Good Quotes

I will continue to add to these, so please check back!!


A woman’s womb is the place where heaven and earth meet.---author unknown

When Satan is knocking at your door,simply say,'Jesus, could You please get that for me.--author unknown

In the culture of death in which we live in today, the family is the heart of the culture of life.--author unknown

It has been said that our goal is not to be good, but to be God’s.--author unknown


Pain reveals whether the professed loves of the untroubled are genuine. --author unknown

We give unto Caesar what is Gods--author unknown

Just as the soul cannot enlighten itself by itself, so it cannot satisfy itself by itself ---St. Augustine

Jesus not only rose from the dead, He changed the meaning of death. --author unknown

All evil needs [to prosper] is for good men to do nothing--author unknown

Freedom is doing what you should do, not what you want to do

This Christmas may you join the angels in rejoicing, the shepherds in believing and the wisemen in seeking.---Fulton J. Sheen

You can’t have a rainbow without the rain---Fulton J. Sheen

Life only comes from life---Fulton J. Sheen

There's nothing on earth that can completely satisfy the "soul hunger" of man, simply because it is an unearthly hunger, it is a spiritual hunger---Fulton J. Sheen

Our desires are greater than our satisfactions…Peter Kreeft

When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her.It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.---Mother Teresa

I always say that our misery is the throne of God’s mercy, and so we must realize that the greater our misery, the greater should be our confidence in Him.---St. Francis de Sales

Many politicians, like much of the American public, seem to be unaware that abortion and euthanasia are serious violations of the inalienable right to life. These are not just 'Church' issues but are governed by the natural law of God, which is binding upon all human beings. The right to life is the most fundamental of all rights, since a person deprived of life has no other rights.---Cardinal Dulles

A thing cannot be reborn to a higher form until it has died to the lower form.---Bishop Sheen

Those who want to be complete human beings must live with heaven in their sights; otherwise, they will lose track of who they are and where they are going.---Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR

Do not accept anything as the truth if it lacks love, and do not accept anything as love which lacks truth because one without the other becomes a destructive lie---Edith Stein

For even to be at peace with all men profits us nothing if we are at war with God. Similarly, if all men count us as enemies, it is of no harm to us if with God we are at peace.---St. John Chrysostom

One of the worst things pain does is turn our eyes inward, to ourselves. Sick people often say that the worst thing about being sick is that it makes you so self centered.----Peter Kreeft

I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.--- Ronald Reagan

Precisely in an age when the inviolable rights of the person are solemnly proclaimed and the value of life is publicly affirmed, the very right to life is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence: the moment of birth and the moment of death.--Pope John Paul II

Walk along the path of sublimity with the feet of humility.---St Augustine

Life is short but eternity is forever---author unknown

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.--- Mother Teresa

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it--George Santayana

Is everything light, surrounded by little pockets of darkness? Or is everything darkness, surrounding little pockets of light?--Peter Kreeft

When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good. If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away--Pope Benedict XVI (CARITAS IN VERITATE)

No one can understand life if he is ungrateful for it.--Peter Kreeft

"He who sacrifices freedom for security is neither secure nor free."-- Benjamin Franklin


A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire--Thomas Merton

The very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God's mercy to me--Thomas Merton

The least of the work of learning is done in the classroom--Thomas Merton

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."--Pope John Paul II

Saints are nothing but sinners that kept trying--author unknown

Poverty consists in being deprived of not only what is convenient but of what is necessary--
St. Thérèse of Lisieux

True greatness is not found in a name, but in the soul --St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Heaven is very high, the gate to it is very low, humility is the condition of entering it -- Fulton J. Sheen

It will be one of the confusions of the damned to see that they are condemned by their own reason, by which they claimed to condemn the Christian religion--Blaise Pascal

The most unreasonable things in the world become most reasonable, because of the unruliness of men--Blaise Pascal

We do not believe ourselves to be exactly sharing in the vices of the vulgar when we see that we are sharing in those of great men; and yet we do not observe that in these matters they are ordinary men--Blaise Pascal

Hell as well as Heaven helps to explain suffering. Not all suffering is a way to God; some is a foretaste of hell. Suffering is a reflection of death, a reminder of mortality. Death, in turn is a punishment and consequence of sin. Sin, in turn, is the distant echo in our lives of hell. ---Peter Kreeft

I look up at the night sky, is anything more certain than, that in all those vast times and spaces, if I were allowed to search them, I would never find her face, her voice, her touch..she died, she is dead…is the word so difficult to learn? (From C.S Lewis "A grief observed"….after the loss of his wife.)

Christ promised the dying thief on the cross, "Today you shall be with Me in paradise" . Yet Christ did not ascend into Heaven until 40 days later. The explanation of the puzzle, I think, that where Christ is, there is paradise. Heaven doesn’t make Christ Christ; Christ makes Heaven Heaven. ---Peter Kreeft

If God did not exist, everything would be permissible---Dostoyevski

There is good and there is evil; there is truth and there are lies; there is life and there is death. Being neutral is a myth. Sitting on a fence is an accident waiting to happen. In the end you will be "for me or against me," as Jesus says.-- Father Corapi

Look at that man, who is so active and restless, who makes a noise in the world, who wants to govern everybody, who thinks himself of consequence, who seems as if he would like to say to the sun, "Go away, and let me enlighten the world instead of you. " Some day this proud man will be reduced at the utmost to a little handful of dust, which will be swept away from river to river, from Saone to Saone, and at last into the sea.— Saint John Vianney

See, my children, we must reflect that we have a soul to save, and an eternity that awaits us.— Saint John Vianney

The saints did not all begin well; but they all ended well.— Saint John Vianney

Man, being created by love, cannot live without love: either he loves God, or he loves himself and he loves the world.-- Saint John Vianney

"Give us this day our daily bread. " We are composed of two parts, the soul and the body. We ask the good God to feed our poor body, and He answers by making the earth produce all that is necessary for our support. . . . But we ask Him to feed our soul, which is the best part of ourselves; and the earth is too small to furnish enough to satisfy it; it hungers for God, and nothing but God can satiate it. --Saint John Vianney

No one is born an atheist or a skeptic, one who doubts the possibility of ever discovering truth. These attitudes are made less by the way one thinks than by the way one lives. If we do not live as we think we soon begin to think as we live. We suit our philosophy to our actions. --- Fulton J. Sheen

"It is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free. Cardinal Newman realized this, and he left us an outstanding example of faithfulness to revealed truth by following that 'kindly light' wherever it led him, even at considerable personal cost. Great writers and communicators of his stature and integrity are needed in the Church today, and it is my hope that devotion to him will inspire many to follow in his footsteps.”
— Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the Bishops of England and WalesVisit “ad limina apostolorum,”    

There aren’t ten people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they mistakenly think the Catholic Church represents. –- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Conscience has rights because it has duties --- Cardinal John Henry Newman

America, it is said, is suffering from intolerance. It is not. It is suffering from tolerance: tolerance of right and wrong, truth and error, virtue and evil, Christ and chaos. Our country is not nearly so overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broad-minded. --Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

“Faith in Christ is more than a ‘Jesus and me’ matter. He founded a Church to be the custodian of his message, the place where the sacraments are celebrated, the home of love and support for all its members, the source of hope for the poor, the lost, the sinful, and the seekers for God in all the world.” --Alfred McBride, O.Praem.

“There needs to be a new sense that being human is subject to a higher set of standards, indeed, that it is precisely these demands that make a greater happiness possible in the first place. There needs to be a sense that being human is like a mountain-climbing expedition that includes some arduous slopes. But it is by them that we reach the summit and are able to experience for the first time how beautiful it is to be.” ---Pope Benedict XVI

The penalty of those who live too close to the flesh is never to understand the spiritual.~~~Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

All the human satisfactions of the cravings of body and soul have one defect; they do not satisfy forever. They only serve to deaden the present want; but they never extinguish it. The want always revives again. ---Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Calvary was the price He (Jesus) paid for the Sermon on the Mount. Only mediocrity survives. Those who call black black and white white, are sentenced for intolerance. Only the grays live.                                             Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen What we call misfortune is not misfortune at all, it is God waking us up. ---Father John Hardon The most powerful prayer is not with our lips, the most powerful prayer is with our lives.--- Father Hardon "Our salvation may cost us nothing, but true discipleship costs us everything."---Mark Hart "God knows us best of all. He knows our capacities—His knowledge of each one is complete. Something of His beauty is in each person. We are made to the image of God. His lovableness is in each one, so let us see what there is of God in each person."--Mother Teresa "The child [conceived in rape] is an innocent victim. To be victimized twice is a horrible thing. It is an innocent human life, genetically human from the moment of conception and is a human life...we should help women in those terrible situations that have been traumatized already. To put them through another trauma of an abortion is too much to ask...one violence is enough."--- Rick Santorum When evil is revealed in the light, it does not always repent; sometimes it becomes more evil---Fulton J. Sheen Freedom is not an heirloom, but a life. Once received it does not continue to exist without effort… ---Fulton J. Sheen "Refuse nothing, ask for nothing, and like that you will never complain. To complain is very easy, but to be happy to be anybody's walking stick is very difficult. What a lot we lose when we grumble; what a waste of energy. How foolish we are. We must all watch out because we are all inclined to it--let not our likes and dislikes be the measure of our actions. Remember, we have come to do the will of Him who called us."---Mother Teresa "Evil becomes possible when human beings decide to use the good things that God created in ways that are not truly part of their purpose."---Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ What is of the world, the world never opposes. What is of God, the spirit of the world opposes, maligns, persecutes, and crucifies.---Fulton J. Sheen This comes from God, for you have been granted the privilege for Christ's sake not only of believing in him but of suffering for him as well---Philippians 1;29 "We can't avoid reasoning; we can only avoid doing it well." — Peter Kreeft "The first thing that Jesus taught us was PRAISE -- Our Father, hallowed be Thy Name. Praising God takes us out of self and puts us into God. Spirituality is not so much inviting God into our little, picayune hearts as it is accepting God's invitation to come up into His heart that has a length, breadth, height and depth that is beyond anything we can think of or imagine."---Fr. Bill McCarthy, MSA Truth can be hated when it reveals falsity within---Fulton J. Sheen "We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials."---St. Teresa of Avila Very often, we will find, that an attack upon religion, satisfies for the moment, this uneasy conscience.---Fulton J. Sheen

It's the principle of the matter...

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. ---Ephesians 6:12

As I try to practice Christian charity in this materialistic, culture of death, relativistic world we live in today, I must say it isn’t easy.
Dealing with everyone from the deathscorts at the abortion mill, people in our parish community, to our own families whom we would love to see converted, there are many different values and opinions among people.
You may start a conversation in a loving, gentle, concerned manner and end up like some
insane, raving lunatic wishing bad things upon the person and their next ten generations.

Doesn’t sound very Christian does it?

I remember one time at the abortion mill when one of the deathscorts taunted the crowd with a comment from the bible that she was using out of context (of course).
Normally I keep my mouth shut and just pray the rosary, but, after some of the things I had seen that morning, I tore into her.
I asked her to give me chapter and verse of where that comment came from. Of course she couldn’t and just shrugged me off….but I wasn’t having any of that!!!
So, for the next few minutes I was raving lunatic staying on her like “white on rice on a paper plate in a snow storm”. By the time my tirade was over, I had called her an idiot and was about to be a victim of spontaneous human combustion.
Not very Christian of me. After a while I calmed down and felt bad for what I done although I never apologized to her.

As I reflect back on that situation, and many more times when I have bad thoughts towards my fellow (mislead) mankind, I have to keep in mind Ephesians Chapter 6:12.

Our battle is not against our brothers and sisters upon this earth, but against Satan and the
mind set that he can lead us in to, with the principles of false teachings, unformed consciences, and to the passion of our feelings.

Conscience, values, feelings, standards, ethics, attitudes, belief, opinions….everyone has these, and when viewed through the light of Christ, they can be very beneficial, very life giving; but when used in a secular way, they can damn your very soul.

Good morning!

In the classic struggle of trying to juggle work, family time, prayer time, play time, and “spousal counseling” time, there is always a feeling of lacking.
I could name off 100 things that I would like to do but never have time to do.

While eating breakfast one morning, the back of the “fun” cereal box had a list of
“10 things you should do before the age of 18” (or something to that effect).
You think they would have some good wholesome items on the list like seeing historical places, something to help with your educational decisions, or even something spiritually uplifting.

WHAP!!!!!!!!! (hand to forehead)

I forgot that we were living in a relativistic, pop culture of death, where “fun” consists of “anything goes”.
While I won’t waste too much space on all the nonsensical listings, there were items such as “ride the worlds biggest rollercoaster” and “meet your favorite singer backstage”…..

What a crock!

Anyway, here is a list I composed of things I wish we (and everybody) could do as a family daily or at least weekly;

1) Pray the rosary…the whole rosary…all 20 mysteries.
2) Read a chapter (or more) of the bible.
3) Read the Catholic Catechism all the way through.
4) Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day at 3:00pm.
5) Read about a different saints life every day or week.
6) Go on a pilgrimage of all the shines and holy places in the world.
7) Go to Confession/Reconciliation every week (whether we need to or not) lol
8) Read Papal encylicals as they are issued.

9) Read writings from the early Church Fathers.

Most of these goals are attainable, but of course Satan does his best to keep us too busy or puts some kind of trauma in our lives to make it hard.
I dare say, that, if we all could do these things in our vocations in life (married or single), there would be less troublesome cereal boxes in the world.

Pope Benedict XVI newest encyclical

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

Students Rebel at Graduation Against the ACLU’s Bullying Tactics

www.LC.org
Santa Rosa County, FL - Nearly 400 graduating seniors at Pace High School stood up in protest against the ACLU and recited the Lord’s Prayer during their graduation ceremony on Saturday. Many of the students also painted crosses on their graduation caps to make a statement of faith. This event follows a lawsuit the ACLU filed against the Santa Rosa County School District, claiming some of the teachers and administration endorsed religion. Liberty Counsel represents Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and clerical assistant Michelle Winkler.
The graduation prayer protest by the students was preceded by a lawsuit filed six months ago by the ACLU. The school district entered into a consent decree, which essentially bans all Santa Rosa County School District employees from engaging in prayer or religious activities. The ACLU alleges that during a dinner event held at Pace High School, Principal Lay asked the athletic director to bless the meal. In another incident, the ACLU alleges that Michelle Winkler’s husband, who is not a school board employee, offered prayer at an awards ceremony. Leading up to the graduation ceremony, the ACLU demanded the school to censor students from offering prayers or saying anything religious. The ACLU then charged Principal Lay and Ms. Winkler with contempt of court.
The students at Pace High School were furious with the ACLU hijacking their free speech rights and decided to take a stand at graduation. As soon as Principal Lay asked everyone to be seated at the ceremony, the graduating class remained standing and recited the Lord’s Prayer. The ACLU has not taken any legal action yet but has stated that something should have been done to stop the prayer.
Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: “Neither students nor teachers shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate. The students at Pace High School refused to remain silent and were not about to be bullied by the ACLU. We have decided to represent faculty, staff and students of Pace High School, because the ACLU is clearly violating their First Amendment rights. Schools are not religion-free zones, and any attempt to make them so is unconstitutional.”

....because we are Christians

Two years after Hindu violence
No one held responsible for death and destruction, Indian archbishop laments

Archbishop Raphael Cheenath
Rome, Italy, Jun 26, 2009 / 12:35 am (CNA).- Archbishop Rafael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, India deplored this week that two years after the widespread attacks on Christians in Orissa, no one has been detained or charged for the grave damage to property and lives that resulted. In an interview with Vatican Radio, the cardinal commented that “people are afraid to return, because they fear being attacked again. In addition, it doesn’t appear that the criminals have been punished yet, despite that two years have passed.” “No one has been charged for the damage to property, for those who lost their lives or for those who were forced to flee. No criminal has been punished for this,” he stated. The archbishop asserted that, “Christians were attacked above all because of fundamentalist Hindu ideology, which challenges the way in which a Hindu nation should be founded. So the fundamentalists looked for an opportunity to do this. The main reason for the attack on Kandhamal is because it was an area where a large number of conversions have taken place over the last ten years,” he said. In addition, the archbishop said, “the Dalit, the so-called untouchables, were considered outsiders, with no right to speak and uneducated. Now, however, they are developing socially and economically and making great progress.” Archbishop Cheenath also said that he believes Hindus are worried that they will be shamed by the Dalit Christian converts.
“Hindus don’t want people who were once their slaves to achieve more respectable positions in society, with good jobs and better positions. The advancement of the Dalit and of the tribes challenges the upper classes: Hindus do not want this to happen, and for this reason they want to stop it. Basically, the reason is that they do not want the outsiders to grow and put the upper class to the test.” Asked later about the state of the faith of Christians, the archbishop said, “While at the beginning the situation was very sad and hopeless, I have seen much faith in the people. They are full of hope, their faith is very strong and they express it in many ways. We will be able to rebuild on the foundation of the people’s faith,” he said.

Two ways of saying the same thing....

" There is great unrest at this time in the Church and what they are questioning is the faith. I am alarmed, when I reflect on the Catholic world, that non-Catholic thinking sometimes seems to prevail within Catholicism and it could happen that this non-Catholic thinking within Catholicism will become stronger in the future. But it will never represent the Church's thinking. A small flock must survive, no matter how small it may be. " --Pope Paul VI


The more things change, the more they stay the same....
I am just guessing that in your parish, just like mine, there are certain things (or people) you wish you could change. Situations that you feel shouldn't exist. People in control that probably shouldn't be at the wheel of the ark.

How many "Obama for President" bumper stickers do you see in the parking lot of your church?
What can we do about it? What should we do about it? Does it matter since no one listens to us anyway?
It is hard to voice our opinions sometimes: we may feel like we are dissenting against the Church or that we may sound like "traditionalists".
Maybe we just don't have the time to put up a fight. Maybe we'll just go to another parish....

I have heard that the best way to destroy an enemy is from the inside.
Satan is always trying to get on the inside...the inside of us, our souls, our family and our Church.

While it's easier said than done, I suggest (if at all possible) to get onto your parish council and work for reform in you parish. Even if you can't get everyone on board of a great ideal you have, at least you can see what is going on from the inside, the whys or the why not's of the decisions that are being made.
Get to know your parish Priest and talk to him.
When all else fails, talk to your Bishop. We have some great ones in our country, and they are standing up for the Church now, more than ever. Sacrificing themselves for the good of all mankind.
They are the ones who will be taking the lashes for the Church. For you and your parish.

Pope Paul VI Institute

While on vacation to see family in Nebraska, my wife and myself went to visit the Pope Paul VI Institute. If you have never heard of it, it is a place of great encouragement for the hope of life, medical ad and family. You can read the details on their website for what they do, I just wanted to give a “shout out” for what we know about it and it’s effect on our family.
We had heard of the institute in name only in different Catholic circles, but our first experience with the immense goodness
in which it serves, came via Dr Patrick Yeung( https://faculty.duke.edu/faculty/info?pid=28810#pubs) whom studied under Dr. Hilgers.
Dr Yeung helped us through the loss of our “Francis/Frances” and helped in the moral decision making process based on Catholic Church teachings, a process that most doctors wouldn’t think about or probably even worry about.
This is the kind of doctors we need more of, but unfortunately, these are the kinds of doctors that the Obama administration is trying to silence.

We were blessed with an impromptu tour of the Institute by Dr. Hilgers personal assistant Vicky ( I hope I got her name right).
While the Institute is more of a business/doctors office, Vicky made the tour very interesting and showed us around like we were family. Everyone there was extremely friendly. You could tell that these people were there for a good reason.
We were told that several people that worked at the Institute had an intriguing (and sometimes heartrending) stories about how they came to be there.

All in all, the trip was great and well worth the time to stop in and see what it was all about.
They also have lots of brochures and books to help evangelize the importance of respecting life and morally acceptable medical practices. You can give them to your friends as well as your doctor.

Pope Paul VI Institute is always in need of financial help, so if you are looking for a good place to send your tithe, please go
to their web site and be assured it is going somewhere that is trying to help the world see what good medicine looks like.

Saints to be....

We are called to "Be holy because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16)
Those whose vocation is to family life are also called to get our spouses and children to Heaven.
I have found that, that is easier said than done.
Concerning our children; we are in constant battle with the forces of secularism and the visible delights that it offers. The material world looks to be more fun than mom and dad, but, as we know, it is a false satisfaction.
How then are we to raise good and Holy children?.... I cannot answer that on this blog since my time and knowledge is limited. There are countless books written on the subject you can get. I mainly suggest prayer, prayer and more prayer.
Put good sights and sounds in your childrens lives also. There is an excellent saints series of cd's
called "Glory Stories" and a friend of ours also has many items here for your childrens enjoyment.

Satan wants your soul and your childrens souls....try to raise them as saints using the teachings of the Church, the Sacraments, and of course prayer.

Commentary: Let's Get our Facts Straight about Tiller and Anti-Abortion

Commentary by Brian Clowes, PhD - Human Life International, Research Manager
June 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com)

Along with everyone else at Human Life International and throughout the legitimate pro-life movement, I strongly condemn the murder of abortionist George Tiller in Kansas. The Fifth Commandment does not read "Thou shalt not kill, except for abortionists."
Not only is it wrong to respond to people like Tiller with the ultimate anti-life act of murder, it also sets the entire pro-life movement back as good, committed leaders have to scramble to distance themselves from an act that they never called for and which is obviously antithetical to their philosophy and work. Pro-abortion legislators seize on the opportunity to call for laws restricting legitimate pro-life activities such as sidewalk counseling and picketing, knowing the whole time that such legislation will do nothing to hinder a maniac with a gun. And, worst of all, thousands of people who would otherwise have joined the pro-life movement will continue to sit on the sidelines, believing the media lie that we are violent.
Pro-lifers should indeed condemn the murder of George Tiller. But we should not play permanent defense as the nonsense snowballs and the unfair attacks against the pro-life movement multiply. Here are some facts that should be taken into consideration by all people of good will, especially those whose responsibility it is to report on this story.

1) George Tiller is the first abortionist to be killed in eleven years. If you think that's a "trend," or an "epidemic" as some have said, you're just not a serious person.

2) All of the posturing going on in the pro-abortion movement over the safety of abortionists is a ruse. There are four times as many hairdressers and 150 times as many convenience store clerks murdered as there are abortionists. Where is the "pro-choice" grieving over them?

3) George Tiller made his money performing late-term abortions, which often involves the killing of a viable human being. According to Kansas state statistics, he killed 395 viable third-trimester babies in one year - 2001 - all for "mental health" reasons (which, as we know, is the category for all elective abortions). Not one of those abortions was for a mother's physical health or for a medical emergency. Americans overwhelmingly believe this disgusting practice should not be legal. If any objective journalist were to look into his practice they would see that most people, and all sane people, are appalled by what happened in his clinic every day.

4) Tiller has been tried on criminal indictments for multiple abuses of his practice, including breaking state laws requiring another medical doctor to verify that certain patients' lives were at risk before performing late-term abortions. This man was no hero or saint, and his being held up as a martyr says more about pro-abortionists than it does about those they are trying to condemn.

5) Abortionists are not only widely considered an embarrassment to the medical profession, but they are much more likely to commit violence than to suffer violence. You may be surprised to learn that more than a dozen abortionists have been convicted of murder and manslaughter ― of their wives, of their patients, and even of other abortionists. Yet you never hear about these killings in the press (see http://www.abortionviolence.com/ for documentation). Abortionists are more likely to kill than to be killed.

6) Whenever an abortionist mutilates, kills or molests a woman, the "pro-choice" movement always rushes to his defense, as they did for Brian Finkel, the Arizona abortionist who was sent to prison for 35 years for 22 counts of sexual abuse. So much for caring for women!

7) The pro-life movement is the most peaceful social movement in the history of this country. Most other social movements, including the unionization movement, the pro-abortion movement, the homosexualist movement, the animal rights movement, and the environmental movement have all demonstrated much greater violence. So where is the outcry over the violence committed by these movements?

During the predictable surge of publicity over Tiller's murder, we must remember that abortion itself is the most cowardly form of murder, committed against the most helpless and innocent of all of God's people, the unborn. We must also remember those who have died, but who are ignored by the media and the pro-abortionists ― the hundreds of women who have died of so-called "safe and legal" abortion, and the hundreds of other women who have been murdered by their boyfriends or husbands because they would not abort their children (see http://www.abortionviolence.com/ for documentation).
Let's not be bullied or silenced by those who are trying to tar the whole pro-life movement by cynically exploiting the murder of George Tiller. Let's instead reply with facts which add context to the "abortionists are heroes, pro-lifers are violent" narrative that the "mainstream" media seems too willing to parrot.
Not that I expect the media to suddenly start reporting the truth of abortion. If they did that, there would be no legal abortion in the first place. But we can try, and the facts are on our side. Let's pray, too, for the soul of George Tiller, his family, and his murderer, as well as for the conversion of all pro-aborts that they see how destructive abortion is for all human life, not just the child who is killed and the mother who is wounded.

Father Corapi message

"Abortion is not one issue among many...it is absolutely unconscionable, unimaginable, that we could somehow rationalize that this is ok..."
Flash point: The point at which something is ready to blow up. That has been my perception of Western society in general for some time now. Perhaps, a train wreck waiting to happen would be another way to put it. All evil can claim its ultimate origin in moral evil. Those that deny objective standards of morality merely facilitate the demise of their society. When it happens they will be nowhere to be found.That apparently large numbers of people seem to be intellectually and morally numb is not news, but the near light-speed evaporation of our way of life is. Actions have consequences, and sometimes the consequences can’t be seen this side of eternity. That does not mean they aren’t real. You will be seeing some of the consequences very soon, however, not the worst, but the most immediate.Personal liberty has already begun to be compromised. Various governments, including the United States, now own car companies like General Motors and Chrysler, mega insurance companies, soon perhaps health care and energy. Injustice is beginning to be seen from the smallest of individuals to the largest of corporations. The only problem with that is that governments have never been able to operate anything profitably, efficiently, or equitably. The little guy and the large corporation will all be equal opportunity recipients of heavy-handed injustice very soon.The government is about to dictate what car you can drive, how you insure it, what your bank can pay you or not, what kind of heating you have in your home, if you can have air conditioning or not. And, oh, if you eat a Twinkie your health insurance premium is going up. If you get sick, perhaps the Twinkie did it, and you aren’t covered.You might say that the government needs to control things to keep us safe, etc. That might work if the people in government could be trusted. They can’t, but we elected them. We get what we deserve, and many chickens are about to come home to roost.One of the inherent difficulties with a democratic republic is that it is only as good as the people in it. When a people lose their moral equilibrium, live in sin, and suffer the consequent loss of wisdom, then that nation’s days are numbered.Why? How have we come to this? It can be traced to the most compelling moral issue of our times, and we can’t escape from it, no matter how uncomfortable it is—abortion and other life issues. No matter what other rosy picture is painted by those that would have you believe all is well, God is not a disinterested spectator. Regardless of the high sounding rhetoric of the day, seeming progress in this or that area, it is an illusion. Nothing will ultimately go well for the United States or any other country until the injustice of all injustices is remedied. Until every human being is respected and reverenced, from the moment of conception to the last moment of natural life, no one will be safe and secure. Whether it is the helpless infant in the womb or the misguided and/or evil abortionist on the wrong end of a bullet, all deserve the safety and security of the law. Only God can in justice and wisdom decide when life begins and when life ends. When we attempt to usurp God’s job description we always come up short.

God Bless You,
Fr. John Corapi

Another good reason to homeschool

Homosexual Boy Named “Prom Queen” at Fairfax High School, L.A.

I was brought up in public schools through all 12 grades and had no idea that kids could be taught at home. I never knew of any homeschoolers till I met my wife. She had been homeschooling 2 of our 3 boys. I had just been “reverted” back to the Catholic
Church after many years of being away.
I thought it was neat to be able to learn at home, but I never knew the reasons why someone would take all the time and trouble to teach at home.
We will soon (6/23) be married for 2 years, and there are all kinds of reasons I can think of now.
I see the academic reasons, although I still believe you can get a great education in public schools. It just seems like all the homeschool kids I know are really bright, courteous, and joyful. I can’t say that about all the public school kids I know.
The main reason I can say now to homeschool is the faith and moral aspects. They are within the family unit more and they get to see the everyday struggles of home life. The are taught how to deal with trials and tribulations without turning to drugs, alcohol or any other vices.
They also can be taught religion…the religion that I believe in. God IS allowed in our classroom. Prayer is done daily (not just before tests).
They are NOT taught sexual education till WE think they are ready. The focus is on abstinence till
marriage and respect for the human body.
They don’t have to learn it on the street as a lot of us did. They aren’t taught how to have sexual relations
without bringing forth new life.
They are taught tolerance, but, without compromise.
The children we are bringing up today are the men and women that will be running things in the future.
That should either scare the daylights out of us, or it should make us hope for a fresh “change”.
…..as the saying goes, “the future is happening today”.

Our mother loves us and will protect us!!

As we end Mary's month of May...
Power of the Rosary - Ted Bundy

May 26, 2009 09:27:57 PM TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) —

Monsignor William A. Kerr, a leading human rights figure whom serial killer Ted Bundy sought out to be his spiritual counselor on death row, died Wednesday. He was 68. Kerr was hospitalized May 3 after suffering a stroke as he concluded celebrating a Mass.Monsignor William Kerr was once speaking about his very first hospital assignment, ministering to a young burn victim dying from his injuries.
Later, he was called on to perform an even more ghastly duty. In 1978, he was called out to the sorority house in Tallahassee where the young female victims of the serial killer Ted Bundy were lying dead or dying.
Msgr. Kerr got the call from the police in the middle of the night to rush out to the sorority house. When he arrived he was told that all but one of the girls in the house were dead or near death, killed by a serial killer who was later to be known to the world as Ted Bundy.
After giving those last rites to the dying college girl, Msgr Kerr (then Fr. Kerr) was asked by the police on the scene to talk to the girl who survived unscathed. They wanted to know how she survived the brutal attacks, because Bundy had stopped right inside the door to her room, dropped his weapon, and left without touching her. But the girl would talk to no one but a priest. When Fr. Kerr approached the near-catatonic girl, she told him that her mother had made her promise before going off to college for the first time that she would pray the Rosary every night before bed for protection, even if she fell asleep praying the Rosary, which she had that night, so that when Bundy came into her room with murder on his mind, the beads were still clutched in her hands.
Later, Bundy would tell Monsignor Kerr that when he entered the girl's room, he just couldn't go on, he dropped his weapon, and he fled. Such is the power of our Mother's protective mantle.
Domenico Bettinelli, Jr. (Tallahassee, FL)

Another reason to be a Steelers fan

I don't really think this is political, but I think it is great that he went against the tide. He is really taking a beating from the fans and from the black community. I say if you don't want to do something like this, then you should have that freedom. I know I don't want to meet the President, I'm not sure I could hold my tongue or listen to his ambiguous conversation.
The same people that are bashing Mr. Harrison for this, are the same ones who are screaming for "FREEDOM".
Once again, hypocrisy from the lost sheep of America.

From Pittsburgh;
When the Super Bowl XLIII champion Pittsburgh Steelers make their trip to the White House Thursday, one of the players largely responsible for their victory over the Arizona Cardinals says he won't be attending.
Linebacker James Harrison -- who made Super Bowl history with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown -- said he'll pass on the invite from President Barack Obama.
"This is how I feel -- if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl. As far as I'm concerned, he would've invited Arizona if they had won," said Harrison.
Harrison made the comments to WTAE Channel 4 Action News anchor Andrew Stockey at the Legends for Charity Gala hosted by University of Pittsburgh head football coach Dave Wannstedt on Friday night. Video: Watch Harrison's Comments
Harrison, the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, also skipped the Steelers' White House visit following their Super Bowl XL victory in 2006.
"It absolutely is not political. He just doesn't want to go," Harrison's agent, Bill Parise, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday.

Lou Pritchett's Open Letter

Another viewpoint on the direction of the actions of President Obama.
This is amazing...the Houston Chronicle printed it!
The author, Lou Pritchett, is a well-known public speaker who retired after a successful 36-year careeras the VP World Sales for Proctor and Gamble. He is a Foremost Leader in Change Management.
Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.
The Pritchetts were neighbors of ours when we lived on North Clippinger in the late 60s to mid 70s, Russ Smith.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League
education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America '
crowd
and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh's, Hannitys, O'Reilly's and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett

Please pray..

Randall A. Terry - StopObamaNotreDame.com
May 19, 2009
Greetings from Notre Dame! First, I thank you for your prayers, and your part in the witness for God and Life that we bore over the last 7 weeks here at Notre Dame. But we have more to do here at Notre Dame, and there are some things you can do to further this controversy.
Although Obama has come and gone - and Notre Dame has thrown her honor to the ground like a brazen harlot - this battle is far from over. People are still in jail; Fr. Jenkins still needs to lose his job; President Obama must be resisted in his plans to turn Catholic and Religious hospitals and doctors into his agents of death - and we are staring at a small hill of bills to pay. Everyone has been bailed out of jail - except two courageous men. While Obama spoke, over 40 brave souls were in jail or police custody. Among those praying, and arrested, was Miss Norma McCorvey, the "Jane Roe" of Roe vs. Wade. Notre Dame arrested the faithful, and honored the wicked. This is something for which they must give an account to God. This bitter irony will be a part of the discussion for years to come. Think of it; Catholics and Evangelicals behind bars for defending Life and Justice; Obama honored while he betrays justice and slays the innocent.
As I said, two courageous men are still in jail - until June 8th...nearly three weeks from now! - for their peaceful, prayerful witness against Notre Dame's treachery. They refuse to post bail; they actually want to sit in jail as a witness against Notre Dame's shameful actions.
They are: Arnold Matheson, age 82, of Poughkeepsie, NY; and Robert Buchta, age 56 of Center Reach, Long Island. God forgive Notre Dame! Their quiet witness is a fierce rebuke to those who perpetrated this perversion. Please pray for them. And I ask you to take a moment and send them a letter of encouragement. Let them know that they are heroes, and that you have called Fr. Jenkins to drop the charges against them.
Write to: Arnold Matheson C/o St. Joseph County Jail 401 W. Sample St. South Bend, IN 46601 Robert Buchta C/o St. Joseph County Jail 401 W. Sample St. South Bend, IN 46601 Next, call Fr. Jenkins office, and politely demand that the charges against these brave men be dismissed. It is an OUTRAGE and a SCANDAL that these men are behind bars at the behest of Notre Dame. The Main switchboard is: 574-631-5000 Fr. Jenkins office phone number is: 574-631-3903 Call Fr. Jenkins right away, and ask him to drop the charges against his fellow Catholics who are sitting in jail right now at his orders.

What, why, hmmm? Oh yea, Obama is in office.

A good way to try to destroy an enemy is from the inside. Try to get your people in powerful
places within the structure


Meet Your Vatican Ambassador
Here you have it folks, your new ambassador to the Vatican.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Hispanic Roman Catholic theologian who advised Barack Obama's presidential campaign is the Obama administration's choice to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
The White House announced Wednesday it plans to nominate Miguel H. Diaz, an associate professor of theology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minn., for the post.
Diaz, 45, a Cuban-American, was a member of the Obama campaign's Catholic advisory board. Diaz was among 26 Catholics who signed a statement supporting the nomination of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic whose support for abortion rights was criticized by conservative Catholics.
Diaz, while ostensibly pro-life, has been a vocal supporter of Obama and Sebelius. AP continues.
In an interview with Catholic News Service at Obama's inauguration, Diaz said he was looking forward "to moving beyond the politics of fear to the politics of hope." He said Obama was "committed to working" with people who defend "life in the womb" and deeply respects people who hold positions he does not agree with."Wherever we can, we should advance life at all stages," Diaz said.Reached at his home Wednesday, Diaz read a brief statement expressing gratitude for the opportunity and saying, "I wish to be a diplomatic bridge between our nation and the Holy See, and if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, I will continue the work of my predecessors and build on 25 years of excellent relations with the Holy See."He declined to answer questions about his positions on issues, saying it would be inappropriate before his confirmation hearing.President Obama continues to build his Vichy Catholic government that pretends to be against abortion while supporting those who support it.
Update: Sorry, I just couldn't resist posting this when I saw this. Diaz received his PhD from Notre Dame. Thanks again Notre Dame. Thanks a lot. (From CMR)

God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.

The image of God. What we are all made to be. Not Gods ourselves but Christ-like in our ways.

I think that babies are the closest people to God, to being Christ like, to being the way God wants us to be. They are innocent and pure; without judgement, condemnation, resentment, pride, avarice, envy, lust, or any of the other sinfulness that comes with age and the effects of original sin.

They are unknowing of the harshness of the world and are totally open to the wonder, amazement, and
newness that the world has to offer. Forging on to new heights, with their whole lives ahead of them.
Innocent and pure even without the understanding of God and his majesty. Yet, they know God better than we do. Just look into the eyes of a newborn or any child if you want to see the face of God.

Children are a gift from God. They are a gift to us, to help us to know God, to see His face, to learn how to love, to learn how to sacrifice, to learn to be Christ-like. There is a whole world waiting for what our future generations can do, waiting for their goodness. Whether they are the last generation on this earth or if they are the first of many more, we can be assured that God has given them life for a reason. It is our job to promote and protect that life. Born and unborn.

Baby Agnes at the Gateway Arch (St. Louis)

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan

Some great writings/quotes from Archbishop Dolan;


"St. John Vianney wrote that the man of sanctity is even more conscious of the dark side of himself than he is of the grace and mercy of the Lord. So the only way we can move toward the Lord is by being very realistically conscious of the things that sink us."

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
To Whom Shall We Go? Lessons from the Apostle Peter, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing


"The starting point of spiritual growth, the first step to discipleship, is humble recognition of and profound gratitude for God’s love for us. As the Beloved Disciple teaches, " In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world…not that we loved God but that he loved us.’(1 John 4:9-10)"
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
Called to be Holy, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing

Catechism

I can't help reflecting upon these teachings of the Church as stated in the catechism.
56
After the unity of the human race was shattered by sin God at once sought to save humanity part by part. The covenant with Noah after the flood gives expression to the principle of the divine economy toward the "nations," in other words, toward men grouped "in their lands, each with [its] own LANGUAGE, by their families, in their nations."
57
This state of division into many nations is at once cosmic, social, and religious. It is intended to limit the pride of fallen humanity, united only in its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at Babel. But, because of sin, both polytheism and the idolatry of the nation and of its rulers constantly threaten this provisional economy with the perversion of paganism.

It is scary how today's society says it wants unity, wants God, wants everyone to have freedom, but, at what price? Do those people who
want unity and freedom together, understand that their interpretation of the words will contradict one another somewhere down the line?
Sure, they want the freedom to do what they please, but their neighbor may not be in unity with that freedom when it affects their life in a negative way. Pretty soon, unity has been broken and someones pride gets trampled upon.
People want to say that all religions should get along with each other, they should "coexist" as those dreaded bumper stickers show.
We know that all religions cannot "coexist", they all do not lead to the same God.
People can try to coexist. Religions cannot.
We have replaced God; with things, with ideologies, with empathy, with feelings. We do as we feel, we think as we feel, we do as we feel.
We once again make ourselves as God.
As long as we are not in unity with God above all, we will continue to forge a tower of Babel that will be destroyed.

From the "just not right" section

Things that make you go hmmmm......

…..for those of you who may not been on the Google home page yet….

Let's see, we have the most pro-death administration ever in office, we have an
economic crisis, we have the Notre Dame scandal, we have media blackout from the Christian side of society, now this……hmmmmm, either we are about to see Jesus coming from the clouds or else the Democrats are in charge of the country.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/05/19/2009-05-19_missing_link_found_fossil_of_47_millionyearold_primate_sheds_light_on_.html

True sacrifice

This is the kind of stuff that the main stream media doesn't want you to see. I am surprised that the LA Times picked it up.
This is the kind of sacrificial love that our current government administration is fighting against.
Watch out, you just might find a tear in the corner of your eye after reading this…

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-practice11-2009may11,0,7963315.story

watching candidates

http//insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_magazine&func=show_magazine&id=6&Itemid=31

Philippians 1:29

For to you has been granted, for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.--- Philippians 1:29


It is not easy to suffer for the sake of Christ, as many a saint and martyr has found out.
We may not suffer as much physically nowadays for our Christian stand, but the spiritual battle is ever draining. Frustrations with the “other side” can bring us to insanity and their spiritual blindness is baffling to us that have seen the light.

I find though, as hard as it is to suffer for the truth of Christ, it is even harder to suffer the daily trials and tribulations of every day living. The daily chores of work life, home life, family life, and finding time to have a prayer life.

Being a new father and entering into family life after 35plus years, it has
been quite the experience…and it isn’t getting any easier.
It seems that one can find the strength to sacrifice for themselves, or sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel, but sacrificing for others does not come natural. There is always that tendency to take care of your own needs first, then, others, when you get a chance to.
I have found that if you live that way with a family who is counting on your love and support, you are going to be sifted and spiritually drained; the Lord will bring back those words you promised in the vows of the marriage rite. Sacrificing for your children, for your wife, giving up all of yourself as Christ did for His people, for His church, for you and me.
Going places and doing things for your family should not seem like a chore, it shouldn’t be as if you were nailed to a cross, suffering, but sometimes we tend to feel like we are poured out spiritually, physically, and mentally. We can lose the joy of family life.

Suffering is never easy, and it comes in many different forms, but if you keep in mind that it can and should be always used for the greater glory of God, He will be there with you, for you, helping you carry your cross. Keep mindful of that fact; in your every day suffering, the suffering that gets forgotten spiritually but can be the greatest sources of despair in your life, you can give Glory to God and suffer for Him.

Never too young....

....to participate on Ash Wednesday.

Agnes was definitely the youngest person getting ashes at our parish. My lovely wife had a plethora of extra ashes on her forehead, so she shared with our daughter.

from http://acatholicman.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Congratulations! You Have Just Been Excommincated

Excommunicated Woman Deacon
Michelle Chava-Redonnet, author and hospital Chaplin won the 2006 Women's Ordination Conference Bishop Murphy Scholarship. This past weekend she was ordained a woman priest in the Woman Priests she was promptly reminded of her excommunication by Cardinal Justin Rigali.More links (here) , (here) , (here) and (here)

Some Background According to the Spring 2008 newsletter of the Rochester, NY, Catholic Worker House, a woman named Chava Redonnet is preparing to exercise her ministry at the Rochester Catholic Worker as a “priest” once she is “ordained”. Many of the leaders of this Rochester house who are good people, have unfortunately been led away from the Catholic Church by Fr. James Callan’s breakaway (here) Spiritus Christi Church (here) here in Rochester. It looks like a trend, unfortunately.

Obama's stormtroopers

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200904230540/OPINION04/904230303

Here is an interesting article about the future of our country's homeland security.
With friends like this, who needs enemies?

While I understand that we do have some disturbed people in this country who may try to disrupt things, most of the groups that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and
the administration are concerned about are good, hardworking citizens, both morally and spiritually.
She included our country's veterans in this outlandish report, the very people that defended this country!!!.

I have been in pro-life protests on many occasions, and I can assure you, that if our homeland security department is afraid of a bunch of people praying in front of America's abortion mills, then maybe they've never been to one. Maybe they have another agenda. Maybe they know the power of prayer. I'm sure they never seen a woman come out of the abortion mill crying and in despair after what was done to her in that horrible place. Have they ever tried to console her?
If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. Don't let the media tell you who's good and who's bad in the world. Do the leg work America, think for yourself or else big brother will continue to think for you...and that is the last freedom you may ever have.

Babies against Obama

This is the spokesbaby for the
group.

Stand beside or step aside

Bishop Finn surveys pro-life battlefield, addresses Catholic dissent

Bishop Robert Finn
Kansas City, Kan., Apr 20, 2009 / 08:16 pm (CNA).- Saying Catholics are “at war” with “the glamour of evil,” Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph Robert W. Finn delivered a keynote address at a pro-life convention on Saturday lamenting “dissension in the ranks” and calling on Catholics to never become used to the “crime against humanity” that is abortion.He also commented on the Notre Dame controversy, saying its head should disinvite President Barack Obama. Greeting the audience at the Gospel of Life Convention in Overland Park, Kansas, Bishop Finn said that alongside encouragements he also wished to tell them, “We are at war!”
“Harsh as this may sound it is true – but it is not new,” he said, adding that “new battles” bring “an intensity and urgency to our efforts.”
According to the Catholic Key, the bishop invoked the tripartite division of the Catholic Church as the Church Militant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Triumphant. The Church on Earth, Bishop Finn explained, is “the Church Militant.”
“We are engaged in a constant warfare with Satan, with the glamour of evil, and the lure of false truths and empty promises. If we fail to realize how constantly these forces work against us, we are more likely to fall, and even chance forfeiting God’s gift of eternal life.”
The bishop said it is an “important truth” to know that Jesus Christ “has already won the war definitively and once for all.”
“He has conquered sin and death and has won the prize of life on high in heaven forever. We know the final outcome, but the battle for eternal life is now played out in each human heart.”
Emphasizing that the Church Militant’s battle is “ultimately a spiritual battle,” he said that those who stand up for what is right will be opposed.
“The temptation will be to avoid these attacks. But through our responses we must see what kind of soldiers we are,” Bishop Finn said.
Noting that the true enemy is Satan, he referred to St. Paul’s exhortation to “put on the armor of God, in order that you can stand firm against the tactics of the devil.”
“Human beings are not Satan, but certainly they can come under his power, even without their fully realizing it,” he added. “When we, in our sinfulness, put something in the place of God: pleasure and convenience; material success; political power and prestige, we open a door for the principalities and contrary spirits who war against God.”
Bishop Finn referred to those who want to establish a way of life in contravention of God’s law: those who promote abortion, “unnatural substitutes for marriage,” and “all such distortions of true freedom.”
He reminded his audience of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5: “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”
“We cannot hate these human enemies,” Bishop Finn stated, telling his audience that “we must find a way to love them. But we need not show them any sign of agreement. We pray for them,” Bishop Finn commented. “To ignore their destructive errors, particularly those that cost the lives of others, is to shirk our responsibility to attend to their eternal salvation.”
Those who openly attack belief in Christ or the Church’s right to exist are in some ways not the most dangerous opponents, Bishop Finn said, because “they show themselves and their intentions more forthrightly.”
More dangerous are people from all backgrounds, including Catholics, who “in this age of pluralism and political propriety seek ways to convince us of their sincerity and good will.
“With malice or with ignorance, or perhaps with an intention of advancing some other personal goal, they are willing to undermine and push aside the values and the institutions that stand in their way. They may propose ‘tolerance’ and seem to have a ‘live and let live’ approach to all human choices – even if the choice is not to ‘let live,’ but actually to ‘let die,’ or ‘let life be destroyed.’”
“This dissension in our own ranks should not surprise us because we all experience some dissension against God’s law of love within our own heart,” the bishop told the convention, saying those believers who attack the “most fundamental tenets” of the Church are some of the most “discouraging, confusing and dangerous” opponents.
Turning to the issue of the University of Notre Dame’s invitation of President Barack Obama, he said “It doesn’t take another Bishop’s Conference statement to know this is wrong: scandalous, discouraging and confusing to many Catholics.”
Predicting that Notre Dame President Fr. John I. Jenkins will “probably lose his job” as “a scapegoat for this debacle,” Bishop Finn suggested: “at this point perhaps he ought to determine to lose it for doing something right instead of something wrong.” He said Fr. Jenkins should disinvite the president and give the honorary degree to Bishop John D’Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
He then spoke about the “battle for human life,” especially on abortion.
“The constant magnitude of this crime against humanity is staggering. We must never get used to it,” Bishop Finn said. “In the United States there are 4,000 abortions every day.”
“If we keep saying this – first of all – some people will get very upset with us. They will want us to stop. They may quote other statistics about the tragedies of poverty and war. We must truly share their horror at these things too. However, in the end the measure of our society is in how we treat the most vulnerable in our midst.”
The bishop said that Catholics are “absolutely” in a war over abortion and said people should not consider this “someone else’s war.”
Turning to human embryo research, he said Missouri had lost “a valiant battle” to outlaw human cloning and human embryonic stem cell research.
“We haven’t given up, but it requires a constant effort. We won many people over through good instruction in the truth.”
Noting the legalization of assisted suicide in Oregon and Washington State, Bishop Finn lamented the “steady decline” in the number of people opposed to assisted suicide.
“Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that people are losing their sense of the moral evil of assisted suicide. But we cannot give up,” he told the convention audience.
Warning that Catholics public officials who support the legal right to abortion “have abandoned their place in the citizenship of the Church,” the bishop said they have become “warriors for death rather than life.”
They endanger their eternal salvation, he warned.
Exhorting Catholics to build an “active culture of life” that is “capable of turning back hell itself,” he said those who are not living in God’s life should avoid the “ultimately supernatural battle.”
“The devil… will turn you inside out,” he cautioned, encouraging people to become “prayer warriors.”
“Prayer defeats the devil. Prayer aligns us with Christ. Pray for the abortionist. Pray for the legislator. Pray for the mother (and father and other family members). Pray for the child in the womb. Pray for yourself and allow God to guide you,” he added.

Good choice voters.....

Imagine if, a week before he dispatched John McCain in November, Barack Obama had stood before the American people and told them what he would actually do.
"My fellow Americans, if you elect me president next Tuesday, I propose to grow our government to unprecedented size, increase federal spending to never-imagined levels and double the debt in our country. I will support $1.3 trillion in new taxes even as our recession deepens. I will take advantage of the crisis to expand federal control of health care, the energy industry, banks, Wall Street and the car business, fire GM's CEO and sign a stimulus bill with nearly 9,000 earmarks.
"I will undo much of Bill Clinton's welfare reform by giving 'tax cuts' to non-taxpayers. I will propose a crushing tax on energy, making it more expensive to drive to work or cook dinner. I will choose men who have not paid their taxes as my key economic advisers and will have no one in my Cabinet who can fairly be called a 'businessman.' I will shrivel the deduction charities count on for over 40 percent of their contributions.
"I will propose an omnipotent czar with the power to regulate, sanction and, ultimately, seize any business we judge could threaten the economy of this country. My Treasury Department will enable $165 million in bonuses to failed financial industry executives, and then I will give that industry an additional trillion-dollar bailout, indebting middle-class Americans to buy their toxic assets. All this I will do in my first two months, before April Fools' Day."
If Barack Obama had said this, he would not today be president. Yet this is the record he will run on in 2012.

Lent is here

"In the end, forever, you and I will be in Heaven or Hell. Period."--- Father Corapi

The most solemn and yet joyful liturgical times of the year is upon us…Lent.
It is solemn in that our Lord Jesus suffered and died a torturous and cruel death.
The Creator was killed by His creations (as Bishop Fulton Sheen put it).

It is joyful in that because of His death and resurrection, we may obtain eternal life.
Satisfaction and ultimate joy FOREVER.

It seems that this year during Lent, there are several people that I know whom are
going through tough times, many of which whom have very sick or dying family members.
I, unfortunately am not good when it comes to these matters, as I don’t deal with
death very well either. Even if I am sure that these people will be in Heaven with
Jesus, the grief and the emotions of my humanity are strong enough to make me despair in the thought of having to wait till our death to be with them again.

A good meditation that has come to me this Lenten season, is the fact that
these loved ones could have the contentment of offering up their pain, suffering, or loss
with that of Jesus’ Passion. Suffering, sacrificing, praying, and asking His forgiveness for our sins, all the while knowing that He is there, hurting with us.
We can ask Jesus to help us carry our cross, knowing that He has done it before.
We can ask Jesus to heal us, knowing that He has done it before.
We can ask Jesus for mercy, knowing that He has given it to us before.
We can ask Jesus to give us His peace, knowing that His peace will be with us.

While the burdens in life are still hard, and the loss of lives still make us hurt through our hearts, we can always know that Jesus is with us through it all, and will make all anew again…..or as Bishop Sheen said;
you can’t have a rainbow without the rain….

Welcome Agnes!!!!!!!

This is our new baby Agnes, born 2/16/09.

She was named after Saint Agnes, a pure and
wonderful girl. Precious in God's eye's as well as ours.

oh, yea....

HOW ABOUT THEM STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The good thing is winning another superbowl.
The bad thing was the owners of the team thanking and praising Obama. I don't mind the fact
that they are big on affirmative action, but, their lack of seeing the whole picture of what the
Obama administation is about is saddening. Even they are blinded by the darkness.....

This is a picture of the youngest saint that I know of.

This is 8 week old Francis/Frances, our baby that was lost due to an ectopic pregnancy 2/15/08.

Our saint is known in some circles (family and friends) as

"Saint Francis Grace of Henry County" and has interceded in

several ways for people, most of note in helping my missing wedding ring to be found. It had been missing for over a month and I thought it was gone for sure. It was found smashed into the mud outside of my place of employment. It was a miracle that it was found, and it never leaves my finger now.

We are now expecting a new baby in February 2009 and kind of hope the baby arrives on 2/15/09...that would be cool!

Feel free to ask for Francis' intercession and see what even the littlest of God's saints can do.

The fake world we live in

The devil is a liar. Jesus is truth.
Anyone I’ve ever known, hates to be lied to, but when they are presented with the truth, they don’t want to accept it. The whole situation reminds me of Pontius Pilate interrogating Jesus, wanting to know the truth, but would not accept the truth as it was staring him right in the face.

So why then, has our world bought into the lies? It seems that we are sheep just
blindly following the sheep in front of us into a pasture made of artificial turf.
We can have fake cheeks, lips, stomachs and other body parts. I’m not talking about the
necessary kind of surgery for injuries or diseases, I am talking about superficial replacements, a fake image.
We have fake friendships on television based on who can survive the stay the longest and
we call it “reality TV”.
We now have fake exercise helped by the Wi-mote.
We have fake musicians thanks to the “Guitar Hero” toys.
We have a fake sense of being thanks to relativism and materialism.

People want to get by in life without the Cross, without working for something, without suffering, without paying your dues. Those people can expect to continue to be falsely led
down the wide road where all the other sheep are following each other.

GET REAL PEOPLE!!!!!!

Entertainment or worship?

After attending a Christmas carol event at a local Christian
mega-church, it got me to thinking, why do people actually go
to church in the first place?
I have been to several protestant churches in my time but this
was my first trip to a mega church. It had the big screens,
the multi-colored lights, the theater style seating and stage.
While the musicians were doing their thing, I took time to look
around and noticed that people were actually watching the
screens more than they were looking at the actual entertainers.
I wondered if it was the same way on Sundays when the pastor
was up preaching, if people focused more on the image on the
big screen or on the actual person. We are so used to being
entertained by movies and television, that we tend to ignore
the “personal touch” (so to say).
At the end of the show, the pastor came up and talked for a
while, mixing the Gospel in with real life stories and humor.
People laughed, people listened, we prayed, and we went home.
So, what is it that keeps these mega churches filled?
I think that people are truly searching for God, but they don’t
want to walk through the desert to find Him, they don’t want
to incur soul-searching, sacrificial, painful reflection.
They want some fuzzy, feel good, love everyone except for
those who bring the truth, much like Pontius Pilate did when
the Truth was staring him right in the face.
How can we worship God when there is so much focus on what’s
on the big screen?
We should look at how the early Christians worshipped, how they
prayed, how they fellowshipped, how they loved.
Break the bread and see Jesus, drink the cup of His blood and let
Him teach you true worship.