Monday, February 28, 2011

This saint was lifted in the air, creating a platform for him to speak against heresy

             March 1 --  St. David, Archbishop of Wales

In the latter part of the fifth century, a son, David, was born to King of Cardigan and St. Non. He was baptized by St. Ailbe, Bishop of Emly and educated by St. Paulinus, a disciple of St. Germanus who was sent by Pope Saint Celestine to destroy the ravages of the Pelagian heresy.

St. David retired to the island of Wight to pray and to study the rigors of the religious life.  With heroic dedication, he grew in virtue and grace, and then was summoned to leave the solitude of his monastic cell to combat the heresies which were taking root in England.  Word of his sanctity and miracles drew large crowds of people. 

At one point, the congregation was so large, several people complained of not being able to hear the voice of St. David.  David prayed, denounced the heresy of Pelagius, and the ground under his feet rose in the air, creating a platform for him to speak from. 

The heresy was defeated and the people of Wales returned to the True Faith. St. David founded twelve monasteries in which many saints were formed by his direction and example. St. David died on March 1 about 590 in a monastery "filled with angels as Christ received his soul".

St. David was surrounded with saintly people. He chose to spend his life in the pursuit of heaven by studying the methods of the spiritual life and then he put that knowledge to the service of the defense of the Church. We, Catholics today, may not have the privilege of being amidst such a multitude of saintly people, but we can turn to Our Lady to ask her to teach us directly the ways of sanctity.  By truly becoming her child in every way, we have the most secure means of salvation.

Learn about True Devotion to Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort here:

http://store.tfp.org/products/True-Devotion-to-Mary.html

Great spiritual benefits for March

Please reap great benefits by living the month of March, which is dedicated to Saint Joseph, in union with this great saint.  Please see:

Incredible before and after photos of the Catholic Cathedral in NZ earthquake

These pictures give us food for some deep reflection and soul searching:

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2011/02/25/christchurchs-damaged-cathedrals-photos-before-after-nz-earthquake/

Boycott growing: 500,000 pledge to boycott The Home Depot

(FROM AFA * http://www.boycottthehomedepot.com) Over one-half million people have signed a pledge to boycott The Home Depot until it agrees to remain neutral in the culture and political war over homosexual marriage.

As a financial backer, The Home Depot has stated it "is proud to support" the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) effort to force the legalization of homosexual marriage across America.

In a February 17, 2011 announcement, HRC notes that it most recently:

- Helped gather support for marriage equality bill in Maryland;
- Sponsored Marriage Equality Day in Albany, New York;
- Pushed for final passage of Hawaii civil unions bill;
- Stood up to Christian-owned Chick-fil-A for supporting a traditional marriage seminar;
- Fought a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex couples from marrying in Wyoming

The Home Depot's support made all of these things possible. That's because The Home Depot is taking profits made from your purchases to push the homosexual agenda.

Join over 500,000 people who have signed the boycott pledge! AFA will personally deliver the boycott pledges to The Home Depot's board of directors.

Let us deliver YOUR SIGNED PLEDGE to boycott The Home Depot.

Related Action Alerts:
The Home Depot gives gifts to thousands of homosexual activists
The Home Depot Shock Factor - More Kids Workshops at more gay events

TAKE ACTION
1. If you have not done so, sign the Boycott Pledge at BoycottTheHomeDepot.com.
2. If you have signed the pledge,
let The Home Depot you are resolved. If you have a Home Depot credit card, consider cutting it up and including it in the envelope with your next monthly payment.
3. Print the paper petition and distribute it at Sunday school and church.
4. Let The Home Depot know how much money they are losing. Each time you make a purchase at a competitor store, use The Home Depot's website feedback form to let them know how much you spent with their competitor.

Take Action Now
Sign the Boycott Pledge at BoycottTheHomeDepot.com

It is very important that you forward this alert to your friends and family members.

Photos from the Arizona March for Life

I came across these photos that were posted on our America Needs Fatima facebook page, and thought you’d like to know see them too.  They are from the Arizona March for Life.

 

 

Incredible but true: police side with leftists in Wisconsin

Who said that Communism was dead?

Hundreds of Wisconsin Cops Take Sides With Leftist Protesters Inside Capitol Building

See story here:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/hundreds-of-wisconsin-cops-take-sides-with-leftist-protesters-inside-capitol-building/

Family is Under ‘Permanent Attack’ by United Nations, Says Cardinal

by LifeSiteNews.com

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Cardinal Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, gave a speech Sunday in which he lashed out at the United Nations and other international organizations that he says are running a campaign to destroy the family.

"The family is being permanently attacked," said the cardinal at a meeting of the international Catholic relief organization, Caritas. "And the organizations that are in charge of rearranging the family are powerful organizations, beginning with the United Nations Organization, the World Bank, the Interamerican Bank, the big leftist parties in the world."

The United Nations Organization, said the cardinal, has been promoting a new concept of "gender" since 1995. "Gender isn't something like [the sex of a person], but rather a relationship, with whomever I interact sexually," he added.

"If we so decide, for example, bestiality, well that would be another gender, doing it with animals, fetishism, where men get excited by feminine dress and live that way."

Sandoval Iñiguez observed that the same organizations are also vigorously promoting the legalization of abortion in poorer countries, promoting the idea of "the right of the woman over her body, and it is propagated everywhere, and they have required governments, because they are in debt, they have required governments to accept abortion in their laws."

The cardinal's comments come in response to an increasingly intense campaign waged in recent months by Mexican pro-abortion and homosexualist groups, often funded and coordinated by foreign organizations and governments, to change Mexico’s laws on abortion and gay “marriage.”

Sunday, February 27, 2011

This saint reformed the clergy by depriving lax priests of their income

February 28  -- St. Oswald, Archbishop of York (d. 992)

Born of a noble Saxon family, St. Oswald was raised by his uncle, St. Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury. 

At a young age , he was chosen to reform the Order of the Canons of Winchester who had fallen into a lax and worldly spirit.  Finding his attempts in vain and turning to prayer and reflection, St. Oswald realized that the true remedy for clerical corruption was to be found in the monastic life. 

Taking the habit and direction of the Benedictines, he, along with St. Dunstan, then Archbishop of Canterbury, began the monastic revival of the tenth century.  All disobedient secular clergy were deprived of their revenues and replaced by religious priests.  To their churches, he attached a chapel in honor of Our Lady, served by strict religious.

The faithful were invited to join the religious in the beautiful and marvelous ceremonies of the Church.  Finding their churches empty, the lax canons had to choose whether to embrace their vocations with zeal or to imperil their souls by abandoning their mission, calling down the mockery of the faithful. The holy stratagem worked! 

St. Oswald founded seven religious houses and revived the monastic life of Europe, thereby increasing the influence of the Catholic Church and saving many souls.

Let us follow the holy example of St. Oswald by praying to Our Lady asking her to give us the perspicacity to accomplish our mission with wisdom and ingenuity.

Pro-abortion domestic terrorist jailed by FBI for threatening pro-lifers

by Kathleen Gilbert

NEW YORK, February 25, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation yesterday charged and detained an abortion supporter with a history of communicating vicious threats against pro-life activists.

Theodore Shulman, 49, has frequently harassed Operation Rescue’s Cheryl Sullenger, recently threatening in a voice mail that Sullenger should “convert” to pro-choice “during the few months you have left on this earth,” or else “you will go to hell and burn.”

Shulman, charged with communicating interstate threats against two pro-lifers, is currently being held without bond at Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York City, a Federal holding facility.

While the complaint against Shulman was filed under seal, Operation Rescue has been informed that the case involved two pro-life activists who are simply referred to as Victim 1 and Victim 2. Opertion Rescue is withholding the identities of the victims in order to protect their safety.

In addition to the two victims listed in the Federal complaint, Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger, as well as blogger Jill Stanek and speaker/activist Bryan Kemper of Stand True have also been the brunt of Shulman’s threats. Shulman hounded Sullenger, in particular, over a two year time-span. He ran a blog site under the name “Operation Counterstrike” that fomented hatred and attempted to encourage “pro-choice” supporters to murder pro-lifer activists.

In one August 2010 post, Shulman pointed out an incident in which a pro-abort threatened pro-lifers outside a clinic, and advised more effective terrorist methods. “Remember, don’t threaten right-to-lifers at abortion clinics. Any drama at the clinic is bad for the clinic,” he wrote. “Wait until the protest ends, follow a protester home, and THEN do your thing. That way, you can involve the right-to-lifer’s family in your action.”

Upon the death of pro-life leader Dr. Bernard Nathanson, Shulman wrote, “Unfortunately, he died in his bed. He was not killed by a pro-choice counterterrorist. Too bad, he would have been a most effective target.”

Shulman is also the object of a Federal investigation in Wichita, Kansas, which could result in additional charges being filed against Shulman for making serious death threats against Operation Rescue staff members.

“This is a huge relief to us that Ted Shulman is behind bars where he belongs,” said Sullenger. “He often posted threatening comments to our web site and called me on my cell phone too many times to count. He was always brazen in his threats and openly identified himself, telling us not to bother calling the FBI because they would never do anything for us. Thankfully, he was wrong about that, and we hope that, in addition to his New York charges, he will also be charged in Kansas.”

“We continue to work with the FBI on the Shulman case and on other cases of death threats we have received.”

Threats to Operation Rescue have increased in recent weeks after MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow repeatedly targeted the group by airing inaccurate and inflammatory information that has incited the threats against Operation Rescue staff members’ lives.

In another audio file posted by Operation Rescue, an “apparent Maddow listener” left a voice mail threatening to carry out a Satanic curse against Sullenger and to “carry you into the ninth circle of Hell.”

Illinois Homosexual Activists Engage in Extreme Rhetoric Against Governor Hopeful

by LifeSiteNews.com

By Gudrun Schultz

GLEN ELLYN, Illinois, March 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) –Homosexual activists have targeted Illinois governor hopeful Jim Oberwies with extreme accusations, likening him to Hitler, in response to his support of pro-family lobby initiatives in the state.

On Wednesday, activists with the Gay Liberation Network in Chicago compared Oberweis to Hitler for his support of Protect Marriage Illinois.

Mr. Oberwies supports the Illinois Marriage Protection Referendum and the repeal of recent changes added to the Illinois Human Rights Act that facilitate homosexual and transgender inclusion.

Mr. Oberweis’ business has also come under attack.  Last month, local homosexual activists pushed for a boycott of products from his dairy farm, Oberweis Dairy.

Peter LaBarbera, director of Protect Marriage Illinois, which has organized the referendum drive, said in a press release on Friday there is an escalation of “extremist rhetoric among homosexual activists seeking to demonize Jim Oberweis and others who support the Marriage Protection Referendum”.

“Homosexual activist groups like GLN and Rick Garcia’s Equality Illinois call Jim Oberweis a ‘bigot’ merely for supporting the Protect Marriage Illinois,’ LaBarbera said. “What is hateful about giving Illinois voters a chance to cast a vote for marriage as one-man, one-woman this November?”

LaBarbera decried the “pattern of ugly attacks against people of faith merely for disagreeing with the homosexual movement.”

Homosexual protesters swarm Chicago cathedral, police do nothing

by Kathleen Gilbert

CHICAGO, February 25, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The city of Chicago ordered its police force not to enforce the law against a mob of homosexualist activists who disrupted Mass at the Holy Name Cathedral to protest “anti-gay bigots” who support the Church’s teaching on marriage.

The Gay Liberation Network staged the rally on the eve of Valentine’s Day, shouting and chanting loudly as churchgoers entered to celebrate Sunday Mass. The demonstration’s primary target was Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who has spoken out in defense of traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Protesters had staged a similar disruption around the same time last year.

In response to the protest, George, who was not present at the cathedral, acknowledged that the issue is deeply emotional on both sides but, “No matter the issue, Catholics should be able to worship in peace, without fear of harassment.”

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) released a video of the protest showing rainbow flag-waving protesters shouting and holding signs stating, “It’s time to stop being nice to anti-gay bigots.” “The Catholic leadership has ranged itself against equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for too long!” declared one homosexualist protester. Others called for an end to government cooperation with the Church’s charitable activities on the basis of its “bigoted” views.

Churchgoers withstood the angry protest passively. One said that the pastor present for the Mass “was almost attacked and was called a bigot.” The Chicago Tribune reported that there was a small counter-protest defending traditional marriage and Cardinal George.

While it was illegal for the protesters to disrupt a religious service, the Chicago City Council announced that police would not enforce the law in this instance - a move that NOM castigated.

“It’s outrageous that the city of Chicago stepped in and basically told police not to enforce a law for this one occasion,” said NOM president Brian Brown.

“Gay Liberation Network is not above the law. If the city believed the ordinance was unconstitutional they should either repeal it for everyone, or go to court to get a determination. What happened instead was indefensible: stripping Catholics of their legal right to attend religious services peacefully.”

“We don’t know yet if this signals a new phase in the gay marriage movement: organized protests at churches nationwide.”

Jeff Field, a spokesman for the Catholic League, told LifeSiteNews.com that the city council’s refusal to protect the Catholic worshippers was “disappointing to say the least.”

“Everybody has a right to practice their religion. For the city council to deny that right for Catholics is disappointing,” said Field, who pointed out that Muslims and Orthodox Jews shared a religious dedication to traditional marriage. “You wonder if they would allow protests in front of a mosque or a synagogue during their religious services,” he said.

This saint has three siblings who were also canonized saints

February 27 -- St. Leander of Seville

St. Leander was born in the 6th century to a noble family in Carthagena. He was the elder brother of St. Isidore, St. Fulgentius and St. Florentina. Imagine four canonized saints in one family showing the power of the Faith and the blessings of the Holy Spirit.

For more than 170 years, Spain was dominated by heretical barbarians, not by pagans as is usually thought.  These people were Arian Visigoths who oppressed Catholics with great energy.

St. Leander's mission was to overthrow this dominion. He began with prayer and meditation asking Our Lady for the supernatural graces which were necessary to preach against this diabolical heresy of Arianism.  Assisted by grace, St. Leander was able to convert large numbers of heretics including the son of King Leovigild.

Angry with this turn of events, the King exiled Leander and killed his own son.  St. Leander's constant prayer and penance gave him the confidence to continue his apostolate with the result that the King repented and called on St. Leander to educate his younger son and successor.

Now, the State and Church worked hand in hand for the total conversion of the country.  The Council of Seville and the Council of Toledo were convened to abjure Arianism in all its forms and to banish every trace of it forever from Spain. The liturgy in Spain was reformed and the Nicene Creed added to the Mass.

Let us ask St. Leander to give us his spirit of prayer and confidence to fight as he did against the heresies of our day.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Prayer: the great means of salvation and devotion to the Blessed Mother of God

The Intercession of the Blessed Virgin

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St. Thomas says that the saints, in proportion to the merits by which they have obtained grace for themselves, are able also to save others; but that Jesus Christ, and so also his Mother, have merited so much grace that they can save all men. 'It is a great thing in any saint that he should have grace enough for the salvation of many beside himself; but if he had enough for the salvation of all men, this would be the greatest of all; and this is the case with Christ, and with the Blessed Virgin.'

And St. Bernard speaks thus to Mary: '

Through you we have access to your Son, O discoverer of grace and Mother of salvation, that through you he may receive us, who through you was given to us.'

These words signify that as we only have access to the Father by means of the Son, who is the Mediator of justice, so we only have access to the Son by means of the Mother, who is mediator of grace, and who obtains for us, by her intercession, the gifts which Jesus Christ has merited for us.

And therefore St. Bernard says, in another place, that Mary has received a twofold fullness of grace. I the first was the Incarnation of the Word, who was made Man in her most holy womb; the second is that fullness of grace which we receive from God by means of her prayers.

Hence the saint adds: 'God has placed the fullness of all good in Mary, that if we have any hope, any grace, any salvation, we may know that it overflows from her who "ascends abounding with delights."'

She is a garden of delights, whose odors spread abroad and abound; that is, the gifts of graces. So that whatever good we have from God, we receive all by the intercession of Mary. And why so? Because, says St. Bernard, it is God's will: 'Such is his will, who would have us receive everything through Mary.' But the more precise reason is deduced from the expression o f St. Augustine that Mary is justly called our Mother, because she cooperated by her charity. in the birth of the faithful to the life of grace, by which we become members of Jesus Christ, our head:

'But clearly she is the mother of his members (which we are); because she cooperated by her charity in the birth of the faithful in the Church, and they are members of that Head.' Therefore, as Mary cooperated by her charity in the spiritual birth of the faithful, so also God willed that she should cooperate by her intercession to make them enjoy the life of grace ill this world, and the life of glory in the next; and therefore the Church makes us call her and salute her, without any circumlocution, by the names, 'our life, our sweetness and our hope.'

Hence St. Bernard exhorts us to have continual recourse to the Mother of God, because her prayers are certain to be heard by her Son: 'Go to Mary, I say, without hesitation; the Son will hear the Mother.' And then he says: 'My children, she is the ladder of sinners, she is my chief confidence, she is the whole ground of my hope.'

He calls her 'ladder,' because, as you cannot mount: the third step except you first put your foot on the second, nor can you arrive at the second except by the first, so you cannot come to God except by means of Jesus Christ, nor can you come to Christ except by means of his Mother.

Then he calls her his greatest security, and the whole ground of his hope; because, as he affirms, God wills that all the graces which he gives us should pass through the hands of Mary. And he concludes by saying, that we ought to ask all the graces which we desire through Mary; because she obtains whatever she seeks, and her prayers cannot be resisted. 'Let us seek grace, and let us seek it through Mary; because what she seeks she finds and she cannot he disappointed.'

The following saints teach the same as St. Bernard: St. Ephrem, 'We have no other confidence than from you, O purest Virgin!' St. Ildephonsus, 'All the good things that the divine Majesty has determined to give them, he has determined to commit to your hands; for to you are entrusted the treasures and the wardrobes of grace.' St. Germanus, 'If you desert us, what will become of us, O life of Christians?'

St. Peter Damian, 'In your hands are all the treasures of the mercies of God.' St. Antoninus, 'Who seeks without her aid, attempts to fly without wings.' St. Bernardine of Sienna, 'You are the dispenser of all graces; our salvation is in your hands.' In another place, he not only says that all graces are transmitted to us by means of Mary, but also asserts that the Blessed Virgin, from the time she became Mother of God, acquired a certain jurisdiction over all the graces that are given to us:

'Through the Virgin the vital graces are transfused from Christ, the head, into his mystical body. From the time when the Virgin Mother conceived in her womb the Word of God, she obtained a certain jurisdiction (if I may so speak) over every temporal procession of the Holy Spirit; so that no creature could obtain any grace from God, except by the dispensation of his sweet Mother.'

And he concludes, 'Therefore all gifts, virtues, and graces are dispensed through her hands to whom she wills, and as she wills.' St. Bonaventure says the same: 'Since the whole divine nature was in the womb of the Virgin, I do not fear to teach that she has a certain jurisdiction over all the streams of grace; as her womb was, as it were, an ocean of the divine nature, whence all the streams of grace must emanate.'

On the authority of these saints, many theologians have piously and reasonably defended the opinion, that there is no grace given to us except by means of the intercession of Mary; so Mendoza, Vega, Paciucchelli, Segneri, Piore, Crasset and others, as also the learned Alexander Natalis who says: 'It is God's will that we should look to him for all good things, to be procured by the most powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin, when we invoke her, as it is fit.'

And he quotes in confirmation the passage of St. Bernard: 'Such is his will, who has determined that we should receive all through Mary.' Contenson says the same, in a comment on the words addressed by Jesus on the cross to St. John, 'Behold thy Mother' (Jn 19,273: as though he had said, 'No one shall be partaker of my blood except by the intercession of my Mother. My wounds are fountains of grace; but their streams shall Mow to no one, except through the canal of Mary. O my disciple John, I will love you as you love her!'

For the rest, it is certain that if God is pleased when we have recourse to the saints, he will be much more pleased when we avail ourselves of the intercession of Mary, that she, by her merits, may compensate for our unworthiness, according to the words of St. Anselm: 'That the dignity of the intercessor may supply for our poverty. So that, to invoke the Virgin is not to distrust God's mercy, but to fear our own unworthiness.'

St. Thomas, speaking of her dignity, calls it, as it were, infinite: 'From the fact that she is the Mother of God, she has a certain infinite dignity.' So that it may be said with reason, that the prayers of Mary have more power with God than those of all heaven together.

(St. Alphonus de Ligouri in Prayer: The Great Means of Salvation)

Planned Parenthood Sets Record for Number of Babies Killed

by The Editors

Washington, DC February 25, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Planned Parenthood Federation of America recently posted on its web site its so-called service numbers for 2009. This document, dated February 2011, shows that Planned Parenthood committed 332,278 surgical and medical abortions in 2009—more than in any previous year.

The document also shows that Planned Parenthood provided prenatal services to merely 7,021 women and referred 977 for adoption services. These numbers were a 25 percent drop in prenatal care clients and a whopping 59 percent decline in adoption referrals.

“Despite its protestations that abortion is only a small part of its services,” said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, “Planned Parenthood has increased its number of abortions for 15 straight years. During that time, it has gone from committing 9.3 percent of all abortions in the United States to committing 27.5 percent.”

Sedlak also noted that Planned Parenthood now does 340 abortions for every one adoption referral and 47 abortions for every one prenatal care client.

“The records show that Planned Parenthood has committed 5,320,095 surgical and medical abortions from 1970 through the end of 2009,” Sedlak continued. “We estimate that the income from abortion accounts for 40 percent of its annual clinic income.”

In the last year it has been revealed by Abby Johnson, former PP clinic director in Bryan, Texas, that Planned Parenthood was pressuring her to do more and more abortions because PP makes more money from abortions than any other single service. It was also revealed by Planned Parenthood’s affiliate in Corpus Christi, Texas, that the national office is demanding that every affiliate must have at least one facility that commits abortion.

“When all the current numbers are taken together with the revelations from PP’s own former employees,” Sedlak concluded, “it is clear that Planned Parenthood is about killing human beings in the womb for a profit. It is an absolute outrage that American taxpayers have been funding such a group and we ask all members of Congress to take steps now to end this funding.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

* Planned Parenthood service numbers
* Detailed statistics of Planned Parenthood’s last five years
* Chart of Planned Parenthood’s 2009 pregnancy services

Stopping taxpayer-subsidized abortions on college campuses

by Michael New

February 25, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The debate over Obamacare last spring raised the issue of abortion coverage in health-insurance plans. This is more prevalent than many people realize. Last spring, reports indicated that anywhere from 50 percent to 80 percent of privately held insurance plans cover abortion services. Even worse, a recently released study by Students for Life of America (SFLA) indicates that abortion is covered by many student insurance plans offered by leading colleges and universities.

The SFLA study carefully researched the health-insurance plans offered by the 200 largest colleges in the United States. The findings were astonishing. Of the 200 schools studied, 86 offered health-insurance plans that cover abortion. Even worse, 38 schools automatically enroll students into a plan which covers abortion. Now, in many cases students can opt out. However, many will not because they are unaware these plans cover abortion or simply because school-sponsored health plans often cost less than commercial plans. This study clearly reveals that many students and taxpayers are unknowingly subsidizing abortion on college campuses across America.

From a social-science perspective, the findings were interesting. Many of the schools that automatically enroll students in plans that cover abortion are Ivy League schools like Harvard, Columbia, or the University of Pennsylvania, or are located in the Northeast or on the west coast. Colleges in the South were less likely to cover abortion in their health-care plans. However, there were some exceptions. The SFLA study found that the University of Virginia and a number of public universities in North Carolina automatically enroll students into a health-care plan that covers abortion.

This is certainly an issue that pro-life activists should take up in their respective state legislatures. College students typically have little in the way of discretionary income. As such, subsidizing abortion through insurance policies makes it far more likely that a student facing an unplanned pregnancy would submit to an abortion.

Furthermore, there are some interesting policy implications here. Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.) recently introduced H.R. 3, “The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which would enact a permanent, government-wide prohibition on funding of both abortion and health plans that cover abortion. Considering that nearly all colleges and universities accept students who have Pell Grants, the passage of this legislation could conceivably force universities to drop abortion coverage from their health-insurance plans.

Throughout last spring’s debate over health-care reform, it was clear that a vast majority of Americans did not want their taxpayer dollars subsidizing abortion. In fact, this concerted opposition by pro-life groups was the most difficult political obstacle that the Obama administration had to overcome in order to enact health-care reform. This study from SFLA provides important additional evidence in the debate over cutting off taxpayer funding for abortion.

— Michael New is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama and a fellow at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, N.J.

This saint fought the heretic Arius

             February 26  -- St. Alexander of Alexandria

St. Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria, was known for his untiring battle against the heretic, Arius.  Arius was a priest who had a charm and demeanor which attracted those with whom he came in contact. 

He gave an appearance of austerity and penance and showed a certain ability to teach the ecclesiastical sciences.  However, under the veneer of virtue, there was a man of ambition and deceit, calling himself " illustrious".  When St. Alexander was chosen to be the Bishop of Alexandria in 313, Arius, jealous of his appointment, became his enemy and began teaching heresy.  Arius obstinately held to his error and was finally excommunicated by St. Alexander.

Nonetheless, he continued teaching his flawed doctrine in Palestine where he attracted the support of several bishops.  Finally, Arius was condemned by the Council of Nicea with the aid of St. Alexander and his successor, St. Athanasius.

Arius fooled many people including bishops with his attractive ways and convincing language, a type of evil that reminds us of how the Anti-Christ will be.  This sort of hypocrisy easily inverts good to bad and vice versa.

Therefore, when St. Alexander fought against Arius, many construed him to be the evil one, making it very difficult for him to expose the heretic. But St. Alexander fought on and gave St. Athanasius his spirit.  After St. Alexander died in 328, St. Athansius stood alone defending orthodoxy since all the bishops and even the Pope became Arians. Nonetheless, Divine Providence gave the grace to the faithful ones and the Catholic Church remained victorious.

Let us ask St. Alexander to be aware of "wolves in sheep's clothing" and to fight for orthodoxy even if we feel alone because Our Lady will never abandon us.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Our Lady of Fatima at anti-Communist rally in Miami

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The Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima was well received at the anti-Communist rally yesterday in Miami, which was formed to commemorate the 15 anniversary of the downing of the planes of Hermanos al Rescate and the first anniversary of the death by hunger strike of Orlando Zapata, an anti-Communist in Cuba.

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Vatican legal consultant says adulterous, pro-abortion New York governor should be denied communion

by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

February 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Vatican legal consultant Edward Peters has made international headlines by saying that New York governor Andrew Cuomo should be denied holy communion because of his open and consistent support for legal abortion, and because he lives in an adulterous relationship with his girlfriend.

Asked by Cybercast News Service (CNS) about Cuomo’s position on abortion, Peters answered: “I would want experts on New York law and politics to verify a few facts here, but based on what is widely reported about the governor’s consistent support for abortionism in New York, I see no other way to interpret his abortion-related conduct except as sufficient to warrant withholding of holy Communion from him under Canon 915.”

Canon 915 of the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law states that “Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion.”

The CNS interview follows a January 4 blog post by Peters calling Cuomo’s live-in arrangement with girlfriend Sandra Lee “public concubinage” which disqualifies him from receiving communion.  Peters added that “The fact that both Cuomo and Lee are divorced renders the concubinage adulterous on both sides as well.”

In an article based on an interview with Lee following Cuomo’s inauguration, the New York post reported that “Newly minted Gov. Cuomo spent the night in his parents’ old bedroom with First Girlfriend Sandra Lee and the power couple’s newest ‘baby’—a 2-month-old cockatoo so fragile he needed to sleep next to a heating lamp for warmth.”

“Yes. There is no dispute about this one, whatsoever,” Peters told CNS. “The governor, with complete freedom, is publicly acting in violation of a fundamental moral expectation of the Church. On these facts alone, his taking holy Communion is objectively sacrilegious and produces grave scandal within the faith community.”

“As long as he persists in such conduct, he should refrain from taking holy Communion in accord with Canon 916.  If he approaches for holy Communion, he should be denied the august sacrament in accord with Canon 915,” he added.

In addition to his pro-abortion position and public concubinage, Cuomo is an open advocate of homosexual “marriage,” which the Vatican says Catholics have the obligation to oppose.

In a speech given during the gubernatorial campaign in October of last year, Cuomo told homosexuals that “I don’t want to be the governor who just proposes marriage equality. I don’t want to be the governor who lobbies for marriage equality. I don’t want to be the governor who fights for marriage equality. I want to be the governor who signs the law that makes equality a reality in the state of New York.”

“It is, of course, wrong for public officials to lend support to programs that damage the foundations of the very societies they govern,” Peters told CNS.

Cuomo receives Holy Communion at bishop’s Mass

The questions were provoked by Cuomo and Lee’s public reception of holy communion at a mass celebrated by Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard specifically for the purpose of commemorating the inaugural. During his homily, Bishop Hubbard said that the abortionist Governor Cuomo would “be deeply immersed in the work of evangelism by bringing about the transformation of our state and our society.”

In his January 4 post, Peters notes that “it is Albany Bp. Howard Hubbard’s responsibility to see to it that the common discipline of the Church is promoted and that all ecclesiastical laws are observed, exercising particular vigilance against abuse of the sacraments and the worship of God,” citing Canon 392 of the Code of Canon Law.

“Unfortunately, Hubbard’s rah-rah inaugurational homily before Cuomo and Lee, in which, without admonition for their objectively and publicly sinful status, the prelate seemed to have anointed the pair as his kind of evangelizers in government, and his complicity in the administration of Communion to Cuomo, amounts, in my opinion, to another dereliction of pastoral duty,” he added.

The Diocese of Albany has responded by saying that it is “unfair and imprudent to make a pastoral judgment about a particular situation without knowing all the facts,” and adding that “As a matter of pastoral practice we would not comment publicly on anything which should be addressed privately, regardless if the person is a public figure or a private citizen.”

Following the statement, Peters shot back on his blog that “I responded to reasonable questions that I received about public behavior, as known from public sources, about which public canon law, which is my area of expertise, has something to say for the welfare of the faith community.”

“I did so calmly, accurately, and with due respect for the persons involved, per Canon 212 § 3. I do not see how anyone could reasonably construe my comments as making improper ‘pastoral judgments’.”

Cuomo only responded by saying: “My religion is a private matter, and that is not something I discuss in the political arena.”

Holy communion and Catholic teaching

Although Peter’s statements have generated a stir internationally, they merely repeat the Church’s long-standing law regarding the reception of the sacraments, a point that has been reiterated in recent years by now-Cardinal Raymond Burke, the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s highest court.

“I don’t understand the continual debate that goes on about it. There’s not a question that a Catholic who publicly, and after admonition, supports pro-abortion legislation is not to receive Holy Communion and is not to be given Holy Communion,” Burke told LifeSiteNews.com in a 2009 interview.

New York City Archbishop Timothy Dolan remarked in February of last year that he would not permit Cuomo, who was then the state’s attorney general, to have a place of prominence in a Catholic ceremony.

“There’s a difference between everybody being welcome, and providing somebody who is dramatically, radically, publically at odds with the Church on a particularly given issue to have a place of prominence and to receive an award,” Dolan said.

Although Peters is not a representative of the Vatican, he is an official referendary (consultant) to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

Contact information for the Diocese of Albany:

Howard J. Hubbard, Bishop of Albany
Tel:  (518) 453-6611
Fax: (518) 453-6795
Email: chancery@rcda.org

Beautiful success story: 4 babies saved in 1 week at crisis pregnancy center

by Rebecca Millette

TORONTO, Ontario, February 24, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The dedicated staff at the Toronto-based crisis pregnancy center, Aid to Women, experienced a successful week this week after three women going to the nearby abortion facility (one who was pregnant with twins) experienced a change of heart after conversing with Aid to Women staff.

One woman, after discovering from the abortionist that she was pregnant with twins, left the abortion facility crying, telling Aid to Women workers, “I couldn’t do it.”

Aid to Women is a Christian, volunteer-based charity, located in the immediate vicinity of Cabbagetown Women’s abortion facility in Toronto.  Since 1984, they have reached out with love and compassion, encouraging and supporting pregnant mothers in all their needs.

Aid to Women counselors told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that during the past month there was no significant “turn-around” – until Tuesday.  Twelve to thirteen women went into the abortion facility throughout the morning; Aid to Women staff stood by, as they do each morning, handing out pamphlets where they could and offering help. 

The woman who was pregnant with twins came to the abortion facility with a friend and her two young children.  Counselors tried to approach her, but were ignored and brushed aside.  Soon after the woman’s friend left the building with the young children and was approached by Aid to Women counselor, Maria Nolan.  “You want to give her a second chance,” Nolan told the friend, who finally agreed to speak with the pregnant mother. 

Later, the woman herself, looking very shaken up, came to speak with Nolan.  “The other two [children] I took really good care of,” she said, “I’m going to have twins and I didn’t want them to be messed up.”  The woman had been smoking and drinking. 

The woman recounted many signs that she said seemed to indicate she should not have an abortion.  While leaving the subway going to the abortion mill, she took a wrong turn and experienced abnormal, extremely intense abdominal pain.  “It’s a sign,” said the woman.

She also related how, a week prior to finding out she was pregnant, her four-year-old daughter told her, “Mommy, are you having a baby? Mommy, I want a baby. I want two babies.”  When she discovered yesterday from the abortionist that she was carrying twins, she remembered her daughter’s words.

“The beautiful thing,” Julie Abernethy, counselor and fundraising co-ordinator at Aid to Women told LSN, “is that she has faith in God, but more so that she recognized all the signs as she was going along.” 

The woman’s friend, said Nolan, had told her what the pro-life counselors had said and suggested she really should think about it.  “Because of that she came out to talk.”  Later, said Nolan, “She was joyous…100% going to have her babies.”

Abernethy recounted another story from this week. “One of the girls I spoke with said she forgot her health card and on her way back home to get it, I was able to talk to her,” said Abernethy. “She herself recognized that there was a reason she forgot her card, a reason that I was there, and a reason she was listening.  She left and did not come back for the abortion.”

“We are really just instruments in the hands of God, and the most important thing we can do is to allow Him to work through us. So many times the women will tell us that it’s a sign that we are there,” concluded Abernethy

“I am overjoyed at these amazing success stories!” Alissa Golob, youth co-ordinator at Campaign Life Coalition told LSN. “It is so inspiring to see such dedicated young people who have committed their lives to helping women and saving children!”

The young women who work and volunteer at Aid to Women are in their mid-to-late 20s, near the age of most of the women they counsel.  General manager Frances Keet was unavailable for comment yesterday as she was taking time off due to the fact that she is pregnant.

The third woman whose heart was changed Tuesday had approached the abortion facility and walked right past Aid to Woman’s Frances Keet.  “I don’t want to hear about it,” she told Keet.

However, the woman, in her teens, proceeded right into the Aid to Women office by mistake, encountering Nolan.  After learning they did not do abortions, the woman, 19 weeks gestation, turned to leave.  “We can help you and your baby,” Nolan told her.

“I was feeling really discouraged that morning,” Nolan told LSN. She assumed that she had failed in her efforts after the woman immediately left. 

“The end of the morning came,” Nolan recounted, “and she came back up the stairs, looking shaken up.” “I couldn’t do it,” she said.

“She became so happy,” Nolan said.  “She has another daughter and a supportive boyfriend.  She is going to keep in contact and let us know the sex of the baby after her ultra-sound.”

“It is so encouraging to hear such inspiring stories of women who choose life, especially for us here at Campaign Life Coalition,” said Golob, who has worked closely with Aid to Women.  “This story proves that times are changing and the pro-life movement is coming out on top. Women don’t want abortion. They don’t want to choose abortion. They just want help and someone to reach out to them. What these counsellors do on a daily basis is truly heroic.”

“It’s an honour to be working in the pro-life movement here,” Nolan said. “To be on the front lines and make a difference. It’s a huge blessing!”

“I can’t tell you how important it is to have a loving presence outside these clinics - to let God be present to these women through us,” said Abernethy. “I encourage everyone to come out at least once to stand in silent prayer for these mothers and fathers, when they truly need it.”

Homosexual ‘marriage’ bill passes Maryland Senate, opponents react

by Rebecca Millette

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, February 24, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Maryland Senate spent the day Wednesday debating the much-argued same-sex “marriage” bill before approving it in a 25-22 preliminary vote late in the day.  The bill is scheduled for a final Senate vote sometime today, which is expected to mirror yesterday’s outcome. 

Senate members yesterday discussed for hours many proposed amendments, most of which concerned exceptions for religious groups.  Originally called the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act,” an amendment was adopted yesterday to rename SB 116 the “Civil Marriage Protection Act”.

If the Senate passes SB 116, it will proceed to the House of Delegates where they have a hearing scheduled for Friday. 

The debate has a clear religious aspect: nearly one-third of the state senators are Catholic, and their bishops, who plan to host a pro-marriage rally in coming days, form the top lobby group against the bill.

A large part of the impassioned debate circled around proposed amendments to protect religious adoption agencies such as Catholic Charities to ensure their right not to hand children over to same-sex couples, reported the Washington Post

Democrat Senator Jamie Raskin, floor leader for the proceedings, maintained state regulations already oblige such organizations to service same-sex couples, while supporters such as Republican Senator Bryan Simonaire urged protection for religious groups.  “We need to put protections in this bill if we’re going to pass it,” argued Simonaire, who warned against “unintended consequences.”

The amendment protecting adoption agencies was defeated 30-17.

Other amendments protecting religious freedom had more traction. Language that ensured religious organizations are not required to promote same-sex “marriage” programs, or provide insurance to an employee’s same-sex “spouse,” were supported by bill sponsors supported the amendments, according to the Baltimore Sun

Supporters of true marriage, including the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC), and the Association for Maryland Families, have mounted a fight against the legislation for the past several weeks.

NOM published a poll last week by Lawrence Research, indicating that Maryland voters believe in the true definition of marriage by a 54-37 margin.  The poll also found that 78 percent of Maryland voters believe that they, rather than the legislature, should have the final word on legalizing same-sex “marriage. “

“The results of this poll strongly affirm that we are on the right side of Maryland voters,” said Brian Brown, President of NOM.  “Not only do voters support marriage by a 17-point margin, but they reject the Legislature’s efforts to impose this without public input.”

While Senate members believe that bill will definitely pass in the final vote, supporters of true marriage will push to put the issue on a voter ballot.

The Maryland Catholic Conference, comprised of the Archdioceses of Washington and Baltimore, and the Diocese of Wilmington, has also lobbied against the bill and strongly encouraged Catholics to contact their Senators

“Our opposition to this bill does not rest on a simple concern for the interests of religious institutions only,” the conference said in a recent statement. “Stripping marriage of its unique connection to parenthood erases from law the right of a child to a mother and father, and ignores an essential question of why government favors marriage between one man and one woman over all other relationships.”

The Maryland Senate vote came on the same day President Barack Obama announced he would not to fight to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). 

Among those quick to decry the president’s statements was the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which called Obama’s negative characterization of true-marriage supporters “a serious threat to the religious liberty of marriage supporters nationwide.”

“[The President’s] decision represents an abdication of the responsibility of the Executive Branch to carry out its constitutional obligation to ensure that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed,” said the bishops in a press release.

God sends grace to understand that the Catholic faith is the true religion.

          February 25 -- St. Ethelbert of Kent

In the 6th century, St. Augustine of Canterbury and a group of missionaries were sent to pagan England by Pope St. Gregory the Great. 

Upon arrival, they processed carrying a silver cross and singing litanies asking God to save this people.  Soon they began to preach the Gospel in the court of King Ethelbert who welcomed them with the following words:

"Your words and promises are very beautiful. But because they are new and uncertain, I cannot approve them and leave everything that I along with all my people have followed for so long a time.  However, since you traveled from afar and made a long journey in order to share with us what you deem to be truer and better, I will not place obstacles in your way, but will receive you well and offer what is necessary for your subsistence.  Nor will I impede you from bringing to your religion all those whom you are able to persuade." 

True to his word, St. Ethelbert provided lodging and food for his guests. Evidently, the King's heart was touched by St. Augustine from the beginning.  Impressed with the behavior and doctrine of the monks, St. Ethelbert converted bringing a large number of his people to the Catholic faith as well as the two Kings from neighboring kingdoms. Thereafter, his example was responsible for the fact that no other nation gave the Church so many saintly Kings as did England.

The life of King St. Ethelbert shows that God sends His grace for anyone to understand that the Catholic faith is the true religion.  Let us pray that those who are given this grace do not deny it.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Once Again: Join a Prayerful Public Act of Reparation Against Jerry Springer at the Beck Center in Lakewood, Ohio

Jesus Christ continues to be blasphemed by Jerry Springer: The Opera at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood, Ohio

Disregarding over 21,000 protests and a large public act of reparation, the Beck Center continues to host the blasphemous production called Jerry Springer: The Opera. Two examples of blasphemies in the “opera” are:

The crucifixion is mocked and the Eucharist is trashed; Jesus wears a diaper, is fat and effeminate and later admits: “Actually, I am a bit gay.”

In face of such shocking blasphemies, you are invited to join TFP-America Needs Fatima, and God-fearing Americans everywhere, in another public act of reparation and protest on:

Date: Sunday, March 13

Time: 5:30-7:00 PM

Place: Beck Center for the Arts (Protest to 216-521-2540 and info@beckcenter.org)

17801 Detroit Ave (And Webb Ave.)

Lakewood, OH 44107

Information: Edward Ritchie 216-548-1479 www.ANF.org

This saint was the “anti-Judas"

        February 24 --- St. Matthias the Apostle

St. Matthias was privileged to be one of the 72 disciples of Our Lord and then, to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the 12 Apostles. To be chosen to such an illustrious position, we may assume that St. Matthias was the perfect replacement for the man who committed the greatest treason of history.

Since he had to be an "anti-Judas", he must have possessed the virtues that were diametrically opposed to the vices of Judas. Therefore, St. Matthias was exceedingly detached from material goods while being extremely honest and loyal. These virtues were most fitting to make reparation to Divine Justice for the heinous crime of the betrayer.

Let us ask St. Matthias to give us the virtues of loyalty, honesty, and detachment with a great equilibrium in facing the trials and joys of life.

Angry students shout down pro-life display at Florida State U

by Rebecca Millette

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, February 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A mob of protesters tried to shout down the recent pro-life Genocide Awareness Project exhibited by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform on campus at Florida State University. 

The Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) is a traveling photo-mural exhibit that compares abortion to historical genocides, such as that which took place in Rwanda.  Set up and facilitated by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR), GAP visits university campuses across the United States and Canada to show students the modern day genocide of abortion. 

At Florida State University (FSU) hostile crowds of pro-abortion students shouted “my body, my choice” while members of CBR tried to answer questions during an open microphone session.  However, despite the attempts to silence them, CBR succeeded in hearing and responding to dozens of questions from students.

One male student thanked CBR for their presence.  “If me and my ex had seen this two years ago,” he told them, “we would not have done what we did.”

To the crowd of protesters he commented: “How can you guys, honestly, stand here holding these signs saying ‘Get out!’ when you’re doing the same thing: you’re holding up signs, holding up images about, against this… claiming your free speech yet you’re denying them their free speech? How can you do that? How can you deny one person their free speech while exerting yours?”

Alex Holzbach, a student member of the College Republicans, who invited CBR to FSU, said, “We don’t support killing fetus’ because science has determined that they are human beings and we wanna protect the human beings right to life” according to WCTV.

In an address to students, Mike Harrington, executive director for CBR, explained the idea behind GAP. “[Genocide] is the systematic destruction of an individual class of human beings,” Harrington said, according to the FSView, an independent FSU student newspaper. “In this case, it’s the singling out or victimizing of pre-born children because of their age. Abortion is genocide simply because it’s killing the very young and singling them out for extermination.” 

One FSU “pro-choice” student said, “I think the pro-life people could have gone about this a different way to express their opinion without having these falsified disgusting images on our campus.”

Another student criticized the brutal depictions of the GAP, calling them “offensive” and “manipulative.”  How, he asked, could CBR compare pictures of genocide in Rwanda to the severed head image of an American abortion?

Stephanie Gray responded by describing her own encounter with a Rwandan woman, most of whose family was killed during the genocide.  The woman, said Gray, pointed to the abortion image and responded, “That’s worse, because at least my family could try to run away.”

“Successful social reformers have always used images of injustice to make their point,” said Harrington in defence of their tactics. “Whether it be civil-rights activists, anti-war protesters, anti-child labor activists - all throughout history, these types of images have been central to outlawing injustice. So, what we’re doing is nothing new.”

“The reason why people get all worked up about it is because it takes the veil off of what many consider to be a constitutional right. It shows what’s being chosen and, because of that, people get very upset. It’s very hard to defend abortion in light of the photographic evidence.”

Top OBGYN group’s draft guidelines on abortion cover up abortion/breast cancer link

by The Editors

LONDON, February 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A group of researchers has slammed a top professional association of obstetrician-gynecologists after new draft guidelines for abortion counseling again dismissed the abortion/breast cancer link.

Abortionists at the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) have prepared new preliminary guidelines on The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion that advise practitioners to tell women that “induced abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer.” 
The international Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer accused the ACOG of “putting their wallets ahead of their patients’ health much like tobacco executives.”

“Do they read standard medical texts at the RCOG?” asked Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. “Increased childbearing, starting at a younger age, and increased duration of breastfeeding sharply reduce breast cancer risk. The woman choosing abortion has a greater risk than the one choosing to give birth.
“The RCOG’s guidelines cite a review that says, ‘Failure to provide this information is a direct threat to maternal autonomy, diminishing a woman’s ability to give informed consent.’ The loss of the protective effect is only one of three breast cancer risks associated with induced abortion,” said Malec.
The guidelines acknowledge a “small increase in risk of subsequent preterm birth, which increases with the number of abortions.” Brent Rooney, a researcher in this field, called the RCOG’s words “the language of cover-up.” Rooney has uncovered multiple studies confirming the risk of preterm birth caused by induced abortion upon future unborn children.

According to Rooney, major studies have reported a doubling of early premature birth risk after two prior abortions, while women who had four or more prior abortions were found to experience nine times the risk of “extremely early premature births.”
“Two Americans and three Australians have successfully sued their doctors for failing to warn about the risks of breast cancer and emotional harm,” said Mrs. Malec. “It would serve them right at the RCOG to be sued for malpractice.”
The closing date for healthcare officials to submit their consultations on the guidelines to the RCOG is February 26, 2011.
International experts on the abortion-breast cancer link have submitted their consultations. They include Professor Joel Brind (Deputy Chair for Biology and Environmental Sciences at Baruch College, City University of New York) and Patrick Carroll (a statistician and actuary from Pension and Population Research Institute in London). Read their submissions and a discussion of the RCOG’s preliminary guidelines in a commentary from the Coalition on Breast Cancer.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Miraculous intervention of Our Lady saves man from suicide

Our Lady's powerful intervention helps to save souls:

Banned pro-life club sues Ontario university

by Patrick B. Craine

OTTAWA, Ontario, February 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Carleton Lifeline, the pro-life club at Carleton University, announced Wednesday morning that they are suing the University and its administration for discriminatory treatment over the 2010-2011 academic school year.

“We believe that the behaviour of the University is actionable. We have suffered discrimination and intimidation, we have been arrested and threatened and we are seeking restitution,” said Ruth Lobo, President of Carleton Lifeline. “The University’s discriminatory actions are shocking, to say the least. We want to ensure, through law, that this behaviour is not repeated at Carleton University ever again.”

The club is asking that they be allowed to “openly promote their beliefs on campus” pursuant to university policies respecting freedom of expression, academic freedom, and discrimination.  They’ve also asked for $200,000 plus costs for punitive damages, wrongful arrest, damage to reputation, and breach of contract.

The suit names Carleton University, University President Dr. Roseann O’Reilly Runte, Director of Housing and Conference Services David Sterritt, Director of Student Affairs Ryan Flannagan, and Director of Safety Allan Burns.

Lobo was arrested along with three other Carleton students on October 4th as they attempted to erect the Genocide Awareness Project, which uses large billboards of graphic images to compare abortion to past atrocities.  On October 27th, the students were threatened after holding an event called the “Choice Chain”, where the students stood along a campus sidewalk holding similar poster-sized images.

Carleton University proposed an “agreement” in November that would have seen the club’s activities placed under special limitations not demanded of other student groups.  The university proposed to set up a designated “zone” on campus where the students could stand with their signs, dictating that they must cover their posters when traveling to and from this zone.  But the students maintained that this area receives little traffic in the winter.

“Carleton University has allowed other exhibits using graphic images on campus,” commented Albertos Polizogopoulos, Carleton Lifeline’s lawyer. “Clearly the University opposes Lifeline’s message and not its medium. This is censorship and viewpoint discrimination and it violates Carleton University’s internal policies.”

The university has allowed graphic images of the Holocaust to be displayed, as well as photos of brutalized baby seals - in each case without warning signs or restricted areas.

Carleton Lifeline has also been decertified by the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), a decision they are challenging in court.

Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life of America said her group stands behind the pro-life club in the lawsuit.  “The discrimination and persecution they have faced for their pro-life beliefs is unbelievable,” she said.  “Carleton Lifeline has been heroic in their courage in the face of this discrimination and has lead the way in exposing the disgusting hypocrisy of their Administration.”

For more information about Carleton Lifeline and their statement of claim, visit their website here.

Sign your peaceful protest and oppose this pro-homosexual lecture at Catholic Canisius College

Action alert: Canisius College is inviting same-sex “marriage” activist Dustin Lance Black to talk about “GLBT Equality” on March 10 as part of a Leadership Series program.

REGISTER your peaceful protest here

Not only is Black a homosexual activist, but he is a board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which sponsored a federal court challenge to overturn Prop. 8 – the 2008 amendment that affirms traditional marriage in California.

The truth is this: God’s marriage is non-negotiable.

And Canisius College should not provide a platform to those who subvert the moral teaching of the Catholic Church.

REGISTER your peaceful protest now

After you sign your protest, please forward this message to your friends.

Send your prayer intentions to Fatima, Portugal

Antonio Fragelli and Kenneth Murphy are going to Fatima, Portugal, and they have offered to take your prayer intentions with them.

So just write them down.

Send prayer intentions to Fatima, Portugal.

Antonio and Kenneth will print them out, take them on the plane, and put them at the very spot where Our Lady appeared in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. (Intentions are confidential.)

Send prayer intentions to Fatima, Portugal.

Antonio and Kenneth will also pray for you once they arrive in Fatima.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

This saint was so obedient that he asked his superior to give him an order to die

            February 23 --  St. Dositheus

St. Dositheus was born in the middle of the sixth century. His early life was filled with frivolity and worldliness with no place for the Catholic faith.  During a trip to Jerusalem, he was moved by a painting of tormented souls suffering abominable tortures in Hell, even though its full meaning alluded him. 

At that moment, an extraordinarily beautiful lady approached him and explained the significance of Heaven, Hell and the Last Judgment. The explanation struck a healthy fear of condemnation in his soul and prompted him to ask the remedy to avoid eternal damnation.  The Lady responded," You must flee sin and pray" and she, then disappeared.

Upon hearing this advice, St. Dositheus fled to a monastery where he was taught to control his will and his passions. He learned patience and confidence by taking care of patients in the monastery infirmary.  St. Dositheus was an excellent student and learned the virtues of the spiritual life so well that on his deathbed, he asked his superior to give him an order to die.

Reading the life of St. Dositheus one is tempted to think that he was a "soft and fearful" man who ran away and hid himself in a monastery where everything goes smoothly and easily. But, on further reflection, we know that the Church canonizes only heroes and St. Dositheus is no exception.

Long hours of prayer and contemplation along with constant subjection of one's will to the will of his superior produced the self renunciation and love of God that is required for sanctity. Even his moment of death was an act of obedience!

Let us ask St. Dositheus to give us the grace of contemplating the good things in God's plan as coming from Him and the evil things coming from the Devil and his followers.  May we have such an obedience to the precepts of the Catholic Church that we reject everything that stands in the way of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Bleeding Christ statue in Bolivia

Please read about a statue of Our Lord Jesus Christ that is bleeding is Bolivia and is under investigation by the Bishop of Cochabomba.

Please read about it here;

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/bolivian-bishops-cautiously-investigate-bleeding-statue-of-christ/

Amazing quote from Saint Peter Damian

          File:Peter Damian bust.JPG

This is quote taken from St. Peter Damian’s book on Gomorrah:

"... I would surely prefer to be thrown into the well like Joseph who informed his father of his brothers' foul crime, than to suffer the penalty of God's fury, like Eli, who saw the wickedness of his sons and remained silent. (Sam 2:4) ... Who am I, when I see this pestilential practice flourishing in the priesthood to become the murderer of another's soul by daring to repress my criticism in expectation of the reckoning of God's judgment? ...

“How, indeed, am I to love my neighbor as myself if I negligently allow the wound, of which I am sure he will brutally die, to fester in his heart? ...[48] "So let no man condemn me as I argue against this deadly vice, for I seek not to dishonor, but rather to promote the advantage of my brother's well-being. "Take care not to appear partial to the delinquent while you persecute him who sets him straight. If I may be pardoned in using Moses' words, 'Whoever is for the Lord, let him stand with me.' (Ezek 32:26)" [49]

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The picture is from Srnec at en.wikipedia

Permission to use this photo is granted under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.

Former Planned Parenthood director: complicity with sex trafficking happens ‘all the time’

by Kathleen Gilbert

February 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The shocking scenes of complicity with illicit sex trafficking at Planned Parenthood clinics captured by undercover investigators and published this month are a common occurrence thanks to the abortion giant’s “idea of tolerance” of various sexual lifestyles,  a former Planned Parenthood director told Fox’s Bill O’Reilly this past weekend.

“It happens all the time, it happened at my clinic,” said Abby Johnson, the former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas, on the O’Reilly Factor Friday night. Johnson converted to the pro-life cause from the abortion business after witnessing an ultrasound-guided abortion of a 13-week-old unborn baby in October 2009.

“You let it happen?” O’Reilly challenged, to which Johnson replied, “Absolutely. I let it happen.” She suggested that Planned Parenthood workers may not even realize what they are doing because of their employer’s philosophy of sexual “tolerance.”

“Planned Parenthood has created this idea of tolerance,” she explained. “They want to tolerate all these lifestyles, and all these different walks of life for their clients; they forget to protect their clients. They forget to protect these minors that are being abused by pimps and being abused by older men. They forget to protect these women that they’re there to help.”

Planned Parenthood’s aggressively liberal sexual philosophy, a foundational pillar of the group’s mission and philosophy, is clearly displayed on its website, which encourages teens to pursue sexual pleasure through masturbation, homosexual activity, and, in a page that has been recently taken down, anal penetration. In addition, Planned Parenthood encourages parents to “give babies a sense of ... their sexuality, and their bodies from birth.”

By age eight, children should begin learning that “that people have sex for pleasure - that it’s not only done to have a baby’,” and by age thirteen, that “there are a lot of different, normal ways to have sex play,” according to the website’s section on parenting.

The abortion organization last week was met with possibly the greatest threat in its history, after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a critical budget bill that not only gutted Title X “family planning” funds, but also directly barred Planned Parenthood itself and all its national affiliates from receiving any federal funding.

Johnson claimed that without funding the organization would be simply unable to operate. “They can’t survive without our tax dollars,” she said. “They don’t have enough support to raise it privately.”

Government grants are the second-largest source of revenue for Planned Parenthood, second only to “medical services,” a category largely propped up by abortions, which cost hundreds to thousands of dollars each.

Ireland’s leading opposition party ‘opposed to the legalization of abortion’

by Hilary White

DUBLIN, February 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With less than five days left to election day, Ireland’s leading opposition party, Fine Gael, has issued a statement saying they are “opposed to the legalisation of abortion.”

The statement was hailed by pro-lifers as an indication of their success in keeping the life issues front and centre of an election that has been dominated by Ireland’s economic crisis. At the same time pro-life campaigners told LifeSiteNews.com that are still “some serious concerns.” 

Fine Gael, the party likely to take the lead in Friday’s election, also said it was “opposed to research conducted on human embryos, and favours alternative stem cell research that does not involve human embryos such as adult stem cell and umbilical cord research.”

However, pro-lifers are concerned about the party’s promise to “establish an all-party Oireachtas [Parliamentary] Committee … to consider the implications to the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights and to make recommendations.”

“Fine Gael’s representatives will bring to the proposed all-party committee a clear commitment that women in pregnancy will receive whatever treatments are necessary to safeguard their lives, and that the duty of care to preserve the life of the baby will also be upheld,” said the party’s statement.

A spokesman for the Life Institute, Niamh Uí Bhriain, told LifeSiteNews.com that there are still “some serious concerns” about the party’s position and has written to the party’s leader Enda Kenny, asking the party to take the pro-life “pledge.”

“They say they oppose abortion but then they follow by stating that a Committee will decide what to do in regard to the European court ruling. They can’t have it both ways and we need clarity on this immediately.”

“What will Fine Gael do if their Committee recommends the legalisation of abortion?”

Two weeks ago, pro-life advocates in Ireland expressed their skepticism when a representative of Fine Gael told a voter that the party will uphold the country’s status quo on abortion. Each of the country’s leading pro-life groups called on the party to be much more specific.

Bernadette Smyth, Director of Precious Life, said her group welcomed this more detailed statement, but called on the party to “take the pledge.”

Smyth and Precious life were among the 30 signatories of a call for all of Ireland’s political parties to promise that they “will not dismantle Ireland’s Constitution” and will maintain the right of the people to decide constitutional changes by referendum. 

Politicians who take the pledge agree that they “will respect and uphold the Constitutional right of the Irish people to decide on Ireland’s unique pro-life status,” and “will not legislate for abortion and will absolutely oppose any attempt by unelected judges from the European Court of Human Rights, (ECHR) to usurp the Constitutional right of the Irish people to decide on abortion.”

Uí Bhriain said that Fine Gael “must recognize” that there is never any medical necessity for abortion, “or we face the danger of legislation which ‘regulates’ legitimate medical treatment by describing them as ‘lawful abortions.’” Over the last year, the Life Institute and other pro-life advocates have been fighting a running battle with abortion lobbyists who have sponsored a media campaign that claims that women are being denied “medical treatment” because of Ireland’s laws.

“There seems to be confusion - deliberate or otherwise - in Fine Gael statements when distinguishing between legitimate medical treatment and abortion,” Uí Bhriain said.

However, she said her group also welcomes the party’s opposition to embryonic stem cell research, “in particular since we’ve spent a decade explaining the difference between adult stem cell research and lethal research on human embryos.”

Last week, a poll was released showing that the Irish overwhelmingly support continued constitutional legal protections for the unborn and restrictions on embryonic research.

The strongly pro-EU Fine Gael, one of the first political parties to emerge after Irish independence, has the second largest number of seats in the Irish parliament and the most representatives in local government and the European Parliament.

While a referendum would be required to change the constitution, which protects the unborn, pro-life campaigners have long warned that abortion advocates are working to bring abortion into the country through the “back door.” One of these back-door attempts was the notorious “ABC case” brought to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

In its ruling, the court did not call for Ireland to change its law; however, Labour Party leader Eamonn Gilmore has claimed that it required the legalization of abortion on demand, a major plank of the Labour party’s campaign.

Fine Gael is usually described in the European press as “centre right.” It has never held power in government without the Labour Party as a coalition partner.

Patrick Buckley, the EU representative for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said, “Politicians choose their words very carefully and there is as yet no firm commitment that they will not legislate for the introduction of abortion should the proposed all party committee make such a recommendation.”

“Neither have Fine Gael said what their position will be in the event that they do not have an overall majority and enter into a coalition with the pro abortion Labour Party.”

Pope encourages Philippine bishops to promote sanctity of marriage

by Thaddeus Baklinski

MANILA, Mon Feb 21, 2011 (LifeSIteNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI has called on the bishops of the Philippines to strengthen the sacrament of matrimony, especially among young Filipino couples.

In Friday’s address to bishops from the Philippines, delivered during their “ad limina” visit, the Holy Father remarked: “While the Philippines continues to face many challenges in the area of economic development, we must recognize that these obstacles to a life of happiness and fulfillment are not the only stumbling blocks that must be addressed by the Church.”

“Filipino culture is also confronted with the more subtle questions inherent to the secularism, materialism, and consumerism of our times,” the pope said.

Noting that the “the glamor of this world” will not satisfy the natural desire for happiness, the pope encouraged the bishops to remind young people that “only true friendship with God will break the bonds of loneliness from which our fragile humanity suffers.”

In the Philippines, the pope continued, faith “plays a very important role in the lives of many young people, a fact that is due in large part to the patient work of the local Church to reach out to youth at all levels.”

The pope further exhorted the bishops to show young people “the importance of the sacraments as instruments of God’s grace and assistance.”

“This is particularly true of the sacrament of matrimony, which sanctifies married life from its beginning, so that God’s presence may sustain young couples in their struggles,” Benedict XVI said.

The full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the bishops of the Philippines is available here.

This saint shows that mercy and justice are always found together

                 February 22 --- St. Margaret of Crotona

During the time of St. Margaret's birth, the thirteenth century, the great orders of the Church were beginning to make their mark.

Twenty years before, St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata and St. Clare died when St. Margaret was but four years old.  A few years later her own mother died, leaving Margaret in the house with her father and new step mother. 

This arrangement proved difficult for Margaret whose sensitive nature conflicted with the strict temper of her new mother.  Therefore, at seventeen it was easy for Margaret to run away with a young cavalier who took her to his castle and a life of worldly pleasures. 

For nine years, Margaret lived in dissolution ending when she found her lover in a grave a few miles from the castle. Not having a place to go, she turned to prayer, finding solace and direction at the Friary of the Franciscans of Crotona.  Here she was taken in by two sisters who willingly shared their meager means with her. 

From this point on, Margaret spent the rest of her life in prayer, penance and poverty, constantly making reparation for the sins of her past.  Her body lies incorrupt in the Church of St. Basil since February 22, 1297, the day of her death at fifty years old.

When one considers the life of St. Margaret of Crotona, he immediately thinks of the mercy of God. But a closer look reveals that along with God's mercy came His justice.  St. Margaret had to endure many sufferings before she was confirmed in grace. She struggled with many temptations, fasted rigorously, and worked without compensation. Our Lord called her "poverella" while she endured a time of probation and purification. Only after she completely atoned for her sins did she merit being called "My child".

Mercy and Justice are always found together.  One does not exist without the other. Sin offends God. The sinner must amend the injustice. God in His mercy shows the sinner the need to do this.  Let us ask St. Margaret for the grace of understanding the evils of sin and the need for sorrow, reparation and atonement.

Monday, February 21, 2011

This saint teaches us NOT to be complacent before the sins of sodomy and blasphemy

          February 21 -- St. Peter Damian

St. Peter Damian, the youngest in a poor but noble family, was  born in 1007.  His elder brother was instrumental in providing a him with a good education which enhanced his natural gifts of intelligence and piety.

In 1035, wishing to dedicate his life entirely to God through prayer and penance and to reject the scandals of the university, St. Peter joined the hermitage of Fonte-Avellana, donned the monastic habit and until his death remained the prior.  Under his auspicious guidance, he enacted certain disciplines, one being a daily siesta to balance the fatigue of the night office.

From the seclusion of his cloister, St. Peter was diligent in watching the needs of the Church.  When Gregory VI was crowned pontiff , he wrote urging him to deal immediately with the scandals in the church in Italy.

At the time, simony and clerical vices were causing much harm.  Among his many writings was his outstanding treatise, "Liber Gomorrhianus", which condemned according to perennial Church teaching, homosexuality.

Although this work was thoroughly Catholic doctrine, it created all sorts of enmities and threats against the author.  Undaunted St. Peter continued to defend the Church, even confronting rioters in the Cathedral while imposing sanctions and penance on the guilty. 

Although St. Peter was inclined to spend his life in the solitude of the cloister, he submitted his intentions for those of God by traveling to places where the needs of the Church were being jeopardized. In art, he is depicted as a pilgrim holding a papal Bull signifying his many legations.

The Church today is going through several similar trials to those in the 11th century.  Let us pray to St. Peter Damian to give us a clear understanding of the dangers of being complacent in the face of modern heresies and to completely reject the sins of sodomy and blasphemy.