Celebrate Life in the Work of Hungarian Painter, Mihaly Munkascy!

The other day I illustrated my post on "The Case Against Pope Francis" with a painting of Jesus before Pilate. One of my readers asked about the artist so I did a little research to identify him and look at his other work. I was unfamiliar with Mihaly Munkascy and am glad to remedy that deficiency. Judging from his body of work, he loved children.  They are prominently featured in many of his paintings.

God Doesn't Make Mistakes!

Meet Archie and Ace -- two of the cutest kids on the planet.

Celebrate Life! Girl without hands wins penmanship competition!

Girl born without hands triumphs at penmanship competition

Some people believe that only those who are "perfect" have lives worth living. That was certainly the attitude behind the T-4 Euthanasia program in Nazi Germany. The little girl in this story would never have made the cut with the "doctors" evaluating the children. That's what happens when government decides it has the power to make decisions over life and death.

We are already in such a culture and it's growing darker. Obama tells us we are REQUIRED to pay for drugs that kill children under the phony name of chemical contraception. Millions of our tax dollars go every year to Murder Inc. aka Planned Parenthood to murder both handicapped children and those who are perfectly healthy. There is nothing "contraceptive" about drugs that kill an already conceived child.

Praise God for little ones like Annie Clark. They give us an example of courage and perseverance and new meaning to the word "perfect." Annie is perfectly beautiful! And God doesn't make mistakes!

Inspiring Story of Love for Life

"If my babies were going to die, it was going to be in my arms.”

Conjoined Twins and Their Parents Glad They Refused Abortion

Thank God for the Rescue of the Chilean Miners!

The coverage of the rescue of the Chilean miners gave me goosebumps and made me raise my hands and heart to God in thanksgiving. How inspiring it was to see the miners saying their faith sustained them during their long months underground as those above worked to save them, and to hear the Chilean president thank all who participated in the rescue and, above all, God. What a joyful ending to a potentially tragic situation. It witnessed to the ingenuity of men and to the endurance of the human spirit.

We live in a feminized culture, but this rescue episode was primarily the work of men: from the engineers who designed the drill and rescue capsule (God bless America!) to the miners themselves who work under the earth. What an appropriate day to return to daylight than October 13th the anniversary of Mary's last apparition at Fatima -- the day the sun danced. One could imagine all heaven dancing to celebrate man's goodness. We are, indeed, made in God's image and likeness and this rescue day gave witness to that wonderful reality! Praised be to Jesus Christ, both now and forever!

College Students Go "Bearfoot" for Babies

College students in Colorado going barefoot for week of pro-life advocacy


I love this! What a beautiful way to sacrifice for the babies. I'm pinning on my little bare baby feet since I'm not on a college campus, and I'm praying and fasting for the unborn this week. May the Lord use all the graces from prayer and sacrifices to save the lives of these little innocent ones and the souls of their parents.

A sad story about grandparents

When we are out and about I often get into conversations with people. This week, while we were camping at Sherando Lake, I spoke briefly to a grandmother who was pushing a little girl in an umbrella stroller. The child looked like she was about two. She was a serious child. I asked her if she had her grandma wrapped around her finger and she nodded solemnly.

I mentioned to the grandmother how much I enjoy our grandchildren. She replied, "I have one and that's enough." How sad, I thought.

My response was, "How can there be too many flowers in the grandma garden?" And then we walked on. But it was a sad conversation to me. I have no idea what's going on in her family. Maybe she is the primary caregiver for this little girl and resents it. I once met a grandfather in the grocery store carrying an infant. When I admired the little girl, he shared that she was born out of wedlock and maybe it would have been better if she had been aborted. "Oh you don't mean that," I replied gently, "Just look at that beautiful child."

These conversations amaze me - first that people will tell intimate details of their lives to perfect strangers. And secondly, that a grandparent will reflect, again to a stranger, such negative attitudes toward their grandchildren.

Pray for all grandparents, especially those who are spending their golden years parenting their grandchildren when they should be spoiling them. May God give them strength, energy, and, above all, joy in the wonder of childhood.

Handicaps Offer Challenges to Greatness

This young man could have given up on life. He didn't. He started to play the piano at age 19 and it has become a passion that offers hope for the future. His ambition is to be a music producer. Do you think life is too hard? The only failure, is the failure to try - using your God-given gifts, perhaps in unusual ways. Celebrate life! No matter its limits and challenges. every life is a gift from God. This young man plays the piano with his feet, Tony Melendez plays the guitar. Living without arms has given these young men the opportunity to be an example of hope to millions. God bless them!

Condemning the Generous

I'm not into reality shows, but I recently read about a couple who's in one, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. They live debt free in a house they built, but that's not enough for the "tolerant" of the world because this couple has committed the unforgivable crime: they have "too many" children. Michelle Duggar gave birth to their 19th child last winter when little Josie was born prematurely by C-section. Read more about this amazing couple and their attitude toward life by clicking on the hotlink. You can also read the vitriolic comments from "liberals" whose liberality does not extend to being open to life and welcoming children with open arms. They call the Duggars "selfish." These are the same folks who celebrate the murder of little "unwanted" babes in the womb. They remind me of the mother in the Solomon story who wants the living baby killed. Their name is Legion.

The Bible and the tradition of the Church teaches us differently. A child, the Bible says, is like an arrow in the quiver. Blest is the man who has a quiverful. Many saints learned the gospel in the school of the large family. St. Catherine of Siena, I believe, was the 21st.  God bless the Duggars! May their positive attitude toward children spread. And may we all be open to God's will: the parents of many children, the parents of few, the parents who  mourn like Hannah because they have none. Conforming our hearts and minds to the Lord is the key to happiness. My prayer for the Duggars is that they find the fullness of the faith in the Catholic Church. Imagine all these young ones spreading the Eucharist far and wide.

For more on this Christian family visit their website. 

Of This and That

Visiting grandkids is always an adventure. The big adventure of our current visit to Austin is a little girl named Mary Josephine, born last Saturday weighing 7lbs 1 oz. 19 and a quarter inches long. She resembles a little rosebud with plenty of soft light brown hair and big blue eyes. She has a healthy set of lungs which kept Mom and Dad up all night Sunday into Monday, but is now settling into a civilized young lady. It is sweet to see the lineup as older brothers and sisters wait their turn to hold her. Even Andrew, three, talks about "baby sister" with awe.

That's the big excitement, but there are minor adventures. One unexpected one happened in the shower. I guess I'm compulsive, but I tend to clean while I'm in the shower, wiping down all the level places. This shower has a window ledge covered with shampoo and conditioner bottles. I was moving things and wiping when I came upon a little bag of something I thought was potpourri. I picked it up and some spilled out into the shower exploding around my feet. Fortunately I have a strong heart. It was certainly a wake up call to find the little "poppers" (left over from July 4th I presume) in the shower. The humidity hadn't diminished their power and I was surprised nobody banged on the door to see what in the world I was doing in there.

So now I'm on guard. What else is in store for me on this visit? Adventures galore I'm sure. That's the joy of family, especially grandchildren and we are surely blessed with a gaggle of those. Little Mary Josephine is number nineteen. Holding her and marveling at her perfection reminds me of Mother Teresa's comments about children -- "Can there ever be too many flowers?" Certainly not in the grandchild garden. Thank you, Lord, for family.

And one last entry. My husband was rereading To Kill a Mockingbird in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of its publication. And now that he's finished I've picked it up again as well. What a lovely book! Atticus Finch is one of the hero-fathers of American literature. Not big and strong physically like the John Wayne heroes. But a character as strong as the anvil the blacksmith uses to hammer the plow head. Scout, however, is too young to realize what a great man her daddy is. In fact, his lack of accomplishments embarrasses her until she sees the town sheriff pass his rifle to Atticus when their town is threatened by a mad dog. "I can't shoot that well, and you know it," he says. Atticus calmly takes aim, shoots, and the dog drops. Scout is bemused that her father never told them about this secret talent.He should be proud of it, she believes. When she tells the neighbor, Miss Maudie,  the wise lady replies, "People in their right minds never take pride in their talents."

I think this may be my favorite quote in the book. It's food for a meditation on humility.

May you have a day filled with eye (and ear) popping adventures that celebrate life!

Book Review for Father's Day - We Chose Life: Why You Should Too by Anthony Horvath

It's a parent's worst nightmare -- hearing the words, "You have a very sick child." For a dad, it's particularly difficult because his job, besides providing materially for his family, is to protect his loved ones from harm. But when illness strikes a child, a dad often stands helpless to "fix it." Decisions about dealing with a criticial illness in an already born chid are difficult enough, but when that illness occurs in utero, parents are faced with another issue. The question is inevitable - "Will you keep it?" Since Roe v. Wade made abortion-on-demand legal in all 50 states at any time during pregnancy, vulnerable families faced with a sick little one are often given the bad news and immediately invited to consider abortion. How will they respond to the challnege? Anthony Horvath, in his book We Chose Life: Why You Should Too, shares his story, his faith, and the reasons he believes others should "choose life" as he and his wife did. Those who find themselves in similar circumstances with a seriously ill unborn child, would do well to put their panic on hold and read his story.

In December 2006, after two normal pregnancies that filled their home with three boys including a set of twins, the Horvath's were thrilled to learn during a routine ultrasound that they were expecting a little girl. Then the shoe dropped. The ultrasound showed something else. "The doctor came in. She wasn't smiling. Her expression was grim....She went right to the point. Our new baby girl had a lot of fluid in her skull, a condition called hydrocephalus. The doctor told us that it could be just hydrocephalus, or, worst case scenario, it could mean that she had Spina Bifida (SB)" [Spina Bifida is a general term for a group of a neural tube defects where a segment of the spinal column fails to close resulting in a buildup of fluid in the brain.]

A second ultrasound showed that the baby had the most severe form of the disease, myelomenigocele spina bifida. While there was no way to know the severity of the outcome, the baby could end up mentally and physically handicapped, catheterized, and permanently unable to walk - or not. "Here was the brutal reality," Horvath says, "there was no way of knowing the future."

Like other families faced with similar bad news, the Horvath's went into mourning. "I descended into the depths of self-pity," Horvath says, "I had thoughts, some of which I will not dare to share here....Together my wife and I entered the grieving process although no one had actually died. But that isn't really true. Someone did die." He goes on to describe all the normal events of childhood and laments, "We mourned the daughter we would not have."

At this point, the Horvaths had a choice -- not abortion -- because as serious Christians the decision for life had been made years before, even if not verbally articulated. Killing this little one created by God was not an option for them. But how would they face the reality? "We passed through our despair and entered forcefully into resolve....We were going to love this child....We stood up under the crushing reality and decided we were not going to be slaves to it."

Horvath shares the details of the pregancy and birth and the challenges of the early days. Then he shifts focus from his personal story to the argument for life. Without glossing over the challenging realities he points out that doctors can be mistaken. The diagnosis may be wrong and normal babies have been aborted. But even if the worst case scenario occurs, Horvath argues, "the children can still bring you immense joy." He invites readers also to ponder the bigger questions: the personhood of the unborn, the rights and privileges due to human beings no matter how small, and the slippery slope that leads from abortion to atrocities such as My Lai. He also addresses God's role in our decision-making and includes thought-provoking ideas for non-believers.

This little booklet, less than 75 pages, is a testimony to life, even in its most difficult and painful circumstances. Horvath says, "I want the reader to know that it is possible to get knocked on your butt with devastating news and then stand up and refuse to allow circumstances to dictate how you will feel about the world. The pain, suffering, and grief are real, but there is no reason why you have to be enslaved to them." Pain, Horvath reminds us, is inseparable from love. "Our only alternative," he says, "is to shut out the world and all of the people in it."

It's important to remember that this dad speaks from experience. The testimony of fathers is a powerful witness. Millions have viewed Matt Mooney's video tribute (below) to his little son Eliot who was diagnosed at seven months in utero with trisomy 18 and died ninety-nine days after birth. His story, like the Horvath's bears witness to the reality of joy in the midst of deep suffering. But I'll let Horvath speak for himself.

As the father of a child who is disabled I can affirm that the joy of relationship easily surpasses the pain, sorrow, and and hardship that has accompanied it. If you can push yourself through the valley of suffering and doubt you find yourself in today...You might also gain an insight into the heart of God. It is something to consider.

In our culture of death, fathers like Anthony Horvath and Matt Mooney exemplify the role of the Christian dad who stands up to defend the very life of his threatened little one. Other fathers facing similar circumstances can benefit from their stories. We Chose Life should be on the bookshelf of crisis pregnancy centers and OB/GYNs. When bad news comes, it offers a hope to move beyond the pain into the joy of new life, no matter how challenging. Thank God for the gift of life first, then thank Dad. He is the defender of the family, especially its most vulnerable members.

 

Another Abortion Survivor: His Gift from God Reminds us of all the Gifts Rejected

Every baby created by God was gifted with special talents. As you listen to Andrea Bocelli thank God for his mom's decision to give him life and pray for all those mothers who aborted God's great gift to them. Adopt a baby today who is in danger of abortion.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of [baby’s name] the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.” - Prayer of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

The Best Way to Celebrate Earth Day - A Child!

Unborn Baby with Downs Syndrome Due in June Looking for Adoptive Family

Parents of a baby girl due in June are looking for a "forever family" who will welcome this special child. They desire a Catholic family with one stay-at-home parent if possible. They want to place the baby immediately after birth so the agency would like inquiries from those who already have their home study done. Are you that special family with a heart big enough for a child the world considers imperfect? Please pass this information on to anyone you know who may be interested in adopting a special needs child.

Read more here...

Celebrate Life: Claire survived the abortion; her twin died

There's a reason that young people are more pro-life than any other group polled. Many among them are survivors (literally) of abortion. Read Claire's story here. She is one more reason to defend life. Every abortion kills a child. Don't let the abortion lobby convince you of their lies. Abortion doesn't remove a "mass of cells...a blob of protoplasm...or a blood clot." Every abortion kills a person. Some are tinier than others, but all each one needs is time, nourishment, and oxygen to be the newborn, the toddler, the adolescent, the teenager, and the adult God called them to be.

He knits us in our mothers' wombs and we are beautifully, wonderfully made.

Celebrate Life and Love: Kelle Hampton's Story

Who does the world define as perfect? The American idol? The cover girls on the magazine rack? The sports heroes and body builders with six packs?

I sat behind a beautiful little girl at Mass last Thursday. It was the feast of the Annunciation when we celebrate the Incarnation of the Savior and recall God's great gift to Mary whom Gabriel calls "full of grace" because she was spared from original sin. I've seen this young one many times before, but don't know her name. She has long blonde hair, blue eyes and a peaches and cream complexion. She also has Downs Syndrome. The innocence and goodness that radiates from this little child almost creates a glow around her.

The tragedy is that our world considers these little ones a curse and about 90 percent of those affected by Downs are murdered before their birth days. So when I see testimonies to these precious children recognizing what gifts from God they are, I want to share them.

Little Nella Cordelia was born in January. Like all parents who dream for their children, her parents had to mourn the loss of their expectations and plans for the dream child and create new ones for the real child. Judging from her mom's website, she recognizes that it will be an exciting journey although different from the one she expected. Visit Kelle Hampton's website to share her beautiful birth story. If you know someone who gets the diagnosis of a handicapped baby in utero, share Kelle's story and assure them that God doesn't make mistakes. Life is hard, but true love makes it a joy.

A Perfect Candidate for Abortion

If the disabilities of this young man had been recognized before birth, many would say he should have been aborted. And what a loss to the world that would have been. God doesn't make mistakes. Thanks for sharing your gifts, Patrick.