Archbishop Burke at National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

It was a day when I felt good to be Catholic, from the shining faces of Catholic luminaries seen in the crowd like Fr Euteneuer, Dr Alice Von Hildebrand, Raymond Arroyo introduced Archbishop Burke who looked and sounded majestic and militant in his no nonsense reiteration of what we all know is Holy Mother Church's unequivocal stand in defense of human life and the family.

The Archbishop called Catholics who voted for Obama to task:
"The path of violation of the most fundamental human rights and of the integrity of marriage and the family, which our nation is traveling, is not accidental. It is part of the program set forth by those whom we have freely chosen to lead our nation. The part of the program in question was not unknown to us; it was announced to us beforehand and a majority of our fellow citizens, including a majority of our fellow Catholics, chose the leadership which is now implementing it with determination."
The Archbishop called us to prayer for our troubled nation, with particular emphasis on Eucharistic adoration and the rosary.

" At every Mass, we should offer special prayers for our nation and her leaders, in order that the culture of death may be overcome and a civilization of love may be steadfastly advanced. All Catholics throughout the nation should take part in Eucharistic adoration and in the praying of the Rosary for the restoration of the respect for human life and for the safeguarding of the integrity of the family. In our prayers, we should seek, above all, the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of the Immaculate Conception. Mary Immaculate is the patroness of our nation."

EWTN has been re-broadcasting this wonderful speech repeatedly this weekend. I am sure that it will be considered historic, coming as it does at such crucial crisis point for the Church in America. I hope Fr Jenkins was listening. The Archbishop's biggest ovation came after he addressed the scandal of Notre Dame,
"Clearly, the same is true of our Catholic charitable, missionary and healthcare institutions. There can be no place in them for teaching or activities which offend the moral law. Dialogue and respect for differences are not promoted by the compromise and even violation of the natural moral law. The profound granting of an honorary doctorate at Notre Dame University to our President who is as aggressively advancing an anti-life and anti-family agenda is a source of the gravest scandal. Catholic institutions cannot offer any platform to, let alone honor, those who teach and act publicly against the moral law. In a culture which embraces an agenda of death, Catholics and Catholic institutions are necessarily counter-cultural. If we as individuals or our Catholic institutions are not willing to accept the burdens and the suffering necessarily involved in calling our culture to reform, then we are not worthy of the name Catholic."
You can read Archbishop Burke's remarks here however, don't miss the opportunity to see a re-broadcast of his speech. The standing ovation he received bears witness to the respect he earned by such masterful oratory in defense of truths of our Faith.