50 Things Wrong With the Waxman-Markey Cap-&-Trade (Tax) Bill
Published July 2, 2009 | 
Waxman-Markey is part power-grab, part enviro-fantasy. Here are 50 reasons to stop it.
SPECIAL-INTEREST SOPS
1. Free money for well-connected business interests.
2. A little something for Goldman Sachs. Again.
3. Alcoa and Dupont get their share. The utilities, too.
7. All carrot, no stick for the farm lobby.
8. Replacing the EPA with the USDA.
10. Buying off electric cooperatives.
11. Monsanto rounds up favors.
12. Interfering with free trade.
We Are One Body, One Body in Christ; and We Do Not Stand Alone (by Dana)
Published July 2, 2009 | The Roman Catholic Church is one body.
President Obama For Life?
Published July 2, 2009 | By Stephen Pohl, Catholic Exchange, July 2nd, 2009
No not pro-life, for life; like Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Comrade Bob Mugabe, and that Honduran wannabe, Manuel Zelaya.
I am not a proponent of CIA sponsored right wing coups, or dictatorships of any stripe. On the other hand, all branches of the legitimate Honduran government, including his own ruling party, deposing Zelaya, as he attempted to illegally circumvent the Honduran constitution is another thing.
But our President castigates the defenders of the Honduran constitution and supports Zelaya and his Marxist dictator allies. Just what we need, another Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez on our back porch. Obama and Hillary Clinton couldn’t stay neutral, couldn’t note that Zelaya brought this on himself by his own attempt to subvert his own country’s constitutional term limit for presidents?
When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature bill to extend O’s eight years. Yes, a congressional House resolution , H.J.Res.5, filed by a New York Democrat, to repeal the 22nd Amendment and allow President Obama to run for unlimited terms. The resolution was filed on January 6, 2009, before the Inauguration of the President. That is the kind of hubris that puts any Republican ambitions to shame. With a new supermajority in the Senate, control of the House, and more Supreme Court appointments to come, it’s getting scary out there, if the 2010 elections don’t restore some political balance.
And to think only a few years ago some people were worried about an Evangelical theocracy in America.
Stephen Pohl lives in Baltimore with his wife and daughter. They are members of St. Gabriel Parish.
http://catholicexchange.com/2009/07/02/120025/
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Limbaugh: Obama Laying Groundwork for Third Term
Limbaugh: Obama Laying Groundwork for Third Term
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/limbaugh_obama_third_term
/2009/07/01/230937.html
UPRIGHT
Published July 2, 2009 | Patriot Post, Wednesday Chronicle – Vol. 09 No. 26
“The House just passed the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade carbon emissions control act. If it passes the Senate, expect the president — the bill’s pusher-in-chief — to sign it at first opportunity. I have not read the bill, so I should not comment on it at length. But then, neither has any congressman read the now 1000-pages-and-plus wonder. So they should not have passed it. We are supposed to believe it is a good bill because we must trust the congressional assistants who wrote it. If anything is a testament to ‘the power of belief’ it’s the enthusiasm for a bill that has not been read, much less understood.” –columnist Paul Jacob
The only emissions problem is on Capitol Hill
“This climate bill has nothing to do with saving the planet or the polar bears. The problems that this legislation claims to address do not exist. Regulating our behavior and limiting our freedom will not have any effect on the climate. It is a pure power and money grab…” –radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh
“So why does President Obama so often get history wrong, so often call for utopian schemes he would hardly adopt for himself, and so often distort by misinformation and incomplete disclosure? Partly the culprit is administrative inexperience, partly historical ignorance. But mostly the disconnect comes because Barack Obama believes he is a philosopher-king, whose exalted ends more than justify his mendacious means.” –columnist Victor Davis Hanson
“There is a tendency for newly installed presidents, like adolescents suddenly liberated from adult supervision, to do the exact opposite of what their predecessors did. …[S]ome of it, and especially in the case of Barack Obama, seems to come from an adolescent-like confidence that everything done by those who came before is (insert your own generation’s expletive here). … As parents know, it takes time for an adolescent to grow up.” –political analyst Michael Barone
“I once asked evangelist Billy Graham if he experienced temptations of the flesh when he was young. He said, ‘of course.’ How did he deal with them? With passion he responded, ‘I asked God to strike me dead before He ever allowed me to dishonor Him in that way.’ That is the kind of seriousness one needs to overcome the temptations of a corrupt culture in which shameful behavior is too often paraded in the streets.” –columnist Cal Thomas
THE DEMO-GOGUES
Published July 2, 2009 | Patriot Post, Wednesday Chronicle – Vol. 09 No. 26
The Waxman-Malarkey cap and tax bill is bad news
Biggest Big Lie of the Year: “Just last Friday, the House of Representatives came together to pass an extraordinary piece of legislation that will finally open the door to decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, preventing the worst consequences of climate change, and making clean energy the profitable kind of energy. Thanks to members of Congress who were willing to place America’s progress before the usual Washington politics, this bill will create new businesses, new industries, and millions of new jobs, all without imposing untenable new burdens on the American people or America’s businesses.” –President Barack Obama on the cap and tax bill **In January 2008, Obama said, “[U]nder my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket … because I’m capping greenhouse gasses, coal power plants, natural gas … you name it … whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retro-fit their operations. That will cost money. …[T]hey will pass that money on to the consumers.” He was right then.
Patting her own back: “We passed transformational legislation, which will take us into the future. For some it was a very difficult vote because the entrenched agents of the status quo were out there full force, jamming the lines in their districts and here, and they withstood that.” –House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on cap and tax
Projecting Demo faults on the GOP: “[Republicans] want to play politics and see if they can keep any achievements from being accomplished that may be beneficial to the Democrats. They’re rooting against the country and I think in this case, even rooting against the world because the world needs to get its act together to stop global warming.” –Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
How many politicians does it take to change a light bulb: “The first step we’re taking sets new efficiency standards on fluorescent and incandescent lighting. I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and our businesses. Between 2012 and 2042 these new standards will save consumers up to $4 billion a year. We’re going to start here at the White House. Secretary Chu has already started to take a look at our light bulbs and we’re going to see what we need to replace them with energy efficient light bulbs.” –Barack Obama
Obama’s health plan not good enough for his family: “[If] it’s my family member, if it’s my wife, if it’s my children, if it’s my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.” –Barack Obama **”Oopsie! So ObamaCare for thee, but not for me? Hope and change, baby!” –blogger Ed Morrissey
Retchin Stretchin’ the Law
Published July 2, 2009 | Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, July 1, 2009
D.C. liberals may have squeaked same-sex “marriage” through the District’s Superior Court yesterday, but fortunately Bishop Harry Jackson doesn’t know the meaning of the word “quit.” “We have a plan,” he told reporters, “and we’re not going away.”
In his suit, which was filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Stand4MarriageDC, Bishop’s team asked the court to stall the implementation of a law that would recognize same-sex “marriages” performed outside the city. Judge Judith Retchin refused, dashing any hopes of a local referendum on the matter. But as Bishop Harry Jackson said, “This is the first battle in a war.”
It’s a war, unfortunately, that the city is determined to stop voters from fighting. By siding with the D.C. Elections Board, Judge Retchin denied D.C. residents a voice on the fundamental issue of marriage. “A citizen’s disagreement with constitutionally sound legislation, whether based on political, religious, or moral views, does not rise to the level of an actionable harm,” she wrote in her ruling.
If Congress doesn’t intervene (and it looks increasingly unlikely that members will), the same-sex “marriage” law will take effect in the capital city as early as next Monday. “Essentially,” Bishop Jackson said, “the D.C. residents…have been disenfranchised and unable to vote on an important public policy matter because political elites would rather serve a radical agenda than the people they represent.” D.C. officials know as well as we do that whenever people have had an opportunity to vote, traditional marriage has prevailed! When the issue is bogged down in activist courts, however, anything is possible–including a complete disregard for established law and democracy.
After exhausting their legal options, Stand4MarriageDC immediately turned its attention to a getting a marriage question on the District ballot. If Bishop Jackson and his team can find enough resources, the initiative could be accomplished in as little as six months. If not, it would have to wait until the normal election cycle in 2010. Either way, an initiative will give the people of D.C. what Judge Retchin would not: a voice.
American Spectator: Superior Court Rejects Marriage Referendum in D.C.
The Washington Times: Bishop leads the battle against same-sex unions
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU09G01&f=PG07J01
On Hate Crimes, It’s the Thought That Counts
Published July 2, 2009 | Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, July 1, 2009
With the help of Saturday Night Live‘s finest–new Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.)–liberals are accelerating their push to pass federal “hate crimes” legislation. In a letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) made no bones about his plan to fast-track the bill after the July 4th recess, bypassing the normal process. His maneuvering would mean that Republicans have relatively no input on legislation that would have sweeping consequences for churches, charities, Christians, and criminal law. Bob Knight sums it up as a “grab bag of ways to violate genuine constitutional rights while addressing a non-issue.”
Nevertheless, the Left insists on forcing a bill through Congress that establishes “thought crimes,” gives special protection to homosexuals under the law, and paves the way for the federal government to get deeply involved in crimes on the local level. The House already passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S. 909) back in April. Now the Senate leadership is racing to do the same.
You can help derail their train by flooding the offices of three Committee Democrats whose votes could make all the difference–Arkansas’s Blanche Lincoln, phone: 202-224-4843; Arkansas’s Mark Pryor, phone: 202-224-2353; and Alaska’s Mark Begich, phone: 202-224-3004. Remind them that equal justice under the law means equal protection for all!
Read Tony Perkins’ testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Hate Crimes
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU09G01&f=PG07J01
Encyclical “Caritas in Veritate” To Be Presented on July 7th
Published July 2, 2009 | Vatican Information Service, 1 JULY 2009
VATICAN CITY, (VIS) – In the Holy See Press Office at 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday 7 July a press conference will be held to present Benedict XVI’s new Encyclical “Caritas in veritate”.
Participating in the conference will be: Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino and Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”, and Stefano Zamagni, professor of political economy at the University of Bologna, Italy and consultor of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=96393
New “Bloodhounds” Web Video Asks: Where Are the Jobs?
Published July 2, 2009 |
Our country has lost nearly three million jobs this year and today the Labor Department will release its monthly jobs report for June where analysts expect unemployment to increase once again. Families and small businesses are hurting, but all we’ve seen from Washington is reckless spending, taxing, and borrowing that piles up more debt on our kids and grandkids. The President promised unemployment would not rise above eight percent if his trillion-dollar “stimulus” was passed. But unemployment has soared above nine percent. After all of this spending…after all of this borrowing from China, the Middle East, and our children and grandchildren…Americans have every right to ask, “Where are the jobs?”
Today I am releasing a new web video asking that very question: Where are the jobs? The tongue-in-cheek web video, inspired by a classic 1984 TV commercial by now-Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), features a job-sniffing GOP bloodhound named Ellie Mae and a down-home voiceover by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA). In the video, job-sniffing bloodhounds follow the “stimulus” money trail across the nation in search of the millions of jobs the Obama Administration promised to “save or create” if the trillion-dollar spending bill were enacted. The trail takes them to AIG Headquarters in New York City, where “stimulus” funds were used to pay big bonuses to top executives; to Wisconsin, where “stimulus” funds are paying for repairs to a bridge that reportedly carries about 260 cars per day, many to a place called Rusty’s Backwater Saloon, according to a June 16 report in the Wall Street Journal; and to North Carolina, where “stimulus” funds were reportedly used by one town to hire a new worker whose job is to apply for more “stimulus” funds from Washington.
The web video is lighthearted, but the broader point is a serious one. Democrats promised their trillion-dollar “stimulus” would have an impact “immediately,” but it’s clear it isn’t working. We’re losing more and more jobs, and all Democrats have done is make government bigger, waste taxpayers’ money, and pile new debt on our children and grandchildren. Republicans have put forth a better solution – a plan that recognizes small business, not government, is the engine of the American economy and we hope Washington Democrats will eventually work with us. In the meantime, check out the “Bloodhounds” web video.
Wednesday Audience: The Essential Elements of Priestly Ministry
Published July 2, 2009 | ….Yet “the two essential elements of priestly ministry” always remain “announcement and power”, said the Holy Father recalling how Christ sent His disciples out to announce the Gospel giving them the power to drive out demons. “Announcement and power”, in other words “Word and Sacrament, are the pillars of priestly service, over and above the many forms it can take”….
Vatican Information Service, 1 JULY 2009
VATICAN CITY, (VIS) – The Year for Priests was again the theme of the Holy Father’s catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter’s Square.
The Pope began his remarks by expressing the hope that the Year “may be an opportunity for the inner renewal of all priests and, consequently, for the revitalisation of their commitment to the mission”. He then announced that his catecheses over the next few months will focus on the figure of St. John Mary Vianney, the holy “Cure of Ars”, on the 150th anniversary of his death.
What most stands out in the life of this saint, said Benedict XVI, “is his complete identification with his ministry. He used to say that a good pastor, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure the good Lord can give a parish”.
“In fact, it is by considering the dual term ‘identity-mission’ that each priest will become better aware of the need for that progressive self identification with Christ which guarantees the faithfulness and fruitfulness of his evangelical witness. Thus, in the life of a priest, missionary announcement and worship are inseparable, just as sacramental identity and evangelising mission are likewise inseparable”.
“The goal of priests’ mission is, we could say, ‘of worship’: that all men and women may offer themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, receiving the charity which they are then called to dispense abundantly to one another. … Love for others, concern for justice and the poor are not so much a question of social morals as the expression of a sacramental conception of Christian morality because, through priestly ministry, the spiritual sacrifice of all the faithful is accomplished, in union with the sacrifice of Christ, the only mediator. This is the sacrifice that priests offer bloodlessly and sacramentally while awaiting the second coming of the Lord”.
“In the face of so many uncertainties and so much weariness, even in the exercise of priestly ministry, it is vitally important to regain a clear and unequivocal view of the absolute primacy of divine grace”, said the Holy Father. “The mission of each individual priest depends, then, also and above all on an awareness of the sacramental reality of his ‘new existence’. Upon the certainty of his own identity – not artificially and humanly constructed but freely and divinely given and received – depends his perennial enthusiasm for the mission”.
“Having received such an extraordinary gift of grace with their consecration, priests become permanent witnesses of their own encounter with Christ”, and “are able to carry out their mission to the full, announcing the Word and administering the Sacraments.
“Following Vatican Council II”, Pope Benedict added, “in some places the impression arose that there were more important things in the mission of priests in our time: some people believed that the priority was to build a new society”.
Yet “the two essential elements of priestly ministry” always remain “announcement and power”, said the Holy Father recalling how Christ sent His disciples out to announce the Gospel giving them the power to drive out demons. “Announcement and power”, in other words “Word and Sacrament, are the pillars of priestly service, over and above the many forms it can take”.
The Pope continued: “When the ‘diptych’ of consecration-mission is not taken into due account, it becomes truly difficulty to understand the identity of priests and of their ministry in the Church. … During this Year for Priests”, he said, “let us pray for all the clergy. … Prayer is the primary duty, the true path of sanctification for priests and the heart of authentic pastoral care of vocations”.
And he concluded: “The low numbers of priestly ordinations in some countries not only must not discourage us, it should stimulate us to dedicate greater space to silence and to listening to the Word, to improving spiritual guidance and the Sacrament of Confession, so that the voice of God, which always continues to call and to confirm, may be heard and followed by many young people”.
GE REPLACES LAB RATS WITH HUMAN EMBRYOS
Published July 2, 2009 | General Electric to Use Embryonic Stem Cells for Testing, Phase Out Lab Rats
By Alex Bush, July 1, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
BOSTON, Mass – General Electric has announced that it will use embryonic stem cells provided by Geron Corporation for the purpose of testing toxic effects of drug treatments.
GE issued a statement, attempting to preempt criticism over the decision, saying, “We acknowledge the considerable debate and take very seriously the ethical and societal issues associated with research using stem cells derived from embryonic or fetal tissue.”
“We conduct our research in an ethically and scientifically responsible manner,” the statement said.
However, embryonic stem cells have been the center of heated controversy since harvesting the cells requires the destruction of embryonic human beings.
But Geron Corporation indicates that in this case it believes that the ends justify the means.
“Up to three quarters of toxicity problems are not detected until preclinical or later stages of drug development and this significantly increases the cost of developing new drugs,” Geron Corporation said in a press release, “Earlier detection of toxicity problems could reduce both overall drug development costs and potentially harmful patient exposure in clinical trials.”
Konstantin Fielder, General Manager of Cell Technologies at GE Healthcare said that stem cells harvested from human embryos could even replace lab rats as the primary scientific testing method.
“Once you have human cells and you can get them in a standardized way, like you get right now your lab rats in a standardized way, you can actually do those experiments on those cells,” he said.
Both GE and Geron have said that the stem cells to be used are listed on a National Institutes of Health registry, making them eligible for use in the United States.
Contact Information for General Electric:
https://www.ge.com/contact/contact_form.html?ref=http://www.ge.com/
Or by phone: (203) 373-2211
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09070116.html
Cardinal Rigali (To Obama): You Can’t Claim to be “Reducing Abortions” but Publicly Funding them in D.C.
Published July 2, 2009 | WASHINGTON, July 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote to members of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday urging them not to fund abortions in the District of Columbia. Last week the House subcommittee that is considering the Financial Services appropriations bill for 2010 voted to permit direct public funding of abortion in the nation’s capital.
Cardinal Rigali said that the subcommittee’s action “effectively nullifies the Dornan amendment,” which for a total of 18 years has prevented public funding of elective abortions in the District. He said this move, “presumably the first step in a broader effort to restore such funding throughout the federal government,” is misguided for three reasons.
“First, he said, ”public funding of abortion is rejected by the American people, as numerous surveys of public opinion have shown.” He also noted that Catholics recently sent “tens of millions of postcards to their elected representatives in Congress, opposing any weakening or reversal of current appropriations riders on abortion.”
“Second, no lawmaker or Administration can support such a policy change and still claim to support ‘reducing abortions.’ The evidence is overwhelming, and universally recognized by groups on all sides of the abortion issue, that the availability of public funds for abortion greatly increases abortions.”
“Third, this action takes place as Congress is working to win broad support for a much-needed major reform of our health care system,” Cardinal Rigali noted. “This is the worst of all possible times to be injecting the divisive issue of public abortion funding into the debate on government health policy.”
Cardinal Rigali concluded by urging the full House Appropriations Committee to reverse the subcommittee’s action and retain the funding ban in current law.
The full text of his letter is available here.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09070102.html
Rogue Priest Asks Clergy to Push Knights from Parishes, Exploit Insurance Policies
Published July 2, 2009 | 
.- Citing the organization’s support for traditional marriage, a suspended Catholic priest who has turned to homosexual activism has called for Catholic pastors to block Knights of Columbus groups from their parishes and to borrow against the order’s insurance policies to fund homosexual groups.
He said he advocated such action in part because the fraternal charitable organization helped support California’s Proposition 8, which restored legal marriage’s definition to being between a man and a woman.
Fr. Geoffrey Farrow, former pastor of the St. Paul Newman Center at California State University at Fresno, was removed as pastor in October 2008 for defying church teaching on homosexuality and for condemning Catholic support for Proposition 8, the California Catholic Daily reports.
Writing in a June 4 post on his personal blog, Fr. Farrow wrote:
“Many priests have e-mailed me and expressed their rage and anger over the hypocrisy of the Catholic hierarchy in supporting anti-marriage equality legislation… One of the organizations, which the bishops have effectively employed to do their dirty work, has been the Knights of Columbus.”
He discussed what priests can do to fight “the anti-gay agenda of the bishops and the K of C.”
“Borrow the full amount against your Knights of Columbus life insurance policy immediately,” he advised. “Take the check and invest the funds with an LGBT friendly fund. Do not pay back the loan.” Continue reading
Apostolic Visit to Legionaries of Christ to Begin July 15
Published July 2, 2009 | 
After the announcement on March 31 that Pope Benedict XVI had ordered an Apostolic Visitation of the Legionaries of Christ, many wondered when it would begin. Vatican watcher Sandro Magister has answered the question by reporting it will begin on July 15 and that five bishops have been charged with the task.
Magister states that the visitors will be Bishop Ricardo Watti Urquidi of Tepic, Mexico; Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, Colorado; Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello of Concepcion, Chile; Bishop Giuseppe Versaldi of Alejandria, Italy; and Bishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Bilbao, Spain.
Magister said the five bishops were chosen because of their experience and dedication and will be tasked with getting to know the life and apostolate of the congregation. They will present a report to the Holy See at the conclusion of the Visitation.
The five bishops met with Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone, William Levada, Franc Rode and Stanislaw Rylko last Saturday at the Vatican, according to Magister.
Sources at the Holy See confirmed to CNA the accuracy of Magister’s report and said a public announcement would be made on July 15. Sources also said that contrary to the article, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko was not present at the meeting.
Magister’s report on the areas designated to each bishop was confirmed as accurate.
Bishop Ricardo Watti Urquidi will be tasked with visiting Mexico and Central America; Archbishop Chaput will visit the order in the United States and Canada; while Bishop Giuseppe Versaldi will visit the Legionaries in Italy, Israel, the Philippines and South Korea.
Bishop Ricardo Ezzati will visit the Legionaries in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela; while Bishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez will be tasked with visiting the order in Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Holland, Poland, Austria and Hungary.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=16431
Founder’s Quote Daily
Published July 2, 2009 | 
“The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth.”
–Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
Patriot Post
GOSPEL & MEDITATION: Living from Grace
Published July 2, 2009 | Matthew 9:1-8
After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ´Your sins are forgiven,´ or to say, ´Rise and walk´? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come to you in this meditation ready to do whatever it is you ask. Left to myself I often take the easy and convenient path, yet I know the way of a Christian is through the narrow gate. In you I find the reason to abandon the easy path for a more perfect mission of love. I’m ready to learn the meaning of your command: “Follow me.”
Petition: Lord, grant me a deeper experience of your mercy.
1. Crippled by Control For St. Jerome, physical paralysis is an image of man’s inability to return to God by his own efforts. It is man’s inability to create his own salvation, to set the terms by which he can say he has made peace with God. The paralysis is meant to speak more to the Pharisees about their souls than to the cripple who bears it. Christ saw stagnation in the Pharisees’ hearts. They wanted to put God in a box, where their relationship with him could neatly accommodate their status and comforts. We, like the Pharisees, like our routine. We like to coast in our spiritual life and dislike having to adjust to God’s asking for more faith, trust or charity. For saintly souls, Christ is ever new; they are always being asked for more, and new experiences of Christ fill them as a result. Their love never goes stale since they refuse to control what God can do with them.
2. The Problem Is Not About Problems The paralytic and his companions arrive concerned only about his physical condition. This is not, however, what is first on Christ’s priority list. What is first, rather, is the man’s state of soul. For God the problem of life is not about problems. Problems are merely the pretexts he sends us to heal and develop our relationship with him: “Your sins are forgiven.” The problem of life is all about holiness and about removing the chief obstacle to holiness: sin. Deep down, the only things that can hurt us are the obstacles of sin and an egoistic lifestyle.
3. A Pause That Refreshes The pause between “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven you” and the cure of the paralysis initially may have caused disappointment in those unfamiliar with Christ’s way of working. In that wait our response to God comes, and our part in the plan of salvation is played out. Instant gratification of a child’s wants spoils the meaning of his parents’ gift of loving support. To arrive to Christian maturity, we must form the virtues of faith and trust. Seeking cures must be sought more as part of God’s will than as our own self-centered relief effort. This takes time. Yet even in that pause, in the dark night of faith, something is happening. While miracles are on the way, we are being changed. The command to rise seems only to confirm or make visible something that has already occurred in the paralytic’s soul: through faith and trust, Christ reigns over his soul.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, I know that in you alone I shall rise, because only you can conquer sin in me. For my part, like St. Paul, I have sought to fight the good fight, strengthened by your grace and mercy. Help me to accept every difficulty as a new chance to purify my heart and sanctify my soul.
Resolution: Today I will remember to avoid rash and judgmental thoughts of others. As I do so I will keep in my heart the merciful dispositions of Christ’s heart.
http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=363&ca=975&te=735&id=20302
SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. OTTO, BISHOP
Published July 2, 2009 | 
Born 1060 in Swabia; died June 30, 1139; was Bishop of Bamberg, an indefatigable evengelizer and the apostle of the Pomeranians.
He was born of noble rank and ordained a priest sometime before the age of 30. He joined the service of Emperor Henry IV in 1090 and became his chancellor in 1101. He served the Henry IV and his successor, Henry V, loyally, but disaproved of the latter’s disgraceful treatment of Pope Paschal.
He was consecrated a bishop on 13 May, 1106 and set to work founding new monasteries, reforming existing ones, building schools and churches and completing the cathedral. He lived a poor and simple life and was called the “Father of the monks” for the concern he showed for religious orders.
In 1122 Otto was commissioned by the Polish Duke Boleslaw III to convert Pomerania to Christianity and he set about his mission in 1124 travelling all over Pomerania twice and winning over the people with his holiness, quiet generosity and gentle, inspiring sermons.
The conversion of Pomerania was his greatest apostolic work. He baptized over 22,000 people and established 11 churches. Many miracles were attributed to him throughout his two journeys, and many more after his death.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=289
EVEN HELEN THOMAS GETS IT! ‘Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama!’