Another 1st for Papa Francesco

 When Papa Francesco was elected Pope last March, the liberal left mistook his simplicity for sympathy with their view that the Catholic Church has to change its unchangable doctrines. In the less than 2 months he has been in office, he has shown that just the opposite is true.
He may be the 1st Pope from the Americas, in particular, South America. He may also be the 1st Pope to take the name Francesco. But he is no supporter of liberation theology or any of the other of the errors promoted by the liberal left. Nor is he a tree hugging hippie like they have falsely painted San Francisco d'Assisi to be. Like his namesake, Papa Francesco is solidly on the side of wanting people to know & live the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church. He is calling people to conversion from sin & to Jesus Christ.

It soon came out after his election that while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires he took a strong stand against the push to redefine marriage to include homosexual unions. He called it a "machination by the father of lies." He recently called on the Bishops of Argentina to deny communion to pro-abortion politicians. He also made it clear that he supported the CDC efforts to reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, something they hoped he would stop.
Another area that he has been a strong voice speaking out is that of abortion. While that is true of his predecessors, he took that voice to a place no Pope has gone before. He took part in the Marcia per la Vita (March for Life) Internazionale being held today in Rome.

Up to the time of his appearance, the 40,000 participants had no idea that he would take part. But it is clear this was planned in advance & the organizers were aware of his appearance. Crowd control barriers had been set up that allowed the popemobile to leave the Apostolic Palace, travel across St. Peter's Square & down the Via della Conciliazione to greet the participants.
Commenting on his appearance the March organizers said “The welcome of Pope Francis represents the highest recognition for the initiative and the confirmation of the sensitivity of the Pope to the non-negotiable principles, beginning with the right to life,”
The Pope also addressed the participants during his weekly Regina Caeli comments.
“I greet the participants of the March for Life which took place this morning in Rome and invite everyone to stay focused on the important issue of respect for human life, from the moment of conception.”  
Additionally, he praised the other Pro-life efforts in Italia as well as promoting the upcoming Evangelium Vitae events on 15-16 June.
Once again we are seeing Papa Francesco follow in the footsteps of his namesake. Just like San Francesco, he is working to rebuild the Church by proclaiming the Gospel truths. & like his namesake, that includes upholding the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church.

_______________
This is the 3rd annual Marcia per la Vita Internazionale being held in Italia. The 1st March was held in Desenzano della Garda. The 2nd was held last year in Rome & had about 15000 participants. Papa Benedetto spoke to them at the Regina Caeli.

Sources: Stay focused on human life, Pope tells pro-life marchers
Pope surprises, delights 40,000 Italian pro-lifers, joins March for Life

Happy Star Wars Day 2013

National Day of Prayer 2013

Today is the day designated at the 2013 National Day of Prayer.

In 1952 Congress passed a bill that was signed on 17 April 1952 by President Truman. It required the president to annually declare a National Day of Prayer. In 1988 the law was amended to make that date the 1st Thursday in May. Today's Day of Prayer the 62nd.

In 1989 a National Day of Prayer Task Force was formed. Each year they chose a theme & Scripture verse for the event. This year the theme is "Pray for America" & the Scripture verse is Matthew 12:21, "In His Name the nations will put their hope."
Now more than ever we need to join in to prayer for our nation & for it to return to its Judeo-Christian roots that it was founded on. We are seeing an unpresidented attack on Christianity by the Obama administration. Under his watch he has attacked religious freedom. Among the ways he has done so is through the HHS mandate forcing coverage of birth control in insurance to be provided by organizations that are opposed to it. The Obama Administration has declared Christians to be terrorists & is now banning members of the military, including chaplains from sharing their faith, clearly an attempt to purge Christians for the military. We see the media covering up the horror story of Kermit Gosnell. We see Planned parenthood getting huge amounts of our tax monies to support their "culture of death" agenda. These are only a few examples.
So please take some extra time to pray for our nation. Repent for the sins of this nation, especially abortion. Intercede for our officials that they will turn towards God, that their hearts will be changed & they will repent of the evil they have done. Pray for our Godly leaders that God will strengthen them to remain faithful. Ask God to raise up godly men & women to lead our country on all levels. Ask God to purify your heart & strengthen your resolve to do your part to build a true "Culture of Life" & defeat the darkness & 'culture of death" that have a grip on our nation.

As a part of your prayer, include this prayer written by the 2013 Honorary Chairman, Greg Laurie:

Father, we come to You to pray for our nation, the United States of America.
How You have blessed us through the years, Lord! We rightly sing, “America, America, God shed His grace on thee.” Yet we see trouble in our culture today. We see the breakdown of the family, crippling addictions, and random acts of horrific violence.
Lord, we need Your help in America. In recent days, we have done our best to remove Your Word and Your counsel from our courtrooms, classrooms and culture. It seems, as President Lincoln once said, that we have “forgotten God.” But Lord, You have not forgotten us! You can bless and help and revive our country again.
Scripture tells us that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Lord, in Your mercy, we ask that You would exalt our country again. We have had a number of great awakenings in America. We have experienced times of refreshing, and revivals that changed not only the spiritual but also the moral landscape. As the psalmist said, “Will You not revive us again, so that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:6)
That is our prayer for America today, Lord. Send a mighty spiritual awakening that will turn the hearts of men and women, boys and girls back to you. You have told us if we will humble ourselves and pray, and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways, that You will forgive our sins and heal our land. (2 Chronicles7:14)
Forgive us today, Lord, and heal this troubled land that we love so much.
We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!