Brown Pelican Society of Louisiana

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

“If we resort for a criterion to the different principles on which different forms of government are established, we may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on, a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure for a limited period, or during good behavior.”

—James Madison, Federalist No. 39

By Don Schwager

 ”When the Counselor comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness”

Scripture: John 16:5-11

5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Meditation: Why does God seem far from us at times? Separation and loss of relationship often lead to grief and pain. The apostles were filled with sorrow when Jesus spoke about his imminent departure. Jesus explained that it was for their sake that he must leave them and return to his Father. He promised,  however, that they would never be left alone. He will send in his place the best of friends, the Holy Spirit. Paul reminds us that “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:39). By sending the Holy Spirit to his followers, the Lord Jesus makes his presence known to us in a new and on-going way. We are not left as orphans, but the Lord himself dwells within us through the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:9; 6:16b).

Jesus tells his disciples three very important things about  the work of the Holy Spirit – to convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. The original word for convince also means convict. The Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier. He makes us holy as God is holy. He does this first by convicting us of our sin and by bringing us humbly to the foot of the Cross. The Spirit convinces us of God’s love and forgiveness and of our utter dependence on God for his mercy and grace.  We need the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us from the error of our sinful ways and to show us the way of love and truth.

The Jews who condemned Jesus as a heretic and blasphemer thought they were serving God rather than sinning when they crucified Jesus. When the gospel was later preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37), many were pricked in their heart and convicted of their sin. What made them change their mind about Jesus? It is the work of the Holy Spirit to both convict us of wrongdoing and to convince us of God’s truth. The Spirit convinces us of the righteousness of Christ, backed by the fact that Jesus rose again and went to his Father. The Holy Spirit also convicts us of judgment. The Spirit gives us the inner and unshakable conviction that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. God’s judgments are just and good. When we heed his judgments we find true peace, joy and reconciliation with God. Do you allow the Holy Spirit free reign in your life that he may set you free from the grip of sin and set you ablaze with the fire of God’s love?

“Come Holy Spirit, and let the fire of your love burn in my heart. Let me desire only what is pure, lovely, holy and good and in accord with the will of God and give me the courage to put away all that is not pleasing in your sight.”

Psalm 138:1-3,7-8
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the angels I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;  for you have exalted above everything your name and your word.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, my strength of soul you increased.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life;  you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures for ever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Go to | Daily Reading & Meditation Index |  (c) 2012 Don Schwager

American Catholic, May 15, 2012

Isidore has become the patron of farmers and rural communities. In particular he is the patron of Madrid, Spain, and of the United States National Rural Life Conference.

When he was barely old enough to wield a hoe, Isidore entered the service of John de Vergas, a wealthy landowner from Madrid, and worked faithfully on his estate outside the city for the rest of his life. He married a young woman as simple and upright as himself who also became a saint—Maria de la Cabeza. They had one son, who died as a child.

Isidore had deep religious instincts. He rose early in the morning to go to church and spent many a holiday devoutly visiting the churches of Madrid and surrounding areas. All day long, as he walked behind the plow, he communed with God. His devotion, one might say, became a problem, for his fellow workers sometimes complained that he often showed up late because of lingering in church too long.

He was known for his love of the poor, and there are accounts of Isidore’s supplying them miraculously with food. He had a great concern for the proper treatment of animals.

He died May 15, 1130, and was declared a saint in 1622 with Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila and Philip Neri. Together, the group is known in Spain as “the five saints.”

Comment: Many implications can be found in a simple laborer achieving sainthood: Physical labor has dignity; sainthood does not stem from status; contemplation does not depend on learning; the simple life is conducive to holiness and happiness. Legends about angel helpers and mysterious oxen indicate that his work was not neglected and his duties did not go unfulfilled. Perhaps the truth which emerges is this: If you have your spiritual self in order, your earthly commitments will fall into order also. “[S]eek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness,” said the carpenter from Nazareth, “and all these things will be given you besides” (Matthew 6:33).

Quote:  “God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…. See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food’” (Genesis 1:28a, 29–30a).

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay/default.aspx

SOURCE:  New Advent

The Christian family

Christ not only restored the family to its original type as something holy, permanent, and monogamous, but raised the contract from which it springs to the dignity of a sacrament, and thus placed the family itself upon the plane of the supernatural. The family is holy inasmuch as it is to co-operate with God by procreating children who are destined to be the adopted children of God, and by instructing them for His kingdom. The union between husband and wife is to last until death (Matthew 19:6 sq.; Luke 16:18; Mark 10:11; 1 Corinthians 7:10; see MARRIAGE, DIVORCE). That this is the highest form of the conjugal union, and the best arrangement for the welfare both of the family and of society, will appear to anyone who compares dispassionately the moral and material effects with those flowing from the practice of divorce. Although divorce has obtained to a greater or less extent among the majority of peoples from the beginning until now, “there is abundant evidence that marriage has, upon the whole, become more durable in proportion as the human race has risen to higher degrees of cultivation” (Westermarck, op. cit., p. 535).

While the attempts that have been made to show that divorce is in every case forbidden by the moral law of nature have not been convincing on their own merits, to say nothing of certain facts of Old Testament history, the absolute indissolubility of marriage is nevertheless the ideal to which the natural law points, and consequently is to be expected in an order that is supernatural. In the family, as re-established by Christ, there is likewise no such thing as polygamy. This condition, too, is in accord with nature’s ideal. Polygamy is not, indeed, condemned in every instance by the natural law, but it is generally inconsistent with the reasonable welfare of the wife and children, and the proper moral development of the husband. Because of these qualities of permanence and unity, the Christian family implies a real and definite equality of husband and wife. They have equal rights in the matter of the primary conjugal relation, equal claims upon mutual fidelity, and equal obligations to make this fidelity real. They are equally guilty when they violate these obligations, and equally deserving of pardon when they repent.

The wife is neither the slave nor the property of her husband, but his consort and companion. The Christian family is supernatural, inasmuch as it originates in a sacrament. Through the sacrament of matrimony husband and wife obtain an increase of sanctifying grace, and a claim upon those actual graces which are necessary to the proper fulfilment of all the duties of family life, and the relations between husband and wife, parents and children, are supernaturalized and sanctified. The end and the ideal of the Christian family are likewise supernatural, namely, the salvation of parents and children, and the union between Christ and His Church. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it”, says St. Paul (Ephesians 5:25). And the intimacy of the marital union, the identification, almost, of husband and wife, is seen in the injunction: “So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself” (Ephesians 5:28).

From these general facts of the Christian family, the particular relations existing among its members can be readily deduced. Since the average man and woman are not normally complete as individuals, but are rather the two complementary parts of one social organism, in which their material, moral, and spiritual needs receive mutual satisfaction, a primary requisite of their union is mutual love. This includes not merely the love of the senses, which is essentially selfish, not necessarily that sentimental love which anthropologists call romantic, but above all that rational love or affection, which springs from an appreciation of qualities of mind and heart, and which impels each to seek the welfare of the other. As the intimate and long association of husband and wife necessarily bring to the surface their less noble and lovable qualities, and as the rearing of children involves great trials, the need of disinterested love, the ability to sacrifice self, is obviously grave.

The obligations of mutual fidelity have been sufficiently stated above. The particular functions of husband and wife in the family are determined by their different natures, and by their relation to the primary end of the family, namely, the procreation of children. Being the provider of the family, and the superior of the wife both in physical strength and in those mental and moral qualities which are appropriate to the exercise of authority, the husband is naturally the family’s head, even “the head of the wife”, in the language of St. Paul. This does not mean that the wife is the husband’s slave, his servant, or his subject. She is his equal, both as a human being and as member of the conjugal society, save only that when a disagreement arises in matters pertaining to domestic government, she is, as a rule, to yield. To claim for her completely equal authority with the husband is to treat woman as man’s equal in a matter in which nature has made them unequal. On the other hand the care and management of the details of the household belong naturally to the wife, because she is better fitted for these tasks than the husband.

Since the primary end of the family is the procreation of children, the husband or wife who shirks this duty from any but spiritual or moral motives reduces the family to an unnatural and unchristian level. This is emphatically true when the absence of offspring has been effected by any of the artificial and immoral devices so much in vogue at present. When the conjugal union has been blessed with children, both parents are charged, according to their respective functions, with the duty of sustaining and educating those undeveloped members of the family. Their moral and religious formation is for the most part the work of the mother, while the task of providing for their physical and intellectual wants falls chiefly upon the father. The extent to which the different wants of the children are to be supplied will vary with the ability and resources of the parents. Finally, the children are bound, generally speaking, to render to the parents implicit love, reverence, and obedience, until they have reached their majority, and love, reverence, and a reasonable degree of support and obedience afterward.

The most important external relations of the family are, of course, those existing between it and the State. According to the Christian conception, the family, rather than the individual, is the social unit and the basis of civil society. To say that the family is the social unit is not to imply that it is the end to which the individual is a means; for the welfare of the individual is the end both of the family and of the State, as well as of every other social organization. The meaning is that the State is formally concerned with the family as such, and not merely with the individual. This distinction is of great practical importance; for where the State ignores or neglects the family, keeping in view only the welfare of the individual, the result is a strong tendency towards the disintegration of the former. The family is the basis of civil society, inasmuch as the greater majority of persons ought to spend practically all their lives in its circle, either as subjects or as heads. Only in the family can the individual be properly reared, educated, and given that formation of character which will make him a good man and a good citizen.

Inasmuch as the average man will not put forth his full productive energies except under the stimulus of its responsibilities, the family is indispensable from the purely economic viewpoint. Now the family cannot rightly discharge its functions unless the parents have full control over the rearing and education of the children, subject only to such State supervision as is needed to prevent grave neglect of their welfare. Hence it follows that, generally speaking, and with due allowance for particular conditions, the State exceeds its authority when it provides for the material wants of the child, removes him from parental influence, or specifies the school that he must attend. As a consequence of these concepts and ideals, the Christian family in history has proved itself immeasurably superior to the non-Christian family. It has exhibited greater fidelity between husband and wife, greater reverence for the parents by the children, greater protection of the weaker members by the stronger, and in general a more thorough recognition of the dignity and rights of all within its circle. Its chief glory is undoubtedly its effect upon the position of woman. Notwithstanding the disabilities–for the most part with regard to property, education, and a practically recognized double standard of morals–under which the Christian woman has suffered, she has attained to a height of dignity, respect, and authority for which we shall look in vain in the conjugal society outside of Christianity. The chief factor in this improvement has been the Christian teaching on chastity, conjugal equality, the sacredness of motherhood, and the supernatural end of the family, together with the Christian model and ideal of family life, the Holy Family at Nazareth.

The contention of some writers that the Church’s teaching and practice concerning virginity and celibacy, make for the degradation and deterioration of the family, not only springs from a false and perverse view of these practices, but contradicts the facts of history. Although she has always held virginity in higher honour than marriage, the Church has never sanctioned the extreme view, attributed to some ascetical writers, that marriage is a mere concession to the flesh, a sort of tolerated carnal indulgence. In her eyes the marriage rite has ever been a sacrament, the married state a holy state, the family a Divine institution, and family life the normal condition for the great majority of mankind. Indeed, her teaching on virginity, and the spectacle of thousands of her sons and daughters exemplifying that teaching, have in every age constituted a most effective exaltation of chastity in general, and therefore of chastity within as well as without the family. Teaching and example have combined to convince the wedded, not less than the unwedded, that purity and restraint are at once desirable and practically possible. Today, as always, it is precisely in those communities where virginity is most honoured that the ideal of the family is highest, and its relations purest.

READ MORE: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05782a.htm

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/erikajohnsen/2012/05/13/happy_mothers_day

Vatican Information Service, May 13, 2012

Vatican City (VIS) – “As Mother of the Church, Our Lady always wants to comfort her children at the time of their greatest difficulty and suffering”, said the Pope today before praying the Regina Coeli with thousands of faithful who had attended his Mass at the “Il Prato” park in the Italian city of Arezzo.

“Through Mary, we invoke moral consolation from God, so that this community and the whole of Italy may resist the temptation to become discouraged and, strengthened by their great humanist tradition, may set out again on the road to spiritual and moral renewal which is the only thing that can bring authentic improvement in social and civil life”.

After praying the Regina Coeli, Benedict XVI made a private visit to the cathedral of San Donato where he paused before the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Comfort to adore the Blessed Sacrament and venerate the image of the Virgin. From there, he travelled to the bishop’s palace where he had lunch with bishops from the Tuscan region.

http://www.visnews-ita.blogspot.com/

By John Jalsevac, LifeSiteNews, May 11, 2012

All across America, Christians are uniting against the Obama administration’s mandate that would require all employers, including religions employers, to cover all birth control drugs, including abortifacient drugs like ella. That mandate has been condemned by leaders across denominations and religions as one of the worst – if not the worst – attacks on religious freedom in American history.

The mandate was handed down from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). At the helm of HHS is one woman: self-professed “Catholic” Kathleen Sebelius. Not only has Sebelius strenuously defended the mandate in the face of virulent criticism from her own bishops, but she is renowned for her pro-abortion extremism, most notably her close ties with notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller.

Given the political climate, it can only be considered a deliberate thumbing of the nose at the U.S. bishops that the country’s oldest Catholic University, Georgetown University, has now invited Sebelius to speak at their commencement ceremonies this year.

The Catholic watchdog organization the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) has put together a video with the aim of increasing awareness about what they call the “scandal.” CNS is the same organization that spearheaded much of the protest efforts after the University of Notre Dame invited President Barack Obama to their commencement ceremonies in 2009, ultimately gathering over 300,000 signatures in opposition.

CNS has also launched a petition opposing Sebelius’ appearance at Georgetown, which can be found here. It has already been signed by over 21,000 people.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/blog/video-americas-oldest-catholic-universities-honors-one-of-the-churchs-great

….Civil unions bill aims to change perception of marriage, Denver bishop says . . . “The purpose of the law is to reorient people’s values,” Bishop Conley told CNA on May 10, “and that isn’t what government should be about.”….

By Hillary Senour, CNA/EWTN, May 12, 2012

Bishop James D. Conley

Denver, Colo.   -  Bishop James D. Conley of Denver says that the civil unions bill being debated in Colorado is an  attempt by the government to redefine and change the public’s perception of marriage.

“The purpose of the law is to reorient people’s values,” Bishop Conley told CNA on May 10, “and that isn’t what government should be about.”

The intent of the bill, Bishop Conley said, is not to secure “legitimacy for social arrangements and personal behaviors,” but rather to “change viewpoints” of the general population about the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The 2012 session of the Colorado House of Representatives ended May 9 amid great controversy.

With the support of one Republican, a civil unions bill unexpectedly passed through a House committee and advanced to the Republican-controlled House floor.

Republicans filibustered the bill and House Speaker Frank McNulty announced an impasse May 8. The civil unions bill, along with more than 30 other bills, died without a vote.

But Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced a special session of the legislature and listed civil unions measure on the agenda for the session, which will begin at 10:00 a.m. on May 14.

This action comes after Coloradans voted to define marriage as being between a man and a woman by passing Amendment 43 in 2006.

Revisiting the issue is a dangerous move, Bishop Conley said, not only because it “obviates the will of the people,” but also because it “diminishes the sovereignty of the legislative process.”

If passed, the civil unions proposal could “pave the way for a total redefinition of marriage” by “creating a pseudo-marital institution” which is recognized by the government, he warned.

Bishop Conley said that changing the meaning of marriage “would be like redefining math or physics—some things are objective, unalterable realities.”

Throughout history, he noted,  most cultures and religions have upheld marriage as a union between one man and one woman, “not out of disrespect for homosexual persons,” but for the interest of society at large and natural law.

The Denver bishop asserted that the creation of such a union would ultimately “set the stability of our culture at risk.”

And while he admitted that it might sound “like scare-mongering” to make such a statement, Bishop Conley underscored that the act of “redefining ancient and universally held beliefs” puts a culture on “dangerous ground.”

“Marriage has a social value. It protects women, and it protects children. Marriage ensures long-term social stability.”

The civil unions bill would harm those it is intended to help, Bishop Conley said, by promoting a “worldview which is false” by presenting homosexuality as morally permissible.

Supporters of the Colorado civil unions bill believe they have enough votes to pass the Republican-controlled House, including Republican Speaker pro-tem Kevin Priola.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/civil-unions-bill-aims-to-change-perception-of-marriage-denver-bishop-says/

     Mike Adams, Townhall, May 14, 2012

Some years ago, I was sitting in a tree stand in Sampson County, North Carolina. Less than an hour after ascending into the stand, a beautiful doe stepped into my field of vision. I raised my 30/30 and set my sights just behind her right shoulder. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, I saw something moving along the outer perimeter of my field of vision. I glanced to my right and saw a young fawn grazing just 25 yards away from its mother – the doe I had nearly shot. I had to draw my weapon down for a moment and reassess the situation.

After I took a second careful look at the doe and the fawn, I made a decision. I took the shot and watched the doe run about fifty yards until she rolled over under a tree and died resting in a bed of leaves. As I turned around and got ready to step down out the tree stand, I saw the fawn stop and turn around to look for its mother. Seeing nothing, the young deer turned and ran off into the distance.

When I came upon the fallen doe resting in the bed of leaves, I was relieved to see that my assessment of the situation was correct. She was no longer nursing. That meant her young fawn was ready to survive on its own. That is important to me because I would never want to see the fawn left to fend for itself and try to survive on its own unless it was ready to do so. I try to show a concern for helpless young fawns that exceeds our president’s concern for helpless young humans. It isn’t hard to do.

I’ve never met a pro-abortion liberal who disagreed with my assertion that the young fawn is living and fully a deer even before it has the capacity to survive on its own. But many liberals view the unborn as less than persons simply because they lack the ability to survive on their own. This strange deference to the deer (but not the human) is symptomatic of a deeply confused worldview – one that refuses to see man as made in the image of God.

Several weeks ago, I ran across one such person. I assume she was a person though she may well have been dependent on the government for her survival. She argued vigorously that the unborn are not persons until they are capable of surviving on their own. She was somewhat emotional as she argued with me. So I struggled for just the right example to come to my mind – one that would convince her that dependency did not undermine personhood. I wanted to plant a stone in her shoe by making her think deeply without deepening her defensiveness. Within seconds, it came to me.

Because I teach law courses, I am forced to illustrate points by using hypotheticals, which I must often think up on the spur of the moment. In the middle of our discussion of dependency and personhood, I asked the young women to consider the following hypothetical:

I am a member of a gang that has just decided to retaliate against a rival gang for a drug-related murder. While driving by the home of the rival gang member, I fire ten shots into what I thought was his bedroom window. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The room housed two of his siblings. Consequently, the bullets struck and killed both of his twin sisters. How many counts of murder should I face in court?

Without hesitation, the pro-choice woman said “That’s easy. Two.” Then I asked her the $64,000 question: “Would it change your answer if they were Siamese twins?” Without hesitation, she replied, “Of course not.” Checkmate.

I followed up by reminding her that the twins were not only physically connected to one another but also dependent on one another for survival. If depending on another for survival does, in fact, undermine personhood then I was responsible for zero, as opposed to two, counts of murder. In other words, the dependency argument that gives license to kill unborn babies also gives license to kill Siamese twins. And that is no mark of compassion.

Shortly after we ended the conversation, the woman stood up and thanked me for talking to her. When she stood, I noticed a bulge around her waistline. About a minute later, her pro-life friend approached me and thanked me, too. It was then that I learned she was five months pregnant. In other words, as she was making the dependency argument she was carrying a baby that was not “viable.”

Ideas have consequences so we must be prepared to answer them with both logic and evidence. The stakes are always high. Abortion season lasts twelve months out of every year.

http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2012/05/14/a_murder_of_one/page/full/

By David Kerr, Catholic News Agency/EWTN, May 13, 2102

Florence, Italy – Pope Benedict XVI went to the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance to call upon every Catholic to once again play a full part in renewing today’s culture.

“Be ferment in society, be present as Christians, be active and coherent,” said the Pope during morning Mass in the town of Arezzo in the region of Tuscany May 13.

“The whole Church is sent out into the world to preach the Gospel and salvation. But it is always God’s initiative; he calls us to different ministries, so that each one plays his proper role for the common good.”

Pope Benedict was making a one day visit to the Tuscan towns of Arezzo, La Verna and Sansepolcro. In Arezzo he offered Mass in a local park before a congregation numbering in the tens of thousands.

The Pope noted that the area was the birthplace of “great Renaissance personalities” such as the poet Petrarch and painter and architect Varasi. Such men had played “an active role in affirming that concept of man which left its mark on the history of Europe, drawing strength from Christian values.”

Given these historical precedents, the Pope asked, “what vision of man are we proposing to new generations?” He suggested that an invitation to live God’s love towards all people should see a new Christian culture embody “distinctive values” including “solidarity, attention to the weak, respect for the dignity of all.”

This is particularly manifested, he said, in the “defense of human life, from its beginning to its natural end” and “the defense of the family, through laws that are just and protect the weakest elements.”

Later in the day the Pope travelled on to the town of La Verna to visit the Chapel of the Wounds. It was there that St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata in the year 1224.

With Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in the congregation at morning Mass, the Pope offered the “shining witness of St. Francis” as a guide to how Christians should cope with the current economic downturn in Italy and beyond.

“Since the remotest times, attention to others has moved the Church to show concrete signs of solidarity with those in need, sharing resources, promoting simpler lifestyles, going against an ephemeral culture which has disappointed many and determined a profound spiritual crisis,” he said.

At the conclusion of Mass the Pope led the congregation in the Eastertide Marian prayer, the Regina Coeli. He prayed that each pilgrim would “continue serving God and man according to the teaching of Jesus, the shining example of your saints and the tradition of your people” and he commended them to the “maternal protection of Our Lady of Comfort, whom you love and venerate, accompany and sustain you in this task.”

The Pope’s final stop in the day was the town of Sansepolcro to make a pilgrimage to the famous crucifix known as the Santo Volto or Holy Face which resides in the local cathedral. The artwork is an unusual carved wooden crucifix made from a single walnut log between the eighth and ninth centuries.

Pope Benedict XVI will return to the Vatican later Sunday evening.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-calls-on-catholics-to-take-part-in-new-renaissance/

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, LifeSiteNews.com, May 13, 2012

     According to a spokeswoman of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, is “communicating with the sisters” of the Ursuline Academy of Dallas, following statements attributed to the nuns that appear to support billionaire Melinda Gates’ campaign to inject millions of of impoverished women with contraceptive drugs.

Diocesan spokeswoman Annette Gonzalez Taylor told LifeSiteNews.com that she could not make further comments regarding the situation, but that a statement would soon be posted on the diocesan website. 

The communique, which appeared on Friday at approximately 6 pm central time, speaks for Farrell, stating that “in light of recent news events” the bishop “reminds all faithful that the Catholic Church is unwavering in Her teaching which states that through Divine Law, God is the giver of life.”

“Human life and the duty and privilege of transmitting it are not limited to the horizons of this life only. As Catholics, God has empowered us to be partners with him and through mutual self-giving be open to his plan for new life. Human sexuality and sexual expression in marriage are among God’s greatest gifts,” the statement reads.

“Artificial contraception violates the meaning of this gift.  The mutual unconditional gift that a married couple offers to one another in love must remain open to render them co-creators with God in new life.  Every Catholic has a serious responsibility to inform themselves about this teaching and to form their consciences in its light.”

The bishop’s comments come in apparent response to recent statements made by Melinda Gates, wife of billionaire tech mogul Bill Gates, claiming that the nuns who manage the Ursuline Academy of Dallas, where she once attended high school, were supportive of her plan to begin a global contraceptive campaign.

Gates recently told Newsweek magazine that she intends to raise $4 billion to distribute contraceptives to 120 million women in poor countries by 2020. She emphasizes the injectable drug Depo-Provera, which can cause abortions by preventing the implantation of a newly-conceived human life in the uterine wall. It is also associated with a host of medical problems, including osteoporosis, cervical cancer, and even memory loss. It contains a black label warning from the FDA.

According to Gates, the nuns at her old school were delighted to hear about her plans to initiate a global contraceptive campaign and contacted her to tell her: “We’re all for you. We know this is a difficult issue to speak on, but we absolutely believe that you’re living under Catholic values.”

“It was just so heartening,” Gates said of the phone call, which she says the Ursuline sisters made to her hotel room in Berlin, where she had just announced her intentions at a TEDxChange conference in early April.

Following the Newsweek story, published on May 7, the Academy’s president, Margaret Ann Moser, issued a statement declaring that “the nuns are “proud of Melinda French Gates, her dedication to social justice, her compassion for the underserved, and the great work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”

“Melinda Gates leads from her conscience, and acts on her beliefs as a concerned citizen of our world,” adds Moser, explaining, “The mission of Ursuline Academy of Dallas is to educate young women for such leadership.”

While claiming that “Ursuline is committed to the moral and doctrinal teachings of the Catholic Church” and recognizing that “Melinda’s beliefs on birth control are different from those of the Catholic Church,” the sisters nonetheless say they “respect her right” to “speak from her research and experience of the world we live in.”

The statement does not affirm nor deny that the nuns called Gates to support her contraceptive campaign.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/dallas-bishop-communicating-with-nuns-on-their-support-for-gates-global-con

Senator Rand Paul on his disagreement with Obama’s decision to support same-sex marriage . . . Sen. Rand Paul on Obama: ‘What Version of the Bible is He Reading?’

(5:17 minutes: Sen. Paul talks about Obama’s evolution of gay marriage;  discusses the need for Americans to find their moral bearings.)

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul speaks to at the annual Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s spring kickoff.

Monday, May 14, 2012

“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

–James Madison, speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788

By Don Schwager

 ”When the Counselor comes, he will bear witness to Jesus”

Scripture: John 15:26-16:4  (alternate reading: John 15:9-17)

26 But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; 27 and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. (John 16) 1 I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

Meditation: Where do you find help and support when you most need it? True friendship is strengthened in adversity. Jesus offers his disciples the best and truest of friends. Who is this promised friend? Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our Counselor and Advocate (also translated Paraclete or Helper). Counselor is a legal term for the one who will defend someone against an adversary and who guides that person during the ordeal of trial. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate and Helper who brings us safely through the challenges and adversities we must face in this life. As Jesus approaches the hour he was to be glorified – through his death on the cross and his resurrection – he revealed more fully to his disciples the person and role of the Holy Spirit.

What does Jesus tell us about the Holy Spirit? First, the Holy Spirit is inseparably one with the Father and the Son. It is the Holy Spirit who gives life – the very life of God – and who kindles faith in hearts receptive to God’s word. The Spirit makes it possible for us to know God personally. He gives us experiential knowledge of God as our Father. The Spirit witnesses to our spirit that the Father has indeed sent his Son into the world to redeem it and has raised his Son Jesus from the dead and has seated him at his right hand in glory and power. The Holy Spirit reveals to us the knowledge, wisdom and plan of God for the ages and the Spirit enables us to see with the “eyes of faith” what the Father and the Son are doing. Through the gift and working of the Holy Spirit we become witnesses to the great work of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus warned his disciples that they could expect persecution just as Jesus was opposed and treated with hostility. We have been given the Holy Spirit to help us live as disciples of Jesus Christ. The Spirit gives us courage and perseverance when we meet adversities and challenges. Do you pray for the Holy Spirit to strengthen you in faith, hope and love and to give you courage and perseverance with hope when you meet adversities and challenges?

“O merciful God, fill our hearts, we pray, with the graces of your Holy Spirit; with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. Teach us to love those who hate us; to pray for those who despitefully use us; that we may be the children of your love, our Father, who makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. In adversity grant us grace to be patient; in prosperity keep us humble; may we guard the door of our lips; may we lightly esteem the pleasures of this world, and thirst after heavenly things; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Prayer of Anselm, 1033-1109)

Psalm 149:1-9

1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with timbrel and lyre!
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to wreak vengeance on the nations and chastisement on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment written! This is glory for all his faithful ones.  Praise the LORD!

Go to | Daily Reading & Meditation Index |  (c) 2012 Don Schwager

American Catholic, May 14, 2012

According to Acts 1:15-26, during the days after the Ascension, Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (about 120 of Jesus’ followers). Now that Judas had betrayed his ministry, it was necessary, Peter said, to fulfill the scriptural recommendation that another should take his office. “Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection” (Acts 1:21-22).

They nominated two men: Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias. They prayed and drew lots. The choice fell upon Matthias, who was added to the Eleven.

Matthias is not mentioned by name anywhere else in the New Testament.

Comment: What was the holiness of Matthias? Obviously he was suited for apostleship by the experience of being with Jesus from his baptism to his ascension. He must also have been suited personally, or he would not have been nominated for so great a responsibility. Must we not remind ourselves that the fundamental holiness of Matthias was his receiving gladly the relationship with the Father offered him by Jesus and completed by the Holy Spirit? If the apostles are the foundations of our faith by their witness, they must also be reminders, if only implicitly, that holiness is entirely a matter of God’s giving, and it is offered to all, in the everyday circumstances of life. We receive, and even for this God supplies the power of freedom.

Quote:  Jesus speaks of the apostles’ function of being judges, that is, rulers. He said, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28).

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay/default.aspx

CNA/EWTN, May 11, 2012

The Blessing of the Child in the Womb and Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of Mother’s Day, the U.S. bishops’ conference has published a prayer to bless an unborn child, the child’s pregnant mother, the child’s father and the child’s family.

“God, author of all life, bless, we pray, this unborn child,” the prayer begins. “Give constant protection and grant a healthy birth.”

The blessing, titled “Rite of Blessing for a Child in the Womb,” is posted online at the U.S. bishops’ conference website. It is also published as a booklet addendum to the “Book of Blessings,” in which it will be included in future editions.

The prayer says that God has brought to the pregnant woman “the wondrous joy of motherhood.”

“Grant her comfort in all anxiety and make her determined to lead her child along the ways of salvation,” it adds.

The portion of the prayer for the child’s father says that God has “singled out this man to know the grace and pride of fatherhood.” It asks God to grant him courage and to make him “an example of justice and truth” for the child.

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, explained the intentions behind the prayer.

“We hope the use of this blessing will provide not only support and God’s blessing for expectant parents and their child in the womb, but also another effective witness to the sanctity of human life from the first moment of conception,” he said May 8.

Then-Bishop Joseph Kurtz of Knoxville, Tenn., who is now the Archbishop of Louisville, had asked the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the prayer. The committee prepared a text for the Divine Worship committee in March 2008.

The Vatican approved the prayer on March 25, 2012, the Feast of the Annunciation.

In March, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston, who chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said he was impressed by the “beauty” of the blessing.

The blessing can be downloaded at http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/prayers/pro-life-blessings.cfm.

By  The American TFP May 03, 2011

Written by Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty

The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral.She need not. “She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral –a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body… “The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God’s creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation… “What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this; to be a mother?”
— Cardinal Mindszenty

http://www.tfp.org/tfp-home/catholic-perspective/considerations-about-mothers.html

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council

Most people say that you can’t put a dollar amount on everything moms do, but if you did, salary.com says they would earn about $112,962 a year. That ranks right up there with top ad executives, marketing directors, and judges. Each year, Salary.com calculates the wages by combining the earning power of the jobs that resemble a mom’s role–like a laundry machine operator, housekeeper, teacher, babysitter, cook, janitor, driver, chief executive, and psychologist. In the end, though, no website can put a price tag on the sacrifices our moms make to raise children of strength and character. Back in Old Testament days, people didn’t need a survey to understand a woman’s value. Proverbs says, “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue… Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’” (Proverbs 31:10, 25-26, 28-29) I am blessed to have both a mother and a wife that fit that description! To all the moms out there who make such an indelible impact on our families and our culture, thank you–and Happy Mother’s Day!

http://www.frcaction.org/washingtonupdate/one-good-turn-deserves-a-mother

Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park, Utah
(photo by Howard Blichfeldt)

http://dailyencouragement.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/a-time-to-honor/

Obama Comes Out 05-11

Obama’s coming out of the political closet bears much in resemblance with the account of Noah’s Ark.

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Catholic News Roundup 05-11

Today’s stories:

– Obama Uses Gay ‘Marriage’ to Get Paid
– Banning Reparative Therapy
– New Beginnings
– The Grey Lady Smacks The Bride Of Christ
– Wrestler Body Slams Pro-Family Groups

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By Don Schwager

“I have called you friends, for all that I have  heard from my Father I have made known to you”

Scripture: John 15:9-17

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have  heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 This I command you, to love one another.

Meditation: What is the greatest act of love – of self-giving for the sake of another? Jesus defines friendship – the mutual bond of trust and affection which people have for one another – as the willingness to give totally of oneself – even to the point of laying down one’s life for the sake of others. How is such love possible or even desireable? God made us in love for love. That is our reason for being, our purpose for living, and our goal in dying. God is love and everything he does flows from his love for us. He loved us so much – far beyond what we could ever expect or deserve – through the offering of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who gave his life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. God the Father willingly gave up his Son so that we might become his beloved sons and daughters, his adopted children (Romans 8:14-17).

Paul the Apostle tells us that we can abound in joy and hope because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). God’s love has power to transform and change us so that we can be like him – merciful, kind, gracious, and forgiving. In God’s love we find the fulness of abundant life, peace, and joy. That is why Jesus came to give us abundant life through the gift and working of the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment – a new way of loving and serving one another. Jesus’ love was wholly directed toward the good of others. He love them for their sake and for their welfare. That is why he layed down his own life for us to free us from sin, death, fear, and everything that could hold us back from the love of God.

Jesus called his disciples his friends. Jesus not only showed his disciples that he cared for them. He enjoyed their company. He ate with them, shared everything he had with them – even his most intimate thoughts. And he spent himself doing good for them. To know Jesus is to know God and to understand the love and friendship God offers each one of us. One of the special marks of favor shown in the Scriptures is to be called the friend of God. Abraham is called the friend of God (Isaiah 41:8). God speaks with Moses as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11). Jesus, the Lord and Master, in turn, calls the disciples his friends rather than his servants. What does it mean to be a friend of God? Friendship with God certainly entails a loving relationship which goes beyond mere duty and obedience. Jesus’ discourse on friendship and brotherly love echoes the words of Proverbs: A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17). The distinctive feature of Jesus’ relationship with his disciples was his personal love for them. He loved his own to the end (John 13:1). His love was unconditional and wholly directed to the good of others. His love was also sacrificial. He gave the best he had and all that he had. He gave his very life for those he loved in order to secure for them everlasting life with the Father.

The Lord Jesus gives his followers a new commandment – a new way of love that goes beyond giving only what is required or what we think others might deserve. What is the essence of Jesus’ new commandment of love? It is a love to the death – a purifying love that overcomes selfishness, fear, and pride. It is a total giving of oneself for the sake of others – a selfless and self-giving love that is oriented towards putting the welfare of others ahead of myself. There is no greater proof in love than the sacrifice of one’s life for the sake of another. Jesus proved his love by giving his life for us on the cross of Calvary. Through the shedding of his blood for our sake, our sins are not only washed clean, but new life is poured out for us through the gift of the Holy Spirit. We prove our love for God and for one another when we embrace the way of the cross. What is the cross in my life? When my will crosses with God’s will, then God’s will must be done. Do you know the peace and joy of a life fully surrendered to God and consumed with his love?

The Lord Jesus tells us that he is our friend and he loves us whole-heartedly and unconditionally. He wants us to love one another just as he loves us, whole-heartedly and without reserve. His love fills our hearts and transforms our minds and frees us to give ourselves in loving service to others. If we open our hearts to his love and obey his command to love our neighbor, then we will bear much fruit in our lives, fruit that will last for eternity. Do you wish to be fruitful and to abound in the love of God?

“Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Prayer of Ignatius Loyola)

Psalm 98:1-4

1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!  His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.
2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.  All the ends of the earth have seen  the victory of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Go to | Daily Reading & Meditation Index |  (c) 2012 Don Schwager

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

     The word family indicates a plurality of persons. There is another word, one of special significance, that indicates just one person: Mother.

     A mother is the quintessence of a family, for she is the quintessence of love, the quintessence of affection and, therefore, the quintessence of goodness and mercy.

     It is in contact with its mother that a child begins to understand untiring goodness, begins to understand inexhaustible grace, consideration, and love, as well as that form of affection which disposes the mother to find no tedium in being with her child. To carry her child in her arms, to play with her child, to allow her child to run freely back and forth, to be interrupted countless times during the day with little questions and toys — this is life’s joy for a good mother.

 Someone who in the first stages of life experienced the joy of having a good mother understands that life on earth can be very difficult. But as long as he remembers his mother, he will retain the paradisiacal remembrance of his infancy. And retaining this remembrance, the person maintains hope in the Celestial Paradise, where the Good Mother will welcome us.

The preceding article is taken from an informal lecture Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave on the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, May 24, 1995. It has been translated and adapted for publication without his revision. –Ed.

See also:

Considerations About Mothers
     by Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty

http://www.tfp.org/tfp-home/plinio-correa-de-oliveira/mother.html

“Let Us Unite Ourselves To The Cross Of Christ By Prayer And Penance!”

By Father John A. Gallas, Courageous Priest

The Last Vision Of Fatima And Consecration Of Russia

The last vision of Fatima is an event that is not well known. It occurred in 1929 in the Spanish town of Tuy as Sister Lucia was praying alone in her convent chapel. She received a supernatural vision of the Holy Trinity, which was a very interesting and important occurrence.

Most noteworthy is what Mary asked of the Pope: “The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the bishops of the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart…”

The consecration was fulfilled by Pope John Paul II almost three years after the attempt on his life, on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25, 1984. Particularly noteworthy was the series of events that followed this consecration. Mary had specifically identified the threat of Communism. After this consecration,

Communism fell in Russia. As Professor Américo Pablo López-Ortiz wrote in our previous newsletter, this took place through an especially noteworthy series of events which occurred on days dedicated to Our Lady. On August 22, 1991, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, the Communist party was thwarted in an attempt to overthrow Gorbachev. On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1991, it was announced that the community of independent states would replace the USSR. On Christmas Day, 1991, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus announced the formal dissolution of the USSR. On January 1, 1992, Russia emerged as an independent state open to religious freedom and public worship. Without the use of the sword, Communism in Russia had collapsed.

Did Russia Spread Her Errors Throughout The World?

Since the USSR is no longer in existence, does that mean that the goal of Fatima is fulfilled? By no means! Mary warned the children that Russia’s errors would spread throughout the world. What are the errors that underlie Communism? Materialism, atheism, individualism, putting self before others; all of these are spiritual sicknesses we can see in various incarnations, not only abroad and in our land, but even within our own hearts.

If this last vision can truly be said to be a synthesis of the entire message of Fatima, then our response should be to totally consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Might we think of Russia as an image of the sinner infected by the disease of sin and needing to be given over entirely to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who models and leads us to Jesus, her Son?

Why Did Mary Choose The Shepard Children?

The fact that Mary chose shepherd children of simple faith is striking. Shepherds were the first to receive the message that Christ was born. Jesus spoke of His relationship with the Church as the “Good Shepherd.” Shepherds face personal temptations toward cowardice and laziness, as well as an acute awareness of actual physical dangers (e.g., the attack of wolves). The children understood that God has a flock that is in great danger—unless it is tended, it will go astray. Despite their youth and lay state, they were to participate in the Church’s role of shepherding sinners by virtue of the grace of their Baptism, and by uniting themselves to the Cross of Jesus Christ through prayer and penance.

What Should Our Response Be To Our Lady?

Our response should also be to unite our lives to the Cross of Christ in prayer and penance. It’s a simple yet very difficult thing, but has great power and can bear real fruit for the salvation of sinners. We can offer sacrifices as acts of reparation for the sins by which God is offended and for the conversion of sinners. The shepherd children found simple ways to do this, realizing the great value of offering up little sacrifices in union with the Cross of Christ.

Mary is asking us to offer our prayers and acts of reparation to win graces for the ongoing conversion of the world. As we see the way the world is going with all its rampant corruption, sin, and discouragement, we must recall that only one thing is required: to willingly accept what comes to us while keeping our eyes fixed on Christ and on the Holy Eucharist. As we offer our trials in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we will participate in the triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart over this world.

http://www.courageouspriest.com/vision-fatima

     Understanding the Sins of Sodom in yesterday’s post made for some pretty grim reading from the Old Testament. If you have the stomach for some even harsher language and more shocking imagery–but which reads like yesterday’s newspaper from our society take a look at Ezekiel chapter 16. You thought Sodom was bad, the prophet says the sins of the Israelites were worse than those of Sodom.

Last week, in this post, I spoke of my increased attraction to the Divine Mercy devotion, and why: Because of the “sins that cry to heaven”. The first of those is the sin of sodomy. As I said yesterday, the sin of Sodom is not just homosexuality, but every kind of sexual perversion, violence, lust and depravity.

The sins that cry to heaven do so because they are sins of violence against the vulnerable, weak and helpless. There is no one else for the victims of these sins to cry out to except to heaven. The second sin of violence is murder. In the Old Testament violence, waging war and killing is always linked with the sin of lust and depravity. The two go hand in hand. Do a Bible word search on “Sodom” and you will find that the King of Sodom was always at war somewhere or another.

The violence associated with lust extends to the second sin that cries to heaven, and it is murder. The link between the first two sins that cry to heaven is nowhere more clear than in the sin of abortion. The prophet Ezekiel says to the people of Israel,

You took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.

Abortion and infanticide are simply the violent result of the lust and depravity we think of as the Sin of Sodom. As America is awash in the first sin that cries to heaven, so she is awash in the innocent blood of murder.

There is simply no justification for the horrors of the abortion industry in America. Thousands of unborn children are eliminated daily, and the vast majority are offered up as a result of the selfishness and immorality of their parents. No abortion is justifiable, but late term abortions are especially abhorrent–in which a child who could survive, and who feels pain is dismembered, his skull crushed and is scraped from the womb–and we are not ashamed. We calmly abort children simply because they are the “wrong gender.” Indeed, we celebrate abortion. Our “Christian” leaders call it a “blessing.”

Of course we do not offer them to Molech literally, but we should stop and ask ourselves what Molech represents. The ancient gods were offered human sacrifice as an act of appeasement. It was a deal. We give you our children and you give us the “P” words: Protection, Prosperity and Power. In America today we do not offer babies to Molech, but we sacrifice our children through abortion–and yes, through contraception–for the same reasons: we want Protection, Prosperity and Power.

Furthermore, the killing continues in our country in other ways. Our vast military machine reaches across the globe torturing and killing wherever necessary to preserve our “strategic interests” aka. Protection, Prosperity and Power. The economic violence is also perpetrated in our own country and around the world–but those are the last two “sins that cry to heaven” and I will do separate posts on them in days to come.

What is most frightening about America is that we are increasingly blind to the sins of Sodom and the offerings to Molech. We can’t hear the truth. We use convoluted arguments to justify what we are doing. We are wallowing in the filth and the blood and we think we’re delightful.

The Christian soul recoils in horror and cries out, “Lord Have Mercy!” This is, in fact, all one can do once things become so bad. This is why the Divine Mercy devotion is so necessary and why in our new church I am determined to have a shrine to the Divine Mercy–a place for all to come and receive the only antidote to the poison–the only healing for the soul and the only salvation for ourselves and our world which is possible.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2012/05/america-and-molech.html

Kathryn Jean Lopez, Patheos, May 11, 2012

As you know, Paul Ryan has been subject to the criticisms of a minority of Catholic bishops, questioning his commitment to Catholic social teaching in regard to budget policy-making.

(George Weigel has addressed this here. I’ve talked with Fr. Thomas Williams about the same here.)

On EWTN’s The World Over last night, Raymond Arroyo asked Congressman Ryan’s bishop about his budget. Bishop Robert Morlino of the diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, spoke as a shepherd, encouraging discerning policy-making from Ryan and all Catholics in public life.

Pointing out “I don’t think that he really needs any particular affirmation from me,” the bishop was encouraging toward Ryan: “He is a very responsible lay Catholic, who understands lay mission and who makes his judgment very much in accord with all the teaching of the Church and he knows how to do that.”

Video here:

It is not an endorsement of the Ryan budget, but of taking what you claim to believe seriously.

That is in no small way a challenge to us all: Rather than sit around wanting the bishops to weigh in one way or another on what’s in the news, we could afford to take up the call to be discerning, vocal Catholics, taking our faith seriously in every aspect of our lives. With his engagement on economic matters, taking Catholic social teaching seriously, Paul Ryan is a model in public life, one to nudge us during this tipping point kind of election year, but always.

Harvard professor, Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon still has one of the best calls to action Catholic laity. She also happens to model it.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kathrynlopez/2012/05/paul-ryan-and-the-hour-of-the-laity/

By Don Schwager

“You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world”

Scripture: John 15:18-21

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me.

Meditation: What does Jesus mean when he says “you are not of this world”? The world in scripture refers to that society of people who are hostile towards God and opposed to his will. The world rejected the Lord Jesus, and his disciples can expect the same treatment. The Lord Jesus leaves no middle ground for his followers. We are either for him or against him, for his kingdom of light or for the kingdom of darkness. The prophet Isaiah warned that people who separate themselves from God because of their rebellion and spiritual blindness would end up calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).

If we want to live in the light of God’s truth, how can we rightly distinguish good from evil? True love of God and his ways draw us to all that is lovely, truthful and good. If we truly love God then we will submit to his truth and obey his word. A friend of God cannot expect to be a friend of the world because the world opposes God. Jesus’ demand is unequivocal and without compromise. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). We must make a choice either for or against God. Do you seek to please God in all your thoughts, actions, and relationships? Let the Holy Spirit fill your heart with the love of God (Romans 5:5).

“Lord Jesus, may the fire of your love fill my heart with an eagerness to please you in all things. May there be no rivals to my love and devotion to you who are my all.”

Psalm 100:1-5

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD is God! It is he that made us, and we are his;  we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!  Give thanks to him, bless his name!
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Go to | Daily Reading & Meditation Index |  (c) 2012 Don Schwager