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Thursday, May 31, 2012
Obama opposes banning abortion based on gender
Looks like Barry wants the U.S. to be more like China. Shouldn't he be pushing them to end the barbaric one child policy? Naaa...he likes abortion too much for that.
President Obama opposes a House measure slated for a vote Thursday to ban the practice of abortion based on the unborn child’s gender.
ABC’s Jake Tapper reported Wednesday that the statement came after White House spokesman Jay Carney had declined to comment on the administration’s view of the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA).
White House deputy press secretary Jamie Smith later in the evening said in a statement: “The Administration opposes gender discrimination in all forms (except an unborn baby), but the end result of this legislation would be to subject doctors to criminal prosecution if they fail to determine the motivations behind a very personal and private decision. The government should not intrude in medical decisions or private family matters in this way.”
Abby Johnson launching ministry focused on abortion workers
An excellent resource to help former abortion workers as the industry shrinks...hopefully to zero someday
Abortion clinic director turned pro-life activist Abby Johnson has announced she will launch of a new ministry to help people trying to leave the abortion industry.
“We have hundreds of ministries for post-abortive women and men. There is literally nothing for these former clinic workers,” Johnson said. “We are going to change that.”
The new outreach, which is called “And Then There Were None,” will focus on providing emotional, spiritual, financial and legal support to clinic workers as they transition out of the abortion industry.
“Our goal is to proactively reach out to workers in the abortion industry to try to help them find other non-abortion related employment,” Johnson said in a May 30 statement.
Johnson felt prompted to create And Then There Were None after having helped several clinic employees transition out of the abortion industry over the past several months.
Aside from prayer, the “most crucial aspect” of the organization is raising money “so these clinic workers can literally afford to leave the abortion industry.”
The organization will allow supporters to donate funds to help workers continue to provide for their families while seeking other employment.
The group will also provide counseling, spiritual guidance for any religious denomination, and free legal support when necessary.
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
May 31 is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary .
And Mary rising up in those days went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda. [Lk. 1:39]
How lyrical that is, the opening sentence of St. Luke's description of the Visitation. We can feel the rush of warmth and kindness, the sudden urgency of love that sent that girl hurrying over the hills. "Those days" in which she rose on that impulse were the days in which Christ was being formed in her, the impulse was his impulse.
Many women, if they were expecting a child, would refuse to hurry over the hills on a visit of pure kindness. They would say they had a duty to themselves and to their unborn child which came before anything or anyone else.
The Mother of God considered no such thing. Elizabeth was going to have a child, too, and although Mary's own child was God, she could not forget Elizabeth's need—almost incredible to us, but characteristic of her.
She greeted her cousin Elizabeth, and at the sound of her voice, John quickened in his mother's womb and leapt for joy.
I am come, said Christ, that they may have life and may have it more abundantly. [Jn. 10, 10] Even before He was born His presence gave life.
With what piercing shoots of joy does this story of Christ unfold! First the conception of a child in a child's heart, and then this first salutation, an infant leaping for joy in his mother's womb, knowing the hidden Christ and leaping into life.
How did Elizabeth herself know what had happened to Our Lady? What made her realize that this little cousin who was so familiar to her was the mother of her God?
She knew it by the child within herself, by the quickening into life which was a leap of joy.
If we practice this contemplation taught and shown to us by Our Lady, we will find that our experience is like hers.
If Christ is growing in us, if we are at peace, recollected, because we know that however insignificant our life seems to be, from it He is forming Himself; if we go with eager wills, "in haste," to wherever our circumstances compel us, because we believe that He desires to be in that place, we shall find that we are driven more and more to act on the impulse of His love.
And the answer we shall get from others to those impulses will be an awakening into life, or the leap into joy of the already wakened life within them.
Excerpted from The Reed of God, Caryll Houselander
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Movie Review: The Genesis Code - PG
Warning: Possible spoiler.
Kerry Wells becomes friends with Blake Truman when she is assigned to interview him for the school paper (he is the star player of the hockey team).
Kerry is a devout Christian, and her father is the pastor of the local Church. Kerry and Blake soon find themselves at odds, because Blake believes that science disproves Genesis, the story of creation. That makes it hard for him to turn to God through prayer for his mother, who is in the hospital in a coma.
Kerry's brother and his friends (all science majors) put together a presentation to reconcile Genesis and science. Kerry has a challenge to her faith as well through one of her professors, who insists she must forfeit her beliefs to be successful, so the presentation also helps her with that. My favorite line of the movie is when Kerry says "science has caught up to the bible".
I've reviewed a number of Christian themed movies, but this one is especially effective in making people proud to be Christian and unafraid to defend our beliefs.
There are a few well-known actors you'll enjoy seeing: Lance Henriksen, Catherine Hicks, Ernest Borgnine and Fred Thompson.
A very inspiring, effective and entertaining movie.
Mitt Romney Wraps Up Republican Nomination to Face Obama
It's official...let's pray that Mitt can beat Barry in November. After Barry's first three years, I shudder to think what a 2nd term would do to this country.
With votes last night in Texas, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney officially wrapped up the Republican nomination and is a lock to face pro-abortion President Barack Obama in November.
Romney entered Tuesday with 1,086 convention delegates, according to an Associated Press tally, 58 short of the 1,144 necessary for a majority — with Texas having 155 delegates at stake.
“I am honored that Americans across the country have given their support to my candidacy and I am humbled to have won enough delegates to become the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential nominee,” Romney said in a statement LifeNews received after the vote.
He added, “Our party has come together with the goal of putting the failures of the last three and a half years behind us. I have no illusions about the difficulties of the task before us. But whatever challenges lie ahead, we will settle for nothing less than getting America back on the path to full employment and prosperity. On November 6, I am confident that we will unite as a country and begin the hard work of fulfilling the American promise and restoring our country to greatness.”
Ontario could impose Gay-Straight Alliances on Catholic schools
It looks like the U.S. isn't the only country experiencing the erosion of religious freedom. Unfortunately, our Canadian neighbors are experiencing the same thing.
The provincial government of Ontario is considering a proposal that would force Catholic schools to recognize Gay-Straight Alliances, causing Catholic leaders to say it risks threatening religious freedom and could allow clubs that undermine Church teaching.
Marino Gazzola, president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association, said that the Catholic schools are concerned that the government has proposed an amendment "aimed directly" at Catholic school boards and the trustees' association "as we have been vocal opponents to the imposition of Gay-Straight Alliances on Catholic schools from the outset."
He also voiced concern that the proposal wants to legislate an anti-bullying group name "for only one demographic of students who are bullied."
"It is our view that this amendment will add no substantive elements to anti-bullying measures," Gazzola told CNA May 29.
Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten introduced an amendment on May 25 to the Liberal government's anti-bullying bill that would bar Catholic school officials from vetoing clubs named Gay-Straight Alliance. Why is one person able to eliminate the rights of a whole church? The Catholic Church should be able to practice its Catholic beliefs and not be forced to accept things that violate those beliefs.
St. Joan of Arc
Today is the feast of St. Joan of Arc, the patroness of France. Joan was born to a peasant family near Lorraine, France in the 15th century.
From a young age she heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret speaking to her. Then, in 1428, when she was 13 years old, she received a vision telling her to go to the King of France and help him reconquer his kingdom from the invading forces of England and Burgundy.
Overcoming opposition and convincing members of the court and of the Church, she was given a small army. She charged into battle bearing a banner which bore the names “Jesus” and “Mary” as well as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Due to her leadership and trust in God, she was able to raise the siege of Orleans in 1429. Joan and her army went on to win a series of battles. Because of her efforts, the king was able to enter Rheims. He was crowned with Joan at his side.
Eventually, Joan was captured by the forces of Burgundy in May of 1430. When her own king and army did nothing to save her, she was sold to the English. She was imprisoned for a time and then put on trial. Bishop Peter Cauchon of Beauvais presided over her trial. His hope was that in being harsh with Joan, the English would help him become archbishop.
Joan was condemned to death on counts of heresy, witchcraft, and adultery. On May 30, 1431, she was burned at the stake in Rouen, France. She was 19 years old.
Thirty years after her death, her case was retried and she was exonerated. In 1920, she was canonized by Pope Benedict XV. She is the patroness of France, captives, soldiers, and those ridiculed for their piety.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Planned Parenthood coaches on sex-selection abortion of baby girl
In a new undercover video, a Texas Planned Parenthood counselor is seen counseling a young mother on how to abuse Medicaid to obtain an ultrasound to determine the baby’s sex, and then abort if it’s a girl before the legal cutoff at five months’ gestation.
“I see that you say that you want to terminate if it’s a girl, so are you just wanting to continue the pregnancy in the meantime, or what?” Planned Parenthood counselor Rebecca casually asks the Live Action undercover investigator in the video released Tuesday morning.
The counselor is seen discussing the difficulty of obtaining an abortion after the baby is old enough to determine its gender by ultrasound, and confirms the investigator’s stated fears of encountering bias against her sex-selective abortion.
“A lot of doctors will place judgment because the brain is already developed, a lot. Pretty much everything’s already developed,” she says.
“Just keep it quiet and then come here?” the woman asks. “Yeah, I would,” Rebecca replies.
Rebecca, who says she has had two abortions herself, describes how she successfully applied for Medicaid “as if I was gonna continue my pregnancy, went through the OB/GYN, and then me and my husband decided we were gonna go ahead and terminate. We terminated, and I still stayed on Medicaid and just got on birth control.”
http://protectourgirls.com/
Pope appoints Fargo bishop to lead Denver archdiocese
I was wondering who the Pope would pick to replace Archbishop Chaput. Bishop Aquila is a very good choice!
Filling a post vacant for over eight months, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, N.D., as the new Archbishop of Denver, Colo.
Archbishop-designate Aquila was announced on May 29 as theDenver archdiocese's new leader by nuncio Archbishop Carlo M. Vigano, the Pope's representative to the U.S.
Archbishop-designate Aquila will succeed Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who led Denver-area Catholics for 14 years and was installed as head of the Philadelphia archdiocese in September 2011.
The new archbishop of Denver was born in 1950, in Burbank, Calif., and was ordained to the priesthood in Denverin 1976. He went on to serve in parishes for 11 years.
In 1987, he began graduate studies at San Anselmo University in Rome, earning a Sacramental Theology Licentiate in1990.
St. Maximinus
The Saint of the Day for May 29 is St. Maximinus.
St. Maximinus was the Bishop of Trier, and was born at Silly near Poitiers. He died there either on May 29, 352 or Sept. 12, 349. He was educated and ordained a priest by St. Agritius, whom he succeeded as Bishop of Trier in 332 or 335. At that time Trier was the government seat of the Western Emperor and, by force of his office, Maximinus stood in close relation with the Emperors Constantine II and Constans.
He was a strenuous defender of the orthodox faith against Arianism and an intimate friend of St. Athanasius, whom he harboured as an honoured guest during his exile of two years and four months (336-8) at Trier. He likewise received with honours the banished patriarch Paul of Constantinople in 341 and effected his recall to Constantinople. When four Arian bishops came from Antioch to Trier in 342 with the purpose of winning Emperor Constans to their side, Maximinus refused to receive them and induced the emperor to reject their proposals. In conjunction with Pope Julius I and Bishop Hosius of Cordova, he persuaded the Emperor Constans to convene the Synod of Sardica in 343 and probably took part in it. That the Arians considered him as one of their chief opponents is evident from the fact that they condemned him by name, along with Pope Julius I and Hosius of Cordova at their heretical synod of Philippopolis in 343 (Mans, "Sacrorum Conc. nova et ampl. Coll.", III, 136 sq.).
In 345 he took part in the Synod of Milan and is said to have presided over a synod held at Cologne in 346, where Bishop Euphratas of Cologne was deposed on account of his leanings toward Arianism. [Concerning the authenticity of the Acts of this synod see the new French translation of Hefele's "Conciliengeschichte", I, ii (Paris, 1907), pp. 830-34.] He also sent Sts. Castor and Lubentius as missionaries to the valleys of the Mosel and the Lahn. It is doubtful whether the Maximinus whom the usurper Magnentius sent as legate to Constantinople in the interests of peace is identical with the Bishop of Trier (Athanasius, "Apol. ad Const. Imp.", 9).
His cult began right after his death. His feast is celebrated on May 29, on which day his name stands in the martyrologies of St. Jerome, St. Bede, St. Ado, and others. Trier honours him as its patron. In the autumn of 353 his body was buried in the church of St. John near Trier, where in the seventh century was founded the famous Benedictine abbey of St. Maximinus, which flourished till 1802.
Monday, May 28, 2012
St. Bernard of Manthon
The Saint of the Day for May 28 is St. Bernard of Manthon
The Church remembers St. Bernard of Manthon on May 28. He was born in 923, probably in the castle Menthon near Annecy, in Savoy, and died at Novara, 1008. He was a descendant from a rich, noble family and received a thorough education. He refused to enter an honorable marriage proposed by his father, and decided to devote himself instead to the service of the Church.
Placing himself under the direction of Peter, Archdeacon of Aosta, under whose guidance he rapidly progressed, Bernard was ordained priest, and on account of his learning and virtue, was made Archdeacon of Aosta (966), having charge of the government of the diocese under the bishop. Seeing the ignorance and idolatry still prevailing among the people of the Alps, he resolved to devote himself to their conversion. For forty two years he continued to preach the Gospel to these people and carried the light of faith even into many cantons of Lombardy, effecting numerous conversions and working many miracles.
For another reason, however, Bernard's name will forever be famous in history. Since the most ancient times there was a path across the Pennine Alps leading from the valley of Aosta to the Swiss canton of Valais, over what is now the pass of the Great St. Bernard. This pass is covered with perpetual snow from seven to eight feet deep, and drifts sometimes accumulate to the height of forty feet. Though the pass was extremely dangerous, especially in the springtime on account of avalanches, it was often used by French and German pilgrims on their way to Rome.
For the convenience and protection of travelers St. Bernard founded a monastery and hospice at the highest point of the pass, 8,000 feet above sea-level, in the year 962. A few years later he established another hospice on the Little St. Bernard, a mountain of the Graian Alps, 7,076 feet above sea-level. Both were placed in charge of Augustinian monks after pontifical approval had been obtained by him during a visit to Rome.
These hospices are renowned for the generous hospitality extended to all travelers over the Great and Little St. Bernard, so called in honor of the founder of these charitable institutions. At all seasons of the year, but especially during heavy snow-storms, the heroic monks accompanied by their well-trained dogs, go out in search of victims who may have succumbed to the severity of the weather. They offer food, clothing, and shelter to the unfortunate travelers and take care of the dead. They depend on gifts and collections for sustenance. The majority of these men live at the hospice while some have charge of neighboring parishes.
The last act of St. Bernard's life was the reconciliation of two noblemen whose strife threatened a fatal issue. He was interred in the cloister of St. Lawrence. Venerated as a saint from the twelfth century in many places of Piedmont (Aosta, Novara, Brescia), he was canonized in 1681 by Innocent XI.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Movie Review: Men in Black III - PG13
Warning: possible spoiler
When Agent J (Will Smith) learns that Agent K's life, and the fate of earth, are in danger, he must travel back in time to prevent a catastrophic event. Ironically, he ends up teaming with a young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to stop it.
J also learns there are secrets that his partner had not told him.
The special effects are unbelievable, particularly that aliens often appear so quickly it appears like out of nowhere. Lots of action, and a better-than-expected story. Will Smith is charming and witty as usual, but Josh Brolin is especially good in his role.
Content warning: the first 15 minutes has two gross scenes. Tough it out, because it's worth it: at the end, the whole audience applauded.
Excellent!
St. Philip Neri
The Saint of the Day for May 26 is St. Philip Neri.
This gracious, cheerful saint was Rome's apostle of the sixteenth century (1515-1595). A peculiar charism was his burning love of God, a love that imperceptibly communicated itself to all about him. So ardently did this fire of divine love affect him during the octave of Pentecost in his twenty-ninth year that the beating of his heart broke two ribs. It was a wound that never healed.
For fifty years the saint lived on in the intensity of that love which was more at home in heaven than on earth. Through those fifty years his was an apostolate to renew the religious and ecclesiastical spirit of the Eternal City, a task he brought to a happy conclusion. It is to his credit that the practice of frequent Holy Communion, long neglected in Rome and throughout the Catholic world, was again revived. He became one of Rome's patron saints, even one of the most popular.
Philip Neri loved the young, and they responded by crowding about him. As a confessor he was in great demand; among his penitents was St. Ignatius. To perpetuate his life's work, St. Philip founded the Congregation of the Oratory, a society of secular clergy without religious vows. The purpose of his foundation was to enkindle piety among the faithful by means of social gatherings which afforded not only entertainment but religious instruction as well. Joy and gaiety were so much a part of his normal disposition that Goethe, who esteemed him highly, called him the "humorous saint." It was his happy, blithe spirit that opened for him the hearts of children. "Philip Neri, learned and wise, by sharing the pranks of children himself became a child again" (epitaph).
As a youth Philip Neri often visited the seven principal churches of Rome. He spent entire nights at the catacombs, near the tombs of the martyrs, meditating on heavenly things. The liturgy was the wellspring of his apostolic spirit; it should likewise motivate us to Catholic Action.
— Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Catholics can decide the 2012 election, expert says
I agree with Mr. Burch. Barry needs the Catholic vote to be re-elected. If Catholics vote for Catholic principles, he won't get it; I think our Bishops will play an important role in that by speaking out against the erosion of our religious liberties like the HHS Mandate.
As the presidential election draws closer, political expert Brian Burch is telling Catholics that if they turn out in slightly larger numbers at the polls, they will be “the decisive vote this November.”
Although some Catholics tend to shy away from the political sphere with the mindset that it is unrelated to their faith, Burch said that due to recent developments, “we no longer have the luxury of keeping politics separate from religion.”
“Politics in the state, in our federal government in particular, is coming into our religion and we need to stand up now before it gets any worse,” the founder and president of CatholicVote.org told CNA in a recent interview.
Burch noted that in light of the federal contraception mandate and the president's recent support of “gay marriage,” Catholics have become increasingly aware of how politics are impacting their religion.
How the Apostles Died
I received this via email and just wanted to share it.
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