Margaret Sanger and the Myth that She Opposed Abortion

We've all heard it over and over from the mouth of Bill Clinton. "I want abortion to be safe, legal, and rare." Right! Does anyone believe that? The Clintons, the Obamas, and almost every other liberal politician never saw a means of abortion, including pulling a baby halfway out of the body and stabbing a scissors into his neck and sucking out his brains, that he couldn't support. Liberals lie!

Margaret Sanger was a liar extraordinaire. She lied about being a nurse. She let many of her associates take the hard road of jail while she escaped to England to play footsie with a series of lovers. She was a savvy publicist and knew that abortion wasn't acceptable to most women. It was the same lie that PP has carried on since the beginning. "It's not killing....It's just a blob of cells....There's no baby there...." etc., ad nauseum. But from the earliest days Sanger was giving instructions on how to self abort. In her pamphlet Family Limitation published between 1914 and 1917 she gave instructions on how to self abort. Since fertilization of the ovum was well understood by then, it's hard to believe Sanger didn't know that she was recommending the expulsion of a very early pregnancy. All her statements to the contrary, in my opinion, were about her reputation and her emphasis on "birth control." After all, she was already in direct conflict with the Catholic Church, her greatest enemy. She needed to put a wedge between women and their priests. Abortion was too big a fight to take on.

Here's what she says in Family Limitation after giving instructions on methods for bringing on your period. "By taking the above precautions, you prevent the ovum from making its nest in the lining of the womb."

Sanger was no fool. The same woman who said the best thing the large family could do was kill its offspring, was delighted to see early abortion used as a method of family planning.

"Lord, that I may see."

I love all the events in the gospels of Jesus curing the blind. Today's gospel is especially compelling because the man born blind is so feisty and not a bit timid about confronting the Pharisees' hypocrisy. I love it when he asks them sarcastically whether they want to follow Jesus whereupon they say they follow Moses and throw him out.

Can't you see him getting up, shaking the dust off his sandals and going off? He's a lot tougher than his parents who fear being banned from the synagogue.

I love it that Jesus comes looking for him and asks him if he knows the Son of Man. "Who is He, Sir?" And as soon as he hears that it's Jesus bows down and worships Him.

How many of us see as clearly as the man born blind? Lord, that we may see! That we may know You, love You, and serve You! Help us, Jesus, to desire Your will like the man born blind. Cure us of our blindness and our hardheartedness. And give us the desire to always do Your will.

RIP, Jeremiah Denton, Vietnam Prisoner of War, Model Catholic and Hero

Jeremiah Denton at his homecoming in 1973

I have admired and loved Jeremiah Denton since I read years ago his personal testimony, When Hell Was in Session, about the "Hanoi Hilton." He became famous for blinking in Morse Code the word torture during a propaganda interview televised internationally. I'm not sure whether he wrote this in his book or I saw it in a later article, but I was struck by his description of the trauma of returning to the U.S. After eight years as a POW he arrived home and driving from the airport was shocked at billboards and other signs of a growing depravity in our country.

Suppose someone who died in the '50s was miraculously raised and returned today? What do you think he would say about the country and world we live in? How would he respond to front page news? What would he say about security at our airports, not to mention in our schools and many public buildings? What would he think about the terrorist barriers erected around the White House and the Capitol? How would he respond to billboards advertising XXX adult bookstores and "gentlemen's clubs?"

If someone showed him videos and articles from Waco, Ruby Ridge, 9/11, the Boston marathon bombing, police murder of innocent people, etc. how would he react? What would he think about public officials shilling for abortion and sodomy?

He would probably think he was dropped into an X-rated, depraved Twilight Zone.

Read Denton's obituary at the Washington Post (linked below). It mentions his establishment of the Coalition for Decency and his efforts to strengthen the American family. I pray he is not the end of a dying breed of courageous Catholic men, but that his heroic example will encourage others to pick up the baton and move forward! May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Jeremiah A. Denton Jr., Vietnam POW and former U.S. senator, dies at 89

Homosexual Civility?

Gay activists hurl feces at German parents protesting pro-gay school curriculum

Just think, homeschooling is illegal in Germany, so parents either have to find private schools where this garbage is not included in the curriculum (which excludes many lower income families) or they have to leave the country. They are slaves of an intolerant government that believes they own the children. And note that the police failed to protect the parents. Remind anyone of a former time in Germany? The untermenschen have been expanded. 

Stay Away from Boston Children's Hospital

The Justina Pelletier story should strike fear in the heart of every parent and grandparent in the country. It shows that a child can be kidnapped by the state merely because parents choose of course of medical treatment advised by well-regarded medical experts that another doctor disputes. The irony that the Pelletier nightmare began with a recently graduated medical resident is shocking! His opinion in the ER that all Justina's symptoms were in her head, put there by her parents, began this horror story. And now, a doctor is warning parents to never take their children to BCH. Because the same thing could happen to anyone who ends up in a dispute over treatment options. Read this important update from Liberty Counsel and then I hope you'll join me by contributing to their work.

Doctor Warns Parents to Protect Their Rights, Stay Away from Hospitals Like BCH

Skip Noah and Its Evil, Pagan Agenda!

I don't plan to see Noah. I don't relish giving money to a Hollywood that mocks Christians and often produces films that lie about our beliefs. The day of the biblical blockbuster that respected Christians even while embelishing the story, The Ten Commandments leaps to mind, is long gone. The cynical view says producers mostly respected our pocketbooks, but at least our values weren't undermined, ridiculed, and distorted.

 I saw The Ten Commandments as a child  (and later Ben Hur) on school field trips and remember well the excitement and the spellbinding impact of seeing them on the big screen. But there's apparently little biblical truth in the current Noah film and a large dose of liberal agenda. Check out this review about Noah pushing evolution and black magic and this one calling the movie "disgusting and evil paganism." Here's how reviewer Ken Ham puts it:

Do you really want your family to see a pagan movie that has Noah as some psychopath who says if his daughter-in-law’s baby is a girl, he will kill it as soon as it’s born. And then when two girls are born, bloodstained Noah (the man the Bible calls righteous Noah-Genesis 7:1), brings a knife down to one of the baby’s heads to kill it and at the last minute doesn’t do it-and then a bit later says he failed because he didn’t kill the babies. How can we recommend this movie and then speak against abortion! Psychopathic Noah sees humans as a blight on the planet and wants to rid the world of people.

Yup, Hollywood couldn't resist giving their favorite sacrament and the culture of death in general a biblical blessing no matter how much they had to twist Genesis to do it. I saw The Ten Commandments as a pre-teen. Would you want to take even a teenager to see this monstrous film?

My recommendation on Noah? Watch the episode in The Bible with John Houston depicting the patriarch. His portrayal of Noah hearing the voice of God reminds me of Bill Cosby's hilarious routine as Noah takes shelter in his workshop and peeps out the door, awe and reverence in his face. In my opinion it's the best part of the film. Here's the scene as the animals load onto the ark with Noah as a sort of zoological Pied Piper.It's charming. I doubt anyone will say that about Hollywood's latest Noah. Anybody with sense would have pushed him off the ark.

A Good Lenten Message to Priests: Hear Confessions!

“Wait for faithful in the confessional,” Apostolic Penitentiary tells priests

Remember St. Jean Vianney who spent most of his day in the confessional:

My children, we cannot comprehend the goodness of God towards us in instituting this great Sacrament of Penance. If we had had a favour to ask of Our Lord, we should never have thought of asking Him that. But He foresaw our frailty and our inconstancy in well-doing, and His love induced Him to do what we should not have dared to ask. If one said to those poor lost souls that have been so long in Hell, "We are going to place a priest at the gate of Hell: all those who wish to confess have only to go out, " do you think, my children, that a single one would remain? The most guilty would not be afraid of telling their sins, nor even of telling them before all the world. Oh, how soon Hell would be a desert, and how Heaven would be peopled! Well, we have the time and the means, which those poor lost souls have not. And I am quite sure that those wretched ones say in Hell, "O accursed priest! if I had never known you, I should not be so guilty!" (Read more from this great saint here.)

Padre Pio was also a prisoner of the confessional:

"God runs after the most stubborn souls. They cost him too much to abandon them." 

"It is a tremendous responsibility to sit in the tribunal of the confessional." (Read more here.)

Thank God for "The light is on for you" initiative. Every Wednesday evening at every church in the Diocese of Arlington and Washington, D.C. a priest waits to hear confessions.

• Find a convenient Confession time in the Diocese of Arlington
• Find a convenient Confession time in the Archdiocese of Washington  

Justina Still a Captive of Boston DCF

On Tuesday, Judge Johnston once again refused to return Justina Pelletier to her family and berated her parents for their hostility and for taking the case to the public. (What would YOU do if Justina was your daughter?) It appears that if they can, DCF, with the cooperation of this evil judge, will hold this child until she is either 18-years-old or until, a real danger, they kill her. Look at the difference in the photos of this child before and after her kidnapping by Boston Children's Hospital and DCF.

Justina's sister, after a recent visit, said she has never seen her sister look so sick. Her legs were swollen and she could not feel her feet. This is very rapidly becoming a medical crisis for this poor girl who has been deprived of her family, has received NO schooling under DCF, and has been refused visits from priests and denied religious services. What permanent damage is being done by this rogue judge (who had the gall to confirm in his statement the medical diagnose that her illness is pyschosomatic. What medical expertise does he have?) and an out-of-control government. Listen to an update from Liberty Council here and please donate to free Justina.

Healing Service at Shrine of the Sacred Heart Tomorrow Night

I received a message asking me to advertise a healing service tomorrow night and am happy to do it. If you know anyone who would appreciate this information, please pass it on.

Healing Service (no Mass, but a Liturgy of the Word, followed by individual healing prayer) in Spanish, March 28, Service: 6:30-8:30 PM
Shrine of the Sacred Heart

3211 Sacred Heart Way NW,

Washington, DC 

No Confessions

Prayer Request for our Scandalized Catholic Children

I received the email below from a friend in Charlotte with regard to a controversy over a religious sister explaining to Catholic high school students the truths of Catholic teaching on homosexuality. That such an event could cause "controversy" at a Catholic school is highly disturbing. That it could be the source of the orthodox chaplain's persecution is outrageous. It illustrates that many parents at Catholic schools are either 1) not Catholic and oppose church teaching or 2) are cafeteria Catholics who pick and choose the doctrines they follow and publicly repudiate those with which they disagree. If you live in Charlotte, I hope you will sign up for the 40 hours prayer vigil. If you don't live in Charlotte, please join spiritually praying for the parents who are scandalizing their children. Please also pray for Sr. Jane Dominic, but especially for the school chaplain Fr. Kauth. "St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...." 

My dear friends in Christ,

As many of you have heard by now, our very own Charlotte Catholic High School is embroiled in quite a spiritual battle. Among other crisis, we are currently witnessing an intense backlash regarding a lecture given to the student body last Friday by Sr. Jane Dominic of Aquinas College. In her talk, Sister highlighted the beauty found in God's creation, specifically that we are made in His image as male and female. She lovingly and methodically went through salvation history, employing sacred scripture, art, philosophy and science to develop the theme that God's gifts are intrinsically woven into our nature as either male or female; and that when we serve each other through these roles, we bring untold blessings to our families and to society. The talk espoused nothing but perfect Church teaching, which I'm sad to say is not universally accepted at our school. 

The controversy is primarily centered around the second half of Sister's talk which tackled homosexuality. She approached this difficult subject with humility and bravery. I attended the lecture and I felt joyful and relieved that such a large group of our teenagers were being exposed to these truths. 

Unfortunately, the most malicious attacks are being directed at our good chaplain, Father Kauth, who invited Sister to speak. And while he was not previously aware of Sister's plans to poignantly challenge homosexuality, he obviously stands in defense of her and more importantly in defense of Church teaching. This fact outrages some of our parents, who sadly prefer to threaten and scorn rather than explore Church teaching.

I invite each of you to take part in a 40 hour prayer vigil in support of Father Kauth. As our leader in the Faith at Charlotte Catholic, he will bear the brunt of this battle. Let us get behind him and help him.

My greatest thanks to those of you who will attend,
As always in Christ,

To sign up, go to: 

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C054FA9AB2FAA8-prayer

And please forward on!

Child Abuse and the Family: Traditional Marriage and Fidelity Protect Children

There have been many studies evaluating the safety of children relative to the family. The Heritage Foundation has several important papers on this. One describes a "seminal study" from the U.K. where cases of child abuse from 1982-1988 were analyzed. A important summary statement from the British study is this:

The safest environment for a child--that is, the family environment with the lowest risk ratio for physical abuse--is one in which the biological parents are married and the family has always been intact.

Heritage points out that similar studies in the U.S. on child abuse are few. And they report the findings of the British study:

The British Data 

From Contraception to Same Sex "Marriage"

UPDATE:  World Vision Reverses Decision

Our friends at AFTAH are bewailing the move of World Vision, a major evangelical charity, to change their policies allowing the hiring of homosexuals who are "married" to their same sex lovers. Well...it had to come to this. It was inevitable once the Christian churches capitulated on contraception an attack on love that became the seedbed for other sexual evils including abortion and sodomy. Did you know that once all the Protestant denominations opposed contraception? The fall began with the Anglicans.

Every decade since the late 19th century, the Anglicans have convened an assembly of bishops called by the Archbishop of Canterbury to discuss and adopt resolutions. In 1930, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, a Christian denomination approved of the use of contraception in limited situations for married couples. Even the Washington Post was appalled and ran an editorial that could have been an appendix to a papal document:

Aborted Babies Heat Hospitals in U.K.

The movie Soylent Green, where the dead were recycled as food, was fiction and A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift that suggested the famine in Ireland could be solved by having the Irish eat their babies was satire. But sometimes truth mirrors fiction pretty accurately. So we find in the macabre fact that U.K. hospitals are using aborted infants as a green energy source to heat hospitals. No decent burials for these little ones. Let them prove useful in their deaths since they weren't allowed to be useful in life. Imagine the uproar if executed prisoners' bodies were used to heat prisons!

Aborted babies incinerated to heat UK hospitals

Happy Feast Day, Blessed Mother!

Annunciation by Simone Martini and Lippo Menni, 1333

Is the Mystery Solved?

Malaysian PM: Flight ‘ended in southern Indian Ocean’

Correcting the Record on Pius XII

The slanders against Pope Pius XII have gone on long enough. Thankfully, things are beginning to change. And one of the leading voices defending the pope is a Jewish organization called Pave the Way Foundation. Director Gary Krupp says it is a Jewish responsibility to correct the injustice done against the wartime pope. Krupp calls the Pius XII slander the "worst character assassination of the 20th century" and a "media manipulation." Anyone with an honest and open mind who examines the documentation from World War II cannot help but realize that Pope Pius XII, far from being a villain who didn't care about the Jews, was a hero who was willing to be vilified for "silence" while he used all means at his disposal to save as many Jews as possible - 12,000 in Rome alone. The more you read the records, the more you see the truth about the pope's heroism. The film about Pius XII and the occupation of Rome starring James Cromwell, Under the Roman Sky, is a great introduction to the truth about this Servant of God. It's a great movie. If you haven't seen it, why not make it a Lenten activity and then begin to read the documents that tell the truth about this man who saved so many Jews and others from the hands of the Nazis. Venerable Pius XII, pray for us.





Check out:

Pave the Way Foundation

Pope Pius XII and the Jews

Sunday Meditation: Parables of Lent -- Dives and Lazarus

The Raising of Lazarus by Sebastiano del Piombo

Jesus captured the imaginations of his listeners with stories. And how compelling those stories are! This week at daily Mass we heard about the rich man Dives and the poor man Lazarus at his gate sitting there wishing he could eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. One aspect of the story always strikes me hard.

Did Jesus pick the name Lazarus for the poor man by accident? Hardly! Did He do anything by accident? Just think of the conversation between Dives and Father Abraham. "Send Lazarus to my brothers to warn them so they won't end up in this place." Abraham responds, "They have Moses and the prophets." Dives is convinced that isn't enough. They'll repent if someone comes back from the dead. And how does Abraham respond? "If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't believe  EVEN IF SOMEONE RISES FROM THE DEAD! 

How many times did Jesus tell this story? No doubt more than once as he traveled around Judea. And how long was it after He told the story before He raised the dead Lazarus from the tomb? Think of it.

Of Course Children are Safer with the LGBT Crowd than with Normal Families -- NOT!

3 children found starving, 1 chained to floor in California home

It never fails to amaze me that people actually propose that children are safer with homosexuals than with normal families. That's actually what a former safe-touch chairman in our diocese said several years ago at a meeting for CCD directors. She had an infant and I prayed she never actually left her baby with the local homosexual babysitter. Do I think all homosexuals are child molesters? Of course not. But there is a higher statistical probability of it. Pray for the poor little victims of these sick women. And for that matter, pray for them too. They sure need it! 

Liberals Obviously Don't Own Small Businesses

Liberals are accusing Matt Drudge of lying because he discussed paying the opt-out Obamacare tax which is in place for 2014. "Hey, that's not due until tax day in 2015," they said. Which once again shows how little liberals know about real work.

As a small business owner, Drudge and his self-employed brethren pay estimated taxes quarterly during the year, hence they are already paying taxes covering the first quarter of 2014. That the liberal ignoramuses don't get it makes it obvious none of them ever ran a small business and couldn't be bothered doing any research or fact-checking.

What's particularly offensive is that, even after being corrected, the liberals are still accusing Drudge of lying. So who are the liars among us? If you make a mistake that defames another, you have an obligation to correct it. Once you realize that what you said was incorrect and untrue, to continue to restate the falsehood becomes an act of slander, i.e., a lie that hurts another's reputation. An honest liberal would "fes up," admit his mistake, and apologize. Unfortunately, in most cases "honest liberal" is an oxymoron. They tend to be Alinskyite true believers who think the end justifies the means and, if you just keep repeating a lie, many people will believe it. And if your target happens to be somebody with whom you disagree politically or morally, hey you are justified in trashing his reputation no matter how many lies you have to tell!

You can read the article that got me pondering on this by going here.

Sometimes the Good Guys Win! Three Cheers for the "Abortion Abolitionists!"

High School Banning Pro-Life Group’s Fetal Models Caves, Restores Free Speech

It amazes me that the administrators would even consider banning a display showing fetal models. Didn't we all begin life that way? 

"I Don't Understand Evolution" Says Top Chemist

One of the top ten chemists in the world, Professor James M. Tour, says there are NO scientists who can explain macro-evolution:

Although most scientists leave few stones unturned in their quest to discern mechanisms before wholeheartedly accepting them, when it comes to the often gross extrapolations between observations and conclusions on macroevolution, scientists, it seems to me, permit unhealthy leeway. When hearing such extrapolations in the academy, when will we cry out, “The emperor has no clothes!”?
…I simply do not understand, chemically, how macroevolution could have happened. Hence, am I not free to join the ranks of the skeptical and to sign such a statement without reprisals from those that disagree with me? … Does anyone understand the chemical details behind macroevolution? If so, I would like to sit with that person and be taught, so I invite them to meet with me.

Check out the interesting article here and don't miss the comments. It's an interesting discussion and as far as I read it never descended into name-calling, which is somewhat unusual. Must have been because Richard Dawkins didn't participate. Now there is a name-caller par excellence if one can use the adjective "excellent" for someone as uncivil and unkind as he is.

Nobody is "Born That Way"...

...say gay historians.

The point of this article is that the gay identity is a recent phenomena in Western culture, appearing about 150 years ago. Prior to that, of course, there were individuals who engaged in same sex relationships, but didn't identify as belonging to a distinct group and certainly didn't claim to be "born that way." This admission undermines the entire "civil rights" claims of gay activists that their sexual proclivities entitle them to special treatment.

While the article never uses the word "choice," I found that concept implied throughout. So these historians, many of them active in the LGBT community, recognize that people make sexual choices. I doubt if they regard any of those choices as wrong or sinful, but that simply points to our modern culture of anything goes.

Can We Criticize the Pope?

The blogosphere is buzzing with the question of whether it's okay to criticize a pope. I'm not going to answer that question. Rather, I'm going to post here the beginning of a talk given by Dr. William Marra several decades ago. I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Marra speak only once before he died, but he was an authentic voice of truth and reason. Please pray for the repose of his soul and meditate on his words. And consider the silliness of saying, "We can never criticize the decisions or imprudent acts of a pope in office, but it's perfectly fine to condemn the acts of previous popes." Now isn't that a head scratcher? 

ON PAPALOTRY

By Dr. William Marra Ph.D.

Belief and Obedience
My great teacher, Dietrich von Hildebrande wrote four outstanding books on the present crisis in the Church. Recently, his latest book, The Charitable Anathema was published. I wish we could mail a copy to Rome. A chapter in this book contains one of the most important lectures he ever gave to the Roman Forum. It concerns the difference between belief and obedience. He called it the critical difference. It was masterful.
The point is this: if there is a problem on a question of truth, and there’s a big dispute, and finally Rome speaks (invoking its infallible authority) and says, “This statement must be believed de fide”. Then this is the end of the dispute. Roma locuta causa finita. Rome has spoken, the case is finished. That is the end of it. Therefore, we owe assent of belief to statements of truth.
However, practical decisions of Churchmen, even the highest authorities; the Pope, bishops, priests are something quite different. We do not say, for example, that a command of a Pope or decision of a Pope to call a council is true or not. We can say that it is wise or not ... it is opportune or not. Such a decision in no way asks us to assent to its truth. It asks us to obey the command or commands that pertain to us. This is what von Hildebrande meant by difference between belief and obedience. And we Catholics are never obliged to believe that a given command, or given decision of anyone, including the Pope, is necessarily that of the Holy Ghost.  (Read more here.....)

St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church,...

...pray for our poor, sick world, and especially for innocent children who are so targeted by Satan. Bless the work of all those committed to rescuing little ones from abortion, teaching them the faith, and helping families in crisis. St. Joseph, guardian of Mary and the Christ Child, watch over our families and intercede for us.

Childhood of Christ by 16th c. painter Gerrit van Honthorst,  from the Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Loyola Marymount: Flipping Off the Faith!

Finalists for Loyola Marymount dean both worked at Planned Parenthood

Jesuit universities, sadly, are all too predictable when it comes to flipping off the faith. That LMU would choose two candidates immersed in the culture of death as finalists for dean is horrifying but not surprising. Why would Catholic parents shell out $40,000+ per year to have their children scandalized and their faith undermined? Many probably aren't. Lots of Catholic schools these days have watered down the faith to pacify the large number of secular students in their ranks. But why would any parents want to promote the garbage at LMU? All parents who underwrite this school need their heads examined. And if you need more evidence of LMU's apostasy check out these links:

Threats to LMU's Catholic Identity

Presentation of 8, a play promoting same-sex "marriage" (N.B. read more about "8" which centers on the overturning of Proposition 8 in California, the law that protected traditional marriage. The play is sponsored by homosexual activist organizations.)

2008 Art Exhibit on "Dissent" The artilce on the LMU website described it thus:

Certain works in the show examine gender issues and question mainstream media’s relentless reinforcement of rigid ideas of what it means to be masculine or feminine. Other pieces call for Black empowerment or challenge the many labels—ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality—used to pigeonhole people in our society today.(Is it any wonder Catholics mirror their secular brethren on issues like same sex "marriage" and "gender issues?")

Fr. Thomas Rausch, Professor of Theology at LMU. 

Diabolical, Dissident Nuns

Dissident nuns take stand in favor of HHS abortifacient mandate

Just what we need in the Church, eh? Nuns shilling for the murder of the innocent? That's what NCAN (National Coalition of American Nuns) is all about as well as contraception, homosexuality, and lots of other moral evils. Shocking, eh? Except that it's become so common.

Remember when nuns were in the classroom teaching little ones to read? What a difference a few decades makes! Now they're out teaching families to kill their children and encourage the survivors to screw anything in sight with abandon. There's a phrase for the attitude of these nuns. It's called diabolical disorientation. To see just how diabolically disoriented read about Sr. Donna Quinn, head of NCAN who declared the papal election of Pope Francis invalid because no women were "involved in the process." Read more about a woman who is all-too-typical of today's dissenting nuns who, by the way, are egged on by clerics like Fr. James Martin, S.J. God help our poor Church with people like this claiming to be believers.

CNN Hosts Radical Nun

The Scandal of Sr. Donna Quinn

Another Woman Injured by Abortion?

Ho-hum...yawn...It's just collateral damage in the abortion industry.

Abortion Doc Who Kills Babies Born Alive Sued for “Permanently Injuring” Woman in Botched Abortion

Wearing Your Green Today?

I love St. Patrick. Who can resist a man that drives serpents out of an entire country? Not to mention a man with the courage to defy a pagan king's order not to light a fire who reacts by going to high hill where all can see the Easter light! Take that, you minions of darness! That makes him in my mind a perfect saint for Lent where his feast day always falls. He knows how to prepare us for Easter joy. Just put on the armour of God! And that brings me to St. Patrick's breastplate. Here's the portion with which most are familiar:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Contraception is Devastating to Women's Health!

The Real War on Women

Feminists and pro-contraception cheerleaders occupy the front lines in the war against women. They are willing to kill their sisters to promote their agenda. And many medical people have joined the war expanding it to a war against truth and science. They are true believers no matter what the facts show. Meanwhile, collateral damage includes disastrous environmental impacts. Do the research; learn the truth. Humanae Vitae was right all along. You can't go wrong in following the Church.

Sunday Meditation: Living Lent - On the Mountaintop or in the Slough of Despond

Living Lent

I love today's gospel, the Transfiguration of Jesus. Wouldn't it be great to spend our Lent on the mountaintop seeing Jesus in all His glory conversing with Moses and Elijah? But, let's face it, most of Lent is slogging through the Slough of Despond. And it seems this winter many of the people I know have been there literally - picking up one foot at a time out of the muck and moving forward oh-so-slowly. And sometimes the slough is so deep and sucks us down so much that lifting up that foot seems nearly impossible.

Is that your Lent? Is that your life right now? If it is, I encourage you to smile a lot. Remember Jesus' advice to those fasting to wash your face and spruce up so only your heavenly Father will know you are fasting? We can do the same with our sufferings. By all means ask others to pray, but then smile and move forward no matter how slowly. Jesus doesn't use a stop watch to measure our progress and, you can be sure, He's your coach right there on the course with you, helping you up when you fall and cheering you on. So,..."just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."

Austin Ruse and Crazy Cultural Hypocrisy...

...where "words kill" and literal killing is just a choice.

What am I talking about? A few days ago Austin Ruse, head of C-FAM (Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute), a U.N. watch dog group, filled in as a guest host on American Family Radio. During the show he said this about gender studies what passes for education at the modern university:

That is the nonsense that they teach in women’s studies at Duke University, this is where she learned this. The toxic stew of the modern university is gender studies, it’s “Sex Week,” they all have “Sex Week” and teaching people how to be sex-positive and overcome the patriarchy. My daughters go to a little private religious school and we pay an arm and a leg for it precisely to keep them away from all of this kind of nonsense. I do hope that they go to a Christian college or university and to keep them so far away from the hard left, human-hating people that run modern universities, who should all be taken out and shot.

Does anyone seriously think Austin literally advocates the execution of college professors?

We Need More Good Men to "Curse Scoundrels!"

“It's not that we don’t have enough scoundrels to curse; it’s that we don’t have enough good men to curse them.”   G.K. Chesterton: Illustrated London News, March 14, 1908

This Chesterton quote reminds me of Fulton Sheen's essay, A Plea for Intolerance:

America, it is said, is suffering from intolerance-it is not. It is suffering from tolerance. Tolerance of right and wrong, truth and error, virtue and evil, Christ and chaos. Our country is not nearly so overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded. 

Tolerance is an attitude of reasoned patience toward evil … a forbearance that restrains us from showing anger or inflicting punishment. Tolerance applies only to persons … never to truth. Tolerance applies to the erring, intolerance to the error … Architects are as intolerant about sand as foundations for skyscrapers as doctors are intolerant about germs in the laboratory.

Prudence: Disappearing Among Our Clergy?

The four cardinal virtues are prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. St. Thomas Aquinas calls prudence the "mother" of the others. The word cardinal comes from a Latin root meaning "hinge" and of the four hinge virtues, prudence, in fact, has pre-eminence. As Josef Pieper says in his book, The Four Cardinal Virtues, "[N]one but the prudent man can be just, brave, and temperate, and the good man is good in so far as he is prudent." Pieper goes on to say that proclaiming prudence as the first among the moral virtues is met with a sense of "incomprehension and uneasiness." Modern man is more likely to attribute prudence to the man who runs away to fight another day, than to the man who, seeing an immediate danger stands his ground. Modern man would rather tell a "prudent" lie than face an uncomfortable truth. As Pieper puts it:

A Sonnet for Pope Francis on His Anniversary

I was recently visiting a website inviting poems to celebrate Pope Francis' first anniversary. There were several limericks and a haiku, but I decided to write a sonnet. So here it is, slightly different from what I left at The Catholic Review:

Two unique pope for our time

A Sonnet for Pope Francis

To Peter's chair he came, a big surprise

With love for Lady Poverty his mark, 

Refusing pomp and trappings, he abides

In simple rooms outside the papal park.

St. Peter's has not seen his like before,

Although that could be said of every pope.

Each is unique in place and time, what's more,

Each offers to his age the gift of hope.

Pope Francis is God's gift for these hard days

When mankind seems intent on suicide.

He tells us to be brave, embracing ways

That call to all to rush to Jesus' side.

We cannot know the day or know the hour,

But we can till the garden for faith's flower.

Justina Speaks: "I Feel Like a Prisoner!"

Justina Pelletier Speaks Out: “I Feel Like a Prisoner”

She wants to go home and it's high time the kidnappers at Boston DCF were forced to let her go. This child is a hostage. Where are the FBI swat teams when you need them? Instead of defending Justina, law enforcement and the courts have backed up a rogue child services organization. They should all be sued for denying her the right to an education, the right to practice her religion, and for unjust imprisonment. If you haven't signed the Free Justina Petition go here. 

One of the scariest things about what's happened to Justina is that it can happen to anyone. Child Services around the country are kidnapping kids based on anonymous tips from vindictive neighbors or on spurious and vague charges of emotional neglect or emotional abuse. It's not just happening in the U.S. Check out this U.K. article lamenting that,  "Evidence is accumulating on all sides to show that far too many children are now being removed from their parents wholly unnecessarily, often for laughably inadequate, even absurd, reasons." And here's an article about a Texas family with two biological and eleven adopted children who were considered "too strict." The children were returned to the family after a few days, but they had the financial means to fight. How many families do?

Praise God for Another Miracle Baby

San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Keep Praying for Justina!

Prayer vigil at 1:00pm on March 17, 2014 

on the steps of the Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston 

before the beginning of the 2:00pm hearing 

to decide the fate of Justina Pelletier.

)

Note that the court hearing is happening on St. Patrick's Day. Please pray through the intercession of St. Patrick who himself was kidnapped and unjustly held in captivity. May Justina be freed on his feast day!

More Americans Without Health Insurance...

...than 2008 when Obama was elected. Good going, Mr. President!

Gallup: Percentage of Uninsured Americans Higher Now Than in 2008

Note that employer coverage is declining which is what the liberals want -- a single payer program run by the government with bureaucrats, not doctors, deciding what is "appropriate" care. Welcome to the brave new world where the elderly will be deemed expendable because they are too expensive to treat. 

Remember This? Who Would You Rather Have Making Foreign Policy Decisions?

...the low information community organizer or the man with the brain?



Consider the crises we've faced. How differently do you think Romney would have handled Benghazi, for example?

 We have a lightweight in the White House who cares nothing for Americans on the front lines or Americans in the big cities or small towns. The only Americans he appears to care about attend Democrat fundraisers carrying big, fat wallets. The sooner he's gone, the better for America.

Check Out Bob Marshall for Congress

If you want an honest man in Congress, send Bob Marshall a donation. Visit his website here.

Another Whopping Scandal from Cardinal Dolan

Cardinal Dolan Says "Bravo" to Gay Football Player Michael Sam

I really don't understand Cardinal Dolan. Supposing I "came out" in public declaring that I am oriented toward adultery. There I am shouting from the rooftops, "Hey I'm really attracted to having sex with other women's husbands. And, as a matter of fact, I've dated a few." Would Cardinal Dolan cheer me on and say, "Bravo, good for her? I can't judge." Somehow I doubt it. 

But isn't that what Michael Sam is basically saying, "Hey, I'm attracted to having sex with other guys. And I've dated a few." (He said that in a interview.)  What's to celebrate in that? Didn't Jesus say even to look at another with lust was to commit the act in one's heart? Aren't our sinful "orientations" something to save for the confessional?

Cardinal Dolan needs a reality check. What does it do to the faithful when a shepherd blesses the immoral inclinations of others? Frankly, I feel like I've been sucker-punched! I don't judge Michael Sam; that's God's job. I do judge his choices to "date" other men. So I hope readers will pray for him. 

But pray even harder for Cardinal Dolan because scandal by someone in his position is serious indeed! 

Equal Time for a Scandalous Catholic College...

If you read my previous post about feminist studies at UC Santa Barbara, you no doubt noted the fixation of "feminist studies" with sex, porn, and prostitution. But, hey, I don't want to just pick on the secular institutions when Catholic universities are so busy competing. Here's an article about Georgetown with a few chosen paragraphs following. What a way for a so-called Catholic school to prepare for Lent, eh?

Georgetown University student group hosts ‘Sex Positive Week’ with erotic dancing instruction

Director of Student Activities?

And now...some of the highlights. Note the "clever" double entendre in the first line. Isn't that precious, as Gollum would say?

“Bring Your Semester to A Climax with Sex Positive Week," states the United Feminists’ Facebook page which encouraged students to take part in the week of activities. “Beginning this Hump Day, February 26th, until next Hump Day, March 5th, we will be celebrating Sex-Positive Week!”

The week was scheduled to begin with a social media campaign with twitter hash tags including “#HoyaSexa and #SexPositive.” They requested that “all graphic visuals [be] rated between PG-13 and R.”

Illustrating What's Wrong With College These Days

Can you imagine making a living on "feminist studies" looking at pornography and sex work? Wow! But it's no doubt more riveting than basket weaving. Here's the article that got me thinking about college wasting disease.

UC Santa Barbara professor incites violence against peaceful student demonstrators

Instead of engaging students in argument, this "professor" attacked the pro-life students and destroyed their property. Could it be she had no argument? Take a look at her background and ask yourself whether you'd want your kids in her classes:

Meditations for Lent: Jesus is Tempted in the Desert

Sometimes a picture says it better than words. Rubens certainly did. The devil always comes bringing something he says we can't and shouldn't resist. After all, bread is a good thing isn't it?

For Lent: Do You Pray the Daily Rosary?

Read the article below and consider the power of praying the rosary in union with Mary and the Holy Trinity and the angels and saints. Outside of the Mass there is no more effective prayer than the devotion of the Holy Rosary. If you aren't praying the daily rosary why not start for Lent? If you already pray the rosary, consider adding another set or at least another decade. What a blessing to pray the Sorrowful Mysteries every day contemplating the great love of Jesus who gave Himself up FOR YOU, not humanity in general, but FOR YOU. If you can't say an entire five-decade rosary, how about choosing one decade. It won't take you five minutes and you will be giving ten blows to the devil's head and ten kisses to a loving mother! Lent calls for us to focus on prayer, sacrifice, and almsgiving. Increasing your recitation of the rosary is a prayer that will bless your Lent!

The Power of the Holy Rosary: Beautiful Reasons for Praying the Rosary Even More Often

By Father Gabriel Amorth

One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism:

"Every Hail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end."

The secret that makes this prayer so effective

Have You Signed the Petition to Rescue Justina Pelletier?

If you haven't, please go here. Imagine Justina was your daughter, removed from your family because you followed the recommendations of a team of expert doctors treating her. How would you feel watching your daughter be treated like a prisoner, denied schooling, denied religious services, treated worse than a prisoner in one of our penitentiaries? That's the reality for Justina. Please sign the petition and pass it on. To allow a bunch of Child Services bureaucrats to abuse a child and kidnap her from her parents is shocking and horrifying. Please help end the Pelletier's nightmare!

Former Chancellor of Fisher More Breaks Silence

Taylor Marshall, Catholic apologist and former Chancellor at Fisher More College has broken silence to describe the very serious situation at the college which is apparently directly related to the president's positions and financial irresponsibility. Check out his Facebook statement here and please pray for everyone involved. The ones who will suffer most are clearly the students.

Catholic World Report Take on Fisher More College Dispute

For those following the problems at Fisher More, Catholic World Report has more on the matter.

Bishop of Fort Worth Draws the Line

Bishop Bans Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at Fisher More College

BREAKING & EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Bans Fisher More College from offering Traditional Latin Mass to students
The students of Fisher More College recently raised $300,000 for their alma mater to prevent its closure due to financial constraints. In a time when many Catholic schools offer the lewd V-Monologues every February and celebrate "pride" proms and offer queer movie festivals, Fisher More offers students the beauty of Gregorian Chant and the Mass of the ages. Young people come from across the U.S. to attend this small Catholic college.

Why Bishop Michael Olson's draconian assault on this faithful little Catholic school?

Another Interesting Article in Chronicles

I'm reading the March issue of Chronicles and it's filled with interesting articles that set me thinking. And every now and then I come across a quote that is too good not to share. In an article titled Muslim Murder in London, author Christie Davies discusses the horrendous, cold-blooded killing of Lee Rigby. The off-duty British soldier who was wearing civilian clothing was run down by two Muslims then repeatedly stabbed and finally nearly decapitated with a machete while his attackers shouted "Allahu akbar!" It was a one more gruesome illustration from the "religion of peace." Davies points out that:

No one in power in Britain is willing to challenge this absurd proposition by citing the numerous hateful verses from the Koran in favor of violence and oppression....What makes life tolerable in Britain is that most of our large Muslim population are indifferent Muslims. They prefer leading a quiet British bourgeois life of work, domesticity, and the pursuit of happiness to answering the jihadists' serious call to a devout, holy, and violent Muslim life.

But the quote that really caught my attention was in the elipsis:

The problem with Christians is that they do not live up to the example set by their Founder; the problem with Muslims is that they do.

Which leads one to conclude that the only good Muslim is a bad Muslim. Now if only we could influence some of those bad Muslims to adopt the true religion of peace since, happily, they are not following the false one.

Sarah Palin Was Right: Crisis in the Ukraine!

Back in 2008, Sarah Palin predicted that if Obama was elected Russia would invade the Ukraine. Liberals ridiculed her up one side and down the other. Remember Saturday Night Live and Tina Fey's impression? She was relentless ridiculing a woman who is smart and articulate, unlike the liberals' darling, Barack Obama, who is glib as long as he has his teleprompter. Well, now Russia has, indeed, sent troops into the Ukraine. Obama's spies, so busy collecting information on American citizens, assured us this week that Putin wouldn't do it. And now we're told the newly-elected Crimean minister asked for Russia's help and soldiers have invaded and taken over the Crimean Peninsula. Telecommunications are down and to say things are confusing would be a massive understatement.

U.S. Spies Said No Russian Invasion of Ukraine—Putin Disagreed

Obama warns Russia against Ukraine intervention, says 'there will be costs'

RUSSIA KINDA-SORTA INVADES UKRAINE

So what does this mean for the U.S.?