CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY, APRIL 29, 2010

Third-order Dominican, counselor to the Pope, who singlehandedly ended the Avignon exile of the successors of Peter in the 14th century, peacemaker, and one of the greatest mystics of all time.  She is the co-patron of Italy and of Europe.

Born in Siena, on the feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1347, Catherine was the 23rd of Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa’s 25 children. Her twin sister died in infancy.

She exhibited an unusually independent character as a child and an exceptionally intense prayer life. When she was 7 years old she had the first of her mystical visions, in which she saw Jesus surrounded by saints and seated in glory. In the same year she vowed to consecrate her virginity to Christ. When, at the age of 16, her parents decided that she should marry, she cut off her hair to make herself less appealing, and her father, realizing that he couldn’t contend with her resolve, let her have her way.  She joined the Dominican Tertiaries and lived a deep and solitary life of prayer and meditation for the next three years in which she had constant mystical experiences, capped, by the end of the three years with an extraordinary union with God granted to only a few mystics, known as ‘mystical marriage.’

St. Catherine suffered many intense periods of desolation alongside her mystical ecstasies, often feeling totally abandoned by God. Continue reading →

Here Today, Gonorrhea Tomorrow…

Chances are, Americans don’t go through their days worrying about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). But considering the growing panic, perhaps they should. According to the most knowledgeable experts on the issue, the spread of STDs may be the biggest crisis that no one knows about. Cheryl Wetzstein of the Washington Times tackled the issue today in a must-read article about these silent killers. She quotes William Smith, head of the National Coalition of STD Directors, at length about a monster strain of gonorrhea and how it could affect every corner of the country. In his words, we are on the “verge of a highly untreatable” outbreak of the disease. Some have characterized it as the next “superbug” because it appears to be almost completely resistant to antibiotics. Even the Centers for Disease Control have “just a single class of antibiotics left to treat it.”

Another STD that’s worming its way through the States is syphilis, which seems to be claiming the lives of young babies who are victims of mother-to-child transmission. In the most developed country in the world, newborns accounted for 431 of the 13,500 cases of syphilis in 2008. “Where is the outcry,” Smith asks? Despite first-rate health care, Americans are dealing with third-world infection rates. In comparison to the hysteria over H1N1, Wetzstein wonders why Washington isn’t taking the problem more seriously. Since April of last year, 11,690 people have died of swine flu. Twenty thousand died of STDs in 2004 alone–yet there’s no frenzy and seemingly no fury for fatalities that are entirely preventable. The U.S. pours millions into STD treatments when, unlike cancer, it can be avoided with simple behavioral changes! As FRC’s Peter Sprigg pointed out, gonorrhea’s resistant strains tend to show up first in men who have sex with men. We need to coach people to stop engaging in risky sex.

Unfortunately, in this age of sexual freedom, that’s a message no one wants to deliver–particularly because it would mean disparaging promiscuity and homosexuality. Pop culture wants to encourage intimacy with anyone at any time with complete disregard for the physical toll. It’s as if sex were the new constitutional right. But empowering people to pursue sexual satisfaction at any cost has left the nation in a position of vulnerability from which it might never recover.

Pentagon Gives Christianity the Boot!

Was the Pentagon justified in giving Rev. Franklin Graham the cold shoulder, or is there a broader agenda at work? Congressman Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) aims to find out. After the military pulled invitations out from under Rev. Graham and me, it has raised more than a few members’ eyebrows. “I’m concerned about it,” Rep. Kingston said, shortly after he called for a congressional investigation. “It shows that the Pentagon is using a systematic practice of weeding out preachers and leaders of the clergy who are willing to give biblically-based messages and sermons…” As Rep. Kingston works to schedule hearings on the Pentagon’s new hostility toward Christians, he did lay the blame for this religious intolerance at the White House’s doorstep. “I think that the crowd in the Pentagon right now [knows] that the President and this administration have a very mixed message when it comes to Christianity and Judeo-Christian ethics and values. I think the military is reflecting the commander-in-chief’s preferences.”

Speaking of the President’s military preferences, FRC is teaming up with the Alliance Defense Fund tomorrow to host a joint press conference on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” You can watch by live webstream as we expose the threat to military chaplains. Click here for more information.

Phoenix Rises from Health Care Ashes

Apart from that little patch of land known as Capitol Hill, Americans have plenty to cheer about! Yesterday, the state of Arizona kept the pro-life pressure on, as Gov. Jan Brewer (R) signed a first-of-its-kind law to ban abortion funding in the local health care exchange. Making the victory even more meaningful, Gov. Brewer inked the legislation in front of 1,600 values voters at the Arizona Policy Family banquet on Saturday. More than 20 other states are challenging ObamaCare with similar measures. And the victories don’t stop there.

Yesterday, Oklahoma’s statehouse refused to give an inch to Gov. Brad Henry (D), who vetoed a bill that would have required pregnant women to see an ultrasound of their babies before aborting. By an overwhelming margin, they overrode the Governor and sent the bill to the Senate, which followed suit today–officially making the bill a law. Once again, this is the result of pro-life groups sounding the alarm during the national health care debate. We applaud the states that are exercising the right to self-govern in the face of an administration that will stop at nothing to advance its culture of death.

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU10D17&f=PG07J01

Rep Abercrombie, Neil [HI-1] – 5/19/2009
Rep Akin, W. Todd [MO-2] – 6/3/2009
Rep Arcuri, Michael A. [NY-24] – 5/19/2009
Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] – 9/8/2009
Rep Baird, Brian [WA-3] – 5/19/2009
Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] – 6/18/2009
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] – 5/19/2009
Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] – 5/19/2009
Rep Bilirakis, Gus M. [FL-9] – 6/10/2009
Rep Bishop, Rob [UT-1] – 6/4/2009
Rep Blackburn, Marsha [TN-7] – 7/21/2009
Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] – 5/19/2009
Rep Boustany, Charles W., Jr. [LA-7] – 5/19/2009
Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1] – 6/18/2009 Continue reading →

Oppose Statehood for Puerto Rico (HR 2499)

Contributed by NH Tea Party Coalition (Reporter)
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 7:16

HR 2499 – Statehood for Puerto Rico

The Obama administration is pulling out all the stops to ensure there are more votes for their side in 2010 and 2012. They are pushing for voting rights for the District of Columbia and now this…

There is a move afoot to have Puerto Rico become the 51st state, with voting on the bill, HR 2499, taking place as early as this week in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Three times in the past 43 years Puerto Ricans have voted against becoming the 51st state in the Union, the last time being 11 years ago. They enjoy their commonwealth status which allows them to enjoy the protection and freedoms and even financial benefits of the United States without paying federal income taxes.

HR 2499 would actually force a yes-or-no vote by Puerto Ricans on whether Puerto Rico should maintain the “current political status” of the island. This sounds innocent enough until the second part of the legislation comes into play; a second vote would have to be administered, this one giving Puerto Ricans no option but statehood or full independence if the majority expresses dissatisfaction with the current political status. Even if there is no dissatisfaction and the “current political status” is favored, every eight years henceforth from the passage of HR 2499 Puerto Rico is forced to conduct another plebiscite on the matter at their own expense.

There are several problems that must first be exposed and debated before such a move should be made. The first is that of creating a bilingual country with the addition of an almost completely Spanish-speaking state. Then there is the problem of reassigning some seats in the U.S. House of Representatives by handing at least six or seven over to Puerto Rico, depriving six or seven existing states of one representative each because of the congressionally-mandated 435 seat cap. This type of political maneuvering seems very partisan because the seats in the Senate and the House would likely be Democratic ones, and the electoral votes awarded Puerto Rico might outnumber those of 22 current states.

Before American taxpayers have to absorb and bailout another financially failing institution — this time the island of Puerto Rico — both Americans and Puerto Ricans need to know and understand that this could just be a case of politicians using this very opaque legislation as a means to whatever ends they envision for not only Puerto Rico and the United States, but also for the political dynamics this situation might bring with it in the future.

Contact your congressmen and send a message that you are unwilling to have them support such a bill until all the political, economic, and cultural details are out on the table, for both Americans and Puerto Ricans. Remind them to oppose HR 2499 on the grounds that it is a very bad move in the present economic and financial climate, with the possible political consequences precluding Americans from being in favor of statehood for the island nation of Puerto Rico at this time.

Read the original story at NH Tea Party Coalition

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/37267/Oppose_Statehood_for_Puerto_Rico_HR_2499.html

———————————————————————————————————————

H.R.2499
Title: Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009
Sponsor: Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. [PR] (introduced 5/19/2009)      Cosponsors (181)
Latest Major Action: 10/8/2009 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 164.
House Reports: 111-294

http://thomas.gov/cgi-bin/thomas

COSPONSORS(181), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn

COSPONSORS(181) -
http://thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bdtxut:@@@P|/bss/111search.html|

By Grace-Marie Turner, Galen Institute, April 23, 2010

The White House is trying to spin the new report from Medicare chief actuary Rick Foster as only half bad because it concludes that, while the health overhaul law will cost more, it will cover more — 23 million people will remain uninsured (instead of 24 million previously estimated).

But looking at the details of Foster’s report shows many, many danger signs of ObamaCare and how many of its promises will be broken:

• People will lose coverage: About 14 million people will lose their employer coverage by 2019 as smaller employers terminate their plans and as workers who currently have employer coverage enroll in Medicaid.
• Huge fines for companies: Businesses will pay $87 billion in penalties in the first five years after the fines trigger in 2014, partly because they can’t afford to offer expensive, government-mandated coverage and partly because some of their employees apply for taxpayer-subsidized insurance.
• Higher costs for consumers: Tens of billions of dollars in new fees and excise taxes will “generally be passed through to health consumers in the form of higher drug and devices prices and higher premiums.”
• A program that fails before it starts: The new CLASS Act long-term care insurance program will face “a significant risk of failure,” resulting in “a very serious risk that the problem of adverse selection will make the CLASS program unsustainable.”
• Spending increases: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will increase national health spending by $311 billion from 2010 through 2019. And instead of bending the federal spending curve down, it will move it upward “by a net total of $251 billion” over the next decade.
• “Free-riders:” An estimated 23 million people will remain uninsured in 2019, roughly five million of whom would be undocumented aliens, and the remainder would be 18 million who choose not to be covered and pay the penalty.
• Spending reductions are fiction: Estimated reductions in the growth rate of health spending “may not be fully achievable” because “Medicare productivity adjustments could become unsustainable even within the next ten years, and over time the reductions in the scope of employer-sponsored health insurance could also become an issue.”
• You can’t keep your doctor: Fifteen percent of all hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers treating Medicare patients could be operating at a loss by 2019 and “possibly jeopardize access to care for beneficiaries.”
• Coverage but no care: A significant portion of those newly eligible for Medicaid will have trouble finding physicians who will see them, and the increased demand for Medicaid services could be difficult to meet.

This is an objective report by administration actuaries that shows this sweeping legislation has serious, serious problems.

============

No new taxes? Among the new taxes imposed by the law is a rarely mentioned, $14.3 billion a year tax on health insurance, effective in 2014. As Joint Economic Committee Republicans explain in a new report, the tax:

• Will be mostly passed through to consumers in the form of higher premiums for private coverage.
• Could cost the typical family of four with job-based coverage an additional $1,000 a year in higher premiums.
• Will fall largely, and inequitably, on small businesses and their employees.

A Congressional Budget Office analysis released Thursday said the average cost of the penalty will be slightly more than $1,000 in 2016 and that the government will collect about $4 billion a year in fines from 2017 through 2019 after the fines are fully in force.

============ Continue reading →

VISArchives

VATICAN CITY, 28 APR 2010 (VIS) – Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis during this morning’s general audience to two Italian priests: St. Leonardo Murialdo (1828-1900) and St. Giuseppe Benito Cottolengo (1786-1842), “exemplary in the commitment to God and witness of charity which, in the Church and for the Church, they showed towards their needy brothers and sisters”.

St. Leonardo Murialdo, having overcome a profound spiritual crisis in his youth, became a priest of St. John Bosco who appreciated him greatly. Thanks to Don Bosco, Fr. Murialdo “came into contact with the serious problems of the poorer classes, … maturing a profound social, educational and apostolic sensibility which led him to dedicate himself independently to initiatives in favour of young people”, the Pope explained.

“In 1873 he founded the Congregation of St. Joseph, which from its beginnings had as its apostolic goal the formation of young people, especially the poor and abandoned”. In this context the Holy Father highlighted how “the central nucleus of Leonardo Murialdo’s spirituality was his certainty of the merciful love of God: a Father Who is always good, patient and generous, Who reveals the greatness and immensity of his mercy through forgiveness”.

St. Leonardo, “highlighting the greatness of the mission of priests, ‘who must continue the work of redemption’, … always recalled, both to himself and his confreres, the responsibility of living a life coherent with the Sacrament received”.

“The same spirit of charity” marked the life and work of St. Giuseppe Benito Cottolengo, founder of the “Little House of Divine Providence”. This saint, “from his childhood showed great sensibility towards the poor”. Following years of fruitful priestly ministry, his meeting with a young sick woman, mother of five children, whom he assisted on her deathbed, changed the course of his life.

“The Lord always places signs on our path, guiding us according to His will to what is truly good for us”, said Benedict XVI. From that moment Giuseppe Cottolengo “used all his capacities … to create initiatives in support of the most needy. He involved scores of collaborators and volunteers in his enterprise, … so as to face and overcome difficulties together. Each person in that Little House of Divine Providence had a specific task. … The healthy and the sick all shared the same daily burden. Even religious life was organised over time in accordance with particular needs and requirements”.

“For the poor and needy”, Giuseppe Cottolengo always defined himself as “the labourer of Divine Providence”, the Holy Father recalled.

“These two priest saints”, the Pope concluded, “lived their ministry by totally giving their lives to the poorest, the most needy, the last. The profound root, the eternal source of their activity was always their relationship with God, drawing from His love in the profound conviction that it is not possible to exercise charity save by living with Christ in the Church. May their intercession and example continue to illuminate the ministry of the many priests who give themselves generously for God and for the flock entrusted to them, and help everyone to give themselves joyfully and generously to God and to others”.

Michael Ramirez

By Gary Varvel

RNC: Obama playing on ‘class warfare and race’

Politico, April 28, 2010

The Republican National Committee Tuesday night accused President Obama of making “an appeal based on class warfare and race” after Obama outlined his party’s midterm strategy of returning people who voted for the first time in 2008 to the polls in November.

Obama, in a video released this week, spoke in the demographic terms more commonly — though very commonly — used by political consultants, saying Democrats must appeal to “young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women who powered our victory in 2008 [to] stand together once again.”

The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports Wednesday on another Democratic strategy to fire up the base, a planned speech by DNC Chairman Tim Kaine that will reportedly allege that Republicans aim to suppress minority votes, a frequent Democratic charge that is inevitably mirrored by GOP claims of vote fraud.

“Only days after our post-racial president made an appeal based on class warfare and race, Gov. Kaine is doing the same thing,” said RNC spokesman Doug Heye in an email Tuesday. “It tells you how bad things are for them. Desperate times call for desperate measures, only now it’s on an advanced timetable.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/RNC_Obama_playing_on_class_warfare_and_race.html

By Michelle Malkin, Human Events, 04/28/2010

Mrs. Malkin is author of Unhinged (Regnery) and the forthcoming “Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies” (Regnery 2009).

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=36735

George Weigel, Catholic Exchange, April 28th, 2010

BATON ROUGE, LA – A Senate judiciary committee has rejected a bid to let gay parents adopt children together in Louisiana.

Senators voted 3-1 against the bill, siding with opponents from Catholic and Baptist churches. They argued the adoptions would encourage immoral behavior and violate the spirit of a voter-approved constitutional ban on gay marriage.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans, and J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans. Supporters argued people should be encouraged to adopt children and gay couples could offer loving homes to kids who otherwise might live in group or foster homes. Louisiana law lets married couples or single people adopt children.

Lee D’Aquin and his partner, Brandon, have a 3-year-old son named Maxim. D’Aquin had to adopt Maxim alone and is the only parent with legal custody. D’Aquin favors a new law allowing second parent adoptions.

“Getting it down on paper is not only a necessity but a respect for that second parent,” he said.

Not everyone feels that way. During Senate testimony, witnesses against the proposal talked about why the current law is good enough.

“It survived the course of human history and I think it’s because we know what’s in the best interest of a child is they have a mom and a dad in the home,” said Gene Mills of the Louisiana Family Forum.

It is possible the bill will come up for further consideration before the end of the session in June.

http://www.wafb.com/global/story.asp?s=12384623

This program is from RealCatholicTV.com

Pope Benedict is targeting the abuses in the liturgy as his Reform movement rolls along.

The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.

A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see something that’s above you.

….scientific studies are backing up what our faith had already told us: that the life in the womb is indeed a human life…

By Maurice Blumberg, Catholic Exchange, April 28, 2010

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16-18)

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him. (John 3:36)

So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” (John 6:28-29)

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring (the) good news!” (Romans 10:13-15)

A Matter of Life and Death. All of us are familiar with John 3:16, since it is the most popular sign held up at sporting events. We especially like the beginning, “For God so loved the world” because we know that includes us. But what about the ending words: “so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Don’t these words tell us that those who do not believe in him will “perish” and not have eternal life. Jesus is even more specific in John 3:18. Those who believe “will not be condemned,” and those who do not believe are already condemned. In John 3:36, Jesus goes on to contrasts those who believe in him to those who disobey him. The former has eternal life; while those who disobey him “will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”

These are strong words, aren’t they? John is telling his people through Jesus’ words that belief in him is a life-and-death issue. What’s more, it’s a matter of eternal life with God versus eternal death and separation from God—and it depends on our own choices. God has given us the freedom both to respond to his invitation and to turn away from it.

At its core, the message of the Gospel really is quite simple. If we want to have eternal life with Jesus, we need to believe in him. This is so important that Jesus called it “the work of God” (John 6:29). Flowing from this belief, of course, is the need to do our best to follow his commandments. But as simple as it is, there are also layers of complexity to it. For example, St. Augustine used passages like these to teach that only a few people would make it to heaven. But another great Father of the Church, Origen, used these and other passages to teach that a great many people would be saved. In large part, it depended on how you understand the mercy of God and what it means to “believe” in the Son of God in the first place.

So what should we say, then, about this quandary? First, we really don’t know how many people will go to heaven. That is something only God can determine. And second, since we don’t know, we should make it one of our top priorities to testify to God’s love and to the promise of salvation to everyone we know. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry—especially when it comes to matters of eternal life. If we don’t share it, the good news of Jesus Christ won’t be heard, and people will miss out on all the promises of God (Romans 10:14-15).

Start small. Make a list of people you know who seem far from the Lord. Intercede for them every day, asking the Lord to touch their hearts. Try also to develop an approach for reaching out to them in some way. Don’t sell yourself short! It is amazing how many people can be affected by the witness of one life lived in Christ. When the opportunity arises, invite them to a talk at the Church, to a men’s conference, or perhaps to join a men’s group or Bible study. With this combination of prayer, reaching out, example, testimony, and invitation, you really can see people’s lives change. Who knows? You may be instrumental in saving someone from eternal death.

“Holy Spirit, I want to share Christ’s love with the people around me. I ask for boldness and courage for this important mission. Help me to sow the seeds of the Gospel and to trust that you will cause the growth.”

(Maurice Blumberg was the founding Executive Director of the National Fellowship of Catholic Men (http://www.nfcmusa.org/), and is currently a Trustee. He is also the Director of Partner Relations for Partners in Evangelism, (http://www2.wau.org/partners/), a Ministry to the Military and Prisoners for The Word Among Us. Maurice can be contacted at mblumberg@aol.org.)

By Patrick B. Craine, April 27, 2010, LifeSiteNews.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. -  Two more U.S. bishops have discontinued their diocesan collection for the national fund of the U.S. Bishops’ domestic anti-poverty arm, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), LifeSiteNews (LSN) has learned.

Bishop Joseph Adamec of Altoona-Johnstown decided to discontinue the CCHD collection in the fall of 2009, said Tony DeGol, the diocese’s secretary for communications.

“The bishop felt that we needed to do an annual special collection for Catholic Charities, so he decided to replace the Catholic Campaign for Human Development with the collection for Catholic Charities, that will benefit our diocese,” Degol told LSN.  The diocese’s Catholic Charities was “hit hard” with increased demand starting in the summer, Degol said, because other organizations had to reduce their services due to a loss in state funding.

CCHD, long criticized for its funding practices, has come under intense pressure since last August with a number of reports revealing that the organization has funded numerous groups advocating abortion, same-sex “marriage,” contraception, and other questionable activities.

Degol insisted, however, that Bishop Adamec did not mention any concerns about these allegations when he discussed his decision with diocesan staff.  “The reason was that we wanted to do something for Catholic Charities, rather than add another collection,” Degol reiterated.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Harrisburg also decided in the fall to substitute the annual CCHD collection with a “Matthew 25 collection,” said Peter Biasucci, the diocese’s assistant director for Catholic Charities.  The diocese announced the decision, which was made in consultation with the Presbyteral Council, in September and it took effect in 2010.  While Bishop Rhoades moved to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend in January, Biasucci said the new setup is intended to continue.

“I think that there were some issues regarding the ability to control some of the national grants and the applications,” Biasucci told LSN.

The new collection will take place the Sunday before Thanksgiving, as the CCHD collection had.  According to Biasucci, it will “serve the needy persons in our diocese,” being allocated to “poverty associated projects, basic survival needs, those sorts of things.”  He noted that the diocese is still developing the criteria for the grants and is putting together a committee to review and approve grants.  He did say, however, that 10% of the collection is to remain in parishes for poverty relief, and 90% will go to a “restricted fund” at the diocese that would be allocated to “parish-based organizations.” Continue reading →

By Colin Mason and Steven W. Mosher, LifeSiteNews, April 27, 2010 (www.pop.org)

There is no tragedy that the abortion movement does not seek to turn to its own advantage.

Consider the case of a young girl in Quintana Roo, Mexico, who was raped by her supposed stepfather and impregnated at the tender age of 10. After the girl’s mother belatedly notified the authorities, she is now, at nearly 18 weeks of pregnancy, receiving proper medical care. The offending rapist has since been arrested.

We should all decry the horrific sexual abuse that led to this pregnancy. But the abortion movement, led by radical feminists, wants to go further. They claim that the girl should be given an abortion, even though the Mexican state in which she lives, Quintana Roo, forbids all abortions after 90 days gestation. The underlying problem here, they insist, is that Mexican girls are not properly informed of their “right” to an abortion in case of rape before 90 days gestation, and that they are not allowed to receive one after that point. According to them, Mexico’s abortion laws must be relaxed.

According to CNN, which in its story on this child rape only interviewed abortion advocates (See CNN s coverage of the story):

“This girl is much more than an isolated case,” said Adriana Ortiz-Ortega, a researcher at Mexico’s National Autonomous University who has written two books on abortion in Mexico, “and there is much more influence now from conservative groups that are trying to prevent the legalization of abortion.”…

Child protective services officials in Quintana Roo said in a statement last week that the girl and the fetus were in good health.

But Quintana Roo state legislator Maria Hadad said the girl’s doctors aren’t telling the whole story. She said continuing the pregnancy could cause severe mental and physical health problems for the girl. “It’s not just a high-risk pregnancy. It’s a pregnancy that puts the girl at risk,” Hadad told Mexican broadcaster Channel 10 in Chetumal, Mexico.

This girl has surely been horrifically damaged by what has been done to her, but will subjecting her to an abortion—as Maria Hadad advocates—somehow begin to “repair” this damage? Obviously not, as any person who is truly concerned about the welfare of the girl would conclude. It would only add tragedy to tragedy. And why would Hadad attack the girl’s doctors, going so far as to suggest that they may be involved in a cover up? The reason is that Hadad and others like her are not the least bit concerned about the girl as a person. The victim is only a political tool, whose pain can be commoditized to advocate the legalization of abortion on demand. That there is another tiny person involved does not even enter into their calculations.

The political gamesmanship around this case distracts the public from the underlying problem: the family breakdown and pedophilia that allowed a young girl to not only be raped, but also impregnated by her supposed “step-father.”

According to Christine De Vollmer, president of the Latin American Alliance for the Family, a girl this young was unlikely to become pregnant from a single instance of rape. It is common, De Vollmer said, for “everybody to live in the same little house and sleep in the same bed.  And of course all kinds of things happen there, unfortunately including to children. As the bodies of these little girls are stimulated, they begin to ovulate and become pregnant at some point.” As far as the so-called “stepfather” is concerned, this is often just a man who lives in the home with the mother and her children, “without any serious commitment.” Continue reading →

“The plain import of the clause is, that congress shall have all the incidental and instrumental powers, necessary and proper to carry into execution all the express powers. It neither enlarges any power specifically granted; nor is it a grant of any new power to congress. But it is merely a declaration for the removal of all uncertainty, that the means of carrying into execution those, otherwise granted, are included in the grant.”

—Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833

Father Steven Reilly, LC

John 12:44-50
Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”

Introductory Prayer: Father, you have blessed me with this opportunity to pray. I come into your presence to please and glorify you. I offer it up for all those who are counting on me for spiritual support.

Petition: Lord, increase my hope so that I know that you are always guiding me.

1. Our Souls Were Made for the Light Little children are scared of the dark – after all, monsters and ghosts live in the dark. Flick on the light switch, however, and all the fears dissipate. The real world is so much less scary when the light is on. What’s true for children is also true for us – but on a different level. We have many fears, and so many of them come because we are in the dark. We don’t know the future; we can’t control outcomes. We fear spiritual darkness because our souls were made for the light. But Jesus “came into the world as light.” When we know Jesus, the light has come into our lives, the fears vanish. We don’t know the future, but he does. We can’t control outcomes, but his providence guides all. Like the little child who is relieved when Mom or Dad comes into the dark room, with Jesus we can rest assured that everything will be okay.

2. Living in the Truth If there is one thing that we should fear, it is ourselves. It is said that Saint Philip Neri used to wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say, “Lord, watch out for Philip lest he betray you again today.” The Lord speaks of a self-inflicted condemnation that comes from not accepting his words. When we feel the inner tug of our pride or sensuality, beckoning us to confide more in ourselves than in Christ, then we need to pause. It is like a spiritual red flag telling us that our adherence to Jesus’ words is waning. If we stick with Christ, and abhor the thought of going our own way rather than his, we will avoid that inner darkness which is far more fearsome than anything in the world.

3. The Father’s Command Is Eternal Life The philosophy of the 1960’s has left a long trail of wreckage that persists to this day. “Do your own thing!” the Woodstock creed, would have us believe that self-assertion is the key to happiness. As counterintuitive as it may sound, obedience is really the key. Jesus was the man that could walk on water, pacify storms with the snap of the finger, and provide dinner for thousands with a few loaves and fish. Yet he teaches that happiness doesn’t lie in power. Rather it lies in obedience to the Father’s command. Obeying him is the road to eternal life: fulfillment beyond our wildest dreams.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, take away all my fears. I know that my true good is to be found in loving you and following you. Give me the strength to obey the Father and so find the eternal life that I seek.

Resolution: I will fulfill my spiritual commitments perfectly today.

http://meditation.regnumchristi.org/

CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY, APRIL 28, 2010

Born in Montfort, Brittany, on January 31, 1673; died at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, France, on April 28, 1716; canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1947.  Apostle of devotion to Mary, gifted preacher and founder of two religious congregations.

Possessed of a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament as a child and intimately devoted to the Blessed Virgin, especially through the Rosary, he took the name Marie at his confirmation.

He manifested a love for the poor since he was at school and joined a society of young men who ministered to the poor and the sick on school holidays
When he was 19, he walked 130 miles to Paris to study theology, gave all he had to the poor that he met along the way and made a vow to live only on alms. After his ordination at 27, he served as a hospital chaplain until the management of the hospital resented his reorganization of the staff and sent him away.

He discovered his great gift for preaching at the age of 32, and he committed himself to it vigorously for the rest of his life. He met with such great success that he often drew crowds of thousands to hear his sermons in which he encouraged frequent communion and devotion to Mary.

But he also met with opposition, namely in the form of the Jansenists, a heretical movement within the Church that believed in absolute Predestination, in which only a chosen few are saved, and the rest damned. Much of France was influenced by Jansenism, including many bishops, who banished St. Loius-Marie from preaching in their dioceses. He was even poisoned by Jansenists in La Rochelle, but survived, though he had to suffer ill health ever since.

While he recuperated from the effects of the poisoning, he wrote the masterpiece of Marian piety, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, which he correctly prophesied would be hidden by the devil for a time; it was only discovered 200 years after his death.

It is from the first line of St. Louis-Marie´s prayer of entrustment to Mary (“Totus Tuus ego sum”: I am all yours) that Pope John Paul II has taken his episcopal motto: “Totus Tuus.”

One year before his death St. Louis-Marie founded two congregations: the Daughters of Divine Wisdom – which tended to the sick in hospitals and the education of poor girls, and the Company of Mary, missionaries devoted to preaching and to spreading devotion to Mary.

Dems Hid Damning Health Care Report From Public Until a Month After Vote!

by Jim Hof, Big Government

The American Spectator reported, via FOX Nation:

The economic report released last week by Health and Human Services, which indicated that President Barack Obama’s health care “reform” law would actually increase the cost of health care and impose higher costs on consumers, had been submitted to the office of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius more than a week before the Congressional votes on the bill, according to career HHS sources, who added that Sebelius’s staff refused to review the document before the vote was taken.

(more…)

This program is from RealCatholicTV.com

Why Catholics (and the world) should be grateful for the pontificate of Benedict XVI.

The Pope’s Address at Regensburg

Louisiana Family Forum Presents the 2010 Leadership Academy
June 25 – July 5, 2010

Louisiana Family Forum is committed to defending Faith, Freedom and the Traditional Family in the great state of Louisiana

ONLINE BROCHURE AND APPLICATION: http://www.lafamilyforum.org/leadershipacademy

Louisiana Family Forum is committed to defending Faith, Freedom and the Traditional Family in the great state of Louisiana. The issues that it works to address are:

• The virtues and benefits of life-long faithful marriage
• The sacredness of human sexuality
• The indispensable roles of responsible fatherhood and motherhood
• The sanctity and dignity of every human life
• The blessings of liberty established by limited government

LFF believes that leaders are made, not born. LFF’s goal is to identify, recruit and train courageous leaders for tomorrow—young people who are the best and the brightest in Louisiana.

LFF’s goal is to recruit participants who will come to visualize the need for leadership in their generation—a “Call to Action” to restore America’s Christian heritage.

THE ACADEMY: 10-day intensive christian heritage training of 40 leaders for tomorrow.

THE PLEDGE: All counselors and students would be required to pledge the following principles: Continue reading →