The first in a brand new series of programs from RealCatholicTV.com. The shocking truth behind the founders of the CCHD

“You realize the chances of winning are the same as the democrats’ chance of avoiding an ethics scandal and a new backroom deal?”

RenewAmerica staff, March 10, 2010

When the president’s socialized health care plan was first introduced in Congress in July 2009, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) of the House Subcommittee on Health delivered a scathing — but common-sense — appraisal of “Obamacare,” labeling it a “travesty.”

The congressman’s remarks, made July 16, 2009, have since gone “viral” after they were posted on YouTube, where they have now been seen by over 6.9 million viewers.

In his remarks, Congressman Rogers, a former special agent with the FBI in Chicago, said:

“Mr. Chairman, I can’t tell you how much I’m disappointed at what a lost opportunity we have to solve a huge problem in health care [affecting] access and quality to some — even by your numbers — 46 million, and that’s about 15 percent of the American population. Continue reading →

BY EDWARD PENTIN, National Catholic Register,  3/9/10

The Vatican has issued a directive to a Polish diocese that emphasizes the freedom of priests to celebrate Mass in the extraordinary form whenever they choose.

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei made the clarification in January in a series of responses to questions from a Polish diocese, which sought clarification regarding the use of the traditional Latin Mass. The answers, which came to public attention in mid-February, concerned Pope Benedict’s 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, issued “motu proprio” (on his own initiative).

However, the Vatican stresses that the clarification is addressed to a particular group and is “not a set of guidelines.” Officials are still working on a comprehensive set of guidelines on Summorum Pontificum, which are expected to be published soon.

Two points of the ruling are considered most significant: A Mass in the extraordinary form “may replace a regularly scheduled Mass in the ordinary form,” and a parish priest “may schedule a public Mass in the extraordinary form on his own accord.”

Another response also stipulates that the calendar, readings or prefaces of the 1970 Roman Missal “may not be substituted for those of the 1962 Roman Missal in Masses in the extraordinary form.”

Michael Dunnigan, chairman of Una Voce America, said the commission’s response “forcefully reaffirms both the plain meaning of Summorum Pontificum and also the rights of the laity and clergy who are devoted to the traditional Mass.” Continue reading →

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 22% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19 (see trends).

One year after reaching the lowest levels ever recorded by the Rasmussen Consumer Index, consumer confidence has bounced back and today is at the highest level recorded since September 2008. Nationally, 32% of adults say the U.S. economy is getting better but 42% say it’s getting worse. A year ago, just 12% felt the economy was improving, and 72% thought the economy was getting worse.

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, 44% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance. Fifty-four percent (54%) disapprove.

New polling shows Republicans with the early edge in the Governor’s races for both Colorado and Ohio. Rasmussen Reports has also released polls on the 2010 governor’s races in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina Wisconsin, and Texas.

The New York Times Magazine has a feature on Rahm Emanuel that begins by describing how the White House Chief of Staff reacted to a Rasmussen Reports poll on the Massachusetts Senate race.

Forty-two percent (42%) favor the President’s health care plan while 53% are opposed. Most believe passage of the plan will increase the cost of health care. Fifty-five percent (55%) say that Congress should scrap the current health care legislation and start over……..CONTINUED…….

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

….The Senate can only pass one reconciliation bill per year, which is why the Democrats — who seem to intuit that they won’t be so numerous next year — are laying the groundwork for a health-plus-education 51-vote omnibus reconciliation package. But in a way, the combination of student loans and health care is very clarifying. On health care, we see the government annexation in its middle stages. On student loans, we see the endpoint of the process: a takeover cloaked in a budget gimmick….

The Editors, National Review, March 10, 2010

There is something poetic about the Democrats’ plan to combine the health-care reconciliation bill with legislation that would make the government the “single payer” in the market for student loans. From subsidies to a “public option” to an outright government takeover, the history of American college-loan policy offers an instructive illustration of how the government can absorb an activity incrementally, claiming to cherish the benefits the private sector provides — until it becomes inconvenient. At that point, the private sector is cast as the enemy of sound reform. If the Democrats’ plan succeeds, then their health-care reconciliation bill will include a foreshadowing of its final act. And we can look to the case of student loans for a preview.

Democrats argue that the government should not be paying private lenders large subsidies to make low fixed-rate loans to college students when it could simply turn this activity over to the Department of Education, save itself billions of dollars, and redirect that money into other education projects. “The banking industry has had a free ride from taxpayers for too long,” declared Education Secretary Arne Duncan. But the bankers did not pull these subsidies out of thin air. The government provided them in exchange for a service: lending money to students at low fixed rates, so that more may attend college. It is similar, though not identical, to the way the Democrats’ health-care bill would succor the insurance industry by subsidizing its product while forcing people to buy it.

In the early 1990s, a change in federal accounting rules allowed the government to budget less money for student loans if it lent directly rather than subsidizing interest rates and guaranteeing against default. But that was purely an accounting maneuver: The actual cost of the program did not change. That didn’t stop the Democrats from attempting the same thing in student loans they are attempting now with health care — a federal takeover on the grounds that it could “save” the government billions. They successfully created a “public option” for student loans, but Republicans took over Congress in 1994 before Democrats could make it the sole option. Democrats fought and were able to preserve the public option on the grounds that “students and schools are served by healthy competition in student loan programs, which has created marketplace incentives for both programs to improve.” This is the same rhetoric they used when they tried to sell us a public option for health care.

But thanks to student loans, we can see into the future — and we see how quickly Democrats dispense with the rhetoric of competition when they are itching to add an activity to government’s portfolio. Suddenly, competition offers no benefits worth speaking of — unless you’re one of the many student financial-aid officers who prefer the customer service that private lenders provide over the federal government’s DMV-style bottlenecks, which promise only to get worse.

When it comes to student loans, liberals may ask why conservatives would support subsidies and guarantees for banks. The answer is: We don’t. By increasing demand for higher education without increasing the supply, the subsidies have driven tuition skyward. And by muting incentives for banks to lend intelligently, government loan guarantees have encouraged many students, including many for whom college might not be a good fit, to take on massive amounts of debt that they can neither repay nor retire through bankruptcy. The solution to this problem is to scale back subsidies for traditional forms of higher education while encouraging low-cost alternatives. Instead, the Democrats’ education bill would massively increase the subsidies while hiding their true cost. If that is the alternative, we prefer the status quo.

The Senate can only pass one reconciliation bill per year, which is why the Democrats — who seem to intuit that they won’t be so numerous next year — are laying the groundwork for a health-plus-education 51-vote omnibus reconciliation package. But in a way, the combination of student loans and health care is very clarifying. On health care, we see the government annexation in its middle stages. On student loans, we see the endpoint of the process: a takeover cloaked in a budget gimmick, private-sector providers vilified as free-riding looters, and a very short memory when it comes to the benefits of competition.

The Democrats’ current health-care legislation isn’t the end game, and in their more candid moments, Democrats such as Barney Frank have been open about the fact that maneuvers such as the public option are just an effort to move the ball down the field toward the goal of a total federal takeover. If you want a look at their playbook, look at how they’ve handled student loans.

http://article.nationalreview.com/427454/the-real-health-care-plan/the-editors

By Mason Boyer, American Thinker, March 09, 2010

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/ungovernable_savages.html

TODAY: Obama pushing on health care end game (AP)

Last year:

July 28: Healthcare endgame on Capitol Hill (Reuters)

August 21: Analysis: Health care endgame near but uncertain (AP)

October 14: Senate, administration begin healthcare endgame as Dem leaders express unity (Hill)

October 25: Senators say health care bill endgame is in sight (Politico)

October 27: End Game: So When Will Health Care Really Happen? (TPM)

October 30: Health reform inches closer to endgame (WaPo)

November 23: The Health Care Endgame (NPR) 

The Haircut

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, “I cannot accept money from you; I’m doing community service this week.” The florist was pleased and left the shop.

When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a “thank you” card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a police officer came in for a haircut and, when he tried to pay his bill, the barber again replied, “I cannot accept money from you; I’m doing community service this week.” The officer was happy and left the shop.

The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a “thank you” card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

A Congressman came in for a haircut and, when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, “I can not accept money from you; I’m doing community service this week.” The Congressman was very happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut. And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

http://patriotpost.us/

Brief, Patriot Post, March 8, 2010

The Foundation

“No man in his senses can hesitate in choosing to be free, rather than a slave.”
–Alexander Hamilton

Liberty

“While American politicians and intellectuals have not reached the depths of tyrants such as Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Hitler, they share a common vision. Tyrants denounce free markets and voluntary exchange. They are the chief supporters of reduced private property rights, reduced rights to profits, and they are anti-competition and pro-monopoly. They are pro-control and coercion, by the state. These Americans who run Washington, and their intellectual supporters, believe they have superior wisdom and greater intelligence than the masses. They believe they have been ordained to forcibly impose that wisdom on the rest of us. Like any other tyrant, they have what they consider good reasons for restricting the freedom of others. A tyrant’s primary agenda calls for the elimination or attenuation of the market. Why? Markets imply voluntary exchange and tyrants do not trust that people behaving voluntarily will do what the tyrant thinks they should do. Therefore, they seek to replace the market with economic planning and regulation, which is little more than the forcible superseding of other people’s plans by the powerful elite. We Americans have forgotten founder Thomas Paine’s warning that ‘Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.’”

–George Mason University economics professor Walter E. Williams

http://patriotpost.us/edition/2010/03/08/brief/

Blessed are those who for love of the Lord plunge headlong into trials and troubles without anger or sadness; when they escape, they soon reach safety in the harbor of the divinity, and through their good works come to God’s home and have rest from their troubles, rejoicing in their hope. Those who run the race of life in hope, are not frightened by the trials on the way. . .On reaching the end of their course they see the Lord, and praise him for having saved them from perdition.

- John Moschus

http://www.padrepiodevotions.org/reflection.asp

….But we have to pass the (health care) bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy…..

Pelosi Remarks at the 2010 Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties

Nancy’s website: http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1576

….women are increasingly coming forward everywhere, just like the original “Jane Roe,” Norma McCorvey, publicly admitting the horror of their actions, genuinely penitent — and genuinely forgiven. But their stories aren’t deemed “newsworthy.”….

By L. Brent Bozell, Patriot Post, March 10, 2010

If anyone was looking for a self-righteous extreme feminist, they found one in Angie Jackson. This is a woman who was so proud she was aborting her baby that she announced she would “tweet” her chemical-cocktail abortion live, as it happened, on Twitter. The liberal media found this made-for-TV slaughter fascinating, and not at all a controversy worthy of discussing with two sides.

Newsweek’s Sarah Kliff proclaimed: “One hundred thousand people have watched Angie Jackson’s abortion. Late last month, Jackson posted a video of herself to YouTube, recorded after she took RU-486, a medication used to end pregnancies.” Kliff asked only “why shame remains” about the act of killing one’s baby. Jackson was honored for her courage in “demystifying” and “destigmatizing” the procedure: “We need 10,000 more of her,” proclaimed Peg Johnston, chair of something called the Abortion Care Network. This desire for 10,000 more unashamed abortions is what “pro-choice” is all about.

Overall, this was just another classic tale from the “news” magazine that lamented 20 years ago that “Sadly, many home (abortion) remedies could damage a fetus instead of kill it.” What about the pro-life side?

Newsweek devoted just one sentence to Silent No More, a website where women tell a different abortion story and now speak publicly of their shame and regret. But women are increasingly coming forward everywhere, just like the original “Jane Roe,” Norma McCorvey, publicly admitting the horror of their actions, genuinely penitent — and genuinely forgiven. But their stories aren’t deemed “newsworthy.”

CNN interviewed Angie Jackson on the morning of March 8, and they were explicit in rejecting any notion that Jackson deserved a rebuttal. Anchor Kyra Phillips declared after the interview that “as you can imagine, we received a lot of response about even doing this story because abortion is such a controversial issue, and we really didn’t want to get into a debate about abortion, but rather, look at what people are doing now, using social networking.”

That’s a unique concept: Abortion is so controversial that we feel it’s best to only let one side talk — the side that’s taking a child’s life on camera.

CNN claims these days that they are the sober and neutral center between MSNBC and Fox News, but there was nothing neutral about their sympathy for Jackson. Phillips rushed to proclaim that the most savage part of Jackson’s abortion was the pro-lifer comments.

“These are really harsh,” the anchor warned. “But people wrote in and said — they called you all kinds of names, from being a whore to someone who just couldn’t keep her legs closed. They called you a baby killer. I mean, it’s even hard for me to say these things because some of those — the e-mails and the responses were so brutal.”

As brutal as an abortion? Worse than that, Phillips never acknowledged that pro-lifers most certainly filled Twitter (and the heavens) with their hopes and prayers for her. CNN cannot deny those e-mails were there.

CNN also showed some of Jackson’s horrific YouTube video, where she admitted that her baby had the “potential” for life, “but it (it!) was more likely to kill me, and you’re not going to shame me. … I do not feel sorry that I saved my life. I do not feel sorry that I stayed here for myself, for my boyfriend, for my kid that I’ve already got.”

CNN didn’t define that sentiment — or lack of it — as “really harsh.” CNN never told their viewers that Jackson’s nom de plume on Twitter is “Anti-Theist Angie.” Nor did CNN consider the “brutal” contents of Jackson’s Twitter page to be worth commentary. Here are some examples of statements Jackson “retweeted” as worthy comments about Jesus after she popped up on CNN:

“Who would Jesus do? He’d totally do Anti-Theist Angie just to prove a point to those who sully his/her name.”

And: “Where would Jesus donate? To science-based education, and better abortion techniques!”

And: “Jesus hates the little women, all the women of the world.”

To their credit, when ABC’s “World News” hyped this story Feb. 28, they at least allowed conservative Cathy Ruse of the Family Research Council to declare, “Your heart breaks for this woman. And I hope that it doesn’t encourage, I hope that what she’s doing won’t encourage others to take this path.” ABC’s online story also allowed a few paragraphs of pro-life argument.

ABC weekend anchor Dan Harris noted Jackson was an “outspoken atheist,” and quoted her saying, “I hope everybody on YouTube has a great and godless day. Peace.”

Jackson said she was four weeks pregnant when she aborted her child. The technology now exists to see just about every human feature — eyes, hands, feet, even the human nipple — on a “fetus” 1 inch in size, and only two weeks older. Peace.

http://patriotpost.us/opinion/l-brent-bozell/2010/03/10/the-shameless-abortion-carnival/print/

How does President Obama celebrate “International Women’s Day?” By leading the effort to pass the most pro-abortion health care plan in U.S. history. With billions set aside for groups like Planned Parenthood, the President’s latest bill would trick Americans into funding a procedure that victimizes women and robs them of the physical and mental well-being this legislation promised to advance. Even today, as the abortion industry makes room for a massive influx of federal dollars, the Left’s leadership still refuses to admit that such a deal exists. As it has in the past, FRC Action compiled a list of eight new reasons why abortion is included in President’s plan.

1. The legislation specifically includes it. The President’s bill to amend the Senate bill leaves several abortion provisions in place. In Section 130, the legislation allows tax credit subsidies for plans that include abortion and leaves the abortion surcharge in place. It maintains the proposal to create a multi-state plan that includes abortion in Sec. 1334. Even worse, it would increase the Senate bill funding from $7 billion to $11 billion for community health centers in Sec. 10503 without any abortion restrictions. (H.R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.)

2. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said it is. “And I would say that the Senate language, which was negotiated by Senators Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray…take a big step forward from where the House left it with the Stupak amendment, and I think do a good job making sure there are choices for women…That would be an accounting procedure, but everybody in the exchange would do the same thing, whether you’re male or female, whether you’re 75 or 25, you would all set aside a portion of your premium that would go into a fund.” (Sebelius: Everyone will pay into abortion-coverage fund.)

3. Senate Democrats refused to ban it. Instead of allowing for an up-or-down vote on a Senate amendment similar to the House’s Stupak amendment, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) “tabled” the amendment, effectively killing it. (Vote No. 369 S.Amdt. 2962 to S.Amdt. 2786 to H.R. 3590)

4. House pro-life Democrats, even those who support the so-called reform effort, say it is. “The Senate language is a significant departure from current law and is unacceptable.” (House Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), February 23, 2010, CBS News) “I think abortion’s wrong. The problem is that I’ve lived too long. When they say they can keep this money separate, I just don’t believe it.” (House Representative Marion Berry (D-Ark.), March 6, 2010, Arkansas News.)

5. House pro-abortion Democrats say it is. “The good news is that the Senate bill does allow [abortion coverage].” (Rep. Dianne DeGette (D-Colo.), March 5, 2010, Washington Post )

6. The abortion industry sent out alerts in favor of it. The abortion giant Planned Parenthood sent an email to supporters on March 6, 2010 , which said, “President Obama’s health care reform… significantly increase access to reproductive health care.” (Planned Parenthood alert, March 6, 2010.)

7. Candidate Obama said it would be included, and the Obama administration includes it in its definition of reproductive health care. Presidential candidate Barack Obama stated he “believes that reproductive health care is basic health care.” (Rhrealitycheck.org questionnaire, 2008.) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed up on this in 2009: “Reproductive health care includes access to abortion.” (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, April 22, House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing)

8. House Democratic Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has indicated that he wants to fix the abortion coverage problem in the Senate bill. “House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday that lawmakers could draft separate pieces of legislation with abortion language to earn the support of anti-abortion rights Democrats on healthcare reform legislation.” (March 4, 2010, The Hill)

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU10C05&f=PG07J01

STUPAK SAYS NO ABORTION FUNDING DEAL IN PLACE, WON’T BACK DOWN ON HEALTH CARE
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – Bart Stupak, the Michigan congressman whose pro-life Democratic colleagues have the ability to determine whether the Senate health care bill that contains massive abortion funding lives or dies, said in a late Tuesday interview that no abortion deal is in place and he won’t back down.

TOP DEMOCRAT CONTRADICTS PELOSI ON ABORTION, WHITE HOUSE ON MARCH 18 VOTE DATE
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – In a Tuesday morning interview, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the Maryland lawmaker who is the second highest ranking Democrat in the House, contradicted Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the seriousness of the abortion funding debate and the White House on its March 18 vote timeline.

SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER: RECONCILIATION CAN’T STOP HEALTH CARE ABORTION FUNDING
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – As the process of the health care debate moves forward this week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is reminding colleagues and the media that the reconciliation process will not be able to be used to stop the abortion funding in the Senate health care bill.

REPUBLICAN POLL OF IOWA CAUCUS VOTERS: MIKE HUCKABEE LEADS ROMNEY, PALIN
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – With pro-life advocates longing for 2012 thanks to the extensive pro-abortion record of President Barack Obama, it’s never too early to think about the next election. A survey of caucus voters in Iowa, the state that will kick off the battle for the Republican nomination, Mike Huckabee has the lead.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD LOOKS FOR HARD ABORTION STORIES TO PROMOTE HEALTH CARE BILL
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – Hoping to promote the Senate health care bill that funds abortions and could direct millions more to its abortion centers, Planned Parenthood is looking for stories from women of hard cases where they felt they needed an abortion for medical reason to give it a new lobbying tool.

HOUSE BILL WOULD EXPAND OBAMA’S PROMOTING EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – Two members of Congress have introduced new legislation designed to expand President Barack Obama’s decision to force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research. The measure could pave the way for a battle over federal restrictions on research destroying human embryos.

HHS SECRETARY KATHLEEN SEBELIUS MISLEADS ON ABORTION FUNDING IN HEALTH CARE BILL
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius contradicted herself on abortion funding in the Senate health care bill in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Sebelius applauded the Senate language before and talked about mandatory abortion fees, but now she claims there is no funding.

“….But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it….”



“  One hundred and seventy-three despots would surely be as oppressive as one.”

–James Madison, Federalist No. 48

Supreme Court Chief Justice: Scene at State of Union Was ‘Very Troubling’

Commentary by David Bereit, National Coordinator, 40 Days for Life, March 9, 2010, (LifeSiteNews.com)

I know you’re familiar with the old saying, “God works in mysterious ways.” Please sit down and read this whole story. Our God of mystery has outdone Himself this time!

A young woman in Indianapolis, Indiana – we’ll call her Erin – woke up, saw her kids off to school, dropped her preschoolers at a friend’s house, and noticed that she was late for an appointment … at Planned Parenthood … for an abortion.

So Erin picked up her phone and called to see if she could still come in. She thought she was calling Planned Parenthood. In her haste, she dialled a wrong number.

Instead of Planned Parenthood, she got Joseph, who was answering the cell phone that’s being used by …

… get ready for this …

… 40 Days for Life in Indianapolis!

Joseph took a deep breath and tried to be as calm as possible. He took Erin’s name and number and simply said that a counselor would call her back.

So Elizabeth, the counselor, called Erin. Elizabeth begged her not to hang up, and then explained that she had not reached Planned Parenthood. Asked if she was a Christian, Erin said “yes.” So Elizabeth told her God’s grace was at work in this “wrong number” situation.

So what had led Erin to the abortion center? Simply put – desperation.

She has four children, their father is in jail, she had lost her job, her electricity is about to be shut off, and she doesn’t have enough money to pay the rent.

Later, Erin arrived at Planned Parenthood with her aunt. The aunt told counselors she opposed the abortion, but Erin’s mother and sister insist it’s the best answer. They say Erin just can’t handle another child.

In the meantime, Elizabeth had spread the word about Erin’s situation. A volunteer offered to pay her electric bill. Ten others pooled their cash to pay her rent.

Eileen in Indianapolis says a local group is now working with Erin to help her find a job. “She has a lot of potential,” Eileen said, “but needs support since her mother and sister are still encouraging her to abort the baby.”

Erin has reacted with both joy and disbelief that strangers were helping her. She has called Planned Parenthood to cancel her appointment and request a refund.

Please keep Erin and her family – and all those helping her – in your prayers.

So, you see? God does work in mysterious ways. There are no coincidences … and in this case, no wrong numbers!

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10030901.html

Wednesday, 3rd Week of Lent

Father Daniel Polzer, LC

Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, as I journey through Lent I have a great desire to be close to you. I know that I am your creature and that I owe you all glory and homage. I want to glorify you by following your teaching. I need you to help me see clearly the truth of your teaching and to love you in return. Here I am Lord, hungry for you alone. I know that you will not turn me away empty-handed.

Petition: Lord, teach me what it means to fulfill the law.

1. The Spirit Fulfills the Mere Letter We can speak of fulfilling the law in two ways: by doing everything that is asked or by completing that which is missing. Jesus completes the law of the Old Testament with the new law of love – to love one another as he has loved us. Jesus fulfills the law not by simply fulfilling each of the many precepts, but by showing where all of the precepts have their end: in loving God above all things. When we obey the law of love we are fulfilling all of the laws – we are bringing them to their natural end.

2. The All-Encompassing New Law The law of love reaches to the ends of the earth. There is no created being in the universe that is outside the law of love that Jesus has come to teach us. There is no being, not even the smallest, that escapes the demand of this law. When Jesus uses the metaphor, “the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter,” he is showing us the completeness of this law. Love and its demands reach to the farthest ends of the universe, to the smallest created being, and to the end of time. Am I convinced in my heart and in my actions that the law of love asks me to love all people – not just my family, friends and those who rub me the right way?

3. Seeking Perfection The commandments of the old law as exemplified in the Ten Commandments (e.g. Thou shall not kill; Thou shall not commit adultery; etc.) are grave transgressions but easy to define, referring as they do to external actions. Christ’s commandments (e.g. to not show anger; to not lust in the heart; to forgive our enemies; etc.) have more subtle expressions, and because of this often times they are more difficult to obey. Living these commandments with the proper motivation and a considerate, dedicated attitude is what makes a person great. Having love as the motivation of all of our actions not only helps us make it to heaven, but also will win us a greater share in God’s happiness and glory there.

Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for this time of prayer. Do not let me be content simply to do the minimum that my faith asks of me. Do not let me be content simply with avoiding grave sin. Help me to live the fullness of the law of charity. I want this Lent to be a time of growth in love.

Resolution: When I am obeying the laws of the Church I will stop to reflect how they fit into the greater law of love.

http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=363&ca=975&te=
735&id=20302