Most Holy Redeemer: the Gay Agenda Continues

Anyone familiar with this blog knows all about Fr. Steve Meriwether, the gay enabling pastor of Holy Redeemer in the Castro section of San Francisco, who blesses gay pride parade participants riding a Holy Redeemer trolley and wearing gay T-shirt and has allowed the use of the parish hall for transvestite beauty pageants, card parties, and bingo with sex toys and obscene videoes among the prizes, etc. ad nauseum. See here.

Well, the padre can't let Advent alone either. He's arranged a weekly vespers service with a motley crew of worship leaders from other dominations (including the other denomination in the Catholic Church, aka heretics). You don't need to be Catholic to join the vespers' club, but you DO need to be a gay pride advocate. So who are the players? Fr. Meriwether, of course. Episcopal Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson on the staff at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. Johnson is enamored by the "intersections of queer theory and Christian traditions."  (Does that mean the Advent candles are phallic symbols for flamers?) Rev. Jeff Bert is a lapsed Catholic, self identified gay man, and an associate pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of San Francisco. Among MCC's positions is its commitment to "marriage equality" for LGBT folks. The last participant is Ms. Kaya Oakes, a liberal Catholic and gay proponent as well. (Surprise!) All the vespers' players support same-sex marriage and the repeal of Proposition 8.

To read more about Fr. Steve's Vespers Project see here.

Now the question for inquiring Catholics is, "Where in heaven's name is Archbishop Niederauer?" Apparently still tolerating and enabling Fr. Meriwether and his gay agenda. Remember the sacrilege below? Fr. Meriwether continues as a priest in good standing. My friend Fr. Haley, on the other hand, is out in the cold. If this doesn't make you angry, it should!

Lest we forget: Persecution and Martyrdom Continue in Iraq

The son of a friend of mine married a chaldean Catholic several years ago. Her parents emigrated from Iraq and she was brought up here in the U.S. There was a time when the Catholics in Iraq represented a significant minority. Persecution has caused many to flee, especially since we invaded the country. Ironically, the Catholics were better off under Saddam Hussein than they are now when Muslim terrorists roam and kill at will, and who cares? Read the story below and weep over the poignant ending where the little three year old boy keeps telling the marauding terrorists, "Enough!"

It is enough! Come, Lord Jesus. Our wicked world needs you.

Openers: Bishops stress U.S. 'moral responsibility' to Iraqi Christians


By John Norton - OSV Newsweekly, 11/28/2010

Last week our cover story focused on the plight of Christians in the Middle East, especially in Iraq in the wake of a brazen terrorist attack on a Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, which killed scores of believers (and two priests) as they were gathering for Sunday evening Mass.

It was an awful sacrilege — the slaughter, in the name of religion, of those gathered in a house of God for peaceful divine worship.

Our story also noted criticism of the Iraqi and U.S. governments by Catholics in both countries for their persistent failure to protect Iraq’s Christian minorities, who appear to be the target of a systematic campaign to simply drive them out of the country.
Read more....

O Come, Divine Messiah -- en Francais

We hear O Come, O Come, Emmanuel all through Advent. But here's a wonderful French Advent hymn that's sung less often, Venez Divin Messie. The refrain ends, "Venez, Venez, Venez." -- Come, Come, Come. The eagerness for the coming of the Lord reverberates loud and clear.

And isn't that your desire this Advent? With all the troubles of our world, don't we need the Lord to "come, come, come, come quickly, hasten your steps?" See the French below with the English translation. I listened to some of the versions on YouTube in English, but thought this was better. You will notice he mixes some of the verses if you try to follow the lyrics en francais.

Profiter de la chanson.



Refrain:
Venez divin Messie,                  Come divine Messiah,

Sauver nos jours infortunés ;      Save our ill-fated days;
Vous êtes notre vie,                   You are our life,
Venez, venez, venez !                 Come, come, come!

Ah! Descendez, hâtez vos pas!  Oh! Come down, hasten your step:
Sauvez les hommes du trépas ;   Save men from death;
Secourez-nous, ne tardez pas!    Help us, don't be late!
Voyez couler nos larmes ;           See our tears run;
Grand Dieu, si vous nous pardonnez,   Great God, if you forgive us,
Nous n'aurons plus d'alarmes:       We will have no more fear:
Venez, venez, venez!

Refrain:

Ah! Désarmez votre courroux :           Oh! Let your wrath abate:
Nous sommes tous à vos genoux,        We are all at your knees,
N'ayant, Seigneur, d'espoir qu'en Vous.  Having, Lord, faith only in You.
Pour nous livrer la guerre,                     To bring us war
Tous les enfers sont déchaînés :             All the hells were released:
Venez sauver la terre,                           Come save the Earth,
Venez, venez, venez !

Refrain:

Que nos soupirs soient entendus!        May our sighs be heard!
Les biens que nous avons perdus          The goods that we have lost
Ne nous seront-ils point rendus ?          Won't they be returned to us?
Seigneur, vos saints oracles                   Lord, your sainted oracles
À tous les siècles étonnés                     To all of the astonished centuries
Promirent ces miracles :                        They promised these miracles
Venez, venez, venez !

Refrain:

Si Vous venez, Roi glorieux,                 If you come, glorious King
Nous Vous verrons, victorieux,            We will see you victorious.
Fermer l'enfer, ouvrir les cieux.             Close hell, open the heavens.
Soyez-nous secourable ;                       Let us be helpful;
Les cieux nous furent destinés ;             The heavens were destined to us;
Venez Sauveur aimable,                        Come, lovable Savior,
Venez, venez, venez !

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Opens This Week

C.S. Lewis fans welcome the third film from the Narnia series this week. Take a Christmas cruise on the Dawn Treader. Personally, I can't wait. But first, I want to reread the book. Reep-a-cheep is one of the greatest characters in fiction, a mouse with the heart of a lion!

Food for Thought: Is it right to disparage the country that's given you so much?

President Obama never misses an opportunity to disparage the United States. And yet, for many, we remain a beacon of hope. Certainly, it has been the pro-life movement in the U.S. that has been most vigorous in defending the right to life. We have exported the rescue movement to other countries as well as Life Chain, 40 Days for Life, and other efforts to save the little ones being led to the slaughter. Most of those working for the restoration of the right to life are Christians. Perhaps we are in the minority today as we see our country sinking into a post Christian barbarism, but we still lead the fight around the world for respect for human life.
I found this article by Pat Boone so inspiring I want to share it. So here's some spiritual nourishment for your Sunday meditation. And President Obama, where's the gratitude?

_________________________________________

The president without a country


by Pat Boone

"We're no longer a Christian nation." – President Barack Obama, June 2007

"America has been arrogant." – President Barack Obama

"After 9/11, America didn't always live up to her ideals." – President Barack Obama
"You might say that America is a Muslim nation." – President Barack Obama, Egypt 2009
Thinking about these and other statements made by the man who wears the title of president … I keep wondering what country he believes he's president of.
In one of my very favorite stories, Edward Everett Hale's "The Man without a Country," a young Army lieutenant named Philip Nolan stands condemned for treason during the Revolutionary War, having come under the influence of Aaron Burr. When the judge asks him if he wishes to say anything before sentence is passed, young Nolan defiantly exclaims, "Damn the United States! I wish I might never hear of the United States again!"

The stunned silence in the courtroom is palpable, pulsing. After a long pause, the judge soberly says to the angry lieutenant: "You have just pronounced your own sentence. You will never hear of the United States again. I sentence you to spend the rest of your life at sea, on one or another of this country's naval vessels – under strict orders that no one will ever speak to you again about the country you have just cursed."

And so it was. Philip Nolan was taken away and spent the next 40 years at sea, never hearing anything but an occasional slip of the tongue about America. The last few pages of the story, recounting Nolan's dying hours in his small stateroom – now turned into a shrine to the country he foreswore – never fail to bring me to tears. And I find my own love for this dream, this miracle called America, refreshed and renewed. I know how blessed and unique we are.

Read more here.

Carhart begins late term abortions in MD on Monday; the Church responds!

Pro-life and Faith Communities Respond with Action to Carhart’s Maryland Late-term Abortion Business

MD Archdioceses To Host Mass And Processions In Germantown To Protest Carhart

Good Clean Fun for Saturday: Tim Hawkins

So many comedians today think to be relevant and funny they need to 1) blaspheme, 2) talk dirty, 3) be as loud and insulting as they possibly can. But here's a comedian who's 1) a Christian, 2) a home schooling dad, and 3) funny as all get out. You can see more by googling Tim Hawkins and YouTube.

Catholic charities Pay Lip Service to the Faith, but.....

This is the sad reality of the pope's comments. Catholic charities have been promoting the safe sex fantasy for years while pretending to abide by Church teachings. (See here.) The mask is coming off and now they can do it openly. The reality, however, is that when condoms are pushed as a solution for AIDS, more people engage in risky behavior and more lives are endangered. The only country in Africa which has succeeded at reducing AIDS is Uganda. They didn't do it by promoting condoms (a big, LUCRATIVE, business by the way). They saw a 2/3 reduction in AIDS by promoting a "stick to one partner or love faithfully” program. (See here.) Condoms are great for making money for the safe sex crowd. They are less than effective at reducing AIDS infection.  And does anyone believe (as the article below implies) that rapists put on condoms before they assault their victims?

Thursday, 12.02.10


Catholic AIDS workers: Pope echoing us on condoms

(AP) – 19 hours ago

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The three large blue and white boxes of condoms appeared to be the elephant in the room at the Catholic AIDS clinic, a trailer beside the church in a dusty red-soil settlement in the world's most AIDS-riddled nation.

But parish priest Rev. Didier Lemaire showed no embarrassment when asked about the stash of 600 condoms, set conveniently on an examination couch so one could grab a few on the way out the door. Lemaire said Pope Benedict XVI's groundbreaking statement about the selective use of condoms only cements what Catholic AIDS workers have said for years.

"What the pope is saying, many priests have been saying for a long time," said Lemaire. He said eschewing condoms when people have AIDS goes against the commandment "Thou shalt not kill."

Pope Benedict's comments have far-reaching implications for Africa, the continent with the highest numbers of AIDS victims — and the fastest-growing number of Catholic converts. But it is more important because the Catholic Church is the biggest private provider of AIDS care in the world, providing antiretroviral treatment, home-care visits and counseling to one in four of the world's 33.3 million AIDS patients, according to the Catholic charity Caritas International. In 2008, members of the Catholic HIV and AIDS network spent 180 million euros (about $235 million) on assistance, it said.
For many Catholics in the front lines watching people die of AIDS, Benedict's pronouncement confers a belated blessing on what they are already doing. They hope Benedict's comments are just a precursor to opening up further conversation.

Marriage Matters

The media has been celebrating the demise of marriage for quite awhile. Time magazine, in fact, recently funded a Pew Research poll and heralded the results thus: 

What we found is that marriage, whatever its social, spiritual or symbolic appeal, is in purely practical terms just not as necessary as it used to be. Neither men nor women need to be married to have sex or companionship or professional success or respect or even children — yet marriage remains revered and desired. (Complete article here.)

Ho hum, marriage is just an old fashioned concept that can mean whatever you want it to mean. Different strokes for different folks. Forty percent don't think marriage is necessary at all which means a lot of Americans aren't paying attention to the fallout from the breakdown of marriage, especially on kids.

The Time article is filled with disinformation, like claiming (more than once) that cohabitation has no impact on the success of a marriage. That's not what studies show with cohabiting couples divorcing more often than those who did not. Not to mention that family instability (from both cohabitation and divorce) produces many negative consequences for children. Look here.

Despite it all, most couples still desire to marry. Could it be that the reason is because the institution belongs to God not man? We live in a time when promises (not to mention holy vows) mean little to most people. Breaking promises and lying are staples of our modern society. Integrity means little to barbarians. It's every man (or woman) for himself.

In secular terms, I see little reason to hope. So the sensible thing to do is put our trust in the Lord who made heaven and earth. And Advent is a good time to practice that virtue as we wait in hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Tiime Magazine, thank God, doesn't have the last word.

If you're married, do something kind for your spouse today. If you aren't married but hope to be in the future, pray for your future spouse (God willing), for the qualities you know will make a good husband or wife: integrity, kindness, common sense, fear of the Lord, etc. If you are a parent with adult children, pray for young married couples, especially your own married children and their families. And have faith that God will give us the grace to rebuild His institution starting with our own marriages and the influence we have on those around us.

Pro-Aborts Vandalize Home of Pro-Life Heroes Joe and Ann Scheidler

When vandalism takes place at an abortion mill, you can be sure the mainstream media is all over it pronto. So how come I couldn't find a single story in the press about the vandalism at Joe and Ann Scheidler's that took place December 1st? The Scheidler home was attacked at about 2:00 a.m on Wednedsday, December 1st when large pieces of asphalt were thrown through two front windows along with the note you see at left. If you have trouble reading it, here's the content:

“We are crazy feminist bi***** who will destroy your sexist ideas,” a note, containing an anarchist sign and scrawled in a child-like writing, said.

“P.S. I’ve had an abortion and no laws could ever stop me,” the note continued. “You can’t make Queen Anne’s lace illegal, a******.”

Read more at LifeSiteNews.