Picture your granddaughters in burkhas

There is a strong likelihood that my great grandchildren will live in a Muslim world. The video below should give Christians pause. The baby boom generation has failed to followed the biblical admonition to be fruitful. Instead they have contracepted themselves to the point of near extinction. And their children have imbibed their anti-life mentality from infancy.

What does this mean? There is a very real danger that my great grandchildren may never experience a Christian culture. Already Muslims outnumber Catholics around the world and many countries of Europe have more mosques than churches. The de-Christianization of society will have very serious consequences when Sharia Law rules the land, a law that does not respect human rights or the dignity of women. It's somewhat ironic to think of feminists who demanded the "freedom to choose" death for their children living as second-class citizens in an Islamic state. Will they be forced to wear burkhas?

I believe the solution to Islamic Jihad is the same one that Mary brought to Mexico to transform the bloody Aztec nation - conversion. Fulton Sheen believed Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Fatima, would be the channel of grace to bring the Muslims to Christ. Let us pray for that outcome. The alternative is too awful to contemplate.

Take a break from bad news! Matthew 6:26

With lots of people (including me) concerned over (take your choice - no limit): abortion, contraception, the economy, swine flu, global warming, the scandal at Notre Dame, (Sigh!) Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic party, the upcoming filibuster-proof Senate, heretics in the Church, capital punishment, same-sex marriage, Georgetown and other wicked Catholic schools, (Whew!) the Vagina Monologues, pollution, teen suicide, homosexuals recruiting kids, hate speech used to deny free speech, Planned Parenthood promoting lust, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction. (Sheesh, time for a break.)

Bad news will always be with us until the second coming when the Lord returns to separate the sheep from the goats. In the meantime it's important to remember and ponder Matthew 6:26.

Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them....Learn a lesson from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work; they do not spin. Yet I assure you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was arrayed like one of these.

In the interests of practicing what I preach I've been watching the birds today (and doing a little gardening). A little brown wren was perched outside my office window before Mass singing his heart out. I studied him through binoculars and could see his little mouth moving up and down as he warbled - a Pavarotti of the bird world. And what a cheerful song - no Pagliacci for him. After this went on for about fifteen minutes another little wren joined him (Ah, it was a love song!) and they flew off together. Thank God for Spring!

Later in the morning when I was checking my email another pair of birds came to offer entertainment: an eastern bluebird couple. I have two birdhouses nailed to support posts left over from a fence demolished during a windstorm last winter. Every spring the bluebirds check out the larger house, but never stay. I thought when we were tearing down the fence that, perhaps, that would improve the chances of enticing the bluebirds. Maybe the fence rails offered a perch for larger predatory birds and scared them off. Indeed, that may have been the problem because all day the two have been going in and out of the house. I hope they are moving in and not just eying the property. I haven't seen them carrying building materials, but I remain optimistic.

My last sighting for the day was a brief one. A ruby-throated hummingbird came by to see whether the strawberry-shaped feeder was up yet. It isn't, but it will be just as soon as I can cook up some nectar and let it cool for my delightful little friend.

I hope you will take scripture literally today, like me, and "look at the birds in the sky" with a thankful heart. It will lower your blood pressure and bring a smile to your lips. How can it not?

Bad News for Free Speech - HR 1913 Passed in House

I got word a few minutes ago from a friend who works on the the Hill that H.R. 1913 titled Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the so-called hate-crimes bill, passed in the House 249 to 175. (You can read it here.) While this bill primarily addresses violent crime, it marks the beginning of criminalizing speech and thought. Remember when abortion was allowed for the hard cases? Rape and incest were the wedges that led to Roe v. Wade and abortion on demand.

H.R. 1913 offers bait (i.e., grant money) to get local governments to call crimes against certain groups "hate crimes." They can collect hundreds of thousands of dollars to "help" them in their investigations. What does that mean? I think it will do two things: first, encourage local governments to designate more crimes as "hate crimes" (Guess who will be demanding that?), and, second, get them to put more effort into investigating the crimes that are eligible for grants. (Remember, "Love of money is the root of all evil.")

Think about it. If your six-year-old or your grandmother is kidnapped and murdered that won't qualify as a "hate crime" (unless Granny is a lesbian or little Tommy is attending gay pre-school). But if a homosexual is beaten up and robbed, the gay community will demand it be designated a "hate crime" even if the robber mugged the guy in the dark down the street from the Dairy Queen.

This is a totally unnecessary bill. It is already criminal to commit acts of violence. The law already takes motivation into account by charging the accused by degrees. First degree murder is not treated the same as manslaughter, for example.

But that is irrelevant because this bill is really all about the next step which is criminalizing speech condemning homosexual behavior. We've already seen gay activists attack those who supported Proposition 8 in California as hate-mongers. Any woman who disagrees with them is a "dumb b****" as misogynist gay activist Perez Hilton so eloquently informed us. The gay community wants legislation to shut their opponents up and prevent any criticism of their agenda. This bill moves the law a giant step in that direction.

We already have the template for what this means - Canada. Preachers there have been fined and imprisoned for quoting the Bible. A Canadian acquaintance emailed me that she has to be very careful about what she puts on her blog. There is no free speech on homosexuality in Canada.

Don't think it can happen here?

Wake up!

N.B. Two years ago a similar bill was vetoed by George Bush. Read about it here. You can see the text of that bill here.

Quarantine Kmiec and CNS to protect the faithful from Cafeteria Catholic Swine Flu

Doug Kmiec has a disease - CCSF (Cafeteria Catholic Swine Flu). It's a problem frequently found in cafeteria Catholics. The symptoms are brain fever illustrated by inability to think clearly (effect on the brain is similar to Mad Cow Disease), frequent vomiting of heresy, and full body rashness. This is not a new disease. It was seen in the entire bench of Catholic bishops under King Henry VIII with the lone exception of St. John Fisher. He was immune, vaccinated by courage, holiness and fidelity to Catholic truth.

Unfortunately, many U.S. bishops appear to be infected with the disease. How else can one explain allowing their own communication mouthpiece, Catholic News Service (CNS), to spread CCSF through airborne transmission of Kmiec's sick views? Let him be a columnist for the National "Catholic" Reporter (NCR) which promotes abortion, same-sex marriage, and every other immoral liberal position. Most NCR readers already have advanced CCSF so Kmiec's virus wouldn't infect anyone new.

But let me back up.

Doug Kmiec is a columnist for CNS. Before he came out of the heretics' closet this made sense. But since his move to Obamaland, he has shown more and more signs of CCSF and is now a serious danger to average Catholics. He needs to be quarantined for his own sake and those in the pew who could also be infected by the virus.

The latest illustration of the advanced state of Kmiec's disease is a CNS column with the cumbersome title New ethically sensitive stem-cell guidance from the Obama administration. Kmiec says that Obama's position is stricter and more ethical than the Bush rules which is an outright lie. His mad claims were too much for Cardinal Justin Rigali, head of the bishops' pro-life office, who devoted his own CNS column to a reply. Here are key points made by the Cardinal

Law professor Douglas Kmiec states in an opinion piece distributed by Catholic News Service that the new policy is “ethically sensitive” and in important respects “more strict” than President George W. Bush’s policy that preceded it.

The truth is the opposite.

The policy issued by Bush in August 2001 allowed the federal government to fund research using embryonic stem cells only if the embryos had already been destroyed for these cells before the date of his policy announcement. Thus no researcher could destroy embryos in the future to qualify for federal stem-cell grants.

The new NIH guidelines are more sweeping, encouraging the destruction of new embryos, including those not yet conceived. While Kmiec says embryos will be donated using a “strict” process by which the parents give consent, that is surely broader than not allowing them to be donated for destruction at all.

Kmiec says the new guidelines are limited to embryos created for fertility treatment that “would have been discarded if not devoted to medical research.”

That is also not true.

Parents will be invited to consider donating their embryonic sons or daughters for research at the same time that they are considering whether to save them for their own later reproduction or donate them so another couple can have a baby. The new guidelines will encourage destruction of some embryonic human beings who could otherwise have lived and grown up to adulthood.

In key respects, these guidelines are broader than any proposed in the past for destructive embryonic stem-cell research by any president or Congress.

Through his executive order of March 2009, President Barack Obama also authorized the NIH to broaden the policy later, to include, for example, the use of stem cells from cloned embryos specially created for research. Tragically there is significant support in Congress for such further expansion as well, and pro-life Americans will be called upon to defeat such legislation.

Here Kmiec applauds Obama for taking “off the table” the option of “reproductive cloning.” But that only means cloned human embryos will be created solely for stem cells and other research uses, and not be allowed to survive and be born. That cannot be called a sensitive or pro-life policy.

Kmiec has illustrated over and over that he is a liar blinded by his support for Barack Obama. He is a mouthpiece for the George Soros funded Catholics United which puts him front and center in the Pharisee's seat. Soros is one of the most anti-Catholic rich men in the country who sinks a fortune into making the Church a harmless eunuch. That the bishops assist this castration by allowing CNS to pass on Kmiec's infected views is shameful and must be stopped. Heresy has no place in a Catholic newspaper or news service except to expose it and teach the truth. Cardinal Rigali has done a good job at correcting Kmiec's errors, but they should not have appeared in CNS in the first place. It's high time CNS was either cleaned up or closed down!

Please contact your local bishop asking him to ban CNS from his diocesan newspaper. There are several good options. My own favorite is Catholic World News headed by eminent Catholic layman, Phillip Lawler.

Sibelius Confirmed 65-31: Trinity Grad is poisoned fruit of bad Catholic college.

The Senate confirmed Kathleen Sibelius tonight 65 to 31. Every democrat voted for the supporter of partial birth abortionist "Killer" Tiller who never met a late-term baby he wouldn't murder. Of course, it was a mutually beneficial situation for the Kansas Governor. Sibelius raked in big bucks in campaign contributions from the Wichita butcher. She underreported them, but the senators didn't care. How many of them get money from Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW, et al as well?

You can check out the yeas and nays here. Both of my Virginia Senators voted for this scarlet lady - no surprise; they are pro-abortion Democrats. (Is there any other kind?) What about your senators? Pray for the souls of these politicians who will one day have to face the music. Killing children may be the politically expedient thing to do today (like killing Catholic priests in 16th and 17th century England and killing Jews in Nazi Germany), but will political expediency count for much on Judgment Day?

Kathleen Sebelius is a pathetic example of a "Catholic" education from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., my own alma mater I'm ashamed to say. Like Notre Dame fawning over our pro-abortion, pro-infanticide president, Trinity gushes over her pro-abortion Catholic graduates. A number are now working for the Obama administration and will no doubt be invited to Trinity to scandalize the current crop of undergrads.

If you want to keep your kids Catholic don't send them to schools that will rob them of their faith. What does it profit a man (or woman) to gain the White House or an important government post, but lose his (her) own soul? Eh, Kathleen?

Arlen Specter Leaves GOP (Didn't he do that years ago?)

Well, well, well...Senator Arlen Specter (PA) announced this morning he's switching to the Democratic Party. Wasn't he a Democrat already? Sure could have fooled me. He was one of only three Republicans to support Obama's spenderocious package and he's been a pro-abort stalwart for years.

So why the switch? Last election (2004) he beat Pat Toomey by a slim margin and Toomey is running again from an even stronger position. Specter had the chance to sell himself to the Democrats who are looking for the magic number 60 for a veto-proof Senate. Rumours say he's been promised he'll keep his seniority and get some choice committee assignments. So he avoids a contentious (and expensive) primary fight and gets all the benefits of ACORN, etc. when it comes to the campaign.

Some political analysts say the Republican party is finished because of the "purists" who are too conservative on the social issues. They call for the party to abandon the unborn, stop resisting same-sex marriage, etc. Just cave in on all the social issues and all will be well. You know -- "It's the economy, stupid!" Nobody cares about those other issues.

I beg to differ. If the only way to win is to sell unborn children, the elderly, the handicapped, kids in school, etc. down the river then losing (Did Jesus lose on Good Friday?) may be the right thing to do. After all, our salvation is not in any political party, not even the party of "The One" who is so frequently pictured as a Christ figure.

The times are definitely serious and persecution is in the executive orders and legislation. Much of it is already in place and there is little to stop what's in the works unless the American people wake up. (All things are possible with God.)So keep your rosary in your pocket and use it often.

Today is the feast of St. Louis de Montfort who was a missionary of conversion. He said when he touched people with the rosary he never failed to draw them to God. It certainly wasn't some magic in the beads, but the fruit of so many hours on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament "touching" them and bringing them to Jesus through Mary before he ever spoke a word.

Catholics need to take seriously the admonition to "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." One excellent way is to reach out and touch Arlen Specter, President Obama, and all anti-life politicians with your rosary. Invite St. Louis to join you. He leads straight to Jesus through Mary which was his motto. As the priest said today in his homily, when you say Mary, she says Jesus. St. Louis knew that.

The most fearful enemy that God has set up against the devil is Mary, his holy Mother....Satan, being so proud, suffers infinitely more in being vanquished and punished by a lowly and humble servant of God, for her humility humiliates him more than the power of God. St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Artist Cancels Public Unveiling of Obama Blasphemy

I'm happy to say that Michael D'Antuono had second thoughts about unveiling his blasphemous portrait of Obama as a Christ figure. Praise God! The fact that he did this indicates, I think, that he may have failed to consider fully the ramifications of using sacred imagery as he did. I hope people will contact him and thank him for cancelling tomorrow's unveiling. His email address is thetruth@dantuonoarts.com.

Here's the press release issued a few hours ago:

NEW YORK, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Painter Michael D'Antuono has cancelled the planned public unveiling of his latest work "The Truth" at NYC's Union Square Park on President Obama's 100th day in office due to overwhelming public outrage. The artist's decision was based in part on thousands of emails and phone calls; online blogs and other public commentary received in the first 48 hours following its release.

The painting which was first made public on Friday depicts President Obama appearing much like Jesus Christ on the Cross; atop his head, a crown of thorns. Behind him, the dark veil being lifted (or lowered) on the Presidential Seal. The photo was the most emailed picture on the web.

The artist insists that the work was intended purely as a political piece. "The religious reference was used metaphorically and not to insult anyone's religious beliefs. If that is the effect that my art has had on anyone, I am truly sorry," says D'Antuono.

Over the next several weeks, the artist hopes to make public much of the content received that helped shape his decision. He continues to welcome people's questions, comments and feedback at thetruth@dantuonoarts.com.

You can view some of his less controversial work at www.dantuonoarts.com

Press Contact:
NGP PR
646.413.2366

The Soap Opera Continues in the Diocese of Savannah

Every time I read about Bishop Kevin Boland's draconian treatment of the Kumpel family I think of Star Wars with the evil Empire going after the rebels. The image puts me off balance because, normally, one would think the Church represents the rebels who are facing the evil Roman, or English, or Islamic, or Communist empire. Certainly that was the case in first century Rome and 16th and 17th century England. But today the tyrants are just as likely to be in bishops' offices and chanceries working out their persecution on ordinary faithful folks in the pew.

It's instructive to see how some bishops come down with both feet on orthodox priests while coddling and enabling dissenters and the members of the lavendar mafia. I thought the laity were immune from their strong-arm tactics. But after seeing this travesty with the Diocese of Savannah go on for two years, and after writing respectful letters to the bishop that go unanswered, I've come to see that the Diocese is filled with playground bullies. And the only response to a bully is to push back.

What's happened to the Kumpels is so bizarre it belongs in a novel -- a really unbelievable novel - something on the order of a vampire series where the chancery is filled with blood-sucking lawyers and zombie bureaucrats who use their positions to persecute the faithful. Sometimes persecution is relatively benign: blacklisting people from the diocesan paper, keeping them off diocesan and parish committees, or making them ineligible to volunteer. But when the persecution means denying a man the right to attend his own local parish for Mass with his family, it's time for others to rise up and stand in unity with a brother.

Click on the hotlink below for the latest chapter of this Catholic soap opera which certainly does not reflect well on Bishop Boland. We laity call our bishop our spiritual "father;" we have a right to expect him to behave like one. It is no surprise that people turn their backs on the Catholic Church when they see people treated the way the Kumpels have been.

Bishop Boland, what you are doing to the Kumpel family (and your own diocese) is shameful. Isn't it time to cut your losses and restore some sanity before your Diocese has the reputation of being the Death Star?

Problem with "dangerous" Catholics? Call in the Lawyers!

Please pray for the Kumpel family and for Bishop Boland. You can send the bishop a respectful message and a promise of your prayers here.

Breaking News...Mary Ann Glendon declines Notre Dame Award

Kudos to Mary Ann Glendon, Ambassador to the Vatican from 2007 to 2009, who sent the following letter to President of Notre Dame, Fr. John Jenkins. This is one lady who not only has class but courage. God bless her!

April 27, 2009
The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
President
University of Notre Dame

Dear Father Jenkins,

When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame’s most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the medal, and of your students and faculty.
Last month, when you called to tell me that the commencement speech was to be given by President Obama, I mentioned to you that I would have to rewrite my speech. Over the ensuing weeks, the task that once seemed so delightful has been complicated by a number of factors. Read more...

Visit Professor Glendon's webpage and I offer her contact information below for those who want to send her a thank you note! It might be nice to include a spiritual bouquet.

Mary Ann Glendon
Learned Hand Professor of Law
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA 02138
Secretary: Susan Norton (617)496-2609
Fax: (617)496-4913
Email: glendon@glendonbooks.com

J.C. Penney - cashing in on Obama-mania

I can't stop laughing. J.C. Penney's has a line of "hope" pendants clearly cashing in on the Obama-mania. Well, they are after all in business to make money and, they can, no doubt, sell them to the same folks whose homes were forclosed because of bad loans.

No doubt these gaudy geegaws are made in China. My only question is why they don't have one that combines Michelle's pearls with the cheap looking trinket in the middle?

Actually, I do have one more question. Is that a rising or a setting sun? The answer seems pretty obvious to me - definitely twilight. But if you're a gay activist, a feminist, an abortionist, a porn peddlar, a liberal politician, Chris Matthews, a terrorist, an ACORN rep, or a Planned Parenthood employee you'd probably disagree. Snap them up now for Christmas while you still have a little money before the big tax increases.

I wonder what Ben Franklin and the Founders would say about the sun image? Is the Republic rising or setting? Tea anyone?

Open Letter to artist Michael D'Antuono

I recently saw a picture of your painting of Barack Obama titled The Truth depicting him in a crown of thorns with his arms outstretched like Christ crucified. I would like to humbly suggest that you have the wrong person in a crown of thorns. It should be the American people who have been misled and lied to about what Barack Obama truly represents. In the spirit of transparency, I suggest you develop several companion pieces to accompany it.

First, paint a group of unborn babies of varying ages wearing the crowns since Obama favors the expansion of their murder by abortion. Be sure to include a little one who survived abortion and was deliberately killed by neglect since Obama voted four times to deny their protection. Don't forget to include Kathleen Sibelius and abortionist George Tiller in the background screaming, "Crucify them!" along with groups from Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Catholics United, and NOW carrying signs and waving banners.

Second, paint a group of doctors, pharmacists and health care workers who are being denied conscience protection that allows them to refuse to participate in the killing. We all know the "right to choose" excludes the "right to refuse," one more hypocrisy of this pro-abortion administration that criminalizes conscience. Include a group of angry feminists with whips scourging the pro-life doctors for denying their "rights."

Third, depict minors sexually abused by by our pornographic culture which mandates graphic sex ed programs in the schools that encourage sexual experimentation including homosexual practices, "outercourse" like oral sex and mutual masturbation, abortion without parental knowledge or consent, over-the-counter access to the "morning after pill, " etc. Epidemic STDs and suicides among the young are the poisoned fruit, but it just proves we need more of what's failed in the past. In this picture be sure to include a Planned Parenthood counselor advising a minor girl to lie about the age of her predator adult boyfriend. A few auto-erotic asphyxiated kids hanging in the background would be an effective touch as well.

Fourth, show a group of American taxpayers being financially raped to bail out the banks, the auto industry, and all the irresponsible people who couldn't afford the loans that liberals like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd mandated through non-collateral affirmative action loaning practices. Include my five kids and their spouses and my 18 grandchildren (and even yet unborn great grandchildren) saddled with the debt for all the pork-barrel projects and government take-overs.

Fifth, show a group of elderly and handicapped who will be victims of health-care rationing when Medicare fails and the government writes "guidelines" for appropriate care that determines whose life is worth living and restricts treatment. Show some pregnant women carrying Down's babies with a big X on their bellies. Killing off 90% isn't enough - think of the cost savings of eliminating the other 10%.

Sixth, show a group of Catholics, Christians, and orthodox Jews demonized for defending biblical morality in the Judeo-Christian tradition upon which this country was founded. (Be sure to include Carrie Prejen and Sarah Palin in the portrait.) And please don't forget to paint crosses and the star of David on their sleeves. Also be sure to include a big mob of Obama's mandatory volunteer Youth Corps in their spiffy uniforms in the background.

I guess you get the idea. It's hard to imagine a millionaire like Obama who can fly in a pizza chef for a party, dines on caviar and champagne, and is worshipped by his G20 summit allies for selling America down the river as a suffering Christ figure.

Your painting is deeply offensive to people of faith. In fact, I consider it blasphemous to equate Jesus Christ with a man whose policies oppose just about everything He stood for. But it is definitely politically correct, and no doubt only offends the right folks: those wicked right wing, homophobic, intolerant, "dumb b****" Christian bigots who should be wiped off the the face of the planet to eliminate their carbon footprints.

Congratulations!

Big Heroines come in little packages!

Joan of Arc was about sixteen when she led the French army against the invading English. Talk about a model for pro-life women: bold, obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and not afraid to stand up for the truth against a mighty foe.

Well, the spirit of Joan of Arc lives on and is beautifully exemplified in a lovely little package of Pentecost power named Lila Rose. She has taken on the biggest butcher in the world -- Planned Parenthood by exposing their cooperation with statutory rape. Posing as a 13 or 14-year-old minor with an adult boyfriend, Lila has filmed Planned Parenthood counselors in several states advising her to lie about her age to protect the rapist. This spunky young woman recently told a pro-life audience, "I am dedicating my life to ending the injustice of abortion." Accepting an award for her activism, she challenged her generation to be the ones who end the killing. She's committed to the battle and all indications are that she's up for the challenge. Joan of Arc would be proud.

Lila Rose is the founder and president of Live Action Films. They have done exposes of Planned Parenthood in Indiana, Arizona, and Tennessee which have shown them enabling the on-going criminal sexual abuse of young girls by adult predators. Live Action has uncovered six PP facilities in three states that flaunt mandatory reporting laws and aid criminal abusers. If the issue were anything but abortion, this courageous young woman would be featured on Oprah, Larry King Live, and all the nighttime talk shows. She won't be -- so get the word out. Pass this on. Lila Rose is Planned Parenthood's worst nightmare: a beautiful, articulate, pro-life activist. She's the epitome of Teddy Roosevelt's advice to "speak softly, and carry a big stick." Go, Lila Rose!

For more on Lila Rose, check out these links:

Antiabortion movement gets a new-media twist

Columns by Michelle Malkin

Video captures child-rape cover-up

From the land of lunacy: today a beauty contest, tomorrow? Look at history!

It's interesting (in a masochistic sort of way) to watch the lunatic hysteria over Miss California's statement about "gay marriage." First of all, Carrie Prejean WAS politically correct when she said how wonderful it was to live in a country where people could basically "choose one or the other" (same sex or opposite sex marriage). If she had stopped there the gay community would be licking her Miss USA diamond tiara. But she then had the courage to give her politically incorrect personal opinion, "In my family and the way I was brought up" marriage should be between a man and a woman. (Shocking! horrifying! how dare she?) Interestingly, the audience agreed with Carrie measured by applause. (You can hear it yourself on YouTube.) Nonetheless she is now a target for every gay activist on the planet and all their fellow travelers.

Perez Hilton illustrated how utterly despicable and without any trait of the gentleman he is. (As one wag put it, "You first have to be a man to be a gentleman.") First he described this lovely young woman as a "dumb b----" because she didn't answer the question to his liking. Then he apologized. Then he retracted his apology (presumably after he tested the waters of popularity) and said he was actually thinking the "c" word. Barbarian is probably too kind a description to use for Perez Hilton. (Pray for him. That's what Carrie said she would do.)

Obviously The question had only one acceptable answer and one purpose -- to increase and advance the gay "marriage" agenda. On Larry King, Hilton said, “I do expect Miss USA to be politically correct" so it was clearly the "gotcha" question. Whichever contestant got it, she was supposed to be a patsy and shill for gay "marriage." (It's certainly interesting that the Christian contestant who was willing to stand up for her true beliefs drew the question - and admitted praying her way through it. I wish she had prayed herself into a modest bathing suit.)

One of the big losers in this controversy in my opinion is the Miss USA pageant and their affiliate, Miss California. Miss USA has been losing viewers over the past few years and this controversy is likely to alienate many, especially conservatives whether people of faith or just people of sense. The Miss California organizers were downright pathetic! Instead of apologizing for the vile and infantile behavior of Perez Hilton, they chose to attack Carrie Prejean instead. According to columnist Michelle Malkin, "The pageant director of the Miss California contest, Keith Lewis, sent a note to Hilton throwing Prejean under the bus: 'I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss CA USA 2009 believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman...Religious beliefs have no place in politics in the Miss CA family.'"

Huh? Does this guy realize that the voters of California agree with Carrie not Hilton? And let me ask him a question. Is it okay for atheists and humanists to have an opinion on politics? Are only Christians disqualified? Will they be screened out in future Miss California contests? Maybe Lewis needs to review the Nuremberg Laws in Germany that disqualified Jews from participating in German society. Or the Jim Crow laws that discriminated against blacks. Is intolerance a virtue when practiced by gay activists and liberals?

This controversy is not insignificant. It's a warning to all those who espouse politically incorrect views. Basically -- you have no rights. If a woman can be denied a beauty title for her non PC views (as Hilton said was the case) what about others? Will Christian teachers be barred from public school classrooms? What about doctors, other health care workers, and hospitals -- will they be forced to participate in abortions? Will ministers who talk about the sinfulness of sodomy be arrested for hate speech as in Canada? Will people's thoughts and opinions be surveyed before they can get a job? Will they be fired if they contribute to the "wrong" party or support a proposal like Proposition 8?

The thought police were at the Miss USA contest and they deep-sixed Carrie Prejean's chance to win because she stated her OPINION. In view of the real threat of hate crime laws, reinstatement of the fairness doctrine, legislation threatening doctors and health care workers who oppose abortion, etc. does anyone really think this is limited to a beauty contest? Christians may not be forced to sew crucifixes on their clothing, but the discrimination will be just as real and is already well underway.

Unfortunately, Perez Hilton speaks for many in this country today including the fellow travellers who buy the lies of the gay activists. Do the research, folks. More and more the gay community is embracing the lifestyle and vile rhetoric of its most extreme members. Those who disagree will be made to suffer for it: today, the Miss USA contest, tomorrow a job, the day after...? Look at history.

Is Motherhood a Mental Illness?

Have you heard of House Resolution 20 (S 324 in the Senate) called the Melanie Blocker Stokes Mom's Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act? It's all about treating postpartum depression as a mental illness. I blogged about it at The Catholic Guys (and Mary Ann). The bill is one more huge invasion of the family that promises to put more money into the hands of ideologues with a stake in turning pregnancy and motherhood into illnesses to be treated.

You can examine the bill for yourself and check out its progress and status. This act, if passed and funded, will ensure that new moms get visits from government lackeys invading the privacy of the family and labeling those who express their anxieties and concerns as mentally ill. And who will qualify for the grants? Chances are it will be a counselor from the local Planned Parenthood. This bill masquerades in the garb of compassion, but it's just one more assault on the American family.

When new mothers need advice and assistance their best bets for help are their own moms and grammas -- not Uncle Sam. He's the funny uncle parents warn kids about.

Obama's Master Plan - Socialism vs. the Church

In 1944 Norman Mattoon Thomas (1844 - 1968), a six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America, said this:

The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism But, under the name of "liberalism," they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened....I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.

If you want to know what socialists believe go visit socialist websites. It's an eye-opener to see them calling for absolute self-determination that would demonize Christians and force them to cooperate with evil. While they claim to stand for human rights they call for abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy paid for by the state. They demand sex ed in the schools that includes homosexual indoctrination. They want one-world-government by the workers with a global economy and the elimination of national borders. There are limits, however, to their call for unbridled self-determination. It doesn't apply to those who want to buy fur coats. It would be laughable if it weren't so serious.

The Democratic platform illustrates the truth of what Thomas said in 1944 and it's being implemented before our eyes with the swiftness and ease of Obama reading his teleprompter.

So do everything you can to build up the Catholic Church which is the main opponent of godless socialist ideology. Our entire way of life may depend on it. Freedom begins with respect for the weakest and most helpless. And renegade Catholics populating phony Soros front groups like Catholics United and Catholic Alliance for the Common Good are no different than the pharisaical mob screaming, "We have no king but Caesar." I wonder how happy they'll be when Caesar turns on them and destroys their tower of Babel.

Bishop D'Arcy corrects Fr. Jenkins

As the scandal at Notre Dame continues, Fr. John Jenkins just digs himself a deeper and deeper hole. Over 300,000 concerned faithful have signed the petition at the Cardinal Newman Society website calling for revocation of the invitation to President Obama. That he is being given an honorary Law Degree is especially scandalous in view of his promoting laws that directly attack the innocent unborn. Isn't that like giving an honorary degree to a member of the KKK who supported enslavement of black Americans?

Bishop John D'Arcy, under whose jurisdiction Notre Dame is located, issued a stinging rebuke correcting and clarifying Fr. Jenkins' scandalous words. Let us pray he takes the bishop's words to heart. Up to now he's given the the verbal equivalent of the single digit salute to his critics. But no one is beyond the reach of prayer, so I urge readers to offer the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for this university president who appears to care more for the opinion of the world's high and mighty than for the Master he was ordained to serve.

DHS says I'm a "domestic terrorist." Are you?

You no doubt have heard that the Department of Homeland Security (Dept. of Homeland Insanity in my book!) has labeled veterans, pro-lifers, those who oppose illegal immigration, etc. as domestic terrorists. Thomas More Center (TMC) has opposed this nonsense, as has the American Center for Law and Justice. DHS head Janet Napolitano apologized to veterans, but others like you and I are fair game for their bigotry.

TMC lists a number of political opinions that can get you named a "right wing terrorist" in addition to opposing abortion. They include:

Opposes restrictions on firearms

Opposes lax immigration

Opposes the policies of President Obama regarding immigration, citizenship, and the expansion of social programs

Opposes continuation of free trade agreements

Opposes same-sex marriage

Has paranoia of foreign regimes

Fear of Communist regimes

Opposes one world government

Bemoans the decline of U.S. stature in the world.

Upset with loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China and India

Does this sound like you? It sure sounds like me and every conservative I know. (Although I wouldn't consider a sensible "fear" of Chinese and North Korean Communists and Islamic terrorist regimes "paranoia." I think it's common sense.)

TMC has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Governmnet in the name of three plaintifs for violating their rights under the first and fifth amendments. Visit their website and support this important work. If American patriots can be labeled "domestic terrorists" for defending the Constitution, what's next? Internment camps?

Sarah Palin vs. Ruth Marcus: the Feminist Feminists Hate

Sarah Palin describes herself as a pro-life feminist and she certainly is not your average soccer mom. Her career choices have put her smack dab up against the so-called glass ceiling and she's shattered a few at the local level. One would expect the feminist movement to extol a self-made woman who has combined career and family and seems to do well at both, Bristol's pregnancy notwithstanding. (How many feminists have denied their own children the "right to choose" by dragging daughters down to the abortion mill to keep their embarrassment secret?)

The credentialed feminists with ivy league degrees detest this upstart beauty queen who to them is nothing more than the Alaskan version of trailer park trash. You can almost hear their teeth grinding as they fulminate about her being a brainless bimbo despite the fact that she can outtalk (and outhunt) all of them on energy policy and managed to beat the local political machine bosses at their own game. But Sarah must be destroyed by the feminists because she is a pro-lifer who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. She pricks their guilt-ridden consciences til they heat the media furnace to white-hot, bind her hand and foot with their outlandish caricatures, and throw her in to be burnt to ash.

Which brings me to Ruth Marcus' recent column in the Washington Post about Sarah. Marcus herself is a Yale undergrad with a legal degree from Harvard, the creme de la creme in elite circles. Her feminism is so deep and intolerant that she recently criticized Michelle Obama for describing herself as "mom-in-chief." As a mother of two daughters like Obama, Marcus can sympathize, but did Michelle "have to say it out loud, quite so explicitly? Is it really good for the team -- the team here being working women -- to have the 'mommy' stamp so firmly imprinted on her identity?"

Marcus' words link her to the early screeching, bra-burning feminists who described motherhood as slavery and demeaned women who chose it over careers. But why does she hate Palin so much whom she attacked relentlessly during the presidential campaign? Palin chose career, balancing it with family. Ah, but she breaks the biggest rule of radical feminism. She doesn't promote or shill for abortion. And so her words must be twisted to make it appear that she is, indeed, "pro-choice," but a hypocrite who wishes to deny the same choice to others.

In "Palin's Personal Choice" Marcus says Sarah "made her eloquent case for choice at a right-to-life fundraising dinner." How did Palin suddenly switch from pro-lifer to pro-choicer on Marcus' balance sheet? She expressed her fears and her doubts and, yes, the temptation to abort. As a Catholic and a sinner I know just what Sarah Palin was talking about. I too have been tempted to do evil out of self-interest, and an immoral law (as it did with slavery) makes evil choices easier to justify. Welcome to the human condition!

But distorting reality is necessary to demonize the opposition. So after quoting Palin's description of her doubts and "thought process," Marcus plays the gotcha game. "If it were up to Palin, women would have no thought process to go through. The 'good decision to choose life,' as she put it, would be no decision at all, because abortion would not be an option." The implication, of course, is that Sarah Palin is a hypocrite who could only consider abortion because it is a legal choice and how dare she deny that choice to others. Marcus goes on to make an incredibly callous statement. "In fact, the overwhelming majority of couples choose to terminate pregnancies when prenatal testing shows severe abnormalities. In cases of Down syndrome, the abortion rate is as high as 90 percent." Take that, you retards, whose lives are not worth living! Most parents are sensible enough to make the right choice to kill you!

Apparently, a majority choosing something evil is proof, in Marcus' morality, that it's a good and morally upright decision. In a society where health care rationing is increasingly likely, this is chilling. Will parents who refuse to abort Down children be cut off from health care assistance in the future? Would Ruth Marcus defend the right of parents to choose life for their sick children? Frankly, I doubt it. I can hear the same tone criticizing Michelle Obama for her statements on motherhood condemning women who inflict the world with their imperfect spawn.

Ruth Marcus reveals the cruel and cold-hearted face of feminism that treats abortion as a holy sacrament. In order to advocate women murdering their own children, feminists must kill womanly nature and the instinct to protect one's own young. They imitate Lady MacBeth who called on the spirits, to "unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, topfull of direst cruelty...That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose." In the process, the feminist true believers mislead less ideologically-driven women who lack their deadly ambition but are taken in by their rhetoric.

But Ruth Marcus and others of her ilk lack the honesty of Lady Macbeth who very deliberately chose evil. Instead, they hide behind honeyed euphemisms about rights and choice and liberation. And they attack pro-lifers for "waving the bloody fetus" even as they lambast Michael Vick for dog-fighting and demand control of puppy mills.

Watch for Ruth Marcus and her feminists friends to continue their attacks on Sarah Palin. A successful pro-life woman who gives birth to a Down infant and won't demand the abortion of her grandchild threatens their entire world view. She must be destroyed for the sake of the cause. And if that requires twisting her words and manipulating the truth, well, what's new about that?

Shakespeare Was a Catholic!

Although no one really knows when Shakespeare's birthday is, it's celebrated this week on April 23rd. Recent scholarship on the bard has presented pretty convincing evidence that he was a recusant Catholic, i.e., refusing to participate in the state religion established by Elizabeth and paying for it through fines and other measures.

Henry VIII wasn't nearly as bold as Elizabeth, his illegitimate daughter by Anne Boleyn. He only made himself head of the Church. She authorized the complete destruction of the Mass including draconian persecution to force the English people to accept the bastardized version. The Shakespeare family (sometimes spelled Shakspere or Shackspeare) resisted. There is significant evidence that Shakespeare's father, John, and his mother were recusants their entire lives. William's daughter Susanna was also a recusant and it was to Susanna that he left his London property that was a house filled with priests holes and used for illegal Masses. A few years after Shakespeare's death a support beam in the house collapsed during Mass and about 90 people out of a congregation of some 300 were killed.

I'm reading Joseph Pierce's book, The Quest for Shakespeare, which is loaded with evidence that the Bard of Avon was faithful to Rome throughout his entire life. Pierce quotes a summary of evidence from scholar Hugh Ross Williamson that points to Shakespeare's Catholicism.

There are in [Shakespeare's] life, some certainties, some probabilities and some possibilities. It is certain that both his parents were open Catholics who suffered on account of their faith, so that the probability is that...he was brought up as any other cild would be in a devout Catholic home. If he went to school at five, it is certain that his first schoolmaster was a Catholic. It is also certain that from the age of seven to eleven he was taught by a Catholic who eventually became a priest and that among his schoolfellows was one who became both priest and martyr. If he remained at school till he was fifteen, his last master was a Catholic, whose younger brother was also a martyr. It is certain that he was married by a Catholic priest.

It is certain that, by reason of the Shakespeares' relationship with the great Catholic "cousinage" in the Midlands...he was affected by the Somerville plot and possibly on account of it left Stratford. It is certain that the object of his literary attack, Sir Thomas Lucy, was the chief persecutor of Catholics in Stratford. It is possible that Lucy ordered his imprisonment.

It is certain that his patron, Southampton, was a Catholic. It is probable that the martyr and poet, Robert Southwell, dedicated a volume of his religious poems to Shakespeare and it is possible that this influenced The Rape of Lucrece.

In London we have no record, from the parish "token" books, that Shakespeare ever attended an Anglican service, though the signatures of his friends and associates are there. On the other hand, we know that at some period he went to lodge in a family diplomatically immune from the penalties of non-attendance at church. We have no record, among his poems, of any mourning poem for Elizabeth I or praise of James I, such as his contemporaries profusely indulged in; this may be because no Catholics was likely to celebrate a persecuting monarch. His plays, however they are regarded, afford evidence of his understanding of Catholicism and, when considered carefully in their setting, suggest sympathy with it. It is possible that he owned a copy of Hall's Chronicle which he annotated in the Catholic sense: in any case, his bias in the historical plays is Catholic. It is certain that he was said to have "died a Papist" by an early writer and he was mentioned for his Papistry by Speed [John Speed, Protestant historian] during his own lifetime. We know that he bought, towards the end of his life, a notorious center of Catholic activity in London and installed in it a known and practising Catholic, who also witnessed his will.

What does all this amount to? Obviously there is not the same kind of "proof" that Shakespeare was a Catholic as there is that Cardinal Newman was a Catholic. But there is sufficient evidence on which to base a verdict.

I confess to being a Shakespeare fanatic. I've read the theories that the plays were written by Christoper Marlowe, Ben Johnson, Edward deVere, Roger Bacon -- but I'm convinced that Shakespeare was Shakespeare. My next book is going to be Clare Asquith's, Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare. If you like who-dunnits, this real-life mystery story is riveting.

A Garden Meditation

After several days of rain the sun is shining. And I'm going out to work in the garden. Whoever said "cleanliness is next to Godliness" wasn't a gardener. Gardeners know that the best place to worship outside the Church is on our knees with our hands in the dirt nurturing new life. Growing things remind us of Him who created them all and called us to tend them. When I go out to work in that little piece of earth, I not only am in the Garden of Eden, but the Mount of Olives, and the Garden of the Holy Sepulchre as well. I'm seeing Jesus risen and hearing him say, "Mary." Just being in my garden is a pilgrimage to holy places.

The first thing I'll do is cut back all the old growth from last year: the dead stalks from the coneflowers, sedum, clematis, and blackeyed Susans. That reminds me of the need to constantly pull out the dead stuff in my spiritual garden: uncharitable judgments, unpleasant memories that stir the embers of almost-healed hurts, old tempatations...whack 'em down and throw them in the wheelbarrow for burning. After that I'll pull the weeds. They're small now at the beginning of the season. Get them quick before they bury their roots deep and become entrenched -- like little faults and vices that can so easily tie us up in knots.

Putting down rich compost will nurture what's already beautiful in my garden: the daffodils, the azaleas, the herbs. And while I'm at it I'll separate and share what I have. The volunteer butterfly bushes will be beautiful in my neighbor's yard. The silver, downy soft lambs ear will enchant my little grandchildren in a fairy garden.

And when I'm done for the day (gardening, whether in the yard or in the soul, is never really done) I'll take the refuse out to burn and, as the flames leap up, think of Thomas a Kempis and offer my sins and offenses on the altar of consummation asking the Lord, "Please burn and consume them in the fire of Your love."

Then I'll pick some daffodils for the dinner table. And when we say our evening rosary, it will be with a thankful heart for the beauty of creation that gives a respite from the ugliness of sin and division that inflicts our poor, fallen world.

Thomas More Center Challenges DHS

The Thomas More Law Center has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with DHS to determine what caused the recent report labeling pro-lifers, veterans, and others who defend the constitution as "domestic terrorists."

From an article on their website:
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center stated, “This is not an intelligence report but a diatribe against those who oppose the policies of the Obama administration. It is a declaration of war against the American people and our constitution. It is a prelude to extreme gun control legislation and hate speech laws targeting Christian churches and others who oppose abortion and same sex marriage. The federal government should be focusing its attention on the 35 radical Muslim compounds in the U.S. training its followers on how to kidnap and kill Americans.” Read more...

Are you a "Rightwing Extremist"?

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a report earlier this month titled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment. (What a mouthful! I used to work for the government. After I resigned it took me years before I could write a regular sentence!)

The report labels normal people extemists. Why? Because they hold traditional views - the same views most Americans held in the 1950s. But now, in the politically correct world of left-wing extremism, those views are suspect and a cause for labeling Americans like me potentially dangerous. "Rightwing extremeism," says the report, "may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue such as opposition to abortion." In another place the report specifically mentions the potential danger of those concerned about "abortion...and same-sex marriage."

I guess I have to plead guilty on both counts. I oppose them as immoral and unconstitutional and, while I'm not stockpiling weapons in the basement, I'm stockpiling plenty of ideas for articles in my computer files. And since the pen (or the keyboard) is mightier than the sword, I guess that makes me reeeeeeeally dangerous.

The DHS report admits in the very first line that there's no evidence that "domestic rightwing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence." Reread that line. People like me haven't done anything violent and there's no evidence we plan any violence, but we are already labeled "domestic rightwing terrorists." This hearkens back to Janet Reno, Clinton's Attorney General, who even labeled the Conference of Bishops potential terrorists. (I laughed when I read that. Except for a few real shepherds, most of the bishops haven't got the guts to stand up to an angry member of their flocks.) Reno committed some of the worst acts of terrorism ever perpetrated against Americans and got away scot free: the Randy Weaver debacle where a twelve-year-old was shot in the back running toward the house and the murder of the Branch Davidians where they killed the children to save the children. But government terrorism never counts because the government writes the rules.

But I digress.

Consider the ramifications of the DHS report. Muslim terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center, bombed U.S. embassies all over the world, bombed the U.S. Marine Headquarters in Lebanon, bombed airliners, bombed the U.S.S. Cole - they aren't the real terrorist threat and can't be "profiled." (For a list of acts of terrorism by Muslim extremists go here.) It's not even bombers like Bernadine Dohrn and William Ayers who regret not causing more mayhem during their Weather Underground days. (But they are now friends and contributors to the president so their murder and maiming of police officers doesn't count.) No, the real terrorists are mothers and grandmothers who defend the unborn and the constitution; they qualify as domestic terrorists according to DHS.

If this report isn't an example of fascism/communism and a warning about what this administration has in mind for law-abiding citizens, I don't know what is. So if you're a serious Roman Catholic standing up for the faith outside an abortion mill with a rosary in your hands...well...just watch your back.

N.B. DHS head Janet Napolitano stands by the report which also calls veterans terrorists. One question, when recruits sign up for the military are they told they will be labeled terrorists when (and if) they return home? One more question: can you imagine the outcry if a Republican administration labeled gays and pro-aborts domestic terrorists?

Truth in Advertising - Call it "Cafeteria Catholics United"

If anyone wonders if the devil is alive and well and busy as a nest of termites, he has only to examine the George Soros-funded "Catholics United." The group is currently running 1,150 radio ads in 5 states touting the moral nature of the budget.

It would be laughable if it weren't so despicable. The fact that this group operates thanks to one of the most anti-Catholic rich guys in the country (who also funds Catholics for a Free Choice) stinks to high heavens. At the end of their lying ads should be the statement, "This spot was paid for by George Soros and other anti-Catholic sources."

With regard to the "morality" of the budget, it at least doubles the national debt which puts our grandchildren and even their children in hock. This is justice? It also steals from current taxpayers to fund all kinds of unconstitutional pork barrell projects. This is moral? Worst of all it includes multi-millions to fund abortion, chemical birth control, immoral and ineffective AIDS programs, pornographic sex education for kids, etc. both here and in the third world. What do these bogus Catholics not understand about, "Thou Shalt not Kill?" and "Thou Shalt not Steal?" What does dismembering unborn babies and stealing from present and future generations have in common with God's laws?

Cafeteria Catholics United is also shilling for Notre Dame as a counter response to the protests and petition begun by The Cardinal Newman Society to disinvite President Obama from graduation. With the chutzpa so typical of liberal liars they say, "Regrettably, the individuals leading the charge against Notre Dame are partisan operatives who routinely use a single-issue analysis to divorce the Catholic faith from its longstanding commitment to social justice and the sanctity of all human life." This implies, of course, that they aren't "partisan operatives," which couldn't be further from the truth. They are in bed with the pro-abortion, pro-gay crowds who are the enemies of God. You cannot be Catholic and in favor of abortion, sodomy, and same-sex marriage, but you can play "Let's pretend."

As for the bogus accusation that pro-lifers only care about the unborn - that is nothing but a smear. The difference between liberal "charity" that Cafeteria Catholics want and the charity of the pro-life community is that the bogus Catholics demand "forced charity" through taxation backed up by the iron fist of the IRS and jail terms for resisters. They want to play Robin Hood. That way, they can get their pet programs funded that feed buckets of money to administrators and staff who "do charity" as a profession. Pro-lifers prefer to share from their own pockets, run free clinics and crisis pregnancy centers, offer shepherding homes to unwed moms, and depend on the generosity of voluntary charity.

Cafeteria Catholics United has a friend in the White House and the force of the government leviathan behind their partisan views. What they don't have is the power of the Holy Spirit or truly Catholic minds and hearts. Pray for them and expose their hypocrisy.

Time out for a travel ad - San Antonio

My husband and I were in Texas recently visiting family and took time out for a quick overnight in San Antonio. We stayed at a hotel on the River Walk. It may not be Venice but it's a lot closer and delightful. We bypassed the tour boats ($8.00 for a thirty minute ride packed like sardines) and got a 24 hour pass for the river taxi for $10 instead. We only used them three times but what a delight.

Mostly we were on the boats by ourselves with the drivers who answered all our questions and gave us many of the details from the tour. (The tour boat pilots take a turn every two weeks on the taxis.) The taxis travel more of the river than the tours as well so you see a lot more. The night ride was particularly beautiful with everything lit up and glowing and the reflection of the lights on the water.

We also took an early morning ride when the clean-up boats were out gathering all the debris with their double dragnets. Two mallard families were shooing their babies out of the way of the boats. Mallards, herons, coots, and other water birds along with the pigeons were a constant source of entertainment as were the tourists. The sidewalk cafes offered a great spot for people-watching: sweethearts holding hands, families, little children. I worried about one little boy who was well ahead of his parents and awfully close to the water's edge.
We've visited the Alamo in the past, a really moving experience, so this time we went to the Mission dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. The diocese still operates it as a parish but the government maintains it as a park - don't recall whether it's a state or national park.

It's beautifully preserved and what a moving experience to kneel before the tabernacle with the sanctuary light lit and pray the rosary as so many Spanish and Indian families must have done almost 400 years ago.

San Antonio - from its name, to its four missions, to its history - brims over with the Catholic faith. Isn't it ironic that a people whose entire past is rooted in Catholic and Protestant Christianity are allowing a liberal government to systematically strip its heritage with so little protest. If it doesn't make you angry, it should.

My small protest is to take photos of religious places and things, have them made into note cards at Shutterfly, and use them as a subliminal reminder to my family and friends of who we are. We need to remember and nurture our religious roots. They define our identity as a country and a people dedicated to and created by God.

A Just Judge

A lot of judges in America are like the unjust judge of scripture who rules capriciously and only give the widow justice because he's afraid she will finally do something to injure him. So it's refreshing when you find a judge who believes in the rule of law and recognizes the danger to a country when the law is abused. If you aren't familiar with Judge Andrew Napolitano read this interview with him. Not only will you find out quite a lot about this good and decent man, but you'll also learn a lot about how our out-of-control law enforcement uses immoral means to trap and convict people. Is it any wonder that pro-lifers find themselves arrested for standing on public sidewalks and then the officers leaf through the statutes looking for something to pin on them?

And speaking of pro-lifers, here's what the judge says about abortion.

Reason: You said abortion is murder. Should it be regulated by the state or should it be prohibited by the state?

Napolitano: Absolutely it should be prohibited, just the way all unjust killings are prohibited.

Reason: Should doctors go to prison as murderers?

Napolitano: Yes.

Reason: First-degree murder?

Napolitano: Yes.

Reason: Should they get the death penalty--

Napolitano: I don't believe that the state has the moral authority to execute, so I don't believe in the death penalty.

Reason: But you do think that doctors who perform abortions should be put in jail as murderers? Every bit as much as Scott Peterson?

Napolitano: Yes. By a state government, not by the federal government, because the Constitution doesn't authorize the federal government to prosecute murderers. Roe v. Wade is wrong because there's isn't a scintilla in the Constitution or its history to justify federal legislation on abortion. It would then be up to the state of Kansas to allow it and Pennsylvania not to allow it.

While I disagree with the judge that any state has the moral authority to allow abortion, if Roe v. Wade had not passed abortion would probably be outlawed today. States that had permitted it were recriminalizing it when Roe came down.

Wouldn't you love to see this man on the Supreme Court? Sure won't happen on Obama's watch. But keep praying -- you never know what prayer can bring about.

Hostage Captain Freed, Crew Member says first thing he'll do back home is go to Church.

Let us all give thanks to God on this feast of the resurrection for the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates. The Captain who was willing to lay down his life for his sheep is a true example of manly courage. And what a message that he should be returned to his family and friends on Easter Sunday! Halleluia, He is Risen. Our God saves us not only from sin, but sometimes from pirates as well (with a little help from the U.S. Navy). For more information on the rescue go here and here. The Phillips expressed their gratitude for all the prayers of people around the world.

One of the crew members, William Rios, from New York City described the entire experience as a "nightmare" and said the first thing he'll do when he gets home is go to church.

Which reminds me of the old saying, "There are no atheists in a foxhole." And I doubt there were many locked in that cabin on the Alabama. Pray for the release of the many other ships and hostages being held by pirates in that dangerous part of the world. I hope all the Catholic crewman on those ships keep rosaries in their pockets and St. Michael on their shoulders.

Oh, and one last comment. The Alabama was a cargo ship bringing food aid to Rwanda, Somalia, and Kenya. Nothing like biting the hand that feeds you. The people of Somalia should be up in arms over what these pirates are doing instead of cheering them on and making them heroes as some news footage has shown. I can't help thinking of what happened to the American Blackhawk helicopter pilot during the Clinton years who was taken hostage and the other military less fortunate who were killed, mutilated, and dragged through the streets (depicted in the book and film Blackhawk Down ). Pray for the people of Somalia living in lawless chaos.

Why do you see seek him among the dead? He is risen! Alleluia, Alleluia.

Les Femmes wishes all our supporters and visitors a Blessed Easter!

Just down-home pizza lovers at the White House

We are so fortunate to have all these warm and fuzzy Democrats running things these days. They reeeeeeeally care about the poor and downtrodden. Why I'm sure they eat bread and water at least two days a week and send the money saved to the poor. Just look at Al Gore's generous charitable giving. And I had to hold back a tear when Michelle went down to serve White House leftovers at the soup kitchen.

But what really touches me is the modesty of the Obama's diet -- pizza. They are just down-home folks like you and me who, when we want pizza, fly in a pizza chef from St. Louis to serve his specialties to 140 at dinner. (Oh, you don't do that? Your pizza chef is at Dominoes? And you've had to stop ordering out because you had to take a 15% pay cut?) Well, give the guy a break...everybody knows what it's like when you get that pizza craving and sometimes only a St. Louis pizza will do.

It's true that some Americans are losing their jobs, homes, and retirements -- but they should be happy that a few AIG folks get big bonuses and the Obamas are rolling in dough and can afford these little luxuries. At least somebody is enjoying life. (Oh wait, I forgot, the AIG guys are bad and their houses should be picketed; the Obamas are good and should be idolized. I'll try to keep that straight.)

And what's with the sour souls who quibble that this happened at the same time U.S. citizens were being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia? Don't these mean-spirited folks know the president needs these breaks from all the stress? First things first - the Captain who's being held hostage will have to understand that it's just so hard to get a good pizza in D.C.

Now some curmudgeons are grumbling about the impact of global warming from burning fossil fuels to fly these guys to Washington. (Not the fawning folks at Good Morning America, however, but they were getting free pizza.) We all know the president is really concerned about global warming. After all, he keeps telling us turn off our lights, lower our thermostats, buy hybrid cars, and check the air in our tires. (Maybe it was a hybrid plane flying on fuel made from corn.) Besides, people will just have to understand how much it meant to the royal first family to have that yummy St. Louis pizza for dinner. Who could possibly call that elitist hypocrisy? Not me. I like a good pizza myself. Let's go to Pizza Hut for dinner.

As for the hostage captain - well, let him eat Somalian flatbread.

Good Friday Meditation in Pictures

O, my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Happy Birthday, Fr. Haley and Faithful Priests of the Church

Today is the feast of the priesthood when Jesus first told his apostles, "Do this in memory of me." I wish all the faithful priests in our diocese (Arlington, VA) a happy birthday. Thank you for washing our feet through your service.

Today I'm launching a new blog dedicated to Fr. James Haley and the on-going scandal of his treatment by Bishop Loverde. I invite you to visit the blog and take a look at the Table of Contents.

Has the cancer in the Church really been cut out? Or did the doctor just give the patient an aspirin and a bandaid? In view of the on-going scandals taking place every day can anyone doubt the answer?

Please attend the Mass of the Lord's Supper this evening and watch an hour with Him before the Altar of Repose. Prayer and sacrifice are the greatest needs today of Holy Mother Church. After that, put on the armour of Christ and engage in the battle for souls.

Good News on Real ID in Virginia

Thanks to the House of Delegates, Governor Kaine's stealth ploy to pass Real ID by amendments (after signing the law against it) failed. The Governor's amendments were defeated 67 to 32. The Senators aren't so smart apparently. They passed the amendments 21 to 19 with all the Republicans voting no and all the Democrats voting yes. Maybe this will help folks in Virginia see that voting Democrat puts you in the fast lane heading for tyranny. Of course the Republicans are often going in the same direction, just at a slower pace. We need to keep 'em honest by being ever vigilant.

My friend Mike McHugh of the Virginia Gun Owners Coalition watched the debate and sent along this analysis:

"The House debate was intense. Even Bill Janis, who was an early opponent of our effort to Stop Dangerous ID, saw the danger. He argued brilliantly that agreeing to the Governor's amendments would cede all authority on the matter to the federal government in the future.

"Why? Because the amendments said that whatever the Feds did in the future would automatically become Virginia law.

"The House voted down the Governor's amendments 32 to 67. 67 delegates said no to Governor Kaine's slavish support of federal control.

"Clearly, the House of Delegates is our only line of defense in the future against federal tyranny.

"Your emails and phone calls had an impact."

So pat yourselves on the back, lovers of liberty. At least in Virginia we are holding the line on this particular assault on privacy.

Shouldn't a Bishop be a Loving Father?

My internet friend, Robert Kumpel, is a freelance investigative reporter and a home-schooling dad who used to live in California and did some great articles for the L.A. Mission and San Diego News Notes. He moved to Georgia and got into big trouble in his parish in Valdosta (St. John's) for protesting the inappropriate behavior of his pastor with the office manager, a woman (Isn't that a change?). To make a long story short, Robert ended up in court with a restraining order and was banned from setting foot in his parish. Valdosta, Georgia isn't exactly a thriving metropolis and the next closest parish is an hour away. So now Robert, who has four young children, can't go to daily Mass, can't take his children for visits to Our Lord in the tabernacle, can't be a member of the parish Knights of Columbus (or anything else) and is seriously inconvenienced even to go to Mass on Sunday. It has been a real hardship on this Catholic family.

Ironically, the pastor is dead now; he was killed in a traffic accident. And the woman involved moved away, but Bishop Boland still won't let Robert and his family go back to church together. Is that uncharitable or what?

During the trial everyone who testified said Robert never did anything violent or threatening. And yet the bishop several years later continues to refuse to allow him to attend Mass at his local parish. Oh, his wife may go alone with the children, but not with their dad. What's with that? Shouldn't the bishop encourage intact families? They're a rarity these days.

What a tragedy for a bishop to be so unforgiving that two years after something occurred (which has since been overtaken by events) he continues to treat his spiritual son like a dangerous outlaw. I wonder how often the bishop preaches about mercy.

Robert's canon lawyer said he would win the case if he fought, but it would be years before resolution and cost beaucoup bucks which the Kumpels don't have. So what's a fella to do? The bishops always have a royal flush to your pair of deuces. Maybe that's why they call them princes.

Please pray for my friend. You can visit his blog and leave him an encouraging message. If you'd like to read more about what got him into trouble go here.

And if you really want to do his family a good turn, could you send a polite note to the bishop asking him to let the family return home. Remember the song Tie a Yellow Ribbon? Why not tuck one into the note.

Bishop Kevin Boland
Catholic Pastoral center
601 E. Liberty Street
Savannah, GA 31401

If you'd rather send an e-mail go here.

Real ID is a Real Violation of Your Privacy!

Tomorrow in my state (Virginia) the General Assembly will either support Governor Tim Kaine's duplicity on Real ID or they will stand up and say NO! The Gov. added an amendment to legislation (SB 1046) which will put Virginia in compliance with Real ID. His action will overturn a law passed earlier this session (Bob Marshall's Stop Dangerous ID bill, HB 1587). The reason is that what legislators approve at the end of the session takes precendence over bills passed earlier. But Kaine's politico "sneak" just mimics the way Dangerous ID was passed in Congress in the first place. Real ID was never openly debated. It was attached to a supplemental bill for the Iraq War and tsunami relief. The lemmings in Congress (except Ron Paul) voted for the bill despite this dangerous provision. It has no legitimacy since there was no review, no debate, and no input from citizens. Talk about a Big Brother coup! Is this what we call "governmnet by the people?"

If you are from Virginia tell your legislators to vote no tomorrow on Kaine's amendment. If you live in another state find out what the status of Real ID is and fight. Love liberty or lose it! (Photo from the Hartford Courant, Oct. 30, 2001)

Why the 'Real ID' Act is a real mess

Real Answers on Real ID

What Is 'Real ID'?

Share your view with HHS on Conscience Protection for Doctors

We're getting down to the wire on alerting HHS to your opinion on Conscience Protection. The deadline for expressing your opinon is April 9th, this Thursday. Visit the USCCB website and get up to speed, then click the email link on the right and send your views to HHS. If you want moral medicine, don't let them force medical personnel to kill their patients.

Wake up!

Spitzenpopper just pointed me to a great blog called Old Jarhead written by a Vietnam Vet named Robert Hall. His blog post "I'm Tired" has been all over the internet and I'm sure lots of people can identify with the views he expresses there. Sick and tired might be more accurate.

I'm tired too. I'm especially tired of fighting with people who should be on our side: Catholics who prefer eating cafeteria style to eating at the rich banquet of doctrinal truth, of a hierarchy apparently more interested in protecting the institution than the flock, of so-called Catholic schools that feature "queer" film festivals, heretical speakers, and snide attacks on those who object. I'm tired of milquetoast, feel-good homilies that portray God as the King of Candyland and CCD programs modeled on coloring activity books.

So I'm rebelling. I will not be a mindless pew sitter quietly cooperating with the pay, pray, and obey mentality. I will spend every day studying the faith and I will share it with my children and grandchildren and anyone else who will listen. I will urge the laity to act like grownups by taking responsibility for their own faith development. If you don't have a Catechism of the Catholic Church on your bookshelf, get one. And read it. If you have a grandchild being baptized, study the section on baptism. Ditto for first Communion and Confirmation. If you've rejected Humanae Vitae without ever reading it I challenge you to study it. Pope Paul VI was a prophet.

A great way to fight fatique is to exercise - so let's all exercise those Catholic brain cells. That's fundamental. From there we can be salt and light to our poor country which is rapidly losing its soul.

Wake up! There's no time to be tired. You're a soldier in the Army of Christ fighting for the faith, not a community organizer collecting dead men's votes.

Apparitions Anyone?

I get lots of emails recounting the latest messages of visionaries. As eager as I am to have the Blessed Mother appearing like she did at Fatima, Lourdes, and Guadalupe I tend to be a skeptic. One thing I know for sure. True visionaries never benefit monetarily from their visions. St. Bernadette wouldn't take a sou from anyone and was furious at her little brother when a visitor left a coin on the bench in their home and he put it in his pocket. The three little peasants at Fatima did not benefit monetarily although because of the apparitions Lucia was sent to school to learn to read. Mary told Francisco and Jacinta they were going to heaven soon so they did not. Francisco, however, could often be found in the church with his arms wrapped around the tabernacle. He and Jacinta died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. Bernadette and Lucia became nuns. Juan Diego was still a poor Aztec indian after Mary blessed her "little son" with several visits and entrusted him with her mission to the bishop.

So when I see today's "seers" living in mansions, collecting buckets of cash (unaccounted for), and receiving all kinds of benefits because of their "visions of Our Lady," I just can't buy it. Is this the same woman who told Bernadette she could not promise her happiness in this life, but in the next? Visionaries more typically get extra sufferings; they don't win the lottery.

The Medjugorje apparitions are particularly unbelievable to me. Mary is like a vending machine: put in your buck and get out a message -- 40,000 and counting. Is this the humble lady who speaks only a handful of sentences in Scripture "pondering things in her heart?" When did she become the town cryer?

Compare that with approved apparitions:

1531 Guadalupe - Our Lady appeared four times to Juan Diego
1838 Paris - Mary appeared three times to St. Catherine Laboure
1858 Lourdes - Bernadette spoke with Mary at Massabielle 18 times
1879 Knock - Mary, St. Joseph, John the apostle, and a lamb on an altar appeared over the church and no one said anything
1917 Fatima - Three peasant children received an apparition with an angel and six apparitions with Mary
1932-33 Beauraing and Banneux, Belgium - 33 and 8 Marian apparitions respectively
1972-1981 - Sr. Agnes received three messages from Our Lady; other signs included a statue of the Blessed Mother weeping 101 times over several years.

Go here for a list of approved apparitions. Note how few times Mary appeared to the visionaries and how little she said. She appeared several dozen times at most. And yet today countless visionaries claim that Mary appears daily for 15 or 20 years leaving all kinds of banal messages for the world. Is this plausible? Not to mention things like the Scottsdale debacle with child abuser Fr. Dale Fushek, an early proponent of Medjugorje, who is now leading people right out of the church. If the Medjugorje folks point to every good thing that happens to someone who went to Medjugorje as a "fruit" they certainly need to take responsibility for the evil things as well.

In most cases the Church makes no decision about the claimed apparition. They take the position of Gamaliel in Acts of the Apostles when he advised the Sanhedrin how to handle the apostles preaching, "My advice is that you have nothing to do with these men. Let them alone. If their purpose or activity is human in its origins, it will destroy itself. If, on the other hand, it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them without fighting God himself." If you look at a list of alleged apparitions, you note that most came to nothing without the Church taking any action. If the Blessed Mother wants them approved it will happen through the Church. But some apparition promoters claim that a non-decision by the Church implies the authenticity of the apparition. That is dishonest nonsense.

No doubt a Medjugorje enthusiast will criticize what I've written saying I've never been there. Well, in fact, I have. I went for a week with a friend in the early 90s. We were traveling in Ireland and hitched up with a group of Irish pilgrims. I saw nothing unorthodox, and heard some good homilies at the English Masses. I walked up the mountain and prayed. I spent a lot of time reading scripture, meditating, saying the rosary and praying. It was a good personal retreat, but I came home unconvinced. The fact that people find comfort and are converted in Medjugorje is no proof of anything supernatural taking place there. The Lord and His mother will always bless a sincere heart.

But there is a dark side to Medjugorje as well and many unanswered questions. I recommend Donal Foley's book Understanding Medjugorje: Heavenly Visions or Religious Illusion? You can read reviews of the book here and here. The second one is mine.

My personal recommendation is, if you have money for a pilgrimage, go to an approved site where you know the Blessed Mother actually appeared. Or just stay home and go to your local parish. Jesus is there in the tabernacle waiting for you.