Sunday, November 30, 2008

Homily for First Sunday of Advent

This week's homily from Fr. Stephen:

Dear Faithful,

Today is the First Sunday of Advent. As we look forward to celebrating the Birth of Our Savior we recall the words of the Gospel that spoke of these words:"In the fullness of time God sent His Son into the world." This manner of speaking: the fullness of time indicates the end time when God completes His word. By it we also recall the grave message of Our Lord about the end of time, when on the Last Day Christ will reveal the work and power of God. For God will allow us to see it. This final or His Second Coming of Christ will reveal everything we did not see. Nothing will remain hidden. Immediately before His Power will be shown, the power of goodness, the fullness of Truth revealed, He will allow evil its final own showing its power. Christ will reveal His power and His goodness and also the holiness of his faithful. Their victory over all evil will also be made manifest. Christ will allow evil to show itself, its power, which the Lord described as the time of tribulation, recalling the ‘hour of darkness at the time of his suffering. Evil will cause on earth such agony and sufferings as has never been seen and never again will be seen. All will be tested, and many will prove to fall. The fall of man without God will show its ugly face. The last battle between good and evil already begins to show. It will increase and come to a crescendo. Our Lord reveals for the sake of His faithful that even nature would be caught in this universal time of tribulation. He speaks of the roaring of the sees; waves, never been seen before, will cause fear and trembling which will test even man of faith, but for their sake, Our Lord tells us: those days will be shortened so that the faithful might be saved, those who hold out to the end, trusting in God’s absolute power and Lordship over the world for the world will be purged and purified of evil, which will do all its tricks and abominations seeking to destroy all goodness from the face of the earth. But God is in charge and will bring victory to those who do not succumb to the promises of the power of evil. Nations will be caught in a life and death battle. The Anti-christ will deceive and lead astray nearly everyone. In fact the Lord tells us that the whole world will hate those few faithful left, because of their belief and fidelity to the name of Jesus, who refuse to join the sins of the world. For those few God will shorten those days, because Christ says, that unless those days be shortened, no flesh would survive on earth. God is in charge and He will deliver His justice, for the Lord will return after those evil days of tribulation. The faithful finds consolation in these revelations, knowing ahead of time that there is hope; victory awaits the faithful despite of the tortures, persecutions and reigns of terror. The faith in God and in Christ will be the only light to the faithful. Darkness will reign but the faithful will believe that evil will be defeated.
As we look to Christmas the Church and the truths Christ revealed for our sake, our faith is being strengthened, for we need to stand firm and steadfast and as Jesus says, we can look up and know that He will return to rescue those Who refuse to be lead astray by sin. We can look forward to the coming trials and tests, for those who remain faithful and refuse to join doing evil and do not succumb to the deception of sin, not a hair of their head would be harmed. Our faith is already begun to be tested. Our hope is in the power of our faith in Our God and in His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters. Nothing else will remain. Those who remain faithful will triumph and enter into the kingdom of God.

One may wonder why God allows evil in the world. We must remember that evil came into the world because men chose to sin and rebel. Evil came to reign in the world because man opened his heart to evil and evil came in to take over our world. God is still in charge and evil is under God’s power, allowing evil to strengthen and purify the good. By our faith in God we can conquer evil and with God we also reign over evil. We are safe and protected by God if we resist sin. Sin is the way evil takes over us. Choose God and choose only good to conquer evil. We must remember why Jesus came to earth, to save us from evil and show us how we can conquer evil. Have faith in God, obey His will and evil can not conquer you. God is in charge and uses evil and despite evil God accomplishes His will. Jesus said scandal is necessary but woe to those who cause it. God can use it for good to be tested and made perfect. Evil serves God and only within the limit God allows it to operate. Woe to those who turn to evil. Weakness and lack of faith in God’s power and goodness proves only that only God is good and ultimately only His goodness lives and reigns forever. God allows our temptation. Jesus taught us in The Lord prayer: lead us not into temptation. He already tells us that God has a purpose in allowing evil to show that its power can be conquered and evil is passing away, but those who turn to evil and allow themselves to be trapped by evil reveal that they are not worthy, their hearts are not steadfast, they are willing, as Judas was, to betray God and His law and goodness. Evil is not our end, nor may we look upon it, for anyone not keeping his eyes on God and does not focus on God and on His goodness, those who do not seek the holiness and His justice will be trapped and become destroyed by evil. Our freedom, the power of our free will chooses and determines how good or evil we can be and are. God gave us freedom to choose, many, many choices whereby we are tested and are able to grow by turning daily not to evil but to good. These many choices and tests, even temptations, that we resist and reject are helps to us to cement and grow in the goodness of God. By resisting The Commandments of God reveals that we are sinners but called to seek goodness, God’s perfection and not to follow any other ways or voices but only the call of our good God who gave us the Commandments. Our love of God is shown when ever we choose to seek the good and do Our God’s will. Remember what the Lord told the Apostles, because He is speaking to you also at this very hearing: If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Dear faithful, if you want not to lose your life, you must lock your eyes and will on Christ crucified. You must begin to shape your life and will so as to follow His way and His example. Become like Christ whom you are choosing as your Lord. Take not your eyes off Him. Do not allow the world, the flesh and the devil to distract you from your only hope, otherwise you will be lost. As the world and the times around us are getting ever more evil, your faith will be tested. The only way you can save your soul is by keeping your mind in tune with and in union, and in close friendship with Jesus Our Lord. Beware that when you return into the world, you must not allow yourself to forget what you decided here in His presence, you cannot turn back and return to continue seeking evil you know will destroy you. You need to strengthen yourself by a life of constant turning to God by a life of prayer and by your contacts with Our Lord through the contact that prayers give you. If your past downfall was television, or a place that caused you to drift from Christ, you must not return to visit them, those are the cause of your plague, the traps that will keep you and destroy you as before. You need to develop new practices, the practice of doing good, they must be the deeds of good, seeking the face of God, keeping in union with Christ in obedience to Christ, seek not your own will that trapped you, but must subdue your will to God’s goodness, otherwise you are already going sliding back into your trap you know sin will cut you off from God. You must have no part, not even a so called little compromise. You cannot be divided. A house divided will fall. Take the words of the Lord for it.

Christmass, Christ’s first arrival will e here shortly. Prepare your heart for Jesus to live within you. Give up your whole heart to Him to live with you. Allow no space whatever to evil. Do not try to divide your heart. If you continue to make progress from week to week and thus grow and sanctify your life and remain steadfast, then Our Lord’s Arrival on the Last Day you need not to fear. He awaits those who love Him with his gift of reward that will lift you up, close to Christ and to God.

Be sure you grow from week to week. Come to strengthen yourself by weekly confession. Begin your fasting, Start fasting. Chose a day or two, when you come to Church. Make the stations of the Cross. Do your spiritual works every day. Do not allow sloth and pride keep you away and end up on the other side. Seek the face of God and He will hold you up. Make Advent each week fruitful, bringing your gifts to the Infant King by your daily deeds of virtue.



Happy and Holy New Year

All the Obamamas had me more excited than usual to be entering into Advent. There's just something about this crazy old world (They're naming their children after him????) that has me longing for the the spiritual pilgrimage to the Nativity.

I decided this year to add a crucifix beside my Christmas pin (a festive crystal rocking horse) as witness to, as they say, the reason for the season.

I'm starting my mornings in Advent with St. Therese's morning prayer:


O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.

O my God! I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity.

Amen.

Hope your Advent got off to a great start!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Feeding at the Trough of Permissiveness




Last week, Planned Parenthood reacted to the post-election interview with
Cardinal O'Malley
in the Boston Globe that portrayed Obama and his theological assistants as the culture of death.


I'll spare you the poison. Suffice it to say that Planned Parenthood's response was opining that "92% of Catholics use some form of birth control", they support their children being taught immoral and irreligious "safe" sexual techniques, preventions and abortion when they sleep with irresponsible partners they don't want to have children with and the Cardinal ought to reconnect to the trials and tribulations of the 'reality of life of his own constituency'.


This Archbishop doesn't have the stamina to connect to that reality because if he did, he'd have to face the systemic theological immorality taught by his own priests and educational institutions, and put an end to it.


He is a father who hires planned parenthood to teach his own children while he carries on a Don Quixote mission of being worried in the public square about what the children of the earth are being taught. Dysfunction rather than disingenuous, but nevertheless, the culture of death is causally related to the systemic rot of his own theological empire. Faced with a choice between the salvation of his priests and his popularity, the Cardinal Archbishop picks the latter. His priests follow suit and the teachers, politicians, nurses, physicians, pharmacists and families in the pews follow their example.


Is the Archbishop "worried"?

Worry is a chariot. You either get on it and wring your hands in a stationary position or you fire up the engines of unselfish love for the welfare of the children and seek and implement the solution.


Yesterday, the economics is superior to the sanctity of life Obama generation trampled a Walmart employee to death at a Black Friday sale.

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling `I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

Of course they kept shopping. These are the trails and tribulations. They kept shopping, they kept voting - irrespective of who gets trampled. The fruit of Catholic priests who misrepresent "faithful citizenship" are blind to their accountability in it, but there is no mistaking the intellectual and spiritual fog that empowered it: In a recession, the trampling of life is immaterial in the economic necessity to stretch the dollar.


Selfish desire and ambition lie at the roots of permissive spiritual parenting. The cult of celebrity is a leech sucking the lifeblood out of priesthood. Crucial to the survival of the leech is the unwillingness to accept the consequences of teaching right from wrong, truth from lies, light from darkness, salvation from damnation.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanks Giving

I love the day that forces us to pause to give thanks for God's presence in our lives through our sufferings and challenges and in the joy and successes, for our food, family and friends. I love the cleaning, decorating, recipe hunting, cooking and mostly the realization Advent and the Christmas season is upon us.

Below is a reflection on giving thanks written by a friend. Enjoy. Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one.

“Thanks Giving”


“Thanksgiving” can be a wonderful holiday and a very blessed day. But true THANKS GIVING is an attitude of deep appreciation for the many gifts God has given us. In this time of economic distress, many of the “things” we have taken for granted may have changed, but there are gifts which remain that truly are “more precious than gold.” The greatest blessing is our faith in our loving Lord. To be more real to us, this Lord has given us special relationships — family and friends — who walk with us on this life’s journey.

Perhaps this Thanksgiving Day can be a beginning of a SEASON OF THANKS, a time to really think about, cherish, and thank God for individuals who have touched our lives. The season of ADVENT— preparation for Christmas -- follows Thanksgiving. I feel challenged this year to use the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to focus each day on one individual who has blessed me. And I extend the same invitation to you.

Some of these people continue to be part of our everyday lives. Some may have passed away, but they are still very much alive in our hearts.

The person I’d like to thank God for today is my sister Sandy. In two weeks she’ll be celebrating a ‘special birthday.’ I would never tell her age because she is three years older than I — and someone might do the math.

Sandy’s life has blessed so many — and today I am so thankful that she has blessed ME. Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday, and each year she invites us all to her home. So on this special day, I thank God for her love and her faithful life. She is always ‘there’ for family and friends and others in need.

St. Paul wrote, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making request for you with all joy.” (Philippians 1:3,4)

Dear Lord,
Teach us to have a greater awareness and genuine THANKS GIVING for those individuals who bless our lives. May a daily awareness of these people strengthen our gratitude and prepare us to cherish THE GREATEST GIFT whom we celebrate on Christmas. Amen.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Biden and Abortion: The Conscience Takes No Prisoners

Following the Fall meeting of the U.S. Catholic bishops in Baltimore, where they pledged not to yield ground to the incoming Obama administration on the issue of abortion, Bishop Samuel Aquila has revealed that vice president-elect Joe Biden is struggling with his conscience over his support for abortion.



Fr. Corapi's EWTN lecture last night touched upon confirming people in their sins, the moral blindness and deafness, the murder of a conscience, the blood of the innocents that cry out for vengeance, defender of truth or lies, walking in light or darkness, the way of life and the way of death.

He joked about Jesus's message to a crowd of people whose consciences were too dead to have any idea what Christ was talking about. I know why you don't understand me, I know why you don't get what I'm saying - your father is the devil. Father said Christ would be shuffled off to sensitivity training.

“We bishops are united in our teaching and our belief in the sanctity of all life. That’s not new, and it’s across the board, and some politicians have missed that.”

One particular threat to the unborn that the bishops are worried about is the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which President-elect Obama said he would sign into law as his first act as president.

Bishop Aquila criticized Obama’s willingness to sign the Act in his most recent column for the Diocese of Fargo newspaper, writing that Obama “directly opposes the divine law of God concerning the dignity of each human life, and so he strongly disagrees with the position of the Catholic Church.”

Given the serious threats posed by FOCA and by Catholics with poorly formed consciences who vote in favor of keeping abortion legal, the U.S. bishops are redoubling their efforts to explain the Church’s teaching. ......

“The nice thing about Biden, at least he says his conscience bothers him, which is good,” Aquila said.

Bishop Aquila argues that this stirring in their conscience needs to go further. “But they really should not be presenting themselves for Holy Communion because it is a scandal. And by us giving them Holy Communion, essentially what is communicated to them is that their position is fine.”

The Bishop of Tallahassee-Pensacola agrees with this as well. After a visit to his diocese by Biden during the presidential campaign, Bishop John Richard wrote to the politician and told him to examine his conscience about his support for laws that “fail to protect the unborn” before going to Communion.

Who'll win the battle in Biden's conscience depends upon who he decides holds the truth - his running mate or the Roman Catholic Church.

Homily for Last Sunday of Church Year

From an orthodox priest. Enjoy.

Dear Faithful,

Today we have come to the end of the Liturgical year, the Last Sunday in the Church Calendar. It is a day to consider both the end of our life here on earth, as well a to reflect on the end of the world. Our readings bring our attention to the inevitable temporary nature of time and that of the material world of which both we are part. Everything that has a beginning comes to an end. One day we were born, one day we shall pass from this world. God created the world and He also will have completed His work with creation. Our Lord tells us this inevitable fact, and speaks clearly of the end of the world. It is for our own good that the Church helps us to stop and to reflect especially, today on the end of time and on the end of the world. It can be a sobering wake up call we need from time to time to face. St Paul prayed for his faithful of Colossae that they might be found ready to face the coming Judgement on the Last Day. Since Our Lord revealed that no one, not even the Son of God knows when this end will break upon the world, He said it will come as a thief in the night, when no one expects it; it will surprise the world. He said the Father has reserved it’s occurance for Himself. No saints, no angels know it will come. The generation of St Paul was very much aware of it's coming and lived their lives as if the Last Day could dawn on them any day, pursuing their lives in the awareness that the end might be any day and were so motivated to be ready and live in awareness of God’s caring and loving presence, which helped them to stay close to Him in Grace. Once an Apostle asked Our Lord "If many would be saved?" He said: "Try to enter by the narrow gate that leads to Life, for at the end many will try to get in many other ways but will only find themselves unable to enter and will be left outside." What is that "narrow gate?" This narrow gate is the way of self-denial, discipline, generous love toward God and neighbor, life of self-giving, self-sacrifice. This way is the fulfillment of the two great commandments: Love of God and love of neighbor.

One thing is certain for us all at the end: And Our Lord made it clear: Goodness will triumph and evil will be defeated. God who is the Source of all goodness, will reign and will reveal His Power. Our Lord said: "The Son of Man will appear on the clouds of heaven with His Angels, who He will send to gather the elect into Heaven from the four corners of the earth separating the good from evil; first, men of evil will be cast into everlasting fire, created for the devil and his angels who fought against God and men. Then God's faithful ones will be freed and taken into His rest, the Kingdom of goodness, triumph and joy. Jesus revealed that many on earth will lament and beat their breasts in disappointment, realizing that they were fools and lived in disobedience and revolt against God and His Will. It was for this reason St Paul prayed for his faithful that God may grant them the wisdom to seek and to know His Will, as we read in the Epistle. Because to know and to seek God’s Will is what can help and assure us to bring our own will into unity with His Will. What this means is this: Being one with God’s Will is to be in his Grace, to live in His favor.

On the Last Day when everything will be made known, no secrets will remain hidden, everyone will recognize the reason why God had sent His Son into the world. This will be fully known: God had sent His Son into the world to show mankind by His teaching and by the model and example of His life how to live our lives on earth.

For many who do not know, there is still time to find out, as the world is even now being evangelized all over the planet what message Christ had brought to earth from the Father to men: God is inviting all men to live in His justice and holiness, in charity and peace, so those who listen might save their souls by obeying God’s desire for all men to be saved, doing good and avoiding evil and all the tricks and traps Satan brings to distract men to ignore God and live their self-centered and sinful lives. Jesus Our Lord showed by His humble and obedient way that can lead each soul to the Father. All His teachings we heard throughout the year and throughout our lives were our opportunities to learn and to put them into practice. From the first teachings of Christ to the last mandate to the Apostles we heard that it is the decisive turning away from the world of sin, the changing of one’s heart, which is the way to Our Father, to Eternal Life. Turning away from the world and turning to Christ in humble submission of our will to God, is the way by which gesture we accept His invitation and so give to God the space of our heart, so that He might love, filling our lives with His peace and joy, that His Truth and Will may take root in our lives and that these God-given Truths may transform our fallen human nature, our selfishness and pride into generous giving of our selves back to God and in service of our neighbors’ needs also to be saved.

The Last Day will be the Day of Judgement. All the books, so to speak, will be opened, and all truths will be revealed. Each person, including Angels and Devils will be rewarded for the good or for the evil they did. Jesus revealed in the Gospel that the Devils know this and are trembling. The time for God’s mercy is coming to an end and His Justice will be served. The Day of the Lord is the terrible day for all evil, but for the just it will be freedom and being finally crowned with glory. The same very Day is cause for evil to tremble but for the just the awaited joy. Damnation for the bad and salvation for the good. Jesus, the humble servant, obedient in service, went to Heaven, showing us how and what road is the way and is opened to all, who obey and love God.

Today the Church reminds us of these truths of our faith, in order that no one would be led astray by misleading modernist rationalizations that everyone will be saved and evil is just an alternative life style. Therefore as the fist disciples we too do well to give a hearing to Our Savior Jesus Christ, who said Heaven and Earth, meaning all the planets and stars above and the earth here below on which we stand and live, will pass away, St Peter tells us in his letter, will be destroyed by fire, Christ continues: but My words, the truths I brought for to you from My Father, will never pass away, but will come true. Our Lady at Fatima also confirmed it with her promise God gave her, that Her Immaculate Heart will triumph, meaning that all evil men who resist and reject her message from God and not listen to, not heed, will suffer their deserved defeat.

Let us close our reflection by the words of St Paul to the Colossians: May you walk worthy of God in all things pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might according to the power of His glory that" you received when your sins He wiped away and gave you the joy of His freedom from sin. When you were forgiven you were given this power of God’s glory that make your heart glad and free. Do not allow anything, nor anyone to rob you of this power God gave you and can give you when He replaces your sins with His power of glory that turns your sorrow and shame to joy in your soul. Give always thanks to God the Father, who had made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light, who had delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sin." Amen.

Cardinal George Fires Another Warning Across the Bow of Obama's Ship

Catholics Who Vote for Freedom of Choice Act Could Face Automatic Excommunication

At a press conference at the fall meeting of the USCCB held in Baltimore last week, CNSNews.com asked Cardinal George if the language in the Catholic Catechism that says “formal cooperation” in abortion incurs the penalty of excommunication would apply to a Catholic member of Congress voting for FOCA.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense and the church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life,” CNSNews.com asked.

“If openly Catholic politicians vote for this Freedom of Choice Act, which would pretty much allow unfettered access to abortion in the United States, would it be an automatic grounds for excommunication? But even if it’s not automatic … could you just explain the process of the excommunication?” CNSNews.com added.

“The excommunication is automatic if that act is in fact formal cooperation, and that is precisely what would have to be discussed once you would see the terms of the act itself,” responded George.

“Could you expand on that, Cardinal,” a reporter asked.

“The categories in moral theology about cooperating in evil, which make you complicit in the evil even though you don’t do it yourself, are material cooperation, which is usually remote and therefore doesn’t involve you in the moral action except in a very auxiliary and minor way, and formal cooperation, which would involve you even though you are not doing it, in the way that makes you culpable,” said George.

“So we would have to take a look at each case, and at each law, to determine whether or not the cooperation is material or formal. We’ve never done that,” he added.
I'm really encouraged by the leadership of Cardinal George.

Deal Hudson does a good job at flushing out the definition of formal cooperation.

The Kiss Ass Capers of Delusional Doug

Doug Kmeic has responded to Cardinal Stafford's definition of Obama as “aggressive, disruptive, and apocalyptic” and the fact that "America has suffered a cultural earthquake",

You can forget Reagan. Obama, Kmeic says, is more Catholic than anybody who served as President and saved lives of unborn children.

Kmiec told the paper that Stafford was giving a false portrayal of Obama and accused him of talking about Obama's abortion views not as they are but as they are made out to be by opponents.

“Sometimes all of us — even the wisest among us – are given to speak not from personal knowledge, but from that which has been portrayed as true, but is really a caricature,” said Kmiec in an interview with The Tower.

“When Stafford gets to know Obama better, said Kmiec, he will readily see that Obama “has far more in common with our great faith tradition than any political administration in recent memory.”

Kmeic's deliberate self-serving misrepresentations of Obama's radical abortion agenda is some performance.

Meanwhile Deal Hudson reports that President-elect Obama has named the executive director of Emily's List -- Ellen Moran -- as White House communications director.In case you are not familiar with Emily's List -- in 2006 it gave $11,000,00 to pro-choice Democratic women candidates

Codifies another of Cardinal Stafford's statements about the state of affairs in America with Obama and the delusional:

“For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal," he continued, comparing the plight of the US Church under Obama to Christ's agony in the garden. "We will know that garden,”

The Seduction of the Ego and the Twenty-Third Psalm

When this Russian conductor found out other people's names were bigger than his in the BSO program, he storms out.

The week's early rehearsals had gone marvelously, he continued, speaking with occasional help from a translator. The trouble began on Wednesday during a rehearsal break, when the conductor and his wife took a stroll around Symphony Hall. They came upon a promotional poster that gave the week's soloist, the cellist Lynn Harrell, top billing, both with large print and a photograph. Rozhdestvensky's name appeared in smaller print as part of the program announcement.

Soon afterward, the conductor came across a copy of the orchestra's season brochure, a marketing tool designed to entice potential subscribers. He found a page with the heading "Artists who inspire" and a smaller section devoted to "Distinguished Conductors." That section, while including the names of two little-known conductors, did not mention his name. It appears only in a third section on the page under the heading "The Cello Shines," in connection with Harrell, this week's cello soloist.

"I felt insulted by the actions of the administration," he explained, "I feel not only slighted but I suffered what is called in Russian a moral insult, and I'm free to take any actions to defend myself in public."



Whining, crying, a temper tantrum when he doesn't get top billing. At the ripe old age of 77, I don't see a lot of fruit in this story from the Biblical parable of what to do with our God-given talents. Seems this soul has internalized his talents and used the power as a vehicle for self love, notoriety and fortune.

Talents come with seductions and life is a constant battle of discretion. If you are not in tune with the Holy Spirit, another power is unleashed by the master of seduction.


The decades of religious and clergy teaching and preaching the theology that we are passengers to our own thought processes have come home to roost. A generation unleashed from their moral compass are tricked into believing their concupiscence is god speaking to them. Concupiscence, diametrically opposed to God.

Handing the power of a life to the journey of flights of thought and emotions is a causeway of littered wreckage from the gratification of the ego: The drama and endless pursuits of lavish attention, perceived slights, projections of motives that aren't there, the depression and mood swings caused when one can't get people to feed malignant esteem.

With the "change" of Obama digging up the dead Clinton administration, there will be a resurgence of leadership that empowers by leading into temptation both by omission and commission.

Let's be on our guard. Stay alert for our ego and flight of thought for the devil knows our weaknesses. Neither get baited nor bait others in the feeding frenzies that surrounds our wagons. Be present in every moment and in every situation. Frequent the confessional when we trip and fall and in the void of sweeping our souls clean, fill our internal sanctuaries with the Blessed Sacrament. Pray without ceasing and be a witness to what fills us with hope, joy and the fruit of fidelity to the Lord, surrendering every stumbling block.

Give much gratitude to the laity, priests, Bishops, Saints who shepherd us to the Twenty-Third Psalm.

Shepherd me, O God,
beyond my wants,
beyond my fears,
from death into life.



1. God is my shepherd,
so nothing shall I want,
I rest in the meadows
of faithfulness and love,
I walk by the quiet waters of peace.
2. Gently you raise me
and heal my weary soul,
you lead me by pathways
of righteousness and truth,
my spirit shall sing
the music of your Name.
3. Though I should wander
the valley of death,
I fear no evil,
for you are at my side,
your rod and your staff,
my comfort and my hope.
4. You have set me a banquet of love
in the face of hatred,
crowning me with love
beyond my pow’r to hold.
5. Surely your kindness and mercy
follow me all the days of my life;
I will dwell in the house of my God
forevermore.

UPDATE: Reader sent youtube!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Pope Fisks Luther's Treatise of Justification

The Law of Love vs. Love of the Law.

He explained: "Already in the community of Corinth there was the opinion, which will return many times in history, which consisted in thinking that it was a question of the moral law, and that Christian freedom consisted therefore in being free from ethics. [...] It is obvious that this interpretation is erroneous: Christian liberty is not libertinism; the freedom of which St. Paul speaks is not freedom from doing good."

Instead, the Pope said, the law to which Paul refers is the "collection of behaviors extending from an ethical foundation to the ritual and cultural observances that substantially determined the identity of the just man -- particularly circumcision, the observance regarding pure food and general ritual purity, the rules regarding observance of the Sabbath, etc."

These observances served to protect Jewish identity and faith in God; they were "a defense shield that would protect the precious inheritance of the faith," he remarked.

But, the Holy Father continued, at the moment of Paul's encounter with Christ, the Apostle "understood that with Christ's resurrection the situation had changed radically."

"The wall -- so says the Letter to the Ephesians -- between Israel and the pagans was no longer necessary," he said. "It is Christ who protects us against polytheism and all its deviations; it is Christ who unites us with and in the one God; it is Christ who guarantees our true identity in the diversity of cultures; and it is he who makes us just. To be just means simply to be with Christ and in Christ. And this suffices. Other observances are no longer necessary."

And it is because of this, the Bishop of Rome continued, that Luther's expression "by faith alone" is true "if faith is not opposed to charity, to love. Faith is to look at Christ, to entrust oneself to Christ, to be united to Christ, to be conformed to Christ, to his life. And the form, the life of Christ, is love; hence, to believe is to be conformed to Christ and to enter into his love."

"Paul knows," he added, "that in the double love of God and neighbor the whole law is fulfilled.
Doing something because you hafta comes from a whole different resevior than doing something out of love. One is robotic and rote, the other instinct and fire.

All in All

Supreme Court to Hear Obama's Citizenship Kerfuffle

Case challenging candidacy set for 'conference' of justices

This case is set for a conference Dec. 5, just 10 days before the Electoral College is scheduled to meet to make formal the election of Obama as the nation's next president.
Seems absurd that the citizens of the United States have been forced to the Supreme Court before Obama would produce a birth certificate. There's an obvious controversy, if it is all on the up and up, why not just...produce it.

The Obama camp produced a "certificate of live birth" which is a registration for citizens born outside of the country for year preceding their birth and is not authoritative. More interesting is the Indonesia citizenship issue. He is listed as having Indonesia citizenship, went to Indonesian schools (which are non-citizens are not permitted to attend) - and Indonesia doesn't allow dual-citizenship.

What is absurd? Is this Indonesian law or isn't it? Was he a citizen or wasn't he? Did he go to school there or didn't he? Were laws broken then, are they being broken now?

Citizens and other presidential candidates have raised facts which appear to affect the validity of Obama's natural born citizen status.

We all have a right to see the birth certificates, track down the records, visit the status of his Indonesian citizenship - and get formal answers.

At least we know we can trust Clarence Thomas.


"Hawaii Revised Statute 338-178 allows registration of birth in Hawaii for a child that was born outside of Hawaii to parents who, for a year preceding the child’s birth, claimed Hawaii as their place of residence," the document said. "The only way to know where Senator Obama was actually born is to view Senator Obama's original birth certificate from 1961 that shows the name of the hospital and the name and signature of the doctor that delivered him."


The case also raises the circumstances of Obama's time during his youth in Indonesia, where he was listed as having Indonesian citizenship. Indonesia does not allow dual citizenship, raising the possibility of Obama's mother having given up his U.S. citizenship.

Any subsequent U.S. citizenship then, the case claims, would be "naturalized," not "natural-born."

Rosaries for all involved in this situation.

Newman in the Lion's Den

Newman in the Lion's Den

Great story by Fr. Longenecker about Father Newman.

He speaks about the emails he and Father Newman received...which were in 4 categories.

1.The irrational vulgar blasphemers.
2.The Catechism is Republican tool, why does the Church want to drive people away.
3.We are nasty intolerant racist animal haters who litter and don't recycle.
5. Loyal informed dedicated Catholics who gave thanks, prayers and goodwill.

The demonic were understandable: The devil will be a gentle dog as long as you feed him, but if you kick him, he bites back. The lame are those who are largely ignorant of the Catholic Faith, and can best be helped with prayer.
But the "defiant" category makes up the largest number of our respondents, and is the saddest category of all. Statistics show us that these are the Catholics who sealed Obama's victory. They are people who were poorly catechized over the last 40 years in America. They have been nurtured in the Protest Generation and told that it is fine, even noble, to disagree with the Church. They have been taught to act according to their conscience without taking the trouble or time to inform it.
Caught up in the trendy agendas of the day, they have jumped on the bandwagons of feminism, environmentalism, homosexualism, socialism, and sentimentalism -- mistaking their favorite cause for the Catholic Faith. When they are confronted with clear, concise, and consistent Catholicism they are shocked and angry, and their response is (if they haven't done so already) to leave the Church, preferring their own wisdom to the wisdom of God.

In the next 20 years, this sort of Catholic will become extinct. As America descends further into decadence and decline, the lines will be drawn between the forces of darkness and the forces of light. People will have to choose whether to serve God and His Church or the dark side.

Nothing like the sweet taste of courage and truth coming from a priest.

This sort of thing is becoming more common, not less, as this world descends and faithful and faithless are harvested by their dominion.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Obama's War Against the Catholic Church

However, if Obama signs the Freedom of Choice Act in his first months in office, "it would be the equivalent of a war," says the same official. "It would be like saying, 'We've heard the Catholic Church and we have no interest in their concerns.' " U.S. Catholic bishops at a meeting in Baltimore last week vowed to take on Obama for his support of abortion rights; they are also skeptical about his assurances to try to reduce the number of abortions while supporting the right to choose.

Even before the election, Democrats were warned not to risk becoming the "party of death," according to former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke. It was Burke who famously pledged in 2004 to deny communion to the pro-choice Catholic presidential candidate John Kerry. The archbishop has since been promoted to Rome as head of the Holy See's equivalent of a Supreme Court. Meanwhile, in response to a question last week on Obama's pledge to reverse Washington's policy on stem-cell research, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, who heads the Vatican office for health, made it clear that the church will not shy away from the debate. "What builds up man is good, what destroys him is bad," he told reporters, arguing that one human being should never become a material resource for the betterment of another.

Imagine proabort catholics for free choice/catholics United/catholics for the common good, putting out their sound bites that Obama is more Catholic than the Pope.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Amazing Grace

Auto Makers still begging for 25 million

Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded with a reluctant Congress Tuesday for a $25 billion lifeline to save the once-proud titans of U.S. industry, pointedly warning of a national economic catastrophe should they collapse. Millions of layoffs would follow their demise, they said, as damaging effects rippled across an already-faltering economy.

The economic catastrophe was charging 500 to 700 a month for a decent car.

I own a car with a low payment but a lot of miles on it and periodically shopped around to trade up. I have a 2000 Maxima, looked at 2005-2006's. My car is in good shape, I got a decent deal on it. Occasionally they'd be a 2000 sitting in the yard with a 10-11 thousand pricetag on it. I owed 6 grand. Whatever deals they'd put together, on one hand they'd tell me Maxima's hold their value and warrant the high price on the 2005-6 and with the other hand, they'd tell me I was upside down on my loan all with the same car selling on their lot for 11 grand.

I figured out that they were trying to make 10 grand plus on a used car purchase. The prices were usually in the 400 to 450 per month range for the 05's on a seven year loan - sometimes were as high as 550 for the 06's. I know several people who are paying 700 a month for their new car.

The good old days when greed was in it's glory.

As soon as the suckers dried up, they expect us to bail them out with housing money?

What good will that do?

Lot's of banks that need the money to free up credit will be out 25 billion.
25 billion that is earmarked for the foreclosure crisis will put thousands of people out into the streets.

1. Lower the price of the cars to make a decent profit without being greedy.
2. Let the banks get the money so credit will loosen up.

Monday, November 17, 2008

American Socialism Stalls

REPUBLICANS WANT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA TO DO THE HONORS

Hopes for a swift bailout of the US auto industry appeared to stall Thursday after a top Democratic senator said Republicans looked set to scupper the proposal until Barack Obama is president.

Top Democrats including president-elect Obama urged an accelerated bailout of the once-mighty US industry amid warnings from bosses that the sector, hammered by mounting losses and plunging sales, could collapse.

But Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said he did not believe a plan could pass before Obama takes office in January.

"I don't know of a single Republican willing to support (it)," Dodd told reporters.

"I want to be careful (not) to bring up a proposition that might fail ... under an Obama administration, there is a greater willingness to deal with the issue."

The president-elect urged President George W. Bush to support immediate aid for the ailing automobile industry during their private meeting in Washington on Monday, but the White House is still cool towards the idea.


They are charging 30 thousand dollars for a decent car and Obama and the Democrats are going to "bail them out" and they have the nerve to complain about Wall Street and oil magnet thieves?

I don't blame the Republicans for wanting Joe Stalin to take ownership of this looney idea.

Bill Maher, what is his shtick?

From Bill Donohue:

On the November 14 episode of the HBO show, “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the comedian said the following:

“A Catholic priest in South Carolina has told his congregation: If you voted for Obama you can’t receive Communion. That’s right. The cracker won’t let you get the cracker. He said supporting Obama constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil. Then he proceeds to pass around the plate so everyone could chip in to payoff the child f------ lawsuits.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue spoke to this issue today:

“Maher has a long and ugly history of bashing Catholicism, and he typically goes for the jugular. In his season finale, he managed to mock the Eucharist, paint priests as molesters, call a priest he knows nothing about a racist and seriously misrepresent what this South Carolina priest said about voting for Obama (note: Father Jay Scott Newman did not say what Maher attributed to him).

“HBO would never allow a comedian to continually disparage any one of a series of highly protected classes of persons (persons protected by the politically correct police, that is). But when it comes to Catholics, it’s a different story—they’re fair game. Ironically, on the exact day Maher struck again, a survey was released showing that 61 percent of Americans believe that ‘Religious values are under attack in this country.’ It could also be said that no religious values are under more attack than those espoused by Roman Catholicism. And for that we can thank bigots like Bill Maher, and his executive friends at HBO.”


On the November 14 episode of the HBO show, “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the comedian said the following:

“A Catholic priest in South Carolina has told his congregation: If you voted for Obama you can’t receive Communion. That’s right. The cracker won’t let you get the cracker. He said supporting Obama constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil. Then he proceeds to pass around the plate so everyone could chip in to payoff the child f------ lawsuits.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue spoke to this issue today:

“Maher has a long and ugly history of bashing Catholicism, and he typically goes for the jugular. In his season finale, he managed to mock the Eucharist, paint priests as molesters, call a priest he knows nothing about a racist and seriously misrepresent what this South Carolina priest said about voting for Obama (note: Father Jay Scott Newman did not say what Maher attributed to him).

“HBO would never allow a comedian to continually disparage any one of a series of highly protected classes of persons (persons protected by the politically correct police, that is). But when it comes to Catholics, it’s a different story—they’re fair game. Ironically, on the exact day Maher struck again, a survey was released showing that 61 percent of Americans believe that ‘Religious values are under attack in this country.’ It could also be said that no religious values are under more attack than those espoused by Roman Catholicism. And for that we can thank bigots like Bill Maher, and his executive friends at HBO.”

Maher, Blasphemy and vulgarity sure are intimate lovers.

Just what is it about the pursuit of holiness that makes Maher foam at the mouth?

Tom Blumer's Round up of Press Coverage on Father Newman

The plot has strangely thickened.

Well, it turns out that Father Newman originally had the full support of Monsignor Martin T. Laughlin, the acting administrator of the Diocese of Charleston, which currently does not have a bishop. But two days later, Msgr. Laughlin reprimanded Fr. Newman in what appeared to be fairly harsh terms (they really weren't; I'll get to that).

Most of the press has covered the story as if Msgr. Laughlin's initial support never existed. But Carolyn Click's report at The State on Friday (HT Catholic Culture) shows otherwise:

While Newman has been the most outspoken of South Carolina priests in the wake of the election, the administrator of the diocese of Charleston, Msgr. Martin T. Laughlin, supports him fully, said diocese spokesman Steve Gajdosik.

“I think it’s fair to say that Father Newman’s letter echoes the sentiments of Father Laughlin,” he said.

Further, Catholic Culture reports the following (bold is mine):

..... other priests of the Charleston diocese had already indicated their support for Father Newman. On November 12, for example, Father Newman received this message:

Thank you for your statement. I wish the bishops would have been as forthright. Why did they not speak before the election?

That email message was sent to Father Newman by... are you ready?... Msgr. Laughlin.


Seems Monsignor Laughlin has flip floppped. How sad that when it came his time to choose, he couldn't pay the price.

Tom links to a fabulous post at BizzyBlog.


Father Newman made no “statements contrary to Catholic teachings,” and if I may be so clever, Msgr. Laughlin didn’t say that he did. He said they were “inadequate.” But if even Laughlin had written, “The diocese repudiates every word of Fr. Newman’s statements,” the diocese would be wrong (see UPDATE; it is wrong), and I will reference material supported by official Catholic teachings to prove it.

Here’s what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

As to voters’ responsibilities, here is EWTN’s Father Stephen F. Torraco in 2002, in “A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters”:

Q3. If I think that a pro-abortion candidate will, on balance, do much more for the culture of life than a pro-life candidate, why may I not vote for the pro-abortion candidate?

If a political candidate supported abortion, or any other moral evil, such as assisted suicide and euthanasia, for that matter, it would not be morally permissible for you to vote for that person. This is because, in voting for such a person, you would become an accomplice in the moral evil at issue. For this reason, moral evils such as abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are examples of a “disqualifying issue.” A disqualifying issue is one which is of such gravity and importance that it allows for no political maneuvering. It is an issue that strikes at the heart of the human person and is non-negotiable. A disqualifying issue is one of such enormity that by itself renders a candidate for office unacceptable regardless of his position on other matters.

Q6. If I think that a candidate who is pro-abortion has better ideas to serve the poor, and the pro-life candidate has bad ideas that will hurt the poor, why may I not vote for the candidate that has the better ideas for serving the poor?

….. solidarity (with the poor) can never be at the price of embracing a “disqualifying issue.” Besides, when it comes to the unborn, abortion is a most grievous offense against solidarity, for the unborn are surely among society’s most needful. The right to life is a paramount issue because as Pope John Paul II says it is “the first right, on which all the others are based, and which cannot be recuperated once it is lost.” If a candidate for office refuses solidarity with the unborn, he has laid the ground for refusing solidarity with anyone.

Q7. If a candidate says that he is personally opposed to abortion but feels the need to vote for it under the circumstances, doesn’t this candidate’s personal opposition to abortion make it morally permissible for me to vote for him, especially if I think that his other views are the best for people, especially the poor?

A candidate for office who says that he is personally opposed to abortion but actually votes in favor of it is either fooling himself or trying to fool you. ….. If you vote for such a candidate, you would be an accomplice in advancing the moral evil of abortion. Therefore, it is not morally permissible to vote for such a candidate for office, even, as explained in questions 3 and 6 above, you think that the candidate’s other views are best for the poor.

Q14. Is it a mortal sin to vote for a pro-abortion candidate?

To vote for such a candidate even with the knowledge that the candidate is pro-abortion is to become an accomplice in the moral evil of abortion. If the voter also knows this, then the voter sins mortally.

A Catholic in a state of mortal sin cannot receive Communion, but must receive confession and do penance to get out of the state of mortal sin. This is of course exactly what Fr. Newman said:

“Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation,” Newman wrote.

Father Newman is thus inarguably right.



How Beautiful it is to see a priest willing to pay the price.

(UPDATE-Thanks to those who emailed that the link was broken. Video is now working )


How Beautiful - Watch the best video clips here

(thanks to Tom for the ht - nice job on the round up!)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Obama Voters Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion

Lead Us Not into Temptation


In one of the comments sections below, "anonymous" (profiles in courage) asserts that if you haven't heard your local Bishop ordering his priests to enforce a particular Church teaching, you may construe the silence as affirmation that the purported teaching is a rumor and not to be believed.

"Anonymous said...Please quote me one Bishop who has instructed his priests that it is OK to withhold communion from people based on their vote."


For instance, if there are no quotes that your Bishop instructed his priests to preach using contraception is a mortal sin that makes you unworthy to receive the Eucharist, this trumps Evangelium Vitae and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Same thing goes for abortion, adultery, murder. If there's no quotes from the Bishop instructing his priests, none of these things are mortal sins affecting our state of grace or worthiness to receive the Blessed Sacrament.

I know what you're thinking. THIS IS CRAZY. But, alas, in some parishes there is a secret signal between the priest and congregation. If you've committed mass murder and you get in line for Communion afterward --- if the priests give you Communion, you are worthy to receive.

If you haven't dusted your feet from a pastor teaching such drivel, good luck to ya.

In terms of the Pope and the Deposit of Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote the navigator, "Worthiness to receive Holy Communion".

In it, he clarifies that politicians must be refused and unless there is a proportionate reason to vote for a proabort politician, the voter is guilty of formal cooperation. He spelled out what does not qualify as a proportionate reason:

Christians have a "grave obligation of conscience not to cooperate formally in practices which, even if permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to God’s law. Indeed, from the moral standpoint, it is never licit to cooperate formally in evil. [...] This cooperation can never be justified either by invoking respect for the freedom of others or by appealing to the fact that civil law permits it or requires it" (no. 74).

3. Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

4. Apart from an individual's judgment about his worthiness to present himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion may find himself in the situation where he must refuse to distribute Holy Communion to someone, such as in cases of a declared excommunication, a declared interdict, or an obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin (cf. can. 915).

Blessed Beyond a Curse

Vatican cardinal: Obama is 'Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic'

His Eminence James Francis Cardinal Stafford criticized President-elect Barack Obama as "aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic," and said he campaigned on an "extremist anti-life platform

"Because man is a sacred element of secular life," Stafford remarked, "man should not be held to a supreme power of state, and a person's life cannot ultimately be controlled by government."

"For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden," Stafford said, comparing America's future with Obama as president to Jesus' agony in the garden. "On November 4, 2008, America suffered a cultural earthquake."

Cardinal Stafford said Catholics must deal with the "hot, angry tears of betrayal" by beginning a new sentiment where one is "with Jesus, sick because of love."

N.B. David Gibson's sniveling malice against the Pope: Wow. I bet that wasn't the tenor of Obama's chat with the Pope the other day. Then again, lieutenants are there to do the dirty work so the white cassock stays clean.

This individual has a site about "Pontifications" about "Catholic Faith and Culture".

If you suffer the misfortune of homilies filled with drivel, do yourself a favor and make a habit of visiting Fr. George Rutler's pastor's corner. You'll never find this priest delivering you into temptation by glamorizing adultery, removing the prohibitions of sins or collaborating with evil.

This week, he has astute observations and a remarkable quote from Cardinal Newman.

In February of 1943, the ill-prepared United States Army II Corps valiantly fought against the German-Italian Panzer Army at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia but had to retreat. The army did wake up, commanders were replaced, the troops regrouped, and eventually the war was won. This is a contemporary allegory, when we see the social consequences of poorly formed Catholics overwhelmed by secular forces that have no love for the Church.

In the nineteenth century, Cardinal Newman warned that naïve Catholics would fall into "mass apostasy" through lack of preparedness in spiritual combat: "Do you think [the Prince of Lies] is so unskillful in his craft, as to ask you openly and plainly to join him in his warfare against the Truth? No; he offers you baits to tempt you. He promises you civil liberty; he promises you equality; he promises you trade and wealth; he promises you a remission of taxes; he promises you reform. This is the way in which he conceals from you the kind of work to which he is putting you; he tempts you to rail against your rulers and superiors; he does so himself, and induces you to imitate him; or he promises you illumination,—he offers you knowledge, science, philosophy, enlargement of mind. He scoffs at times gone by; he scoffs at every institution which reveres them. He prompts you what to say, and then listens to you, and praises you, and encourages you. He bids you mount aloft. He shows you how to become as gods. Then he laughs and jokes with you, and gets intimate with you; he takes your hand, and gets his fingers between yours, and grasps them, and then you are his."

Many have warned about the consequences of yielding the Faith to false messiahs. Years before becoming pope, Benedict XVI wrote: "Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes not divine, but demonic" (Truth and Tolerance, p. 116).

We are about to witness many outrages against the dignity of life by politicians who have taken advantage of nominal Christians.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Boston College Jesuits Shameless Sexualization of Women


Boston College Jesuits Shameless Sexualization of Women

At the Newbury Street Victoria’s Secret store, the BC display is located just past life-sized photographs of nearly naked women in lacy lingerie, and next to racks of colorful, glittery underwear.

BC spokesman Jack Dunn said the school was “very selective” when it agreed to let Victoria’s Secret sell BC sweatshirts, sweatpants, T-shirts and flip-flops as part of the racy chain’s youth-oriented Pink line.

“We thought it was a tasteful line of clothing that college students wear,” he said.

He said the college had no knowledge of Eagles-emblazoned “short shorts” that were selling next to the hot-pink BC tank tops.

He also said the university does not divulge how much it makes from selling licensed apparel.

Larry Flint, Hugh Heffner and the Kardarshians, would be interested in this new cash cow.

Anyone seen the Archbishop?

Alan Keyes Sues Obama Over Citizenship

This is pretty significant.


Presidential candidate Alan Keyes, vice-presidential candidate Wiley S. Drake, and the Chairman of the American Independent Party, Markham Robinson, have filed suit in California Superior Court in Sacramento seeking to bar Secretary of State Debra Bowen from certifying to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the names of Electors, and from transmitting to each presidential Elector a Certificate of Election, until documentary proof is produced and verified showing that Senator Obama is a “natural born” citizen of the United States, and does not hold citizenship of Indonesia, Kenya or Great Britain.

In addition, they have asked that the court issue a peremptory writ barring Senator Obama’s California Electors from signing the Certificate of Vote until such documentary proof is produced and verified.

In response to questions about why the suit was being filed, Ambassador Alan Keyes commented, “I and others are concerned that this issue be properly investigated and decided before Senator Obama takes office. Otherwise there will be a serious doubt as to the legitimacy of his tenure. This doubt would also affect the respect people have for the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. I hope the issue can be quickly clarified so that the new President can take office under no shadow of doubt. This will be good for him and for the nation.”

What was the burden of showing his birth certificate if it were legitimate?

This post from Free Republic has a decent bullet list of the arguments.

  • Petitioners note that the 2007 birth certificate offered by Senator Obama is of questionable credibility for several reasons, including that it is a copy of suspect authenticity and that it does not detail actual birth location.

  • Petitioners note that the only person claiming witness to Senator Obama’s birth is his own paternal grandmother who claims he was actually born in Kenya, then the British East African Protectorate of Zanzibar. Other records and recollections of family members suggest either Queens Hospital or Kapiolani Hospital in Hawaii. The disclosed Registry of Live Birth is a short-form of the birth certificate that does not state whether Obama was born in Hawaii or that his birth was subsequently registered there within the year following birth as then allowed by state law.
  • Petitioners note that around 1967, Senator Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother and new stepfather. Records indicate that once in Indonesia he adopted his stepfather’s name and citizenship. Since dual citizenship was not allowed by Indonesian law, and U.S. law and treaty obligations required respect of this, Mrs. Obama-Soetoro had to relinquish her minor son’s U.S. citizenship. Elsewhere, they note that if he later recovered it, and no records apparently substantiate this, it would by law be as a “naturalized” citizen, not a “natural born” and, thus, ineligible for the office of President under the Constitution.

  • Petitioners also note that in 1961 what is now known as Kenya was then the British Protectorate of Zanzibar which, if he was born there as his paternal grandmother claims, he would be a British citizen based on his father’s citizenship.
  • Petitioners also note that in 1981 Senator Obama traveled to Pakistan, which was then banned by the U.S. Since he could not legally travel with a U.S. passport, they question whether he used one of his other passports: Indonesian, Kenyan, or British. (Interesting point is that the petitioners state affirmatively that he had other passports.)

today's music video..



Have a wonderful Saturday.

For today, be holy.

C.J. Doyle's Op-Ed about Michael J. Curley

This is an enjoyable read for Boston Irish Catholics.


To my Irish immigrant family, there was no political icon who will ever live that could hold a candle to James Michael Curley. He was ever present to any constituent who ever approached him armed with a determination to resolve their problem. When politics was dirty, he could outwit the serpent like no other. He was masterful. His political career is not without controversy and scandal but his love for the poor is unmatched in politics to this day.

Curley, who died 50 years ago this month, was an unparalleled political phenomenon. His career spanned six decades. He first ran for Boston Common Council (the lower house of a then-bicameral city council) in 1897. He last ran for mayor in 1955. Between 1914 and 1950, he served four terms as mayor of Boston (and may have served longer had his Republican enemies in the Legislature not term-limited the mayor's office). He served one term as governor and was elected four times to Congress. In all, he served 35 years in elective office, and one year in appointed office (1957-1958) as a state labor relations commissioner during the Foster Furcolo administration.

Curley ran for office 32 times. Counting state and federal primary and general elections, and municipal preliminary and final races, he contested 47 elections for office, along with six caucuses before that Progressive Era innovation, the primary, was established.

His 16 years as mayor was equaled only by Kevin White. In July, their record will be broken by Thomas Menino.

Longevity is not unknown in politics. What made Curley unique, however, was his seemingly inexhaustible ability to resuscitate himself from apparent political death. When he was reelected to Congress in 1942 at age 67, he made a comeback after four failed campaigns for senator, governor, and mayor.

The conventional story of James Michael Curley is a tale of vivid personalities, heartrending tragedies (seven of his nine children predeceased him), vexing scandals (he went to jail twice), and turbulent bare-knuckle politics. Lost in all of this drama, however, is Curley's substantive and strikingly progressive record on a host of social justice issues including the rights of labor, access to healthcare (Boston City Hospital was the object of his untiring devotion), and equal pay for women.

Curley not only merited the title that adorns his headstone, "Mayor of the Poor," but deserves another, that of Boston's master builder. Curley was the city's most indefatigable constructor of great public works. Historian Charles Trout wrote that Curley rivaled Caesar Augustus as a monumental builder. Curley widened Charles Street and Cambridge Street downtown, built the Sumner Tunnel, and replaced the mud flats of South Boston with a splendid three-mile-long strandway to Castle Island.


For out-of-town readers, Castle Island, or "City Point" is a causeway stretch to Fort Independence, a military fort on an island that strategically protects Boston by sea attack which dates back to the 1600's. It has always been a beloved part of our Irish immigrant heritage. Many would migrate there daily to catch an ever-present breeze in the summer, gorgeous views of the city, fishing, walking, buying clams, french fries, burgers and ice cream at Sullivan's (a picture of which I have in my flickr).

I invite you to read CJ's wonderful tribute in its entirety at the link above.

Friday, November 14, 2008

More on Father Newman

Michael Paulson's article here. Father Newman's complete letter is in the article. It's a keeper.

His bishop is, as one would expect, frantic about the money this will cost him and is hurling the snowballs.

By the way, what's a crystal clear indication that a shepherd has taken on the dynamics of a wolf?

He's thwarting Rome.


But bishops differ on whether Catholic lawmakers — and voters — should refrain from receiving Communion if they diverge from church teaching on abortion. Each bishop sets policy in his own diocese. In their annual fall meeting, the nation's Catholic bishops vowed Tuesday to forcefully confront the Obama administration over its support for abortion rights.


There's only one problem with these bishops, their "beliefs". Including their apparent belief that McCarrick was the real pope.

The bishops however, had not been given the whole story at their Denver retreat. Cardinal McCarrick withheld the text of a definitive memorandum from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith not only from the public, but also from the bishops themselves. In that document Cardinal Ratzinger said that pro-abotion politicians, after appropriate warnings, "must" be refused
communion. Bishop Vasa confirmed that the crucial instruction from Rome, which had been written expressly for the Denver meeting, was not given to the bishops.

Vasa said, "As I recall, Cardinal McCarrick made reference to some letter, but I did not see a copy of the letter at the meeting. I don't know if the committee writing the 'Statement,' entitled 'Catholics in Political Life,' was given a
copy of the letter." However the Interim Report, presented to the bishops for their use in drafting the statement suggested the opposite, warning against refusing anyone communion.

A recent letter from the Vatican's Cardinal Ratzinger verified his leaked memorandum was authentic and in fact Church Doctrine. The letter also noted that the memo was "very much in harmony with the general principles" of his
memorandum. The Ratzinger letter did not however condone the misleading slant of the Interim Report which strongly favored never denying communion. The Catholics in Political Life Statement while it did leave the decision to deny communion up to local bishops, clarified that that must be done "in accord with the established canonical and pastoral principles." Of note, Cannon 915 states that those "who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion."


Is this confusing? "The Catholics in Political Life Statement while it did leave the decision to deny communion up to local bishops, clarified that that must be done "in accord with the established canonical and pastoral principles." Of note, Cannon 915 states that those "who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion."

These poor clueless Bishops have translated this as the Church saying they must comply with Canon 915 unless of course, they don't want to.

Take off your tin foil hat.

What the Church is saying is, if there is a situation where a soul has expressed private repentance and made a vow to amend their lives and does not further work the proabortion agenda, discretion is of course, applied, in spite of the fact that the public may not have yet seen the fruit of this conversion.

Another example of this golden parachute would be a young man and woman living together prior to marriage, whom the priest has guided and worked with and they finally agree to live as brother and sister until they can arrange to move back with mommy and daddy. Everyone in the congregation may not be privy to this conversion and the priest uses his discretion as he is in conversation with them and they are open to his counsel.

Kralis asked Bishop Vasa why McCarrick might have given conflicting information to the bishops. "Do the U.S. bishops now teach that it is correct for one Bishop to deny John Kerry the Eucharist while another Bishop, perhaps in a diocese just 10 miles away, mandates his 'ministers of Holy Communion' to give Kerry the Eucharist?"

Vasa replied, "I answer to the Holy See, I don't answer to the USCCB. The June memorandum of Cardinal Ratzinger should have a greater impact on the decision of individual bishops in their own dioceses than the 'Statement' of the USCCB, which seems to give broader latitude to the judgment of the bishops."

Bishops who are differing on whether voters and lawmakers should refrain from receiving Communion are not in communion with the Catholic Church, and one ought to mosey on down the road if they are at all interested in their own salvation and that of their children.

Guess who's back!!! The Ghost of Thwarting Catechism Past.


Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said she had not heard of other churches taking this position in reaction to Obama's win. A Boston-based group that supports Catholic Democrats questioned the move, saying it was too extreme.

"Father Newman is off-base," said Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats. "He is acting beyond the authority of a parish priest to say what he did. ... Unfortunately, he is doing so in a manner that will be of great cost to those parishioners who did vote for Sens. Obama and Biden. There will be a spiritual cost to them for his words."



Steve Krueger, of the peculiar (and now defunct) "Voice of the Faithful". (Now I get the "no room at the table" sound bite. Steve went out in a blaze of glory when he repeated that he wanted "a seat at the four-sided table" until it was too weird to process, even for VOTFers.)

A man who has attended St. Mary's for 18 years said he welcomed Newman's message and anticipated it would inspire further discussion at the church.

"I don't understand anyone who would call themselves a Christian, let alone a Catholic, and could vote for someone who's a pro-abortion candidate," said Ted Kelly, 64, who volunteers his time as lector for the church. "You're talking about the murder of innocent beings."


By the way, 90% of Father Newman's flock seeks the Sacrament of Confession if their soul is not in a state of grace. Ninety percent.

This is a priest and a spiritual father that loves Christ more than he loves himself. A rare jewel.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

What we wouldn't give in Boston to have a priest love us like this

Braveheart

A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him “constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil.”
The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.

“Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president,” Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.

“Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exits constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation. . . .”

This is love. Real love. Unselfish love. Fatherly love.

Love that lays down it's own life for the sheep.


Catholic Church gearing up for War with Barack Obama

The new bishops' statement is meant to drive home the point in a way that cannot be misconstrued.

"We have a very important thing to say. I think we should say it clearly and with a punch," said New York Cardinal Edward Egan.