And So the Easter Season Ends

The Easter season ended with the feast of Pentecost last Sunday. Looking back we see how the Passion began -- with the betrayal of Judas with a kiss. We have spent Lent and Eastertide thinking about Jesus, offering prayers and sacrifices and giving alms. Then we spent 50 days rejoicing at our salvation proved by Christ rising from the dead.

Will we now return to "ordinary time" by once again betraying Him? Have we changed at all in the 40 days of Lent and the 50 days of Easter?
The author of the excerpt below is Fr. Frederick William Faber, a convert from Anglicanism to Catholicism and a follower of John Henry Newman. What zeal he had for the "Faith of Our Fathers," which he articulated when he wrote the well-known hymn. Think of how many in the Church overlook and coddle heresy today. How many Judases betray Christ with a kiss. Read Fr. Faber's meditation and weep. Let us take it to heart and pray for a Catholic awakening, especially among the clergy!

Spy Wednesday: A Reflection from the Past

I'm trying to spend more time in prayer and meditation this week rather than hours on the computer. So I'm linking to a post I did two years ago on Spy Wednesday instead of composing something new.

Spy Wednesday: Did Jesus Love Judas?

 Besides there is "nothing new under the sun" and every minute is "now" with the Lord. This Spy Wednesday takes us on a time machine to all the Spy Wednesdays of the past when we reflect on all our personal betrayals. Let us pray many Acts of Contrition today. I pray that you are having a blessed Holy Week. It's not too late to fertilize the final days of Lent with prayer, sacrifice and meditation for a spiritual growth spurt. My Jesus, I trust in You. Mary, Mother of the Savior, pray for us.

No More Chick-Fil-A for this Chick! Back to the Beef!

I was willing to give Chick-Fil-A the benefit of the doubt until I got more information, but now that I learned more...Wow! It's clear. They not only caved, but their philanthropic bucks will now go to "charities" (e.g., Covenant House) that champion the gay agenda. The corporate bosses are liberal and they've dumped Adam and Eve for Adam and Steve.

Doug Mainwaring at LifeSiteNews tells it like it is:

Nabi Sayeth: The Sex Abuse Crisis is Impacting the Suicide Crisis

The double life of a predator cleric cries to
heaven for justice!

Nabi Sayeth: In Part I, I presented to you for your consideration the “thinking” that exists in the mind of the person who contemplates suicide. Suicide is a choice, an act of control when a man, woman or child thinks that life is overwhelmingly out of control. It’s their way of taking control of the pain and confusion.

But because they are so incredibly self-focused, they do not consider other options to remedy their confusion nor do they take into account the devastation they leave behind to the lives of the very people who love them the most.

In Part I, I was so bold as to write that the clergy sex abuse scandal is a contributing factor to the rise in the suicide rate. There are two ways that this is so:

Alice von Hildebrand: Human Demotion, Supernatural Promotion

Alice von Hildebrand doesn't mention a word about Cardinal Raymond Burke in this touching article, but there is no doubt in my mind that her beloved friend is whom she had in mind. It was Alice von Hildebrand who requested a spiritual bouquet of masses to be said for the cardinal several months ago when the rumors about his demotion from the Apostolic Signatura began to fly. I also heard via friends how grieved she was by his demotion. But I didn't need to be told. I only had to read the words below:

Well known, alas, is the human temptation of making reproaches to God for “ill-treating his friends” – in contrast to Satan who favors his “children” in every possible way… until they die. Power, success, fame, riches: these are the gifts that the Evil one generously distributes to those who have sold their soul “for a mess of pottage.” 

Spy Wednesday: Reflecting on the Judas in Myself

How many times do I betray Christ? How many times do I put human respect or selfishness ahead of God's will in my life? How many times do I close my eyes to the needs of my neighbors because they did not meet my expectations or I found them not to my taste? Judas is part of my nature. I know him well. Would I scream, "Crucify him!" before Pilate? Would I mock my God hanging on the cross? Please no, Lord. Make me all yours and then do with me what You will.

Officer's Oath: The Lt. Col. Terry Lakin Story

He went to jail for refusing to defile his oath to uphold the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. All he asked was that President Obama do the same thing every military recruit is asked to do -- provide a birth certificate. Terry Lakin and Barack Obama: a man of honor vs. a man of lies.

I look forward to reading Dr. Lakin's story. He deserved better than the persecution he received from a military that has been hopelessly politicized.

Spy Wednesday Meditation: Betrayal...

This morning's gospel tells of Judas' betrayal of Jesus. After selling the Master for thirty pieces of silver, Judas, "from that time on...looked for an opportunity to hand Him over."

Betrayal....

Mankind knows all about it. I just finished reading Left to Tell, the story of Immaculee Ilibagiza, survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. One of the most shocking aspects of the mass murder is that neighbors and friends became a bloodthirsty mob killing those they had lived side-by-side with in peace and friendship. Can you imagine picking up a machete and attacking your neighbors? And why? Because they belonged to the wrong tribe! Day after day the radio blared its dehumanizing message to "Kill the cockroaches"...

Kill them, kill them, kill them all;

kill them big and kill them small!

Kill the old and kill the young...

a baby snake is still a snake,

kill it too, let none escape!

Kill them, kill them, kill them all!

And so the bloodlust went on for months while neighbor murdered neighbor leaving bodies in the streets, looting and burning homes.

Could such a thing happen here? It already is. Every year we commit the equivalent of the Rwandan massacre when over a million babies in the womb are brutally killed. We don't call them "cockroaches" although some describe them as "parasites." We dehumanize them with a Latin term, "fetus," that means "young one."

Yes, the temptation to betrayal is as close as my own heart. It is only by staying close to Jesus that a soul can resist the world, the flesh, and the devil. Read Immaculee's story and weep for man's inhumnity to his fellow man. Then pray and work for peace beginning with peace in the womb!

Kathleen Parker Nails Stupak

Columnist Kathleen Parker nailed Stupak as a deceiver in a March 23rd column. Stupak "dropped the baby" at the crucial moment when he could have been a hero, she said. She goes on: "Ultimately, he was weak and overwhelmed by raw political power. History is no stranger to such moments, but this one needs to be understood for what it was. A deception." He knew the executive order was phony and he "Stupaked" health care reform and the pro-life movement.

The final few paragraphs of Parker's article expose Stupak for the coward and hypocrite he is:

Stupak, too, knew that the executive order was merely political cover for him and his pro-life colleagues. He knew it because several members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explained it to him, according to sources. The only way to prevent public funding for abortion was for his amendment to be added to the Senate bill.

Clearly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the president didn't want that. What they did want was the abortion funding that the Senate bill allowed.

Thus, the health care bill passed because of a mutually understood deception — a pretense masquerading as virtue. No wonder Stupak locked his doors and turned off his phones Sunday, according to several pro-life lobbyists who camped outside his office.

Stupak's fall from grace is a lesson in human frailty. In a matter of hours, he went from representing the majority of Americans who don't want public money spent on abortion to leading the army on the other side. Already he has lost a speaking invitation to the Illinois Catholic Prayer Breakfast next month.  [He also lost a speaking invitation from Catholic Vote and an award from a pro-life group.]

After the Sunday vote, a group of Democrats, including Stupak, gathered in a pub to celebrate. In a biblical moment, New York Rep. Anthony Weiner was spotted planting a big kiss on Stupak's cheek.

To a Catholic man well versed in the Gospel, this is not a comforting gesture.

See the full column at the Chicago Tribune.

Bart Stupak: One More Betrayal by a Catholic Politician

If the health care debate has proved anything it's showing clearly that there is no such thing as a pro-life democrat. Oh, they can talk a good game, but when the rubber mets the road they all chose dismembered babies instead of standing up to the Madame DeFarge of Congress, Nancy Pelosi. The only thing she lacks are the knitting needles.

It's hard to imagine that Bart Stupak can actually believe that the executive order promised by Obama will mean a thing. The health bill is the biggest advancement of abortion since Roe v. Wade.

A friend who runs a watchdog group that follows politicians who are members of the Catholic fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus, just sent me a message saying Bart Stupak is a Knight. This makes his betrayal even more tragic. Think of the image of the Knight, vowed to serve his Lord, in this case Jesus Christ.

Stupak reminds me of Richard Rich in A Man for All Seasons who betrayed Thomas More and perjured himself to gain the office of Attorney General for Wales. The question is what did Stupak get for selling out? One thing at least: two days before the vote Stupak got an FAA grant of $750,000 for three airports in his district. What he lost was his integrity and hopefully his seat come November.

Read his lips: Obama is George Bush Sr. on Tax Promise

Well, some of us knew that Barry O. was lying when he said that he wouldn't raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year. But Barry's press man won't come right out and admit it. So he wiggles and squirms and plays word games and the press laughs out loud. Remember what the media did to Bush Sr. when he backtracked on his "Read my lips: no new taxes" promise. Think Barry will get it from the press corps now, or is the love affair still in the early days before betrayal finally wakes up the enamored lover?

Canadian Bishops Fund Abortion

Sometimes it seems the Catholic bishops are among our worst enemies. The USCCB in this country has supported groups that fund abortion. They've poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into liberal organizations like ACORN that gave us a president totally committed to murdering unborn children. Multiply that by other bishops' conferences around the world, especially in first-world countries.

East Timor just legalized abortion in "extreme cases." Sound familiar? Remember when abortion was legalized in the United States in a few places for "rape, incest, and the life of the mother?" How long did it take to get from the extremes to Tiller's late-term abortuary in Kansas?

It's now just a question of time for the poor people of East Timor. And who helped do the dirty deed? The Canadian bishops. The original law introduced in April was even worse. Nevertheless, this is a blow to the heavily Catholic nation that now sets itself on the top of the slippery slope with a push from groups funded by the Church. What a scandal! Just one more, eh? Hard to point fingers with the Archdiocese of Boston entangling itself in the abortion business through it's "charity" business.

Here's what LifeSiteNews wrote about the latest scandal:

"Two of the East Timorese feminist organizations that have been at the forefront of the effort to liberalize the abortion law, and that have come head to head with the country’s Catholic bishops in the process, are funded by the Canadian bishops’ official development arm, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P)."

Shades of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).

It's time for Catholics everywhere to stand up to these fundraising campaigns that funnel money from the pockets of the people in the pew directly into the coffers of organizations committed to monstrous evil. In fact, maybe it's time to defund the bishops altogether and stop giving to their yearly campaigns until they can assure us that they aren't using our money to increase abortion and advance liberalism.

Here's more from LSN: "D&P has in recent months been embroiled in a widespread scandal, after LSN and other pro-life researchers revealed that the Catholic group is funding numerous strongly pro-abortion groups around the world, and that it has no policy against doing so. Yesterday LSN reported that the Peruvian bishops have now written to the Canadian bishops demanding that they stop funding pro-abortion groups in their country."

Are the bishops in the first world clueless or are they wicked? You can sin from either ignorance or malice. Let's hope it's ignorance. But the babies will be just as dead in the end.

Read the complete LSN article. And cut off your funding to CCHD and D&P. To see LSN's extensive research on the Canadian bishops' organization, go here.

And pray hard for our shepherds who have a lot for which to answer on Judgment Day.