Ireland is Catholic...but for How Long?

Worrying trends in Ireland paint a picture of a country whose strong Catholic tradition is eroding. I'm not surprised. I visited Ireland for two weeks in 1991 with my mother and a friend. Everywhere we went we saw signs that Ireland was in trouble. American television saturated the tube. Conversing with locals, we found many expressing the desire for liberalizing divorce. Homosexuality was being promoted in the press. Moral relativism was clearly on the rise.

After my mom left to return home, my friend and I continued on to Medjugorje with an Irish pilgrimage group. When we expressed our concerns about what we saw in Ireland ("You're about 15 years behind us," we said, so you better start fighting now!"), they pooh-poohed us. But within a year or so of returning to the states, an Irish court allowed a teenager to seek an abortion in England. At the time leaving the country to secure abortion was against Irish law. Today, about 7000 women a year seek abortions outside the country where it is still illegal except to save the life of the mother. But the pressure on Ireland continues and the sex abuse crisis didn't help things any. Sin has consequences and when the shepherds are vicious they damage the faith of the weak. The Church needs reform from the top down and the bottom up -- not just in Ireland, but everywhere.

One of the things that impressed my friend and me most about Ireland was the number of children. Everywhere we went we saw bright-faced kids. I photographed many and particularly remember seeing two teenagers on a lunch break in their school uniforms of white blouses and navy blue skirts. One was red-haired and freckled; the other looked like Snow White with black hair and a pale complexion. I asked permission to snap their picture and it remains one of my favorite photos from the trip. But, like every other country in the west, Ireland's children are an endangered species. The birthrate plummeted during the 90s and continues to be below replacement level. (See report on Ireland's children here.) Those teens we saw are close to 40 now and their own families probably look a lot different than the ones they grew up in.

Pray for the family. When I was in elementary school, our social studies books showed the family as the basic building block of the community. The neighborhood, town, state, and nation are only as strong as their families and the family is under assault everywhere. Please join me in praying for Ireland, the land where my grandfather was born. Any decline in the faith there feels like a personal loss to me and to the Church in the U.S. where so many Irish missionaries have served. St. Patrick, pray for Ireland and for us.

Just Lynch Him Already!

We've all been deluged with media hype about the trial of the season -- not in a court of law, but in the kangaroo court of public opinion. Yes, I'm talking about the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. The media declares it a hate crime motivated by race without one scintilla of evidence about what really happened that night. The Black Panthers offer a reward for Zimmerman - dead or alive? Spike Lee terrorizes an innocent elderly couple (who receive death threats) by mistakenly giving out their address as Zimmerman's. A member of the black caucus turn up on the floor of Congress in a "hoodie." The president raises the racial stakes saying if Trayvon was his son he'd "look like me." Wow! Talk about stirring up the racial tensions.

A young man is dead; another has been declared guilty in the press. And all this hype looks to me like a cynical attempt to make political hay out of a crisis that would be a shame to waste. Let's face it. Race animosity is an election strategy. 

Does anybody care about justice and the rule of law? Is George Zimmerman allowed his day in court? Or should we just save time, affirm the guilty verdict in the press, and send out the mob to lynch Zimmerman and get it over with?

Would Vanderbilt Hold a Muslim or Jewish Group to this Policy?

Vanderbilt policy requires Catholic Club to Allow Non-Catholic Leaders

The Policy

Do you suppose the Black Student Alliance is required to fill leadership positions with whites?

Do you suppose the university requires the Lambda Association to offer leadership roles to heterosexual students...or with Catholic students who believe acting out on homosexual feelings is wrong?

This is all about purging the politically incorrect. What it also means is that the Catholic students are ineligible to receive funding that goes to other campus activities. So students who pay the activities fee are denied the right to benefit if they happen to be Catholic.

But never forget...it is all about tolerance...selective tolerance. To borrow from  George Orwell's Animal Farm, All student clubs are equal, but some are more equal than others. 

There's no question that Vanderbilt's policy discriminates against Catholic students. But no doubt they deserve to be treated like second class citizens. After all, believing in Biblical morality just proves you are a hatemonger who ought to be fed to the lions.

Feeling bad? Try a little gratitude!

One of the things that always struck me about G.K. Chesterton is that he practiced gratitude for everything. He said, why just say grace before meals? Say grace before everything. I thought of him when I read Ben Stein's article this morning. Thank you, Lord, for another day. Help me to realize what a paradise it really is with its simple pleasures. Help me today to practice an attitude of gratitude.

Just another day in paradise.

Ed Peters vs. George Neumayr vs. Cardinal Wuerl

Canon lawyer Ed Peters thinks George Neumayr is making a bad situation worse with regard to his criticism of Cardinal Wuerl over the prelate's handling of Fr. Marcel Guarnizo refusing Communion to lesbian activist Barbara Johnson at her mother's funeral. As one who agrees with George Neumayr, I think it's accurate to say that the cardinal himself made a bad situation worse when he apologized to the lesbian through his auxiliary bishop and then punished Fr. Guarnizo. Talk about scandal -- helping to advance the gay agenda! 

Ed Peters says the conversation has gone on long enough, that everything that could possibly be said has been said (according to his point of view at any rate). He has consistently insisted that his interpretation of Canon 915, etc. is the correct one and that the laity who disagree just don't get it. 

Well, he's right about that from my point of view and many other faithful laity who believed Fr. Guarnizo was correct and Ed Peters was wrong. Call it the "sensus fidelium" if you like. At least one canon lawyer, an anonymous priest, disagrees with Peters and supporst what faithful laity believed all along. He entered the fray to defend Fr. Guarnizo and publicly dissent with his colleague's interpretation of the subject canon laws. One can argue that anonymous opinions carry less weight than public opinions, but in view of what powerful prelates can do to their disrespected underlings whose rights are often violated, anonymity is probably a prudent course of action for a priest. And if this priest serves in the Archdiocese of Washington or another diocese with a bishop who operates llike Cardinal Wuerl, his action is more than understandable. After all, Fr. Guarnizo was denied due process. Why would Cardinal Wuerl hesitate to do the same to any priest who disagreed with him?

Priest Canon Lawyer Defends Fr. Guarnizo, Takes Issue with Ed Peters

Many laity have questioned the conclusions of canonist Ed Peters about Fr. Marcel Guarnizo's decision to deny Communion to lesbian Barbara Johnson at her mother's funeral. A new opinion is now online published by an anonymous priest who is also a canon lawyer. Read his opinion here. I want to publicly thank this priest for expressing such a clear defense of Fr. Guarnizo's actions. Those of us laity who are not canon lawyers had the "gut feeling" that denying Johnson was correct. Father's reasoned step-by-step explanation illustrates why. Two thumbs up, Father!

Can Western Civilization Recover from the Downward Spiral?

Moral and cultural relativism bring about the collapse of civilization. Catholic morality is the only solution. Proclaim the truth in season and out!

Lovin' This Blog Post from the Catholic Sistas

Keep your ovaries off our rosaries!

Funny how the liberal left SAY they want the Church out of their sex lives, but want to FORCE people of faith to pay for their pills, condoms, sponges, IUDs, sterilizations, morning-after pills, depo-shots, patches, cervical caps, diaphragms, spermicides, etc. ad nauseum. So get your ovaries off our rosaries already! Sandra Fluke, that means you.

Living in a Police State

War on U.S. Homeschoolers Escalates

Consider the scenario. Social workers get an anonymous tip saying a family's children are in danger. They do nothing for two months, then arrive on the doorstep demanding immediate admittance to the home with no warrant. When the family refuses social workers call in the reinforcements, i.e., the cops. When the family still resists the warrantless search, the government thugs threaten immediate removal of the children. Wow!

For that family the police state is a reality. The parents relented under duress and the social workers found that the children were all fine when they entered the home.

Several of my children homeschool. This scenario could happen to them if they had a nasty neighbor. Consider the power of the anonymous accuser. You have a squabble with a neighbor, what an easy way to get back at them. The state generally offers immunity to anonymous accusers so anybody with children is at risk. Interesting, isn't it, that a country that allows the ultimate abuse of murdering children before birth, suddenly cares (two months after the anonymous call) about the condition of the children?

If this happened to your family, what would you do?

Obama, Our Dictator

If you aren't frightened by the totalitarian moves of President Obama, you must be ignorant of history. This man believes he is an emperor with no limits on his right to exert his will on the American people. That Congress is allowing him to do this with nary a peep reflects the moral cowardice of our political elite. As long as their sinecures are protected they go along with creeping tyranny.

Obama Assumes Dictatorial Powers

Hat tip to Ray at Political Brambles

Feast of the Annuciation

My mom and dad named me Mary because I was born the day after the Feast of the Annunciation. So, every time the feast lands on a Sunday I have the particular blessing of sharing the day with my patron saint, Our Lady. That always gives me a special joy because ever since I was in the Sodality in high school I've been devoted to Mary and I love to imagine myself wrapped in the folds of her mantle, the image she presented to St. Juan Diego.

Today I'm reciting the Litany of the Blessed Mother as a thank you for her motherly protection of a spiritual daughter who desires to be always faithful to her Son. I hope you'll join me in saying it today in honor of our spiritual mother. And here's one of my favorite depictions of the Annunciation from Murillo. Our Lady, Mother of the Savior, pray for us.

Obama the Orator: Laugh of the Day

Bring back the teleprompter! What does this say about how foreign countries see us?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erYpXzE9Pxs

Why Are We Supporting Egypt?

Please explain to me why we are supporting a country (to the tune of $1.5 billion) whose government since the "Arab Spring" is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that hates the U.S.? The foreign policy of the Obama administration is suicide for the U.S.

Who Decides?

The writing is on the wall. Hospital death panels will be the ones deciding who gets treatment and who gets starved and dehydrated to death. You think having health insurance will protect you? It didn't save Willie. Read the story here and here Willie died. His family had no right to make medical decisions for him after a hospital panel decided to kill him. This is life in the 21st century.

Back in the 1970s when Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, pro-lifers predicted killing the sick and elderly by euthanasia would be next. We were mocked. When I debated pro-aborts and warned that euthanasia would be coming, they followed the playbook and replied, "Just because the speed limit is raised to 55 doesn't mean it will be raised to 70." (Yes, that was a real "argument" they used, ridiculous as it sounds.) Well, here we are 40 years later and life continues to be devalued. If you're in the womb and unwanted you can be killed. If you're sick and useless you can be killed.  Life is cheap and the useless eaters are in the cross hairs.

God help the baby boomers! Those in power bankrupted the Social Security System we paid into and will kill us to avoid paying us what they owe. They bankrupted Medicare and will kill us to avoid paying for our health care. And they will do it while they call us selfish and claim WE are responsible for bankrupting the country. The young who grew up claiming their right to kill babies who interfere with their quality of life will happily kill the sick and elderly as well for the same reason. Get used to it. If you teach the young to be selfish and hedonistic, they may learn the lesson too well....

Sunday Meditation: "It is Finished"....or is it?

San Pedro Catholic Church, Florida Keys

In the past two months I've been in two churches where the crucifix over the altar depicted the suffering, living Jesus. The first time I saw it, Larry and I were at San Pedro in the Florida Keys. I was confused because I noticed the absence of the wound in Christ's side before I saw that His eyes were open. It was a little disconcerting because, while the eleventh station depicts the living Christ, the crucifix over the altar almost always shows Christ after his death has been confirmed by the centurion thrusting the lance into His side. When I saw another depiction of the living Christ this morning at Mass at St. Martha's in Kingwood, TX I began to reflect on the theology of depicting the living Jesus rather than the dead Jesus. Is this a new fad...like portraying the risen Christ?

I'll be honest; I don't like it. But why? Thinking about it, I realized how much I appreciate seeing on the cross the culmination of Christ's life ending in his death for our salvation. Jesus said, "It is finished," bowed His head, and died. The living Jesus seems somehow to illustrate the middle of the story, one left unfinished. Where are we in the events? Has the cross just been raised? Has Jesus entrusted the Blessed Mother to John? Has He promised paradise to the Good Thief? We can only guess. But there is something awful about the thought of seeing Jesus suffering every time I enter the church with that suffering never to end, with Mary standing at the foot of the cross forever waiting, suffering her own personal agony in union with her Son. The death of Christ is somehow a relief compared to the thought of Christ's unending suffering and suffocation of the agony. I want that suffering to end. I want to see in my mind's eye Mary with arms outstretched to receive the lifeless body of her Son.

I also want the confirmation of the centurion's witness, "This indeed was the Son of God." When I see Christ's wound and reflect on the blood and water flowing from His side, I know He gave every last drop of blood for love of me. And I imagine St. Therese holding the chalice to catch the blood and water, a reminder that every Mass is a reenactment of Calvary.

If I had a say in choosing a crucifix for my parish church, I would always choose the end of the passion story knowing the waiting and the Resurrection are not long in coming.

Your Source for Incandescent Light Bulbs

Apparently, incandescent lightbulbs haven't been completely banned and there is an industrial source for them which projects a 7-year bulb life when burned an average of four hours a day. And...they're made in the U.S.A. Now, I absolutely detest fluorescent lighting, so this website is a real find. Think I'll order a supply and see if they really last for seven years. Maybe I'll date the bulbs before I screw them in. And a reminder: don't hide any of your lights under a bushel basket!

Obama's War Against People of Faith

Tens of Thousands Turn Out to Protest HHS Mandate

On Friday at noon tens of thousands of Americans rallied in over 150 cities to protest Obama's HHS mandate including many young women opposing Obama's war on people of faith. This "occupy" movement had no hazy message, but a very specific demand that the government stop trampling on our religious freedom. This fight isn't over by a long shot.

And, while Obama tries to portray those who oppose his will as "warring against women," he's the one who champions turning women into recyclable sex objects who are always available as pleasure toys without the "complication" of pregnancy. Show me a male chauvinist pig and I'll show you a man who says, "She can always take the Pill and get an abortion if it fails." The war on women has taken a real toll on their health including the epidemic of breast cancer, often more aggressive than in the past. Why should women have to die or suffer serious illness so they can always be at-the-ready to satisfy predatory men? Wake up, women. The "sexual revolution" was no blessing for you!

Same-Sex Marriage Paves the Way for Polygamy and Incest

Many "cool" with polygamy. 

And after that what? If you're cool with your personal definition who's to say you're wrong if you want to marry your "best friend" who happens to be Fido? What if you want to marry your mom or dad? Hey...it gives new meaning to doing your own thing.

A Big Day in Texas

Today our oldest grandchild is being confirmed. She's seventeen; they confirm late here. In some ways it's great. She is a mature young woman who knows absolutely what she is doing. She got up this morning at the crack of dawn to go to adoration with her dad and then stayed for an appointment with a favorite priest for confession. I met her at morning Mass which she wanted to attend even though there will be second Mass tonight during the Confirmation liturgy. As for service, she spent last evening making cupcakes for a little sister whose birthday is today to take to "Super Friday," a home school enrichment program.

Please pray for Madeleine today as she receives the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of strengthening. I've urged her to pray for my anonymous friend because I firmly believe the prayers of those receiving sacraments are particularly powerful. I've also asked her to pray for all my readers and especially that our country will honor the religious rights of Christians which are under such assault. God protect all our grandchildren and their peers. It seems to me their generation will face increasing persecution from the culture of death.

Don't You Love the Double Standard?

Michelle Obama Sits Down with David Letterman

The hate-hype hogs never tire of accusing the right of hate, while they, of course, are all sweetness and light. Don't you love it, you terrible right-wing nasties? The left goes into foaming-at-the-mouth self-righteous fulminations against Rush Limbaugh while going completely mum about the excesses of their own soft and cuddly hate-mongers like Bill Maher and David Letterman. Frankly, I've never seen so much of the X-rated alphabet: the b-word, the c-word, the f-word, etc. as I have from the liberal left. Funny, but I can't get over the sneaking suspicion that the left are a bunch of hypocrites beginning with the First Hypocrites living in the White House.

Stand Up for Religious Freedom - Join the Rally

On Friday, March 23 rallies opposing Obama's HHS mandate will take place in over a hundred cities around the country. The rallies are scheduled for only one hour from noon to 1:00 p.m. Go here for the locations and stand up for religious freedom. Our country needs a religious revival. Bring your rosaries and beg for the Blessed Mother's intercession for this important event. Remember the people of Nineveh who put on sackcloth and ashes and repented. Lent is a time to repent and reform our lives. Come in penance and beg God's help for our poor country so immersed in sin and suffering.

Our New Flag?

Florida Democrat and the new look of Old Glory.

I find it interesting that somebody would think it was okay to deface the American flag by replacing the stars that stand for the individual states with the picture of Obama. In a way it's perfectly accurate. He has made himself the tyrant-in-chief persecuting states that resist his power grabs. (Arizona and Texas have felt the mailed fist, for example.) I personally applaud the veterans who protested this.

What do you think?

Another Assault on the First Amendment

Trespass Bill increases government's ability to criminalize protesters

H.R. 347 was signed by the President recently making it easier for government agents to arrest and criminalize protesters. So the government can force you to participate in the murder of unborn children through Obamacare, but be careful where and when you protest about it or you'll likely end up in the clink:

And before you forget, the president can now detain you for getting too close to his front yard, order your assassination if the country considers you a threat and lock you away for life with no charge if you’re alleged to be a terrorist. You, on the other hand, can’t yell obscenities at Newt Gingrich without risking arrest. 

EPA Not Above the Law

One of the most high-handed, out-of-control bureaucracies in Washington is the Environmental Protection Agency. If you have a standing puddle in your yard, you're in danger of them declaring your property a protected wetlands and essentially confiscating it. One couple fought back and the Supreme Court recently upheld them. Let's hear it for this couple.

John Vinson and the Hate Hogs

I've mentioned before that I love Chronicles Magazine and the latest issue just confirms it. John Vinson's column, Beating the Left at Their Own Game hit a bullseye. I wish the article was on their website, but it's not. Here are several paragraphs from the article:

Leftists love to obsess about hate. It seems to be on their tongues all the time, and it may have already surpassed racist as their expletive of choice to hurl at conservatives, traditionalists, Middle Americans, and other folks they detest. You don't have to be a psychologist to understand the meaning of projection -- that, when people obsessively accuse others of something, they are likely guilty of it themselves. 

And indeed, in today's America, it's not hard to see where most of the hostility is coming from. If you happen to express an opinion counter to politically correct orthodoxy, expect swift retribution from the Talibans of left-wing tolerance. You may have to apologize to angry inquisitors, lest you lose your reputation and job. Or you might just lose them anyway....

Increasingly, the dominant p.c. wing of the left simply dismisses reason and logic, which are, after all, nothing more than white male social constructs designed to thwart social justice. Where once the leftists made their case on the supposedly scientific claims of classical Marxism, they now often presume that truth, such as it exists, is whatever they say it is.

Vinson goes on to recommend that the defenders of the truth should borrow the tactics of the left by using Saul Alinsky's strategy of ridicule and humor against them. "One gains power over a behavior by putting a label on it." The label Vinson suggests for the liberal hater is "hate-hype viper." Now a snake is a good image, but, on thinking about it, I prefer a football metaphor.

The "hogs" used to run interference for John Riggins when he played for the Redskins back in the late 70s and 80s. So the perfect label for those liberals running interference for an agenda by knocking out the opposition by accusing them of "hate" is "hate-hype hog." The "hate-hype hogs" advance the liberal agenda, whether it's Barrack Obama's contraceptive mandate or the gay demand for homosexual marriage by demonizing anyone who disagrees with it. You can hear the hate-hype hogs squealing that those who oppose the contraceptive mandate "hate women and are at war with reproductive choice." In similar vein they squeal that those who oppose gay marriage are homophobes filled with hate for gays. They'll squeal and accuse anyone of hate who opposes anything they want, hyping it to an hysterical pitch.

The goal of the hate-hype hogs is to advance the agenda by knocking out the opposition, just like the Redskin hogs clobbered their opponents so John Riggins could advance the ball. Their goal is to get their agenda across for a touchdown no matter what it takes. The only difference between the football hogs and "hate-hype hogs" is that the Redskins played by the rules. The "hatehype hogs" follow no rules, no reason, no truth. They will lie, cheat, steal, and, yes, hate to get what they want. It's all part of the liberal game plan where the end justifies the means even when it requires one to use vicious hate-filled tactics to destroy adversaries. It's high time these "hate-hype hogs" were recognized as the wild beasts they are.

From the "Religion of Peace"

Destroy all the churches.

The Culture of Death Marches On

Taylor Clementi committed suicide after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, posted a brief scene of him involved in gay sex. Read about it here. (Note this is on Huff Post, certainly not a "conservative" source.) Recently Ravi was found guilty of a group of charges that could get the teenager a ten year sentence in jail.

I find this problematic. First of all, consider the logical fallacy that because something happens AFTER something else, that event was the cause. Who knows what else was going on in Taylor's life? Unfortunately, suicide is not uncommon among college students and freshman year is the riskiest. Forty percent of college suicides happen in freshman year.

And a question. Had this been a heterosexual encounter would anyone pay the slightest attention? I have my doubts. But, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste and every suicide by someone gay has to be turned into a hate crime caused by anti-gay motivation. Although if the article posted at Huffington is accurate, Ravi had no problem with his gay roommate, he was just being a typical stupid teenage guy. Remember all those locker room jokes? There's a reason for them.

This situation is a tragedy for two young men. But it points to a bigger problem in our culture. Why are so many of our young people so unhappy and desperate that the only way out they can find is ending their own lives? It is one more victory for the culture of death.

Guys are Like Cats, Gals are Like Dogs

I think Jodi Miller is a hoot and, in this routine, she's absolutely on target. Laughing is good for you, so enjoy.

Visit the Blogs and Website Links

Every now and then I spend some time visiting the blogs and websites linked on the right. There are reasons I've selected these sites. They are valuable to me -- for research or personal growth.

Some I visit often, others get a more occasional glance. And, now and then, I just go on a little journey to remember why I posted these links in the first place. Sometimes I choose a theme and visit all the links on politics or the Catholic links or the pro-life ones. I'm rarely disappointed and the little walk through the cyber world sometimes inspires an article for my newsletter or blog. So I invite you to meet my internet "friends." I think you'll find many as interesting as I do.

A Beautiful Adoption Story

If you know a single person who's adopted, I hope you help them out. It's a courageous act to make that huge commitment knowing you'll need to work, find sitters, etc. But what an act of love. And I can testify to Julia's doing it well with happy little Veeka a real-live testimony to love.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sandra Fluke: The "Brave, Middle-Aged Schoolgirl"

I love it when Mark Steyn fills in for Rush. Just listening to his accent is a treat. His take on the "Sandra Fluke Charade" is totally on target.

From My Favorite Columnist

You can always count on Pat Buchanan to talk sense from a historical perspective. There's nobody as hypocritical and inconsistent as a confirmed leftist.

Rush and the New Blacklist

We've Had Enough Silence

I Cancelled My Carbonite Account

CARBONITE CRASHING AFTER LIMBAUGH TRASHING

This made me laugh....Rush made a mistake (for which he apologized), but Carbonite's mistake was bigger. And Sandra Fluke, sad to say, illustrates a shamelessness all too common in her generation as Facebook and My Space and other social networking sites illustrate. Sandra and her boyfriend's Facebook posts illustrate exactly how hypocritical the thirty-something's Congressional testimony really was. She's hardly a poor, starving student freezing in her garret. 

And what decent woman gets up before a Congressional committee to air her sins in public? "Good afternoon, Congressmen, I'm here today to proclaim that I have a right to fornicate freely and I do mean freely. The taxpayers have an obligation to pay for my 'protection' like it or not. So pony up for all the poor law students who need their free birth control pills and, for that matter, abortions if the pills fail." 

When I was a student attending college in D.C. I occasionally drove with someone (I didn't own a car) down 14th Street and saw the ladies of the night publicly strutting their stuff. It saddened me that women would be reduced to selling their bodies to make ends meet. I'm betting that at least some of them felt like Fantine in Les Mis and would hardly call home to tell Mom what they were doing much less testify before a Congressional committee. But Sandra apparently has no shame about flaunting her fornication. And why should she be surprised if her public proclamation results in criticism from those who believe we should take our sins to the confessional instead of the board room? 

I feel sorry for Sandra Fluke, just like I did for the women on 14th Street. As for what Rush said, it was rude and crass and he definitely shouldn't have said it, but was he really far off? 

The Little Sisters of the Poor and my Mom

I love the Little Sisters of the Poor. Until six months before she died at age 83 (in 2002) my mom used to go over to their nursing home on Maiden Choice Ln. in Catonsville twice a week to volunteer. She visited the "elderly" many of whom were younger than she was. Sometimes she wrote letters for them or she mended their clothes or just came to smile and chat. Often she was the lector at the noon Mass on her visit days.

My mom was an amazing lady who cared very much for others including the little ones in utero waiting to be born. Every January she organized the parish bus for the March for Life and, except for the last January before she died, she was there with her walker making the treck up Capitol Hill. She sold red and white carnations on Mother's Day to support the local crisis pregnancy center and was herself a generous donor to the pro-life movement. She wrote frequent letters to the editor defending the babies, and sometimes defended the faith in her own parish from the errors of the resident dissidents. She wanted others to like her, but not enough to be silent when the truth was being tromped on.

She enjoyed her 37 grandchildren and 40 great grandchildren (many more since she died ten years ago) whenever she could. Fortunately she had some nearby. "Grandma" morphed into GG (for great grandma) in her later years. She loved it!

When one of my sisters asked a daughter what she thought it meant to dress modestly, she answered "To dress like Grandma." Mom almost always had on a skirt and on the lapels of her jacket she wore the little feet, a rose pin, and several other pro-life symbols. She was neat as a pin and had a cheerful disposition and a big smile. When she was dying she always shared that smile with the visiting nurses and aides. The closest she came to complaining was the forlorn question, "Why is it so hard to die?" Among her last words was "thank you" to the aide who came to give her a bed bath two days before she died. What a legacy and a challenge to those Mom left behind. When people comment on my cheerfulness, I always say it was a gift from my mom, and it's true. All my siblings are cheerful as well. What a great testimony to mom!

It was a blessing to me today to see the Catholic Key Blog about the Little Sisters of the Poor. It sent me on a walk with my mom down memory lane. I can't imagine a greater companion for that journey. Love you, Mom.

Poor Sandra Fluke, Slumming it in Spain

Sandra Fluke is a real piece of work. She moaned and whined to a Congressional committee about how she can't afford her birth control pills the cost of which she inflated ten times. But she can afford to be a globe trotter with her socialist boyfriend, Adam "Cutie Pants" Mutterperl. The picture above was taken last year in Barcelona. When was the last time you took a trip to Spain? My husband and I camp in the good old US of A and do our best to stay at county, state, and national parks where we can overnight for between $15 and $30. And we cook in for most meals. Not complaining, mind you, I love it. But I sure don't expect anyone else to pay for anything we do. If we can't afford it, we don't do it.

But you just gotta sympathize with Sandra. After that fancy vacation she needs someone else to pick up her miscellaneous expenses. How about paying for her housing and food too and don't forget the drinks.

Talk about liberal hypocrisy! See the article here with the comments captured from Facebook. Hey, Sandra, better watch that social networking. You blew your cover! (Hat tip to Carol for the heads up.)

Persecuted Priests Deserve Our Help

Most faithful Catholics these days are aware of the persecution being suffered by many good priests. You can help one -- Fr. James Haley. See here.  By the way, Father is not allowed to present himself as a priest, wear clerics, etc. He has been forcibly dismissed from the priesthood although he is also not allowed to see the canonical proceedings that led to his "sentence." What happened to him reminds me of the machinations used by other politician-bishops throughout history to remove "troublesome" priests.

Father has been told he may not use the name "Father," and he suggested I not call him that. I cannot think of him as anything else. May God forgive those responsible for the vendetta that led to his dismissal. By the way, a fictionalized account of his story will be coming out in a few months with publication of a book written by a friend of mine, a published author. You won't want to miss it. Most of it is based on fact and some of the most outlandish things in the book really happened. More on that later.

Let's Hear it for the Second Amendment!

The Battle of Athens occurred just a few months before I was born. The lesson is -- Don't let them take your guns. As Thomas Jefferson said, "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing." In this case it saved a town from the corruption of the local political machine. Read Jefferson's letter here.

Demographic Death is Upon Us

Pat Buchanan's article on the Land of the Setting Sun outlines the demographic death of Japan because of its 40 year birth dearth. Japan is not alone, however, in its transition from a youthful country full of hope to an aging one limping toward death. The entire west is collapsing. And the east isn't far behind. While the population is still growing worldwide, which makes the doom-and-gloom crowd continue to screech about "overpopulation," the real numbers are sobering. And the statistics are increasingly lopsided toward the elderly. Visualize a scale with a brick on one side and a pebble on the other and you'll get the picture. Life-expectancy of a person over 65 is relatively short. I'm at the front of the baby boom and go on Medicare this month. I have no plans to check out anytime soon (although the euthanasia crowd may have other plans for me), but I'm a realist. My dad died at 67 and my mom at 83. The end of the trail is a lot closer than the beginning. And since the over 65 age group is huge compared to generation whatever being born now, once we hit mid century, overall population will be in a nosedive.

But, as they say, every dark cloud has a silver lining. The upside is there. A world that considers babies consumer items, valued according to mom's "choice," also is beginning to recognize that the young have value and mom's "choice" may need to be limited. A world that won't do the right thing for moral reasons, may very well begin to do the right thing for economic ones. Russia, for example, introduced tighter restrictions on abortion last year. They are unlikely to have much impact in the long run since abortion is still easy available in the early months of pregnancy when most abortions are performed. But at least it is a step.

Also, the policies espoused by liberals have the unintended  (one presumes) consequence of reducing liberals since people of faith, like my own family with grandchild twenty-one due this summer, continue to procreate at a rate far outpacing their liberal peers. Don't misunderstand. I can't rejoice at liberals killing their children or choosing the immorality of contraception, but it does have a consequence of allowing the voice of God's faithful to ring out more loudly. The answer to that "problem" is for liberals to attempt to steal our children through perversion education in the public schools (well advanced), indoctrination in college (also common since most college profs are liberals), and mind-numbing media. It is a gloomy picture even for Christian optimists who believe "All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and serve according to His purpose."

T.S. Eliot wrote about our times when he penned The Hollow Men:

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.

And, in the end, short of a miracle of grace, we will see his prophecy realized:

This is the way the world endsThis is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

 

Fr. Guarzino Speaks: Bless You, Father, For Your Faithful Witness

Washington D.C., Mar 14, 2012 / 01:25 pm (CNA).- 

In an extensive statement provided to CNA, Father Marcel Guarnizo insists that the reasons the Archdiocese of Washington placed him on leave “have everything to do” with his recent decision to withhold communion from Barbara Johnson. 

Fr. Guarnizo explains that he decided to issue the detailed March 14 statement because of the questions his parishioners and the public are asking about the recent incident.

His response, which is published below, offers corrections to previous news reports, responds to canonical arguments and gives information about where the allegations of intimidation came from.

Fr. Marcel Guarnizo’s Response to the Eucharistic Incident

Ah...Brave New World...

Sometimes it's laughable. You can't write satire any more; reality is so ridiculous!

Forget mother and father: 'Parents could be re-named  Progenitors A and B' under plans for gay marriage

Liberals Are the Most Intolerant

Who says so? The Pew Research group. Check out their findings here and see commentary about it here. Frankly, anyone who's ever "debated" with a liberal won't be surprised. First of all, they often don't debate. They make statements without evidence. Then if you reply with facts, they call them opinions and repeat their unproven statement. I used to find it interesting when I talked with pro-aborts in front of abortion mills where I was sidewalk counseling. Here's a sample conversation:

Me: The baby in the womb has a heartbeat about 21 days after conception. Often the mother doesn't even know she's pregnant yet. 

Pro-abort: That's your opinion. Nobody knows when life begins. 

Me: It's not an opinion; it's a medical fact. The baby has brain waves that can be measured  six weeks after conception. His body is completely formed at ten weeks. At twelve all the organ systems that you have are working in the baby's body. He even has finger prints. 

Pro-abort: It's just potential life. 

Me: No, it's a life with potential. When do you think life begins? 

Pro-abort: I don't know, but it's the mother's right to choose. If she doesn't want to be pregnant she has the right to an abortion.  

Me: Is there any limit? Can she abort the baby during the eighth month. 

Pro-abort: It's her body, she can do whatever she wants.  

Me: It's not her body. The baby has his or her own body separate from hers. We all started like that baby.  

Pro-abort: It's a parasite and if she doesn't want to be pregnant she has the right to an abortion. 

Me: So, when your mother was carrying you, you were just a parasite and she had a right to kill you? 

Pro-abort: Yes.

Me: So she could kill you any time before birth? How about a minute after birth? 

Pro-Abort: I don't want to talk about this anymore. You have your truth and I have mine.

Well, the fact is that a couple of "ethicists" (Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva)  support the same "truth." (Their article here.) They argue that after-birth abortion is okay too for any reason. Dave Andrusko at National Right to Life describes the argument by these so-called ethicists:

"This genetically ill person will cost our people's community
 60,000 marks over his lifetime."

Remember the basic—and I do mean basic—premise that undergirds the Giubilini and Minerva case for death is, “What we call ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled.” Put another way, whatever reasons, however morally unserious, we use to justify killing the unborn apply just as well to newborns. Why? 

“Neither fetus nor baby has developed a sufficient sense of his own life to know what it would be like to be deprived of it,” Ferguson writes. The kid will never know the difference, in other words. A newborn baby is just a fetus who’s hung around a bit too long.

Reread their argument and ask yourself how many mentally disabled individuals and patients with dementia fall into that same category. How many people with advanced Alzheimers have a "sufficient sense of [their] own [lives]? Will they be next on the list for "after-birth abortion?" No question in my mind. Euthanasia is next. The left will offer it as a solution to our economic problems. We've heard it before: the "useless eaters" have to go.

Is Jesus in the Eucharist Just a "Consolation Cookie?"

A priest sent this and, for obvious reasons, I offer it without identifying him. I'd hate to see another faithful priest bite the dust! 

I guess the slander mill is going in high gear. I was talking with some other priests before a Reconciliation service, and they were dismissive of the fact that Fr. Guarnizo refused to participate in a clear case of attempted desecration of the Blessed Sacrament. Sadly, it seems that Eucharistic praxis in the Church today still promotes the handling of this Most Blessed Sacrament as merely a consolation cookie, rather than as the gracious Person of the Son of God incarnate.

Even if Fr. Guarnizo did have "personality issues", any change of his status should have included a clear affirmation that his courageous defense of the sacredness of the Most Blessed Sacrament was commendable.

The demons of darkness continue to dance with perverted delight as many of our bishops insist that priests must ratify with the Precious Body and Blood of Christ those behaviors which the bishops are refusing to ratify with our insurance dollars. If they insist that the Eucharistic Christ Himself is giving a smiling "thumbs up" to those promoting the butchery of children in the womb, how can they have such great anxiety over financially supporting such butchery? Sadly, their lack of credibility is incredible.

What the Attack on Sarah Palin Reveals About Leftist Hate-Mongers

Hat tip to Ray at Political Brambles for pointing me to this great article debunking the Hollywood elite's attack on Sarah Palin in HBO's Game Change.  If anything shows what liars the left are, it's their foaming-at-the mouth hatred for Sarah Palin, and HBO's hit piece illustrates it in spades. Ray, who just watched the documentary, Undefeated, that outlines Palin's record of accomplishments as Governor of Alaska had something to say about Palin-hatred as well. My comments in red:

[Undefeated] showed the malicious distortions of the left lying and caricaturing Sarah Palin in ways that I thought were amazingly malicious. They follow Saul Alinsky's rule that the end justifies the means, so "borking" anyone with whom they disagree is A-okay. How can serious people, people with any sense of decency and honesty, do that?  That one's easy. Many on the left are dishonest and don't give a fig for decency. Remember Bill Clinton, serial groper? Any party that worships a probable rapist has an ethics problem. The documentary traced Palin's rise to the governorship of Alaska and showed how much of a reformer she was, cleaning up massive amounts of corruption.  The people of Alaska are better off because of Sarah Palin's integrity and hard work.  Then the left went into destroy mode and filed endless ethics complaints with no merit but which had to be defended by Palin in court at great expense.  She had no personal fortune.  Her family is middle-class and the campaign worked, and that's itself an indictment of the left and of the whole system that lets a good governor be driven from office. The courts are the left's lackeys. If leftists can't get what they want through law, like abortion or same sex marriage, they just mandate it through the courts. Which is why we need to throw out the bums in Congress and put some in who will use their constitutional power to remove these issues from the jurisdiction of the courts. I am disgusted with the left. Sigh...me too. There is one thing that I will never do because of this kind of thing and that is vote for a Democrat. Know what you mean...I think Joe Sobran got it right when he called them the "evil party." And it's the same thing Clarence Thomas' mom said after they ran him through their attempted high-tech lynching. Andrew Breitbart appeared in "Undefeated" and one of the things he said will stick with me a long time.  He said that the failure of the Republican Establishment to defend Palin against these unfounded attacks showed them up as a bunch of eunuchs. That sounds like a compliment compared to what they really are.  That's exactly right.  We have lost the virtues of courtesy, civility, honor, and respect and in our modern world it is starting to show in the total lack of trust you can have in your political servants would-be masters.  It's disgusting! AMEN!

Too Funny: No ID to Vote, but ID for Everything Else

This is a hoot. The liberals say that it's discriminatory to the poor and elderly to require an ID to vote. Why aren't they upset about IDs for all these other situations? Could it just be that they don't give a hoot about discrimination; they just want to make it easy to cheat at the polls?

Who Owes the Apology? Barbara Johnson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Media Contact: Paul Rondeau
March 13, 2012	540.659.4171 | e-mail: prondeau@all.org
BARBARA JOHNSON OWES MOTHER AND CATHOLIC CHURCH AN APOLOGY Liberal Media Complicit in Fake 'Lesbian Communion' Controversy:  ALL
Stafford, VA - Self-identified lesbian Barbara Johnson was denied Holy Communion by a Catholic priest at her mother's funeral. Within two weeks of Johnson taking the story to the media, Father Marcel Guarnizo was relieved of his priestly faculties at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, for reasons that the Archdiocese of Washington claims are unrelated----but also have not explained. Judie Brown, president and co-founder of American Life League, released the following statement: The only controversy here is that manufactured by Barbara Johnson. The gay-friendly media havepainted her the teary-eyed victim with grossly misrepresented and omitted facts about Ms. Johnson and Catholic teaching in order to further attacks on the Catholic Church. Ms. Johnson knows full well that the Church considers practicing homosexuality as "intrinsically disordered" and a grave sin. This by itself would bar her from presenting herself to receive the blessed sacrament of Communion. Moreover, in an interview just last year, Johnson claimed Buddhism as her way of life, not Catholicism. Either of these states disqualifies her from Communion. She nevertheless presented herself and then took the denial of the Blessed Sacrament to the liberal media for political purposes where she was welcomed with open arms to conjure yet another anti-Catholic story. Holy Communion is not some ceremonial wafer as denigrated by gay-friendly liberal media. The Catholic faithful believe the Host to be the true body of Christ. One must be in a state of graceaccording to Catholic teaching in order to partake this most holy sacrament. The priest has an obligation to make sure that the sacraments are respected and no one is entitled to the Eucharist. Ms. Johnson selfishly manipulated the funeral of her own mother, a lifelong Catholic, in an attempt to force Father Guarnizo to allow a sacrilege, then accused him of bringing politics into the Church. This selfish anti-Catholic activism shows that Ms. Johnson's statement that Catholics should put aside "political points of view" is sheer hypocrisy. So no, it is neither Father Guarnizo nor the Catholic Church that should be contrite. Rather, it is Ms. Johnson's disgraceful behavior that obliges an apology to both her mother and her mother's lifelong Church. ###   Media inquiries, please contact Paul E. Rondeau at 540.659.4171 or prondeau@ALL.org. Judie Brown is a three-time appointee to the Pontifical Academy for Life and author of The Broken Path: How Catholic Bishops Got Lost in the Weeds of American Politics.

An Open Letter from a Catholic in the Archdiocese of Washington

Dear practicing Catholic families,

Here is a thought for those who support Father Marcel. Years ago, a wonderful pro-life priest returned about 5,000 dollars to Chris Dodd (a very pro-abortion politician), who had donated to his parish, because it was blood money-raised on the back of aborted babies. Across the country, word got out to pro-lifers that this pastor was removed by his Bishop because of this action. Many pro-life folks sent small amounts of money to this priest. Anyway, he received over 15,000 dollars of donations. http://www.breakpoint.org/commentaries/5187-thanks-but-no-thanks

Since I am aware of other faithful priests, who have operated in good conscience and had their priestly faculties removed--how about, instead of giving to the Cardinal's Appeal, that we donate money directly to Father Marcel. What about a monthly stipend of $25 a month per family? Just a thought.

Money gives people power. Why give money to those who appear to use their power in questionable ways? Since I do not know all the facts....for those who want to continue giving to the Cardinal's appeal---more power to you...but how about,also, supporting Father Marcel. These men who have offered up their very lives to serve are persecuted beyond measure when trying to live out the Truth of the teachings of the Church.

I believe St. Louis de Montfort was kicked out by his Bishop as well, and lived in poverty for years. St. John of the Cross was imprisoned by the Calced Carmelites for trying to reform them.

Does anyone out there have Father Marcel's address. I know he is at St. John Neumann parish. BTW, Father Fran Peffley, who I think is most holy, has also recently been disciplined by Bishop Paul Loverde. Father Haley is living in poverty in Virginia- for years ago bringing to Bishop Loverde's attention the pornography that homosexual priests were viewing at Father Haley's assigned parishes as well as the affair that one of the pastors was having with a parishioner who the pastor later married.. "When there is an imminent danger for the Faith, Prelates must be questioned, even publicly, by their subjects." ~ St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II, II, q. 33, a. 4

"It is better that scandals arise than the truth be suppressed." ~ Pope St. Gregory the Great

"When circumstances make it necessary, it is not prelates alone who have to watch over the integrity of the faith." ~ Pope Leo XIII

"The road to hell is paved with the skulls of erring priests, with bishops as their signposts." ~ St. John Chrysostom (347-407), Doctor of the Church, generally considered the most prominent doctor of the Greek Church and the greatest preacher ever heard in a Christian pulpit.

"The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops." ~ St. Athanasius

"The road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops." ~ Saint John Eudes

Prayers,

Carol Shute

Will Sandra Fluke Hear the Truth at Georgetown?

Not likely! They are among the Catholic schools, in Mike Voris' words. that are "turning out prodigies, and soldiers, and heroes for the culture of death." They ignore Catholic truth and focus on the world's values instead. Does anybody at Georgetown care about Sandra Fluke's soul. Doesn't seem so.

Fr. Guarnizo Scandal Step by Step

I posted links to all the Fr. Guarnizo articles I've been collecting in order by date. If you are interested in a step by step scenario go here.

No Letup in Fr. Guarnizo Persecution

(Sigh...) It goes on and on. An article on the Washington Post Blog on Sunday discussed the Archdiocese's letter suspending Fr. Guarnizo for actions "unrelated" to refusing Communion to Buddhist lesbian Barbara Johnson at her mother's funeral Mass last month. Fr. LaHood, pastor at St. John Neuman where Fr. Guarnizo was serving before his removal read the letter on Sunday at Mass; then, according to the Post, said, "I realize this letter is hard to hear. Please keep mind that this is a first personnel issue, dealing with issues of ministry in the church. Father Guarnizo will have every opportunity to present his position."

Really? Excuse my cynicism, but I've seen how bishops allow priests to "present [their] positions." Fr. Guarnizo is now being accused of "intimidating" somebody at the parish. Wow! Nice little two-step there. All the revelations coming out about lesbian activist Barbara Johnson has made it hard to hoist Fr. Guarnizo on that petard, so the Archdiocese chooses a more general accusation that is hard to define or refute. What was his "intimidating" behavior? Did Fr. Guarnizo lose his temper and make somebody feel bad? Gosh, I've had priests' "intimidate" me with angry responses when I gently challenged their liturgical abuses. One leaned over and contemptuously said in my ear, "You're full of it, Honey." He then stomped off giving me the single digit salute over his shoulder. Hmm...I should have accused him of sexual harassment, but it didn't occur to me. Do you think his bishop would have suspended him?  So what did Fr. Guarnizo do, roll his eyes at some loony-tune comment? Did he kick a can in the parking lot that scared a liberal wimp? -- They have such tender feelings.

As one who's been accused of "violence" by liberal dissenters for daring to disagree with them,

Want a Laugh?

I love Jodi Miller, the stand up comic who does NewsBusted for the Media Research Center. If you need a laugh check out their YouTube page.

Occupy San Francisco Meets Jesus

Hat tip to Fr. Malloy at A Shepherd's Voice for pointing me to this great story. And two thumbs up for the evangelicals.

  Evangelicals Confront Occupy San Francisco

Now can someone explain exactly what these occupy-ers stand for? Let's see: They're against porn for its disrespect of women, but love abortion that makes women recyclable sex objects. They want liberation, but hate the greatest liberator -- Jesus Christ. They claim to be part of the 99% but hate Christians who, according to an ABC poll, represent 83% of Americans.

The Occupy movement is bogus. Behind it are the mob organizers like George Soros who is at the top of the 1%. Does anybody really think that the SEIU, Soros, the Communist Party, and every other group enabling this nonsense care two hoots about the ordinary Joe living on the edge or the lower middle class family whose parents have lost their jobs? A lot of people are living in a dream world playing at revolution on someone else's dime.

From the "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words" Department

Too true and too sad. Two thumbs down for Cardinal Wuerl. Visit Catholic Cartoon Blog for more interesting graphic commentary on issues that interest Catholics.

The Reality of the Obamacare Disaster

I can't believe how many people, especially young adults, really believe that Obamacare will expand health care to everybody in the universe without it costing a penny. Well, I'm about to go on Medicare and, frankly, I plan to do everything I can to stay healthy because  the elderly are going to get hit big time. Medicare is being cut to provide more to Medicaid and you can't cut and provide better or even the same services as before.

Here's an article on 10 Terrible Provisions in Obamacare. After you read about these, move on to some more exciting facts about Obama's takeover of health care in the articles below. It ain't purty. Most of the provisions come in after the election so all the folks living in blissful la-la land about the "free" health care for all won't get their grand awakening until their premiums go through the roof and their coverage is less. Wake up and smell the coffee, folks.
Point-By-Point: The Case Against Obamacare
Obamacare Knows Best?

Obamacare's Bad Medicine

Obamacare's Top 5 Broken Promises

Catchy Tune for Rick Santorum

Gotta give these Santorum supporters credit for a great tune and a gaggle of good looking youngsters, even if you can't understand all the words. At least I can't. 

Panetta Says He'll Look to U.N. and NATO to Make War

This is astounding! Leon Panetta believes the President has the right to declare war without approval by the Congress. Who would the administration ask permission from? Not the Congress...NATO and the U.N. There is absolutely NOauthority for NATO and the U.N. in the Constitution of the United States. The power to declare war is given to Congress under Article 1 Section 8:

The congress shall have Power...To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies...To provide and maintain a Navy.

There is not one word in the Constitution under the definition of the Executive power of the President that allows him to wage war without the authorization of Congress. And the same liberals who condemned George Bush for invading Iraq (another illegal undeclared war as was Vietnam and most of our modern conflicts) are now claiming that the President can "defend the U.S." with military force whenever he wants to while looking to international bodies rather than the Congress for "support." Panetta is a master of newspeak when he talks about how the administration will act to defend the U.S. How was the attack on Libya in any way a defense of the U.S.? Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted that Libya was no threat to U.S. interests.

When he was running for President Obama stated, “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.” Now, however, according to Panetta, he can do whatever he pleases and will seek justification from international sources outside the U.S.

Well, one congressman isn't taking this lying down. Congressman Walter Jones has introduced a bill (H.Con.Res. 107 "Expressing the sense of Congress that the use of offensive military force by a President...") that states that if the president takes offensive military action without the express authority of the Congress, that act would be "an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor." Let us hope many congressmen join this bill which may just be a stumbling block to the next unconstitutional military action against a country that represents no immediate threat to us. 

Are We Surprised? Fr. Guarnizo Suspended

Fr. Guarnizo has been suspended. Surprise, surprise. See below the letter to the the priests from the Archdiocese announcing the suspension. One more good priest bites the dust. Now, does anyone suppose that Barbara Johnson, the lesbian Buddhist, has received a letter from the Archdiocese telling her she should not receive Communion in the Catholic Church?

Terry at Abbey Roads posted the suspension letter yesterday and today he posted a quote from Our Lady's apparitions at Akita that predict the suffering of her faithful priests. I'm adding to his quote. Mary told Sr. Agnes:

"The Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord....The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them."

For those unfamiliar with Akita, the warnings of what will happen next are terrifying.

"As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests."

The Blessed Mother also told Sr. Agnes to recite this prayer with her sisters:

"Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father pleading for the coming of His Kingdom."
"Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls."
"Most holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your Special Child. Amen."

It is long past time to seriously fast and pray for the conversion of the world. When the message of Fatima was ignored, the result was a World War II, a conflict that claimed the lives of  50 - 70 million people, 2.5% of the world's population at the time. Read the signs of the times and take seriously the call to conversion. Meanwhile, pray for priests, all priests, but especially those unjustly persecuted by their bishops.

Sunday Meditation: When Silence is Evil

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."                                                    Dietrich Bonhoeffer

And not to warn those immersed in evil is a failure to love.

Peter Kreeft has an interesting article on the problem evil, a subject that deserves serious reflection especially during Lent when the Church admonishes us to repent and hear the good news of the Gospel.  Here's a little from Kreeft's article:

More people have abandoned their faith because of the problem of evil than for any other reason. It is certainly the greatest test of faith, the greatest temptation to unbelief. And it's not just an intellectual objection. We feel it. We live it. That's why the Book of Job is so arresting.... 

There are four parts to the solution to the problem of evil . First, evil is not a thing, an entity, a being. All beings are either the Creator or creatures created by the Creator. But every thing God created is good, according to Genesis. We naturally tend to picture evil as a thing—a black cloud, or a dangerous storm, or a grimacing face, or dirt. But these pictures mislead us. If God is the Creator of all things and evil is a thing, then God is the Creator of evil, and he is to blame for its existence. No, evil is not a thing but a wrong choice, or the damage done by a wrong choice. Evil is no more a positive thing than blindness is. But it is just as real. It is not a thing, but it is not an illusion....

 The worst aspect of the problem of evil is eternal evil, hell. Does hell not contradict a loving and omnipotent God? No, for hell is the consequence of free will. We freely choose hell for ourselves; God does not cast anyone into hell against his will. If a creature is really free to say yes or no to the Creator's offer of love and spiritual marriage, then it must be possible for the creature to say no. And that is what hell is, essentially. Free will, in turn, was created out of God's love. Therefore hell is a result of God's love. Everything is.

My Anonymous Friend and the Hound of Heaven

I have an anonymous friend who comments on almost every post I write. Since I don't know whether my friend is a man or a woman, I'll use the generic he to talk about him. My friend has a consistent style composed of a personal attack on me which includes name-calling with lots of colorful adjectives and generally an extraneous comment irrelevant to the post, e.g., an attack on the pope or priests or whatever. I stopped posting his comments about a week ago, but every day, there he is like a moth attracted to a flame.

Now, I'm curious about my friend because he spends so much time on a blog with which he vehemently disagrees. Strange. I occasionally comment on an unfriendly blog when I'm searching for something, but rarely sign up or return to see the reaction. It's predictable, why bother? But my anonymous friend comes back again and again and again to launch the same old attack against me. What's the point?

Awhile back I decided to pray a Hail Mary or a Memorare for him whenever he leaves a comment.

Leftist Rage According to Cher

She used to be a good singer. But Cher on a rampage is just kind of, well, pathetic.

Speaking the truth in love....

Bishop Thomas Olmstead from the the Catholic Sun August 10, 2010:

"Both Church teaching and the study of reality, the natural law, show that homosexuality is an objective disorder -- that is, it does not correspond to the God-given reality of the sexually differentiated human being. Therefore, to condone the homosexual lifestyle is never a move in favor of a person's true happiness. Moreover, to change the legal and societal definition of the fundamental instiution of marriage in order to suit an adult sexual preference is a selfish and irresponsible corruption of the truth."

Gosh, it's good to hear the plain truth from one of our shepherds. Many people live in a make-believe world where they follow the Humpty Dumpty maxim that words have no meaning except what they give them. So marriage is --- whatever -- a man with a man, a woman with a woman, Caligula and his sister, a man and x# of women. No culture can survive where truth has been exiled and the truth is that a state that defies the natural law is a state on the way to extinction.

Phony Contraception Debate

Cathy Ruse wrote an interesting article for the Wall Street Journal titled Limbaugh and our Phony Contraception Debate. It made me wonder. Do you think the contraception debate grew out of the Democrats doing some kind of a marketing survey that found 1) they can use the HHS debate over financing contraception to paint the Republicans as anti-woman and secure the female vote, and 2) they can use the attack on the Church to secure the anti-Catholic bigots' vote? You can almost see them rubbing their hands together saying, "Hey, what's not to like in that double whammy approach?"

It wouldn't surprise me if it's all a sham, and it wouldn't be the first time dishonest liberals used lies and manipulation as tactics to secure their goals. The same thing happened when the liberals wanted abortion on demand. Lawrence Lader, the man Betty Friedan called the "Father of the [abortion] movement" sat down with other abortion activists and started NARAL to secure abortion whatever it took. One of his co-workers was Bernard Nathanson, the New York abortionist who later converted to pro-life champion.

Nathanson revealed how he and Lader made up statistics and polls to further their agenda including the outrageous lie that "10,000 women died every year from illegal abortions." In 1972, the last year before Roe, the U.S. Department of Vital Statistics recorded 39 deaths. Nobody knows how many die today because the policy is to record deaths from abortion according to the complication. So a woman who dies from septicemia caused by massive infection from leaving fetal parts in the uterus would not be listed as an abortion death. The dishonesty continues for a protected procedure used to solve a social problem. Nobody knows how many women are dying from legal abortion or the related deaths through hormonal chemicals, breast cancer and suicide. Here's an interesting article that raises some of these issues.  

Lader's other strategy was to "make abortion a Catholic issue" and vilify all those celibate old men who hated women. Ridiculing Catholics outdated beliefs appealed to the anti-Catholic element in society and to those Protestant denominations that had already caved in on the life issues. It was very effective.

Today's liberals (or progressives if you prefer) are using the same old strategies. Time will tell whether their lies work as well today as they have in the past.