Government vs. Conscience
Published April 30, 2009 | 
…To argue that human law must always supersede conscience is an invitation to tyranny. The Bill of Rights is an acknowledgement that certain rights-like freedom of religion-are simply, or should be, beyond government’s reach….
By Charles Colson, Catholic Exchange, April 30th, 2009
As I’ve said before on BreakPoint, the Obama administration is planning to revoke the Bush-era “conscience clause” that protects health-care workers from having to perform procedures that violate their conscience-procedures like abortion.
A leading post-modern scholar, Professor Stanley Fish, defended Obama’s stance recently in the New York Times. Fish’s reasoning should disturb anyone who believes that human rights come from a higher source than government.
Fish’s argument relies on 17th-century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. To Hobbes’s, “the Law is the public Conscience” and must take precedence over the judgments of an individual’s “private Conscience” so that government can maintain order.
Fish points out that the U.S. Supreme Court “has ruled that when the personal imperatives of one’s religion or morality lead to actions in violation of generally applicable laws-laws not promulgated that is, with the intention of affronting anyone’s conscience-the violations will not be allowed and will certainly not be celebrated.”
Well, that’s true to a point. But Fish is being disingenuous when he speaks of “laws not promulgated with the intention of affronting anyone’s conscience.” Of course laws aren’t passed deliberately to offend people, unless the lawmakers are deranged. But there are undeniably cases in which the law attempts to force decent people to act against their conscience in matters of justice and human rights.
Has Fish forgotten that this country used to have a law forcing the return of escaped slaves? Today, we rightly regard people who disobeyed that law as heroes. While the ownership and mistreatment of human beings may have been legal, it was immoral to the core.
It is also immoral for human beings to be involved in the deliberate taking of innocent human lives. As Professor J. Budziszewski notes, that is one of those things “we can’t not know.” And we know it because there is an authority higher than human government from which we derive our rights, and that authority has written His law on every human heart.
The principle is set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the cornerstone of American government: “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
When health-care professionals refuse to perform or assist in an abortion because it violates their conscience, they are obeying a Higher Authority and His laws-the laws to which He holds every human being.
This is a principle articulated by great saints like Augustine and Aquinas and at modern times by Martin Luther King, who, in his famous letter from a Birmingham jail, echoed Augustine: “An unjust law is no law at all.”
To argue that human law must always supersede conscience is an invitation to tyranny. The Bill of Rights is an acknowledgement that certain rights-like freedom of religion-are simply, or should be, beyond government’s reach.
Let’s hope-and pray-that the Obama administration will decide not to force medical professionals to choose between their consciences and their livelihood. For their sake, and for the sake of all of our own freedoms.
This update courtesy of BreakPoint.
http://catholicexchange.com/2009/04/30/118119/
It’s Not What Obama Says; It’s What He Does That Matters! Says Government Will Stop ‘Meddling’ in Private Sector ASAP
Published April 30, 2009 | 
President Barack Obama speaks at his third primetime news conference at the White House on Wednesday, April 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
White House (CNSNews.com) – At a primetime press conference Wednesday night, President Barack Obama said his goal is “to get the U.S. government out of the auto business as quickly as possible.”
“I want to disabuse people of this notion that somehow we enjoy, you know, meddling in the private sector,” the president said in response to a question.
“If you could tell me right now that when I walked into this office, that the banks were humming, that autos were selling, and that all you had to worry about was Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, getting health care passed, figuring out how to deal with energy independence, deal with Iran, and a pandemic flu, I would take that deal.”
In a nod to Republican criticism, he added: “And that’s why I’m always amused when I hear these, you know, criticisms of, oh, you know, Obama wants to grow government. No. I would love a nice, lean portfolio to deal with, but that’s not the hand that’s been dealt us.”
At the third primetime news conference of his presidency – this one marking the 100th day of his administration – Obama also addressed the status of the beleaguered automobile industry.
“I am actually very hopeful, more hopeful than I was 30 days ago, that we can see a resolution that maintains a viable Chrysler auto company out there,” Obama said.
He said the labor unions “have made enormous sacrifices on top of sacrifices that they had previously made.” And he noted that major debt holders also have “come up with a set of potential concessions that they can live with.”
“All of that promises the possibility that you can get a Fiat-Chrysler merger and that you have an ongoing concern. The details have not yet been finalized, so I don’t want to jump the gun,” Obama said.
(Hours after Obama made the comment, talks between Chrysler’s lenders and the Treasury Department to reduce the automaker’s $6.9 billion in secured debt and keep the company out of bankruptcy protection have disintegrated, sources told the Associated Press early Thursday.)
Chrysler and General Motors received $17.4 billion in federal loans from the Troubled Assets Relief Program. Last month, Obama announced that the two firms had not submitted satisfactory restructuring plans to demonstrate they could survive without government assistance.
“With respect to GM, we’re going to have another 30 days,” Obama said. They’re still in the process of presenting us with their plans. But I’ve always said that GM has a lot of good product there, and if they can get through these difficult times and engage in some of the very difficult choices that they’ve already made, that they can emerge a strong, competitive, viable company.”
He said the auto companies suffered a double whammy: “We have a circumstance in which a bad recession compounded some great weaknesses already in the auto industry.”
In his hour-long back-and-forth with reporters, Obama also addressed the swine flu outbreak, explaining that he is closely monitoring the situation and explaining why the U.S. has not moved to close its border with Mexico:
U.S. health officials have not recommended a border closure, he said. “From their perspective, it would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out, because we already have cases here in the United States.”
In response to a question on immigration, Obama said he would like to see comprehensive reform in his first term — a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens.
Such a proposal died in Congress in 2005 and 2007, amid a groundswell of public opposition, despite support from former President Bush and Democratic congressional leaders.
Obama said his administration will take enforcement actions to earn the country’s trust in passing reforms.
Continue reading
Archbishop Chaput Criticizes “Creative Reasoning” Behind ND Defense of Obama Invitation: 53 Opposing Bishops
Published April 30, 2009 | By Kathleen Gilbert, April 29, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
DENVER, Colorado – Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has weighed in on the controversy at Notre Dame, criticizing the school’s defense of its decision to honor President Obama and praising former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon’s refusal to accept the Laetare Medal at the same ceremony.
53 bishops and over 340,000 Catholics have protested against Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama to give the commencement address and receive an honorary law degree on May 17.
In an email to LifeSiteNews.com, Archbishop Chaput confirmed that he had advised concerned Catholics to make their “disappointment known to Father Jenkins, respectfully and also firmly.”
“I very much admire Mary Ann Glendon’s decision to decline the Laetare Medal, as well as Bishop John D’Arcy’s excellent leadership in this matter,” said the Archbishop. “I’m glad so many bishops have expressed their concern.”
Chaput also lauded ND alumnus and Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn’s recent comments criticizing the school’s “route to incoherence” in a campus event sponsored by Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture. (To view McGurn’s speech, go to: http://ethicscenter.nd.edu/documents/NDWitnessForLife-Final….)
Chaput said it was “difficult to imagine any way” the Obama invitation could be justified in light of the U.S. bishops’ 2004 document “Catholics in Political Life.” The directive states: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
“Notre Dame didn’t need to do this to show its openness to ‘dialogue,’” Chaput continued. “And candidly, very few Notre Dame faculty members would accept from their students the kind of creative reasoning now being used to defend the invitation.”
Asked whether he believes that Notre Dame should disinvite President Obama, Chaput replied, “I think the leadership of Bishop D’Arcy is what counts in this matter, as well as that of Cardinal George. I’m happy to follow their counsel.”
The bishops who have so far expressed disapproval of Notre Dame’s invitation to Obama (in alphabetical order) are:
1. Bishop John D’Arcy – Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN
2. Bishop Samuel Aquila – Fargo, ND
3. Bishop Gregory Aymond – Austin, TX
4. Bishop Gerald Barbarito – Palm Beach, FL
5. Bishop Leonard Blair – Toledo, OH
6. Archbishop Daniel Buechlein – Indianapolis, IN
7. Bishop Robert Baker – Birmingham, AL
8. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz – Lincoln, NE
9. Archbishop Eusebius Beltran – Oklahoma City, OK
10. Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantú – San Antonio, TX
11. Archbishop Charles Chaput – Denver, CO
12. Bishop Paul Coakley – Salina, KS
13. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo – Houston, TX
14. Archbishop Timothy Dolan – New York, NY
15. Bishop Thomas Doran – Rockford, IL
16. Auxiliary Bishop John Dougherty – Scranton, PA
17. Bishop Robert Finn – Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO
18. Bishop Joseph Galante – Camden, NJ
19. Bishop Victor Galeone – St. Augustine, FL
20. Cardinal Francis George – Chicago, IL; President, USCCB
21. Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger – Evansville, IN
22. Archbishop José Gomez – San Antonio, TX
23. Bishop William Higi – Lafayette, IN
24. Archbishop Alfred Hughes – New Orleans, LA
25. Bishop Peter Jugis – Charlotte, NC
26. Bishop Joseph Latino – Jackson, MS
27. Bishop John LeVoir – New Ulm, MN
28. Bishop Jerome Listecki – La Crosse, WI
29. Bishop William E. Lori – Bridgeport, CT
30. Bishop Paul Loverde – Arlington, VA
31. Bishop George Lucas – Springfield, IL
32. Bishop Robert Lynch – St. Petersburg, FL
33. Bishop Joseph Martino – Scranton, PA
34. Bishop Robert Morlino – Madison, WI
35. Bishop George Murry – Youngstown, OH
36. Archbishop John J. Myers – Newark, NJ
37. Archbishop Joseph Naumann – Kansas City, KS
38. Bishop R. Walker Nickless – Sioux City, IA
39. Archbishop John C. Nienstedt – St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN
40. Archbishop Edwin O’Brien – Baltimore, MD
41. Bishop Thomas Olmsted – Phoenix, AZ
42. Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk – Cincinnati, OH
43. Bishop Glen Provost – Lake Charles, LA
44. Cardinal Justin Rigali – Philadelphia, PA; Chairman, USCCB Pro-Life Committee
45. Bishop Kevin Rhoades – Harrisburg, PA
46. Bishop Alexander Sample – Marquette, MI
47. Bishop Edward J. Slattery – Tulsa, OK
48. Bishop Richard Stika – Knoxville, TN
49. Bishop Anthony Taylor – Little Rock, AR
50. Bishop Robert Vasa – Baker, OR
51. Bishop Thomas Wenski – Orlando, FL
52. Archbishop Donald Wuerl – Washington, D.C.
53. Bishop David Zubick – Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042905.html
First 300,000 Petition Signatures Delivered to Notre Dame Board Members, Fr. Jenkins
Published April 30, 2009 | …Copies being rushed to Rome, Papal Nuncio, USCCB and ND Bishop John D’Arcy…
April 29, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
MANASSAS, VA – This morning the first 300,000 names of individuals who signed the petition at NotreDameScandal.com – opposing the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Barack Obama at this year’s commencement – began to be delivered to Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the Board of Trustees and the Board of Fellows as they prepare for scheduled meetings on Friday, May 1, at Notre Dame.
As of this morning, more than 344,000 people have signed the petition, but because of the overwhelming number of signers The Cardinal Newman Society says it took them more than 24 hours to prepare the data and print more than 64,000 sheets of paper, double-sided, which were then bound in notebooks and rushed to Father Jenkins and individual members of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees and Board of Fellows.
Copies of the petitions are also being rushed by The Cardinal Newman Society, which sponsored the petition, to Archbishop Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education; Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican ambassador) to the United States; Francis Cardinal George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); Bishop John D’Arcy, of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who presides over Notre Dame; and Bishop Robert McManus, Chairman of the USCCB Education Committee.
“Only the Notre Dame Trustees and Fellows have direct authority over Father Jenkins, so their meetings on Friday are our best hope for an end to this scandal,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society.
“It is critical for all of us to pray that the Trustees and Fellows charged with safeguarding Notre Dame’s Catholic identity will heed the 50 bishops and hundreds of thousands of faithful Catholics urging Notre Dame to withdraw its invitation to President Obama.”
The University of Notre Dame is governed by a 12-member Board of Fellows, including six Holy Cross priests, who are charged with ensuring “that the University maintains its essential character as a Catholic institution of higher learning.” The Fellows delegate most of their governing authority to the 38-member Board of Trustees, comprised mostly of lay people.
The university’s charter states: “The essential character of the University as a Catholic institution of higher learning shall at all times be maintained, it being the stated intention and desire of the present Fellows of the University that the University shall retain in perpetuity its identity as such an institution.”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042902.html
New Hampshire Senate Approves Same-Sex “Marriage”
Published April 30, 2009 | By Kathleen Gilbert, April 29, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
CONCORD, New Hampshire - New Hampshire’s senate this afternoon voted 13-11 to extend the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, reports the Associated Press. The bill would make New Hampshire the fifth state to legalized same-sex “marriage,” and the third to do so this month.
The measure survived despite the fact that the Senate Judiciary Committee last week voted 3-2 to send the bill to the Senate floor with a recommendation to vote it down.
A last-minute amendment ensuring the right of religious clergy to decline performing same-sex “marriage” ceremonies, and allowing heterosexual couples to choose the words “bride” and “groom” on their marriage certificate rather than simply “spouse,” helped gather critical support for the bill.
In late March the House passed a similar bill, which must now be rectified with the Senate version.
Gov. John Lynch has spoken in favor of true marriage in the past, but it is unclear whether he plans to veto the measure.
100-Day Lurch to the Left! Punishing Producers Will Cause a Train Wreck of Magnificent Proportions!
Published April 30, 2009 | | In the early 1980s, Ronald Reagan’s popularity and policies moved American politics firmly to the right. In only 100 days, Barack Obama’s politics and policies have shifted America way to the left.
The president is seeking to change the whole relationship between the government and the free-enterprise private sector. He is steering the country away from democratic capitalism and toward his big-government command-and-control vision. We are witnessing a triumph of government bureaucrats over entrepreneurs, investors, and small businesses. And with Sen. Arlen Specter switching from Republican to Democrat, Obama can now move the nation even further to the left. A filibuster-proof Senate will mean even greater economic restructuring with expanded government control of health care and energy and increased unionization. This looks very much like a war against investors, businesses, and entrepreneurs. Shareholder rights are being eviscerated. Political decisions are replacing the rule of law, the rule of bankruptcy courts, and free-market principles. We are witnessing more spending, deficits, and debt-creation than anyone ever imagined. Bailout Nation has run amok. This started under Bush, but Obama is raising the stakes exponentially.
The latest federal budget would double the debt in five years and triple it in ten. For some perspective, that debt level is higher than the combined debt levels generated under every president from George Washington to George W. Bush. According to the CBO, federal debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP under Obama is projected to rise to 82 percent in ten years. The budget deficit itself never drops below $670 billion and closes the period at $1.2 trillion. That’s nearly a 6 percent share of the economy. All of this will certainly lead to large tax-rate hikes that will rob incentive power from entrepreneurs, investors, and small-business owners. Just look at Britain, where the top tax rate has been raised to 50 percent from 40 percent. The Thatcher Revolution is being repealed over there. Unless current trends are reversed, the Reagan Revolution will be repealed over here. The Obama budget already will raise taxes on overseas corporate earnings and oil-and-gas companies at home. It will elevate taxes on capital gains and dividends for investors and will lift the top tax rate for successful earners. And more is coming. But this is the wrong direction for economic growth. Instead, business tax rates should be slashed – which, by the way, would repatriate corporate earnings for domestic investment. We need a capital-gains tax holiday. We should be flattening individual tax rates across-the-board. And all manner of loopholes and special-interest deductions should be repealed to broaden the taxable-income base. Nowhere is the Obama vision of government interference more evident than on the banking front. The White House and Treasury are using TARP as a bullying club to force government control on the country’s financial institutions. There is no exit strategy; no endgame in sight. Quite the opposite: News reports suggest that six major banks could be subjected to government ownership, putting them in the same club as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, GM, and Chrysler. This reminds one of Francois Mitterrand, the former socialist president of France. It’s way outside the American economic tradition. And TARP itself is riddled with criminal-enterprise undertones. According to Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky, the $700 billion TARP program — which has ballooned to more than $3 trillion in spending, loans, and loan guarantees — is “inherently vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse.” Barofsky already has opened 20 separate TARP-related criminal investigations and six audits into whether taxpayer dollars are being stolen or wasted. Rest assured that they are. Economic recovery is still likely in the second half of the year. And President Obama will claim victory for his big-spending policies. But the reality is much different. Massive Federal Reserve pump-priming is moving the economy from deep recession to some kind of recovery. Meanwhile, the combination of deficit spending and easy money increases the threat of stagflation. Will Republicans take advantage of the wide opening created by Obama’s 100-day lurch to the left? So far the GOP has produced only fragmented policy alternatives and no central spokesperson. That’s not unusual for the party out of power. But the Specter defection underscores the GOP’s sagging fortunes. Right now, the most promising Republican leader — at least in a policy sense — is former Vice President Dick Cheney. His attack against the release of the CIA interrogation memos and his forceful call for the release of the information gathered during those interrogations — facts that helped keep America safe after 9/11 — clearly rattled Team Obama. Mr. Cheney should now launch a counterattack on Obama’s tax-and-spend New Deal/Great Society enlargement of government power. It would make for delicious irony, but Dick Cheney may be most effective spokesperson the GOP has. Lawrence Kudlow is host of CNBC’s Kudlow & Companyhttp://townhall.com/columnists/LarryKudlow/2009/04/29/100-day_lurch_to_the_left?page=full&comments=true |
Is Obama Really That Childish, Petty and Overly Sensitive?
Published April 30, 2009 | Alexander Burns, POLITICO.COM, April 29, 2009
At his 100th-day town hall meeting in St. Louis Wednesday, President Barack Obama took direct aim at the anti-tax “tea party” demonstrations that have cropped up over the last month and took a veiled shot at the Fox News Channel, the cable news network closely associated with the protests.
Asked about fiscal discipline and entitlements reform, Obama seemed to be repressing a smile as he jabbed critics of his spending plans.
“Those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I’m not very popular, and you see folks waving tea bags around, Obama said, “let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we are going to stabilize Social Security.”
“But,” Obama continued, “let’s not play games and pretend that the reason [for the deficit] is because of the Recovery Act.”
It’s the president’s most direct response so far to the protests that flared up in some locations around tax day, on April 15.
In his briefing that day, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters: “I don’t know if there’s a specific response to protests..I think you saw the president today talk about as candidate Obama promising to bring a tax cut to 95 percent of working families in America, and as president delivering that tax cut.”
Watch Obama’s town hall Q&A highlights:
Obama: A Master of Distraction? Did You Know He Passed His $3,400,000,000,000 Budget Wednesday?
Published April 30, 2009 | 
Despite a persistent recession and soaring budget deficits, Democrats overwhelmingly endorsed the president’s request for hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending over the next decade for college loans, early childhood education programs, veterans’ benefits and investments in renewable energy aimed at reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.
Lawmakers also agreed to use a powerful procedural tool known as reconciliation to advance the president’s proposal to expand health coverage for the uninsured — a move that ensures Republicans would not be able to filibuster the legislation. Unlike in 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton unveiled a universal coverage plan that went nowhere on Capitol Hill, Obama has a strong mandate for change from both chambers of Congress and a mid-October deadline for key congressional committees to send legislation to the full House and Senate.
“This is very exciting,” said DeAnn Friedholm, health reform director for Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. “Some of us have spent our entire careers trying to make sure we have a decent health-care system, and I think we’re on the precipice of being able to get that this time.”
The budget resolution didn’t win a single vote from Republican lawmakers, who were enraged that the deficit is projected to exceed $1.2 trillion next year. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) called it an “audacious move to a big socialist government” that piles “debt on the backs of our kids and our grandkids.”
Still, the measure passed the House by a vote of 233 to 193 and the Senate 53 to 43. Only 17 Democrats in the House and three in the Senate voted against it, as did Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who announced Tuesday that he would leave the Republican Party.
Approval of the budget blueprint marked a huge victory for Obama on his 100th day in office, but it was not a slam-dunk for him. Lawmakers trimmed his tax-cutting plans, refusing to extend his signature tax credit for working families past 2010 unless it is paid for. They sliced $10 billion from his spending request for non-defense programs in the fiscal year that begins in October and jettisoned his suggestion that another $250 billion would be needed to stabilize the banking system. They also refused to authorize the use of reconciliation for his plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, huge questions remain on the shape of proposed initiatives, particularly on health care.
“We are clearly as close as we’ve ever been, but it’s still a long journey,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which is taking the lead on health legislation. “This is one of the steepest ascents in politics. We have momentum. We have the right gear, shall we say. But reaching the peak is a hard thing.”
The budget resolution is a nonbinding document that does not enact policy, but establishes rules for much of the legislation that will be considered in the coming months. It sets limits for spending on most existing government programs and permits lawmakers to pursue certain additional initiatives so long as they do not increase the deficit.
The resolution also creates a reconciliation process for health care and Obama’s plan to dramatically expand the federal college loan program. Under the resolution, if key committees produce health and education legislation by Oct. 15, those measures could pass the Senate with only 51 votes instead of the usual 60.
Republicans and some key Democrats have complained bitterly about using reconciliation for health care, arguing that it robs the minority of influence on major legislation related to one of the biggest sectors of the U.S. economy. Specter and Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) both cited reconciliation as the reason they opposed the budget resolution, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has vowed to produce a bipartisan bill well before the October deadline.
Even with the advantages of reconciliation, Baucus faces a host of competing demands. Many Senate Republicans have vowed to oppose any measure that creates a government-run health program for the uninsured; many liberal Democrats have vowed to oppose any measure without one. Conservative Democrats, meanwhile, say they want the administration to deliver on its assurances that changing the health-care system will rein in rising costs for federal health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, not simply expand coverage.
The administration’s challenge is “to convince enough of us that their proposal will actually contain costs over the long term,” said Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), a leader of the Blue Dog Democrats, who temporarily blocked progress on the budget resolution earlier this week amid concern about deficits.
Then there’s the matter of paying for expanded coverage, which is expected to cost more than $1 trillion over the next decade. Asked yesterday how Congress might find the money, Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, laughed. “With great difficulty,” he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/29/AR2009042901033.html?hpid=topnews
GOSPEL & MEDITATION: Gift of the Spirit
Published April 30, 2009 |
John 3:31-36
The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
Introductory Prayer: I come before you, Lord, poor and unworthy. Yet you welcome me with such love. With my effort during this meditation I want to make a small return on your great kindness.
Petition: Lord, help me to cooperate with your greatest gift, the Holy Spirit.
1. No Shortage of the Gift of the Spirit. Jesus does not ration the gift of the Spirit. By and through the Holy Spirit, Christ lifts our whole life to another level. The Lord’s generosity is amazing. Think of the Eucharist. Every time we receive the Lord, he leaves in our soul a renewal and deepening of the Holy Spirit’s presence. With every communion we are preparing our bodies and souls for the immortality of the Resurrection. Of course, such a gift invites a response. In the face of such generosity, how can we be stingy in return?
2. A Gift for Our Human Relationships. The gift of the Spirit is vital for our human relationships. Jesus’ ardent prayer at the Last Supper was for the unity of his disciples: “that they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you” (John 17:21). For a unity like that, the Holy Spirit is absolutely indispensable. The gift of the Spirit, in order to be effective, provides the antidote for all our tendencies to disunity. The Spirit combats our pride and egotism by reminding us of Christ’s humility. He stirs up the realization that we have to live in charity and provides us with the strength to give without counting the cost. He enables us to persevere in unity.
3. A Gift for Our Interior Life. The depths of our hearts is where we ultimately experience this gift of the Spirit. But at times we feel more like a dry well than a spring of water welling up to eternal life (cf. John 4:14). The Holy Spirit is at work — in abundance — no less in the moments of dryness than in the moments of consolation. He seeks to purify us of the petty attachments that hold us back. He directs us to seek God for his own sake and not to turn to him only as a divine dispenser of spiritual candy. But still, we should await the moment of consolation with the hope-filled knowledge that the Lord is near. When we experience this consolation, we will experience confirmation that the Lord’s gift of the Spirit is unlike any other!
Conversation with Christ: Lord, the Holy Spirit is the soul of Church. He is the gift you have given us with such generosity. Help us to live more in accord with this truth. Help us to be obedient when we are tempted to pride. Help us to love when we are tempted to reject. May your Holy Spirit constantly reinforce the bond that holds us together.
Resolution: I will foster charity by paying special attention to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.
TODAY’S SAINT: ST. PIUS V, POPE
Published April 30, 2009 | 
Born Michele Ghisleri, at Bosco, near Alexandria, Lombardy, 17 Jan., 1504, elected pope, 7 Jan., 1566; died 1 May, 1572.
Michele Ghislieri was born of poor parents of noble lineage and was a shepherd until the age of 14 when he encountered two Dominicans who recognized his intelligence and virtue. He joined the Dominicans, was ordained a priest at 24, and taught philosophy and theology for 16 years during which he was elected prior of many houses. He was known for his austere penances, his long hours of prayer and fasting, and the holiness of his speech.
He was elected Bishop of Sutri in 1556, and served as an inquisitor in Milan and Lombardi, and then as inquisitor general of the Church and a cardinal in 1557. He was known in this capacity as an able, yet unflinching man who rigorously fought heresy and corruption wherever he encountered it.
He was elected pope in 1566, with the influential backing of his friend St. Charles Borromeo, and took the name Pius V. He immediately put into action his vast program of reform by getting rid of many of the extravagant luxuries then prevalent in his court. He gave the money usually invested in these luxuries to the poor whom he personally cared for, washing their feet, consoling those near death, and tending to lepers and the very sick. He spent long hours before the Blessed Sacrament despite his heavy workload.
Obama’s Attorneys Want More Time to Prove He is Eligible
Published April 29, 2009 | By Bob Unruh, WorldNetDaily, April 28, 2009
Government lawyers defending President Obama and Congress in a lawsuit alleging that he’s ineligible to occupy the Oval Office and that members of the House and Senate violated the constitutional rights of citizens by refusing to investigate want still more time to respond to the accusations.
It was filed in January by attorney Mario Apuzzo of New Jersey on behalf of Charles F. Kerchner Jr., Lowell T. Patterson, Darrell James Lenormand and Donald H. Nelson Jr. It names as defendants Barack Hussein Obama II, the U.S., Congress, the Senate, House of Representatives and former Vice President Dick Cheney along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Even though extensions had been granted to an initial round of requests to delay the proceedings, the government now says it needs even more time to prepare a response to a question that could be answered with a five-minute telephone call from the president to Hawaiian officials asking that his birth documentation be made public.
Instead, a request submitted by Ralph Marra Jr., the acting U.S. attorney, and Elizabeth Pascal, the assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey, explains that the Department of Justice, operating under Obama appointee Attorney General Eric Holder, still is working on a decision on representation for the defendants……CONTINUED….
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=96452
He’d Been Blind a Long Time!
Published April 29, 2009 | Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D., Catholic Exchange, April 29th, 2009
Acts 8:1-8 / Jn 6:35-40
Saul, the future St. Paul, was a man of extraordinary talent and energy and a born leader. On top of that, he was a devout Jew who strove with all his heart to do the right and to defend the right. When the Christian “heresy” began to spread within Judaism, Saul set about to root it out, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles. He dragged people out of their houses and had them thrown in jail, and he presided with satisfaction at the execution of St. Stephen, among others. He did it all because he was so sure that he was right.
Saul was very sure…and very wrong! That can happen when our hearts are closed, when we become so full of ourselves and our way that there is no room for anything or anyone else. A good measure of the extent of God’s compassion not only for Saul but for all of us is the breakthrough-gift of grace that God gave him when his heart was so thoroughly closed and he was on the way to Damascus to kill yet again. He was thrown off his horse and at last came face to face with his own longstanding blindness. He repented and God forgave him, embraced him, and gave him the gift of true sight.
God offers the same gift to all of us who are too full of ourselves and our own way. He offers the breakthrough-gift of grace. Accept His offer, and watch your heart grow.
EXCERPT: Welcome to The Barack Obama Show!
Published April 29, 2009 |
False tradeoffs
Obama will probably make the point again that anyone who says that more of A means less of B just isn’t using his imagination. Why is he so popular? Who doesn’t like something for nothing? It’s easy to get caught up in the madcap joy of his reasoning. He’s like a toddler making his first trip to Toys R Us whose policy is to grab all he can, as fast as he can, and let somebody else pay. Obama keeps saying that only five percent of our neighbors — the intimidating people we don’t know in the mansion on the hill — will have to pay for anything. And it’s a big anything. It includes unlimited free health care with no pesky worries about all the problems that crop up in socialized meds countries, converting the energy grid to operate on rainbows and smiles, and a first-class education guaranteed to set every girl and boy on a path to becoming a powerful lobbyist/cabinet appointee.
ENTIRE ARTICLE FOUND AT: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/welcome-to-the-barack-obama-show/2/
Have We Just Completed 100 of the Worse Days in American History?
Published April 29, 2009 |
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An F-16 fighter jet trails a larger military aircraft over Lower Manhattan Monday, April 27, 2009, conducting a photo shoot that panicked thousands of New Yorkers who believed the city was in jeopardy for another terrorist attack.
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100 Days of Reckless Photo-Op Hubris – Michelle Malkin:
What better way to mark 100 days in office than with an appalling exercise in pointless taxpayer-funded stagecraft? full story
The Velocity of Hope - Philip Klein
Barack Obama has moved rapidly in his first 100 days in office, putting him on pace to become a transformational liberal president. (Read)
Barack Obama celebrates the hundredth day of his Presidency today. Liberals say he’s doing a bang up-job. Conservatives contend it’s been 100 days of absolute horror. full story
When the Obama Backlash Comes -
The President is showing he has different plans than the ones he spoke about during the campaign. It should come as no surprise when the public turns on him just as easily as he has turned on them. More
Obama’s ‘Managerial Brilliance’ - American Thinker Blog
It’s “100 Days of Me” day at the White House. More
Israeli strategy is all too often constructed, if not dictated, by American foreign policy and in particular, the American President. More
100 Days of Media Love – Brent Bozell:
There’s something very curious — even laughable — about watching the media assemble to offer President Obama a grade after the first 100 days. full story
Obama Erasing a Generation of Pro-Family Advances
Published April 29, 2009 | Social conservatives have toiled for more than a generation to make small, incremental advances in promoting pro-life, pro-family policies. In the first 100 days of his presidency, Barack Obama, reinforced by strong leftwing majorities in both houses of Congress, has done more to undermine those advances than any other politician during a similar time period.
Pro-life, pro-family advocates have faced tough times before. The implementation of radical social policies took place under Presidents Carter and Clinton too. But there’s something different about the scope of President Obama’s agenda. Look closely and it’s clear that Obama and his allies want much more than to secure more rights and handouts for their liberal constituencies. They also want to force all Americans to pay for and participate in them.
Then there are so-called hate crimes laws, which would criminalize “hate speech,” including speech critical of homosexuality. The White House website states that Obama “will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation…and expand hate crimes protection…” Congress is currently at work on hate crimes legislation that could lead to prosecuting those who speak out against homosexuality. Christian pastors and conservative politicians in Europe and Canada have been fined and jailed under similar laws.
In early March Obama overturned President Bush’s executive order limiting federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research (HESCR). While Obama’s decision was expected, it was also curious in that it came at a time when effective and moral alternatives to HESCR are providing treatments and cures to scores of ailments.
In a memorandum issued on the day he overturned Bush’s limitations, Obama stated that his move would restore “scientific integrity” to government decision-making. But, due to the advances of alternative and ethical forms of stem cell research, many leading scientists believe there is no longer a need to exploit human embryos for research. President Obama’s decision showed clearly that he does not intend to allow ethical science to get in the way of advancing his radical anti-life agenda. Nor will he allow taxpayers off the hook for paying for it.
Perhaps President Obama’s most egregious assault on the family was his decision to eliminate a regulation that affirms the right of doctors and other health professionals not to participate in abortion or sterilization, a move that is opposed by the overwhelming majority of Americans, including most doctors.
On physician-assisted suicide, the Obama administration has quietly taken steps toward forcing all Americans to comply with its utilitarian view of human life. The stimulus bill included $1 billion for research into creating guidelines to direct doctors’ treatment of difficult high cost medical problems. The provision created an Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within the Department of Health and Humans Services. Part of the new office’s duty will be to “reduce health care costs resulting from inefficiency, medical errors, inappropriate care, duplicative care, and incomplete information.” Thanks to the Obama administration, bureaucrats may soon have more influence than you or your doctor over the medical treatment you receive.
The most extreme elements of President Obama’s agenda involve compelling all Americans to comply with the Left’s radical views on the meaning of sexuality and human life. But there are a host of other actions that Obama has taken that should concern anyone who cares about the family.
One of the most surprising is Obama’s backtracking on education reform. Obama spoke often during the presidential campaign about the need for education reforms like merit pay for public school teachers and school choice to help level the playing field for disadvantaged kids. But he has gotten off to bad start by signing an omnibus bill that included a policy that will soon end the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to poor students to attend safe, successful schools of their choice.
Few entities have been as hard hit by the recession as charitable organizations. But Obama recently reduced in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget the amount that some families can deduct from their income taxes for charitable giving. This move disproportionately affects religious organizations and nonprofits, many of whose existence depend on charitable giving. By transferring wealth and power from religious and community-based programs to government bureaucrats, our community organizer president cuts away vital lifelines for those vulnerable citizens who depend on the community help he formerly championed.
Sadly, this is not an exhaustive list of Barack Obama’s assaults on human life and family during his first 100 days in power. But this is no time for conservative complacency. Millions of Americans who oppose Obama’s radical agenda either failed to vote last November or voted for Obama with the false belief that he would govern as a moderate.
Given the speed and severity of attacks on issues important to social conservatives, not to mention the important battles looming — including the imposition of anti-family tax schemes and possible Supreme Court appointments — pro-family conservatives need to step up efforts to educate Americans on what is happening and on the importance of voting their values. The lesson of Obama’s first 100 days is: elections matter.
Former presidential candidate Mr. Gary Bauer is president of American
Speaking Truth to Power
Published April 29, 2009 | ….This then is the principal goal of the left; to separate the people from God by declaring that religion must be cordoned off from public life, that its tenets have no place in politics or anywhere else outside the church door . . . Yes, it is God himself who is in the crosshairs of liberals around the world and it’s not difficult to see why . . . our nation is in deep trouble if we continue to allow tiny minorities to dictate our way of life. Atheism, abortion, and homosexuality are all negatives, they have no affirmation of life in them. Which is to say that they lack the animating power of God, a power that has blessed this country for over two hundred years….
As we all know, liberals are crafty in their deceit; even tampering with the English language to further their aims. If they find that their ideas are not sitting well with average Americans, they simply change the labels. Think that abortion sounds too harsh? Let’s call it a women’s reproductive health issue. Have real scientists proved that the Earth is cooling and not warming? Let’s then use the term climate change to terrify the populace. Does the word homosexual imply too much of its true meaning? Demonize those that use it by calling them homophobes.
These and other tactics of the left point toward this inescapable conclusion: it is not equality, or human rights or any other pleasant-sounding euphemisms that are behind much of their agenda. It is a deliberate attack on truth. It is their intention to strip the notion of objective truth from our national ethos. And when there is thought to be no real and permanent truth, when everyone has their own truths which are based on prevailing cultural norms or whims, who then will wield the power to make and enforce our laws? You guessed it.
But how to go about it? Where does the objective truth — which for thousands of years has condemned homosexual behavior and infanticide as harmful to society — still reside? It is in the shrinking abode of religion, as practiced around the world by people of faith.
This then is the principal goal of the left; to separate the people from God by declaring that religion must be cordoned off from public life, that its tenets have no place in politics or anywhere else outside the church door.
Yes, it is God himself who is in the crosshairs of liberals around the world and it’s not difficult to see why. If even the teachings of Natural Law can be made to seem obsolete, then the world will be wide open to any group with the power and machinery to make their truth law. That is why all modern totalitarian governments have made religion — “the opiate of the people” — their first target. And this plan is well underway in the United States.
As if we needed further proof, along comes the New York Times with a piece entitled, “More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops,” by religion writer, Laurie Goodstein. It is mostly a touch-feely account of what wonderful folks atheists are, how they organize picnics and volunteer at soup kitchens while positing that their cause is somehow noble, “like environmentalism or muscular dystrophy.”
Yes, they’re just a harmless bunch of Americans who are troubled by their belief that they are viewed as “social pariahs.” But the money line hits you like a slap in the face: “They liken their strategy to that of the gay-rights movement, which lifted off when closeted members of a scorned minority decided to go public.…The most important thing is coming out of the closet.”
The piece goes on to point out that these atheists are — surprise, surprise — “fed by outrage over the Bush administration’s embrace of the religious right,” and that they are “pooling resources to lobby in Washington for separation of church and state.” And so it would seem that they, like their homosexual brethren, are not merely content to shed their pariahdom, but to change the very fabric of our moral underpinning and rule of law.
We’re often told that it is improper and even unfair for the majority of Americans to impose their views on others in the form of law, as if that’s not how the supreme law of our land was written. Those who love the Constitution realize that while it protects the rights of minorities, religious and otherwise, the very nature of the processes to amend it not only infer, but mandate majority rule.
Make no mistake about it; our nation is in deep trouble if we continue to allow tiny minorities to dictate our way of life. Atheism, abortion, and homosexuality are all negatives, they have no affirmation of life in them. Which is to say that they lack the animating power of God, a power that has blessed this country for over two hundred years.
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/04/29/speaking-truth-to-power
Dear Sen. Specter, What Took You So Long?
Published April 29, 2009 | Pro-Abort Sen. Specter Announces Switch to Democratic Party
….Operation Rescue President Troy Newman (said) “It’s good when people are forced to pick sides,” he said. “I would rather have a handful of good men and women who we can count on, than an entire House and Senate of people that waffle every time it comes to the life issue. “We need to get rid of people like Specter who never caucused with us, who fought against us.”….
By John Jalsevac, April 28, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
Arlen Specter, the pro-abortion senior Republican senator from Pennsylvania, has announced that he intends to switch parties, and will seek re-election in 2010 as a Democratic candidate.
Specter has been a Republican senator since his election in 1980. However, in a statement released today Specter said that since the 1980s the Republican Party has moved too far to the right. “I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,” he said.
The senator has been a long-term support of legalized abortion, though he has claimed that he is “personally” against abortion. The National Right to Life Committee gave Specter a 0% rating in 2006, meaning that in his voting record he is firmly “pro-choice.”
President Obama has reportedly welcomed the news of the switch. “You have my full support, and we’re thrilled to have you,” Obama told Specter in a telephone call today, according to CNN.
Pro-life leaders have responded to the senator’s announcement by observing that Specter’s values on life and the family have been more in line with the Democratic Party for a long time.
In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said that Specter’s decision changes little in terms of the fight for the right to life in America, but added that it does help clarify Specter’s position.
“It’s good when people are forced to pick sides,” he said. “I would rather have a handful of good men and women who we can count on, than an entire House and Senate of people that waffle every time it comes to the life issue.
“We need to get rid of people like Specter who never caucused with us, who fought against us.”
National Right to Life Committee legislative director Douglas Johnson, agreed that Specter’s move isn’t a huge game-changer for the pro-life cause. ”Specter has a long pro-abortion record,” he said. ”He voted against us virtually all the time on issues touching on abortion. So it’s not going to change the numbers.”
However, he did point out that Specter’s move from the Republican Party could serve to weaken the party’s influence in certain “procedural matters,” and could affect the process of confirming judges.
Newman also observed that Specter’s switch signals that Pat Toomey, the pro-life candidate who ran against Specter in the 2004 Republican primaries, “is a viable candidate.” Specter’s move, said Newman, indicates that he believed that Toomey had a good chance of beating him in the primary and forcing him out of the Senate.
Toomey nearly defeated Specter in the 2004 primaries. He has said that he will again seek the Republican ticket in 2010, and with Specter’s defection he is currently the only Republican that has announced his candidacy.
Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele ripped into Specter in a statement today, saying that the senator’s switch was not based upon principles, but upon political expediency.
“Let’s be honest – Sen. Specter didn’t leave the GOP based on principles of any kind,” he said. ”He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record.”
Steele said Republicans “look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.”
Specter’s switch could reportedly serve to bring the Democratic Senate majority to a filibuster-proof 60 vote, if Al Franken holds his lead in the Minnesota Senate race. However, Specter denied in today’s statement that the switch meant a change in party control. “My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans,” he said.
Specter Backpedaling for His Political Life Against Tidal Wave of Opposition
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/nov/04110802.html
Specter Supported by Pro-life Turncoat Orrin Hatch
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/nov/04111702.html
American Life League Statement – Problems with Santorum-Specter Bill S. 2754
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jul/060714a.html
THIS ARTICLE: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042802.html
Morning-After Pill Is Not Therapeutic, Says U.S. Bishops’ Aide
Published April 29, 2009 |
ZENIT.org News Agency, (EWTN), 28-April-2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision to give minors over-the-counter access to the morning-after pill “flies in the face of common sense,” says a bishops’ conference pro-life spokesperson.
The administration announced late last Wednesday that it will give access to the pill, Levonorgestrel or “Plan B,” to 17-year-old minors as well as to adults.
The assistant director for policy and communications at the bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, Deirdre McQuade, stated that the administration’s “court-driven decision to make Plan B available without a prescription” to minors “flies in the face of common sense.”
The statement, released Thursday by the bishops’ conference, continued: “Levonorgestrel is a powerful drug, taken in two doses over a 12-hour period. It is 40 times more potent than comparable progestin-only birth control pills — Ovrette — for which a prescription is required.”
McQuade asserted that “wider access to Plan B could endanger the lives of newly-conceived children, and will put minors at risk for unnecessary side effects, undermine parental rights, and contribute to higher STD rates.”
A previous article from the pro-life secretariat noted that possible side effects include: vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, diarrhea, dizziness, breast pain, headache, and menstrual changes.” It also reported a risk of ectopic pregnancy up to five times greater than normal.
The article, written by Susan Wills, noted: “One doctor who supports Plan B admitted that repeat use ‘wreaks havoc on a woman’s cycle, so the resulting menstrual chaos acts as a powerful deterrent to using this method too often.’”
Not therapeutic
“Pregnancy is not a disease,” McQuade stated, “and fertility is not a pathological condition, so Plan B has no authentic therapeutic purpose, and can actually cause harm to women and their newly-conceived children.”
The spokesperson said that the administration describes Plan B as a “contraceptive drug.”
She continued: “Although Plan B can prevent fertilization, the manufacturer admits it may also prevent an embryo from implanting in the womb, which is essential to his or her continued survival.
“Since it takes several days for the growing embryo to reach the uterine lining and implant in the mother’s womb, the child in his or her second week of life could die as a direct result of Plan B. This is properly understood as an early abortion.”
McQuade expressed the concern that “without the benefit of a doctor’s supervision, many teens will be unaware of this possible abortifacient action and the other risks posed by Levonorgestrel, particularly the risks from repeated use.”
She noted: “Much to the surprise of the morning-after pill’s early advocates, five years of research in Europe and the United States shows that increased access to emergency contraception has failed to reduce rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion.
“But it has led to greater sexual risk-taking among adolescent populations, in turn leading to higher rates of sexually-transmitted disease.
“In the unlikely event a teenager will bother to read the Plan B package insert all the way to the end, she will find sound advice: ‘Of course, not having sex is the most effective way to prevent pregnancy and stay free of STDs.’”
A 2000 statement from the Pontifical Academy for Life acknowledged that “the proven ‘anti-implantation’ action of the morning-after pill is really nothing other than a chemically induced abortion.”
It continued: “In the end, since these procedures are becoming more widespread, we strongly urge everyone who works in this sector to make a firm objection of moral conscience, which will bear courageous and practical witness to the inalienable value of human life, especially in view of the new hidden forms of aggression against the weakest and most defenseless individuals, as is the case with a human embryo.”
Exclusive Interview: Cardinal Rigali Says Notre Dame Defence of Obama Honor “Evades Common Sense”
Published April 29, 2009 | PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia’s Cardinal Justin Rigali, Chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, weighed in on the Notre Dame scandal in an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.com today. Rigali called the school’s decision to honor President Obama a “most unfortunate” decision that “must not happen again,” and criticized the school’s defense of the decision as one that “evades common sense.”
President Obama is due to give the commencement address and receive an honorary law degree at Notre Dame May 17.
“My reaction is that it is most unfortunate,” said Rigali. “It’s most unfortunate because of the confusion it causes; it’s most unfortunate because of the message that it gives with regard to the importance of human life; it’s most unfortunate in regard to the confusion that it causes also in the ordinary people – the students, the graduates, the families … but above all, it is most unfortunate because the value that is attributed to life through the recognition of an honorary degree in this regard is just not acceptable.”
Asked to give his opinion on the unprecedented backlash from U.S. bishops and thousands of Catholic laity over Notre Dame’s decision, Rigali said he believes that “something very positive is going on in our country along with all the negative things – that there is a greater and evolving understanding of the value of human life in many, many people.”
“The backlash is due to a great extent the reaction of people who through their intuition, through their common sense, they know that this is just not an acceptable way to take a position on something that is so important,” he said.
The cardinal referred to a speech by Pope John Paul II during his visit to St. Louis, MO in 1999, when the pope compared the legalization of abortion to St. Louis’ Dred Scott case. In that case the U.S. Supreme Court “declared an entire class of human beings, people of African descent, outside the boundaries of the national community and the Constitution’s protection,” in the pope’s words.
“How can we tolerate that today?” Rigali challenged. “This whole other category of human beings, the unborn – and the attitude of certain people permitting this, and saying that, for example, abortion should be safe, legal, and rare – or that it simply should be permitted at all times – to take this as a position, this is simply not acceptable in our day and age.” Thus a Catholic university, said Rigali, “has to be in the forefront of the defense of human life.”
“This is a stand in regard to something that is so vital, it is so important for the civilization of today … that we simply cannot be ambiguous,” he said. “To honor somebody [who is pro-abortion] … whatever his or her merits may be, whatever splendid things this person may do, whatever position he or she occupies … makes no sense whatsoever.”
The Philadelphia cardinal also addressed the U.S. Bishops Conference (USCCB) 2004 document “Catholics in Political Life”, which states: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
The majority of U.S. bishops condemning the Obama invitation have said the move directly violates the document. However, Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins claimed the directive only applies to the invitation of politicians who are Catholic. (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040808.html)
In response, Cardinal Rigali said that while the document “may have well been in the context of Catholics,” the statement itself “says something quite clear which is a principle in itself.”
“It would make no sense whatsoever to say, ‘Well, we shouldn’t honor Catholics who present the antithesis of our Catholic doctrine, but … there’s really no problem whatsoever provided the person’s not a Catholic,’” he said. “That evades common sense.”
When asked whether he felt the invitation to Obama ought to be revoked, Rigali referred the question to Notre Dame’s own Bishop John D’Arcy. “I don’t think that everybody can come up with an answer to a specific problem in another diocese,” he said.
However, he continued: “It is evident that the invitation should not have been extended. It goes against the values that we hold. And it must not happen again.”
The bishop praised former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon for turning down Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal at the same ceremony in protest of the scandal.
Rigali said that “there has to be some form of explanation – explanation to all those who have been given this poor testimony of the value of life … on the part of the university, on the part of the president of the University, on the value of life.”
“He [Notre Dame president Fr. Jenkins] has to, because he has given an invitation that shows that this is not that important an issue,” said the cardinal. “And now, the whole world has to see that it is such an important issue: that, yes, it is a sign of contradiction … it is a division between life and death, and we cannot treat it as one issue among many.”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042803.html
Catholic Cardinal Meets With Obama: Says President Claims He’s Not Pro-Abortion
Published April 29, 2009 | By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor, April 28, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The president of the national conference of Catholic bishops recently elaborated further on the meeting he had in March with President Barack Obama. Cardinal George told a recent gathering of Catholic priests that Obama says he is not pro-abortion and will eventually work to reduce abortions.
For most pro-life advocates, Obama’s extensive pro-abortion record of executive orders and key political appointments proves otherwise.
According to a Catholic News Service report, Cardinal Francis George discussed the conversation he had with Obama at a March 18 meeting at the White House.
“I think on the life issue he’s on the wrong side of history,” the cardinal said, but he added that Obama wants to make pro-life advocates appear as if he is on their side.
“It’s hard to disagree with him because he’ll always tell you he agrees with you,” he said, according to CNS. “Maybe that’s political. I think he sincerely wants to agree with you. You have to say, again and again, ‘No, Mr. President, we don’t agree (on abortion).’”
The Catholic News Service indicates Cardinal George said he told Obama he is concerned with the president’s decision to overturn the Mexico City Policy and opening the door to funding groups that promote and perform abortions in other nations.
“He said we weren’t exporting abortion,” the cardinal recounted. “I said, ‘Yes we are.’ He would say, ‘I know I have to do certain things here. … But be patient and you’ll see the pattern will change.’ I said, ‘Mr. President, you’ve given us nothing but the wrong signals on this issue.’ So, we’ll see, but I’m not as hopeful now as I was when he was first elected.”
“I think he has his political debts to pay, and so he’s paying them,” Cardinal George said of the impression he was left with after the Obama meeting.
Ultimately, the Catholic pro-life leader cast a pessimistic view of the situation under Obama and the long-term outlook.
“I think we’re up against something a little bit like slavery,” he said, adding that Obama and abortion advocates are unwilling to change the law to protect human life before birth.
“It’s a society-dividing issue, and on this issue, we’re with Abraham Lincoln and he’s with Stephen Douglas, and he doesn’t like to hear that, but that’s where he is,” George said, according to CNS.
“For 80 years we were a slave republic, and it took a terrible war to end that. And now for 40 years we’re in an abortion regime, and I’m not sure how that’s going to end,” he added.
http://www.lifenews.com/nat5001.html
Mexico City: Cardinal Rivera Urges Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe to Halt Swine Flu
Published April 29, 2009 |
Mexico City, Mexico – The Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, is encouraging the faithful to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe for an end to the swine flu epidemic that has taken the lives of more than 100 people in the country.
The cardinal also called for the beginning of novena prayers this past Sunday, asking “the Most Holy Mother of God, Mary of Guadalupe, to free the city and the country of this threat that looms over its inhabitants, as she has miraculously done in the past, especially during the plagues suffered in this same city in 1554, 1695, 1736 and 1850.”
The prayer in its entirety reads:
Holy Mary of Guadalupe:
You love us with special tenderness,
You watch over us with maternal intercession
And you always grant us your efficacious help.
We implore your protection and aid
To quickly overcome this epidemic
That has affected our nation.
Shelter us under your mantle,
Deliver us from this illness.
Intercede for all leaders
And those who must make decisions,
That they may have the wisdom to establish measures and priorities
For prevention and the assistance of the entire nation
And especially for those who are most vulnerable.
Grant us prudence and serenity
In order to act responsibly
And thus avoid being infected or infecting others.
Come to the aid of health care workers
Watch over the recovery of the infirm
And give comfort to those who are in mourning.
Mother of the True God for whom we live,
You who have rescued us from other plagues,
Commend us to the mercy of the One who healed us by his wounds
And freed us from death by his Resurrection.
Teach us to unite our suffering to his
In order to find its redemptive meaning
And to come out of this adversity
Strengthened in faith, hope and love. Amen.
The Bishops’ Conference of Mexico has issued a statement calling on all Mexicans to diligently observe the guidelines for preventing the spread of the illness.
Health care officials have said “the situation is under control, and therefore we invite all to assist in prevention and to strictly follow the recommendations that are periodically announced to the public,” they said.
The bishops also noted they would be attentive to any new information and trust that officials are doing everything possible to eradicate the outbreak.
GOSPEL & MEDITATION: Heading Towards the Light
Published April 29, 2009 |
John 3:16-21
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, you know my needs better than I do. I turn to your Spirit to teach me what to ask for in this prayer. I want to fulfill your holy will over my life. I love you, Lord, and I place all my hope in you.
Petition: Lord, increase my faith in the power of the Resurrection.
1. God Loves the World. The tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean countries some years back provoked many people to question God’s goodness. How could he, if he is good, have permitted such a catastrophe? But what does our faith teach us? That God loves the world, so much so that he sent his only Son. Evil in the world is real and present, and such massive casualties show that nature herself cooperates with the power of death. But that power is being broken. The first decisive blow to the chain that binds the world was Christ’s death on the cross. The execution of Our Lord was the greatest act of moral evil history can ever see, but through God’s power, it has become the source of eternal life for us all, as we now celebrate in this Easter season. Through the power of the Resurrection, we are journeying towards the ultimate defeat of suffering and death.
2. Sin Is the Worst Evil. The physical evil brought by a natural disaster is terrible. But sin is worse. This Gospel reading reminds us of souls who consciously choose evil. The irony is that people make this choice pursuing some form of self-fulfillment. Instead of fulfillment, they encounter the emptiness of a life that carries with it the burden of self-imposed condemnation. They live in darkness as opposed to the light. If we knew someone who freely chose to live in a darkened cave, we would think that person nothing short of insane. But where are the dark patches in our own lives?
3. Heading Towards the Light. Christ’s body had been physically destroyed through the evil decisions and cruelty of men. When the risen Lord appeared to the apostles in the Upper Room, his new life of glory pointed in a new direction, and they were flooded with the vision of where we are heading. Through our life in the Church, we are heading to a renewal of all things in Christ, in which death will be no more, and where every tear will be wiped away. The physical evil of natural disasters and the moral evil of sin may try to challenge our faith. But they are the last gasps of a defeated enemy. Let us take heart! We are headed to the light, where Christ is King and Lord of all.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, I long to live in the light. Banish from my soul all darkness of sin or disbelief. At times I struggle to see the pattern of your divine plan. But through my faith, I know that you are love and mercy and you are guiding us towards the light that will never end.
Resolution: I will renew my spiritual vision of the world by frequently lifting my mind up to God during the day.
http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=363&ca=975&te=735&id=20302
TODAY’S SAINT: ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA
Published April 29, 2009 | 
Third-order Dominican, counselor to the Pope, who singlehandedly ended the Avignon exile of the successors of Peter in the 14th century, peacemaker, and one of the greatest mystics of all time. She is the co-patron of Italy and of Europe.
Born in Siena, on the feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1347, Catherine was the 23rd of Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa’s 25 children. Her twin sister died in infancy.
She exhibited an unusually independent character as a child and an exceptionally intense prayer life. When she was 7 years old she had the first of her mystical visions, in which she saw Jesus surrounded by saints and seated in glory. In the same year she vowed to consecrate her virginity to Christ. When, at the age of 16, her parents decided that she should marry, she cut off her hair to make herself less appealing, and her father, realizing that he couldn’t contend with her resolve, let her have her way. She joined the Dominican Tertiaries and lived a deep and solitary life of prayer and meditation for the next three years in which she had constant mystical experiences, capped, by the end of the three years with an extraordinary union with God granted to only a few mystics, known as ‘mystical marriage.’
St. Catherine suffered many intense periods of desolation alongside her mystical ecstasies, often feeling totally abandoned by God.
She ended her solitude at this point and began tending to the sick, poor, marginalized, especially lepers. As her reputation for holiness and remarkable personality became known throughout Siena, she attracted a band of disciples, two of whom became her confessors and biographers, and together they served Christ in the poor with even greater ardor.
The Lord called her to a more public life while she was still in her twenties, and she established correspondences with many influential figures, advising and admonishing them and exhorting them to holiness, including the pope himself who she never hesitated to rebuke when she saw fit.
he great political acts of her were to achieve piece between the Holy See and Florence who were at war, to convince the Pope to return from his Avignon exile, which he did in 1376, and to heal the great schism between the followers of the legitimate Pope, Urban VI, and those who opposed him in 1380. She achieved this while on her deathbed.
Her Dialogues, one of the classics of Italian literature, are the record of her mystical visions which she dictated in a state of mystical ecstasy.
In 1375, while visiting Pisa, she received the stigmata, even though they never appeared on her body during her lifetime, owing to her request to God. They appeared only on her incorruptible body after her death.
She died in Rome on April 29, 1380, at the age of 33.
Sebelius: The Real Public Health Scare
Published April 28, 2009 | 
What do sick pigs have to do with widespread, taxpayer-funded abortion? More than you might think. This week, as panic spreads over a potential swine flu pandemic, liberals are already scheming how they can use the health scare to win the confirmation of pro-abortion extremist Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kans.) as Secretary of Health and Human Services. No doubt the empty seat at HHS was keenly felt this weekend, as Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, stepped into the void at HHS and declared the swine flu a “health emergency.” Although the Senate leadership will use the urgency of the flu to try to force Sebelius through the chamber, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the government’s response to the outbreak “has not been hindered by the lack of a secretary at HHS.”Tomorrow the debate over the Kansas Governor, which is loaded with interesting subplots, begins in earnest. According to the schedule, senators will have eight hours to deliberate over the nomination–and considering the controversy surrounding it, they may need every last second. Beginning at 10:00 a.m., senators will have to weigh plenty of unflattering evidence against Gov. Sebelius, including her political relationship with George Tiller, tax evasion, her dishonest testimony at the Senate Finance Committee hearing, her eleventh hour veto of a bill that would have advanced women’s health in Kansas, and her support of third-trimester and taxpayer-funded abortions.
Although Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is confident that his party can find the 60 votes she needs for confirmation, a lot will hinge on the swing votes–
Also, stay tuned tomorrow as FRC hosts a morning press conference on Capitol Hill with a coalition of pro-life and pro-family leaders along with members of the Senate and House who all oppose Gov. Sebelius’s nomination to America’s largest government agency. We’ll keep you updated with video and media clips as the event unfolds. While you’re on the FRC webpage, check out our new ad on Sebelius questioning her priorities and appearing tomorrow in Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper.
Dear Mr. Vice President,
Published April 28, 2009 | ….”You know there is no excuse for violence against a woman or child. There is no excuse,” said Biden in his speech…..
By Kathleen Gilbert and John Jalsevac, April 23, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Vice President Joe Biden, a strong abortion proponent, said that there is “no excuse” to harm a child during an awards ceremony at the Law Center of the Jesuit-run Georgetown University yesterday, according to CNSNews.com.
The vice-president’s appearance at the university had been condemned by pro-life Catholics, who argued that the event violated a directive from the U.S. bishops that pro-abortion politicians should not be honored by Catholic institutions.
The president of the Cardinal Newman Society, which has been in the news recently for its efforts to oppose Notre Dame’s decision to have President Obama as its commencement speaker and to honor him with an honorary law degree, said that in some ways Biden’s appearance at Georgetown may be even more problematic than the Notre Dame situation.
“In many ways this honor is worse because not only is Georgetown honoring a pro-abortion Catholic politician, but it is doing so in co-operation with a national pro-abortion lobby, Legal Momentum,” said Patrick Reilly, according to CNSNews.
Biden spoke and was honored at a ceremony celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Violence against Women Act (VAWA).
The event was co-sponsored by The Georgetown Journal of Gender and Law and Legal Momentum, a pro-abortion, pro-homosexual “marriage” lobby group once known as the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund. Biden was given the Legal Momentum Hero Award due to the fact that he was one of VAWA’s original sponsors.
“You know there is no excuse for violence against a woman or child. There is no excuse,” said Biden in his speech…..Continued……..
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042306.html
Is He Worth It?
Published April 28, 2009 | 
LifeSiteNews.com, April 27, 2009
DEARBORN – On the same day that former Vatican ambassador Mary Ann Glendon announced that she has decided to refuse Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal due to the university’s invitation of Obama to receive an honorary degree at this year’s commencement ceremony, a group protesting the decision has announced that the university has also lost millions in donations because of the scandal. (See: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042702.html)
Organizers of ReplaceJenkins.com, an online effort urging alumni and donors to the University of Notre Dame to withhold donations, announced Monday that they have personally confirmed over $8.2 million in withheld donations. The URL of the website – ReplaceJenkins.com – is a reference to the main demand of the group – that Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins, who has firmly stood by the university’s decision to honor Obama, be replaced with someone who will uphold the Catholic identity of the university.
The website has received over 900 pledges from alumni and donors promising to withhold future donations. Several of the largest gifts include estate bequests to the University that have been removed from donors’ wills.
ReplaceJenkins.com organizers say they have personally confirmed a majority of the largest donations, and are continuing to verify the validity of millions of additional gifts.
ReplaceJenkins.com spokesperson David DiFranco (Class of ’95) said: “We knew many donors and alums were unhappy with the decision to honor a pro-abortion president, but we never expected this large of a response. We can hardly keep up, and this is only the beginning. We can only imagine what fundraisers at the University are experiencing, but understandably not reporting.”
DiFranco said that ReplaceJenkins.com has dismissed a number of submissions of withheld donations that were obviously false. He also said that the current figure of $8.2 million does not include a number of other large pledges that they are in the process of confirming.
“We are speaking directly with donors, and in several cases we have spoken with estate attorneys to confirm that Notre Dame has been stripped from a donor’s will,” he said. “We are going about this process with a critical eye in order that that the numbers we report are accurate. For that reason, the $8.2 million we are reporting today is actually very conservative.”
Alumni and financial supporters of the University of Notre Dame launched the online effort just over one week ago in an effort to withhold donations from Notre Dame, until Rev. John Jenkins, CSC is replaced.
“As momentum continues to build, we are now certain that the financial penalty resulting from the decision to honor the most pro-abortion president in our nation’s history, will be enormous,” said DiFranco.
“The fact that this effort is necessary is unfortunate. However, alumni and supporters of Notre Dame have little other recourse than to protest with their pocketbooks. We will continue our efforts as long as it is necessary to bring about positive change at Notre Dame that will honor ‘Our Lady’s’ University.”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042704.html
Democrats Define Child Molesters as Gay
“The House of Representatives will vote this week, on a hate crimes bill championed by gay groups that includes pedophiles under the rubric of sexual orientation. This is the ultimate confession: liberal Democrats think of pedophiles as indistinguishable from homosexuals.
“When this subject came up last week in the House Judiciary Committee, an amendment to the hate crimes bill that would have excluded pedophilia from the definition of sexual orientation was defeated by Democrats along party lines, 13-10. This was considered good news by gay organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, left-wing groups like the ACLU and various Jewish groups like the ADL.
“The debate is over: for liberals, child molesters should be given the same rights as homosexuals. Moreover, they should be given more rights than pregnant women and veterans; the latter two categories were explicitly denied coverage under the hate crimes bill. Even worse, an amendment that would bar prosecution based in whole or in part on religious beliefs quoted from the Bible, the Tanakh (Judaism’s sacred book) or the Koran was defeated by Democrats along party lines, 11-8. In other words, religious speech may be denied First Amendment protection.
“There would be national outrage over this if the media were to report on it and the public were allowed to weigh in on it. But the clock is ticking and freedom and morality are hanging in the balance.”
To verify the vote tally click here
Rep. John Conyers is leading the supporters of this bill: contact john.conyers@mail.house.gov
Rep. Louie Gohmert is leading the opposition: contact louie.gohmert@mail.house.gov