million members of the Knights of Columbus and their families in the United States, I appeal to you, as a Catholic who acknowledges that life begins at conception, to resolve to protect this unalienable right. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues personally with you in greater detail during the weeks between now and November 4.

Respectfully,

Carl A. Anderson

Supreme Knight - Knights of Columbus

"Vote for Real Hope..."

“Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed on this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder.”

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As we head toward November, Catholics might profit from recalling a few simple facts.

First, surrounding a bad social policy or party platform plank—for example, permissive abortion—with religious people doesn’t redeem the bad policy or plank. It merely compromises the religious people who try to excuse it. One of the more miraculous, or suspicious, side-effects of the 2004 election was the number of candidates in both political parties who suddenly began talking about their religious faith. There’s no doubt that many public officials, regardless of party, do take their religious beliefs very seriously and do try to live by them. That’s a good thing. So maybe this latest trend implies a new Great Awakening. Or maybe, as one of my skeptical friends says, “it’s just another charm offensive to get the shamans off their backs.” Time will tell. Words are important. Actions are more important. The religious choreography of a campaign doesn’t matter. The content of its ideas does. The religious vocabulary of a candidate doesn’t matter. The content of his record, plans, and promises does.

Second, there’s no way for Catholics to finesse their way around the abortion issue, and if we’re serious about being “Catholic,” we need to stop trying. No such thing as a “right” to kill an unborn child exists. And wriggling past that simple truth by redefining the unborn child as an unperson, a pre-human lump of cells, is the worst sort of Orwellian hypocrisy—especially for Christians. Abortion always involves the deliberate killing of an innocent human life, and it is always, inexcusably, grievously wrong. This fact in no way releases us from the duty to provide ample and compassionate support for unwed or abandoned mothers, women facing unwanted pregnancies, and women struggling with the aftermath of an abortion. But the inadequacy of that support demands that we work to improve it. It does not justify killing the child.

Obviously, we have other important issues facing us this fall: the economy, the war in Iraq, immigration justice. But we can’t build a healthy society while ignoring the routine and very profitable legalized homicide that goes on every day against America’s unborn children. The right to life is foundational. Every other right depends on it. Efforts to reduce abortions, or to create alternatives to abortion, or to foster an environment where more women will choose to keep their unborn child, can have great merit—but not if they serve to cover over or distract from the brutality and fundamental injustice of abortion itself. We should remember that one of the crucial things that set early Christians apart from the pagan culture around them was their rejection of abortion and infanticide. Yet for thirty-five years I’ve watched prominent “pro-choice” Catholics justify themselves with the kind of moral and verbal gymnastics that should qualify as an Olympic event. All they’ve really done is capitulate to Roe v. Wade.

Third and finally, national campaigns—of every political party—always run on the language of hope, change, and the American Dream. This makes sense. Our leaders should inspire us; they should stir our hearts and call us to live the ideals that make America great. But sometimes the answer to the realities we face is not “yes, we can,” but “no, we can’t.” No, we can’t spend money like hedonists and outrun our debts forever. No, we can’t ignore the poor of the Third World and expect to be loved abroad. No, we can’t allow the killing of roughly one million unborn children a year and then posture ourselves as a moral society. No, we can’t make wicked things right by spinning them in a clever way.

Robert D. Kaplan once wrote that “Americans can afford optimism partly because their institutions, including the Constitution, were conceived by men who thought tragically.” The American Founders, most of them Christians, had a hard and unsentimental understanding of the limits of human reason and virtue. The last thing we need in 2008 is the kind of bogus hope rooted in mystical good feeling.

The real world involves hard conflicts and intractable issues that can’t be talked away or smothered under evasive language. Plenty of very good Catholics inhabit both major political parties. It’s our job as Catholic citizens to press our parties and our political leaders to respect the sanctity of human life—all of it, from conception to grave—whether our leaders and party elites like us or not.

Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

*ELECTION 2008*

If you want to vote for the best Presidential Candidate possible, why not do it? That's what our Bishops want from you. Afterall, aren't we looking for a candidate with similar principles as Our Lord?

This is what I intend to do, with the help of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship and Priests For Life's "Five Non-Negotiables," and I plan to help you do the same. The purpose of the USCCBs Voter's Guide is to outline what we should be looking for in a candidate based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ.

For instance, the Bishops have 8 major issues that are of the greatest importance (the greatest of "intrinsic" evils). They are:

Abortion
Embryonic Stem-Cell Destruction
Euthanasia
Genocide
Human Cloning
Racism
Targeting of Non-Combatants
Torture

Priests for Life have Five "Non-Negotiables":

Abortion
Embryonic Stem-Cell Destruction
Euthanasia
Human Cloning
Same-Sex Marriage


With this information, I've created a scoring system to rate the candidates on these 9 issues. Let me point out that the Bishops list 20+ additional less-major issues, but I think if we find a candidate solid on these 9 issues, their conscience is probably sound enough to make decent decisions for our country on foreign policy, immigration, health care, etc.

In determining scoring, I had to weight the issues where the direct targeting of the innocent and defenseless were the greatest. That results in the following:

20 Points
Abortion
Embryonic Stem-Cell Destruction
Euthanasia
Genocide

15 Points
Targeting of Non-Combatants (Weighted slightly less than the above 4, mainly because a nuclear weapon targets the "enemy," even though the imminent death of the innocent cannot be avoided)

10 Points
Human Cloning
Racism
Same-Sex Marriage
Torture


If you decide to not even consider voting for a pro-abortion candidate, I cannot fault you and no one should consider you a "single issue voter." If there was a pro-slavery candidate, I think we could all agree that declining to vote for him/her based on that "single issue" is completely acceptable and warranted. I must warn you though: Of the 6 Presidential Candidates, only 1 of them can be considered pro-life. The other 5 either have questionable past voting records or pro-abortion platforms.


And here are the 6 Presidential Candidates for the November 4th Election:



Chuck Baldwin








Bob Barr








John McCain








Cynthia McKinney








Ralph Nader







Barrack Obama








If your mind is already made up, at least continue reading to see the outcome...and keep in mind this is an unbiased study.


"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."

John Quincy Adams

ABORTION (20)
20 - Baldwin
0 - Barr
10 - McCain
-20 - McKinney
-20 - Nader
-20 - Obama

EMBRYONIC STEM-CELL DESTRUCTION (20)
20 - Baldwin
20 - Barr
-20 - McCain
-20 - McKinney
-20 - Nader
-20 - Obama

EUTHANASIA (20)
20 - Baldwin
20 - Barr
20 - McCain
-20 - McKinney
20 - Nader
-20 - Obama

GENOCIDE (20)
20 - All Candidates

TARGETING OF NON-COMBATANTS (15)
10 - Baldwin
0 - Barr
-15 - McCain
15 - McKinney
15 - Nader
15 - Obama

TORTURE (10)
10 - Baldwin
10 - Barr
10 - McCain
10 - McKinney
10 - Nader
10 - Obama

RACISM (10)
10 - All Candidates

HUMAN CLONING (10)
10 - Baldwin
10 - Barr
10 - McCain
-10 - McKinney
5 - Nader
-10 - Obama

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE (10)
10 - Baldwin
5 - Barr
10 - McCain
-10 - McKinney
-10 - Nader
-10 - Obama

RESULTS:
130 - Chuck Baldwin
95 - Bob Barr
55 - John McCain
30 - Ralph Nader
-25 - Cynthia McKinney
-25 - Barrack Obama

That is pretty clear that per the Bishops, the best candidate for us Catholics to vote for would be Chuck Baldwin. Even if you factored in the minor issues - which Joe Healy did (Thanks, Joe!) - Chuck Baldwin would still be the clear-cut "winner."
So now what are you going to do?

For some perspective, I'm going to unveil the results of some of the pre-Primary candidates and a couple Veeps:


135 - Ron Paul (R)

130 - Chuck Baldwin (Constitution)

115 - Sarah Palin (R)
115 - Alan Keyes (R)

105 - Mike Huckabee (R)

95 - Bob Barr (Libertarian)

55 - John McCain (R)

30 - Ralph Nader (I)

25 - Fred Thompson (R)

15 - Joe Biden (D)

5 - Mitt Romney (R)

-25 - Hillary Clinton (D)
-25 - Cynthia McKinney (Green)
-25 - Barrack Obama (D)

-55 - Rudy Giuliani (R)

HAPPY VOTING!

Remembering

On the Anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 - remembring the Holy Father's 2008 visit to the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan and his prayer for the victims:

"O God of love, compassion, and healing,

look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions,

who gather today at this site,

the scene of incredible violence and pain.

"We ask you in your goodness

to give eternal light and peace

to all who died here -

the heroic first-responders:

our fire fighters, police officers,

emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel,

along with all the innocent men and women

who were victims of this tragedy

simply because their work or service

brought them here on 11 September 2001.

"We ask you, in your compassion

to bring healing to those

who, because of their presence here that day,

suffer from injuries and illness.

Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families

and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.

Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope.

"We are mindful as well

of those who suffered death, injury, and loss

on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville , Pennsylvania.

Our hearts are one with theirs

as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

"God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:

peace in the hearts of all men and women

and peace among the nations of the earth.

Turn to your way of love

those whose hearts and minds

are consumed with hatred.

"God of understanding,

overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,

we seek your light and guidance

as we confront such terrible events.

Grant that those whose lives were spared

may live so that the lives lost here

may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us,

strengthen us in hope,

and give us the wisdom and courage

to work tirelessly for a world

where true peace and love reign

among nations and in the hearts of all".

FEAR

A long time ago when asking a protestant about the differences with Catholicism, I was told they disagree with the Church's teaching to "fear" God. I wonder how many times "fear of God" appears in the Bible. Anyone want to count?



Below is commentary from the Holy Father from June of this year:

At midday today, Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.

"In today's Gospel", he said, "we find two invitations from Jesus: on the one hand, 'to have no fear' of men, and on the other 'to fear' God. Thus we are stimulated to reflect on the difference that exists between human fears and fear of God. Fear is a natural aspect of life. From childhood we experience forms of fear that then reveal themselves as imaginary and disappear; later other fears emerge which have specific roots in reality, these must be faced and overcome with human commitment and trust in God.

"But", the Pope added, "there exists - and above all today - a deeper form of fear, an existential fear, which sometimes spills over into anguish. It is born of a sense of emptiness, associated with a certain culture that is permeated with widespread theoretical and practical nihilism. Faced with the broad ... panorama of human fears, the Word of God is clear: those who 'fear' God 'are not afraid'. Fear of God, which Scripture defines as 'the beginning of true hope', means to have faith in Him, and sacred respect for His authority over life and over the world".

"Those who fear God are serene even amidst the storms because God, as Jesus revealed to us, is a Father full of mercy and goodness. Those who love Him are not afraid. ... Believers, then, are afraid of nothing, because they know they are in the hands of God, they know that evil and the irrational will not have the last word, but that the one Lord of the world and of life is Christ, the Word of God incarnate".

Equal Fruits

Nice op-ed piece by our friend George today in the Philadelphia Daily News:


Letters: The real story on abstinence

THE Daily News made heavy and false accusations in its Aug. 22 editorial, "The Ethical Fraud of Abstinence-Only Education."

Generation Life believes that young people deserve to hear the truth about the beauty of their sexuality and only teaches about saving all sexual acts until marriage. We do not demonize gays, and we can and do teach our message without religious proselytizing.

Continue reading...

Jesus of Nazareth

Thoroughly enjoyed the Holy Father's book: Jesus of Nazareth. I highly recommend it if you're interested in the Jesus of the Gospels.

Some of the more profound quotes I found from his exegesis:

1 At the heart of all temptations...is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion-that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms.

2 ...one can still ask why God did not make a world in which his presence is more evident-why Christ did not leave the world with another sign of his presence so radiant that no one could resist it. This is the mystery of God and man, which we find so inscrutable. We live in this world, where God is not manifest as tangible things are, but can be sought and found only when the heart sets out on the "exodus" from "Egypt." It is in this world that we are obliged to resist the delusions of false prophesies and to recognize that we do not live by bread alone, but first and foremost by obedience to God's word. Only when this obedience is put into practice does the attitude develop that is also capable of providing bread for all.

3 Only when power submits to the measure and the judgment of heaven-of God, in other words-can it become power for good. And only when power stands under God's blessing can it be trusted.

4 The saints are oases around which life sprouts up and something of the lost paradise returns. And ultimately, Christ himself is always the well-spring who pours himself forth in such abundance.

Pelosi now a Church Historian!

How preposterous this woman is. I'd rather just post the article then comment...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's kiss of betrayal...

Veritatis Splendor

Wow. Our friend, Mike McMonagle (founder of Generation Life - view site and blog on right >), was arrested in Tiananmen Square with 2 others (Rev. Patrick Mahoney & Brandi Swindell) for conducting a prayer vigil in defense of those who have no rights....when will we see there is a HUGE problem in China?

Praise God for Freedom of Religion in this country.

LINK from the UK (updated)

BEIJING, Aug. 6 /Christian Newswire/ -- Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, D.C., states, "Today we stand as a bold and prophetic witness against the tyranny and brutality by the Chinese government against their own people. As the Summer Olympics are being celebrated, millions of Christians and those with other faith traditions are routinely oppressed, tortured and jailed by Chinese officials. It is a privilege and honor to be able to stand with those who are persecuted.

"China also promotes the barbaric practice of forced abortion and sterilization, while those who speak out against human rights abuses by the Chinese government are crushed and trampled. And, the peaceful citizens of Tibet have been brutalized by Chinese leaders.

"Today we follow the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 25 and stand in solidarity with our oppressed Chinese brothers and sisters. Our public witness is a visible reminder that 100,000 military troops and abusive security measures cannot silence the voice of freedom, justice and the power of the Gospel of Christ. The truth will always be heard and we hope that President Bush will boldly speak out against these human rights abuses on his official visit to China during the Olympics."

Brandi Swindell, National Director and co-founder of Generation Life based in Boise, Idaho, comments, "I gladly risk my freedoms to speak out for those who have none. It is an honor to stand in solidarity with our Chinese brothers and sisters who risk their lives every day for expressing the simple act of worshipping their God. Today millions of Christians, Tibetan Monks and Falun Gong practitioners sit in prison and face unspeakable brutality because of their religious beliefs.

"As a young woman, I passionately speak out against the pain and suffering that Chinese women must face daily through the practice of forced abortion and human trafficking. They routinely deal with the tragic and painful loss of children through forced abortion and young girls face the horror of being sold into sex slavery through human trafficking. My hope is through my witness today I may be a voice for them.

"We pray that God will bring an end to these human rights abuses by the Chinese government and one day the world will see justice, liberty and freedom for the beautiful people of this wonderful country."

Michael McMonagle, a national Catholic pro-life activist and founder of Generation Life in Philadelphia, adds, "We are willing to risk some minor hardship to provide this public witness for Jesus Christ and against the worst human rights abuses in the history of the world. Our prayer is our witness will stir Christians across the world to take a public stand for Jesus Christ and His Gospel of Life.

"I brought a banner with me that reads, 'Jesus Christ is King.' This banner summarized Cardinal Ignatius Kung's heroic statement in 1955 before thousands of people in a stadium in Shanghai, when he cried out, 'Long live Christ the King! Long live the Pope!' He spent 30 years in prison for this powerful public witness for Christ.

"Today, we join with the witness of Cardinal Kung as we stand for life, human rights and justice."

Whores of Babylon some call us...

July 25, 2008 - Philadelphia

"When I was a young Protestant, I thought to myself, 'either the Catholic Church is right or they're wrong. If Christ is really in the Eucharist as they claim, I owe it to myself to find out, especially since if they are right, I'm missing out on a whole lot of benefits of receiving Christ into my body. And if I find they're wrong, well then they're the biggest idolaters known to man.'"

Peter Kreeft
Professor of Philosophy - Boston College

"I'm Lovin' It???"

McDonald’s says they "stand by and support our people to live and work in a society free of discrimination and harassment," here is what they won’t tell you. McDonald’s helped sponsor the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade. Want to see what McDonald’s considers worthy of support? Click here. (Warning: These photos are extremely offensive and graphic.)

AFA asked McDonald’s to remain neutral in the culture war. The company refused, stating they will continue to support the gay agenda including same-sex marriage. AFA has called for a boycott of McDonald’s restaurants.

McDonald’s spokesman Bill Whitman told the Washington Post that those (even Christians) who oppose homosexual marriage are motivated by hate, saying that "... hatred has no place in our culture."

This boycott is not about hiring homosexuals or how homosexual employees are treated. It is about McDonald’s choosing to put the full resources of their corporation behind promoting the homosexual agenda.

To help promote the gay agenda, McDonald’s paid $20,000 to become an official "organizational ally and corporate partner" of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and secure a seat on the group’s board of directors. The NGLCC lobbies against laws protecting marriage as between a man and a woman.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon

Founder and Chairman American Family Association

Blooming China

We're hearing a lot of talk about the Church in China recently. It's important to keep them in prayer as they try and surface. Efforts are in place, but our prayers are key.

Recently, a friend of mine from China went home with her fiance and came back with a wonderful observation that has given me so much hope for our Chinese brethren and I'd like to share:

We also had the privilege of attending Masses as often as we were able to during the trip. It was eye-opening for us to experience the "patriotic" Catholic Church in China. Our experience there was quite different from what we learned about the patriotic church prior to the trip. We were deeply touched by the total devotions to our Lord from the Catholics in China, and utterly amazed at the level of freedom people have to practice Catholicism! From what we could tell, the liturgy was almost identical to ours here in the US.

Daily Masses were well attended. On weekends, churches were packed with hundreds of believers! Their publications freely publish news in the Catholic world, from (the) Pope's schedules to local Catholic events such as retreats (and) Summer camps for students.

We once had a chance to ask a priest as to what the differences were between the patriotic church and the underground church. He sincerely told us that he believes the patriotic church is in the mid-ground, somewhere between the underground (underground church) and the above ground (patriotic church). More research is yet to be done, but we feel that the spiritual soil is much richer there than we initially perceived, and the harvest shall be abundant!

How amazing! The seed was sown long ago. Cannot wait for the harvest. How great it will be for all of us to worship Our Lord, girded in freedom.

May the Spirit be with all of our brothers and sisters in China.

Peace to the Underground!

Tu es Petrus

Well, Papa is in Australia for World Youth Day. Some of my dear friends are there. I spent some time in Sydney and what a backdrop for WYD. It really is an amazing place - almost segregated from the rest of the world, time, and space.


I enjoyed these remarks from yesterday:

In his address, the Pope thanked the Aboriginal elders who had welcomed him, asking them to transmit his "heartfelt greetings to your peoples". He went on: "I am deeply moved to stand on your land, knowing the suffering and injustices it has borne, but aware too of the healing and hope that are now at work, rightly bringing pride to all Australian citizens".

"Standing before me I see a vibrant image of the Universal Church . The variety of nations and cultures from which you hail shows that indeed Christ's Good News is for everyone; it has reached the ends of the earth. Yet I know too that a good number of you are still seeking a spiritual homeland. Some of you, most welcome among us, are not Catholic or Christian. Others of you perhaps hover at the edge of parish and Church life. To you I wish to offer encouragement: step forward into Christ's loving embrace; recognise the Church as your home. No one need remain on the outside, for from the day of Pentecost the Church has been one and universal".

Benedict XVI praised "the majestic splendour of Australia 's natural beauty" which evokes "a profound sense of awe. It is as though one catches glimpses of the Genesis creation story: light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the waters, the earth, and living creatures; all of which are 'good' in God's eyes".

Yet "there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth, erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption. .... And we discover that not only the natural but also the social environment - the habitat we fashion for ourselves - has its scars; wounds indicating that something is amiss; ... a poison which threatens to corrode what is good, reshape who we are, and distort the purpose for which we have been created. Examples abound, as you yourselves know. Among the more prevalent are alcohol and drug abuse, and the exaltation of violence and sexual degradation, often presented through television and the internet as entertainment.

"I ask myself", the Pope added, "could anyone standing face to face with people who actually do suffer violence and sexual exploitation 'explain' that these tragedies, portrayed in virtual form, are considered merely 'entertainment'? There is also something sinister which stems from the fact that freedom and tolerance are so often separated from truth. This is fuelled by the notion, widely held today, that there are no absolute truths to guide our lives. Relativism, by indiscriminately giving value to practically everything, has made 'experience' all-important".

"Life is not governed by chance; it is not random. Your very existence has been willed by God, blessed and given a purpose! Life is not just a succession of events or experiences. ... It is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this - in truth, in goodness, and in beauty - that we find happiness and joy. Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.

"Christ offers more! Indeed He offers everything! Only He Who is the Truth can be the Way and hence also the Life". But "the task of witness is not easy. There are many today who claim that God should be left on the sidelines, and that religion and faith, while fine for individuals, should either be excluded from the public forum altogether or included only in the pursuit of limited pragmatic goals. This secularist vision seeks to explain human life and shape society with little or no reference to the Creator. It presents itself as neutral, impartial and inclusive of everyone. But in reality, like every ideology, secularism imposes a world-view. If God is irrelevant to public life, then society will be shaped in a godless image, and debate and policy concerning the public good will be driven more by consequences than by principles grounded in truth".

"Experience shows", said Pope Benedict, "that turning our back on the Creator's plan provokes a disorder which has inevitable repercussions on the rest of the created order. When God is eclipsed, our ability to recognise the natural order, purpose, and the 'good' begins to wane".

The Holy Father invited young people to be "alert to the signs of turning our back on the moral structure with which God has endowed humanity" and to "recognise that the innate dignity of every individual rests on his or her deepest identity - as image of the Creator - and therefore that human rights are universal, based on the natural law, and not something dependent upon negotiation or patronage, let alone compromise. And so we are led to reflect on what place the poor and the elderly, immigrants and the voiceless, have in our societies. How can it be that domestic violence torments so many mothers and children? How can it be that the most wondrous and sacred human space - the womb - has become a place of unutterable violence?"

"God's creation is one and it is good", Pope Benedict concluded. "The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God Himself and thus inviolable.

"Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises. Our hearts and minds are yearning for a vision of life where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. This is the work of the Holy Spirit! This is the hope held out by the Gospel of Jesus Christ".

Birth "Control?"

Anyone else getting sick of contraception commercials???
I bet we see 2 for every half hour tv show we watch.

Now women get to only have one menstrual cycle per year.
Give me a break. Like that's good for the body?!?!?

What's next?

"If you're tired of having cycles and all those womanly things....our new 'pill' removes your entire insides - ovaries and all!"

Honestly, it's a bit ridiculous...

A Case For Chastity

Ok, so through the years I've always heard people refer to engaging in pre-marital sex as, "test-driving the car before buying it."
It always infuriated me, wondering if their "other" knew they were being looked at as a "machine" and not as another human being to be loved. Yes, even in my pagan days it annoyed me.

Anyway, after some time of hearing this over and over, I thought of a great rebuttal to this crude comment:

"Yes, but if you can test drive a car whenever you like, why would you ever buy it?"

"And if you don't own a car, how quick are you to toss it aside when something breaks or malfunctions and get a new "car?"
If you own a car, your more likely to cherish it, take care of it, and do whatever is in your means to make sure it runs."

Response for Life

Today in a local Catholic newspaper, the following Letter to the Editor was printed. My response to the letter follows. Hopefully the paper prints it:

To the Editor:
I read with great interest Patricia Zapor's June 13 Catholic News Service article "Professor Refused Communion over Obama Support" in a local newspaper.

Although [my wife and I] consider ourselves conservative, we have a strong feeling this year to vote for Sen. Barack Obama, chiefly for reasons of "change" and for reasons against Sen. John McCain's stance on the Iraqi war resulting in continual killings and devastation.

While we do understand Sen. Obama's stance on abortion, which is unfortunate, we understand Sen. McCain's stance on the Iraqi war that results in continual "murder" of our own soldiers and innocent lives.

If Pepperdine law professor Douglas Kmiec, an active pro-life advocate, and endorser of Sen. Obama, was refused Communion on the basis of his support of a candidate, what, indeed, is the Catholic Church's teaching on supporting either candidate?

Stanley M. Kochanek
Berlin, NJ

In response to Stanley Kochanek’s Letter to the Editor

With the horror of war, we must realize that the objective is not to murder the “innocent”, whereas in abortion it is the reason for it.

War is an atrocity, there’s no question about it. Abortion is double the atrocity, which is why it is the primary concern in the USCCB Voter’s Guide. If you review these several items of importance from the Bishops, you’ll see that Senator Obama is by far the worst candidate for the Presidency. By contrast, that doesn’t mean Senator McCain is the best. Thankfully, we have more than two choices.

No Catholic should be voting for Senator Obama who, in addition to supporting partial-birth abortion, believes an aborted child who is removed from its mother’s womb with vital signs can still be killed by an abortionist.

It’s reported that on average nearly 50 troops and civilians have lost their lives each day in Iraq.
Conversely, 126,000 innocent children are aborted worldwide every single day.

I agree with Mr. Kochanek.

Come November, a “change” in the “continual murder of…innocent lives” is a moral imperative.

At The Heart of Feminism

Dale O'Leary - who I am really beginning to enjoy - tackles feminism in this transcript from 1994. True feminism is to be applauded, but false feminism is something to be weary of and Mr. O'Leary discusses:

Before we begin to talk about feminism we need to lay a foundation of repentance. I have given many talks on the subject and no matter how careful I am, I find that when I am finished one or two women in the audience will be terribly offended by my talk. The interesting thing is that they are usually offended by something I didn't say I tried to explain the points that disturbed people more carefully, but frankly to no avail.

Since you may face the same problem, let me explain what I think happens. There has been injustice toward women by men. This should be no surprise to us. The book of Genesis tells us that the first fruits of original sin were the disruption in the relationship between men and women.

Continue reading...

Boticelli's Pieta

I could stare at this for hours...

Deceit is his game...

Back in my pro-choice days, I read that in certain ancient societies it was common for parents to abandon unwanted newborns, leaving them to die of exposure. I found these stories to be as perplexing as they were horrifying. How could this happen? I could never understand how entire cultures could buy into something so obviously terrible, how something that modern society understands to be an unthinkable evil could be widely accepted among large groups of people.

Because of my deep distress at hearing of such crimes against humanity, I found it irritating when pro-lifers would refer to abortion as “killing babies.” Obviously, nobody was in favor of killing babies, continue reading...

- Thanks, RM for the link.

Gentle is Jesus

"Gentle is Jesus in his looks, and in his words and actions." The face of our loving Saviour is so serene and gentle that it charmed the eyes and hearts of those who beheld it. The shepherds who came to the stable to see him were so spellbound by the serenity and beauty of his face that they tarried for many days gazing in rapture upon him. The three Kings, proud though they were, had no sooner seen the tender features of this lovely child than, forgetting their high dignity, they fell down on their knees beside his crib. Time and again they said to one another,"Friend, how good it is to be here! There are no enjoyments in our palaces comparable to those we are experiencing in this stable looking at this dear Infant-God."

When Jesus was still very young, children and people in trouble came from the country around to see him and find comfort and joy. They would say to each other, "Let us go and see young Jesus, the lovely child of Mary." St John Chrysostom says, "The beauty and majesty of his face were at once so sweet and so worthy of respect that those who knew him could not prevent themselves from loving him, and distant kings, hearing of his beauty, desired to have a painting of him. It is even said that our Lord by special favour sent his portrait to King Abogare. Some writers tell us that the Roman soldiers and the Jews covered his face in order to strike and buffet him freely because there was in his eyes and face such a kindly and ravishing radiance as would disarm the most cruel of men.

- St. Louis de Montfort

Kneel Before your God

If we TRULY believe the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Savior, than there is only one logical way to receive Him into our mouths....kneeling with NO handling.
Call me Traditional. Call me Antiquated. I'll take it as a compliment.

Benedict is the MAN!
Unfortunately, we got away from the tradition of receiving while kneeling.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Receiving the Eucharist on the tongue while kneeling before the pope will become the norm at papal liturgies, said the Vatican's liturgist.

While current norms allow the faithful to receive the Eucharist in the hand while standing, Pope Benedict XVI has indicated a preference for the more traditional practice, said Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies.

Kneeling and receiving Communion on the tongue highlights "the truth of the real presence (of Christ) in the Eucharist, helps the devotion of the faithful and introduces the sense of mystery more easily," he said in a June 26 interview with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. Continue reading...

Thank you, Pfizer

Heard about this statement from Pfizer after watching The World Over.



Released June 13, 2008, the USCCB clarified the Church teaching on stem cell research.

(Also, a nice Q&A from the Bishops.)

Reflection on Matthew 8:5-11

Jesus expresses amazement at the faith of the centurion - a faith that came from his understanding of the relationship between authority and obedience. His soldiers obeyed him because he was obedient to Caesar and therefore he had the entire weight of the Roman Empire behind his commands. The centurion saw that Jesus had supernatural authority. It came from his obedience to God the Father. For the centurion, the link between obedience and authority was obvious.

We live in confusing times when many are losing their faith. They listen to the world and ask, "Why doesn't the Church change this or that teaching?" Some seem to think that the Church's teachings should be decided by a poll. But the Church is the Body of Christ and it is under authority. It must be obedient to God. It can't make up new teachings or change old ones. If it did, it would lose its authority and become one opinion among many.

Before we receive communion we remember the words of the centurion: "Lord, I am not worthy." We can receive this marvelous gift because the priest has the authority to change ordinary bread into the Blessed Sacrament. He has the authority because the Church has the authority to ordain priests. This authority comes from obedience.

Dale O'Leary

"The One Up Above"

What does that mean when we refer to the "one up above?" Conventional wisdom would say the person is talking about their God. Well, how can we know this God is up above and not below, behind, or in front? Why do we say this? I say it. When thanking God, I look up. When in doubt, I look up. I don't look down. I don't turn around and talk to the back of my chair - that's for certain. Rightfully, I could look at anything and thank God - for God is through, with, and in everything we see (all that is good and has come to be).

So, how did this come about?

I wondered about this during Adoration this afternoon. People say God is above them and the evil one below them. Is this absolutely true? I assume we say this because we look at the hierarchy of creation and so we think of the King of Creation as being above us. Are peasants ever above the King? Certainly not. So with God above us, satan must be beneath us, right? I beg to differ.

Satan can never be beneath us unless we make a concerted effort to keep him there. Walk around the city, notice him among our brothers and sisters - in false prophets, "adult" book stores, "planned" parenthoods, etc. Is he ever below us? Never. He is among us and in fact sometimes (and maybe a lot of times, and sadly) above us, replacing our Creator. When we put ourselves, money, fame, debauchery before God, satan takes His place above us - where he wants to reign forever.

So my brothers and sisters, be mindful of He who should be above you and he who should be beneath you. Our God only wants happiness for us. He has sent many a prophet to speak to us about getting closer to him and letting us know how much he loves us. The Bible is a Book of Love - intimate love. This God who created everything - even us - asks for our love so we can join him in paradise for eternity. We're far from him, but He gave us the Way back. There is absolute Truth and it came in the form of a man. God so loved the world...

He gives us the path and sheds his grace upon us to get closer to him to enthrone him on our heart's mantle. In our Exodus from Egypt, he gave us manna for the journey. Our new Exodus is from eternal damnation and our new manna is his only Son in the Most Holy Eucharist. We eat this new Bread and we're filled with so much grace. Why does God continually give us his love? How do we deserve any of it?

That is true love.

He wants us to return home. We're not destined for earthly residence, but the Heavenly Jerusalem. We know no better, but our Father continues to give us grace so we make it home. We are all Prodigal Sons, but we won't find true happiness and our heart's delight until we allow His love to penetrate our darkened souls.

We must never lose sight of the fact that we are either Saints or outcasts, that we must love for Heaven or for Hell; there is no middle path in this.

- St. John Vianney

Thirty Three

"The meaning of Christ's Ascension expresses our belief that in Christ the humanity that we all share has entered into the inner life of God in a new and hitherto unheard of way. It means that man has found an everlasting place in God." The Ascension is not "the temporary absence of Christ from the world", but "we go to heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. Jesus himself is what we call 'heaven.'"

Pope Benedict XVI

Not only have I entered such an important age of my life today, but I got to share my day with a couple of great events in the Church. May 1st is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. St. Joseph has been my model for some time now and means even more now that I have my own infant Jesus to care for. What a model Joseph has set before us men: the Protector of the Holy Family; of the Mother of God; of the Word Incarnate.
Today's Feast Day reflects on Joseph the Worker. Instituted as a combatant to the traditional May Day events around the globe sponsored by the Communists, we remember Joseph as the humble Carpenter, who as a righteous Jewish man (Mark 1:19), undoubtedly taught the Scriptures to the Christ Child.

But today St. Joseph the Worker took a backseat to an even greater event in the Church: the Ascension.
Today we are reminded, as the Holy Father mentions, that he has not abandoned us; no, he has taken us to the Father in heaven for all eternity. What a glorious event.

There is hope!

"Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven." (Acts 1:11)

Benedict Backtracking: Part Two

In case you didn't hear or read Pope Benedict XVI's Homily at Yankee Stadium, I posted it below. He got two huge cheers that interrupted him, but both coming at valid times:

My dear young friends, like the seven men, “filled with the Spirit and wisdom” whom the Apostles charged with care for the young Church, may you step forward and take up the responsibility which your faith in Christ sets before you! May you find the courage to proclaim Christ, “the same, yesterday, and today and for ever” and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in him (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10; Heb 13:8). These are the truths that set us free! They are the truths which alone can guarantee respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in our world – including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother’s womb.

Young men and women of America, I urge you: open your hearts to the Lord’s call to follow him in the priesthood and the religious life. Can there be any greater mark of love than this: to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who was willing to lay down his life for his friends (cf. Jn 15:13)?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus tells his Apostles to put their faith in him, for he is “the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). Christ is the way that leads to the Father, the truth which gives meaning to human existence, and the source of that life which is eternal joy with all the saints in his heavenly Kingdom. Let us take the Lord at his word! Let us renew our faith in him and put all our hope in his promises!

With this encouragement to persevere in the faith of Peter (cf. Lk 22:32; Mt 16:17), I greet all of you with great affection. I thank Cardinal Egan for his cordial words of welcome in your name. At this Mass, the Church in the United States celebrates the two hundredth anniversary of the creation of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville from the mother See of Baltimore. The presence around this altar of the Successor of Peter, his brother bishops and priests, and deacons, men and women religious, and lay faithful from throughout the fifty states of the Union, eloquently manifests our communion in the Catholic faith which comes to us from the Apostles...CONTINUE HOMILY