Feeding the poor locally

Last weekend we helped out at a local soup kitchen. This isn’t something we do often but I believe it is a work that everyone should experience at least once in their lives (although I bet if you do it once, you will be back again).

I don’t think the homeless situation in our town is near that of others, but it is amazing seeing the group that came this day.
Some were dressed decently, some were not.
Some were cheerful, some were not.
Some would talk to you, some seemed that they would rather not speak.

There were young and old alike. The amount of 20 to 30 year olds (in my estimation) was rather high as well as the 50-60 year olds.

The most heart wrenching was seeing a young boy, probably not older than 15 come through the line. I looked over at my 2 sons who were with me (8+13) and then back at the boy in line and couldn’t imagine them in his shoes. It’s one of those moments when you just want to take the child home with you and make a better life for him.
There was also an older lady there whom ate and then just laid her weary head on the table and fell asleep.
It had been unbearably hot earlier in the week and I am sure that had something to do with it.

The most interesting person that I talked to (more like listened to), was a gentleman, probably in his 50’s or 60’s, using a rolling walker and was pretty cheerful.
He had very eloquent speech and was knowledgeable of the city. He claimed that his father was mayor back in the 1940’s and that he himself had owned a business in town. I don’t know how much, if any of it was true, but just listening to him talk, one could tell that he has had some education.
He never got around to telling how he got to be homeless and I wasn’t brazen enough to ask although I am always wondering about those things.

As the work day ended, one of the regular workers there commented how well things went and how cheerful and upbeat the homeless were that day (evidently things are not always as easy going as they seemed to me to be).
He said that the work crew today was very joyful (and they were) in serving and doing God’s work and in just reaching out to those less fortunate. Not only serving food, but in listening to, talking to, and loving those whom came to eat. He said that the joy radiated from the workers was felt by the homeless and in turn helped them, if just for the moment, to feel the joy and love of Christ.

While I was reluctant to go at first due to the mountain of work I had to do at home, I was glad that I had the experience of God, of love….I think it was Mother Teresa that said “where there is love, there is God.

‘Holy Dads’ of Hollywood | Fathers for Good

‘Holy Dads’ of Hollywood Fathers for Good

While I wasn't going to comment on this since it was just so ignorant, I was invoked to speak up after reading this article. This isn't the whole article, but only the beginning of it.
We all know that the day and the time of the end of the world will not be known to any of us. Jesus already warned us of that.
We also know that the end of time (on this earth) can be different for us all; you could die tomorrow, I could die next week, ect....


But what I really want to focus on is the comment in this article:          By his own reading of Bible, which was slightly different than Camping's, Fitzgerald expected the great worldwide event to begin at 6 p.m. Eastern Time.


THIS is the crux of the matter. THIS is what gives Christianity a bad image. People inturpting the bible on their own. The bible is not up to our own inturpatations. We should read the bible of course, and let the Holy Spirit speak to us in our own hearts, but we should never proclaim our own inturptations upon Scriptures.
We have a Church that was started by the One who is the Word. The Catholic Church.
He gave authority to those whom He choose, whom He gave authority to hand down the traditions of His truths. If anyone other than those appointed, are proclaiming so called "truths", they are leading you away from Him and as we can see from so many times, if you don't have the Truth in your life, you will not find
peace in your life. You will continue to be swayed by every false prohet that comes along.

(Reuters) - With no sign of Judgment Day arriving on Saturday as forecast by an 89 year-old California evangelical broadcaster, followers were faced with trying to make sense of his failed pronouncement. Harold Camping, the former civil engineer who heads the Family Radio Network of Christian stations, had been unwavering in his message that believers would be swept to heaven on May 21.
His Oakland, California-based network broadcasts over 66 U.S. stations and through international affiliates. With the help of supporters it posted at least 2,000 billboards around the United States warning of the Judgment Day.
In New York, retired transportation agency worker Robert Fitzpatrick was inspired by Camping's message to spend over $140,000 of his savings on subway posters and outdoor advertisements warning of the May 21 Judgment Day.
As he stood in Times Square in New York surrounded by onlookers, Fitzpatrick, 60, carried a Bible and handed out leaflets as he waited for Judgment Day to begin.


By his own reading of Bible, which was slightly different than Camping's, Fitzgerald expected the great worldwide event to begin at 6 p.m. Eastern Time.


When the hour came and went, he said: "I do not understand why ...," as his speech broke off and he looked at his watch. "I do not understand why nothing has happened."
Camping, who previously made a failed prediction Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 1994, had said doomsday would begin at 6 p.m. in the various time zones around the globe.

The Lord has risen, Alleluia!

I have just realized what a slacker I truly am….I had nothing posted for Easter, the most important feast in the Church.
How can a Catholic blog totally ignore Easter?

Not that we didn’t celebrate it, we had our Easter baskets and Easter egg hunt (I am betting that those chickens are madder than wet hens about their eggs being stolen by a bunny rabbit).

OK, so Easter has lost some of it’s meaning in the secular world. Those of us whom have children find it hard not to do the whole “Easter bunny” celebration.

We also have a hard time not being gluttonous after our fast and abstinence. When you give up sweets for Lent, then have mountains of chocolate within reach on the day after Lent, there will surely be an opportunity for the sin of gluttony.

We have to make sure though that the secular celebration does not over-shadow the true “reason for the season”.

We try to make sure we are at as many Stations of the Cross devotions, confession evenings, and Divine Mercy celebrations as we are able. We have our own personal abstinence choices and we try to "do" some works for others. We also try to pray more and say some Novena's.
Of course Easter cannot be complete without celebrating in our parish all the Triduum services and the Easter vigil Mass which may seem long and drawn out (especially those with toddlers) but what better way to celebrate Jesus’ life, death and resurrection than to welcome our new brothers and sisters into the Church and also offer up ourselves; our time, our sufferings, our burdens with Jesus’ sufferings upon the Cross.

Our 2yr old daughter wanted to “go swimming” with our parish priest in the Holy font after witnessing the Baptisms…..but unfortunately he denied with her request.
What a hoot!

You can’t see the joy on a child’s face on Easter morning, until you endure the suffering of your wallet in the Easter section of Wal-Mart.
Joy comes after the suffering.
You can’t have a rainbow without the rain.
You can’t have the resurrection without the cross.

Just as in the octave of Christmas, we should not forget “the reason for the season”.

Christ has risen, He has risen indeed!

My thoughts on the man with many possessions...

 ( Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30)


In the parable of the rich young man, one of the things that came to me was the fact that he seemed to have it all;   Money, power, goodness…but yet he still was searching for more. It goes to show that we can “have it all” and still not be satisfied until we totally surrender to God.


My other thought, which is probably way off base, stems from the phrase concerning a persons questioning;
“intent is prior to content”.
What really did the young man want?
Of course, as with us all, he was in search of the Truth; we all have that longing deep in our hearts. But, did he also want what he didn’t have just for the sake of possessing more? Possessing that which he didn’t have and couldn’t obtain by his own accord. Was he spiritually poor or did he have an avarice, greed or pride problem?

It seems like everyone around me (including myself) has been in a depressed-like funk lately.
I am not sure if it is just because it has been a long dreary winter or what, but it is touching lives like I’ve never seen before.

I also have noticed that a lot of us are not only turning to God for help, but there seems to be a lot of interest in books and MP3 talks that we are turning to in search of relief.
Some are relying on the classics, but others are delving into modern books on the power of positive thinking and interior strength which sadly to say are written mostly by new agers.
Those thieves of souls in sheep’s clothing.


I know for myself, all the good Catholic books I have read and all the talks I have listened to have done very little for my spiritual being (or at least the immediate results).
It seems that the new agers and their books are giving some people hope, only to let them down again…much like a certain president who promised “hope” and has let is voters down.


We are searching for some “quick fix”, something to change our lives and clear us from the “funk” we are in, but I think this verse in Jeremiah tells us what our problem is;

Jeremiah
Chapter 17


7  Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.


8  He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat  when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.


9 More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?


10 I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart, To reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds.


We tend to let our feelings, emotions, principles and our heart guide us in our lives, but as in
Jeremiah, our hearts are tortured and it is beyond us to be able to figure it out.
Only God knows what’s in our hearts, so Him alone should we be asking for help and guidance.

Books and talks can inspire us to look at ourselves, but only God can make us want to change;
our wills can be stong but remembering that God, at his weakest is still stronger than our wills are at their greatest.


Maybe God is giving us a little more suffering during Lent so we can offer it up. Maybe the words Saint Augustine wrote can give us some more insight;


“Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in you.”

Steelers Nation Essay

The following was written by a friend of mine in an editoral section of a Pittsburgh newspaper.
It was written before the Steelers lost the superbowl, but the content of it makes us all winners.

By Mark Fassio

One of your recent contributors talked about how she met total

strangers who ended up bonding with her because of a Pittsburgh

connection. As a former military officer who’s traveled worldwide, I

can attest to that fact.

I have seen the Terrible Towel in every location from the Berlin Wall

to Monterey Bay, and there’s usually a Pittsburgh accent attached to

the twirler. Each chance encounter with a stranger creates an

almost-instant friendship strictly because of the black-and-gold

connection; it is the ultimate icebreaker.

Here in north-central Kentucky and the surrounding Ohio/Indiana border

area — a mere 50 miles from Cincinnati — the supposedly second-largest

Steelers fan base outside of Pittsburgh has entrenched itself.

During a soccer game, a man noticed my Steelers apparel and we began

talking. Turns out he was a former classmate of my wife, who is from
Shaler. After 30 years, a random observance and a chance comment

reunited high school chums.

A Steelers bar in the local area had a collection of expatriate yinzers

one Sunday, and it turned out that one of them went to Kiski Area High

School with my cousin oh-so-many years ago; small world, indeed.

And the high school I teach in is a hotbed of Pittsburgh fandom. The

students are enthralled to know that my cousin, Eric Ravotti, played

for the Steelers in the 1990s. In our family, if you don’t become a

priest, being associated with the Steelers is the second-best honorable

career.

The biggest kick I get out of the Pittsburgh connection is going to

Mass every Sunday. There are three other Pittsburgh families who go to

our church, Immaculate Conception Parish. (Coincidence? I think not.

Calling Franco Harris!)

Each week the locals notice our three different Steelers jackets, all

clustered in one small pew area. We’ve become fast friends all because

we wear the same colors, holding game parties at each others’ houses

over the years.

And I have to admit that religion has helped the team over the years.

During Super Bowl XL five years ago, I took in my Terrible Towel and

asked the priest to bless it. I mean, heck, St Francis blessed animals,

so why not some fabric?

He politely refused and said he’d bless me instead. But I waited for

everyone to leave, and afterward dunked it in the baptismal font. We

already know the outcome of that game.

I did the same to my wife’s new towel right before SB XLIII against the

Cardinals (that holy water works pretty well), and have the font in my

sights this weekend as well for new towel No. 3.

And it’s not only holy water that works, but fire as well. I light two

candles after Mass every week: one for my family and one for the

Steelers. When they were down 21-7 to Baltimore, I found my St. Jude

prayer card (the patron saint of hopeless and despaired-of causes) and

pledged that I’d light every candle in the sanctuary the next day if

the Steelers pulled it out.

Thirty dollars and three burned fingers later, I stand testament to the

belief that all the powers of heaven are, indeed, Steelers fans, and

that The Chief put in a few good words to The Man Upstairs.

You lucky ones who still live in Western Pennsylvania have no idea of

the empty spot we expatriates carry in us.

Each shot of Heinz Field and the towels twirling brings a mist to my

eyes because we’re not there. Each year I count the days until I truly

come back home and, like long-suffering Browns fans, I always seem to

say, "Wait till next year." Count yourself fortunate, friends.

God bless the Steelers, and God bless us, each and every fan.

The least of these

And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.---Matthew 25;40


I don't want to take this Scripture verse out of context, but I believe that this can be expanded on.
Jesus, of course, was speaking of the poor, the homeless, the naked, the imprisoned....the social injustices in the world around us.
We ARE our brothers keepers, and Jesus wanted to emphasize this.


In today's culture, we still (as Jesus said) have the poor with us. We are still responsible for treating those so-called "dregs" of society with dignity and respect. We are still responsible for trying to house, cloth and feed them.

In today's culture, I can think of another of "the least of these" brothers and sisters.

I am talking about the unborn and preborn babies that are dying at the hands of so called physicians.


The unborn actually have less rights than the poor or imprisoned. In our society, they are not considered a "person"; their "person hood" has not been established (at least in a court of law).
Those of us who have opened our hearts and minds to Gods words know better.

The don't just get put into prison, a second chance or a homeless shelter.

So, much like Jesus, who came to this earth as the "least of these" (in the form of a babe), our society has certainly done unto the unborn as the people of His day done for Him.

Death is not the end, but we need to pray for an end to the death of the unborn.
We can also do our part, please visit; http://www.40daysforlife.com/blog/

The Screwtape Letters revisted (part IV)

12) He must not be allowed to suspect that he is now, however slowly, heading right away from the sun on a line which will carry him into the cold and dark of utmost space.
For this reason I am almost glad to hear that he is still a churchgoer and a communicant. I know there are dangers in this; but anything is better than that he should realise the break it has made with the first months of his Christian life. As long as he retains externally the habits of a Christian he can still be made to think of himself as one who has adopted a few new friends and amusements but whose spiritual state is much the same as it was six weeks ago. And while he thinks that, we do not have to contend with the explicit repentance of a definite, fully recognised, sin, but only with his vague, though uneasy, feeling that he hasn't been doing very well lately.

As people start their Christian walk in life and become content with their new found happiness there comes a time when Satan throws those forks in the road. The forks which are subtle, yet can lead us down the wrong path.
The tendency is to become a "Sunday Christian" or a "Cafeteria Catholic"; "I'm a good person" attitude and that is well enough, even though on the inside we having feelings and opposition to Gods laws and Church teachings.


Just as "the angels in Heaven rejoice over one repentant sinner" (Luke 15;10), the fallen angels rejoice whenever they take the soul of a luke warm Christian.


We are sinners and we are going to fall from time to time, but when we lose the reverence to all that is Holy and become "content" sinners, unrepentant sinners, the devil still has a chance of taking us to the pit with him.


If you lock God in a closet, you don't have to face him, or so you tell your self.




"I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked". The Christians describe the Enemy as one "without whom Nothing is strong". And Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man's best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why, in the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them, in drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, in whistling tunes that he does not like, or in the long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to shake off.


You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing.


This reminds me of the saying "idle hands are the devils workshop".

Much like kids (and some adults) today; they either have a lot of free time to spare or they claim that "there's just nothing to do".

We used to use that phrase a lot when I was a kid, the only problem was that we would find something to do and it was usually something bad.


I think that this is the problem with kids growing up too fast; you have to always find something to occupy their hands and minds quicker. Nothing seems to satisfy, and as modern children grow up with more of the "luxuries" in life, the simple pleasures seem boring to them. A board game becomes just that...a "board" game...they grow board of it quickly, unlike the sights and sounds of a video game.

If we are not vigilant in filling our kids hands and minds, be sure Satan will.




The second paragraph reminds us that venial sins can be just as bad as mortal sins if we continue to let them pile up. One bad habit can lead to an addiction.

The addiction to sin can only be cured by prayer, reconciliation and penance. (and Gods Grace)






13) The man who truly and disinterestedly enjoys any one thing in the world, for its own sake, and without caring twopence what other people say about it, is by that very fact fore-armed against some of our subtlest modes of attack. You should always try to make the patient abandon the people or food or books he really likes in favour of the "best" people, the "right" food, the "important" books.


God has placed before us a real world with real pains and real pleasures. In their right order (in a way that gives glory or acknowledgement to God), material possessions, passions and feelings
can be "good for the soul".

These worldly things can lead us to spiritual things (not new age spiritual, but Holy spiritual).


People in these days have a tendency to "go with the flow" and in most cases, they get washed downstream. We have the freedom to like and dislike things in this world, but it seems that people are more concerned with their "image" so they are driven to what the rest of society deems good whether it is good for them or not.


There is only One who is good...that is God.

We are made in His image, and that is the only image we should strive for.





14) Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, "By jove! I'm being humble", and almost immediately pride—pride at his own humility—will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt—and so on, through as many stages as you please.

Virtues, as great as they are, and as much as we want to gain them, can be used against us. We can succumb to false humility, or false pride. The virtuous person should be more aware of Gods blessings in their lives than by concentrating on how to obtain the virtues themselves. God has given us the virtues to glorify him and to bless others, not so we will feel more or less better about ourselves.

The Screwtape Letters revisited (Part III)

9) All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy (God) has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. It is more certain; and it's better style. To get the man's soul and give him nothing in return—that is what really gladdens our Father's (Satan) heart. And the troughs are the time for beginning the process.

There is a lot of unsatisfied, unfulfilled lives today which causes people to become depressed. They then seek to find satisfaction and fulfillment in pleasures (especially those of the flesh). They want internal happiness but try to obtain it through external pleasures which any true disciple of Christ will tell you won't work. True happiness comes from inside.

God has given us pleasures of the senses to come to know Him, love Him and serve Him. If we use those pleasures for anything other than that, then we are turning our back on the Creator of all that is good. We lose focus on the internal and focus more on the external.


This also works in Satan's favor when times are not good.

Death, illness, marriage problems, financial hardship, job loss, war and just when you are having a bad day can bring in the tempter.
Satan (the father of lies) will make you think things will be better with a little alcohol or drugs (even prescription drugs). Pleasures of the flesh or a spending spree or a trip to get away from it all, that's what he will tell you that will make you happy. No matter how far away from your troubles you may move to, unless you take care of what is going on inside you, the troubles will still be there.
Satan will offer you those idea's of pleasure, but give you nothing in return but more problems.
SEEK NOT THAT WHICH CAN BE SEEN, SEEK THAT WHICH CANNOT BE SEEN.


10) All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.

Humans by their nature are social beings. God calls us to love Him, but also to love our fellow mankind.
It is not easy to love your enemy; but even harder sometimes may be seeing those whom you like as your enemy.

What am I trying to say???

There are people we may truly love, especially family members and close friends, that are not good for our spiritual health.

They may have different beliefs, idea's or world views that are not Christ centered. They may let their feelings or stubbornness (pride) stand between them and the truth. They may have sin in their lives that clouds their minds.
If we spend a lot of time with these people, there is a chance we may start thinking like them or agreeing with them, or just not saying anything which is just as good as agreeing with them.

I know I am guilty of not rebuking others out of love for that person, out of charity or just to keep the peace....but, what is the cost of that silence?


If there is someone or a group of "someones" that is causing your faith to be tested, then either try to lead them to the truth or get away from them because your soul is at stake also.

It also works the other way. If someone whom who spends time with you is not a believer or is weak in faith, they can be influenced by your example of living and speaking the Christian way of life.
It is a fine line on which to walk. Ask God to guide you always to good and holy people. Ask God especially on behalf of your children to guide them to good and holy friends.


11) I divide the causes of human laughter into Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy.
There has been some studies done which strongly suggest that laughter is good for your health. I can see some good in it myself.
There is also a saying that goes "laughter is good for the soul" that is accredited to Proverbs 17;22 but a closer look at that verse in the NAB tells us
"A joyful heart is the health of the body, but a depressed spirit dries up the bones." (Which is why you should be careful about reading modern translations of the bible).
A joyful heart is more than laughter and nowhere does it say that laughter is good for the soul. A depressed person can still laugh and have fun externally, but internally, they are still depressed and their condition is still detrimental to their body and soul.
Here Lewis (or Screwtape) shows us how Satan likes to use humor against us. He shows us that humor can be used to bring forth cruelty, lewdness, lust, pride and many other sins.
Screwtape also tells us that flippancy is the best of all. Flippancy is where every serious subject is discussed in a manner which implies that they have already found a ridiculous side to it. It reminds me of how our culture portrays religion and God in movies, books and sitcoms. They shrug off anything that is virtuous or moral as being too ridiculous to believe. We live in a very flippant world.

HB 255

Most people would think that it is good for the state or government to make sure school children are learning and keeping up the grades in school. We have many friends and family that are educators and concerned with the level of children's education and care at home.
"No child left behind" is the moniker today. We are all responsible for the most vulnerable people in our communities (and in all the world) and this includes children.
We must do all we can to stop abuse and neglect. Our society is in shambles with broken homes and single parents trying to juggle work and home life. Most parents put education at the bottom of their list and entrust the public schools to help in that area. Some parents don't have a good enough education to be able to help their children even if they had the time to.

But, anytime the government starts wanting to pry into the family homestead without legitimate reasoning, it is bad news.
I noticed the phrase "based on criteria set by the bill".
Who sets the "criteria" and what is their reasoning behind it?......do they have other agenda's or special interests that could hamper their reasoning?

I personally believe that a bill like this leaves the door open for the government to come into your home and take your children away or haul you off to jail, neither of which is going to help matters any.
If you think I am crazy, just look at other countries, most especially China with their 1 child policy. Don't think it can't happen in our country....
We have already seen the effects of legalized abortion and now the USA is teetering on the brink of ObamaCare.
These are perilous times and we better come together to thwart the attack on families.


From http://www.parentalrights.org/

Last Thursday, CNN reported that a Florida legislator has proposed a bill that would have public school teachers issuing a grade to parents. Yes, grading the parents. HB 255 provides that “each prekindergarten through grade 3 student report card shall include a section in which the teacher grades the parental involvement as satisfactory, needs improvement, or unsatisfactory…” based on criteria set by the bill.The whole idea of setting up public schools as overseers of parents is one more sign that American parental rights are in danger. Parents should not have to answer to government agents unless and until there is solid evidence of abuse or neglect on the part of that parent. Giving a grade to every parent clearly violates this constitutional principle.In fact, this bill would espouse the same foundational principle as the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child: assume that all parents are bad parents, and that only government oversight can save our children from parental incompetence.Totalitarian regimes are built on assumed guilt; the nanny state determines which citizens do or do not require their “services.” Florida’s bill would establish a system to do the same. A free nation, on the other hand, operates on the assumption of innocence until proven guilty. Parents do not need government intervention (interference) unless there is proof to the contrary. The Supreme Court has held that “historically, [the law] has recognized that natural bonds of affection lead parents to act in the best interest of their children.” Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584 (1979) Sadly, Florida’s proposed bill recognizes no such thing.We can stop this trend and reestablish the fundamental right of fit parents to direct the upbringing of their children through passage of the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If you haven’t already done so, click here to sign the petition at ParentalRights.orgAnd please pass this message on to your family, friends – anyone you know who might share your concern for the future of our American families. If we lose the right to raise our children without constant government oversight, we will lose every other political fight we care about – and we will ultimately lose our children, and our country.But together we can save the future, by protecting these parental rights.
Gratefully,
Michael Ramey, Director of Communications and Research

We keep trying to tell you

Pro-lifers continue to try to spread the word about the bad "choice" that America has allowed women to make. I pray that someday soon the rest of the US, and the rest of the world will be given the light to see the dangers and inhumanity of the "choice" of abortion.

PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia abortion doctor has been charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a woman patient and seven babies who prosecutors say were born alive and then killed with scissors. The charges against Dr. Kermit Gosnell follow a long grand jury investigation.

District Attorney Seth Williams says state regulators ignored complaints and failed to visit the clinic since 1993. Williams says the women were subjected to squalid and barbaric conditions at Gosnell's Women's Medical Society, which was shut down last year. Gosnell has been named in at least 10 malpractice suits, including one over the death of a woman who died of sepsis and a perforated uterus.

A doctor who gave abortions to minorities, immigrants and poor women in a "house of horrors" clinic was charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, made millions of dollars over 30 years, performing as many illegal, late-term abortions as he could, prosecutors said. State regulators ignored complaints about him and failed to inspect his clinic since 1993, but no charges were warranted against them given time limits and existing law, District Attorney Seth Williams said. Nine of Gosnell's employees also were charged.

Gosnell "induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord," Williams said.

Patients were subjected to squalid and barbaric conditions at Gosnell's Women's Medical Society, where Gosnell performed dozens of abortions a day, prosecutors said. He mostly worked overnight hours after his untrained staff administered drugs to induce labor during the day, they said.

Early last year, authorities went to investigate drug-related complaints at the clinic and stumbled on what Williams called a "house of horrors." Bags and bottles holding aborted fetuses "were scattered throughout the building," Williams said. "There were jars, lining shelves, with severed feet that he kept for no medical purpose."

The clinic was shut down and Gosnell's medical license was suspended after the raid.

Gosnell and four workers were charged with murder, while five others were charged with controlled drug violations and other crimes. None of the employees had any medical training, and one, a high school student, performed intravenous anesthesia with potentially lethal narcotics, Williams said.

All 10 defendants were taken into custody, authorities said.

Two listed numbers for Gosnell in Philadelphia have been disconnected. Defense lawyer William J. Brennan, who represented Gosnell during the investigation, noted that the doctor served patients in a low-income city neighborhood for decades. "Obviously, these allegations are very, very serious," Brennan said.

The grand jury said the woman who died was a patient who came to Gosnell's clinic for an abortion and died of cardiac arrest because she was given too much Demerol. Gosnell wasn't at the clinic at the time, but directed his staff to administer the drug to keep the woman, a healthy 41-year-old woman, sedated until he arrived, prosecutors said.

Gosnell has been named in at least 46 malpractice suits, including one over the death of a 22-year-old mother who died of sepsis and a perforated uterus in 2000. Many others also involve perforated uterus's. Gosnell sometimes sewed up the injury without telling women their uteruses had been perforated, prosecutors said.

Gosnell charged $325 for first-trimester abortions and $1,600 to $3,000 for abortions up to 30 weeks. Abortions are legal up to 24 weeks gestation in Pennsylvania, although most doctors won't perform them after 20 weeks, prosecutors said.

Some women came from across the mid-Atlantic for the illegal late-term abortions, authorities said. White women from the suburbs were ushered into a separate, slightly cleaner area because Gosnell believed they were more likely to file complaints, Williams said.

"People knew near and far that if you needed a late-term abortion you could go see Dr. Gosnell," Williams said.

Few if any of the sedated women knew their babies were born alive and then killed, prosecutors said. Many were first-time mothers who were told they were 24 weeks pregnant, even if they were further along, authorities said.
Gosnell got his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and is board certified in family practice. He started, but did not finish, a residency in obstetrics-gynecology, authorities said.

"He does not know how to do an abortion. He's not board certified," Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said. "Once he got them there, he saw dollar signs and did abortions that other people wouldn't do."----Associated Press

Bah-Humbug or Merry Christmas.....

I know that I am going to get some flack over this rant, but it is something that I have been thinking hard over.

First off, this is my own thoughts and not that of my family members.

While I admit that I am the first to start buying stuff for myself that I normally wouldn't buy during the rest of the year, I feel more and more that the commercialization of Christmas especially by Christians is not going to fare well on our resume at the Pearly Gates.

There is a struggle in my heart between seeing the delight on my children's faces and the thought of how I am swimming downstream with the "black Friday culture".
Taking Christmas far from it's Christian roots.

We have taken one of the Holiest seasons of the year and made it all about materialism.

Granted, there is some good that comes with this time of the year:

The fore mentioned delight on children's faces on Christmas morning;
the joy of spending time with family and friends that we might not normally see; the fact that some unbelievers might investigate the "reason for the season" and be converted; and even the boost in the economy can be a good thing.
Even the charity that is brought out at Christmas time is admirable although people should be that charitable year around.

Now, I am known as a tightwad (at least in my household) and that figures into my dilemma also. Sometimes I may feel that we are spending way too much at Christmas. We are far from being wealthy but the Lord provides for our needs and even a little extra occasionally.

But, here are a couple of things that I feel are a good part of my argument in "toning down" the gift buying and doing other things instead;

1) Shopping on Sundays....enough said I believe.

2) Causing employees to work ridiculous hours. This year "black Friday" started at midnight in some stores and at 4am in others. It also takes parents from their homes at those crazy hours...who's home with the children?

3) Again this year, black Friday caused "surge" deaths...nothing says
Merry Christmas like mourning the loss of a loved one who is trying to save a buck or two.

4) And finally, the whole reason I started this rant;
I have family and friends whom are quick to call a store manager about
the retailers lack of Christ in the public eye. They say "why is the Creche in the back corner of the store?" or "why is Dan Browns new book displayed in the front of the store and there's no sign of the Popes new book even on the shelf?"
How about the ol' "Happy Holiday's instead of Merry Christmas" from the cashiers?

I'll tell you why, because we have Christians have let this Holy season slip through our fingers and into the secular world's hands for them to model it how they want it to be. We are at the mercy of the "we don't want to offend anyone" culture (except us Christans whom evidently don't mind being offended).

Should we still complain? YES!
But, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Maybe if we stop shopping on Sundays. Maybe if we stop going to those ridiculously early Black Friday sales. Maybe if we give to those less fortunate than us. Maybe if we stop filling our homes so full of "stuff" that we have to buy larger homes to keep all our "stuff"in....just maybe we can
get the stores to sell those "must have" items at a more reasonable price all the time.

Then again, maybe Santa Clause will come down my chimney with a bag full of coal....

Have a Blessed Advent

Vacations 2010

Well, over the summer we made a whirlwind tour of Chicago and Washington DC within the same month which was quite exhilarating and exhausting.
Our first stop was "the land of many windmills"...
no, not Holland, but Illinois.
I don't know the whole story on these since we were just passing through, but I guess these are wind powered generators. They went on for miles and miles. It was quite the site.


While in Chicago, we did the many things most people do, but we also like to visit some Holy places to keep things in perspective. The first place we visited was the Saint Jude Shrine.
Other than the "electric candles" this house of worship was awesome. There were a few relics, most importantly a bone of Saint Jude.



Next, we went to the National Shrine of St. Therese. What a wonderful place, with many relics of The Little Flower.
It was also cool to see many pictures of her in her youth as well as her monastic days. The pictures helped bring the realism of the Saint to my mind. A lot of times I believe, many people (especially non-Catholics) think of saints as "folk heros" such as Paul Bunyan or someone not real.
The Saints are definitely real and this special place brings at least one Saint face to face with the unbelieving world.
Many relics of Saint Therese are housed here.


These are just a couple of examples.

....and what trip to Chicago would be complete without a "Chicago style pizza"?

A couple of weeks after Chicago, we visited Washington DC thanks to a generous offer of a free stay at TCU (Catholic University) from a friend of ours who is studying for the Priesthood. I had some reservations about going to DC while America had some of the worst politicians ever elected in power, we went anyway.

Other than one of the ladies in the red jackets at the state capitol, we did not have any issues with the people of the city.

This lady obviously had some issues with children, which as my wife mentioned, could possibly have been a sign that she either had an abortion or at least was pro-choice. (Oh yea, we had our pro-life attire on;)


We made a stay-over in Virginia to visit Seton Home School headquarters, and Christendom College. We had a wonderful time at Seton visiting and talking with the wonderful people there.

Chapel at Christendom College where we went to morning Mass.

............back to DC.......

Of course, we seen all the normal sights, which were magnificent. Some of the structures had large concrete columns and they all had strong foundations. I don't just mean stone foundations; I mean foundations in God. There were references to God everywhere. Our founding fathers were rooted in their faith in God and it is evident everywhere except in the current administration...but that's a rant for another day.

It is hard to believe that a town with this kind of beauty and history can sometimes be so corrupt and Godless.

Probably our favorite place we visited was The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception which was right across the road from where we stayed.

Here's a view from where we were

staying. AWESOME!

The upper church














There are many different and beautiful alters and murals throughout the shrine.

I believe they said there were over 100 different alters throughout the Basilica.

We also visited the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America.

Another awesome place to visit!

Definitely do the tour of the Church and Catacombs if you go.








On our way out of town we stopped by the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center .

There are many different exhibits and interesting photos to see.

It looked like there was a lot of hands on stuff that was either closed or still under construction.

I understand that The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist are set

to buy the Center for their growing community.





Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI

giving Holy Communion to Pope John Paul II who was Pope at the time.

Wooden replica of Jerusalem

Remember while you are on vacation never forget about God. Sundays (or Saturday) are still Holy Days even when you are away from your parish. It is still a mortal sin to miss Mass if you are able; you can usually find a Mass somewhere even if you have to drive many miles to get to it.

And always take the time for pilgrimages to Catholic sights and places of worship that are on the way or in the area where you are going. It can be a such a Blessing.

Archbishop Nienstedt Denies Communion To Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Advocates

I believe Pope Benedict's words "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" ring in the ears of the faithful when they read this kind of garbage. (Read story below)

I cannot understand why people that oppose Catholic teachings continue to stay in the Church. Not that I want anyone to leave the Church, but if you don't yet understand why the Church teaches what it does, then find out!

If you still don't understand, continue to pray and ask for the graces to understand....but DO NOT STAND PUBLICLY IN OPPOSITION TO CHURCH TEACHINGS and expect to have the sacraments available to you.

Would you go to a Dodgers game wearing a Yankee's hat and shirt and shout GO DODGERS!!!!??? Kinda silly I know, but I think you get the point.

The Catholic Church is under attack from inside, whether people purposely came into the Church to try and destroy Her or whether people are just losing the battle for their souls and giving into Satan's lies and
moral relativism.
The Church has had the same teachings for 2000 years and it isn't going to change now.

These people are dissenters and they need to step back and learn their faith and open their hearts and mind to the Lord....and stop receiving Communion unworthily.

Let us pray for them. Let us Pray for Archbishop Nienstedt. Let us pray for all our Bishops, Priests and of course our Holy Father Pope Benedict.


By KATHLEEN GILBERT
Sunday, October 10, 2010

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis has denied communion to members of a group that included three nuns and a priest, who wore symbols expressing their opposition to Catholic Church teaching on marriage and homosexuality.The group expressed frustration after Archbishop John C. Nienstedt withheld the sacrament from them because they wore rainbow buttons and sashes signaling their support for same-sex “marriage” and homosexuality. The archbishop, who was celebrating his first student Mass at St. John’s on September 26, instead gave a blessing to members of the group, which included students from St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, as well as three nuns and a priest. Rainbow Sash Movement leader Brian McNeil said the group acted independently of his organization.Elizabeth Gleich, a St. Benedict sophomore and board member of People Representing the Sexual Minority (PRiSM), said that her group had intended to “make a statement” against the archbishop’s support for traditional marriage. She criticized Abp Nienstedt for “mak[ing] these extreme statements” by denying the group communion. Ms. Gleich, who was wearing a sash, was given communion in another line at the same liturgy.Another PRiSM member, Ana Seivert, complained in a Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) report that the archbishop’s action was “political.” “We weren’t the ones who made it political,” she said. “Once the archbishop denied communion, he made it political.”
Archdiocese spokesman Dennis McGrath said the church has told the Rainbow Sash Movement “for years” that members “cannot receive communion if you wear the rainbow sash, because it’s a political statement, a sign of protest,” according to the Star Tribune. “Going to the communion rail is the most sacred part of our faith, the Eucharist. We don’t allow anybody to make political statements or any kind of protest.”“It’s a symbol of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) movement en masse, and it was intended as a protest,” Mr. McGrath told MPR. “It was pretty obvious.”Rev. Rene McGraw, a philosophy professor at St. John’s, said that he celebrated a small Mass later that evening and gave all the members of the group communion. “My understanding of church law is that one is not to deny communion to anyone unless he or she is a public sinner, and that has traditionally been interpreted very narrowly,” said Mr. McGraw, according to the AP. “My instinct was these are people who were in need, I’m supportive of them, therefore, I’m happy to say mass for them.”However, the Vatican has confirmed that Rainbow Sashers cannot receive communion while publicly standing in opposition to Church teaching on sexuality, as stated by Cardinal Francis Arinze, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in 2005.Cardinal Francis George, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote in 2004 that: “The policy of the U.S. Bishops’ conference, a policy I did not invent, was to refuse Communion to anyone who used its reception as an occasion to protest against the Church’s teaching.”St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn, prior to his retirement, had been singled out for praise from the Rainbow Sash Movement for welcoming members to communion in his diocese. Abp Nienstedt succeeded Abp Flynn upon the latter’s retirement on May 2, 2008.Rainbow Sash wearers have successfully approached the rail in other areas, most notably the dioceses of Rochester, N. Y., Los Angeles, Calif., and Detroit, Mich. The organization usually gears up every year on the Catholic holy day of Pentecost to launch a coordinated effort to receive communion while wearing the sashes, and have even been known to snatch the host and distribute it to members when ministers were reluctant.Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic college watchdog group, criticized the schools for failing to stand in solidarity with the archbishop.“As long as the University sponsors a club that blatantly opposes Catholic teaching with events like ‘Freedom to Marry Day,’ I can only foresee more embarrassing and scandalous situations like this arising,” Reilly told LifeSiteNews.“This is an opportunity for University leaders to explain Catholic teaching, clarify the institution’s Catholic identity, and act in communion with the archbishop. To remain silent would seem to condone the students’ actions.Minnesota’s bishops revealed last month that they would be mailing hundreds of thousands of DVDs to Catholics in the state explaining the Church’s position against gay “marriage,” and urging them to support candidates who favor protecting traditional marriage.
LifeSiteNews

Even the blind, liberal media seen through this ONE

Nothing says, "Wipe out AIDS and poverty" like Band-Aids and a black-and-white cookie.

That's what Bono's $15 million nonprofit the ONE Campaign -- which gives only a pittance of proceeds to its hunger and health causes -- bombarded New York newsrooms with last week to get press for its push for billions in African AIDS funding from President Obama.
The items were part of a pricey pile of puzzling loot, which also included a $15 bag of Starbucks coffee, a $15 Moleskine leather notebook, a $20 water bottle and a plastic ruler.
The stash came in four, oversized shoe boxes, delivered one at a time via expensive messenger. The boxes were timed to arrive for the UN "Summit on the Millennium Development Goals," which kicks off in Manhattan today.
Caitlin Thorne Hersey ONE' BIG WASTE: Bono's ONE Campaign blew cash on cookies, water, rulers, leather notebooks, coffee, Band-Aids and pens for media mailings.
Kimberly Hunter, spokeswoman for DC-based ONE, declined to say how much money the organization shelled out for the publicity blitz.
"Sometimes it's pretty hard to get through to reporters with the information about the lives of the world's poorest people," Hunter said. "We think it's important enough to try and break through the clutter . . . That's why we sent the boxes."
The boxes included a small tin of Band-Aids and two syringe-style pens -- along with a pitch challenging Obama to fork over $6 billion to the UN's Swiss-based Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa.
Caitlin Thorne Hersey;
Another container held the oversized cookie and water bottle in an odd pitch for funds for clean water and "sustainable sources of food."
Poverty-stricken African kids live on less than $1.25 a day -- "about the cost of the cookie in this box," ONE contended.
The leather-bound journal and ruler urged education funding in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Starbucks brew -- made with Ethiopian beans -- came with a suggestion to drum up support for investing in African agriculture.
Charity watchdog Daniel Borochoff of the American Institute of Philanthropy in Chicago called the p.r. move a "risk."
"There could be recipients -- or donors -- who might think that the money they spent could have instead been donated to help their cause," he said.
Hunter countered that ONE "does advocacy work, not charity work." Caitlin Thorne Hersey
ONE gives only a pittance in direct charitable support to its causes -- something Borochoff said the average donor might not realize.
The Bono nonprofit took in $14,993,873 in public donations in 2008, the latest year for which tax records are available.
Of that, $184,732 was distributed to three charities, according to the IRS filing.
Meanwhile, more than $8 million was spent on executive and employee salaries.
jeane.macintosh@nypost.com