The Faith of William Wilberforce

The Better Hour is a documentary which goes into depth about the faith of William Wilberforce. See the trailer here.
Over at Open Book, there is an intellectual discussion of the heritage of Wilberforce for Catholics. I learned that he was a supporter of Irish Emancipation. Makes sense, doesn't it that a man who couldn't bear the thought of humans in chains, wanted to free the Irish from famine, economic, and religious persecution as well. I also learned that three of Wilberforce's children became Catholics, and formed part of the Oxford Movement. That Pope Leo XIII's encyclical which formed the Church's social teaching for the 20th century, Rerum Novarum, was also influenced by Wilberforce.
What far-reaching effects his example has had on our society! No wonder "Amazing Grace" has had a fantastic opening! Don't miss this inspiring film.

Deal Hudson on "Bella"

"Bella" is the buzz word of the Catholic blogosphere these days. So many bloggers have seen it, and universally love it, that the anticipation of it's release sometime this spring is nearly palpable.
The touchy subject of a crisis pregnancy is skillfully woven into a compelling tale of the mean streets of New York, in
Deal Hudson, editor of Crisis Magazine, adds his opinion to the gathering storm.Vivat Jesus and American Papist Catholic Pro-Life CommitteeWolfington Dove
Actually, Deal, I just emailed Leo Severino, the Director, and he says the release date is scheduled for August 15th.
Perfect.

And the award goes to. . . George Tiller!

Jill Stanek, the RN who assisted at a partial-birth abortion and then testified before Congress to for the Partial-birth abortion ban, has become an important pro-life activist. Her column on her tongue-in-cheek nomination of George, the baby killer, Tiller for the abortionist of the year award is outstanding. She writes that, in honor of March's 10th being the day of appreciation for abortion profiders Here's a preview on the list of potential abortionist of the year nominees:

"Oh dear, and we were already scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Take Reffat Kamel Abofreka of Virginia, for instance, who would have made a spectacular nominee had he not lost his license last April for botching a couple of abortions, then shooing the mothers off to the hospital ER without making arrangements.

We were sorry to learn 82-year-old former abortionist Richard Leigh of Grand Forks (how appropriate!), N.D., lost his license in December for defrauding Medicare, the dear old buzzard.

We were proud California abortionist Laurence Reich managed to avoid license revocation for six years (!) after complaints were filed for sexually molesting patients. But last April his legal options sadly petered out.

On the bright side, New Jersey abortionist Flavius Thompson deserves honorable mention for completing court intervention to learn how not to flush aborted babies into the sewer system so he could have his medical license reinstated in May!

But that news was tempered by a rash of abortion mill closures. We worry about the health and safety of women if all the front alley abortion mills are shut down due to health and safety violations! "

I think Bill O'Reilly would second that nomination. Click here to watch a video of his coverage of the investigation of George Tiller, and the interview with Kelly, who, at age 20 suffered through a late-term abortion at his infamous mill in Witchita, Kansas.

The New Mother Angelica Book

Has been reviewed over at The Cafeteria is Closed. Take a look, and have a chuckle with Mother.

San Juan Capistrano

Is where I'm hoping to attend Holy Mass this Sunday in California(I live near New York City, more on why I'll be in LA later). Check out these gorgeous photos taken by Gerald Augustinius at The Cafeteria is Closed. Hopefully, I'll be posting some of my own, when I return.

Patrick Buchanan on Educational Fraud

". . . it is all a giant fraud, exposed as such by the performances of high school seniors on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams known as the "nation's report card." An NAEP test of 12th-grade achievement was given to what The New York Times called a "representative sample of 21,000 high school seniors attending 900 public and private schools from January to March 2005."
What did the tests reveal?
-- Since 1990, the share of students lacking even basic reading skills has risen by a third, from 20 percent to 27 percent.
-- Only 35 percent of high school seniors have reached a "proficient" level in reading, down from 40 percent.
-- Only 16 percent of black and 20 percent of Hispanic students had reached a proficient level in reading.
-- Among high school seniors, only 29 percent of whites, 10 percent of Hispanic students and 6 percent of black students were proficient in math.
This is only the half of it. Among the kids whose test scores on reading and math were not factored in were the 25 percent of white students and 50 percent of black and Hispanic kids who had dropped out by senior year.
Factor the dropouts back in, and what the NAEP test suggests is that, of black kids starting in first grade, about one in eight will be able to read at the level of a high school senior after 12 years, and one in 33 will be able to do the math. Among Hispanic kids, one in 10 will be able to read at a high-school senior level, but only one in 20 will be able to do high-school math. "
Townhall.com

*Yet the liberals oppose school vouchers for these failing poor students, out of fear that their failing schools will empty out and the Catholic schools prosper.

*The Democrats want to nominate Hillary, whose husbands' abysmal 3-term education record in Arkansas brought the state DOWN to the lowest ranking from test scores in the nation!!

*"Homeschoolers who do with less than $1000 per student what Washington DC schools can't do with $20,000 per student" , according to former Education Secretary, Bill Bennett, whose wife teaches those students in inner-city Washington.

Some people just never learn!

Brownback Takes Third Place in CPAC Straw Poll

At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), every GOP presidential candidate but Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tried to stake a claim for conservative support. The results of CPAC's presidential straw poll indicate that voters are grappling to find candidates whose platform addresses both the crisis abroad and the dilemmas at home. Of 1,705 registrants,
21 percent backed former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) for President.
Rudy Giuliani, came in second-place with just 17 percent of the vote.
Senator Sam Brownback received 15%. The poll also surveyed conservatives for their opinion on what the government's priorities ought to be. Half responded that "their most important goal is to promote individual freedom by reducing the size of government." However, what voters considered the second biggest concern wasn't national security or immigration, but "promoting traditional values by protecting marriage and the life of the unborn." Family Research Council
Feeling the heat from Sen. Brownback you RINOs? Conservatives, stick to your core values!

The Ultimate Gift

Fox Faith, has produced a new film which looks promising, as it was reccommended by the American Family Association. "The Ultimate Gift" opens Friday, March 9th. It's about a wealthy young man whose grandfather leaves him an inheritance. . . with strings attached.
View the trailer here.

That Show on Discovery Channel Last Night!

I forced myself to watch "The Lost Tomb of Christ" last night in order to comment on it for my readers, and after waiting for my anger to subside, I decided that Theology of the Body did a much more intelligent critique than I could hope to do. But I will give you my reaction, however(this is NOT breaking my Lenten resolution of not complaining; decrying blasphemy charitably is always a good Lenten practice!)Thus the wait.
Here goes; I have heard anti-Darwin thinkers state that it takes more faith to believe in Darwin's theory than it does to believe in a Creator, and the same applies to this show. Dr James D. Tabor, a professor from UNC and the white-coated experts talk you into a great error of logic. They ask you to start with their assumptions to get to their dubious conclusions. For example, he said, "Catholic tradition holds that St. Peter was beheaded in Rome and is buried under the Vatican, but there is no archaeological evidence of this, and we scholars know better, we just found a bone box with his name on it right here under this apartment building." Case closed.
Ahem, but I hate to have to remind you that the remains of St. Peter were confirmed in their burial place directly under the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Case closed.
The professor also assumes that Jesus had brothers, was married to Mary Magdalane, and that his heretofore unknown Uncle Matthew is buried with him.
Don't worry though, John Dominic Crossman, the little blond leprechaun from the Jesus Seminar they always trot in front of the cameras in Lent to say that Jesus wasn't divine, says, "this won't affect my belief in Jesus at all".
Now, I feel better!

Stages of Carmelite Spritituality

A Little of This, a Little of That has a great post on the stages of Carmelite sprituality. EWTN has a Bishop Anders Arbolerius of Stockholm, Sweden, discussing Carmelite spirituality in a weekly series as well.

Part of my heart has always longed for the contemplative life. Especially while fixing dinner with moody children arguing about finishing their homework: I think of nuns in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and sigh. I feel certain, when my domestic duties are no longer pressing, that I will make a monastic retreat.

For now, I look forward to being able to see "Into Great Silence" a film made while a man spent six months inside a Carthusian monastery in the Alps. It's an unusualy quiet film, which seems to truly give the viewer a window into monastic life. Surprisingly the New York Times reviewer called it "engrossing". It is out on limited release in the US. View the trailer here.

These things are reminders to step outside the frantic pace of normal American life, and spend some time in the Lord's presence, allowing Him to transform us into His image.

"Vale la pena"/ "It's worth the trouble"

Father was giving a homily at the Indult Mass today, and he referred to St. Jose Maria Escriva's spirituality. Fr. Escriva would say to himself, many times daily, "Vale la pena", Spanish for "it's worth the trouble" thus sanctifying his daily duties, and many sacrifices offered up for souls. It's a relatively short run we have to suffer here on earth, for an eternity in the presence of the Lord, or an eternity of regret in hell that we didn't accept His salvific love. Let's redouble our efforts to make this the most significant Lent of our lives so far.

Here's a little poem I memorized in the midst of the hardest year of my young life; seventh grade:
Only one life,
'Twill soon be past,
Only what's done
For Christ will last.

Lenten Poetry: The Hollow Men

The Hollow Men
T. S. Eliot (1925)
I
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw.
Alas!Our dried voices,
when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other
Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

II
Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer --
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom

III
This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.
Is it like thisIn death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

IV
The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms
In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river
Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

V
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For
Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

New Editor of "The Long Island Catholic"

I first met the new editor, Rick Hinshaw, at a Young Americans for Freedom party while we were both attending Catholic high schools on Long Island. I was impressed by his outspoken conservatism then, and have watched his impressive career with interest, which, after leaving "The Long Island Catholic", included working for pro-life Nassau County District Attorney Dennis Dillon, the diocesan office of Family Ministry, the NYS Catholic Conference, and the Catholic League. He has written a Respect Life column in the Catholic which I have always enjoyed, and I am delighted with Bishop Murphy's choice in Rick for editor of "The Long Island Catholic".
This is good news for our diocese.

News: They're Making a Movie about St. Jose Maria Escriva

A great blog I just discovered, named "Orthfully Catholic" written by faithful British seminarians reports the following:
" Apparently in an attempt to undo the damage done by 'The Da Vinci Code' phenomenon Opus Dei are giving theological advice (but no financial aid) for a film about St Josemaria Escriva and the founding of the Prelature. As a film buff and follower of the Saint and his ways I am personally looking forward to the release of this film."
An anonymous commenter on the site said that Roland Joffe would be directing the film, and that Barbara Nicolosi of Act One has written the screenplay.
Evangelical Catholicism says that Antonio Banderas, and Robert De Niro may star in it, which will give it wide appeal. Read more details here.

My Letter to the Editor of "National Catholic Register"

Dear Editor,
As a participant in this year’s March for Life, as well as the Bloggers for Life Conference that day, I can confirm the high visibility of Brownback supporters at the March. I can also tell you why. A pro-life leader in the Senate since he won Bob Dole’s seat from a pro-choice governor’s appointee in 1996, Senator Brownback has sponsored such landmark bills as the Fetal Pain Awareness Act, which he re-introduced this week, and a failed bill which would have offered updated information on disabilities to mothers expecting a child with a disability. He said, both at the Conference, and the March, that unborn Down syndrome babies are aborted at a rate of 80%, yet there are waiting lists of parents to adopt them. He pleaded with mothers expecting a child with Down Syndrome not to abort them. He explained that he has adopted his fifth child, a girl in 3rd grade from a selfless mother in China who gave her life. These comments brought on some of the most enthusiastic cheers at the March, as the crowd of 127, 000 knew of his sincere dedication to the pro-life cause.

Senator Brownback has been a Catholic since his conversion in 2002 after reading the works of the late Holy Father, John Paul II, and Blessed Mother Teresa for whom he obtained the Congressional Medal of Freedom, America’s highest honor. His public stands against human trafficking worldwide, for the desperate situation in the Sudan, and his willingness to work with Senators across the aisle, have shown him to be a man who thinks of the Church’s social teaching first, his political career second. Sam Brownback has a sense of mission in his political career, due to a bout with cancer.
He is a man of the highest integrity who rightly deserves the support of Catholics and pro-lifers of all denominations in his bid for the presidency.

Quote of the Day

Dr. Kathleen Dixon, director of Women’s Studies at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, commented on the resignation of Dr. Richard Zeller, who wanted to teach a course on how liberalism has led to political correctness:

“We forbid any course that says we restrict free speech!”

Women just don't matter to the drug companies

"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who use a contraceptive patch appear to be more than twice as likely to develop a dangerous blood clot in their veins as those who use an oral contraceptive, new research shows.
Dr. Alexander M. Walker and colleagues, from i3 Drug Safety in Auburndale, Massachusetts, note that it was not known if users of the patch system ran the same risk of stroke, heart attack and venous blood clots as users of oral contraceptives."
Translation: both the contraceptive patch and oral contraceptives more than double your risk of premature death. Birth control is SO liberating!

Hispanic and black women are often targeted for experimental products the the now revoked Norplant, which my former OB, who practiced in a minority neighborhood, pushed heavily. I had a Salvadorean housekeeper who had taken the now banned Depo-Provera shots; she fell down an entire flight of stairs because of light-headedness. She survived, but was shaken.
Another Hispanic friend, who took the Pill, is severely handicapped due to a stroke she suffered at age 28. Her young daughters were shipped out to different family members, and her husband turned into a philandering drunk, arrested 3 times for DWI. She is at her mother's home in El Salvador, where she never sees her daughters in the USA. They were a lovely Catholic family when I first met them, she was looking forward to a nursing career in the US.
These tragedies were caused by lethal drugs these women took while trusting their local clinic. Why wasn't their priest condemning these drugs from the altar?

Falling Off Your Lenten Practices? Try L-mart!

We have a local commercial bakery on Long Island, Entenmenn's which reports a drastic drop in cake/cookie sales on Ash Wednesday. By the end of that week, however, sales are back to normal. So much for our Lenten observances.
If your resolve to do penance is wavering, try some of these new products at L-mart!

HTCurt Jester

Media Research Center: Moral Compass for 20 years

Here is a nice article in the Washington Times profiling the 20 year history of the Conservative Media Research Center, founded in 1987 by Brent Bozell, a Catholic father of five.

This is such and important work; watching and reporting on trends in the media, and The Media Research Center has had quite an effect on public opinion. Twenty years ago, only 25% of the public believed that the mainstream media has a liberal bias, today that number has increased to 79%.
Conservatives have found a voice, in talk radio, Fox news and the internet, but we still lag far behind in audience. Fox news, the highest rated news on Cable, has an audience of only 3 million, while the big three broadcast news programs have a combined audience of 30 million viewers.

The Discovery of the Tomb of Jesus is a Fraud

"The Discovery Channel, like most of the national TV elite, display a dramatic bias in target selection when it comes to religion. There are no controversies over the historical claims of Islam, Judaism, or any other religious faith. But Christianity is another story. It is routinely the subject of sensationalistic TV exposes, complete with breathless claims about how Jesus “might be” the son of a Roman soldier, or he might have survived the Crucifixion. And now he’s a dad, with kids.
What’s worse is that these shoddy alleged exposes always air in the most sacred Christian seasons, like Lent. Last year during Lent, on April 2, 2006, “Dateline NBC” offered part of its show to alleged Jesus-debunker Michael Baigent, even as reporter Sara James declared: “Baigent acknowledges there’s no proof of his theory, but points out that it was possible to survive crucifixion.”
If the Discovery Channel fails to cancel this slanderous ‘documentary,’ it will have to explain why it is intentionally misleading the public. This network should be embarrassed by this plunge into sensational speculation masquerading as ‘science.’ To slander Christianity at the start of the Lenten season is unconscionable. This isn’t news. It’s sensationalism on a stick. Or in this case, on a cross."

Brent Bozell
Media Research Center
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.
I Corinthians15:17-19
Here is an article about the discovery of the tomb on Holy Spirit Interactive.
Click on this link to voice your outrage to the Discovery Channel.