Terri's Day

Five years ago on this day, Terri Schindler Schiavo was the victim of a court ordered murder, starved and dehydrated to death by the culture of death that pervades our society.  Her murder was finally completed on Easter Thursday.  She suffered as the Church meditated on the sufferings of Christ, and died as the Church celebrated His resurrection. 

We can be confident that she shared in Jesus' victory over death.  But, the culture of death still pervades our society.  We, as people of God, cannot allow this to happen.  It's time to fall to our knees in prayer.

Let us pray for the defeat of the culture of death and the victory of the culture of life, for Terri and all who are the victims of the culture of death.

Prayer to Defeat the Culture of Death
Lord Jesus Christ, throughout this Lenten Season we meditate on your Passion and death on the Cross for our redemption.  By the merits of your Passion and suffering, we pray for the defeat of the culture of death in our society.  So many innocent of unborn have been murdered in the womb, and on this day an innocent woman's suffering and starvation came to an end by court-sanctioned murder.  By the merits of the suffering by which they shared in your Passion, have mercy on those who promote the culture of death and bring them to repentance.  O Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning with love for all mankind, have mercy on them.

Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for those who promote the culture of death in our society.  By your intercession drive back the scourge of abortion and make our society one that celebrates all life, from birth until natural death, for your Son will not refuse a request from you.

All martyrs and saints in heaven, pray for the end to the culture of death!

We ask this through our Christ our Lord.  Amen.

LINK

We can always depend upon Jimmy Akin to clear things up for us.  ^^

News Roundup; March 30, 2010

A new feature I'm adding to my daily blog.  A little collection of headlines that I find interesting from various news sources (except for the New York Times, of course).

And with that, here we go.

LifeSiteNews:  Accusations that Pope Complicit in Abuse Cover-Up Fall Flat


National Catholic Register:  Pro-Life Students Make Presence Felt at the U.N. Women's Conference

The Virginian Pilot:  Beach weighs options to save ailing golf courses

The Boston Globe:  Subtle changes spruce up Fenway Park


The Washington Times:  U.S., Russian hit language barrier in pact

Prayer for the Coversion of Non-Christians

Lord Jesus Christ, promised Messiah and Son of God, by the merits of your Passion and death, bring light to those who do not believe in you.  Grant them the grace of faith.  Pour out the loving mercy that burn in your Most Sacred Heart upon them.  May they see that you, O Lord, are the way, the truth and the light, who is the only way to the Father.

Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray for those who do not believe in your Son.  You, through whom our Savior came into the world, take our petition on behalf of them to our Lord.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for them.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

It's time to fight back

With all the recent attacks against our Faith and our Church by those who despise it because of the hit pieces by the New York Times, it is quite clear that the Devil has found an ideal vehicle with which to attack the Church that Christ founded.

We must not let him win!  Our Church is undergoing a period of purification, a Long Lent, and Satan is not going to make it easy for us.  As our Holy Father and the Vatican implements reforms to insure that these horrors never happen again, let us fight back against the Evil One's relentless attacks!  Turn your anger and frustration into holy zeal!

I ask you to join me in saying this prayer for just this purpose.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church You founded is suffering.  Let your healing love which burns in Your Sacred Heart pour out on us.  Heal us of our anger, our frustration, and all our hurts.  Have mercy on your vicars and priests and instill holy zeal in them.  Be with the victims who must suffer not only from their abuse, but also from the relentless reminders from the ongoing attacks on Your Church.  Heal them, O Lord, from all hurts.  

O Glorious St. Michael the Archangel, defender of the Church, by your intercession drive back the attacks of the Devil.  Smash his plans to ruins and bring all his schemes to naught!  Guard the holy Church from all taint of evil and from all the wiles of Satan and his angels!  Defend us in our continuing battle against all the forces of darkness!

Most Holy Virgin Mary, mother of God, by your prayers bring us comfort, hope and healing.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us!

We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Girl Scout Sex Guide? Why am I not surprised?

Must be because the Girl Scouts have long been soaking up the ethos of the sexual revolution by allowing sexual perversion to enter into their ranks.

C-FAM, a Catholic group working at the United Nations, recently reported that a Planned Parenthood (I'm sure you saw that one coming) distributed a guide at a World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) entitled "Healthy, Happy and Hot", which tells teenage girls to be happy and have lots of sex, pretty much.

That Planned Parenthood would get involved teaching young, teenage and prepubescent girls that having sex at their age is OK is not surprising.  Neither is it that the GSUSA would be on board for it.  

The organization has long been mired in the filth of the sexual revolution.  The organization maintains a "don't ask, don't tell" sort of policy that essentially allows homosexuals to join (one lesbian group even recommended the Girl Scouts as a great place to meet a sexual partner), and has been associated with Planned Parenthood since at least 2004, and all this is in defiance of their original founding principles.  And for it, they're getting accolades at the UN.

The Boy Scouts of America, on the other hand, have maintained their founding moral principles and upheld them to the highest degree.  What's their reward?  They're being banned from public buildings and booed by Democratic lawmakers.

Kinda makes those cookies being sold in front of the supermarket a lot less appetizing, doesn't it?

"Judge Not"?

Pro-life and pro-traditional marriage activists have to put up with this one a lot.

The old, classic tactic of using a particular teaching from Christ to try and get us to stop pointing out their sins; "Judge not, that you be not judged." (Matthew 7:1).  The excuse is that Jesus told us we should never make any sort of judgement on anyone, and on the surface that seems to be the case.

But is it really?  Let's take a closer look at the passage in context.

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.  (Matthew 7:1-5)


What is Jesus really telling us here?  Clearly, not that we can't ever judge another's behavior.  Rather, He is telling us to lead righteous lives so that our judgment of sinful behavior will not be a rash judgment, and we can be effective in accomplish the spiritual work of admonishing the sinner.


When someone says to you "the Bible says judge not, so don't judge me", what they're really saying is "I can do whatever I please, and there's nothing you can say about it".  It's a justification for continuing to live in sin, and a handy brush off for when they don't want to hear what you have to say.  Don't buy it.  Keep admonishing the sinner, for they desperately need it.

Further explanation can be found here.


Pax Christi.

CDC report: gay men almost twice as likely to be HIV+

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a new report recently on HIV and AIDS infections which underscores the disproportionate impact of the disease on homosexual men.

According to the data survey, homosexual men;

- Account for nearly half of the over one million people in the U.S. living with HIV (48%, or about 532,000 persons)

- Account for over 53% of new infections, or about 28,700 new infections

- Are 44 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV or AIDS (522-989 per 100,000, as opposed to 12 per 100,000 other men)

- Are the only risk group in which new HIV infections are increasing.  New infections amongst heterosexuals and intravenous drug users have been steadily declining.

You can read the report here.

I'm not writing this to suggest that HIV and AIDS are a punishment from God for the sin of homosexuality.  Far from it.  But I believe it's becoming more abundantly clear that homosexuality is not the safe alternative lifestyle that it has been touted to be.

This is not a problem that can be cured by access to more condoms, or by blaming it on "homophobia".  This problem can only be alleviated by chastity and abstinence.  It's imperative that more people encourage chastity in the face of the threat of AIDS, or we will never win the battle.

Pax Christi.

Sheehan gets the boot

READ

SCRANTON, Pennsylvania, March 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- The Scranton Diocese has banned well-known anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan from speaking at a diocesan church hall, citing her opposition to Church teaching on life and marriage.  Sheehan told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that she considers the diocese's action to be "against the teachings of the Prince of Peace." 

Cindy Sheehan, mother of the deceased Specialist Casey Sheehan, has been a prominent anti-war activist since she camped outside President Bush's ranch in August of 2005.  She had been scheduled to speak at St. John the Evangelist Church hall in Scranton on April 9.

Hat's off to the Scranton diocese.  Not only is this woman an America hating, soldier hating blabbermouth , but she also supports baby murder and the perversion of the sacred institution of marriage. 

This woman desperately needs our prayers, not just for a straight moral compass, but also for a swift reality check.

The Catholic World Report: Porn destroys marriages, study says

READ

Everyone should read this wonderful article on the  harmful effects of the poison of pornography.  I bet at least of the people reading this blog has had a family member or friend who has struggled with addiction to pornography.  Maybe they have done so themselves.  In that case, they should show this to them.  They need to see it.

Sea Shepherd decides to re-enact the Battle of Leyte Gulf; Only the Japanese are the good guys this time

If you watch these videos, you will clearly see Sea Shepherd's crew of pirates shooting projectiles from an air cannon at the Japanese ships.  Yes, an air cannon, the same type of device that aircraft manufacturers use to test the windshields of planes against bird strike, subjecting them to speeds they would encounter while in the air.  What would happen should one of those projectiles (Sea Shepherd claims they are bottles of butyric acid) strikes a crewman on board the Japanese ship?  Most likely cause serious injury or death, but I doubt SSCS would show any sympathy.

Another example of the long history of clearly violent and aggressive acts on SSCS' part, and yet they, and their defenders, will still claim they are "non-violent" and will claim to be only enforcing the law, backed up by Paulie Watson's dollar store toy badge.


It's high time to cancel their little reality show on Animal Planet and revoke their tax-exempt status.  Our tax money should not be going to fund this little pirate outfit.

Pax Christi.

Hat's off to Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, March 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Argentinan judge has nullified the "marriage" recently contracted between two homosexuals in the city of Buenos Aires, and has ordered them to return all documents related to the union.

Judge Felix Igarzabal, a national judge, reversed a previous decision by a Buenos Aires judge permitting the "marriage" between Damian Bernath, 39, and Jorge Salazar Capon, 43, in late February.

Igarzabal based his decision on article 172 of Argentina's national civil code, which states that the "complete and free consent expressed personally by a man and a woman before the authority that is competent to celebrate it, is indispensable for the existence of matrimony."

And encouraging sign, despite the increasingly leftward tilt of many Latin American countries.  Our own judges could take a lesson from this and take a stand for God's plan for marriage (one man, one woman).

Mass readings for the third Sunday of Lent

First Reading (Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15)
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid'ian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.   And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.   And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."  When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I."  Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."  And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.  Then the LORD said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites.  Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.'"  God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 

Psalm (Psalm 103:1-4, 6-8, 11)
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!  
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 
who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 
The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;


Second Reading (1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12)
I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.  Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did.  nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.  Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.






Gospel (Luke 13:1-9)
There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And he answered them "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus?  I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen upon whoom the tower in Silo'am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."  And he told this parable:  "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.  And he said to the vinedresser, 'Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none.  Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?'  And he answered him, 'Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure.  And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

Verbum Domini

             

Oh joy

The theory of anthroprogenic global warming has pretty much imploded and folks are still promoting it?  I don't know about anyone else, but it sounds like bearing false witness to me.

Via "The Vortex" on RealCatholicTV.com.

VOTF's attack on the church

Sometimes the morning news is the best place to find stuff to blog about, even if it's outrageous and makes you shake your head while questioning the sanity of one's fellow Catholics.

Every Catholic should know by now about the rotten bill, Raised Bill 1098, that was defeated in the Connecticut legislatures that would have forced the Church to hand over parishes in Connecticut to lay control, and in the process violating the Church's First Amendment rights to freedom of religion without government interference.

What most probably don't know is that this bill is based on the agenda of dissenter groups like Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), who for years have been attempted to undermine the Church by undermining the authority of the hierarchy and promoting views contrary to sound Catholic teaching.  I could list them all, but I don't want to produce a wall of text on my blog.

RB 1098 was almost exactly like VOTF proposals to "reform" parish leadership by taking it out of the hands of the parish priest, where it belongs, and putting into the hands of "lay run parish councils", in addition to such things as popular election of term-limited priests and bishops.

The rotten fruits of dissent are on full display with these folks.

Hate Brigade protests funeral; Patriot Guard there to protect the family

Shirley Phelps, the current leader of the WBC hate brigade that came out to picket the funeral of LCpl. Kielin T. Dunn, and her minions were out in force at 10:15 am this morning for the funeral service.  You can rest assured that the usual hate signs and evil words were spat at the people just trying to mourn the death of their fallen son.  But, so were the Patriot Guard riders.

This motley collection of leather-clad bikers was formed in 2005 specifically to counter the pickets of Westboro Baptist Church, shielding mourners from their hateful rhetoric by literally forming walls with their bikes and drowning them out with their engines.  They were out today at the funeral doing what they do best.

God bless them and may God comfort the mourners.  My prayers are with them.

WBC to picket local marine's funeral; this blogger is furious

Well, the Winter Olympics are over.  The US had a spectacular games; 37 medals in total were won, beating the record set by the Germans at the 2002 Salt Lake games, picking up our first ever medals in nordic combined and our first bobsled gold since 1948.  Now its time to get ready for the 2012 Summer Games in London.  Expect to see results from those games here too.

But I digress, since that is not the purpose of this post.

Most folks I know have probably heard of the hate brigade know as Westboro Baptist Church.  They've become quite famous for picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty with signs reading things like "Thank God for IEDs" and "America is Doomed", viewing their deaths as divine retribution on a cursed nation.

Well, the group is now spreading their sunshine... to my city.

The group plans to picket several local sites in the Hampton Roads area, including Landstown High School (I'm sure the students going to class will LOVE seeing that in the morning) and the Virginia Beach Convention Center.  They also plan to picket a local Chesapeake marine's funeral all the way to Arlington National Cemetary. 

They had this to say about the man on their website.

“The flag is a piece of cloth; it can not save your souls from the fires of HELL! You had better listen to us, or you will join Kielin T. Dunn in the Lake of Fire! He ignorantly sinned away his day of Grace and brought WRATH down on his head! You all put Antichrist Beast Obama in the White House, and there is NO HOPE! America is Doomed! Amen.”

As the title says, this blogger is furious.

How dare they even show their faces here.  How dare they harass those mourning the loss of their beloved marine with their evil messages.  How dare they disturb this city with their hate.

Please pray for these hateful souls.  Only God can lift the veil of hate that surrounds their hearts.

Pax Christi.