St Michael the Archangel, Defend Us In Battle

Pope John Paul the Great - Venerable Today, Blessed Tommorrow

On 4 October 1979 I was at the Mass that Pope John Paul II said at Living History Farms in Urbandale. At 1 point I was only about 15 feet away from him when he gave 1 of the blessings at the end of the Mass. Back then the idea of his being beatified someday was the furthest thing from my mind. But that day will be tommorrow. He will become the 1st of 2 people I have seen in person who is in the process of being declared a saint. (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, whom I saw twice, is the other.)

Growing up I always thought saints were from another generation, not living at the same time I am. Then as time went on it got to the point where Katharine Drexell was declared a saint. She died 6 months before I was born. St Gianna Molla died when I was 6. I had never heard of either before their beatifications.

But now there are several who are at various stages of the process that were arround for a fair share of my life. In addition to Archbishop Sheen & Pope John Paul, the list includes Mother Teresa & Fr. John Hardon. (& down the road, probably Mother Angelica, whom I have met.)

My point is that we need to remember that each of us is called to a life of holiness. & while most of us probably won't be up for sainthood that doesn't mean we don't have to do our best to grow in holiness. The saints that the Church does name are meant to be examples for us. They went through similar struggles like we have & were able to live lives of heroic virtue by the power of the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit given to every Catholic.

So while we rejoice at the events tommorrow, giving thanks to God for the blessing Pope John Paul was, we need to also let it be a reminder that each of us must lay down our lives, take up our cross & follow Jesus as he did.

If Jean-Paul Sartre Had Written Star Wars

Source: Funniest Thing You Will See This Weekend

A Prayer Challenge to Battle Abortion

Anyone who regularly reads this blog knows how I emphasis the importance of prayer in battling the "culture of death." Also, I have often mentioned how powerful a weapon the Rosary is in this battle. I point to the story of the Battle of Lepanto as a prime example of why this is so. (More here, scroll down to Battle of Lepanto)

In 2007 a group called St. Michael the Archangel Organization was founded. 1 of their projects is an annual 1 Million Rosaries for Unborn Babies. This year the campaign runs from 6-8 May. They are seeking to get as many people as possible to commit to praying at least 1 Rosary (preferably more) during that time for an end to the surgical & non-surgical killing of unborn human persons. You can register here.

This effort gained the approval of Both Cardinal Raymond Burke & Cardinal Francis Arinze in 2008.

In 1571 God worked powerful through those praying the Rosary to bring a victory about for the Catholic Naval forces over the Turkish (Muslim) Naval forces. If we remain faithful to prayer, especially the Rosary, then some day soon we will see a similar defeat of the "culture of death" & the establishment once again of a Culture of Life.

Ray Stevens - Obama's Budget Plan

Papal Thought for the Day - 29 April 2011

(Click on for larger view)

Source: Duties and Dignities of the Priest by St. Alphonsus Liguori, #6

5 Truths About Planned Parenthood They Don't Want To Get Out

Charmaine Yoest, who is the president & CEO of Americans United for Life, recently wrote an article for national Review OnLine called Five Truths about Planned Parenthood. It is a response to those defending the federal funding of Planned Parenthood by claiming PP is primarily concerned with the health of women and girls. Here are the 5 truths, follow the link to the full story for how she expands on them.

1. Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider, performing (and profiting from) one out of every four abortions in the United States.

2. Planned Parenthood increases its abortion numbers with each passing year, bucking the nearly 20-year national trend of a decreasing abortion rate.

3. Planned Parenthood affiliates have failed to be good stewards of taxpayer funds.

4. Planned Parenthood fights reasonable laws to protect women and girls because such laws might undermine its ability to make money.

5. Planned Parenthood partners with those who sexually abuse and exploit women and girls.

Now It Looks Like Pointing Out Racism Is Racist

At least when it comes to showing how racist the abortion industry is..

Remember that poster put up on the side of a building in the SoHo district of New York City near a Planned Parenthood? Well, it turns out that the mother of the 6 year whose picture it was isn't happy. Never mind that Life Always who put it up legally obtained the picture. Nevermind that half the Life Always Board is African-American. & especially never mind that what the billboard pointed out was true. The mother of the girl apparently supports Planned parenthood's agenda of racial genocide & on Tuesday filed suit against Life Always. In addition to calling the billboard racist the lawsuit claims the use of her daughter’s image was “defamatory, unauthorized and offensive."

It definitely will be interesting to see how this plays out should it be allowed by the judge to go forward. The offensive part should clearly be laughed out of course because the 1st Amendment clearly protects speech even if someone finds it offensive.

As for unauthorized, again that should clearly be thrown out.

& as I pointed out, given the board make up racist should be laughed out of court as well. Life Always will be able to call on plenty of African-Americans, including Dr. Alveda King, to refute that.

Finally as for the defamatory, for who? If the mother or her daughter isn't the one defamed than she has no legal standing. The billboard was aimed at the abortion industry. & something tells me they won't want the truth to come out as it will prove how the industry & especially Planned Parenthood do have a racist agenda, not Life Always.

I have to wonder what is really behind this lawsuit? Or should I say who pushed the mother into filing the suit? I suspect the answer will be someone with connections to the abortion industry. someone who wants to silence Life Always by hoping they will settle out of court & then be forced to fold. Bluntly, I don't see that happenning in a million years. The Pro-life community will rally to their support as they have in past legal attacks on other Pro-life leaders & groups.

As an aside, I had to laugh at the quote from Al Sharpton in the CBSNews story about the billboard. he criticized it, saying “You cannot win people to your view by offending, and insulting, and depicting people based on who they are, rather than what they decide.” Given his track record of doing exactly that, don't you think he is being more than a little hypocritical as well as disinegnuous?

Source: Jill Stanek (Mom sues pro-life group for using daughter’s photo in “racist, defamatory” NYC billboard)

The Latest Method of Persecuting Catholics - Call Teaching the Truth a Crime Against Humanity

This would be ridiculous, if they weren't serious. OK, maybe the fact that it is cult members behind it does make it a bit of a joke, but not much. They are serious when they claim that Papa Benedetto is leading an organization that uses “terrifying threats of the eternal torments of hell” to “lead countless people into an irrational psychological and mental dependency, robbing them of the ability to make their own decisions of conscience in all areas of their life.”

Yes, that does sound funny coming from people involved in a cult. Cults are known for doing just that to their members.

But, back to seriousness for a minute. In its own way this isn't much different from the charges made against Christians in the early days of the Church. Because they refused to go along with worshipping the Emperor, they were considered a danger to society that had to be gotten rid of.

So even if these people go nowhere with it, I am sure others will take up the cry as well. & given the post-Christian pagan culture that is Europe, some court may just decide to go along as well & put Papa Benedetto & us faithful Catholics on trial for standing up for the truth. It wouldn't be the 1st time we faced such persecution.

Cult followers charge pope with ‘crimes against humanity’ for condom stance in media campaign

ROME, April 26, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While billboards, posters and festive decorations have been erected all over Rome to celebrate the upcoming beatification of the late Pope John Paul II next week, another set of posters around town is calling for charges of “crimes against humanity” to be laid against his successor, Benedict XVI, at the International Criminal Court at the Hague.
Last February, two German lawyers delivered a book-length complaint to the court, alleging that the pope, named in the complaint as Dr. Joseph Ratzinger, is “maintaining and driving a global totalitarian regime of coercion that subjects its members and with terrifying threats that pose a risk to health.”
The posters appeared this week all over Rome and are published in tandem with a website in Italian, English, German, French and Spanish, calling on readers to join the effort to have the pope charged.
Christian Sailer and Gert-Joachim Hetzel have based their charges on the pope’s maintenance of what they call a “lethal” ban on the use of condoms for the prevention of HIV/AIDS.
“If a coercive cult was now widespread in Africa and its members were forbidden to make use of condoms, with the threat of serious punishment, it could be attributed to the leaders of the sect responsible for every outbreak of HIV / AIDS and of deaths caused by this ban, and started the process against them,” said the complaint.
“Can he be any different just because the sect is called a coercive ‘church’ and its leader claims to be infallible?”
The two say that Pope Benedict has established and maintained “a global system designed to silence and measures for dealing with crimes of a sexual nature committed by Catholic priests, which facilitates the continuous repetition of these.”
Although some mainstream media outlets, including the Irish Times, have run with attention-grabbing headlines, legal experts have called the matter a “crank case.” Media have largely ignored the affiliation of the two lawyers with “Universal Life,” a cult based in Würzburg, Germany, that follows the teachings of self-proclaimed “prophetess” Gabriele Wittek, who claims to receive messages directly from Jesus Christ. Sailer is also a noted “animal rights” activist and has written articles promoting the concept of constitutional rights for animals.
The campaign is accompanied by a book, titled in Italian “Il caso del Papa,” and in English “Calling the Pope to Account,” that accuses Pope Benedict of leading an organization that uses “terrifying threats of the eternal torments of hell” to “lead countless people into an irrational psychological and mental dependency, robbing them of the ability to make their own decisions of conscience in all areas of their life.”
The website offers readers an opportunity to share their ideas about the effort.

Thought For the Day - 27 April 2011

Source: Moonbats Demand Atheist Chaplains

The Rev Know-It-All Explains How NOT To Have A Catholic Wedding

Warning: This episode of the Rev. Know-it-all is extremely offensive. It is not about you or anyone you know. Please read the whole article. The Rev. Know-it-all is not opposed to all wedding celebrations. He is not talking about your wedding, which was a triumph of personal sanctity and good taste. He is probably just having a bad day.

Dear Rev. Know-it-all,

I visited your church once and am thinking about having my wedding there. How long is your main aisle?

Mary O'Burne

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mary,

I am often asked that question, and never quite understand it. Are brides curious about the length of the aisle because they think a longer aisle may give them a few more minutes to back out of the whole thing? Or, as I suspect, does a long aisle prolong the glorious promenade of which a young girl dreams as she thumbs through bridal magazine as she contemplates her special day, when all eyes focus on her as she approaches her enchanted prince and all the world thinks she's gorgeous and knows that she has bagged her man just as surely as a Wisconsin bricklayer bags a deer and ties it onto the roof of his pick up truck? I have certainly seen a few grooms who look like a frightened deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. Why is it that weddings cause people to spend so much time, energy and money? And more money.

The average American wedding costs almost $29,000, according to "The Wedding Report," a market research publication. $29,000! Oh, by the by, the usual donation to the church is about $200.00. That $200 goes to the church, not to the priest. The usual gift to the priest is a hearty handclasp. The usual cost of the photographer is $2,000.00. All this tells me that the photographs are one hundred times more important than the grace of the sacrament, in most peoples' estimation. The usual fee for the DJ is $1,500.00. I am consoled by this. It means that painful, occasionally obscene music loud enough to cause brain damage is only 75 times more important than the grace of the sacrament.

You must be thinking why is this guy so down on weddings? I am down on some weddings because I am very "up" on the sacrament of matrimony and really in favor of marriage. That's why the modern method of marrying and the wedding industry make me crazy. They militate against marriage. Here is the heart of my complaint: It is stupid to spend more time and money preparing for the wedding than you do preparing for the marriage!!!

I have known people who are still paying the credit card bills generated by the wedding years after the marriage is over. The Modern Method of Marriage, a Reprise. The following is taken from my own experiences and things people have told me (outside of confession, you'll be glad to know.) Here it goes. A young man and a young woman meet and have a few dates. They go for a weekend at a bed and breakfast where they bed one another, and then have breakfast. If he isn't too much of a jerk and she isn't too picky, they are then an item. She goes to the doctor gets a prescription and goes on to a more permanent form of birth control. At some time during this stage, the uncomfortable meeting with the parents happens. Everyone is polite and "supportive." Secretly the father of the young woman who knows exactly what's going on, contemplates buying a gun and the mother of young man begins gossiping with whomever will listen about how her little boy could do better.

After a while, if things hold up, they begin to have the conversation about taking their relationship to the "next level" by which they mean shacking up, as we used to call it. Now, I think it's called moving in together. Mom and dad buy housewarming gifts in an attempt to, once again, be supportive. They don't want their little dears to hate them and besides, it's what everyone is doing these days, so it can't be wrong. They have vague thoughts about getting married at that point and mom explains to grandma and to friends at church that they are just doing it to save money for the wedding. At this stage an engagement ring may appear.

At some point, when they think about getting the house and the kids, because that's what you do, they decide to have the wedding. They rent the hall and then go see the priest. He tells them there are four other weddings that day and they respond, "But we've rented the hall already." Someone suggests a garden wedding if the church is occupied. The priest says we can't do garden weddings. (More on this later.) The young couple begins to complain about how narrow minded the Church is with all these rules and regulations. They eventually pick a date. Then the bottom drops out.

It seems the groom is not Catholic. He was baptized in the First Reformed Church of the Druids, though he never practiced. This means there must be a dispensation for the marriage, another irritating Catholic invention, and the wedding date cannot be confirmed until the dispensation is received. The bride goes back to her doctor, this time for a prescription for valium. Her mother joins her on this visit. Finally the dispensation is granted, the groom's druid will do one of the readings at the wedding, the loans are taken out, the banns are published. Then there is the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The best man comes to the rehearsal drunk out of his mind, the groom only slightly tipsy. The bride is furious at everyone for some reason known to her alone. Probably because the groom is far more interested in drinking and watching the football game on his hand-held computer thing than he is in gazing lovingly into her eyes in anticipation of the great day. In fact they haven't been, well... friendly in weeks. It is, after all, football season.

The special day comes, the best man is still drunk, the groom is hung over, no one knew about that interesting tattoo that the maid of honor had way low on her back, now revealed by the plunging back of her dress that is held up only by wishful thinking. Grandma, upon reading the logo of the maid of honor's tattoo, has fainted. Somewhere in all this the vows are exchanged, and quite a few of the wedding party receive their first Holy Communion that day, however one of the ushers puts the host in his suit pocket not having a clue what it is. (This actually has happened to me twice.) The pictures have been taken. The noise level in the church reaches that of an English soccer match after the riot has broken out. The children are jumping off the altar and the priest is scowling at everyone.

Now on to the pictures in the forest preserve, a "must" at every wedding. There the wedding party is attacked by mosquitoes, one of the children falls into the lagoon and the bride is having a hard time smiling for the photos. The best man passes out.

On to the reception. The bride loses it because the shade of fuchsia in the floral center pieces clashes with the shade of fuchsia in the wedding party's outfit. The groom adjourns to the bar where the game is on the television. The wedding dinner is served as music is played at a mind numbing volume. Grandma is better now. She has turned off her hearing aid. The priest is seated with the pious relatives in plaid suit coats and leaves shortly after the grace before meals. The best man makes the toast which drones on about how he loves the groom and one begins to wonder. The college roommate/maid of honor does the same for the bride, going on for fifteen minutes about how she knew the bride would find eternal marital bliss the moment she met her in the third grade and they have been like sisters ever since. Then at some point, there is a video presentation of embarrassing photos not unlike the ones that are now shown at wakes. The bar opens up again.

The music reaches levels that cause blood to drip from some peoples' nose and ears. The joyous event ends with the bride and groom being the last to leave the hall. They are slow to go up to the room they have rented in the hotel because nothing new or beautiful awaits them there. The groom promptly falls asleep, being heavily sedated already, and, as he snores away, with his shoes still on, our blushing bride, having shed her dress of virginal white, thinks back on this day, her special day, the most important day in her life, the day she has dreamt of since she was a little girl. They will stay an extra day at the hotel, but cannot afford the time or money to go on a honeymoon because on Monday they will both be back at work in order to pay off the colossal bill that their special day has incurred.

For some reason, the bride is depressed. Perhaps she is realizing that the high point of her life is now past and the rest of it will be spent with the lump that is now snoring beside her with whom she has never really had a serious conversation, except about the proper shade of fuchsia for the floral centerpieces. So it is that we celebrate the marriage of Christ and His Church in these enlightened and tolerant times. Remember, none of these things happened at your wedding; thank God and don't think from reading this that I am down on marriage or even weddings. I love a wedding celebration when there is something to celebrate. Also, it is never too late to begin again by taking Christ and His gospel seriously.

Please spend more time and money preparing for the marriage than you do preparing for the wedding.

Yours,
The Rev. Know-it-all

P.S. Garden weddings. They look good in all the bridal magazines but they are just opportunities to feed biting insects and suffer from sunburn. It is however amusing to watch the bridesmaids sinking in the mud as they try, after a few margaritas to maneuver the newly laid sod in spiked heals. The bride is generally exhausted from not having slept for three weeks as she worries about the weather reports which are promising a 50 percent chance of typhoons and earthquakes that day. And destination weddings. Don't get me started on Destination Weddings! You want to be married with just your closest friends on a beach in Maui. That means that Grandma can't go because she hasn't flown since the Hindenburg Disaster, and is thinking of cutting you out of the will, and all the friends and relatives who aren't with you on the beach in Maui realize they aren't very close to you after all. And I haven't a clue how long the aisle is here at St. Dymphna's.

_________________

Actually this was written by Fr. Richard Simon, Pastor of St. Lambert Parish, Skokie, IL & published in the parish bulletin in 2009. Previously, Fr. Simon spent over 20 years "...teaching dead languages to comatose seminarians."

H/T: Matt C. Abbott (Planning a Catholic wedding? Read this...)

Is This the Miracle Needed for Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha to be Declared St Kateri?

With the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II this Sunday, most people are aware that it will take a 2nd miracle for him to be declared a saint. & while God does sometimes speed things along, at other times He seems to let things drag out for decades or even centuries.

In the case of Blessed Kateri, it has been somewhere in between. She was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XII in 1943. Pope John Paul beatified her in 1980 after the 1st miracle was approved. This may or may not be the needed miracle for her to be declared a saint. The Vatican is clearly taking the possibility it is seriously. But it will also take the investigation serously to ensure it is a real miracle before they send it on to the Pope for final approval. & that will only be if it is a real miracle that can be credited to Bl. Kateri's intercession. The fact that the investigation has gone on in this case for over 3 years shows they don't rush in. If it is declared real then in a few years we may see America's 1st Native American saint.

The fact that the investigation has gone on in this case for over 3 years shows they don't rush in. During this time a team of priests has collected documents & interviewed witnesses. There are a lawyer, a priest with medical training & a skeptic who goes by the title of "promoter of justice." In this case it is Eusebio Elizondo, the auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Seattle.

As he puts it, his job is to try & find the holes in the case. "In old times it used to be called the devil's advocate," says Elizondo. "I'm trying to really push every single witness [and asking], 'Really, are you sure? Are you positive that there's no other way to explain this, a logical explanation or a scientific explanation or it was a pure coincidence?' "

After all this work is done & they decide it could be a miracle, then everything from the investigation will be forwarded to Rome. There, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will study the report & make a decision to approve the miracle & send it on to the Pope who will make the final decision. That process won't be rushed either. So, if & when it is finally approved, you can be sure the Vatican will have done its best to discern under the guidence of the Holy Spirit & that they are sure. & when that final miracle is approved & she is declared a saint, we have the assurance that the declaration she is one was infallibly made.

Vatican investigating possible miracle in Wash. state

FERNDALE, Wash. - The Vatican is investigating a possible miracle right here in Washington state.
Doctors at Children's Hospital worked miracles five years ago to save a young boy's life. But now the pope wants to know if more than medicine played a role.
To look at him today, nobody would guess Jake Finkbonner nearly died.
"He was as sick as any case ever seen," says Dr. Craig Rubens.
In the last minute of the last game of his 2006 season, Jake cut his lip.
"I fell down and hit my lip on the base of the basketball hoop," he says.
A flesh-eating bacteria raced through his lip and devoured his face. Now 11 years old, Jake recalls the day he died.
"I went and saw God up in heaven, and it was so beautiful I asked if I could stay. And he refused to let me stay - said my family needed me here on earth," Jake remembers.
His mother, Elsa Finkbonner, says, "That was his day in heaven, our day in hell."
Surgeons couldn't stay ahead of the fast-spreading infection.
"It got to the point where we called in a priest to give his last rites," says Jake's mother.
Father Tim Sauer urged the Finkbonner family to pray for the intercession of Blessed Kateri, a Native American who converted to Catholicism. Smallpox scarred her face, and legend claims the scars disappeared when she died.
Kateri is now in the early stages of sainthood.
The day a friend named Kateri visited the Finkbonners, they gave them a relic of the blessed Kateri that the family placed on their son's hospital bed. It's the same day Jake's school prayed for him, and it's the same day his disease stopped.
"If it's a coincidence - wow," says Jake's mother.
"I think it's a matter of a miracle," says Jake.
The Vatican is investigating whether Kateri should become a saint and sent an investigative team from Rome to question Jake's family.
"We've given them everything," says Elsa. "They've spoken with all of our family friends and priests."
The Finkbonners say Children's Hospital doctors worked miracles, too.
"They did everything humanly possible," says Elsa.
Now the fifth-grader from Ferndale is impressing pals with the powerful people in his court.
Jake recently had his 29th surgery, but they're all cosmetic, not life-saving, procedures now.

See also: A Boy, An Injury, A Recovery, A Miracle? (NPR actually does a good job of explaining the rigorous process for approving a miracle, & in particular this 1. Of course they do have to bring in the other side, those who deny miracles, to get their say in as well. You will notice how the self-called "skeptic" doesn't explain how what the doctors did cured the boy. He can't because they didn't. He totally ignores the fact that even they expected the boy to die, even with the "best medical care."Also, he totally closes the door to anything miraculous in the 1st place. Therefore it is really him who is arguing from ignorance.)

Apparently Dearborn/Wayne County Michigan Has Seceded From the Union

Otherwise how do you explain the fact that a Michigan judge has ruled that even talking about exercising your 1st amendment right to protest is a criminal offense?

OK, before I go any further, I have to state that I did not agree with Terry Jones burning of a Koran, although it was his free speech right to. But to say that because someone doesn't like the message you have & that someone might react violently takes away your right to free speech is WRONG, plain & simple.

I can't say this surprizes me though. This is the same Dearborn area that calls street evangeliziation "disturbing the peace" if it might offend a Muslim. (Memo to City of Dearborn: There Is This Little Something Called the 1st Amendment) The city is already facing 1 lawsuit from that incident. That one was filed by the Thomas More Law Center who is also involved in this case.. & now it may face another. Again, while I may not like Jones methods, what he is doing is still protected under the Constitution of the United States. & unless Dearborn has seceded, it still is a part of the USA & subject to the Constitution. I hope he does sue & wins big.

Sharia in Michigan

In an alarming leap forward into dhimmitude, Terry Jones of Koran-burning fame was actually thrown in jail in Michigan for planning a protest against radical Islam.
Florida pastor Terry Jones … said he plans to file a lawsuit against the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office and other government offices in connection with his arrest Friday following a jury trial that found he was likely to create a "breach of the peace" for plans to protest outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. …
The controversial Quran-burning pastor said he is working with the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center because "we were arrested for something we had not done."
Jones' case is unique, said Richard Thompson, the center's president and chief counsel. "There are legal experts and commentators from all sides of the political spectrum who agree that what happened to Pastor Jones was a violation of the First Amendment."
Constitutional law expert Robert Sedler said he is glad Jones is challenging the "bizarre" ruling by 19th District Judge Mark Somers requiring Jones to post a "peace bond," jailing him for refusing and ordering him to stay away from the mosque for three years — all before Jones held the demonstration.
"The Supreme Court says you cannot deny a permit because of the message," said Sedler, a Wayne State University Law School professor. "The U.S. Constitution supersedes everything, which is why this is so bizarre."
Jones says he has no intention of burning any Korans:
"We are not here demonstrating against the Koran, against their faith, against their rights, we are demonstrating against that radical element."
But apparently expressing disapproval of the ideology responsible for killing 3,000 Americans on 9/11 is not permitted in Michigan, although technically it is still part of America.
The prosecution reasoned that Jones might say something that would anger hair trigger Muslim maniacs on the other side of the world. Due to the complete absence of moral courage among our leadership, savages in Afghanistan now have veto power over our Constitution.

I Thought Carhart Was Proud to Be a Late-Term Abortionist. . .

So why then did he lie on his application for a license to practice medicine in Maryland. On his application for a license he put down that he is Medical Director & Staff Physician of “Bellevue Health/Emergency Clinic, Inc.” located at 1002 West Mission Avenue in Bellevue, Nebraska. That address is the address of his abortion business, the Abortion and Contraception Clinic of Nebraska. Well technically, he didn't lie, but it is clear he was trying to cover up what he really does. Obviously because his track record in Nebraska as an abortionist is less than stellar. & it is clear he didn't tell all the facts about that record, clearly a lie by ommission.

This reminds of how Planned Parenthood often operates in areas where they know they aren't welcome, they will use a dummy corporation to get a permit to build a health clinic. No mention of the fact it will be used for abortions. 1 of the most egregious examples is what happenned in Aurora, IL. The PP filed for a building permit as a company called Gemini Office Development LLC to build what was being called a “medical office building.” (More here & here) Instead PP built what has been termed an “Abortion Fortress” .

Thank God for Operation Rescue & their willingness to keep an eye on things with him. It looks like he won't get away with it in Maryland like he had hoped.

Like I said, why would he want to lie if he is so proud of what he does? Plenty of reasons, the scandals involving Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia, the fact that the abortion industry is being exposed for what it is, & especially that he knows how unwelcomed abortion really is in most places, & someone of his ilk even more so.

Late-term Abortionist Carhart Under Full Investigation By Maryland Board of Physicians

Baltimore, MD – Operation Rescue announces that late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart is under a full investigation by the Maryland Board of Physicians based on a complaint filed by one of its staff members.
In a letter dated April 1, 2011, the Maryland Board of Physicians confirmed the investigation to Cheryl Sullenger, who filed the complaint.
On April 19, 2011, Sullenger was placed under oath and interviewed by an investigator and Board attorney concerning information she provided.
“This is a very serious complaint that is being taken very seriously by the Maryland authorities,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “If charged and convicted, Carhart could face the revocation of his medical license in Maryland.”
Allegations in the complaint include:
• Carhart misrepresented his practice on his Maryland medical license application when he indicated he was an emergency room physician and university professor. In reality, Carhart has not had an affiliation with a hospital since 1987, and was stripped of any formal duties with the University of Nebraska in the late 1990s.

• Carhart’s Maryland application omits his decades of job history as owner and abortionist at the Abortion and Contraceptive Clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska, and 12 years of employment at Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita, Kansas, where he specialized in late-term abortions.

• Carhart conducts risky late-term abortions in Maryland without hospital privileges.

• Carhart has a history of involvement in multiple botched late-term abortions during his employment in Kansas, including the third trimester death of 19-year old Christin Gilbert.

“Based on our experience with Mr. Carhart, we are convinced that he is a shady, dishonest character whose concealment of his abortion activities, lack of hospital privileges, and history of botched abortions present a danger to the public. We plan to cooperate fully with the authorities to prevent other women from suffering the same tragic fate as Ms. Gilbert,” said Newman.
Carhart also remains under criminal investigation by the Nebraska Attorney General’s office based on a complaint filed by Operation Rescue and local pro-life groups that contained several affidavits from former Carhart employees making allegations of illegal activity at his Bellevue, Nebraska, clinic.
A press conference will be held tomorrow to discuss this new investigation.
Press conference details:
When: Tuesday, April 26 at 11:00 A.M.

Where: Public sidewalk on Wisteria Dr., near 13233 Executive Park Terrace, Germantown, Maryland

See also: Late-Term Abortion Practitioner LeRoy Carhart Faces Investigation

Some Easter Rejoicing

& of course, what would Easter be without this classic by Handel. everyone stand up now:

A Perry Como Easter

OK, now for some more devotional tunes from my paisan. While they aren't specificly of an Easter theme, I think they are appropriate for today.

BUONA PASQUA!!!!!

Victimae paschali laudes
immolent Christiani.

Agnus redemit oves:
Christus innocens Patri
reconciliavit peccatores.

Mors et vita duello
conflixere mirando:
dux vitae mortuus,
regnat vivus.

Dic nobis Maria,
quid vidisti in via?

Sepulcrum Christi viventis,
et gloriam vidi resurgentis:

Angelicos testes,
sudarium, et vestes.

Surrexit Christus spes mea:
praecedet suos in Galilaeam.

Scimus Christum surrexisse
a mortuis vere:
tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere.
Amen.

(English)
To the Paschal victim let Christians
Offer up their songs of praise.
The Lamb has redeemed the sheep:
Christ who is without sin
Has reconciled sinners to the Father.
Death and life have fought a huge battle,
The Prince of Life was dead, but lives and reigns.
Tell us, Mary, what did you see on your way?
'The tomb of Christ, who is alive,
And I saw the glory of his rising;
Angels standing as witnesses, the shroud and linen cloth.
Christ my hope has risen:
He has gone to Galilee before you.'
Truly, we know Christ has risen from the dead:
O King and victor, have mercy on us. Amen. Alleluia

Rejoice O Heavenly Hosts of Angels

(If this version of the Exsultet sounds a little different from what is heard at most Latin Rite Easter Vigil Liturgies, it is. This is the translation used by the Dominicans. Their translation & the Cistercian (Trappist) translation are a more accurate translation of the Latin including some parts, like the wax & bees, that was omitted. The new translation that will be used beginning this Advent should be more like this version.)

HOLY SATURDAY 2011

The Harrowing of Hell

From an ancient Homily for Holy Saturday

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

Behold the Lamb Of God

Ghent Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Hubert van Eyck & Jan van Eyck)

There was much proclaimed by the prophets about the mystery of the Passover: that mystery is Christ, and to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
For the sake of suffering humanity he came down from heaven to earth, clothed himself in that humanity in the Virgin’s womb, and was born a man. Having then a body capable of suffering, he took the pain of fallen man upon himself; he triumphed over the diseases of soul and body that were its cause, and by his Spirit, which was incapable of dying, he dealt man’s destroyer, death, a fatal blow.
He was led forth like a lamb; he was slaughtered like a sheep. He ransomed us from our servitude to the world, as he had ransomed Israel from the hand of Egypt; he freed us from our slavery to the devil, as he had freed Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. He sealed our souls with his own Spirit, and the members of our body with his own blood.
He is the One who covered death with shame and cast the devil into mourning, as Moses cast Pharaoh into mourning. He is the One who smote sin and robbed iniquity of offspring, as Moses robbed the Egyptians of their offspring. He is the One who brought us out of slavery into freedom, out of darkness into light, out of death into life, out of tyranny into an eternal kingdom; who made us a new priesthood, a people chosen to be his own for ever. He is the Passover that is our salvation.
It is he who endured every kind of suffering in all those who foreshadowed him. In Abel he was slain, in Isaac bound, in Jacob exiled, in Joseph sold, in Moses exposed to die. He was sacrificed in the Passover lamb, persecuted in David, dishonoured in the prophets.
It is he who was made man of the Virgin, he who was hung on the tree; it is he who was buried in the earth, raised from the dead, and taken up to the heights of heaven. He is the mute lamb, the slain lamb, the lamb born of Mary, the fair ewe. He was seized from the flock, dragged off to be slaughtered, sacrificed in the evening, and buried at night. On the tree no bone of his was broken; in the earth his body knew no decay. He is the One who rose from the dead, and who raised man from the depths of the tomb. - St Melito of Sardis, bishop

GOOD FRIDAY 2011

San Damiano Cross

Good Friday - Do You Really Believe?

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen - Good Friday

HOLY THURSDAY 2011

SPY WEDNESDAY

Today is known as "Spy Wednesday" in Western Catholicism.

NO, it doesn't refer to that type of spy!!!!!

It is called "Spy Wednesday" because this is the day when Judas Iscariot went to the Chief Priests & agreed to betray him. (Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-12, Luke 22:3-6)

& in particular that Judas "began to look for a way of betraying him when the opportunity should occur."

FELICE COMPLEANNO MOTHER ANGELICA!

Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation

born Rita Antoinette Rizzo

on this day in 1933

in Canton OH

88 Years Young Today

Cent' anni!

He Just Might Be Right

The Wackiest Holy Week…Evah?
by Matthew Archbold

We all know about the War on Christmas. Yawn. If you want to be where the action is, it’s the wackiness that takes place every Holy Week and Easter. Every Holy Week we witness a cavalcade of lunacy and I believe this year we might be “enjoying” the wackiest Holy Week ever. My evidence is as follows:
Time Magazine picks this week to run the headline, “Is Hell Dead?” This is, presumably, a knock off of their infamous “Is God Dead?” cover in the 60’s. Well in another few years I’m sure we’ll be running the headline “Time Magazine IS Dead.” That’ll at least make me feel all warm and schadenfreudey.
James Frey. The charlatan writer is releasing “The Final Testament of the Holy Bible,” which posits that Jesus returns as a druggie homosexual who hates the Bible and convinces a Catholic priest to leave the Church. Frey even said in one interview that he wrote it because it was, “the most audacious thing I could think of doing”. Hey, at least he’s honest. Oh wait. He’s not.
The Gaga. Lady Gaga will release the video to her newest single, “Judas” — in which she plays Mary Magdalene — on Easter Sunday. The Gaga song “Judas” tells a tale of worshiping “Judas” the apostle that betrayed Jesus. How soon until Gaga goes all Kaballah on us before flirting with Opus Dei?
Easter Eggs have magically transmogrified into “Spring Spheres,” according to some politically correct public schools. You know, they don’t want to offend anyone…except Christians. And people who know their shapes.
The Earth Day Network sent letters to American Catholic priests suggesting that they devote Easter Sunday to preaching about Earth Day. That’s caused quite the kerfuffle. Don’t know if you noticed it or not.
An electrician in England was reportedly fired yesterday from his job of 15 years for having a small cross made of palm in his car. Because an 8 inch cross can be offensive you know.
A group of Catholics in western New York in support of Father Roy Bourgeois spent the day outside a Church protesting that they want women to be ordained as priests. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why not go in the Church instead and rather than chanting just pray? Novel concept, huh?
Allegedly Catholic Georgetown University in the week before Holy Week held their annual “Pride Week” to increase the acceptance of LGBTQ students on campus. The festivities concluded with the “Genderfunk Drag Ball” right before Palm Sunday so everyone at least had a chance to shower in preparation. You know, gotta’ get all that genderfunk drag ball off of themselves. (Shouldn’t we really be calling them genderfunk drag spheres? We don’t want to be offensive.)
So I submit to you that this has been the wackiest Holy Week ever. Your thoughts?

Abby Johnson's Latest Ad Telling the Truth About Planned Parenthood

Read more @ New Abby Johnson Television Ad Takes on Planned Parenthood

Habemus Papam - Hard to Believe It is 6 Years Now

Fratelli e sorelle carissimi. (Italian)

Queridísimos hermanos y hermanas. (Spanish)

Bien chers frères et sœurs. (French)

Liebe Brüder und Schwestern. (German)

Dear brothers and sisters. (English)

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum:

Habemus Papam!

Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum,

Dominum Iosephum.

Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem Ratzinger,

Qui sibi nomen imposuit Benedicti XVI

Is Planned Parenthood Heartland Trying to Turn Iowa Into 1 Big Abortion Mill

& to drag down Nebraska as well.

It sure looks like it from the latest announcement by Planned Parenthood - Heartland's CEO Jill June. Last week she announced a major expansion plan for opening 12 more sites, 6 in Iowa & 6 in Nebraska. The 6 in Iowa would be located in Carter Lake, Mason City, Clinton, Ottumwa, Muscatine & Marshalltown. The Nebraska cities targetted are Fremont, Grand Island, Norfolk, Kearney, Hastings & North Platte.

She made this announcement at an open house for the recently opened 93rd St site in Omaha. The huge expansion is being funded by a $11.5 million dollar capital campaign. She also said that the campaign had already raised $7 million & the goal is to have all 12 sites open in the next 5 years.

Given that this is the 1st time most of us have heard of the campaign for this expansion it raises some questions in my mind. Like how long it has secretly been going on? & where did the $7 million actually come from. I am willing to bet that a lot of that has come from the profits PPH has made over the last few years. According to their FY 2010 report PPH made $923,142 in profits. Interestingly enough, the report doesn't actually give a line by line report of income & expenses. It does so via 2 pie charts, & doesn't mention the totals. Were they hoping people would think they broke even?

FYI income totalled $24,458,673 & expenses totalled $23,535,531. Of the income, according to the report, $1,432,599 of that came from government grants. Another interesting fact about the income is that they list $289,427 in capital campaign promises as actual revenue. What they actually may or may not have gotten is not listed seperately but is buried under the $6.9 million in contributions. Given the promises & contributions add up to a little over $7 was most of the money listed under contributions from the campaign. & if not then when & where did most of it show up?

This also raises more questions about why does PP even need any government money if it is doing so well raising funds? I can only come up with 1 answer, to increase its bottom line profits. How much of the $14.57 million in revenue from customer services was paid for my medicaid & other government funds?

The fact that the PPH 2010 report lumps all the income together as we see in their pie chart show how the government money they get is fungible. especially since it doesn't detail specifics about how it was used for expenses. With 65% of the Iowa sites doing some form of abortion, some of that government money is going to pay for the staff who helps with the abortion as well as the utilities like the electricity that operate the equipment used for the abortions.

Speaking of those grants, Kathleen Sebelius has been asked by Congress about where the grants for telemed services went. She still hasn't responded.

A few weeks ago I pointed out in a post how Planned Parenthood had a larger presence in Iowa than in any of our neighboring sites with 26. This would cement Iowa's shameful lead at 32 sites. & you can be sure most, if not all will offer the RU-486 telemed abortion. & I am willing to bet that PPH will use government grant money to get the equipment, conveniently failing to mention part of the use of that equipment will be for telemed abortions. All the more reason we need to quit giving them our tax money.

1 last thing, this announcement reminds me of the announcements for the opening of the DBQ & Monticello sites & how needed they were. Well the Monticello site is closed & the DBQ site is only open 17 hrs. So much for their studies that said showed the need. Also, in DBQ, part of it is because of how DBQ Co Right to Life has been on the frontlines getting the truth out by standing in front of the local PP praying & picketting.

So if you live in those cities or know someone there, get the word out. People in those areas need to be mobilized to start praying & working to keep PP out so they don't come in at all. If they can be kept out in the 1st place, so much the better. PP only brings corruption, death & destruction. It has been documented time after time how the corporate culture aids & abets rapist & child abusers so they can make more money from abortions. Everything PP stands for is contrary to the values of Iowa that made it the great state it is. We owe it to our children as well as those who went before to ensure PP doesn't wipe them out.

Sources: Planned Parenthood tells of expansion

Planned Parenthood to Expand Abortion Biz in Nebraska, Iowa

I Feel for Him, But This Is NOT the Way to Go

The picture you see here is of a young man, Timothy J. (TJ) Atchison, of Chatom, Ala. He was paralyzed from the chest down in a car crash last September.

As I said, I feel for this 21 year old man & the suffering he is going through. But what is even sadder is that he has allowed himself to be used by the "culture of death" as the 1st test of a stem cell therapy using embryonic stem cells. & even sadder than that, both he & his pastor have allowed themselves into being duped into thinking that this is of God.

In an article in the Washington Post he justifies this by saying that “It’s not life. It’s not like they’re coming from an aborted fetus or anything like that. They were going to be thrown away.” Yes it is life, they are human beings that were being treated as trash. Just because they came about from IVF doesn't make them any less human.

As for how his pastor, Troy Bailey of the Reynolds Holiness Church, this is how he justifies his approval of it. He claims that embryonic stem cell research is immoral but thought that this treatment was acceptable because the cells were obtained from embryos that had never been implanted in a womb and so had no chance of developing into a fetus. So what he is saying is that they aren't human until they are implanted. & even if they are, because they won't be allowed to fully develop that makes it OK to kill them.

I hate to say this, & I know many people won't like it, but this reminds me of how the Nazi Angel of Death, Josef Mengele, justified what he did at Auschwitz by saying they were going to die in the gas chambers anyway.

Given the dangers from tumors that have usual resulted in animals when embryonic stem cells were used, there is no need for this line of research. Adult stem cells have already been used successfully to treat spinal cord injuries. If it is God's will that TJ be healed using stem cells, then this is the way to go, using a moral source of stem cells. It is not being used as a guinea pig for immoral experiments using embryonic stem cells.

Besides the possibilities of tumors, there is an even greater danger. By going along with what IS an immoral line of research TJ & his pastor have both put their souls at risk.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, pray for TJ & his pastor that they will see the error of their ways before it is too late. & I don't merely mean that he will be spared from the harmful side effects of the tumors. I mean that they will repent & admit that this IS an immoral treatment.

Sadly, TJ's suffering could truly be used by God if he would let Him. In his Angelus address of 1 February 2009 Papa Benedetto talked about how this suffering could have meaning. "Jesus suffered and died on the Cross for love. On close consideration, it was in this way that he gave meaning to our suffering, a meaning that many men and women of every age have understood and made their own, experiencing profound tranquillity even in the bitterness of harsh physical and moral trials. And the theme that the Italian Bishops have chosen for their customary Message on the occasion of today's Pro-Life Day is precisely "The strength of life in suffering". I wholeheartedly make their words my own, in which is seen the love of Pastors for their people and their courage in proclaiming the truth the courage to say clearly, for example, that euthanasia is a false solution to the drama of suffering, a solution unworthy of man. Indeed, the true response cannot be to put someone to death, however "kindly", but rather to witness to the love that helps people to face their pain and agony in a human way. We can be certain that no tear, neither of those who are suffering nor of those who are close to them, is lost before God."

TJ is missing out on the redemptive suffering that St. Paul talked about in his letter to the Colossians. "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." (1:24 RSV)

God does have a purpose in all that TJ is suffering. But, as I said, being experimented on with embryonic stem cells is not it.

H/T: Jill Stanek (Jivin J’s Life Links 4-18-11)

Another 40 Days for Life Campaign Wraps Up

Yesterday marked the end of the Spring 2011 40 Days for Life campaign. & while the reports are still coming in, it can safely be said that God has worked powerfully through the intercession of all those involved.

As of this morning the lives of at least 495 unborn babies have been saved. I say at least because there will be more reports in the dasy ahead. But beyond that, it is fairly certain that there are others who were saved we won't know about this side of eternity.

A milestone was reached a few of days ago. At least 4000 unborn lives have been savedince September of 2007 when the coordinated campaigns began. In fact within a day or 2 that number will pass the 4100 mark, & as I said, that is just the number of lives they know about.

The Spring 2011 campaign also saw a record number of locations as well, 247. From their start in Texas, the 40 Days campaigns have spread across the United States, then on to Canada, Australia, England, Ireland, Spain, Belize, Armenia & the nation of Georgia. Over the years there have been 9 abortion centers permanantly closed that were sites of campaigns. & while Abby Johnson may be the most well known person who left Planned Parenthood, many others hearts have been touched & changed by God from being pro-abortion to Pro-life.

As I said at the start, God has once again worked powerfully through the prayers of those involved in the latest campaign. I also know that we won't know the full extent of the fruit that prayer (& that of the previous campaigns) has & will bear until eternity. But we can be sure it will be far more than we can imagine.

"Why I Love Jesus" Meme

It has been a while since I've been tagged with a meme. Last Thursday the (in)famous LarryD (check out here to see why) tagged me & so, I must respond.

1st, the rules:

Those tagged will share 5 things they "love" about Jesus/ Or why they love Jesus.

Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers.

Those tagged will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them.

"And away we go!":

1) The events we commemorate during Holy Week that show His love for me. This week is my favorite time liturgically because it brings home exactly what He did for me. & it reminds me so very vividly as to why.

2) The gifts of the Sacraments, esp the Eucharist, the Bible & the Catholic Church through which He ministers the Mysteries He gave us.

3) He gave us Papa Benedetto as our Pope

4) His Divine Mercy that has kept Him from giving me what I deserve for all the ways I have sinned/screwed up over the years.

5) The gift of the Heavens & the Earth that reflect His glory in everything from the smallest atomic particle to the largest star is the Cosmos.

OK now for the 5 I tag:

PatrickPaul @ Hello and Welcome

Patrick B @ Button's Blog

TH2 @ The Heresy Hunter

Matt K @ The Badger Catholic

Terry @ Abbey Roads

The ball is in your court!

Who We Have to Thank (Blame) for Ctrl-Alt-Delete

H/T: Patrick Madrid (The origin of CTRL-ALT-DELETE)

PALM SUNDAY 2011

Holy Week Quiz

How well do you know the events of Holy Week? Here are a few questions to check your knowledge:

1) Where did the Agony in the Garden take place?

2) Who betrayed Jesus?

3) Who denied Jesus three times?

4) Who ordered Jesus to be scourged?

5) What criminal was released instead of Jesus?

6) How many Stations of the Cross are there?

7) How many times does Jesus fall on the way to Calvary?

8) Who helped Jesus carry his cross?

9) Who wiped the face of Jesus?

10) What did the sign on the cross say?

11) Who made arrangements for the burial of Jesus?

12) Who was the first to discover that Jesus had risen?

Answers are in the Comments section for this post - No peeking

Source: Your Guide To Holy Week

FELICE COMPLEANNO PAPA BENEDETTO

VIVA IL PAPA!!!!!

84 YEARS YOUNG TODAY

From here:

Schulstraße 11, Marktl am Inn

To here:

Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

(Papal Apartments center top of Building)

Ad Multos Annos

Bishop Bruskewitz - Prudence No Excuse for Not Addressing Church's Teachings on Homosexuality

Bishop Bruskewitz clearly isn't worried about pleasing the PC gang. He is more concerned about seeing that the truth is being taught by the priests of the diocese. Clearly he is concerned as chief shepherd of the diocese for the souls of all those in his care.

He is right to make it clear that he isn't saying don't use proper prudence. clearly the topic of homosexual acts shouldn't be one for a group of grade school or younger children. But beyond that the question isn't if, but how do you tailor the message for the audience while being faithful to the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church. It has to be "clear and precise" as he points out. & that means making it clear that “Homosexual acts are intrinsically evil, and if one does them with full knowledge and consent, they’re mortal sins and place one’s eternal salvation in the gravest of jeopardy.”

Bishop Bruskewitz practices what he preaches, including posting a talk about "Homosexuality" on the diocesan website. The talk gives an excellent template for how to approach teaching on the subject. It includes calling homosexual acts sinful, including the situations where they are mortal sins. But he doesn'rt leave it there. He also makes clear that God's mercy & forgiveness are available for those who sin. But there needs to be repentance.

Another thing he mentions in the talk that will PO the PC gang is that it is just discrimination when Christians refuse to rent to homosexual couples. As he says: "Christians have not only a right, but a duty to avoid placing people in occasions of sin. Rent discrimination, for example, to homosexual couples is, in my view, a very just and rightful form of discrimination which Christians not only can, but should, exercise, refusing for instance to rent apartments or rooms to persons who are obviously in an intrinsically disordered arrangement in regard to their sexual lives."

Bishop Bruskewitz is setting an example that far too few Bishops are following. He is obviously not worrying about pleasing man. Rather he is doing what he should as Bishop because he is concerned about pleasing God. Sadly he will be retiring soon as he is 75. But I suspect even that won't stop him from speaking out the truth.

Nebraska bishop: Don’t make ‘prudence’ an excuse to avoid preaching boldly on homosexuality

LINCOLN, Nebraska, April 15, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Priests should not use concerns over “prudence” as an excuse to avoid speaking boldly on the immorality of homosexual acts, says Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska.

“Caution and prudence are important, but I don’t think they should be excuses for not properly speaking when speaking is necessary or extremely important pastorally,” the bishop told LifeSiteNews this week.

He said priests may be reluctant to address homosexuality because “there’s a lot of intimidation in various places,” but he stressed that the wide promotion of openness to homosexuality in our culture demands that they present the Catholic Church’s teachings clearly. “In a culture in which this kind of activity is broadcast all over, I think it’s important that the teaching of the Church be clear and precise,” he said.

“Homosexual acts are intrinsically evil, and if one does them with full knowledge and consent, they’re mortal sins and place one’s eternal salvation in the gravest of jeopardy,” he added.

Those who experience same-sex attractions must “resist that inclination,” he said. “There are people who are inclined to start fires, or to kill people, or to rob or something, and they can’t give into their inclinations. They have to struggle against them and restrain them.”

“Similarly, people who have such an inclination, however they obtained it, must maintain what God wants us to do in regard to the way human sexual activity and human reproductive activity takes place.”

Bishop Bruskewitz lamented that “in recent times things that were unspoken, or basically unspeakable, are now broadcast all over the media.” “We have a proliferation of every sort of pornography on the internet, and there’s a general cultural deterioration in that direction,” he said.

While there’s a need to present the Church’s sexual teachings clearly, the bishop also stressed that priests must make a “pastoral judgment” in determining the appropriate context for these discussions. “I think there’s a time and place to do these things. Sometimes there’s a certain delicacy, I think, and modesty in speaking and referring to sexual matters that has to observed,” he explained.

Discussions on homosexuality would be “inappropriate” with certain audiences, he said, but “there’s others where it would be not only appropriate but sometimes necessary to speak about them.”

Margaret Sanger - The Democratic Party Fullfilling Her Marxist Dream

1 of the reasons why Margaret Sanger & Planned Parenthood are darlings of the liberal socialist gang such as Obama, Hillary, Queen Nancy, Dingy Harry & the rest (aka the Democraticic Party) is that Sanger & the Dems both share a Marxist, socialist view of how our government should run.

Here is a quote from an article titled, "Birth Control in Russia," that she wrote for the June 1935 edition of Birth Control Review: "Theoretically, there are no obstacles to birth control in Russia. It is accepted … on the grounds of health and human right…. [W]e could well take example from Russia, where there are no legal restrictions, no religious condemnation, and where birth control instruction is part of the regular welfare service of the government."

She also wrote: "All the officials with whom I discussed the matter stated that as soon as the economic and social plans of Soviet Russia are realized, neither abortions nor contraception will be necessary or desired. A functioning Communistic society will assure the happiness of every child, and will assume the full responsibility for its welfare and education."

Sound familiar? If not change Communistic to American & Soviet Russia to Democratic platform & it now should be crystal clear.

Want more detail, OK.

1st of all, let's start with "no legal restrictions." Every time any attempt to regulate what goes on in abortion clinics comes up we hear shouts about how they will limit a woman's right to abortion. & don't forget that since 2006 the emergency contraception called "Plan B" has been available over the counter without a prescription for women over 18 (& men to get to use on a woman of any age he got pregnant). Making it available OTC for those underage is being fought for as well. & there is a growing movement to allow the pill to be sold OTC as well. (Should the Birth-Control Pill Be Sold Without a Prescription?)

Next up "no religious condemnation." Since the 1930s most main stream protestant religions have approved artificial birth control. & despite the Catholic Church's clear teaching on birth control, many people inside & outside the Church have worked to undermine that teaching. Many states have tried to force people to dispense birth control meds despite moral & religious objections. & the ACLU is suing to force Catholic hospitals to provide abortions.

As for "birth control instruction", well, do I even have to point out how PP has pushed for comrehensive sex ed in schools funded by the governement that includes teaching about birth control? & the recent budget battles over government funding of Planned Parenthood for "health services" for those in need of government welfare.

As for the bit about making abortions not needed, doesn't that sound a lot like the "legal, safe & rare" line used by the pro-aborts?

Then there is the last line "A functioning . . . . society will assure the happiness of every child, and will assume the full responsibility for its welfare and education." Where do I start to point out how the whole aim of the Obama/Democratic party agenda is for the govenment to run how children are raised & taught, not the parents.

The author of the article I got these quotes from points out how well things really worked out in Soviet Russia. They failed to achieve what Sanger claimed they would. In fact abortions soared to 7 million annually in the USSR. The articles author thinks that Sanger was duped by the Soviet officials she talked to. I am not so sure.

In fact, I think Sanger knew that the claims were BS. But she was willing to use the ready made propaganda for her own eugenics agenda. Another part of pushing that agenda was the founding of the American Birth Control League which has since become Planned Parenthood.

Planned parenthood is proud of its founder & what she stood for. Its “highest honor” the “Margaret Sanger Award which PP gives "to an individual who best promotes the organization's values and ideals."

Let us not forget what current head of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards recent predecessors have said. 1st of all we have former Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt. She once said, “I stand by Margaret Sanger’s side,” leading “the organization that carries on Sanger’s legacy.” Next we have Planned Parenthood's first African American President, Faye Wattleton. She stated that she too was “proud” to be “walking in the footsteps of Margaret Sanger.”

That legacy that they praise is an agenda of socialism, eliminating undesirables especially minorities & eliminating faith from the public forum. This agenda is the same one that the Dems are promoting. Don't forget the Dems were pro-slavery before the Civil War, the party that spawned the KKK after the War & despite claims to the contrary were the ones leading the fight against civil rights. A couple of prime examples are Alabama governor George Wallace & Georgia governor Lester Maddox.

No wonder Obama & the Dems have made Planned Parenthood a sacred cow. They are clearly birds of a feather.

Sources: MARGARET SANGER

Planned Parenthood and the Soviet Model