Is Anybody There?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says Yahweh Sabaoth" Zach 4:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dio di Signore, nella Sua volontà è nostra pace!" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin 1759

Friday, April 30, 2010

Susan G. Koman IS NOT A Good Charity to Support

Remember last October when you saw a lot of Pink on various items. These businesses did so to make people aware of breast cancer. But in reality, it was more often than not, actually a plug for a specific organization that says they are working for a cure. Almost 100% of the time the money is specificly the Susan G. Koman "Race for the Cure". & while it is April, not October, the latest to do is Kentucky Fried Chicken w/ pink buckets of chicken. I found out Thursday when I got a coupon booklet from them in the mail.
& while I am all for a cure for breast cancer (or any other cancer for that matter), I cannot support Koman. That is because Komen gives grants to Planned Parenthood. Besides the obvious facts relating to PP's activities there are 2 reasons why Koman's donations run counter to Koman's stated goal, abortion has been shown to cause breast cancer in aborting mothers. Then there is the cancer risks from the hormonal contraceptives PP dispenses.
Ironicly, KFC has been coming under attack itself for having foods on the menu that increase the risk of breast cancer (KFC's buckets full of breast cancer). Instead of givng to Koman, give to a group that doesn't support PP. Check with your local "Right to Life" group for more info for not only this but other causes as well.

Exposing the Susan G. Komen Foundation

Many people are aware of it, others will help sponsor it, and some will be participating in it.

I am talking about the upcoming annual spring event, the Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure." This initiative has all the appearances of a noble, community-minded effort, and basically it is. The problem is that, unbeknownst to most of the public, there are serious problems with this organization and good will need to know about them, lest they become part of the problem. These are not things the Komen Foundation wants to have exposed, but you need to know.

Figures are hard to come by because the Komen Foundation suppresses the information, but we do know that during 2003 alone the Komen Foundation contributed nearly one-half million dollars ($475,000) in grants to Planned Parenthood — the nation's leading provider of abortion "services," clandestine purveyor of contraception and abortion to minors, and promoter of many other practices destructive of the human family and society.

An old trick, which Komen uses, is to try to say that "your money" doesn't go to Planned Parenthood. For example, they will point-out the lack of such funding at a local level, or use some other such ploy to try to "launder" the funds they receive, thereby creating the illusion of detachment of your money from the ultimate illicit recipient of funds. The reality is that one is contributing to a common organization, and that organization is guilty of financing the killing of babies and the exploitation of their mothers by assisting Planned Parenthood. Consider why it is that much potentially useful medical data gleaned from meticulous research by Nazi medical personnel (such as the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele, in 1940's Nazi Germany) has not been used by present-day medical researchers. It is simply because the data arose from immoral and cruel experimentation on the Nazi's victims. In the same way, we should have nothing to do with enterprises tainted by so significantly aiding and abetting the abortion holocaust.

Both prior to their Planned Parenthood funding being exposed and since that time, Komen has been guilty of a criminal cover-up of the undeniable evidence of the Abortion-Breast Cancer (ABC) link. How many women's lives have been lost, and how many will continue to be endangered by Komen's callous refusal to reveal this growing danger to women's physical health? Komen claims to be doing all they can to find a cure, yet their refusal to publicize this cause of breast cancer is eerily reminiscent of the tobacco industry's long denial of the smoking-lung cancer link — a connection that nobody denies now. Just as tobacco companies tried for years to discredit the statistical facts, those in collusion with the abortionists are now trying to ignore or smear the ABC connection. In the same way that many lawsuits have been filed against the tobacco companies for their cover-ups in the past, legal proceedings are now beginning to appear, citing the failure of abortion providers to warn women of the risks they had incurred of contracting breast cancer as a result of their abortions. One example is a lawsuit filed not long ago against an abortion clinic in Portland, Oregon, which performed an abortion on a 15-year-old girl without informing her of the procedure's breast cancer (and psychological) risks. The plaintiff's successful judgment against the clinic is believed to only be the start of what may very well be a tidal wave of similar lawsuits in the future

Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer explains the basic medical reason substantiating the statistical evidence behind the ABC link: "Only a third-trimester (pregnancy) process matures breast cells into cancer-resistant tissue, and protects a pregnant woman from the overexposure to estrogen — a recognized carcinogen — experienced early in a normal pregnancy. On the other hand, a woman who has an abortion is left with more cancer-vulnerable cells." Malec also cites the fact that five medical groups and a bioethics center recognize that abortion raises a woman's risk for breast cancer, and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has called on doctors to warn women of a "highly plausible relationship" between abortion and the disease.

Lest anyone think that these are exaggerated claims, it is significant to point out the resignation of a high-level Komen employee based on these scandals. Eve Sanchez Silver, who for four years held the position of charter member of the Komen Foundation's National Hispanic Latina Advisory Council, resigned not long ago in protest over the massive Planned Parenthood contributions and the unethical ABC link cover-up. She has been speaking across the U.S.A. to expose the ABC link, and argues convincingly of England's perspective of this phenomenon: "In Great Britain, they use abortion incidence as a indicator of breast cancer risk." As abortion has been legal longer in that country, the British public is now generally aware of the ABC link. When will the U.S. finally catch-up with England in this regard, and stop suppressing the dangerous ABC link?

For more information please see the following websites:
http://www.lifeissues.org/AbortionBreastcancer/komen/index.htm
http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com
http://www.bcpinstitute.org
http://www.polycarp.org

Source: http://catholicexchange.com/2007/05/04/96706/

For more information please see the following websites:http://www.lifeissues.org/AbortionBreastcancer/komen/index.htmhttp://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/http://www.bcpinstitute.org/http://www.polycarp.org/Source: http://catholicexchange.com/2007/05/04/96706/

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A "Profit" for Our Times

A couple months ago LarryD came up with an idea for how parishes could make more money (Mass Marketing). & while he was kidding, it turns out his idea was a bit more prophetic than he thought. He reported yesterday on an Irish betting firm that sponsors a confessional in England. Let's just hope that Larry's actual idea isn't implimented next.


"Today's Sacrament Is Brought To You By..."
Go to any major city, and chances are a sports arena bears the name of a local corporation that paid significant money for the rights to naming the stadium. Here in Detroit, we have Ford Field and Comerica Park. It provides revenue for the franchise, and the company gets huge exposure while establishing a strong community presence. Once inside the stadium or arena, you see numerous other business logos scattered around - like on the outfield walls, or around the concourse, and so forth. It's expected and part of the consumer culture in which we live.
But in a church???

From the DailyMail.uk: Paddy Power Sponsors Confession Box in Catholic Church
A Catholic church confession box has been sponsored by a bookie.
Paddy Power, the Irish betting firm, has paid £10,000 in the deal with Our Lady & St Etheldreda Church in Newmarket, Suffolk, after being approached by its fundraising committee.
Newmarket is widely regarded as the home of British horse-racing.

Confession time: Paddy Power holds the door as jockey Frankie Dettori kneels inside the sponsored 'sin bin' at Our Lady & St Etheldreda church, Newmarket


Paddy Power spokesman Ken Robertson told Mail Online: 'It was just before Christmas when we got an unsolicited call from a man on the fundraising committee at the church.


Paddy Power spokesman Ken Robertson told Mail Online: 'It was just before Christmas when we got an unsolicited call from a man on the fundraising committee at the church.
'He said Newmarket was the home of flat-racing in Britain and he asked would we sponsor an event to help pay for a new confession box .
'I half-jokingly floated the idea that if we paid for the confession box could we put our name to it - and he spoke to the priest, who was well up for it.'
The box, which has green curtains branded with Paddy Power's logo and the words 'Sin Bin' on the outside, was officially opened yesterday by jockey Frankie Dettori.

It's great that Paddy Power provided funds to the church so that they could get a new confessional. But to have their name be put on it? Kinda goes against Mt 6:2-4, doesn't it? What could have been a truly altruistic act has turned out to be a merely economic one, a marketing ploy. They're trolling for business in the house of God. Didn't Jesus fashion a cord of whips and wreak holy rage regarding something akin to this?

Not to mention the distraction. Imagine it - you're in Church, looking around, and then you see a horseracing logo, which gets you thinking...'boy, which horse should I place bets on after Mass?' To me, the sight of a confessional ought to inspire the need to confess one's sins, not pull out the racing sheet and place bets. This is a mockery of the sacrament.

The pastor made a bad decision - he should have accepted the funds and gratefully mentioned the contribution in the bulletin (the article states that he spoke of the contribution in a homily). He's allowed the spirit of the world to infiltrate holy space, and it might set a regretful precedent.

I predict the odds are 10-1 the bishop intervenes here. I certainly hope so.

p.s.: Some time ago, I wrote a satirical piece where progressive Catholycs placed advertising on Church vestments. I never imagined that something similar would actually happen!

(The Holy) Father Knows Best

Jesus said to go out into the highways & byways. & since the internet is the information highway, it is only right that we are here getting the word out.
Pope asks Bloggers to Give Internet a Soul

(24 Apr 10 – RV) The need to give the Internet a soul and humanize the dynamics of the digital world was at the heart of Pope Benedict XVI’s message Saturday to participants in a conference on modern means of mass communication.

Promoted by the Italian Bishops Conference, “Digital Witness” draws together experts in information technology, social networking, web journalism and blogging to focus on the language we use and the way we communicate as Christians in the online society.

Pope Benedict told participants that the task of every believer who works in media, is to ensure the “quality of human contact, guaranteeing attention to people and their spiritual needs”. “This is increasingly urgent in today’s world”, he said, at a time when Internet appears to have a “basically egalitarian” vocation, but at the same time, “marks a new divide", the "digital divide" that "separates the included from the excluded"

"The dangers of homologation and control, of intellectual and moral relativism are also increasing, as already recognizable in the decline of critical spirit, in truth reduced to a game of opinions, in the many forms of degradation and humiliation of the intimacy of the person"

Thus said the Pope we see, a "spiritual pollution" that brings us to no longer "look one another in the face”. So we must “overcome those collective dynamics that risk reducing people to "soulless bodies, objects of exchange and consumption”. The media must become a “humanizing factor”, focused "on promoting the dignity of persons and peoples". Only then, will "the epochal times we are experiencing be rich and fertile in new opportunities":

"Without fear we must set sail on the digital sea facing into the deep with the same passion that has governed the ship of the Church for two thousand years. Rather than for, albeit necessary, technical resources, we want to qualify ourselves by living in the digital world with a believer’s heart, helping to give a soul to the Internet’s incessant flow of communication".

Philosophical question of the Day - 30 April 2010

Last night I picked up something at the local Wally World that I had ordered over the internet. To get my order I had to present a copy of the e-mail, present a valid Photo ID & sign for it.
So, if I have to go through all that for a CD, why is it wrong to demand that aliens have to carry & show their green card to prove they aren't here illegally? (& I mean any alien, Italiano, Chinese or Mexicano)
As King Mongkut of Siam said to Anna in the King & I: "'Tis a puzzlement!"

Thursday, April 29, 2010

No Death Panels? They Are Finally Admitting There Are In There

With Cat-Like Tread



Infrared view of the Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) taken by VISTA. NGC 6334 is a vast region of star formation about 5500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius. The whole gas cloud is about 50 light-years across. NGC 6334 is one of the most active nurseries of young massive stars in our galaxy, some nearly ten times the mass of our Sun and most born in the last few million years. The images were taken through Y, J and Ks filters (shown as blue, green and red respectively) and the exposure time was five minutes per filter. The field of view is about one degree across. Full Story. Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA

Science Determines How Hot Is Hotter Than Hell

H. Allen Smith, "The Achievement of H.T. Wensel," in Clifton Fadiman, ed., The Mathematical Magpie (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962), pp. 141-142 (at 142):
The exact temperature of hell cannot be computed, but it must be less than 444.6° C., the temperature at which brimstone or sulphur changes from a liquid to a gas. Revelations [sic] 21:8: "But the fearful, and unbelieving ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of molten brimstone means that its temperature must be below the boiling point, which is 444.6° C. If it were above this point it would be a vapor and not a lake.
As the article points out, hell (below 445° C. = 833° F.) is actually cooler than heaven (525° C. = 977° F., computed from Isaiah 30:26).

H/T: Fr. Z Hell is definitely cooler than heaven

Our Federal Tax Dollars At Work Undermining Morality

As I kid I always remembered those ads for free government publications that ran on TV. To get them you had to write to an address in Pueblo, CO. Every so often when I see the latest catalog available at the Public Library I pick 1 up to see what agenda the Federal Government os pushing using our money. & yes, I do mean agenda. there are some good books from various government agencies but many of the items offered for free (or at a small cost*) by the Federal Citizen Information Center do push a specific agenda.
Imagine my disgust when I discovered that 1 of the freebies offered was the Birth Control Guide--Medicines to Help You. Yup the Fed is pushing artificial birth control. 1 more thing they are using my tax money to promote that runs counter to my Catholic faith.
Amazingly, it does mention abstenance, sort of. or should I say it gives 1 line to that train of thought. "If you do not want to get pregnant, do not have sex." & of course, it doesn't mention Natural Family Planning as a viable alternative either. Thankfully (but surprizingly) it doesn't mention abortion either.
But what it also fails to mention is the fact that the IUD, the Morning Afetr Pill, thePill & other chemical types like the patch also can be abortefaceants. All they say in some form or another with the chemical forms is "They stop the ovaries from releasing an egg or stops sperm from joining with the egg." Nothing about the fact that an egg & sperm can still join to make a new human & these drugs prevent the child from attaching himself to the wall of the uterus. Nor is there any mention of how the IUD works.
& while it does mention some of the side effects it downplays them to a large extent. (For the truth go to The Pill Kills.)
I am surprized that there isn't a publication on abortions & how to choose the right 1 for you. But given the direction that things are going under Obama I suspect it is only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, we have more proof of how ingrained the "culture of death" agenda is in our society & why we must all the more pray & repent for the sins of our Nation as well as to pray for things to change.
____________
* Such as the How to Get a Job in the Federal Government which will be sent to you for a modest fee $3.25. I guess they want you to know that this is valuable information & not your run of the mill propaganda. So they charge you. Or you can read it on the web for free & print it out. So, I guess we know what it is really worth. The sad part is, while the private sector is cutting back, our governement isn't. Another reason our taxes are going up.
On the other hand, the way Queen Nancy looks it is clear she hasn't bothered to read the freebie on Botox™.

New Vatican TV Series Debuts: Pranzando con il Papa

Vatican TV announced that a new TV series featuring the Pope will debut in May. The series will have Papa Benedetto visiting a variety of resturaunts in the Rome metropolitan area & sharing his experiences. Here is a scene from the 1st episode:
L'alimento è grande, ma il servizio è terribile!
(The food is great, but the service Is terrible!)

Photo source: Papist Picture of the Day 4/26/10

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Is Italy Going Back to the Days of Ancient Rome . . .

when it left unwanted children to die? Sure sounds like it in this story from the telegraph. & lest you say that would never happen over here, may I remind you of Jill Stanek's story that she shared a couple weeks ago here in DBQ. (Jill Stanek Brings Her Story To DBQ) where she shared that despite the Born Alive Infants Protection Act it still is happenning.
People who oppose the Catholic Church & its teachings on the dignity & value of every human life like to make it sound like the Catholic Church is holding back progress. The truth is, as I have mentioned before, it is the Catholic Church who has lead the charge forward. This story is a prime example of the direction the culture of death wants to take us, back to the days of barbarism.
Baby boy survives for nearly two days after abortion
A baby boy abandoned by doctors to die after a botched abortion was found alive nearly a day later.
The 22-week infant died one day later in intensive care at a hospital in the mother's home town of Rossano in southern Italy.
The mother, pregnant for the first time, had opted for an abortion after prenatal scans suggested that her baby was disabled.
However, the infant survived the procedure, carried out on Saturday in the Rossano Calabro hospital, and was left by doctors to die.
He was discovered alive the following day – some 20 hours after the operation – by Father Antonio Martello, the hospital chaplain, who had gone to pray beside his body.
He found that the baby, wrapped in a sheet with his umbilical cord still attached, was moving and breathing.
The priest raised the alarm and doctors immediately arranged for the infant to be taken to a specialist neo-natal unit at the neighbouring Cosenza hospital, where he died on Monday morning.
Italian police are investigating the case for "homicide" because infanticide is illegal in Italy.
The law means that doctors have had an obligation to try to preserve the life of the child once he had survived the abortion.
The Italian government is also considering an inquiry into the conduct of the hospital staff.
Eugenia Roccella, the under-secretary of state in the health department, on Wednesday night promised a government inquiry into the incident.
“The minister of health will send inspectors to the hospital in Rossano Calabro to investigate what actually happened, and to see if the Law 194, which prohibits abortion when there is a possibility of the foetus living separately from the mother, and permits it only when the continuation of the pregnancy would result in life-threatening danger to the mother.”
She said that if initial information is correct, “this would be a case of deliberate abandonment of a seriously premature neonate, possibly also with some form of disability, an act contrary to any sense of human compassion but also of any accepted professional medical practice".
She added: “We must remember that a baby, once born, is an Italian citizen equal to all the others, and is entitled to all fundamental rights, including the right to health and therefore to be given full support.”
The case has reignited controversy on the legality of abortion in the Roman Catholic country.
It could also raise questions in Britain over the legal upper limits for abortion and the viability of the foetus – or its ability to survive outside of the womb.
A spokesman for the ProLife Alliance said: "There cannot be anybody in the world who is not horrified by a story like this nor anybody in the UK who would not support a massive reduction in the upper limit for abortion."
Most abortions at 22 weeks simply involve the induction of the birth which normally results in the death of a young foetus.
The case is causing uproar in Italy because it is the second involving a foetus of that age surviving the procedure in just three years.
The other involved a baby in Florence who weighed just 17oz when he was aborted at 22 weeks because of a suspected genetic disorder, but lived for three days.
Since 1978, abortion has been available on demand in Italy in the first three months of pregnancy but is restricted to specific circumstances – such as disability- in the second trimester. The government is considering a review of the working of the laws.
The case also comes as figures in Britain revealed last week that the number of babies born weighing only 2lbs has more than doubled in just two years.
Yet the proportion of tiny babies born stillborn has nearly halved, the health service statistics have shown.
The figures do not reveal at what stage the babies were born but a child weighing under 2lbs is likely to have been born at least three months early.
They will inevitably include some born alive at an age when they could, in other circumstances, have been aborted.
More than 200,000 abortions are performed each year, most for non-medical reasons within the legal upper limit of 24 weeks gestation.
The increasing number of babies surviving below 24 weeks, partly because of advances in medicine, has led to widespread calls for the legal upper limit to be further reduced.
Attempts to lower the limit failed in Parliament in 2008.
In 2005 a baby boy in Manchester was born alive at 24 weeks after surviving three attempts to abort him. He is now a five-year-old schoolboy.

Dietrich von Hildebrand

Our Lives, Our Fortunes, & Our Sacred Honor:

How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization





& I know I've recommended this book before but I have to again suggest that if you haven't read it already then you must read How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, by Dr. Thomas Woods, Jr. In light of the recent attacks on the Catholic Church this book is even more timely than it was 5 years ago.

Note: Both the book & the EWTN series based on it, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: BUILDER OF CIVILIZATION , are available at the EWTN Religious Catalog.

A Look at Another Twisted Mind of an Abotionist

Abortionist Claims “Life begins when his mother wants him”
by Sarah Contreras
In a Portland, Oregon article from the Willamette Week, abortionist Jim Newhall gives his view on human value:
Not everybody is meant to be born. I believe, for a baby, life begins when his mother wants him.”
How absurd is this! According to his logic, a person becomes human and real only when someone thinks he is meaningful and valuable. Women who go into abortion clinics are extremely vulnerable and are susceptible to take in any advice from clinic workers. These women are looking for help and for the truth, but to my deepest sorrow, they do not receive it.
What women hear from these clinics are terms used to dehumanize her baby, and turn the women against her child by calling the embryo or fetus “inconvenient”, “unwanted”, and a “clump of cells”. We see this type of thinking on human value in abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood. You can view the undercover investigation videos of the lies that are being said within the walls of the clinics and that are being forced into the lives of young women. I deeply encourage you to pass these videos on and continue to be the light in this dark world we live in.
SOURCE: Why Pro-Life by Randy Alcorn ( Download it here), Cited by Maureen O`Hagan, “Cross Hairs to Bears,” Willamette Week, May 5, 1995

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A Look Inside the Twisted Mind of An Abortionist

Abortionist Says He Has “No” Concern for Human Fetus When Crushing the Head
by David Schmidt

Testimony from National Abortion Federation, et. al. v. Ashcroft on Thursday, April 8, 2004.

Excerpts from direct examination of Abortionist Dr. Stephen T. Chasen:

COURT QUESTION: Dr. Chasen, in your experience, how is the fetal head extracted in a dismemberment D&E?

ABORTIONIST DR. CHASEN: The fetal head is extracted by placing the forceps around it and crushing it.

COURT QUESTION: How readily is that — how easy is that to accomplish?

ABORTIONIST DR. CHASEN: In some cases it is relatively easily accomplished and in other cases it is very difficult.

COURT QUESTION: Does it hurt the baby?

ABORTIONIST DR. CHASEN:I don’t know.

COURT QUESTION: But you go ahead and do it anyway, is that right?

ABORTIONIST DR. CHASEN: I am taking care of my patients, and in that process, yes, I go ahead and do it.

COURT QUESTION: Does that mean you take care of your patient and the baby be damned, is that the approach you have?

ABORTIONIST DR. CHASEN: These women who are having [abortions] at gestational ages they are legally entitled to it

COURT QUESTION: I didn’t ask you that, Doctor. I asked you if you had any caring or concern for the fetus whose head you were crushing.

ABORTIONIST DR. CHASEN: No.

SOURCE: National Abortion Federation, et. al. v. Ashcroft
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
The Honorable Richard Conway Casey, Judge
Friday, April 2, 2004

Read more quotes from this hearing.

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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Send In the Clowns

LarryD has put up part of Fr. Richard McBrien's latest column on his blog today. Instead of commenting he has provided the appropriate music to listen to as you read it. I highly recommend that you go over there & read Sob Story (with the music of course). When you are done, please come back here for the rest of my comments. I'll be waiting. & no peeking at what is below, read Larry's post 1st.
WELCOME BACK!!!!!
Dick is trying to raise sympathy for his plight by bemoaning the fact that, istead of what he defines as a good bishop, a real "pastorally healthy bishop" has the courage to stand up & just say "NO!" to Dickie Bird's heretical rantings. & even worse for McB, after the priest attempts the real end-run around his priestly vow of obedience to the Bishop, the Bishop again shuts him & coconspiritor McBrien down. The whole aura of the article is 1 of a pity party for someone who knows he is on the loosing side of history as well as being called for the heretic he is.
IMHO I think that the next time McBrien has a post like this instead of his usual picture he should be dressed up as Canio playing Pagliaccio at the end of the scene in Ruggero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci where he sings Vesti La Giubba:




I say that because all Dick is doing is showing how big a clown he really is. & the spiritual damage he is doing is a tragedy of operetic proportions.
In answer to Dickie's question at the end of his screed: "The question is, what would happen if a majority of parishioners complained to the bishop about a conservative pastor who celebrated Mass in Latin, harangued the people in homilies about their sinfulness and urgent need for the sacrament of penance, eliminated all forms of consultation, fired the staff, and made abortion the only moral issue mentioned from the pulpit?" If the Bishop is the true shepherd he should be & thus a real "pastorally healthy bishop", he would probably congratulate the priest for teaching what the Catechism says we are supposed to do in paragraph 827* (among others). & then show up himself at the parish & deliver a similar sermon. Also, apparently Dickie Bird hasn't heard of, or more likely is ignoring, the Pope's moto proprio on the use of the TLM, let alone the fact that the documents of Vatican II as well as the rubrics in the GIRM for the Novus Ordo allow the NO to be said in Latin as well, without the Bishop's OK.
Finally, I have to tell you Dickie Bird, that it is time to wake up, smell the coffee & realize that in another diocese, for you & your heretical rantings, the fat lady has sung.
"Don't be a McBrien" poster borrowed from Fr. Erik Richtsteig @ Orthometer
*"All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners."

What The Catholic Church Actually Teaches About Immigration

There has been a huge discusion about the recently passed & sign bill in Arizona dealing with the failure of the Federal government to deal with the problems if illegal immigration. In the end my question about what is right or wrong is simple, what does the Catholic Church actually teach.
So I went to the 2 documents that would accurately represent the Catholic Church's teachings, the Catechism & the Compendium of Social Doctrine. While there are a few passages that have the word immigrant in them in lists of groups only 3 paragraphs actually deal with what the responsibilities of the government are to pass & enforce just laws as well as the obligations of those who would immigrate to the USA & what is expected of us once they are here.
All 3 paragraphs are posted below. But I would like to hilite a fewparts of those paragraphs that seem to have been ignored in the debate. Advance warning, this may make people on both sides of the debate uncomfortable to the extent that your stand doesn't line up. (Any emphasis will be mine)
1st I'd like to look at Par 2241 of the Catechism. It opens by saying: "The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner " Later it says: "Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties toward their country of adoption,." In other words, a nation does have the right to put limits on the number of immigrants. It can require them to obey certain rules & regulations. These regulations are for "the common good". That common good includes both that of those immigrating as well as the society to which they are immigrating to. & it does allow the nation to require those immigrating to accept the responsibility of fulfilling certain duties, such as having a green card, having to meet certain requirements for citizenship etc. It also reminds all of us that "the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him." In other words, we must respect everyone's basic human rights that are theirs under natural law, even if they are here illegally. As Jesus reminded us "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
On the other hand, the immigrants have the repsonsibility to be here legally & to obey every law. "Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens." Note that it starts by saying the immigrant must respect the material & spiritual heritage, but not merely respect it. It calls for an attitude of gratitude for the heritage that made it possible for them to come here for a better life. It also challenges them to become good citizens in every way, not merely to come here & take advantage of welfare etc.
The Compendium focuses on the work aspect of immigration & again puts certain obligations on everyone. Paragraph 297 describes the ongoing experience of immigrants over the centuries very well.
"In most cases, however, immigrants fill a labour need which would otherwise remain unfilled in sectors and territories where the local workforce is insufficient or unwilling to engage in the work in question." This accurately describes the experience of my maternal grandparents & greatgrandparents as well as that of the other Italiano as well as Mexican immigrants I knew growing up. & it is still true. As is pointed out earlier in the paragraph, they came here "looking for a better life" & they found it. & it is true they were often seen as a threat rather than welcome as they should. & finally, even though the rules & regs were much tougher back then, they all came here legally going through all the hoops because they knew that is what they had to do. I honestly do not remember any major complaints about what they had to go through. Some honest admissions of fear of being rejected & sent back did get mentioned. But I would have to say that I did see a uniform gratitude for what America offered for them if they were willing to work for it. My grandfather, Giovanni Stasi couldn't read or write. 1 of the proudest moments of his life was when he saw his 1st grandchild, me, graduate from college. He saw that the sacrifices & work he did all those years did pay off.
"Institutions in host countries must keep careful watch to prevent the spread of the temptation to exploit foreign labourers, denying them the same rights enjoyed by nationals, rights that are to be guaranteed to all without discrimination." This puts an onus on businesses to not encourage illegal immigration so that they can hire them & get away with not paying them a fair wage, etc. & it means that the country must enforce laws to ensure these businesses do not do that very thing. The meatpacking plant raid in Postville. IA a couple years ago is a prime example. While there were many illegals there, the main blame falls on the owners & management of the plant who took advantage of those people who, in many cases were just looking to better care for their families. This is not to absolve all blame on the illegal aliens, just to make it clear that, IMHO, the bigger sin was that of the people who hired them to exploit them.
"Regulating immigration according to criteria of equity and balance is one of the indispensable conditions for ensuring that immigrants are integrated into society with the guarantees required by recognition of their human dignity." Did you get that, the immigrants are to become integrated into society. Understandably, when people immigrate they usually seek a place where they are going to feel comfortable. That is why the "Little Italies" etc. came about. But they also knew that they had to become a part of the greater American society & culture. That didn't mean abandoning their food, language etc. It meant learning a new language & sharing with others what they brought. Look at America & the wide variety of ethnic cooking we all enjoy that has nothing to do with one's own heritage. Because of people like Mike & Anita Caballero, I grew up with a love for authentic Mexican cooking that I rarely find these days.
I also saw how isolated in some ways, that a person could be if she didn't learn the language. My great Aunt, Za Manina Stasi, never learned English. & us of the 3rd generation were often not taught Italiano as a 2nd language. (A big mistake, IMHO, although I understand the logic behind it.. So it was hard for her to communicate & she had to be totally dependant on her children whenever she went anywhere outside of our part of town. Which she didn't do that often. & as more of the older, 1st generation dies off, she became more isolated in some ways.
But there is more. "Immigrants are to be received as persons and helped, together with their families, to become a part of societal life. In this context, the right of reuniting families should be respected and promoted." Again, here I speak from family experience. My great grandfather, Frank Aiello, came over here & later sent for his family. When my grandfather & his brother came over here, they ended up in Oelwein because they knew my great grandfather. Grandpa later married 1 of his daughters. But it wasn't until he came here that he got to know her & fell in love. (Won't repeat the story ZiZi Tony told about how the his sister, Rachael, became my grandmother here.) So, I am all for any changes in the law that provide an equitable way for families to be reunited. Yes, there will be some that will take advantage of it. But if the other criteria above are met, it is less likely.
"At the same time, conditions that foster increased work opportunities in people's place of origin are to be promoted as much as possible." A POINT THAT IS OFTEN IGNORED COMPLETELY. Esp by those who oppose enforcing the laws in any way shape or form, but also by those who want the laws enforced as well. Why are they coming from, in this case, Mexico? & what can we do to help improve the conditions there so there is less need for immigration because people have a better life where they are currently living? These are questions that rarely get asked & ever more rarely are answered.
As I said to start this out, there has been much discussion about what Arizona did last week. I think Arizona was right to do something as the Federal government has failed in its duty to properly enforce the laws. Do, I think there are flaws in the law? Yes, to the extent it fails to respect the basic, innate respect & dignity we are required to show every human being. Breaking the law does not absolve us from that responsibility. I also think there are some aspects of the law that fall under the "prudent judgement" umbrella. In other words, there is room for debate on if this is the best way to deal with the problems. & I am not sure if some parts are the best way. I am sure that Arizona is right to do something, as I said. & many parts of that bill meet the criteria of Catholic teaching.
In conclusion, our entire system needs to be overhauled. & it needs to be done so in the light of what the Catholic Church actually teaches, not what people like Cardinal Mahony, who has shown his willingness to flaunt & disobey Catholic teaching, say. Nor should there be unjust limits either. We are an immigrant nation. We need to continue to welcome new immigrants & help them to become a part of the stew that is "Great American Melting Pot." That means helping them to become active, working contributing members of American society who share with us the gifts & talents they have, not merely take & not give back as some who come here do.Many are coming here for a better life & to help make the USA a better place. We need to welcome them with open arms.
We need to work to see that other countries improve their conditions as well. The fact that some countries have horrible conditions doesn't make all in their culture bad. But it should not automaticly be assumed that all cultures are equal. Some are better, some are worse because of how they treat their people. & while it is not perfect (the trash on TV, in music & legalized abortion are examples of where our culture needs to clean up its act), we have 1 of the best in the world here in America.
______________
You can check out the text of the bill & see for yourself where it does & doesn't line up with the authentic magesterial teachings of the Catholic Church. (footnotes can be found in the Compendium)

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.
Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.
297. Immigration can be a resource for development rather than an obstacle to it. In the modern world, where there are still grave inequalities between rich countries and poor countries, and where advances in communications quickly reduce distances, the immigration of people looking for a better life is on the increase. These people come from less privileged areas of the earth and their arrival in developed countries is often perceived as a threat to the high levels of well-being achieved thanks to decades of economic growth. In most cases, however, immigrants fill a labour need which would otherwise remain unfilled in sectors and territories where the local workforce is insufficient or unwilling to engage in the work in question.
298. Institutions in host countries must keep careful watch to prevent the spread of the temptation to exploit foreign labourers, denying them the same rights enjoyed by nationals, rights that are to be guaranteed to all without discrimination. Regulating immigration according to criteria of equity and balance [643] is one of the indispensable conditions for ensuring that immigrants are integrated into society with the guarantees required by recognition of their human dignity. Immigrants are to be received as persons and helped, together with their families, to become a part of societal life.[644] In this context, the right of reuniting families should be respected and promoted.[645] At the same time, conditions that foster increased work opportunities in people's place of origin are to be promoted as much as possible.[646]

Bringing Jesus & Mary to Those in Prison

Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy Father. It was started in 1947 by a young Norbertine priest named Father Werenfried van Straaten. In the 1990s, much of their work has focused on East & Central Europe helping after the fall of communism. These days they bring spiritual & material aid to millions of poor, forgotten, & persecuted faithful in over 145 countries.
Rosary Goes to Death Row
UK Charities Sending Booklets to Zambia
LONDON, APRIL 23, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Zambian prisoners, including those on death row, will be able to learn to pray the rosary, as the result of an initiative from two United Kingdom charities.
The U.K. office of Aid to the Church in Need and the rosary charity Crown of Thorns, will be sending some 1,600 rosary booklets to Kamfinsa State Prison and Kabwe Maximum Security Prison.
Lisa de Quay, chief executive of Crown of Thorns, explained to Aid to the Church in Need that contact with the prisoners probably initiated with a visiting chaplain who distributed prayer cards explaining the rosary.
De Quay said: “Inmates are usually family breadwinners, worried about the poverty and hardship that their crime has left their families suffering and too far from home for their families to visit.
“Although kindly treated, most inmates spend years in prison with only the clothes that they were arrested in, and with no soap, and with no blanket or sheet to cover themselves in through the cold months of the year, and often rejected from their society through crime or disease.”
She said that letters from inmates will reflect "the great joy of contact, of being accepted, and of finding God.”
Neville Kyrke-Smith, the national director for Aid to the Church in Need in the United Kingdom, affirmed the charity is eager to participate in this "beautiful initiative which will change prisoners’ lives and bring them closer to God.”
Crown of Thorns promotes the rosary for peace, and sends various items to Africa. Aid to the Church in Need also aids Africa by supporting priests and various pastoral projects.

"Talkin' 'bout my generation"*

*Sorry to say, but this is my generation he is talking about as I am a baby boomer. & I am definitely NOT proud of the damage many of them did & are still trying to do.

Thought for the Day

Happy Birthday Universe!

The Universe turns 6987 today.*


Here are a few pictures of the family celebration:


*At least that is what Johannes Keppler claimed according to the History Channel (Universe is created, according to Kepler), Wikipedia puts his estimate of the age of the universe at 6002 years old.
_____________________
& while he & many others may not have gotten the exact date right, this is just a reminder that scientific research was originally motivated by faith in God & an attempt to understand how the universe created by God was set up by Him to work.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Some Things Never Change

Check this out to see an example of how the Main Stream Media would have affected the reactions of the Tories at the 1st Boston Tea Party:


Roger Harvell
Self
Apr 17, 2010

Planned Parenthood Turned Dr. La Verne Tolbert Pro-Life

The Spirit of Henry VIII Lives in the British Foreign Office

I know Damian Thompson's question is rhetorical. Most of us would answer that we would expect exactly what was found in that memo. It captures perfectly the mindset of not only the Foreign Office, but a lot of people on both sides of the pond towards the Pope & the Catholic Church.
& do I think the apology is really sincere? NO I do not. Despite what the Foreign Office spokesman said: “This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK Government or Foreign Office policy or views." , it does reflect them. Clearly, as Thompson points out, the culture is there that would allow a memo like this to be created in the 1st place. The only "serious error of judgement" was not being more careful that this wouldn't get out.

“The Foreign Office very much regrets this incident and is deeply sorry for the offence which it has caused." The Foreign Office only really regrets getting caught.
Back in 1967's version of Casino Royale there was a joke* that was based on the fact that the initials for the Foreign Office, FO, stood for something else in British slang, (F*#% Off! for those few of you who are innicent to not get it). & that is exactly what the FO has told Papa Benedetto & the Catholic Church, "As far as we are concerned, you can FO!"
The Foreign Office's sick attack on the Pope: what did you expect?
By Damian Thompson




Pope: insulted by Foreign Office (Photo: PA)

A magnificent scoop from my colleague Jonathan Wynne-Jones, who reveals in The Sunday Telegraph that Foreign Office proposals for the Pope’s visit to Britain included suggestions that he should bless a gay marriage, launch papal-branded condoms and open an abortion clinic.
David Miliband has apologised; the Catholic hierarchy is furious, accusing the FO of “disrespecting” the Pope. (Yup, Malcolm McMahon, the bishop in charge of education, used “disrespect” as a verb.) My reaction is to say to the Bishops of England and Wales:
NOW do you finally understand what sort of snide, cheap and ignorant prejudice has flourished under this Government and its civil servants – wall-to-wall secularists for whom the Roman Catholic Church is at best an antiquated irrelevance and at worst a sick joke? And has it occurred to you that this document was probably being drawn up just as your own bureaucrats at Eccleston Square were turning a blind eye to the Magisterium so they could “work with” Ed Balls?
Oh, sure, the Foreign Office says: “This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK Government or Foreign Office policy or views” – and, of course, most of these proposals wouldn’t have seen the light of day.
But reflect the attitudes of Brown’s government and its politically correct employees is precisely what the document does.
_____________
* Basicly the joke is this. The Taxi driver who took Mata Bond from the MI5 offices in London to the the Mata Hari Dance & Spy School in East Berlin later comes in to rescue her during a fight. He identifies himself saying his name & FO. Mata gives him a dirty look so he clarifies by saying "Foreign Office". Apparently these days the 2 meanings ARE synonymous.

It's That Time of Year

Here in DBQ the trees are budding & various shades of green. Many are in full blossom as well. The early Spring bulbs are in full bloom. So it is time to celebrate the beauty of God's creation &










& of course it wouldn't be Spring without the definitive version of the song:


The "Culture of Death" Reaches a New Low in Arrogance

What gets me is that they think they can redefine evil as a good because of how many countries support it. Following their logic, owning slaves was a human right. So why is it now wrong to own them & no longer a right?
Remember the stereotypical parental response to "All my friends are doing it."? The parent says: "If all your friends jumped off a cliif (bridge) would you do the same? Well apparently the Center for Reproductive Wrongs They Claim Are Rights would answer yes.
Top Abortion Law Firm Says Government Funded Abortion is a Human Right
By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D.


(NEW YORK – C-FAM) A top abortion-rights law firm recently released its conclusion that the last decade of international legal trends indicate that abortion is not only an international human right, but that government funding is part of that right. They claim that the “vicious” health care debate in the United States over abortion funding shows that the U.S. is flouting international law.

In “Reproductive Rights at the Start of the 21st Century: Global Progress, Yet Backpedaling on Gains in U.S.,” the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) argues that “funding for abortion services has increasingly been recognized as a necessary tool for ensuring access to a fundamental human right.”

To back this claim, CRR refers to 21 European countries, Colombia, and South Africa, which partially fund abortion, as well as Nepal and Mexico City, which “provide funding for poor women as an element of the abortion right itself.”

In contrast, CRR says, the “recent debate over insurance coverage for abortions makes it painfully obvious that the United States has failed to keep up with international norms on abortion rights and must re-examine its funding policies if it is to continue its leadership on women’s rights and autonomy.” CRR calls President Obama’s executive order against tax payer-funded abortions “misguided.”

To support its assertions, the retrospective offers two national court decisions, one in 2005 by Ethiopia and another in 2006 by the Colombia constitutional court. The rest of CRR’s claim is based upon non-binding statements by U.N. committees, such as a 2005 finding by the Human Rights Committee that Peru violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights because a woman suffered “deep depression” after bearing a child with anencephaly.

The document also claims that “family planning is increasingly being understood in terms of equality and non-discrimination,” and not just health care. To support this, CRR cites non-binding comments by the Human Rights Committee from 2000 and by the committee that oversees the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) from 2008.

The retrospective also asserts that nations violate international law when they have high maternal mortality rates. To support this, the document cites a 2009 non-binding resolution by the Human Rights Council and mentions comments by UN treaty monitoring bodies.

Piero Tozzi, J.D., C-FAM senior fellow, told the Friday Fax that the global trend is actually going in the opposite direction from what CRR asserts: “In the past decade, Poland, El Salvador and Nicaragua tightened their restrictions on abortion. In the past year or so, the constitutions of the Dominican Republic and a majority of Mexican States were amended to explicitly protect life from conception, as was the penal law of East Timor. We have also seen constitutional courts of Chile and Peru determine that the so-called ‘morning after pill’ violates those countries' constitutional protections of unborn life, due to its potential abortifacient effects, and a similar determination made by the Honduran legislature."

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Glenn Beck w/ Dr. Alveda King & Ted Nugent

The Media's Double Standard Is Showing Again

Double Standard
Padre Giovanni Trigilio
As Americans, we cherish the age-old inviolability of the doctor-patient and lawyer-client confidentiality. As Roman Catholics, we revere with religious awe, reverence and gratitude the Seal of Confession. The priest-penitent confidentiality is SACROSANCT and outranks all others. Not even the Pope can ask or demand that a priest break the seal and reveal the identity OR the sin confessed in the Sacrament of Penance. Priest Confessors must be ready and willing to sacrifice their own life rather than violate the seal.

Imagine if the New York Times publicly chastised a lawyer for respecting confidentiality of attorney and client rather than violate the trust of the defendant and disclose information to the police. Imagine MSNBC humiliating a doctor for not violating the physician-patient confidentiality and incriminating the accused. It would NOT happen. Yet, a bishop and a cardinal are vilified and demonized for defending the priest-penitent confidentiality.

I had the honor and privilege of attending the Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Washington, DC) yesterday afternoon at 1pm. The original celebrant was supposed to be His Eminence Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos. He was attacked in the press for thanking a bishop who refused to break the seal of confession. The penitent was a priest who confessed he was guilty of pedophilia. He could have confessed to mass murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, drug dealer, etc., yet NO SIN EVER EXCUSES THE INVIOLABILITY OF THE SEAL OF CONFESSION.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/france/02/23/religion.france.paedophilia/

The secular press DISTORTED the facts and made it sound as if Cardinal Hoyos praised Bishop Pierre Pican of Bayeux, France, for not reporting a clergy sex offender of children to the local police. In reality, the Cardinal praised the Bishop for not violating the Seal of Confession. PERIOD. Father Rene Bissey confessed his sins and whether he was contrite or not, no priest, bishop, cardinal or pope can reveal who went to confession nor what they confessed.

If the priest abused the sacrament by intentionally tying his superior's hands via the confidentiality of the sacrament, then the priest penitent is guilty of sacrilege but the confessor is forever bound to respect the total and absolute inviolability of the confidentiality of the Sacrament of Penance.

But there is a double-standard today. Lawyers and doctors and even reporters are allowed to keep confidentiality but the media wishes to polarize clergy and laity, priests and bishops. Ask any second grader preparing for his/her first confession and First Communion. They KNOW that NO priest can ever disclose the identity of the penitent nor the nature or details of the sins confessed. Were he to do so, the priest would incur an AUTOMATIC EXCOMMUNICATION which only the Pope can revoke.

Yes, pedophilia is a horrible, despicable and disgusting and those who abuse children deserve swift and complete JUSTICE where good is rewarded and evil punished. Nevertheless, the Seal of Confession can never be broken. EVER. If the media only realized this and respected it, (they need not agree with it), we would at least have fair and balanced journalism.

How About Where He Created Chocolate Chip Cookies?


Although, IMHO, the ultimate philosophical & scientific proof of the existance of God is the Betty Jane Caramel Apple. & yes, I did use that arguement in a philosophy class some years ago.

If This Is an Example of a Main Stream Media Anchor's Intelligence . . .

Among the gems from the lips of CNN's Rick Sanchez:


Thursday 15 April 2010 "when you think of a volcano, you think of Hawaii and long words like that. You don't think of Iceland. You think it's too cold to have a volcano there" [audio available here; alternate video link here].

"By the way, nine meters in English is?" after the massive earthquake in Chile on February 27
Apparently he slept through science class when they talked about geology basics of measuring things.

Source: Newsbusters
What Will Rick Sanchez, CNN's Mr. Wizard, Discover Next About Science?


It's apparent he's never been blinded by science.!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Millstone That Society Is Celebrating As a Milestone

The Dawn of Demonic Abortion
By Jenn Giroux

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of "The Pill" the Wall Street Journal ran a lengthy and misleading article ("The Birth Control Riddle" April 20, 2009) by Melinda Beck, calling the arrival of The Birth Control Pill the "dawn of dependable contraception" which "ignited the sexual revolution, ended the post-war baby boom and helped millions of women enter the work force." Ms Beck then proceeds to lament all of the "unplanned pregnancies" which still occur today before detailing for us how safe it is now to use new and improved birth control methods.

Marshall McLuhan, the late, great expert on the media, who converted to Catholicism before he died said, "The major media are engaged in a Luciferian conspiracy against the truth." How true! Ms Beck's column is a prime example of this conspiracy, including such blatant lies and misrepresentations as:
"the benefits outweigh the risks" when taking "The Pill"
"...the longer a woman uses the pill, the lower her risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer", and
"...the pill does not seem to increase the risk of getting [breast cancer]".
Beck then goes on to reassure the readers with sources such as the Guttmacher Institute (Planned Parenthood's own research arm) and a quote from Planned Parenthood's VP of Medical Affairs who explains away the damaging side effects by saying, "We have to keep these things in perspective. A woman's risk for problems is substantially higher during pregnancy."

"The Pill" and the widespread use of other contraceptives in reality ushered in the 'Dawn of Demonic Deception' in America. One needs only to review some of the bitter fruits of "The Pill" to appreciate why.
•A Mayo Clinic study said that women who use hormonal contraceptives for a minimum of 4 years prior to their first full term pregnancy have a 52% higher risk of developing breast cancer
•Women who use a hormonal contraceptive for more then 5 yrs are 4 times more likely to develop cervical cancer
•Prior to the sexual revolution and "The Pill" there were known to be 5 sexually transmitted diseases: Today there are more than 30.
•There are over 50 medical studies which indicate that use of oral contraceptives and Depo-Provera place women at higher risk for almost all known risk factors of HIV.
As we look around today, we see how accurately Pope Paul VI predicted what would follow if contraception were adopted on a wide scale: a general lowering of moral standards, an increase in infidelity, ever-greater objectification of women, and the use of contraception as a weapon. Smaller and more broken families, rampant homosexuality, pornography, and China's coercive one-child policy are just some of the sad and obvious reminders of Pope Paul's wisdom in reaffirming the Church's perennial teaching against contraception in Humanae vitae.

Exposing the lies of contraception is, indeed, the great moral challenge of our day. It is not only a battle for life, it is a battle for souls.

When asked recently by a major publication to name her greatest regret, Martha Stewart replied, "Not having a dozen offspring." This neatly summarizes the widespread "post-contraceptive regret" that weighs heavily on the hearts and souls of women who bought into the lies of the abortion industry. Even Catholic families have since the 1960's dropped from 5.5 to 2.1 children today, increasingly rejecting the joys and challenges of larger families for the lesser goods of greater material comfort, "freedom," and professional accomplishment.

The 1920's-era story (ironically, the same time that Margaret Sanger was beginning her efforts to legalize contraception and abortion in America) comes to mind of the small boy who was peering out a window at dusk as a man came along to light the gas street lights.

His mother asked, "What are you looking at?"

As if explaining the obvious, the boy replied, "I am watching a man poke holes in the darkness."

Today as confirmed Catholics this is all that God is asking of us - to stand in bold witness and poke holes in the spiritual darkness that surrounds us. Encountering the demonic deceptions forwarded by Ms. Beck and others who ignore the devastation wrought by contraception, we must answer with the light of truth.

Our daily faithfulness to God's perfect plan for sexuality and marriage through the rosary and sacraments is the only way to reclaim the culture and our nation. Only by using these gifts can we help bring about a countercultural comeback of chastity and the family.

HLI welcomes Mrs. Jenn Giroux as our Spirit and Life guest writer this week. She is a dynamic mom of nine, a registered nurse and former Executive Director of One More Soul. She has been fighting birth control and the contraceptive mentality all her life and is therefore perfectly suited for HLI's mission!

______________
Naturally, Time Magazaine is also extolling the Pill as well (The Pill at 50: Sex, Freedom and Paradox). Naturally that includes praising eugenicist & racist Margaret Sanger for her role. It also pays special attention to the role Planned Parenthood played, spinning it positively, of course.
& naturally, it hilites the huge number of Catholics who disobey Catholic teaching on artificial Birth Control. It also calls those who uphold Catholic teaching as conservative, implying that the liberal stand in support is a valid position as well. Ditto with how it treaches those Protestant groups that are finally waking up to the truth about the Pill. It also ignores the reasons why Pope Paul VI choose to uphold the ban on artificial contraception as well as any of the negative things he propheticly warned about that have come true. It does point out however that "Leaked reports of the commission's findings suggested that nearly all its theologians and a majority of the Cardinals favored changing the church's teaching on the immorality of contraception." & while there were a huge number, including basicly the entire Bishops Conference of Canada who felt that way, there still were plenty of not only Cardinals but Bishops & theologians who upheld authentic Church teaching. Something you would never know from the Time article.
& of course it fails to look at the real damage the pill has done to women. It ignores the fact that the Pill enabled men to treat women even more as a sex object & less as an equal. Nor does it mention any of the health problems caused by the Pill from the very beginning until now.

Like I said, to read the Time story, you would think the Pill is the best thing to com out of the 20th Century & you wouldn't be aware of the true story of what the real damage the Pill has done. That article is another example of the conspiracy Mrs. Giroux talked about. But the Catholic Church has stood firm to proclaim the truth. Pro-life groups like American Life League, Human Life International & Priests for Life are telling the truth. Bloggers are putting up posts like this. The light of truth is getting out there. & as it does, that light will lead people to see & accept the truth, that the Pill is Demonic in origin. & that what it has wrought is not good, but evil pure & simple.

"I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.

My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. " - Psalm 121:1-2


Carina Nebula, some 7500 light-years away in the southern constellation of Carina. Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 observed the pillar on 1-2 February 2010. Full Story. Credit: NASA/ESA/M. Livio & Hubble 20th Anniversary Team

I Wish I Could Vote For Her


Over the last 25 years my work has been in the public arena.
I began with an inner city Christian newspaper that I founded, moved on to start my current organization CURE - Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education, wrote three books, and have written a weekly opinion column for the last five years. I’ve spoken at over 200 universities and in 49 of 50 states.
All of this effort has been aimed to deliver one basic message. That the barrier between America’s chronically poor and the American dream is the welfare state socialism which was supposed to be our answer to poverty.
As a young woman I was on welfare myself. I saw from inside the perverse and destructive culture it created. A dehumanized culture of dependence and irresponsibility that encourages behavior exactly the opposite of what a successful life demands.
The result speaks for itself. Fifty years and a trillion plus dollars in spending after President Johnson announced the War on Poverty, poverty rates are unchanged.
I’ve often been approached to run for public office. However, I always deferred because I felt I could make the greatest difference delivering my message as a free agent, outside the formal structure of politics.
But things have changed and now I’ve decided to run.
We’ve totally reversed the direction we started in after we reformed welfare in 1996.
As I wrote a little over a year ago: “I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of poor black communities and replacing it with wealth producing American capitalism. But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction. Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich America on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.”
The leaders of many of our largest corporations, whose founders were among our nation’s great entrepreneurs, are now bureaucrats content to bargain away our nation’s future, happy to play ball with government, if it means carving out politically protected profits for themselves.
The government health care takeover which has just been forced on an unhappy America could not have happened without the cooperation of our large pharmaceutical firms and insurance companies. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Just a few weeks ago, the chairman of Citigroup, one the largest banks in the world, came to Washington to testify and thanked American taxpayers – you and me – for bailing out his bank.
There is a reason why eight of ten Americans say that our nation is on the wrong track and why, according to Gallup, only 28% of voters now believe most members of congress deserve to be re-elected.
Most citizens retain their common sense because they run a household and have to pay their bills. They see through the duplicity and deception that our political class tries to pass off as governing.
It’s estimated that our national debt plus unfunded obligations of Social Security and Medicare is now $100 trillion. As with the health care bill, those holding power in Washington will try to deal with this through even greater tax increases and expansion of government – sealing for good the welfare state transformation of America.
I’m challenging a Black Caucus incumbent in a district that political pundits rate “safe” for Democrats.
But this year no Democrat representing low income Americans should feel safe peddling the same plantation policies that already have produced our broken schools, broken families, and broken spirits. Now they’re bringing these bankrupt ideas to the whole country.
Even California Senator Barbara Boxer recently admitted that this year no seat is safe.
Will we resign ourselves to an America where freedom and prosperity are distant memories and where 40% out-of-wedlock births and abortion as birth control are our new social norms?
I won’t. It’s why I’m stepping into this race.
For more on her view of abortion: Analysis Abortion
Star Parker's positions on other issues can be found at the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, the think-tank she founded & is currently the president.

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