Disabled teach us about the Eucharist

Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche communities addressed the 49th Eucharistic Congress in Quebec Sunday and " told the story of a mentally handicapped boy from Paris on the day he received his First Communion: "After Mass, which was a family celebration, the boy's uncle, who was his godfather, said to the child's mother: 'What a beautiful liturgy! How sad it is that he didn't understand anything.'
"The child heard these words and, with tears in his eyes, said to his mother: 'Don't worry, Mommy, Jesus loves me just as I am.'"
Vanier affirmed: "This child had a wisdom that his uncle was yet to attain: the Eucharist is God's gift par excellence. "This child gives witness that a disabled person -- sometimes deeply disabled -- finds life, strength and consolation in and through Eucharistic communion. Is not this a call that the whole Church should hear?"
In L'Arche, the founder continued, "we have seen that if we pay attention to the deepest needs of disabled people, we can see their desire for Communion at the moment of the Eucharist."
I wrote about Christina's early relationship with Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist at an early age here and later here.
It was Mary, a young lady with Trisomy 21, who prepared me for having Christina, by the way she adored Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Many years ago, when our parish had it's only time of adoration, a Forty Hours Exposition for the Feast of Corpus Christi, I came to adoration to see Mary prostrate on the floor in front of the Monstrance for nearly an hour. As far as I knew, she had never seen anyone do that before, she was merely responding to the Lord's presence with a completely open heart, free of the fear of what others would say.
I was so moved, I said to myself, "What mother wouldn't giver her left arm for this daughter?" Little did I know that her mother was so bitter about her disability that she refused to have another child, and stopped going to church. Her husband, unwilling to disobey Church teaching on artificial contraception, never approached the marital bed for the rest of his life. I suspect he must have offered his suffering for his wife and daughter, for Mary was truly an extraordinary young lady, full of love and joy.Now that her father is gone, her mother takes her to Mass but won't stay with her.
Please pray that her mother's eyes are opened to the blessing that her daughter is and that she repents of rejecting Our Lord's friendship. Mary and her father are praying for her.
Read the entire story here.
HT Catholic Online
UPDATE: Here and here are two posts on children with Trisomy 21 receiving their First Holy Communions. I think they confirm Jean Vanier's message!

The Internet is Evangelizing

According to recent convert Jenifer Fulwweiler of Et Tu in her well-written article in Inside Catholic.
"In an interactive medium, falsehoods are called out, bad or incomplete ideas collapse under the weight of cross-examination, and anyone honestly seeking the truth will recognize it when they see it. Whatever our belief systems, we can't isolate ourselves online the way we can in real life. In my case that meant that instead of being affirmed in my beliefs by my atheist friends, I bumped into Christians and was forced to confront their ideas in a way I'd never had to before. Over and over again I noticed that it was only the Christians -- and Catholics in particular -- whose belief system didn't crack under the pressure of a flood of tough questions."

I began this blog in 2006 as an effort to evangelize with the truth, and it's edifying to see that hearts and minds are indeed being reached through the internet, and blogs in particular(see the comments). It's also a reminder to be intellectually honest, and a good example of charity.

Review of "Faith, Reason and the War on Jihadism"

An excellent review of George Weigel's new book is up on MercatorNet where he explains why the War on Terror is ineffectual, and what Catholics can bring to the discussion.
Weigel wryly observes that we are not going to “convert 1.2 billion Muslims into good secular liberals.” As should be obvious by now in Iraq and Afghanistan, we cannot also impose our own democratic systems on people who have never known them and who, at least in Afghanistan, are essentially tribal. What we can and must focus on is respect for pluralism and religious tolerance, respect for the rule of law and commitment to persuasion, not coercion. In Islam the fusion of temporal and religious authority – the theocratic state – is an obstacle; there is no mention in the Qur’an of “rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and rendering unto God that which is God’s” which led in the West, albeit slowly, to an understanding of the distinctive roles of church and state.

How to speak to atheists

Talking with atheists is something I don't relish as much as I did in college, where we'd have long debates over dinner in the cafeteria. . .maybe it's because I don't have as much time as I did then, but Jen Fulweiler of Et Tu, a former atheist, in her article suggests that atheists are getting bolder as they seem to have the upper hand in recent days.
"Atheism is a strong and growing influence in our culture. You can see it everywhere from the bestseller table at your local bookstore to the Darwin-mutated Jesus fish on the car in traffic in front of you. Atheists are comfortable declaring themselves atheists, comfortable promoting atheism, and comfortable decrying religion, which, according to some of the more prominent atheists, resides on the list of mankind's blessings somewhere between diphtheria and Nazism.

And now that we're encountering it more often, Christians sometimes find themselves ill-prepared to deal with this kind of muscular atheism. Especially for lifelong Christians, atheist arguments are so foreign that they don't know how to respond, and too often lapse into anger ("How dare you?!") or fear ("What if they're right?!"), neither of which does anyone any good, harming the Christian's witness and leaving the atheist firmly entrenched in his atheism. "
Prepare yourself for being drawn into such a discussion, it may come sooner that you think. As 1 Peter 15 says, we must always be ready to give the reason for our hope.
HT Holy Spirit Interactive

Catholic Charity workers sign for 16 year old girls' abortion

I was a social worker for Catholic Charities in New York in the mid 1980's. We were asked to uphold Church teaching on life and famliy issues, yet some of the social workers mocked such teachings and certainly didn't uphold them in their private or professional lives. What really hurt is that priests were sending parishioners to us in good faith that they would receive Catholic guidance.
So, the fact that a young woman being cared for by CC in Virginia not only brought the her for an abortion, but also illegally signed consent forms as her 'parent' fails to suprise me. At least the bishop has fired the workers involved and taken steps to re-educate the staff as to Church teaching, though it's probably the first time that most of them will learn it.
Read the entire story here.
HT Life Site News

Diocese of Rockville Centre has Confirmation in the Tradtional Rite

The growth of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in this past year since Summorum Pontificum has surpassed even my optimistic expectations. Last Sunday, Bishop Murphy confirmed several of my friend's children in the Traditional Rite. See the story here. Thank you, Bishop Murphy.

HT The Long Island Catholic

Holocaust survivors grateful for help from Pope Pius XII

from the Catholic League
Today, Pope Benedict XVI is welcoming a group of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Arranged by the Pave the Way Foundation, the group will personally thank the pope for the Catholic Church’s intervention in saving their lives in Italy during World War II.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue addressed this event today:

"Despite attempts by embittered ex-priests and seminarians, and others, to discredit Pope Pius XII's heroic efforts in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust (as many as 860,000 were saved), the evidence is mounting that Pius was a 'Righteous Gentile.' What is happening in the Vatican today is another reminder of just how great a man he was.

"October 9 marks the 50th anniversary of Pius' death. To mark this important event, the Vatican announced yesterday that a convention will be held November 6-8 to honor his work; a photo exhibit will be on display in the colonnade of St. Peter's Square from October 21-January 6. Millions of Catholics hope that eventually Pius will be beatified and then canonized. The Catholic League certainly supports this process.

"Those who disagree with this assessment have a lot of explaining to do. For example, the true test of the Catholic Church's role in rescuing Jews was in Italy, and nowhere in Europe were more Jews saved"fully 85 percent"than in Italy. Also, the chief rabbi in Rome during the German occupation, Emilio Zolli, once said that "no hero in all of history was more militant, more fought against, none more heroic, than Pius XII." Indeed, Zolli was so moved by Pius' work that he became a Catholic after the war, taking the pope's name as his baptismal name.

"Finally, today's meeting of Jewish Holocaust survivors thanking the pope for what the Church did to save their lives says it all. No amount of revisionism can change that."

To help educate your family on the important role the Church played in helping holocaust survivors in WWII, rent the 1983 made for TV film, "The Scarlet and the Black" starring Christopher Plummer and Gregory Peck about Monsignor O'Flagherty who hid POWs and refugees in the Vatican under the watchful eye of the Nazis who occupied Rome during the war.

Pro-life Pharmacy opens in Virginia while AMA denies pharmacists freedom of conscience

A completely contraceptive/abortifacient free pharmacy has just opened in Chantilly, Va amid much media attention. See the EWTN report here.
At the same time, the America Medical Association is moving to restrict freedom of conscience of pharmacists who don't want to perscribe these drugs. In 2007, 36 states considered legislation to protect health care providers' right of conscience.
The American Medical Association (AMA) is considering a policy that would require pharmacists to dispense drugs that can cause abortions, even if it violates their beliefs.
“We have opened a very dangerous door if we try to impose our viewpoint on another organization," said Dr. Tom Eppes, who is heading the Virginia delegation at this week's AMA board meeting.
Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical Association, called the proposal hypocritical and elitist.
“Hypocritical, because they say very clearly in their own documents that physicians have a right of conscience," he said. "It’s elitist because they’re acting as if the pharmacists aren’t professionals like they are.”
In 2007, 36 states considered legislation to protect health care providers' right of conscience.
HT Citizen Link

Leader of "Pro-Life Nation" honored by Holy See at UN

By Piero A. Tozzi and Susan Yoshihara
(NEW YORK – C-FAM) At United Nations headquarters this week, President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador received the “Path to Peace” award in recognition of his commitment to the “development of peace in national and international arenas.” Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, bestowed the honor in his capacity as president of the Path to Peace Foundation. The Path to Peace Foundation promotes initiatives of the Pope and the Holy See aimed at building “justice, charity and peace.”
President Saca was a media personality who gained the attention of El Salvador’s ARENA party and won the presidency in 2004. According to the Path to Peace Foundation, he was recognized for implementing judicial and fiscal reform, as well as programs designed to eradicate poverty in order to help El Salvador rebuild society in a manner consistent with Catholic social principles. After a bloody civil war, the country signed a peace agreement in 1992.
In his acceptance remarks, President Saca credited the “enormous contribution” of the Catholic Church to restoring peace and cited the 1983 visit of Pope John Paul II to the war-torn country as a pivotal event. He also touted his administration’s policy of promoting a “solidarity network” in impoverished rural and urban areas, providing incentives so that poor families would send their children to school and obtain medical examinations.
The award however caused an “outcry,” according to Raul Gutierrez of the IPS news service. Gutierrez reported that “Several Salvadoran Catholic organizations said they ‘regretted’ the foundation’s decision, in a letter to the Apostolic Nunciature in El Salvador.” Gutierrez did not cite the names of the organizations but said they disagreed with the foundation’s assessment of the president’s achievements. IPS news focuses on “civil society” and the “impact of globalization on the [global] South.” Among its supporters are the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, organizations whose population control policies run counter to the strong pro-life laws of El Salvador, whose constitution protects life from conception.
El Salvador has come under heavy fire from abortion rights advocates and in the media in the last few years, fallout from which led to a major scandal at the New York Times. In a story reported by LifeSite News, the Times published Jack Hitt’s April 2006 article, “Pro-Life Nation,” erroneously saying that a woman was serving a 30-year jail term for having undergone an illegal abortion. The Times relied on a translator from a UN-accredited non-governmental organization called Ipas that promotes abortion and sells portable abortion devices over the telephone. (C-FAM Friday Fax: UN NGO at the Center of New York Times Reporting Scandal) Due to the controversy the LifeSite News story caused, the New York Times was forced to admit it was wrong in an “editor’s note” but stopped short of calling it a “correction” or “retraction.” I posted on this scandal here and here.
Despite such pressure, El Salvador continues to maintain its protection for life in its various stages. This week, all 84 Salvadoran legislators signed the “Yes to Life” statement – part of a campaign to promote respect for human life in Central America – condemning abortion as an “abominable crime” and affirming the duty of legislators to “unconditionally” defend life from conception to natural death."
What a blessing that this tiny nation which has suffered from so much injustice should have such a good Catholic leader. I'm sure that all the money sent from Salvadorean immigrants here in the USA contributed to the well-being of the poor there. This is the family of God at work. We should help children get health care and schooling, not force abortion upon their parents.

Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate: E.J. Dionne on Kmiec Being Denied Communion [UPDATED]

Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate: E.J. Dionne on Kmiec Being Denied Communion [UPDATED]

Heroic Catholic families

The late Fr. John Hardon said, "only heroic Catholic families will survive in this world".
Dr Jeff Mirus of Trinity Communications describes the heroic Catholic family at the dawn of the Third Millenium. Here's my favorite paragraph:
"In early third millennium America, heroic Catholic families generally don’t send their kids to public schools if they have any conceivable alternative. Nor do they take advantage of parochial or diocesan schools if their staffs are still riddled with cafeteria Catholics (or worse). If a sound Catholic school is not available, heroic Catholic families pull up roots and move, or they found independent schools, or they home school. Even if outstanding schools are available, they may still home school. I use the word “generally” in the first sentence, because there are exceptions to every parenting rule, and it isn’t anybody’s job but yours to make the best decision for your own children. "
Faced with only Cafeteria Catholic schools in our area, we have home-schooled, tried to start an independent school many times (and failed) and now we are discerning whether to pull up roots and move for outstandingly Catholic schools. And we are catching flack from a few quarters. But, we are heroic. Thanks, Dr. Mirus, I needed some affirmation!
HT Catholic Culture.org

Happy Father's Day

Read here about Max McGinley and his father, actor John McGinley, who participated with us in the 2006 Buddy Walk in NYC.

This is fatherhood at it's best; an accomplished father who refuses to leave his son in his shadow, despite the fact that he has Down syndrome. They are moving forward together.

Happy Father's Day everyone!

National Geographic Series on the Vatican

Two five minute segments can be watched here. They are well done, accurately and respectfully detailing the history of the Vatican and St. Peter's basilica.

Protest at NAACP Convention to call attention to abortion as black genocide

Rev Clenard H. Childress, Jr. a pastor from New Jersey will be protesting the NAACP's convention in Cincinati, he said, "Historically, the NAACP has failed to address the concerns of many of its delegates about abortion," he added.
The black pastor pointed to a 2004 resolution voicing support for “equal access to abortion” and urging its members to participate in a pro-abortion rally in Washington.
In 2007, the NAACP, for the second time in four years, blocked a proposed resolution expressing opposition to abortion. Read more at Black Genocide.org
HT Life News

The Holy Father gives an insider tour to President Bush

"The usual protocol for heads-of-state is a meeting in the pope's library in the Apostolic Palace, but a spokesman for the Vatican said Benedict wanted to reward Mr Bush for the "warmth" of his reception at the White House earlier this year. "
Read the entire story here.
HT UK Telegraph
Oh, how I wish to have been privy to that intimate chat!
Didn't I post about Bush being close to converting just a few days ago?!
"Catholics have noted that during the contested election in 2000, Jeb Bush travelled to Mexico and prayed to the icon of Our Lady of Guadelupe. His victory was announced by the Supreme Court on December 12, the feast day of the Lady of Guadalupe."
I went to Washington DC with my family to attend Bush's Inauguration in 2000 for the express purpose of reminding him of this. While I didn't realize how Jeb went to Our Lady's Basilica, I certainly asked her as the Patroness of the Unborn, for Bush's election. My Catholic friends and I prayed and fasted so hard during that month, it was like Lent. Fr. Frank Pavone said, " God saw how much the election was making us pray and fast, and decided that this was such a good thing, that he pressed the HOLD button!"
The day after the Inauguration, I stood in line in the snow at 5AM for ticket to a special reception at the White House the day after to remind him that since Our Lady put him in office, he'd better live up to her standards. When we entered the White House, President Bush and Laura had stopped shaking hands.
It seems that somehow, he got the message,
"Mr Bush has filled the White House with Catholic speech-writers and consultants and is also thought to have asked a Catholic priest to bless the West Wing.
Before he became president, Karl Rove, his former political adviser, invited Catholic intellectuals to Texas to lecture the candidate on the church's teachings. Mr Bush appointed the Catholic judges Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court. "

Tim Russert the Catholic

I deeply regret the loss of Tim Russert, and prayed the rosary last night for the repose of his soul. His family must be in terrible pain, and I hope their Catholic faith is a comfort to them at this time. I think especially of "Big Russ" Tim's father living alone in Buffalo.
May Our Lady comfort you at this time.
I appreciate that Tim went to weekly Mass, and by all accounts was a loving father to his son Luke, and good husband to his wife, who writes for Vanity Fair.
HOWEVER, before we canonize Tim, as some Catholic sources already are, let's remember he worked for pro-abortion Governor Mario Cuomo and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, two Catholic politicians who raised the ire of our late beloved Cardinal John O'Connor for their stand on life issues. Here is an excerpt from a TV interview with Al Gore on which he pressed him for a consistent stand on life issues.
RUSSERT: When do you think life begins?
GORE: I favor the Roe vs. Wade approach, but let me just say, Tim, I did—
RUSSERT: Which is what? When does life begin?
GORE: Let me just say, I did change my position on the issue of federal funding and I changed it because I came to understand more from women—women think about this differently than men.
RUSSERT: But you were calling fetuses innocent human life, and now you don’t believe life begins at conception. I’m just trying to find out, when do you believe life begins?
GORE: Well, look, the Roe vs. Wade decision proposes an answer to that question—
RUSSERT: Which is?
The quote ends here, which is a shame, I wonder what Al Gore answered to that one!
HT Get Religion
I'm happy he pressed politicians on life issues, I just wish he hadn't worked for pro-abortion Cuomo and Moynihan because they called themselves Catholic. Here's a statement from the American bishops to remind Catholic voters what is most important this election.



BISHOPS RESTATE PREEMINENCE OF LIFE ISSUES

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today reaffirmed its rejection of embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue called on Catholics to support the vote that was taken today in Florida:

"It is important for all Catholics to acknowledge that the first and most important issues affecting public policy are the life issues. To maintain that other issues are the moral equivalent of matters like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and direct euthanasia, is to denigrate the privileged position that the life issues have in Catholic teachings.

"The bishops referred to the harvesting of embryonic stem cells as "the deliberate killing of innocent human beings, a gravely immoral act." They also said that "Human cloning is intrinsically evil," something which "shows disrespect for human life in the very act of generating it.’ These words were chosen carefully, and they reflect the sentiments of Pope Benedict XVI who recently said abortion was a 'non-negotiable' issue for Catholics.

"The life issues, then, are of preeminent importance to Catholics. To discuss social justice, for example, while being dismissive of the life issues is profoundly un-Catholic."

Creative Minority Report: Latin Mass: Not Some Parishes - All Parishes!! - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

Creative Minority Report: Latin Mass: Not Some Parishes - All Parishes!! - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

For those fathers who lost a child to abortion

Some of them struggled mightily to keep their children, but were told that the choice wasn't theirs. . .from the Elliot Institute
Fathers and mothers of aborted children . struggle with how to grieve the loss of a
person who .disappeared. from their lives.. .Wayne Brauning, M. Div., D. Min.
.Meds and massive amounts of therapy helped. But not completely. Something was still
missing..
.There is a myth in society that says men don.t care. . that men are untouched by the
experience. . My experience of having listened to men.s stories over the years is that
the scenarios are much more complicated.. .a post-abortion counselor
“The Lord says: Cease your cries of mourning. Wipe the tears from your eyes. The
sorrow you have shown shall have its reward. There is hope for your future.”
— Jeremiah 31: 16-17
“The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
— Psalm 34:18
But if you give Him the broken pieces,
God can make all things new.
HEALING IS POSSIBLE. LEARN MORE.
Free fact sheets. Free resources. Healing options. How to help.
For post-abortion healing, call 1-877-HOPE-4-ME
www.TheUnchoice.com/men.htm

La Principessa Catolica

Princess Alessandra Borghese, I didn't recognize her name as I avoid tabloids like the plague, however, now that she's a committed Catholic and has reformed her formerly wild lifestyle, I don't mind knowing that I contributed to her fortune by drinking San Pellegrino mineral water.
" In 1999, she recalls, looking me straight in the eye, she had a meeting. 'Catholicism is not a philosophy, neither is it a theology, but it is a meeting with a person.
So the moment you meet Jesus Christ, your life can change radically. That is when I started to look at everything differently.' Borghese has since that meeting, become Italy's best-known born-again Catholic.
Her 2004 book, With New Eyes, the story of her return to the fold, was a bestseller in her home country and over much of Catholic Europe. She has followed it with four other equally successful, equally personal, devotional works, including In The Footsteps of Joseph Ratzinger, her first outing in English, published this month. "
Read the entire story here.
HT New Oxford Review

ACLU Talking points on legalizing homosexual marriage

from the Family Research Council
You need to read this document because in order to battle the attack on marriage effectively, you must know the enemy's strategy. And our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. We love our misguided neighbors in the gay rights movement, we just want their corruption of the culture to stop, as we know who is behind all this.

Homosexual Activists Draw Battle Lines
A how-to manual for forcing same-sex "marriage" on all 50 states was just unleashed on the ACLU's website. The strategy, which was outlined in a succinct six-page memo called "Make Change, Not Lawsuits," urges couples who marry in California next week to proceed with caution. Homosexuals recognize that their movement to marry does not have the broad support of the American people. Instead of bringing lawsuits in every corner of the country, groups like the Human Rights Campaign, GLADD, Lambda Legal and others, ask homosexuals to wait for state legislatures to tackle the issue. To the question of whether couples should sue their home states and employers to recognize their unions, the memo says no. "[It] unnecessarily angers a public whose support we ultimately want to have... Bad rulings will make it much more difficult for us to win marriage, and it will certainly make it take much longer." Like us, this coalition recognizes that everything is riding on the California marriage amendment. This is one battle that both sides cannot afford to lose. Get involved in preserving marriage. Additional Resources ACLU Memo forcing counterfeit marriage on all 50 states [PDF]

Tell John McCain to Oppose Homosexual Marriage

From the American Family Association
As you know, the California Supreme Court has legalized homosexual marriage. This happened despite the fact that voters in California passed Proposition 22 with 61.4 percent of the vote. Proposition 22 defined marriage as only between one man and one woman.
The recent 4-3 ruling, if allowed to stand, would destroy marriage as it has been known for thousands of years.
It would lead to the logical conclusion of the following:
* Legalization of polygamous and other aberrant unions as "marriages"
* Legalization of marriage between an adult parent and adult child
* Legalization of group marriage
* Overturn all the marriage laws in the other 49 states

ACTION STEP:
1. Send a message to Sen. John McCain asking him to strongly support a federal marriage amendment making marriage legal only between one man and one woman. Sen. McCain has said in the past he supports marriage only between one man and one woman. But he voted against the federal amendment when it was voted on in the Senate.

Such an amendment would override the legalization of homosexual marriage by the liberal California Supreme Court.
It is time for Sen. McCain to take a stand for marriage!

Tim Gill is buying the America he wants: against the will of voters

Wasn't California enough of a wake-up call?
How about Colorado?
Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, Action, has said Tim Gill and two billionaires have essentially ‘bought’ the Colorado Legislature and are responsible for the recent passage of SB 200.
This article first appeared in the December issue of Citizen magazine.
Tim Gill's tactics of working below the radar, giving large donations to candidates on the state level explains why such a tiny minority as the radical gay community has has such a huge impact, changing laws about marriage against the will of the people. If we don't learn about our opponent, it will be too late, and Christians will be hamstrung like this Canadian pastor.
"These homosexual donors are interested in state races in order to stop “antigay” politicians before they reach the level of Rick Santorum–enemy #1. “Operating at that level,” Green writes, “gave them a chance to ‘punish the wicked,’ as Gill puts it–to snuff out rising politicians who were building their careers on antigay policies, before they could achieve national influence.” They fancy themselves the Hammer of God to crush dissenters to the homosexual cause of full acceptance.
This is not–or at least was not–an open attack. It’s all about stealth. “Revealing targets only after an election makes it impossible to fight back and sends a message to other politicians that attacking gays could put them in the crosshairs.” Shut up or we will silence you. "
Read the rest of this sobering post in Balaam's Ass.

Read the entire story about SB 200 in Colorado at Citizen Link here.

HT Citizen Link

Bravo, El Salvador!

The land of my husband's birth has just rejected abortion unequivocably.

Every one of the 84 lawmakers in the El Salvador Congress have signed a petition called the Book for Life, displaying their commitment to defend unborn children and people from abortion and euthanasia from conception until natural death.
"Every human being should be protected and respected from the moment of conception…until his natural death," the petition reads. "Our primary responsibility as legislators is to unconditionally defend life. We condemn abortion as an abominable crime."

Take that, Planed Parenthood!

Read the entire story here.

HT Life News

My review of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

is up at Catholic Exchange.

The Next Terrorist Attack: an interview with Rick Santorum

Former Senator Rick Santorum, in an interview with the Westchester Institute's Fr. Berg, describes his new book, "The Gathering Storm".
"Berg: Is it an exaggeration in any way to continue to believe that the US is in a state of war with world-wide Jihadism? Do most Americans believe this? What about the millions of Americans who simply reject this outright? Where does that leave us in terms of preparedness?
Santorum: It is not an exaggeration. It is a simple fact of life in the 21st century. The Islamists have declared war on us and defend their attacks on the West with appeals to Koran and other classic canonical Islamic texts and with Sharia reasoning. This is not to say that all Muslims are terrorists or that all Muslims agree with the arguments and justifications of the Islamists. But it is important to recognize that the jihadists are making a claim to represent authentic Islam and that they have a great many sympathizers and supporters throughout the Islamic world. "

I agree with Mr. Santorum that we must define who our opponent is to wage an effective campaign to stop him, and the Bush Admistration has not done this, and thus the Democrats have too many of us believing that world wide jihad is merely a figment of our imgination. Remember they said that about the Cold War too. It took Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul to save us from that terrible threat.
What would happen if we elect a leader like Barack Obama who caters to Islamist dictators?
What terrible risk are we about to take because we are enthralled by making history by electing an African American president, while forgetting that our freedom and our lives are at stake?

Vatican launches website in Latin

Good news for those of you who have been brushing up on your Latin since Summorum Pontificum, a new webite with papal texts in Latin has been launched by the Vatican.
Read entire story here.
"Father Reginald Foster, an American priest who is the Pope's official Latinist, praises the virtues and the clarity of the Latin language.
"You have to say something and move on," he says.
"It's not like French and some of these philosophical languages where you can write a whole page and say nothing - in Latin you can't do that!''
Fr Foster has a weekly programme on Vatican Radio called The Latin Lover, in which he explains the historical and contemporary uses of the language. "
HT BBC News

No school choice for DC's poor children

from the Family Research Council
Forbidding the Poor from Choosing Good Schools
Congressional Democrats, in a foretaste of their likely education agenda for 2009, have signaled to poor families in the District of Columbia that their school choice vouchers aren't going to be renewed this fall. The news comes as a bitter blow to nearly 2,000 such families in the District, where Congress instituted a pilot school voucher program using federal funds in 2004.
District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who supports axing the program, says she met with families receiving the choice funds and "they look completely befuddled." It's no wonder why. The average yearly income for the families that participate in the program is just $22,736. Children enrolled in the program can use their vouchers, or scholarships, to attend a private school, a religious school, or one of the city's charter schools, as an alternative to the public system.
One affected mother, Patricia Williams, credited the program with changing her son Fransoir's life. At the District's Sacred Heart Catholic School, she said, Fransoir has "been developed in so many ways, intellectually, emotionally and in his values. I couldn't ask for anything better." Soon, thanks to Congressional Democrats and their singular devotion to just one form of education, Mrs. Williams and others in the District will lose their choice to ask.

Where is Barack Obama? Jesse Jackson? Al Sharpton?
These poor children are being denied a private education to escape DC's failing public school system. Or has the NEA and the UFT (United Federation of Teachers) bought their silence on this issue?
McCain should step into the gap and champion this cause, it's a true solution to poverty.

Pastor fined $7,000 for comments on homosexuals

This Candian pastor is being fined for stating the Gospel truth that homosexuality is a sin. And his rights to free speech are being taken away. Is this a harbinger for things to come in the US?


Most disturbingly, says Boissoin, is that the ruling calls for him to "cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals."


Boissoin wondered to what extent the right to freedom of expression in Canada will be deteriorated, stating, "I am not allowed to hold on to my views."
The pastor also maintained that his beliefs are founded not on hate or malice, but derive from a personal concern for the family and society rooted not only in faith, but also in science.
"I am not allowed to hold my views, but the Lunds of the world are allowed to bring gay ministers into schools, they are allowed to present scientifically baseless teachings to kids that people are born gay."


HT Life Site News

Oregon to cancer patient: no more treatment, but we'll pay for suicide

"The state apparently considers suicide part of end-of-life 'comfort care.'
Barbara Wagner is dying of lung cancer, and Oregon won't pay for any more treatment.
But it will cover a fatal dosage of drugs so she can kill herself."

Didn't pro-lifers predict this when Oregonians approved assisted suicide? Pretty soon, both Grandma AND junior will be killed to save money in our national health care system for the taxpayers needed to support it.
Read entire article here.
HT Citizen Link

Tornado in East Moriches, NY

We were enjoying a barbecue at the home of some friends on the East End of Long Island. when a terrible thunderstorm struck. The rain was torrential, the thunder loud, and the wind, the wind was bending the trees in way which made me afraid. B

We were told about flash floods in Greenport, but nothing had happened in Southold. We just don't get dangerous weather out of nowhere on Long Island, we get hurricanes which work their way slowly up the coast, with plenty of warnings. Until now.

As we entered East Moriches at dusk, we noticed the traffic light was out, and the blue spruce on the corner which is covered with lights at Christmas, had snapped in half like a matchstick.

But that couldn't begin to prepare us for the devastation which met our eyes in our own driveway, a few houses down from the corner. . .we are still counting, but we currently estimate that we lost 10 trees on our 3/4 acres property. It seems that a small tornado sliced through the block, in everyones' backyards, wreaking unbelievable havoc in it's path.

When you first confront this sort of damage, you are speechless, except to say "wow" at the sheer power of the winds that were in your yard. When you are faced with such utter destruction, yet your family is safe and no major damage occured on your property, your heart overflows with gratitude to God.

Our swing set and two sections of fence are crushed, however, the pool deck and the girls' dollhouse are perfect.

Several of our neighbors had their cars crushed, one had their lovely porch smashed, but once, again, no one was harmed.

Amazing.

Thank you Lord, for protecting us.

Today is Protest the Pill Day

The devil and the politician

Chief exorcist of Rome, Fr. Gabried Amorth said, “Everybody is vulnerable to the work of Satan” and that “the devil loves to take over those who hold political office.”
You must be watching CNN, Father!
HT CNA

The President and the Pope are very close

Some say George Bush is the second Catholic President. He certainly has given a better moral example than womanizer JFK, who, in case you have forgotten. was the president who started sending troops to Vietnam, yet is nearly worshipped by some Catholics who can't resist re-electing his brother Teddy, and various other Kennedys who have all but abandoned the faith.

My friend at Vive Christus Rex says he thinks that President Bush will convert to Catholicism after he leaves office. I have suspected this for some time. He'd be most welcome, his record on life issues is far superior than my Catholic Congressman Tim Bishop. THAT's why, in the 2004 campaign, I hobbled on my broken toe and handed out thousands of National Right to Life pamphlets on Bush's pro-life stance. He hasn't let me down on life issues, even though I consider Iraq a mistake.
Read this article from Religion News Service on to see just how close the Pope and the President are.

He's been speaking with Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, himself a convert, who may be guiding him into the Church. Will President Bush do as Tony Blair did and convert after his term is up? I'm expecting it.

I welcome you home to Rome, President Bush.

UPDATE:

The following comment was left after the article:

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Air Force One arrived at Pittsburgh and a Catholic priest had the honor of greeting the president. At that moment, the president knelt on the tarmac and asked for a blessing. The priest then entered the building and 12 of us prayed that if it is God’s will, may the president be re-elected. I suspect that George W will eventually become Catholic.
God Bless+++

Gerard Beer

Pittsburgh

HT Spirit Daily

Atheist Billboard

Good thing they are not alone, they are going to need a friend when they appear before the thone of God and He says "I don't know you".

The Smoke of Satan

A Catholic Perspective has a fascinating interview with Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the chief exorcist of Rome on how sadly, many bishops in the Church feel we no longer need exorcism and why he knows that we do now, more than ever.
Fr. Amorth: "The smoke of Satan has entered everywhere. Everywhere! Perhaps we were excluded from the audience with the Pope because they were afraid that such a large number of exorcists might succeed in chasing out the legions of demons that have installed themselves in the Vatican."
I have read his book, "An Exorcist Tells His Story" and highly recommend it. Fr. Amorth's testimonies of demonic posession are credible and will convince you to pray for the Church to restore the Old Rite of Exorcism. This world has certainly given itself over to Satan's power.
Here is another outstanding article by Fr. Amorth about the power of the rosary against Satan. Read it and you'll never miss your daily prayers with Our Lady again.
"The Hail Mary - The Value of the Rosary. Father Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist of the Vatican writes:
One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism: "EveryHail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end." The secret that makes this prayer soeffective is that the Rosary is both prayer and meditation. It is addressed to the Father, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Holy Trinity, and is a meditation centred on Christ. "
HT A Catholic Life

Tabernacle at St. Teresa of Avila near Boston

The Insidious Effect of Abortion on Culture

It's not a fantasy; abortion coursens a culture. I felt it yesterday, as a well-dressed woman in Toys R Us sneered at Christina, and then was cruel to us as we attempted to pay for a candy bar. I told the girls to forgive her as she may have suffered from an abortion, she certainly had little respect for children with disabilities. But you can certainly feel the coarsening of culture here on Long Island, which has one of the highest abortion rates in the world.
Human life isn't what's important; money and comfort matter.
Read this article by Fr. Euteneuer about a culture which has rejected abortion.

Maternal Deaths Down In Nicaragua Once Abortion Is Eliminated
Unsuspecting pro-life cultures are regularly assaulted by the "logic" of the international abortion promoters who push their anti-life agenda into every culture that will cave in to the pressure. Their main argument goes roughly like this: "When abortion is not legal, women have abortions anyway but in unsafe conditions and back-alley clinics with untrained people who injure and kill them. All this death and injury is totally unnecessary and we could just solve the problem overnight by legalizing abortion to make it safe and keep all these poor women from dying."
That's the main argument which, in one form or another, is repeated ad nauseam by the abortion lobby to sympathetic healthcare providers, social workers, government leaders and the media. It can be an effective argument for legalized abortion because people are generally more willing to sacrifice the rights of the unseen child for the immediate perceived needs of the suffering woman.
However, that argument is a ruse. Abortion doesn't work the way they say it does. In reality, legalized abortion, besides killing babies, creates a climate of disrespect for women's health that leads to a greater number of maternal deaths. Let's take another look at the most fascinating and heroic case study in the abortion wars that our modern age has seen: Nicaragua.
That marvelous little pro-life country in Central America is a good example of what happens when a country chooses a culture of life. Remember that Nicaragua made abortion completely illegal in 2006 and then reaffirmed that prohibition in 2007. The overall positive results for Nicaraguan women have been just amazing. The abortion promoters screamed that making abortion illegal would cause women to die in droves because of more back-alley abortions, but that didn't happen. In fact, the opposite is true - fewer women are dying now! A recent publication by Nicaragua's Ministry of Health noted that the overall maternal mortality rate decreased by 58% in the year that abortion has been made totally illegal. There were 21 maternal deaths for 2007 compared to 50 maternal deaths the year before. This is a stunning reversal!
The lie that women will die from back-alley, "unsafe," abortions is nothing but a scare tactic to coerce pro-life cultures into compliance with abortion. The truth is that abortion-free cultures have a greater respect for women and babies and are not subject to that degrading pall of killing that lies over the medical profession. In the case of Nicaragua, their rejection of abortion in 2006/2007 coincided - not surprisingly - with a greater provision of basic pre-natal services for pregnant women and accompaniment in childbirth which is what led to the surprising turn-around in the maternal death rate. Even aside from legal protection of babies, pro-life cultures just protect women better, it's that simple.
We don't have to listen to the liars who tell us that legalized abortion is "safe." Women are much safer in countries where abortion is not legal. Abortion enthusiasts were never able to use the maternal death argument in abortion-free Ireland which has the lowest rate of maternal deaths in the world. They are also confounded by pro-life cultures like Poland that restricted abortion in 1993 and has seen a phenomenal increase in maternal wellbeing ever since.
The abortion promoters tell us that certain abortions are unsafe. They're half right. Actually, all abortions are unsafe. The numbers don't lie.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

Holy Shamelessness

A spiritually “disinterested” person is not swayed by “human respect” (also termed “respect of persons.” St. Josemaria Escriva calls this attribute of not being unduly swayed by the people in our lives “holy shamlessness.”
“How clearly I see now that 'holy shamelessness' is rooted, very deeply, in the Gospel. Fulfill the Will of God, mindful of Jesus falsely accused, Jesus spat upon and buffeted, Jesus brought before the shabby courts of men ...”
The Furrow, #35

St. Josemaria Escriva also tells us strongly not to spend time with the worry of:
What will they say?
“When the defence of truth is at stake, how can one desire neither to displease God nor to clash with one's surroundings? These two things are opposed: it is either the one or the other! The sacrifice has to be a holocaust where everything is burned up, even the thought: “what will they say?”, even what we call our reputation.”
HT Mary Vitamin
This blog is an attempt at 'holy shamelessness', to stand up for the truth in a world which is often hostile to it, especially with regard to moral issues, and if someday there are consequences, such as political persecution, may God give me the strength to endure it.

Aren't Catholics just homophobes?

Let me first say this; I love my brothers and sisters who struggle with same sex attraction.
I pray for them, and wish them God's very best; union with Him in heaven forever.
It's a problem I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. We all have our obstacles to entering the Kingdom of God and eternal salvation, but I think that SSA is one of the higher hurdles, like substance abuse or overcoming an abusive childhood, which requires singular courage (thus the aptly named Courage apostolate which helps do just that).
Where the misunderstanding comes in is this: my Church and I love these brothers and sisters enough not to lie to them; the truth is sexual sin outside marriage is a mortal sin, which bars us from eternal life.
The homosexual agenda is something apart from the individuals with SSA; it is an attempt to force reconition of a sinful lifestyle, thus degrading how God made us; man and woman, with our marital union built upon our complimentary natures. Thus we can love the sinner, the man or woman struggling with SSA while we oppose the agenda. This is lost in the public debate, where leaders insist: "if you don't say our lifestyle is acceptable, you are guilty of hate speech". Listen to what God has to say about marriage, and decide if what I said is hate speech.
" We read in the Book of Genesis: “God created man in His image; in the Divine image he created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.’” (1:28-29)
The same was taught by Our Savior Jesus Christ: “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife.” (Mark 10:6-7)Rejection of the Christian worldview is secularism’s negative, destructive aspect. Its “positive” aspect is the utopia of a society without moral restraints in which marriage and the family have been redefined."
It resembles the pro-abortion movement which insists that because abortion was legalized by judicial fiat apart from the will of the people, that it is morally acceptable. Consensus does NOT change the truth of Scripture and Church teaching: abortion is murder, and homosexual activity is sinful, no matter what state approves it, God never will. Because He loves you, and wants you to be free. Free from addictions and complulsions which keep you from Him.

The Society for the Preservation of Tradition Family and Property has an explanation of how the homosexual agenda would destroy the traditional family. If Christians, Jews, Muslims would truly understand how the homosexual agenda threatens the traditional family, and unite, we could stop this tsnami in it's tracks. We must, or our children will inherit a debased culture, which will threaten their freedom to express their faith.

Hope for Traditional Marriage in New York State

from Focus on the Family Citizen Link
Thankfully something is being done to stop the acceptance of homosexual marriage in New York.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop New York Gov. David Paterson’s directive ordering state agencies to recognize same-sex “marriages” performed outside the state.
Paterson ordered state agencies May 14 to change up to 1,300 regulations and policies to include same-sex couples legally "married" elsewhere. His directive ignored the 20 million New Yorkers who have defined traditional marriage via state statutes.
“The future of marriage should be decided by the Legislature, not executives who take matters into their own hands,” ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum said. “New Yorkers have a fundamental right to set marriage policy through the legislative process, but the governor has ordered a radical redefinition of marriage without the consent of the governed."

Power to the People!

Nearly every time, (with the exception of firing Bill Maher) that the American Family Association or the Catholic League, Focus on the Family, Home School Legal Defense Association, or American Life League organizes a protest campaign with a business or charity, they are met with success.
We are more powerful than we know!
Read the following, and please, when I give you an easy link on this blog to protest something, DO IT!
I posted on this issue here only 5 days ago, and we have victory already!
American Life League Applauds Habitat for Humanity For Ending Relationship with Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON, D.C. (04 June 2008) - Jim Sedlak, vice president for American Life League, issued the following statement about Habitat for Humanity of Sarasota, FL ending its cooperation with Planned Parenthood:"We received news this morning that the Board of Directors of Habitat For Humanity of Sarasota, Inc. voted last evening to disengage itself from Planned Parenthood and not go through with a planned land deal. We are extremely pleased that the Habitat board saw fit to take this action."
“In early May, Sarasota Habitat had agreed to buy a piece of land from Planned Parenthood for $10 and agreed to build multi-family housing on the land. This agreement allowed Planned Parenthood to fulfill a zoning requirement it needed in order to get an occupancy permit for a new abortion facility it is building in Sarasota. American Life League worked with local pro-lifers and publicized this fact across the country, resulting in a large number of phone calls to local Habitat offices as well as Habitat for Humanity International offices.”
“Organizations must realize that associating themselves with Planned Parenthood – operators of the nation’s largest abortion chain – will be viewed negatively by many good people in this country. Planned Parenthood is a controversial organization and that controversy will transfer to any group associated with Planned Parenthood.”

Did you miss this: Fire Bill Maher now!

Harry Potter: an abortion survivor?

How did I miss this fascinating article? I was wondering how such mediocre writing captured the imagination of so many thousands. Dr. Ney, a child Psychiatrist, specializing in child abuse and Post Abortion Syndrome, has pinpointed the reason why Harry is so popular, and so dangerous.

"Abortion survivors have cut themselves off from all their emotions, except fear and anger. They feel they have no intrinsic right to be. Their right to exist depends on their being wanted. Having made it into the world, they survive by gaining power, by trickery and seduction. They must "have" to be: money, good looks, sports prowess, magic powers, etc. Only by having can they continue to be wantable and thus to continue to exist. Unable to trust, they live in a world of fear, with nobody to turn to. They suffer from nightmares in which their aborted sibling (who is not always identified as such) is seeking revenge, full of rage for her wrongful death and full of anger against the sibling who is alive. The surviving siblings feel like a weight on their shoulders and a permanent curse from the aborted sibling. They are, therefore, threatened in their very existence, both from the seen and unseen world. Abortion survivors flirt with death and seek control. They often seek answers and power in the occult."
HT Life Site News

Statement from Cardinal George re: Fr Michael Pfleger

STATEMENT OF FRANCIS CARDINAL GEORGE,
O.M.I.,ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO
June 3, 2008
To put recent events in some perspective, I have asked Father Michael Pfleger, Pastor of St. Sabina’s Parish, to step back from his obligations there and take leave for a couple of weeks from his pastoral duties, effective today. Fr. Pfleger does not believe this to be the right step at this time. While respecting his disagreement, I have nevertheless asked him to use this opportunity to reflect on his recent statements and actions in the light of the Church’s regulations for all Catholic priests. I hope that this period will also be a time away from the public spotlight and for rest and attention to family concerns.
I hope also that the life of St. Sabina’s parish may continue in uninterrupted fashion. Fr. William Vanecko, Pastor of St. Kilian’s parish, will be temporary administrator of St. Sabina’s and will assure the full complement of ministerial services during this period. I ask the members of St. Sabina’s parish to cooperate with him and to keep him and Fr. Pfleger in their prayers. They are in mine.
Well done, Cardinal George!

Shroud of Christ is confirmed to be 2000 years old!

Here is a short documentary which explains scienfic investigation into the Shroud's authenticity.

Ten Attorney Generals ask CA to dely same sex marriages

They recognize that same sex couples will go to California to get married, then return home to litigate their way into recognition in their home states. That's the way it's done, with NO input from the public, who routinely opposes homosexual marriage by overwhelming margins.

"An inevitable result of such 'marriage tourism' will be a steep increase in litigation" over whether the couple's home state must recognize their marriage, said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who authored the brief. Shurtleff said delaying the implementation of the ruling would save other states from “premature, unnecessary, unnecessarily difficult, and therefore unduly burdensome litigation in our courts.”
The attorneys general of Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina and South Dakota joined the brief.
Each of the ten states has legally banned the recognition of same-sex marriages contracted elsewhere. Unlike Massachusetts, where homosexual marriages have also been legalized, California allows residents of other states to marry even if the marriage would not be legal in their home state."
I am unfortunately NOT a resident of one of those ten states, NY Governor Patterson has already said he would welcome and acknowlege homosexual couples. I have never voted on this decison.
Read the entire article here.
HT CNA

ExxonMobil Resists Homosexual Agenda

from Focus on the Family
by Jennifer Mesko, managing editor
Gay and 'transgender' activists are targeting corporate America to bring about widespread cultural change.

For the ninth time, shareholders of Exxon Mobil Corp. have made the commonsense decision to give all employees the same rights.
ExxonMobil is the only Fortune 50 corporation and the only major oil company that has not adopted special rights based on sexual orientation and "gender identity." It also does not provide benefits for same-sex partners.
Caleb H. Price, research analyst at Focus on the Family, said it's no secret that gay and "transgender" activists are targeting corporate America in their effort to bring about widespread cultural change.
"Homosexual activists have strategically targeted Fortune 500 companies and applied unrelenting pressure to force them to radically redefine gender and the family in their corporate policies," he said. "Thankfully, shareholders at ExxonMobil have held steady against this onslaught by wealthy gay groups and powerful major pension funds and refused to capitulate to the homosexual corporate agenda."
Price said ExxonMobil needs to be thanked for its brave stand.
"We should encourage ExxonMobil to not give up any future ground to the gay-activist demands for radical cultural change," he said.
TAKE ACTIONThank ExxonMobil for standing strong against the gay agenda. Ask them to remember the Christian community — a significantly larger market share than the gay community.
FOR MORE INFORMATIONDo domestic-partner benefits make good business sense?
Learn more about the "born gay" argument.

Eucharistic Adoration to begin at Shrine of Our Lady of the Island

There is talk about beginning Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Island in Eastport, Long Island, NY in September. We need people to sign up.

Why we fight Tiller: baby Valentina

from Operation Rescue
Baby Valentina: Child Saved From Abortion At Tiller's Abortion Mill Was A Team Effort
June 3rd, 2008
Wichita, KS - Sidewalk counselor and Kansas Coalition for Life volunteer Dale Weldy approached a car carrying two women as they drove into the driveway at Women's Health Care Services on June 26, 2007. There was something about the urgency of Dale's attempt to communicate that persuaded the driver, Rhonda, to stop the car and listen.
Her passenger, Rocio, had scheduled a first trimester abortion at George Tiller's infamous abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas. Rocio had been crying, and noticed the display of 167 white crosses that the Kansas Coalition for Life maintains outside Tiller's mill every day they are open. Rocio had wondered to her friend if one of the crosses was there for a baby she had previously aborted.
Rhonda knew Rocio was troubled by her decision to have an abortion. When Dale approached them, Rhonda was willing to hear what Dale had to say.
Dale was successful at persuading the women to go to the Choices Medical Clinic, a pro-life clinic located directly next door to Tiller's abortion mill. Dale had left by the time the ladies came out, but another sidewalk counselor spoke to the women and offered them a baby blanket, which Rocio gladly accepted. However, Rocio did not tell the sidewalk counselor if she had made a commitment to keep her baby. That was the last the pro-lifers saw of them.
Then on May 18, 2008, KCFL director Mark Gietzen unknowingly drove Operation Rescue's Truth Truck into Rhonda's neighborhood. Gietzen, who also is OR's Wichita-based Truth Truck driver, was there to attend a birthday party for a friend's five-year old daughter. The presence of the Truth Truck caused quite a stir, prompting one of the neighbors to complain about it to Rhonda. She immediately told him that the Truth Truck had been instrumental in saving the life of a baby she knew.
Word of this got back to Mark's friend, who contacted Rhonda and learned that Rocio had delivered a beautiful baby girl on Valentine's Day of this year. She was named Valentina. Immediately upon hearing this news, Mark and Dale made an appointment to visit Rhonda, Rocio, and Valentina, where Mark was told that the Valentina would not be alive today if Dale, the crosses, and the Truth Truck all had not been present at Tiller's abortion clinic that day.
Operation Rescue has long committed to having the Truth Truck present at Tiller's clinic every day it is open. It has been helpful in sparing the lives of dozens of children there.
"This was really a team effort on the part of the Kansas Coalition for Life and Operation Rescue," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "It is wonderful how much more can be accomplished when pro-life groups work together. Valentina's life is a testament to that."

Prominent Catholic Professor Doug Kmiec endorses Obama

He is a constiutional law professor at Notre Dame. He worked for Ronald Reagan. What part of the most pro-abortion candidate ever to run for presdent doesn't bother you Dr. Kmiec? Your rhetoric, like Obama's is entertaining, but dangerous, because you rely on feelings rather than objective truth; Obama has voted to let already born infants die of neglect. This is a fact. You are an attorney. Ignore it at the peril of losing not only your crediblity but your immortal soul. I agree that Republicans deserve to lose the Catholic vote for failing to support our values as they should. But Democrats will actively oppose the most pressing social issues of life and family. That is also an established fact. Yet he pulls Cardinal Bernadin's "Seamless Garment" over the issue.
"Because Democratic and Catholic dogmas collide over the polarizing issue of abortion, Catholics do have to navigate some difficult ethical waters to contemplate voting blue. McCain and Huckabee—unlike either of the Democrats—join in the Catholic prayer for the unborn, but Republican promises have often left those prayers unanswered. While no papal instruction will ever condone the "right to choose," the church does ask for a consistent and realistic defense of life that actually takes steps to reduce the incidence of the practice, not just condemns it. Catholics will note that McCain and Huckabee's pro-life postures collapse when it comes to the death penalty. "
Just when did Obama do anything to make abortion 'safe legal and rare'? Do you know where Catholic teaching says that abortion is always wrong but the death penalty is sometimes justified, and the two do not carry equal weight in considering life issues?

Dr Kmiec, you wax eloquent on Obama's message of hope. Did you hear the ugliness of his preachers?
How foolish can an academic be, wanting to be accepted by the liberal Catholic academic establishment?
Quite foolish indeed. Here is a mere sample of Dr. Kmiec's remarks.

"Now, don't think me daft, but when Obama gave his victory remarks in Iowa calling upon America to "choose hope over fear and to choose unity over division," he was standing squarely in the shoes of the "Great Communicator." Notwithstanding all of Bill Clinton's self-possessed heckling to the contrary, Obama was right—Reagan was a "transformative" president. Reagan liked to tell us he was proudest of his ability to make America feel good about itself. He did. Catholic sensibility tells me Obama wants it to deserve that feeling."
Catholic sensibility ! What is that, a form of ESP?! Hogwash!
If you have a strong stomach, read his entire endorsement of Obama for president. Unbelievable.
UPDATE: Read a comprehensive list of posts on this subject by Jay Anderson.
HT Slate

Protest the Pill Day June 7th

American Life League is sponsoring Protest the Pill Day this Saturday, June 7. This is one of the leading form of abortion in the USA today, yet some don't even understand that the pill is an abortifacient. And a carcinogen. Read this article from Dr. Chris Kahlenborn.
In clinical trials in Puerto Rico, two women using the pill died. That didn't stop the manufacturers from bringing this lucrative drug to market in 1967. That should tell us something about the cost of "freedom" from conception. There is always a price for using the Pill, spiritually, emotionally and physically. The trouble is, women are lied to, and denied information which could save their lives.
ALL is trying to change that. Now, who is really pro-woman?

Trial is coming for Tiller the Baby Killer, but will there be justice?

Notorious abortionist George Tiller, who has flouted Kansas abortion laws by performing countless late term abortions, many on underage girls whose rapists he has protected, is finally coming to trial. To understand how long he has eluded justice and how Governor Kathleen Siblelius, a Catholic on Obama's short list for VP's has protected and celebrated this evil man, read Jean's comprehensive post over at Catholic Fire.
I am praying that justice be done, it will be a monumental struggle. May George Tiller repent of his sins before he meets his final judgement with the Just Judge from whom nothing is hidden.

Special Exhibition of the Shroud of Turin

Our beloved Holy Father has such a pastoral sensistivity; he has arranged a public viewing of what many belive to be the Miraculour Burial Shroud of Jesus Christ before it would normally be shown. In this world of doubt, where many former believers demand "proof", the Shroud has mysteriously confounded those doubts, and though no one can prove it was the burial shroud of Jesus, it certainly passses the most amazing tests.
For an explanation of those tests click here.
HT Reuters

Fight for the preservation of marriage, New York!

New York State has taken steps to recognize homosexual unions from other states and countries. Governor David Paterson has instructed all state agencies to revise rules and policies to recognize homosexual "marriages" from California, Massachusetts, and Canada. The move would also recognize homosexual civil unions from Vermont and New Jersey.
The action would make New York the only state in which homosexual marriage is not legal to recognize them from other states. But Frank Russo of the American Family Association of New York raises the question of whether the action is legal. Russo says Christians are considered hateful bigots when they do speak out and raise the argument for traditional marriage. "It's charity that motivates us to take the position we take in our opposition to recognizing marriage by anyone other than a man and a woman," he counters.Russo predicts serious consequences will follow the recognition of homosexual unions. Health insurance and pension policies could become overtaxed, he says, and the financial burden placed on the public and private business sector could be enormous. The family advocate says New Yorkers are generally not aware of the ramifications, and government officials either lack the knowledge or just do not care.
Take Action!
Send an e-mail to Gov. Paterson urging him to stop spending taxpayer's money on the promotion of homosexual "marriage" and civil unions.
Please forward this alert to your family and friends in New York.

Catholic writers in danger in Canada

Pete Vere, Catholic who writes for the National Catholic Register and The Wanderer among others, has alerted the Catholic Writer's Guild of a dangerous trend in Canada: Catholic (and other traditional religious )writers who assert the morality of the Sixth Commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" are in danger of being accused of hate crimes.

The issue before the CHRC, therefore, is whether Christian and Catholic teaching itself is considered under Canadian law to be “hate speech”.
Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary said the issue is whether Christians can continue to maintain their freedom of religious expression. Bishop Henry has also been through an Alberta HRC complaint by homosexual activists in 2005 after publishing a pastoral letter defending the traditional definition of marriage earlier that same year.
“I really feel that we are into a crisis situation here where we are experiencing a trumping of religious freedom,” said Bishop Henry.
Despite assurance from politicians that Canadian faith communities would not be affected when the government legalized same-sex marriage, the number of complaints against Christians have significantly increased since 2005.
Bishop Henry feels that Canada's human rights tribunals are censoring the expression of traditional Christian teaching: “The social climate right now is that we're into a new form of censorship and thought control, and the commissions are being used as thought police.”

Read entire story here.
HT Life Site News
Don't think it can't happen here in the USA. Remember that we didn't think gay marriage would happen here either, when it was approved in Canada. Canadian social trends are a bellweather for the USA, because the same activists at work in Canada, already have much in place in the US. How many times has hate crimes legislation been brought to the US Senate by Senator Kennedy?
Be vigilant or be sorry.