There IS a MAN in the House! Cong. Trent Franks (R-Arizona) Calls Obama “Enemy of Humanity” Due to Abortion; Defends Saying
Published September 30, 2009 | 
….”But the fact remains yet today that President Obama has quickly established himself and his Presidency as the most radically pro-abortion Administration in American history” . . . (regarding) the right to life . . Franks concluded: “Without that right, no others matter.”….
By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor, September 29, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Congressman Trent Franks (Rep.) of Arizona has found himself the subject of criticism due to some “frank” comments he made at a recent conservative conference. Over the weekend, Frank said President Barack Obama was the “enemy of humanity” because of his aggressive pro-abortion record. Continue reading
Is Obama Breaking the Law? Obama Campaigned on Change. He’s Echoing Marx in His Embrace of Perpetual Change…With NEA’s Help
Published September 30, 2009 |
In March 1850, Karl Marx spoke to the Central Committee of the Communist League. In order to bring about true change, Marx stated, the world needed not a massive, singular upheaval, but a “permanent revolution.” The revolution would not be accomplished in a moment; it could be accomplished only through renewed and constant dedication to a political program, by a constant attempt “not to improve the existing society but to found a new one.”
President Obama is not a communist, although he certainly has a soft spot for communists ranging from Van Jones to Frank Marshall Davis. Obama is, however, a devotee of the Marxist philosophy of politics: permanent change. Or, in his case, permanent campaigning on change.
While most presidents enter the White House and begin to engage in the business of executing the laws faithfully, President Obama has seized the massive power of the Oval Office to launch an unceasing, relentless campaign for his own re-election. He has used taxpayer money to pay off his friends and allies, ensuring that they remain in his camp. He has used the weight of the federal government to quash his private sector foes. And he has used the might of his office illegally, encouraging federal agencies to coordinate with “community organizations” in working with private actors to push the Obama agenda.
On May 12, 2009, according to a report from Arlene Goldbard, the Pratt Center for Community Development, State Voices and the Nathan Cumming Foundation, the White House sponsored a briefing for over 60 artists and community organizers on “Art, Community, Social Justice, National Recovery.” Several agencies of the government were represented. The speakers included: Mike Strautmanis, chief of staff for the Office of Public Liaison, Joseph Reinstein, deputy social secretary for the White House, as well as Mario Garcia Durham, director of presenting for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Obama’s buddies from the nonprofit world were there, too: Michelle Miller of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a group that spent almost $61 million on behalf of Obama’s election in 2008 and is closely allied to the disgraced ACORN; Sally Kohn of the Center for Community Change, a far-left organization in support of illegal immigration and nationalized health care.
The meeting was dedicated to putting community organizers and artists in the same room, with the tacit promise of funding from the NEA ever present. According to the report, that promise was actually more than tacit: Garcia Durham allegedly told the assembled crowd that “government and its policies should be shaped by participants’ voices in connection with the NEA.”
There’s only one problem with this: it’s illegal. Under the Anti-Lobbying Act, government employees may not expressly urge individuals to “contact government officials in support of or opposition to legislation.” Nor may they “provide administrative support for lobbying activities of private organizations.” Under the Hatch Act, similarly, federal employees cannot solicit or discourage participation in political activity for anyone under consideration for a federal grant or contract.
Under the regulations of the Office of Management and Budget, all charitable 501(c)(3) organizations — organizations like the Center for Community Change — are forbidden from receiving funds that go to “the enactment or modification of any pending federal or state legislation by preparing, distributing or using publicity or propaganda.” All of these laws may have been violated.
This isn’t just about violation of federal law, however. This is about an administration that sees no problem with using its resources to entrench an extra-governmental mass movement it can mobilize at a moment’s notice. President Obama himself has endorsed that strategy, keeping his non-governmental “Organizing for America” program up and running.
President Obama campaigned on change. He’s echoing Marx in his embrace of perpetual change. What’s more, he’s abandoning his commitments to transparency and honesty by utilizing base political graft to achieve his permanent revolution.
http://townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2009/09/30/is_obama_breaking_the_law
HUMOR! A Project of the NEA and Obama Administration
Published September 30, 2009 | 
In Their Own Words: The U.S. Supreme Court & Personhood for the Unborn
Published September 30, 2009 | [for the unborn] is established,
the [abortion rights] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.” From the 1973 Roe v. Wade Decision
(Justice Blackmun Writing for the Majority Opinion)
The first Personhood Amendments
Roe v. Wade was the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning a Texas anti-abortion law, which had the effect of legalizing abortion throughout the United States. Several Human Life Amendments (aka Personhood Amendments) were drafted and proposed in Congress in the early 1970s. One main version1 became popular in the early 70s with two other popular versions, the Paramount1 and the Unity Human Life Amendment1 being drafted over the next decade. The target of these amendments were the United States Constitution. (view early HLAs)
The beginning of the modern Pro-Life Movement we know today was started in the early 1980s and gained a great ally in President Ronald Reagan (see Reagan’s Proclamation). During this time the main focus of the Pro-Life Movement was the passage of a Federal Personhood Amendment to the U.S Constitution. It was common knowledge that the Federal Personhood Amendment was the key to overturning Roe v. Wade and abortion in America. The reason is that once you legally recognize unborn children as persons they have rights. A Right to Life has more weight than a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions (i.e. to have an Abortion, which is how the courts view it).
Because this was so important, the Pro-Life Movement lobbied every person running for Congress and in other top leadership positions around the country to make a public stand in support of the Federal Human Life Amendment.
Over the years more than 330 different proposals being called a Human Life Amendment have been introduced in Congress. In over 35 years not one Human Life Amendment has gotten anywhere. The end of the Federal Personhood Movement was over.
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U.S. Supreme |
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“if it were established that an unborn fetus is a person… |
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Attorney for Roe Arguing FOR ABORTION |
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“I would have a very difficult case.” |
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U.S. Supreme |
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… this would be the equivalent-after the child was born, if the mother thought it bothered her health any having the child around, she could have it killed. |
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Attorney for Roe Arguing FOR ABORTION |
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“That’s correct.” |
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The Federal Personhood Amendment
The Death of a Vision
Unfortunately, since the 1980s the Federal Personhood Amendment was dropped as a viable project by the Pro-Life Movement due to the difficulty in getting it passed through a very diverse and partisan Congress. The Pro-Life Movement, disheartened, took up projects not to overturn Roe and abortion but to only scale back abortion as much as they could legally through state and federal legislation. The Pro-Life Movement, for the most part, had given up on overturning Roe v. Wade. It was now only spoken of as a vague ideal or a ‘long term strategy’ and left the Pro-Life Movement seeking alternative strategies.
SOURCE: HumanLifeAmendments.com ― PersonhoodAmendments.com
http://www.personhoodamendments.com/strategies/index.php
Florida Bishops Oppose Personhood Amendment
Published September 30, 2009 | By Eric Giunta, September 29, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
Florida pro-life activists suffered a major setback last week in their efforts to garner support for a Personhood Amendment, which would enshrine the right to life of every human being into their state constitution.
In their fight against the proposed amendment, the state’s pro-abortion lobby is receiving indirect support from some unexpected quarters: the chanceries of all nine bishops who direct the Florida Catholic Conference.
The Conference, which serves as the official public policy voice of the Florida bishops, released an email alert Friday afternoon, alerting supporters that, “although the bishops of Florida clearly share the desire for our state laws to recognize all life from its very beginning to natural end, after careful consideration and deliberation with legal counsel, the bishops do not support this current amendment effort.”
The same email noted that signature collection would not take place in any parish or diocesan entity in the state.
The same correspondence included a link to a more thorough statement by the bishops, which may be accessed on the Conference website. The statement, dated September 19, affirms the bishops’ collective commitment to “the full legal recognition of the right to life of every unborn child and the defense of human life in all its stages, from conception to natural death.”
However, the statement continues, “it is our opinion, and that of the legal experts with whom we have consulted, that passage of this amendment would not achieve the goal of overturning Roe v. Wade.”
The bishops first note the unlikelihood of such an amendment passing, given Florida law’s stipulation that constitutional amendments be approved by at least 60% of voters. Furthermore, the federal courts would almost certainly strike down such an amendment as unconstitutional, and the bishops express fear that, should the case be heard by the United States Supreme Court (which is presently dominated by pro-Roe justices) it might well “lead to a reaffirmation of Roe.”
The bishops go on to reaffirm their view “that it will be more prudent to pursue incremental measures that add to existing protections in law and help change hearts and minds.”
In an interview with LifeSiteNews (LSN), Shaun Kenney, executive director of American Life League (ALL), stated that Florida personhood organizers were “disappointed, but undaunted” by the memorandum.
“Planned Parenthood committed over $3 million opposing personhood in Colorado,” said Kenney. “While those advising the bishops argue that state personhood amendments will not hold up in federal courts, if state personhood amendments aren’t legally viable, Planned Parenthood and the abortion lobby wouldn’t be committing the millions of dollars in resources opposing it.”
Dr. Mike McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference, elaborated on the bishops’ reasoning, telling LSN in an interview: “Without question, extensive energy and money would be spent and false hopes would be raised by this personhood amendment effort. I say this with true respect for those attempting it.” Continue reading
Key Pro-Life Democrat (Rep. Bart Stupak) Finally Gets Meeting With Nancy Pelosi on Abortion, Health Care
Published September 30, 2009 | By Steven Ertelt,
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — After months of no response from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pro-life Democrats scored a meeting today with the pro-abortion leader. They have written two letters to Pelosi asking for a chance to have a vote on banning abortion funding in the health care bills and they finally got their chance today.
Rep. Bart Stupak, a pro-life Democrat from Michigan, has led efforts to remove the massive abortion subsidies and mandates from HR 3200.
He has been unable to get a commitment from Pelosi to allow a vote on his amendment on the House floor that, with the support of pro-life groups, would remove abortion funding. Continue reading
In Czech Republic, Pope Benedict’s Powerful Challenge to Secularism
Published September 30, 2009 | CWNews.com, Sep. 28, 2009
During a weekend visit to the Czech Republic, Pope Benedict XVI surveyed the damage done to that nation by generations of Communist rule, and warned the Czech people against socialist materialism with secular materialism. “Man needs to be liberated from material oppressions”, the Pontiff insisted.
In an unusual number of public speeches crowded into a 3-day schedule, the Pope repeatedly challenged the people of the Czech Republic to follow the example set by the great saints of their past history, revive a precious Christian heritage, and bring help to a society that is longing for true freedom but does not know how to find it.
The Pope began his trip– the 13th foreign voyage of his pontificate– on Saturday morning, and arrived in Prague shortly before noon. He was greeted at the airport by Czech President Vaclav Klaus.
During the welcoming ceremony the Pope outlined the theme that he would continue to develop, from different perspectives, throughout his stay. The Czech Republic, he said, has a deeply rooted Christian culture that can be traced back to the evangelization of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Their country “has been a meeting point for different peoples, traditions and cultures,” and consequently has played an important part in European history– “sometimes as a battleground, more often as a bridge.”
The recent history of the Czech people is clouded by the years of Communist rule, and “the cost of 40 years of political repression is not to be underestimated,” the Pope continued. The atheistic regime strove to silence the voice of the Church, but brave Christians “kept the flame of faith alive.” Now that religious freedom has been restored, the Church should be a powerful witness in a secular society.
The Pope’s challenge was directed at a Czech population that has become thoroughly secularized, with religious influence dwindling in the past generation. But the huge throngs who greeted the Pope demonstrated that the flame of faith is still alive. On Saturday afternoon the Pope visited one of the centers of that enduring faith, the shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague. As he venerated the famous statue the Pope prayed for the welfare of troubled families. Continue reading
FEMA Million $ Grant to ACORN is Offensive
Published September 30, 2009 | By Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), BigGovernment
Earlier this month and despite the public scrutiny over the voter fraud and felony criminal activity associated with ACORN, the Department of Homeland Security went ahead and granted $997,402 to ACORN under the FY 2008 Fire Prevention and Safety Program.
To most people, the timing and the amount of the grant would seem off base, but when you take into account the fact that DHS awarded ACORN–an organization with no clear expertise in fire safety and prevention–a fire prevention and safety grant, it’s just plain offensive.
With fire departments all over Louisiana – and the rest of the country – struggling to make ends meet and get the equipment and training they need to protect their local communities, the idea of a million dollar grant going to ACORN is unsettling, to say the least.
I’ve had grave reservations about ACORN for some time, and over the past year we’ve seen numerous examples of serious allegations of wrongdoing on the part of this organization and its employees across the country. I simply can’t see the logic behind diverting much needed funding from worthy fire departments to this organization.
So last week, I wrote a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano requesting that she rescind this grant from ACORN. As of today, the Secretary has not responded to my request. This site will post a copy of the letter for you to read and see for yourself.
Rest assured, I’ll keep working to help prevent further ACORN schemes to procure federal money.
http://biggovernment.com/2009/09/29/fema-grant-to-acorn-is-offensive/
Sources: Sarkozy Thinks Obama is ‘Incredibly Naive and Grossly Egotistical’
Published September 30, 2009 |
“And they both say that [France's President Nicolas] Sarkozy thinks that President Obama is incredibly naive and grossly egotistical – so egotistical that no one can dent his naïveté.”
We’ve Figured Him Out! Wake Up, Beloved America!
Published September 30, 2009 | By Ben Stein, American Spectator, July 24, 2009
Obama fits right in with Uncle Joe Stalin (http://patriotpost.us/)
Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths:
The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008. They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.
They ignored his anti-white writings in his books. They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.
They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student. They ignored his ultra-left record as a “community organizer,” Illinois state legislator, and Senator.
The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.
Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth.
Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, way, way too cozy with the terrorist leaders in the Middle East, way beyond naïveté, all the way into active destruction of our interests and our allies and our future.
The American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill — a great idea in theory — was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way an effort to help all Americans.
Now, Americans are waking up to the truth that ObamaCare basically means that every time you are sick or injured, you will have a clerk from the Department of Motor Vehicles telling your doctor what he can and cannot do.
The American people already know that Mr. Obama’s plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never will be — a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society. Either the costs go up or the free society goes away.
These are perilous times. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation.
Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to “protect us” from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man.
Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.
There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America.
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/07/24/weve-figured-him-out
The Charism of Celibacy and Concupiscence–The Spiritual Life is a Continual Battle
Published September 30, 2009 | “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12: 9).
By Fr. James Farfaglia, Catholic Exchange, September 28th, 2009
“…a thorn in the flesh was given to me…” (2 Corinthians 12: 7). No one really knows what caused St. Paul to struggle, but there was something that really bothered him. He pleaded with the Lord that his difficulties be taken away, but Paul received an answer he was not looking for: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12: 9).
True, Baptism washes away original sin, but we are left with the effects of original sin. We do not have complete control over ourselves. The spiritual life is a continual battle.
Because of original sin our darkened intellects, weakened wills, and inflamed passions will always move us in the wrong direction. Continual effort is necessary to control the inner movement of our ego and allow the presence of grace to take control of our thoughts, desires and actions.
The battle of the spiritual life might be compared to walking in a river against the current. If we do not continue walking or reaching out toward a rock for support, then the current will most assuredly carry us in the opposite direction.
Any serious discussion about the charism of celibacy or the sacrament of matrimony must take into consideration the seriousness of concupiscence and John Paul II, in his monumental work “The Theology of the Body,” delves into this reality with profound insights for our considerations.
Priests who live out their vocation with fidelity, enthusiasm, and joy should not be surprised that the charism of celibacy does come accompanied by a continual struggle. This struggle is rooted in the human condition.
We are transformed by grace, but the struggle will always be present. This is why, as men who have been given the charism of celibacy, it is essential that our spiritual life and our dedication to our people be truly authentic, mature and coherent.
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Do you pray the Liturgy of the Hours every day?
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Do you do an hour of meditation or a Holy Hour every day?
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Do you have a filial devotion to the Blessed Mother?
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Is your calendar full or do you give in to laziness?
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Do you go on a serious retreat every year?
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Do you meet with a spiritual director at least once a month?
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Do you go to confession on a regular basis and whenever necessary?
It is normal for us to struggle, even to fall. But, we must never give in to discouragement. The struggle with celibacy serves to go deeper in our relationship with God and to grow in the charism. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12: 9).
Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest. On May 29, 1953, he scaled the highest mountain then known to man–29,000 feet straight up. However, in 1952 he attempted to climb Mount Everest but failed. A few weeks later an organization in England asked him to address their members. Hillary walked on stage to thunderous applause. The audience in applauding was recognizing his attempt at greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself as a failure. He moved away from the microphone and walked to the edge of the platform. He made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, “Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I’ll beat you the next time because you’ve grown all you are going to grow… but I’m still growing!”
There is a huge difference between a priest who struggles and the priest who lives a double life.
A priest who carries on with a concubine or a priest who struggles with same-sex attraction who carries on with a male lover does tremendous damage to real Catholic priests who love their vocation to the priesthood. Immature priests anger the lay faithful who are scandalized by their proclivities.
These priests should always keep in the mind the severe words of the Lord: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9: 42).
The charism of celibacy does not cause priests to be immoral or sexual perverts. Anyone who thinks this way does not really understand the charism of celibacy. They are gravely mistaken if they think that masturbation and Internet pornography are answers to celibacy.
Celibacy is a special gift from the Holy Spirit. It is called a charism. It is a beautiful gift for the Church.
The celibate priest, in and through his body; i.e., through his very physical reality, is a sign or a witness not only of his total gift of himself to his bride, the Church, but he is also physically, through his body, pointing the way to the eschatological reality of eternal life.
However, like I already said, the charism of celibacy does not remove the reality of concupiscence and Pope John Paul II recognizes this in his teachings.
Concupiscence is something that we must always take seriously especially since we have to live out our vocation in a sex-saturated culture. Moreover, many times we find ourselves living alone in rectories or dealing with persecution from priests or parishioners who reject the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Bishops have a solemn duty to help their priests to live out, with authenticity, maturity and coherence, the charism of celibacy. I will discuss how bishops can help their priests in my next article.
Liberal Democrats Refuse to Give Up on Public Option Despite Tuesday’s No Vote
Published September 30, 2009 | 
Just Put It On the Taxpayers Tab……
Published September 30, 2009 | By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer, CNSNews.com, September 30, 2009
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive at Pittsburgh International Airport in Coraopolis, Pa., Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are both traveling to Copenhagen this week to promote Chicago’s bid to host to the 2016 Olympic Games–and they will be making the 3,979-mile trip on separate airplanes.
The first lady left on Tuesday night, while the president will leave for Denmark on Thursday night.
Taxpayers will pick up the tab for both jets ferrying the president and first lady separately to Europe.
“Everything they do, whether it’s signing pieces of legislation or flying around the world, everything is costing the taxpayer,” David Williams, vice president of policy for Citizens Against Government Waste, told CNSNews.com. “The taxpayer is picking up the tab for everything
Obama Includes Homosexual Couples in “National Family Day”
Published September 30, 2009 | By Kathleen Gilbert, September 29, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Obama has included homosexual couples raising children in a list of “American families” in a recent proclamation declaring Monday National Family Day.
“Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian,” said Obama in the proclamation, “families encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things.”
The president went on to encourage participation in Family Day by sharing an evening meal as a family unit. “A strong nation is made up of strong families, and on this Family Day, we rededicate ourselves to ensuring that every American family has the chance to build a better, healthier future for themselves and their children,” he said.
The family day proclamation is in keeping with Obama’s oft-professed support for the homosexualist agenda.
When Obama proclaimed June “LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Pride Month,” he reiterated that he supports several issues on the homosexual docket, including homosexual hate crime legislation, homosexual “affirmative action” in the workplace, allowing open homosexuals in the military, and adoption to homosexual couples.
During the same month, Obama signed a presidential memorandum extending spousal benefits to homosexual partners and other unmarried partners of federal employees.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Obama to Give Benefits to Homosexual Partners of Federal Employees
Obama’s Homosexual “Safe School Czar” Tells God “Screw You, Buddy” in Memoir
Obama’s “Safe Schools” Czar Dreamed of “Promoting Homosexuality” to Schoolchildren
Obama’s Secretary of Education Pick Proposed Homosexual High School
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/sep/09092904.html
Founder’s Quote Daily
Published September 30, 2009 | 
“There is a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times have passed away. There is a time to fight, and that time has now come.”
–Peter Muhlenberg, from a Lutheran sermon read at Woodstock, Virginia, 1776
GOSPEL & MEDITATION: Costly Christ
Published September 30, 2009 | As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Introductory Prayer: In you, Lord, I find all my joy and happiness. How could I offend you by chasing after fleeting success and lifeless trophies? I believe in you because you are truth itself. I hope in you because you are faithful to your promises. I love you because you have loved me first. I am a sinner; nevertheless, you have given me so many blessings. I humbly thank you.
Petition: Let me willingly accept the cost of following in your footsteps.
1. Hidden Expenses A would-be disciple of Jesus´ boasts that he will follow Our Lord anywhere, whatever the sacrifice. Jesus´ response makes us wonder whether the fellow understood what he would be getting into. Following Christ is demanding — and not always glamorous. We might dream of doing great things for Christ, but then find the day-to-day struggle distasteful (“the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head”). Unglamorous challenges take many forms. A new wife might discover to her chagrin that her husband can´t handle finances. Or a parent with high hopes learns that a child has a learning disability that will limit her ability to excel. Or a husband takes a higher-paying job to support his family, only to find his new boss is a tyrant. Or a teen suffers ridicule at public school for her modest clothes. All these trials can be the cost of following Christ. What price am I willing to pay?
2. Family Ties Christ tries to dissuade another would-be follower from “burying his father.” The man was probably settling his father´s estate and getting too involved in family finances. Our Lord wanted him to cut with all that, immediately, and get on with the work of the Kingdom. Too often money matters distract us from doing what Christ wants. No wonder St. Paul warns, “The love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Timothy 6:10). Is money holding me back in my relationship with Christ? Am I working longer hours than I need to, just for the sake of money?
3. Long Goodbye The moment of decision had arrived. But instead of joining Jesus´ camp, the would-be disciple felt the tug of family ties. As followers of Christ, we have to be willing to make a fundamental option for Christ — an option that by necessity excludes other paths. Does this sound hard? It should sound familiar. Think of the young woman who says yes to a proposal of marriage. She does so assuming that her beloved has long broken off other romantic relationships. Or take the student who decides to go out for the soccer team at school. He rules out spending hours of practice on the basketball court. By extension, if we want to follow Christ, why do we fritter away hours in activities that have nothing to do with our faith or the Church? Are there things I need to weed out of my life?
Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me focus my energies better on you and what you are asking of me. Let me not be distracted by activities or material possessions or even relationships that aren´t helping my spiritual life.
Resolution: I will weed out one thing from my life that doesn´t fit in with my state as a Christian. It could be a Web site, a subscription to a publication, an immodest piece of clothing, a relationship.
http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=363&ca=975&te=735&id=20302
Memorial of St. Jerome, priest and doctor
Published September 30, 2009 | Catholic Culture, September 30, 2009
Born in Dalmatia of a Christian, Jerome (345-420) was baptized in Rome, while taking his classical courses. He then studied under the best masters in foreign cities. But the Church had need of this extraordinarily gifted man. Jerome heard and obeyed the divine call, made a vow of celibacy, and withdrew for four years to a hermitage in the Syrian desert. The Holy Father soon summoned Jerome to Rome and entrusted him with the enormous task of revising the Latin Bible. This work, which took 30 years to complete, is the Vulgate version of the Scriptures. He also wrote many other works, mostly commentaries on the books of the Bible.
St. Jerome
One of the greatest Biblical scholars of Christendom, Saint Jerome was born of Christian parents at Stridon in Dalmatia around the year 345. Educated at the local school, he then studied rhetoric in Rome for eight years, before returning to Aquilea to set up a community of ascetics. When that community broke up after three years Jerome went to the east. He met an old hermit named Malchus, who inspired the saint to live in a bare cell, dressed in sackcloth, studying the Scriptures.
He learned Hebrew from a rabbi. Then he returned to Antioch and was reluctantly ordained priest. With his bishop he visited Constantinople and became friendly with Saints Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory of Nyssa. And then in 382 he went again to Rome, to become the personal secretary of Pope Damasus. Here he met his dearest friends, a wealthy woman called Paula, her daughter Eustochium and another wealthy woman named Marcella.
Here too he began his finest work. Commissioned by the pope, he began to revise the Latin version of the psalms and the New Testament, with immense care and scholarship. Jerome eventually translated the whole of the Bible into the Latin version which is known as the Vulgate. But when Damasus died, his enemies forced the saint to leave Rome.
Accompanied by Paula and Eustochium, Jerome went to Bethlehem. There he lived for thirty-four years till his death in 420, building a monastery over which he presided and a convent headed first by Paula and after her death by Eustochium. The saint set up a hospice for the countless pilgrims to that place. His scholarship, his polemics, his treatises and letters often provoked anger and always stimulated those who read them. ‘Plato located the soul of man in the head,’ he wrote, ‘Christ located it in the heart.’
Excerpted from A Calendar of Saints by James Bentley
Patron: Archeologists; archivists; Bible scholars; librarians; libraries; schoolchildren; students; translators.
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm
Are Extreme Radicals in the White House? Encouraging and covering up man-boy sexual activity are serious offenses!
Published September 29, 2009 | ….Clearly, the process for vetting White House employees has broken down . . . Mr. Obama should make clear what his standards are for public servants serving at the pleasure of the president. Encouraging and covering up man-boy sexual activity are serious offenses. The White House should force Mr. Jennings to come clean…..
EDITORIAL: “At The President’s Pleasure”
A teacher was told by a 15-year-old high school sophomore that he was having homosexual sex with an “older man.” At the very least, statutory rape occurred. Fox News reported that the teacher violated a state law requiring that he report the abuse. That former teacher, Kevin Jennings, is President Obama’s “safe school czar.” It’s getting hard to keep track of all of this president’s problematic appointments. Clearly, the process for vetting White House employees has broken down.
In this one case in which Mr. Jennings had a real chance to protect a young boy from a sexual predator, he not only failed to do what the law required but actually encouraged the relationship.
According to Mr. Jennings’ own description in a new audiotape discovered by Fox News, the 15-year-old boy met the “older man” in a “bus station bathroom” and was taken to the older man’s home that night. When some details about the case became public, Mr. Jennings threatened to sue another teacher who called his failure to report the statutory rape “unethical.” Mr. Jennings’ defenders asserted that there was no evidence that he was aware the student had sex with the older man.
However, the new audiotape contradicts this claim. In 2000, Mr. Jennings gave a talk to the Iowa chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, an advocacy group that promotes homosexuality in schools. On the tape, Mr. Jennings recollected that he told the student to make sure “to use a condom” when he was with the older man. That he actively encouraged the relationship is reinforced by Mr. Jennings’ own description in his 1994 book, “One Teacher in 10.” In that account, the teacher boasts how he allayed the student’s concerns about the relationship to such a degree that the 15-year-old “left my office with a smile on his face that I would see every time I saw him on the campus for the next two years, until he graduated.”
Mr. Jennings’ denials about these events reveal a lack of remorse. He has not admitted that he made mistakes in this case, and he now refuses to answer any questions about the scandal. Don’t forget, this is a presidential appointee we’re talking about. Mr. Obama should make clear what his standards are for public servants serving at the pleasure of the president. Encouraging and covering up man-boy sexual activity are serious offenses. The White House should force Mr. Jennings to come clean.
Mr. Jennings has made extremely radical statements promoting homosexuality in schools and about his utter contempt for religion that render him unsuitable for a prestigious White House appointment. His job in the Obama administration is to ensure student safety, and this scandal directly calls into question his ability to perform that job. Mr. Jennings and Obama administration officials refuse to answer any questions about this newly discovered evidence. A lot of Americans want answers about this guy and how he was approved for a job in the White House.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/28/at-the-presidents-pleasure/print/
Catch a Falling Czar…
Published September 29, 2009 | 
Other issues may have taken a backseat to health care this summer, but now that the kids are back in school, parents have another subject on the brain–education. Earlier this month, President Obama turned more than a few heads with his back-to-school telecast, and parents are right to be concerned about what the administration will do for an encore. Most, including FRC, are hoping that the President’s future plans won’t include Safe Schools “czar” Kevin Jennings.
More than three months ago, we exposed the truth about Jennings, a long-time proponent of a radical, pro-homosexual agenda in schools. At the time, our concerns were met with little more than a yawn from the mainstream media. But today, as more Americans rage on about the shocking comments of “green jobs” czar Van Jones (who was forced to resign), the spotlight is back on the President’s special-subject appointees. And in Jennings’s case, it’s better late than never. Fortunately, more press outlets like FoxNews.com and Lou Dobbs are picking up the drumbeat, and the Washington Times ran an editorial today demanding answers about Jennings’s appointment.
Of course, one of the most shocking pieces of news about Jennings is a story he’s told himself (in different ways at different times) about a young student who came to him and confessed that he was having sex with older men in a bus station restroom. Instead of reporting the high-risk behavior to the boy’s parents, school administrators, or the police, Jennings’s only response was, “I hope you knew to use a condom.” If the President hand-picked Jennings to serve in educational leadership, the public has a right to know whether he violated reporting laws and covered up child sexual abuse. At the very least, he should know that making schools safe doesn’t mean making them safe for homosexual predators.
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?it=AL
FRC: Calling the Abortion Bluff, Marriage in America, Adult Stem Cells
Published September 29, 2009 | Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, Sept. 28, 2009
Calling the Abortion Bluff
Debate over health care reform and funding abortion continues, and today we expected votes on amendments in the Financial Services Committee to keep abortion coverage out of Senator Max Baucus’ (D-Mont.) health care bill, but the vote was delayed until next week. While the President said that under his plan the government would not fund abortions, the Baucus bill explicitly includes abortion and would subsidize health plans that cover all elective abortions. Such subsidies for plans covering abortion goes well beyond the status quo of preventing federal funds either from paying for abortion or subsidizing plans that cover abortion, as under current laws governing Medicaid, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan and the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan. The Capps amendment inserted government funding of abortion into the House bill, and now the Baucus bill would add abortion as well.
If government-subsidized abortion is to be excluded, and conscience protections for health providers who object to abortion are to be maintained, then Senators on the Finance Committee should simply adopt Senator Orrin Hatch‘s (R-Utah) amendments. His amendments would prevent funding for abortion consistent with the Hyde Amendment without precluding women from purchasing abortion policies that are separate from any government subsidized plan. Women wanting abortion insurance coverage would have a choice to purchase it, a choice supposedly essential for all women.
We oppose abortion, but in this health care debate, this amendment would ensure that the government, as under current law, does not endorse abortion. Senator Hatch’s other amendment would simply protect current conscience laws when it comes to preventing the government from discriminating against health plans and providers who object to abortion. If President Obama does not intend for his proposed health care reform to expand government-funded abortion then he should get on the phone with Sen. Baucus and Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and make sure they support these Hatch amendments unequivocally. Senator Orrin Hatch is calling their bluff.
Marriage Alive in America — But Not Well?
There was good news and bad news for the institution of marriage in the release of new data from the American Community Survey by the Census Bureau this week. We got a new perspective on the disheartening (and misleading) statistic that “half of all marriages end in divorce,” when it was revealed that 76% of those who have ever been married have been married only once, and less than 11% of the population is currently divorced. (That “half end in divorce” statistic is skewed by the 5% of the population who have been married three times or more). On the other hand, the percentage of adults who have never been married was the highest in a decade, suggesting a troubling trend of delayed marriage (perhaps accompanied by the growth of pre-marital cohabitation).
Meanwhile, the estimate of the number of same-sex couples in America was revised sharply downward based on methodological corrections–even though homosexual activists have argued for years that they were being under-counted. The problem of delaying marriage or foregoing it altogether is particularly acute in the African American community–as DC Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton recognized by holding a forum on the topic yesterday. Her concern for the state of marriage is inconsistent with her support for its redefinition to include same-sex couples, however. As my friend, Bishop Harry Jackson, wrote in today’s Washington Times the people of our nation’s capital deserve to vote themselves on the definition of marriage.
The (Heart) Beat Goes On With Adult Stem Cells
Most people are unaware that adult stem cells are treating patients, and saving lives, all over the world. The latest story comes from Greece, where a team led by British surgeon Stephen Westaby combined adult stem cells with a mechanical heart to save a dying man. Ioannis Manolopoulos had been in the hospital for four months after at least two heart attacks; all other treatments had failed to improve his condition. Westaby’s team implanted a mechanical heart and then injected the patient’s own bone marrow adult stem cells to initiate repair of the heart. The mechanical heart takes over pumping blood, allowing the patient’s heart to rest and repair.
Adult stem cells have already helped several thousand heart patients, as well as patients with stroke, juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and dozens of other conditions. Despite all the evidence for adult stem cell successes, the Obama administration, including the National Institutes of Health, have focused on embryonic stem cells, ignoring science and patient health in favor of politics. We should be pouring our resources into adult stem cells, and putting the patients first.
How’s That Hope and Change Thing Working For You?
Published September 29, 2009 | PATRIOT POST
http://content.patriotpost.us/img/legacy/broadcasts/humor/092909.html
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A Tutorial in Obama Iconography
Published September 29, 2009 | Barack Obama ran an unprecedented Presidential campaign – utilizing the power of design to help secure the seat of the President of the United States of America. However, his iconic emblem, the ever present “O”, holds more power than even Obama knows. Bill Whittle points out the dangers of branding an ideology with an icon and how, perhaps, the powerful symbol will be used against the very man it built up. - http://www.pjtv.com
Shock Discovery: Community Organizers Pray TO President-Elect Obama
Published September 29, 2009 | “Hear our cry Obama!”…”Deliver us Obama!”
The Gamaliel Foundation is the community organizing group that helped sponsor Barack Obama’s initial work in Chicago.
Thomas Sowell: The Brainy Bunch
Published September 29, 2009 | 
Many people, including some conservatives, have been very impressed with how brainy the president and his advisers are. But that is not quite as reassuring as it might seem.
It was, after all, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s brilliant “brains trust” advisers whose policies are now increasingly recognized as having prolonged the Great Depression of the 1930s, while claiming credit for ending it. The Great Depression ended only when the Second World War put an end to many New Deal policies.
FDR himself said that “Dr. New Deal” had been replaced by “Dr. Win-the-War.” But those today who are for big spending like to credit wartime big spending for bringing the Great Depression to an end. They never ask the question as to why previous depressions had always ended on their own, much faster than the one under FDR, and without government intervention or massive government spending.
Brainy folks were also present in Lyndon Johnson’s administration, especially in the Pentagon, where Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s brilliant “whiz kids” tried to micro-manage the Vietnam war, with disastrous results.
There is usually only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly monumental disaster, you need people with high IQs.
Such people have been told all their lives how brilliant they are, until finally they feel forced to admit it, with all due modesty. But they not only tend to over-estimate their own brilliance, more fundamentally they tend to over-estimate how important brilliance itself is when dealing with real world problems.
Many crucial things in life are learned from experience, rather than from clever thoughts or clever words. Indeed, a gift for the clever phrasing so much admired by the media can be a fatal talent, especially for someone chosen to lead a government.
Make no mistake about it, Adolf Hitler was brilliant. His underlying beliefs may have been half-baked and his hatreds overwhelming, but he was a genius when it came to carrying out his plans politically, based on those beliefs and hatreds.
Starting from a position of Germany’s military weakness in the early 1930s, Hitler not only built up Germany’s war-making potential, he did so in ways that minimized the danger that his potential victims would match his military build-up with their own. He said whatever soothing words they wanted to hear that would spare them the cost of military deterrence and the pain of contemplating another war.
He played some of the most highly educated people of his time for fools– not only foreign political leaders but also members of the intelligentsia. The editor of The Times of London filtered out reports that his own foreign correspondents in Germany sent him about the evils and dangers of the Nazis. In the United States, W.E.B. Du Bois– with a Ph.D. from Harvard– said that dictatorship in Germany was “absolutely necessary to get the state in order.”
In an age when facts seem to carry less weight than the visions of brilliant and charismatic leaders, it is more important than ever to look at the actual track records of those brilliant and charismatic leaders. After all, Hitler led Germany into military catastrophe and left much of the country in ruins.
Even in a country which suffered none of the wartime destruction that others suffered in the 20th century, Argentina began that century as one of the 10 richest nations in the world– ahead of France and Germany– and ended it as such an economic disaster that no one would even compare it to France or Germany.
Politically brilliant and charismatic leaders, promoting reckless government spending– of whom Juan Peron was the most prominent, but by no means alone– managed to create an economic disaster in a country with an abundance of natural resources and a country that was spared the stresses that wars inflicted on other nations in the 20th century.
Someone recently pointed out how much Barack Obama’s style and strategies resemble those of Latin American charismatic despots– the takeover of industries by demagogues who never ran a business, the rousing rhetoric of resentment addressed to the masses and the personal cult of the leader promoted by the media. But do we want to become the world’s largest banana republic?
http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/09/29/the_brainy_bunch
RE: THE LEFT–”Have You No Shame? Have You No Decency?”
Published September 29, 2009 | 
“Nearly 62 years ago, the United Nations recognized the right of the Jews, an ancient people 3,500 years-old, to a state of their own in their ancestral homeland. I stand here today as the Prime Minister of Israel, the Jewish state, and I speak to you on behalf of my country and my people. The United Nations was founded after the carnage of World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust. It was charged with preventing the recurrence of such horrendous events. Nothing has undermined that central mission more than the systematic assault on the truth. [Wednesday] the President of Iran stood at this very podium, spewing his latest anti-Semitic rants. Just a few days earlier, he again claimed that the Holocaust is a lie. …
To those who refused to come here and to those who left this room in protest, I commend you. You stood up for moral clarity and you brought honor to your countries. But to those who gave this Holocaust-denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people, the Jewish people, and decent people everywhere: Have you no shame? Have you no decency? A mere six decades after the Holocaust, you give legitimacy to a man who denies that the murder of six million Jews took place and pledges to wipe out the Jewish state. What a disgrace! What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations! Perhaps some of you think that this man and his odious regime threaten only the Jews. You’re wrong. Dead wrong. …
I speak here today in the hope that we can learn from history — that we can prevent danger in time. In the spirit of the timeless words spoken to Joshua over 3,000 years ago, let us be strong and of good courage. Let us confront this peril, secure our future and, God willing, forge an enduring peace for generations to come.”
–Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu
Reflections on the Struggle to Advance the Culture of Life
Published September 29, 2009 | 
EXCERPT: Obamacare is 21st Century Eugenics (Part 6)
Published September 29, 2009 | ….It is critical to our nation that especially those that hold to Judeo-Christian beliefs be involved in the political process at all times. We must be ever vigilant, ever watching from fortified walls for the approaching attacks that come our way. When we see and recognize our enemies, we must sound the call to others that hold our beliefs so that we may come together in strength and unison to defeat the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy. It is important also that we as Christian’s never allow any group of people to be oppressed, segregated, and discriminated against or worse, even when we do not fully agree with their philosophy. First of all, the Bible teaches us that God is no respecter of man; in other words He shows no favoritism toward any person, even His chosen children. Did He not even deny Moses entry into the Promised Land? God judges every man according to His righteous standards that He established thousands of years ago. His standards have not changed because God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God has appointed Jesus to be the One that sits on the throne of judgment. Before this throne will stand every person to answer for himself, and Jesus will judge rightly and fairly. Second, God commands us to be concerned with the rights of others. Does not the Bible teach us we are to be kind, helpful and loving to each other, both believers and unbelievers? Even strangers and aliens are to be given certain rights and respect as a person created in the image of God. Thirdly, the United States is a land of laws, laws which must be enforced and obeyed. We have been placed under the authority of the government, and we are to obey the laws of our land…until the law(s) of the land are counter to God will and authority which trump man-made laws. When man enacts laws that oppose God’s laws, then is the time for peaceful civil unrest and protest to oppose such laws. To do otherwise is to insult and deny the One whose name we bear. We cannot stand idly by while unborn babies are murdered. We cannot remain silent and not defend the rights of those American’s we may disagree with. If we only speak out when those we fully agree with are being oppressed and tyrannized, then who will speak for us after the government silences them and then comes for us? If we allow those in power to oppress one group of people, sooner or later the oppression will spread to all groups, and no one is safe. The dehumanization of any people is the first step toward any holocaust. Government run healthcare under Mr. Obama, John Holdren, Nancy Pelosi, Ezekiel Emanuel, and Kathleen Sebelius, just to name a few, will dehumanize certain classes of persons in order to provide for the masses. They have already demonstrated this with their opinions and actions concerning abortion. The elderly of our society will be next….
SOURCE: By Bob Kemp, Renew America, September 28, 2009
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/kemp/090928 Continue reading
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–former Alaska governor Sarah Palin
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