Hear, Hear for Bishop Vasa!

Just the other day I mentioned to a friend that no one should be hired to teach in a Catholic school without affirming a commitment to the doctrines of the faith. And lo and behold that is exactly what Bishop Robert Vasa is doing in Santa Rosa. Last year he required catechism teachers to affirm their loyalty and now he has done the same for the 200 teachers in Catholic schools in the diocese who must sign or leave their posts at the end of this school year. The liberal press is not, shall we say, enthusiastic about the bishop's efforts to promote the authentic Catholic faith. (When has the liberal press EVER had anything good to say about the Catholic Church?) Fr. Z has reprinted an article from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat along with some interesting commentary.

Will you join me in sending Bishop Vasa a message of support? What a joy it is to find a bishop serious about his obligation to teach, govern, and sanctify and especially to safeguard the faith of the young. If you would like to say thank you to Bishop Vasa the diocese's contact information is here. You can email a very brief message or write a longer one. And please pray for this good bishop who has so often been in the forefront when it comes to witnessing to the authentic Catholic faith. May a red hat be in his future!

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The Sequester is Coming, the Sequester is Coming...

...are you quaking in your boots?

It's all a game you know...like when they close DMV offices and highway rest stops to make sure they inconvenience the most people to create a demand for services. And, of course, then they can say...well, of course we can fix things if we just raise taxes.

The sequester involves a miniscule amount of the federal budget. We could save that money by cutting things no one would even notice -- like money for "green energy." How about putting the employees in the Department of Education and Energy on unpaid leave one day every two weeks (or maybe permanently?). Drop some of the useless studies like the effect of cocaine on quail (real study). Here's a list of 30 ridiculous things the government has spent and is spending money on. Does anyone seriously believe that there aren't many programs that could be cut without anyone noticing?

It is nothing but a con game run by the con-in-chief who lives at 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. He's trying to convince everybody that the world will end if we don't keep spending buckets of money and raise the debt ceiling to do it. Despite the shrill lies about long lines at the airport and no teachers for the children and fewer police officers, etc. ad nauseum -- none of those programs need to be cut. They are deliberately selected to impact the most people and make the most noise. But it's all sound and fury signifying nothing except the moral bankruptcy of the administration and so many of our politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Sickening isn't it?

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Christian Alert: Bring God Back to the Marketplace

...and bring back American faith. "America, bless God again." (Hat tip to Political Brambles.)

Church isn't just about what goes on in our Churches on Sunday, but what we do the rest of the week to bring God into the marketplace. This man makes a lot of good, ole, down-to-earth common sense. Are we listening?



And more common sense about politics and "conservative jackasses" (who aren't as smart as Balaam's ass).

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Chesterton's Philosophy of Gratitude

Chesterton is certainly an apostle of Joy! Among my other Lenten reading is the book Lent and Easter: Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton which offers a daily quote from Chesterton, a scripture passage, a prayer, and a suggested action. It's a lovely book and a stimulus for introspection. I particularly liked yesterday's reading taken from Chesterton's autobiography:

I invented a rudimentary and makeshift mystical theory of my own. It was substantially this; that even mere existence, reduced to its most primary limits, was extraordinary enough to be exciting. Anything was magnificent as compared with nothing. Even if the very daylight were a dream, it was a day-dream; it was not a nightmare. The mere fact that one could wave one's arms and legs about...showed that it had not the mere paralysis of a nightmare. Or if it was a nightmare, it was an enjoyable nightmare....[N]o man knows how much he is an optimist, even when he calls himself a pessimist, because he has not really measured the depths of his debt to whatever created him and enabled him to call himself anything. At the back of our brains, so to speak, there was a forgotten blaze or burst of astonishment at our own existence. The object of the artistic and spiritual life was to dig for this submerged sunrise of wonder; so that a man sitting in a chair might suddenly understand that he was actually alive, and be happy.

If I had to summarize Chesterton's philosophy it would be,
"I am, therefore I think...and see...and smell...and taste...and wonder...and move...and laugh... and praise the God who made me!" Unlike Descartes who did so much harm to the world by his self-centered philosophy of navel gazing making the man the center of all things, Chesterton looks outward from the small "I am" made in the image and likeness of the great I AM who has created all things and called them "very good." What a world of joy and laughter we would live in if more men and women adopted Chesterton's philosophy of life and shared it with others. Families would laugh and play more and be happier. Friends would be more charitable and generous toward each other. We would all recognize how much we have to be thankful for. And our attitude of gratitude would help us to worship our good God with joy and never cease to praise Him in the world around us. Look... and really see today all the beauty of the earth and the goodness of our God. And give a little prayer of thanks for the life of that great apostle of gratitude who invites us to rejoice in all things.

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Homosexuals in the Vatican and the Battle for the Church

All the revelations of the past few weeks indicate the undermining of the homosexual cabal in the Church. And it's about time! Let us pray for Holy Mother Church that the housecleaning is about to begin.

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The Damage Done to Children Raised by Same-Sex Parents

Will society listen to the experiences of the victims? Children have a right "to a mother and a father." Same-sex "marriage" is a lie! "Everyone needs a mother and a father....The fight for gay marriage is about what adults want....Mother and father are worth fighting for." It's time to stop exploiting children so homosexuals can play house and pretend their relationships are no different from the complementarity of husband and wife. Pass this around and defend the institution of marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman for the sake of the children.

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NYC: Run by a Lunatic!

Gosh, remember the fuss the media made over Rubio's bottled "water-gate?" They ridiculed him for days. Has the media treated Bloomberg's soda-gate the same way? Why not? After all Rubio's drink of water didn't cost the consumer a penny or limit individual choices in any way. On the other hand, Bloomberg's soda-gate means parents having a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese can't buy a pitcher of soda but will have to buy soda by the cup -- much more expensive. Dominoes won't be allowed to deliver 2-litre bottles of soda with their pizzas, but consumers will have to buy more expensive 16-ounce bottles, which means more money for the pizza man, but less for the consumer. And why the heck is it the government's business how much soda you drink anyway? But this is the typical liberal mindset. Bloomberg sees himself as daddy to every citizen in New York and he is the epitome of the daddy-tyrant! No salt, no sugar, no soda -- except in amounts he deems acceptable. No wonder Rush moved out of New York. Any sensible person with the ability to pick up stakes would be nuts to stay. But, please, you liberals who I expect will be running along with the conservatives, please don't move to Virginia. I hear southern California right along the border is a lovely place to live. It's only fair you should experience the consequences of your philosophy.

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Phil Lawler Opines on the Homosexuals in the Vatican Scandal

Did it inspire the pope's abdication? A resounding NO! See here.

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Feast of the Chair of Peter

It is good to reflect on the fact that no matter how dismal the outlook, the Holy Spirit has promised to remain with the Church. "The gates of hell will not prevail against her." Gates are a defensive instrument. The faithful are the ones called to be "militant" and fight the devil. Our most effective weapons are the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, the rosary and other devotions, and the truth spoken in charity. We live today in the culture of the lie. We must oppose it with the culture of truth. We must expose the liars for what they are and expose them relentlessly. Creepy crawlies hide in the dark. They must be exposed to the light. That's the job of the Church Militant. And we have a whole army in the Church Triumphant as allies. Ora et labora.

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Please Say it Ain't So!

German Bishops, in "Sede Vacante" mood, OK abortifacient "morning-after pill"

I'm an NFP teacher and the male sperm reaches the isthmus (where the uterus connects to the fallopian tube)within minutes after sexual intercourse. If the egg has already been released, there is NO WAY to prevent conception with a chemical contraceptive. The only thing the chemical can do is alter the lining of the uterus so when the growing baby arrives 7-10 days later he or she cannot implant in the womb. 

The pope should immediately demand a retraction of this horrifying decision of the German bishops. And we need to pray hard that the Lord withholds His wrath from His people. Read Exodus if you want to see how God responds to infidelity among those closest to Him. Chastisement is not pretty! Please make acts reparation for the betrayal by these Judases.

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Is anyone really surprised to hear about "Vatican gay officials?"

I'm not! That's why the Church is in such a mess. Remember 2/3 of the U.S. bishops covered up for the active homosexuals in the priesthood. How many of them are being blackmailed?

Pope Benedict retired after inquiry into 'Vatican gay officials', says paper

Pope's staff decline to confirm or deny La Repubblica claims linking 'Vatileaks' affair and discovery of 'blackmailed gay clergy'

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TSA Strikes Again - Terrorizing Toddler

This is why I won't fly! And note what the muddleheaded media have to say. "Well, at least they got an apology." So terrorizing kids is okay as long as you apologize? And this is supposed to make us safer? I would say these people are insane (both the TSA AND the media -- George acts like it's a big joke.), but that's an insult to people who suffer from mental health problems!

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Is the Son Using the Sun to Get Our Attention

First the massive solar flare in December.

Then the huge meteor that hit Russia about a week ago.
Fire in the sky.

Now the giant sunspot forming a few days ago that is at least six times the diameter of the earth which can cause massive solar flares that can do a number on our electromagnetic field if they hit us.

Think somebody is trying to get our attention?

Our Lady of Fatima who performed the miracle of the sun to get the world's attention, please be a channel of grace from your beloved Son so we will turn back to Him, repent of our sins, and desire His holy will.

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Graphic Pictures Tell the Truth about Abortion Death

About dead babies and about their dead moms. When you hear about "safe and legal" abortion, remember Marla. See more at safeandlegal.com

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When You Think Something is Impossible, Remember Nik!

He's a wrestler and a wonder. Don't miss his story. It will put a smile on your face and a can-do spirit in your heart.

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The Economy is Improving?

If you believe the liberals (oops, progressives), you believe that everything is just hunky-dory. The economy is recovering and the gravy train will be back on track thanks to King Barack. The reality, on the other hand (hat tip to Political Brambles), is that retail stores are collapsing -- so much so that one author calls it a "retail Apocalypse." Remember, these aren't just "greedy CEOs" being impacted; these are tens of thousands of employees losing their jobs and all the benefits that go with them. Here's the article and here's the list of anticipated closings:

Best Buy
Forecast store closings: 200 to 250
Sears Holding Corp.

Forecast store closings: Kmart 175 to 225, Sears 100 to 125
J.C. Penney
Forecast store closings: 300 to 350
Office Depot
Forecast store closings: 125 to 150
Barnes & Noble
Forecast store closings: 190 to 240, per company comments
Gamestop
Forecast store closings: 500 to 600
OfficeMax
Forecast store closings: 150 to 175
RadioShack
Forecast store closings: 450 to 550

I thought about the economic collapse yesterday when I passed what used to be a thriving business on route 55 north of Strasburg. They sold modular homes. I'm sure the housing bust did them in just like it hit the Merillat cabinet factory south of us. They used to have three shifts and worked round the clock. No more! Whenever we travel we pass through small towns with scores of boarded up store fronts. America is becoming a land of ghost towns. Sad!

But you can take comfort from the progressives' assurance that it is all George W. Bush's fault! I wonder...are any liberals (oops, progressives) getting tired of the excuses and blame that gush forth whenever a lefty politician opens his mouth?

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Justice Dept. Says Home Schooling is NOT a Fundamental Right

The Obama administration is fighting to deport a German family who sought asylum after the German government threatened to take their five children if they continue to home school. The case goes back several years and I wrote about it previously here and here.

The Obama administration is now arguing that home schooling is not a fundamental right. Think about that. The Catholic Church teaches that parents are the primary educators of their children. And, in fact, a major purpose of marriage is the procreation and upbringing (i.e., education) of children. So if parents do NOT have a fundamental right to choose and oversee the education of their children, who does?

Silly question...Big Brother of course! The gospel according to liberals teaches the commandment to honor the village that raises the children. And that village is run by HHS and the Department of Education.

If the government wins on this, the rights of parents over their children here in the U.S. will be seriously threatened.

Read more here. And for more information on homeschooling rights and defense see the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).

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For Lent a Hymn to Stir the Soul

This is one of the Lenten hymns offered in the Liturgy of the Hours and I love it so much I choose it for every  hour. Listen and you will understand. Is it any wonder we can say that "He who sings well prays twice."

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Talk about a ridiculous statement! What can you expect from California?

Tell all the people who protected themselves from criminals using guns defensively that guns aren't defensive weapons! And Check out these stories where citizens engaged in self-defense with guns. How many policemen have NOT been killed because they had guns? This police chief needs some training in logic.

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Ben Carson really stirred things up....

...at the National Prayer breakfast. Did you see his presentation? It was great, although President Obama's body language didn't seem to agree. Since then, Carson's talk went viral and he has been all over the internet. You'll understand after you watch him in action. And read the article below the video to get the rest of the story!



Ben Carson vs. Obama

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Sunday Thought: Rejoice in the Lord Always

While reading Morning Prayer today I came across the reminder to "rejoice in the Lord always." It made me think of the song of the same title sung as a round. Have you ever heard it? I was hoping to find it sung on YouTube, but instead found this guitar rendition which is sweet. So listen and rejoice in the Lord. I think I will teach this as a round to my grandchildren.

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Who's Voting for the New Pope?

Here is the list of the Canadian and U.S. bishops eligible to vote in the conclave. That's not to say all of them are fit to vote! If there is one thing (on the negative side) that convinces me the Holy Spirit runs the Church, it's the number of bad clerics who have never been able to destroy her despite their "best" efforts.

CANADA

Thomas Collins of Toronto
Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
Jean-Claude Turcotte, retired archbishop of Montreal

UNITED STATES

Raymond Burke, head of the Apostolic Signature
Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston
Timothy Dolan of New York
Francis E. George of Chicago
James M. Harvey, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls
William Levada, retired prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Roger M. Mahony, retired archbishop of Los Angeles
Edwin O’Brien, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Sean O’Malley of Boston
Justin F. Rigali, retired archbishop of Philadelphia
Donald W. Wuerl of Washington

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Sr. Joan Chittister: Hoping for the Impossible!

She writes nonsense, but then she always has and the worldly love her for it.... And we all know who the prince of the world is, right? So hail Sr. Joan the apostate. Her predecessor was burned as a witch unjustly, but unless modern Joan repents...well, hell fire is a lot hotter!.

The best thing Pope Benedict did was resign

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Cardinal Mahony and His Legacy: It Ain't Pretty

I have to confess, I am somewhat cynical when it comes to believing that dissenter-cardinals who have scandalized their flocks for decades in complete arrogance are likely to change. And, yes, that means you, Cardinal Mahony. In fact, Roger Mahony has done more to destroy the faith in the U.S. than most cardinals. Not only was Mahony a major enabler of child sex abuse, but his West Coast catechetical conference is an ongoing scandal that undermines the faith of catechists and therefore the children they teach. Mahony is a double whammy child abuser: enable children's physcial abuse and enable their spiritual abuse as well. And do it unapologetically for years and years and years.

So pardon me please if I'm a bit of a skeptic when I read about Mahony's new "call to humiliation?" And, frankly, I don't see much humility in his description.  Here's a little of what Mahony wrote on his "humiliation" blog post:

Given all of the storms that have surrounded me and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles recently, God's grace finally helped me to understand: I am not being called to serve Jesus in humility. Rather, I am being called to something deeper--to be humiliated, disgraced, and rebuffed by many. 

I was not ready for this challenge. Ash Wednesday changed all of that, and I see Lent 2013 as a special time to reflect deeply upon this special call by Jesus.

In the past several days, I have experienced many examples of being humiliated. In recent days, I have been confronted in various places by very unhappy people. I could understand the depth of their anger and outrage--at me, at the Church, at about injustices that swirl around us. 

Thanks to God's special grace, I simply stood there, asking God to bless and forgive them (my emphasis).

Excuse me, Mahony is not the one to forgive anyone! He is fully deserving of every bit of humiliation he receives. In fact, he belongs in jail for aiding and abetting.This is a man who covered up and used diocesan lawyers, and spent the money collected from the faithful to prevent the truth EVER being known. It was only the opening of thousands of pages of files documenting abuse, in some cases of priests who assaulted dozens of victims over years, that exposed  how criminally irresponsible Mahony was! And yet, he's the one "forgiving?" (Well, he was just naive, you see. And besides, he's said he was sorry. What more can anyone want?)

I would believe his post a lot more if he said he THANKED every person who humiliated him and begged THEIR forgiveness. He's the one to be on his knees striking his breast in a mea culpa for all the children he helped abuse, sending the child rapists back into ministry to rape again. As for being naive, how many brains does it take to recognize that raping children is a criminal offense?

Mahony is like every other liberal caught in horrifying misdeeds: just say you're sorry and move on. I'll believe he's sorry when he publicly repents of all the damage he's done with his dissent and undermining of church teachings throughout his career and then goes into a monastery to atone in prayer and penance. But I doubt that will happen too soon because Mahony is looking forward to flying off to Rome (first class?) to lobby with the progressive wing of the hierarchy for a pope who will "modernize" the Church. And there are those who will forgive him anything as long as he supports women ordination and other heterodox positions which are much more important than defending the children (born or unborn). It's instructive to remember that some doctrines of the Church, by Mahony's own admission, are above his pay grade.

Fortunately, for the orthodox, we know that the Holy Spirit is the one inspiring the election and the term of the next pope. So even if the worst possible cardinal is chosen to succeed Benedict, the Church will be protected in her doctrinal truth.

As for Mahony, his legacy has finally caught up with him and it's not a pretty one, unlike his nemesis, Mother Angelica. I imagine Mother, despite Mahony's attack on her, is engaging in serious prayer for his conversion. That would be a good Lenten practice for us all since Our Blessed Lord admonished us often to "pray for our enemies." It's clear that the enemies within need our prayers as much or more than those outside!

Legacies of Mother Angelica and Cardinal Mahony

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Why Home School? The answer is becoming more obvious every day.

American Thinker has an article that every parent with children in public schools should read.

Swallow Your Pride, Save Your Child

If you know the background of compulsory public education, you are aware of what this author points out. If you are unfamiliar with the educational philosophy undergirding public education, you need to understand it and he explains it well:

Some people minimize the educational crisis by declaring that the public schools were good back in their day, and have merely gone off the rails within the past few decades. False. The "father of modern education," John Dewey, published his first major work, The School and Social Progress, in 1899. He was an anti-rational, anti-freedom (and later Trotskyite) dissembler who saw socialism as the only corrective for society's ills, and promoted public education as the most effective means to socialism. He has been the dominant intellectual force behind the development of Western education for a hundred years. Furthermore, the reason for his quick rise to preeminence in education theory is that his "radical methods" were not fundamentally inconsistent with the goals of the earlier "philanthropic" advocates of public education, namely to produce a qualified but humble underclass that would not challenge the authority of an entrenched oligarchy. (President Obama's crony Warren Buffet has recently remarked that in the name of fairness, private schools ought to be banned outright, and all children forcibly distributed to government schools by lottery. Plus ça change....) 

In short, the past century of public education displays the fate of today's well-intentioned public school parent writ large. Civilization always was, in effect, mitigating the compulsory school's damage at home. In the earlier stages, the progressive degradation was more subtle, but only because public education itself had not yet become a completely closed shop. That is to say, a hundred years ago many parents had spent relatively few years in public schools themselves; many teachers and school administrators had received alternative forms of education, as had their own teachers and university professors; government schools were still somewhat under the sway of educational models adapted from the pre-public era; and the progressive schools had not yet entirely displaced family, religion, and great literature as the primary moral influences among the majority of the population. Civilization therefore deteriorated slowly, rather than all at once. 

But it did deteriorate: today's universal public education catastrophe is not a radical shift from the schools of "your day." It is the inevitable, logical outcome of a long war between authoritarians who sought to mold a compliant underclass of amoral collectivists, and responsible adults who sought to promote a happy and moral life for their children.

The lesson is clear: The authoritarians won. They always will, in the end -- until they are forcibly denied the souls they wish to corrupt.

If you have children in public school and just can't homeschool, pray. There is always an alternative: another home schooling family that you could work with, a co-op school, an extended family member who would gladly support your plan. God, through the intercession of His home schooling mother Mary, will assist you to find an answer that is best for your family.

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Ash Wednesday Thought

"Remember that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return."

Do you have your spiritual affairs in order? Are you prepared to meet your maker?

If not....  Remember, you know not the day or the hour. Will you meet the Lord at the particular judgment this Lent? Each of us would do well to think about it. What will you say when you see God face to face?

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Another Lenten Suggestion

Ah...the senior moment! I began the last post on Lent with a specific suggestion in mind and then forgot to include it. I obviously need to consume more coconut oil (which is supposed to help lubricate the "little grey cells" as Hercule Poirot would say).

My own Lenten reading matter is going to be from one of my favorite authors, G.K. Chesterton. The book, Lent and Easter: Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton, is published by Liguori and available here.

Chesterton is often called the "apostle of common sense." But he is much more than that. His theology is described as the "theology of joy" based on his subthemes of "wonder, gratitude, and appreciation" (from the introduction). To read Chesterton is to be on a romp through life like a little child stopping to smell the flowers, pet a bumble bee, frolick with a puppy, chase a firefly, catch a snowflake on the tongue, and dance in the rain puddles. I love Chesterton because he knows how to argue with the enemies of God without being angry and bitter, takes himself and his brilliance lightly, and is often hilarious without striving to be. He enjoys the good things of life with an absolute sense that God meant it to be that way and without misusing any of them. He loves the ordinary, everyday pleasures of hearth and home, pantry and table. In fact, if I had to guess his genus and species, I would say he embodies all the lovely realities of a hobbit sprinkled with magic fairy dust and practicing a bit of wizardry. Doesn't he, in fact, look like a wizard

in his great cape and hat carrying his walking "stick" which I expect is his wizard's staff?

On each day of Lent, the book offers a quote from Chesterton, a Scripture reference, a short prayer and a suggested action. Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, offers this Chestertonian nugget for meditation:

The essential difference between Christian and Pagan asceticism lies in the fact that Paganism in renouncing pleasure gives up something which it does not think desirable; whereas Christianity in giving up pleasure gives up something it thinks very desirable indeed. Thus there is a frenzy in Christian asceticism; its follies and renunciations are like those of first love.

Isn't that lovely? Doesn't it ennoble our sacrifices? What, after all, is the nobility of giving up what isn't worth the giving? It is only those wonderful gifts that we voluntarily sacrifice for a time out of love for another that shine with the glow of grace. Do take a look at this lovely book for your Lenten meditation. You can never go wrong with Chesterton's "theology of joy!"

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What Are You Doing for Lent?

It's Shrove Tuesday and time to think about how you will observe Lent well. The next six weeks are Catholics' annual boot camp to get in shape for more zealous activity as a members of the Church Militant. Here are some suggestions. The first is to use the Liturgy of the Hours. Ever since I began saying morning and evening prayer about six weeks ago. I've found myself more filled with hope than I have been in a long time. Despite the miserable state of the world, praying with Holy Mother Church, especially the psalms, is like a booster shot of hope. You cannot praise God twice a day and recognize His authority and His sovereignty over the earth, without realizing of how little consequence the rebellion is. To be fearful and filled with despair is silly -- like being terrified by a huge anthill in the garden. No matter what evil the devil plans, he is nothing but a little garter snake. Yes, he can inspire great evil, but God will always being greater good from Satan's puny plans. Try Liturgy of the Hours for a few weeks and see if your hope and trust in God increase, as mine has.

Another suggestion
 is the 90 day Bible reading challenge. Lent isn't long enough to finish the entire challenge, but it could give you a good start. And if you take St. Jerome's admonition seriously, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ," then Bible reading should be an important part of your spiritual program, not just during Lent but all year.

Of course, the three focus areas of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, so doing some serious penance should be part of the plan as well as giving alms. To me, almsgiving isn't just money (although I think that sharing our material goods is important), but actually doing for others. How about volunteering at a soup kitchen or a crisis pregnancy center, or some other charity that serves the poor directly. Christ House in Alexandria is always looking for volunteers and, wherever you live, I'm sure there is a similar service group that could use your help.

May you have a fruitful Lent and build up lots of spiritual muscle during the next six weeks.

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Mike Voris Weighs in on Papal Resignation

And among those considered candidates for next pope?

A man named Peter.

It is an interesting possibility in view of the prophecies of St. Malachy. We know not the day or the hour, but the signs of the times are certainly ominous. Pray for faith, hope, and charity -- and the grace of final perseverance.

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Pope Benedict Resigns!

I am still in a state of shock!

Statement of Pope Benedit XVI

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

From the Vatican, 10 February 2013

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Mike Huckabee on Newtown Shooting

Don't you wish this man was the president? Have we already asked God "to excuse himself" and mind his own business again while we continue on with business as usual?

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Food for Thought: Government Tyranny

"As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation."

Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler

Take note how Obama surrounds himself with children whenever he curtails another liberty - born children, that is.

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Put These School Officials in Straightjackets

Hello Kitty assault weapon

Five-year-old designated "terrorist" because she challenged classmate to shoot it out with her Hello Kitty bubble gun (which was at home at the time).

Next thing we know Hello Kitty bubble guns will be designated assault weapons by Diane Feinstein.

The child was required to get a psych evaluation, but we all know who the real nuts are. Which just goes to show that working for the government makes you crazy. And the higher up you are, the more in need of the straight jacket and the padded cell.

This would be hilarious except for the serious ramifications for the child and her family. I hope they sue the dickens out of the school! Are teachers today really so silly that they can't solve a problem in the classroom between two five-year-olds? When my fourth graders were mean to each other, I always cited the golden rule and urged them to treat each other with respect (the BIG rule I had in my classroom). Did they always do it? Of course not, but their mistakes were learning opportunities. Today, respect has been replaced with correct, politically correct that is. Teach your children to be critical thinkers and question everything they are told by their teachers. If it doesn't stand the test of truth and common sense, ditch it. Just because someone is in a position of authority doesn't mean he's telling you the truth! And that goes for men in roman collars and miters.

More here. It's time the names of these people were published so they could be held up to the public ridicule they deserve. (Note the elementary school photo in the article. Doesn't it look like a jail? If it were my child or grandchild, she'd never go back. I'd home school in a nano-second for her mental health and safety.)

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More on Carhart's Killing

See Fr. Pavone's column and pass it on. These serial butchers must be stopped!

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Another Woman Dies from her "Safe, Legal Abortion"

Late term abortionist ignores dying patient.

Leroy Carhart is a butcher. His latest victim? A 29-year-old woman 33 weeks pregnant! Most babies born at 33 weeks have few problems because they are so close to term. But these babies are just trash to an abortionist. More here.

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Yikes! Who Made Him the Grand Poobah?

Governor bans travel in Massachusetts by Executive Order "until further notice."

And when I say BAN, I mean get ready to be arrested!

Now I don't go out in the snow normally. I like to hunker down with a good book and a cup of tea, but I don't think politicians have the right to close every road in the state to its citizens. (How about out of state folks?)  I remember a big snowstorm in February eight or nine years ago. My husband and I flew into Dulles coming home from a trip out west, and had a very snowy ride home.
In fact, we were snowed OUT. I dropped my husband off to dig a car spot at the end of the driveway and went over to the church to park and visit a friend until he called.At church I found a fellow parishioner with a scoop clearing the Church lot. When he was done, he went over and dug us out.

But consider the results if we arrived at the airport only to be told that no one was allowed to drive on the roads in Virginia and we'd have to camp out at the airport until the ban was lifted.

Who is the governor to decide that HE has the right to close every road in the state and determine which citizens have a legitimate need to drive? But that's a liberal Democrat for you! (The media are excluded from the ban, of course.)

And another thing. If  he can do it for a snowstorm how about for other situations as well? What constitutes an "emergency" to this drama queen? I wonder what the people in upstate New York think about it. I once visited a friend in Watertown in the winter, arrived during a snowstorm, and drove to her apartment between snowbanks taller than her car.She wasn't fazed by it at all. It was the norm.

I can't help feeling this is all about getting people ready to accept control by our masters under any circumstances they want.

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The Miracle of Marcelino is Back...

...in a remake of the classic story. See the official website.

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Sobering Thought

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What One Priest is Doing to Save Babies

Check it out!

And now read this.

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Blame Obama and Piers Morgan

Another deranged killer is on the rampage and he's a huge Obama and Piers Morgan fan. Well, by the left's logic we should blame them, right?  I have a long memory and I remember how the left blamed all pro-lifers for George Killer's murder despite the fact that the killer had NO connections to the pro-life community.

So, Obama and Morgan, you get full responsibility for inciting this guy to go on his killing spree. It's you kind of rhetoric that incites these guys to violence.

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We Need a Case of Raid to Clean Out the Mahony/Bernardine Legacy

Pray for Cardinal Mahony. Sometimes disgrace leads to a serious examination of conscience. Let's pray that happens with Mahony. The damage he and his cronies inflicted on Holy Mother Church is incalculable.

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Hmmm...Think I'll Remember This Next Time We Drive to Texas

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It May Be Cold, but There are Signs of Spring!

The little goldfinches in their brown winter coats are beginning to get a hint of yellow!

The daffodils are poking up.

Buds on the trees are swelling.

Yup, I do believe Spring will come again this year. Thank you, dear Lord, for the changing seasons and the bursting forth of new life to remind us of your faithfulness and love.

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Latest Obamacare Compromise: Just One More Shell Game

It's a "phony compromise!" says Archbishop Chaput:

The new rules are very complex. And they may actually make things worse. In the words of Notre Dame Law Professor Gerard Bradley:

“Gauging the net effect of the new administration proposal [is] hazardous. But one can say with confidence the following: (1) religious hospitals are, as before, not exempt ‘religious employers’; (2) religious charities are very likely not exempt either, unless they are run out of a church or are very tightly integrated with a church. So, a parish or even a diocese’s Saint Vincent De Paul operations would probably be an exempt ‘religious employer,’ whereas Catholic Charities would not be; (3) the new proposal may (or may not) make it more likely that parish grade schools are exempt ‘religious employers.’ But Catholic high schools are a different matter. Some might qualify as ‘religious employers.’ Most probably will not.

It's just one more game to pretend the administration is making reasonable attempts to come together and those hard-boiled, obstreperous bishops just won't give our good, kind president a break. Obama is determined to destroy religious liberty in this country and he will do anything he can to force the churches and people of conscience to cooperate in evil. He may not be THE anti-Christ (he's too small potatoes), but he is surely AN anti-Christ like so many tyrants before him. Pray for him and resist him!

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NAACP Complicit in Aborting Black Babies

And they want to sue a black man for telling the truth about them. It's really a Twilight Zone experience when an organization that claims to support the advancement of black people is in bed with the biggest killer of black babies on the planet. Yup, you got it, the NAACP cozies up to Planned Parenthood. Crazy, ain't it? But most big organizations are about money and power and little unborn black babies have neither of those things.

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Boy Scouts Delay Decision on Admitting Gays

All the scouts have to do is look at what happened in Canada after Boy Scouts approved gay scout masters, volunteers, and members. Membership plummeted by 50%.

Seventy percent of scout troops are affiliated with churches. The Catholic Church serves 280,000 Scout troops. How can a man openly proclaiming the goodness of perversion be permitted to influence young Catholic boys? If dioceses don't ban the scouts on their premises, they will be open to tremendous criticism from the orthodox. Pray that the Boy Scouts maintain their sensible and moral policy and don't cave in to the politically correct pressures trying to pervert their organization. Boy scouts take an oath to be "morally straight." The policy isn't the only thing that will change if they admit open, active gays::

BOY SCOUT OATH

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Want to read more about this issue?

World Net Daily
Dallas Morning News
Political Outcast
Newsmax

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The Wonder of Fairy Tales: Read Them to Your Children

I'm thinking about fairy tales this morning because of a novel I'm reading by an author recommended in Fr. John Hardon's Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan. The heroine is called Beauty and the story reminds me somewhat of Beauty and the Beast since there is a beastly man in it.

But I digress. Have you ever noticed how moral fairy tales are?
Evil is easy to identify in the character of witches, ogres, and vicious animals vs. the heroes: brave soldiers returning from war, shepherds and farmers with pure hearts, etc. And the minor characters often illustrate the vices and virtues of life: The envious sisters and brothers who do everything they can to bring down their good and innocent sibling: the evil imp Rumplestiltskin who takes advantage of an impossible situation to rob a mother of her child only to be defeated with the help of good huntsman, the old woman in the forest who tests the generosity of those she meets. Yes, fairy tales are a microcosm of life and they expose the truth, both for good and evil, within the hearts of the characters.

When I was a child I spent hours on the floor in the living room immersed in a thick book of Grimm's Fairy Tales enclosed in a green cover with gold letters. What a magic carpet that book was for me! There were few pictures, but who needed them when a rich imagination conjured up all the images the words conveyed? How I loved the story of the two sisters, one kind and good and one rude and selfish. The generosity of one to an old woman in the forest gave her the reward of pearls and rich gems coming from her mouth when she spoke. Her envious sister, hoping for a similar reward, could not overcome her unkind character and treated the old woman with contempt. She returned with the "gift" of spiders and toads coming out of her mouth when she spoke. I often used that story with my children as they grew because there is so much truth in it. Do our words share the pearl of great price with our listeners or do they bite and injure like vipers and spiders?

Yes, fairy tales are wonderful teaching tools. And they hold the entire world in them as Tolkein wrote:

Now, though I have only touched (wholly inadequately) on elves and fairies, I must turn back; for I have digressed from my proper theme: fairy-stories. I said the sense “stories about fairies” was too narrow. It is too narrow, even if we reject the diminutive size, for fairy-stories are not in normal English usage stories about fairies or elves, but stories about Fairy, that is Faerie, the realm or state in which fairies have their being. Faerie contains many things besides elves and fays, and besides dwarfs, witches, trolls, giants, or dragons: it holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and all things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted....And actually fairy-stories deal largely, or (the better ones) mainly, with simple or fundamental things, untouched by Fantasy, but these simplicities are made all the more luminous by their setting. For the story-maker who allows himself to be “free with” Nature can be her lover not her slave. It was in fairy-stories that I first divined the potency of the words, and the wonder of the things, such as stone, and wood, and iron; tree and grass; house and fire; bread and wine.

So read your children fairy tales to help them see the reality of life: of goodness and evil, truth and justice. Because in the best fairy tales, evil always comes to a bad end and good is always rewarded. And that is absolutely true about life even when we don't see it because "for now we see through a glass darkly." It will not always be so.

Critics will call the message of punishment and reward simplistic, but in the end, it is absolutely true. Fairy tales point to the day when the author of life will sort out all things and all will be made right. The evil will be punished and finally banished, just like the villains of the fairy tales, and the good will be rewarded and welcomed into the kingdom where they will "happily ever after."

I'm eager for that day, aren't you?

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I Don't Get It...How Come Black Thugs Get a Pass?

When the KKK was instigating violence against blacks with cross burnings and worse, was anybody trying to  cover up for the criminals and their violent behavior? Was their race disguised in articles? Weren't they called out for their vicious bigotry?

So how come black violence is treated differently? How come bigotry and violence against whites by blacks isn't given the same treatment?

I'm not the only one who wonders. Walter Williams had an article about it last June that's worth reading. All I can say is, "Good for him." And here's just a bit of it:

Racial double standards also apply to how crime is reported. I’m betting that if mobs of white youths were going about severely beating and robbing blacks at random and preying on black businesses, it would be major news. News anchors might open, “Tonight we report on the most recent wave of racist whites organizing unprovoked attacks on innocent black people and their businesses.” If white thugs were actually doing that, politicians would be demanding answers. Such random attacks do happen, but it’s blacks preying on whites.... 

Most of the time, the race of the attackers, euphemistically called flash mobs, is not reported, even though media leftists and their allies are experts in reporting racial disparities in prison sentencing and the alleged injustice of the criminal justice system.

Yup, it's the elephant in the living room, or, in this case, in the newsroom. And it's one more effect from the liberals decimation of the black family. No daddies has had a horrible impact on black youth. Now, I don't know if the women in the video below are single moms, but this says it all about what's happening to the children. Both the security guard and the commentator are black and I'll bet their children are getting a better example than the poor little kids with these two barbaric black women. Pray for them and raise your children to love God and their neighbors.

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Mini Drones: Will they be spying on us?

In George Orwell's novel, 1984, Big Brother had access to every citizen in the country, spying on their activities and making sure they thought the right thoughts. Here's one more surveillance tool.

Mini drones are here

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What Do You Think?

Could you be a martyr like St. Agatha whose feast is today? Would you suffer torture for your faith? Because tradition tells us that one of St. Agatha's tortures was to have her breasts cut off, she is the patron of women who suffer breast cancer. 

St. Agatha of Sicily, pray for us.

Here's her history from Catholic Online:

Although we have evidence that Agatha was venerated at least as far back as the sixth century, the only facts we have about her are that she was born in Sicily and died there a martyr. In the legend of her life, we are told that she belonged to a rich, important family. When she was young, she dedicated her life to God and resisted any men who wanted to marry her or have sex with her. One of these men, Quintian, was of a high enough rank that he felt he could force her to acquiesce. Knowing she was a Christian in a time of persecution, he had her arrested and brought before the judge - - himself. He expected her to give in to when faced with torture and possible death, but she simply affirmed her belief in God by praying: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil." 

Legend tells us that Quintian imprisoned her in a brothel in order to get her to change her mind. Quintian brought her back before him after she had suffered a month of assault and humiliation in the brothel, but Agatha had never wavered, proclaiming that her freedom came from Jesus. Quintian sent her to prison, instead of back to the brothel -- a move intended to make her more afraid, but which probably was a great relief to her. When she continued to profess her faith in Jesus, Quintian had her tortured. He refused her any medical care but God gave her all the care she needed in the form of a vision of St. Peter. When she was tortured again, she died after saying a final prayer: "Lord, my Creator, you have always protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Receive my soul."

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A New Abortion Approach: The Bully Strategy

"One may smile and smile and be a villain."

There's been a lot of chatter in pro-life circles about the Salon article by Mary Elizabeth Williams, So What if Abortion Ends Life? I confess the article sickens me. It illustrates the new abortion approach which can be summarized as the "bully strategy....Hey, I'm bigger than you are so I get to be the boss!" Here's a 40 plus woman who says, "Yes, life begins at conception, so what?" In other words, it doesn't matter whether the little one in the womb is a human life; the mother's choice trumps the baby's right to life. And it's only "wingnuts" on the right who want to intimidate people like her who want to have "conversations" about which lives are worth living and who gets to kill whom. Here's some of what she says with my comments in red:

Here’s the complicated reality in which we live [watch out for those who want to take something simple like, "Thou shalt not murder." and make it complicated]: All life is not equal. [Right! That's what Hitler thought when he called the Jews subhuman and it's what Stalin thought when he starved the Ukranians to death and what Plutarco Calles thought when he murdered priests and Catholics in Mexico.] That’s a difficult thing for liberals like me to talk about, lest we wind up looking like death-panel-loving, kill-your-grandma-and-your-precious-baby storm troopers.
[Isn't that what you are? After all, you get to decide whose life is worth living.] Yet a fetus [There's that dehumanizing word. It's "just" a fetus, or a kike, or a nigger, or a mackerel snapper, or a gook, or a chink, or a pollack.] can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides. She’s the boss. [Why does this remind me of mein fuhrer?] Her life and what is right for her circumstances and her health should automatically trump the rights of the non-autonomous entity inside of her.Always. [And a newborn is autonomous? How about an elderly person in advanced Alzheimer's?]  

....They ["wingnut" prolifers] believe that if we call a fetus a life they can go down the road of making abortion murder.[It is murder: the deliberate killing of an innocent person.] And I think that’s what concerns the hell out of those of us who support unrestricted reproductive freedom.[i.e., abortion on demand through all nine months for no reason or any reason] 

But we make choices about life all the time in our country. We make them about men and women in other nations. We make them about prisoners in our penal system. We make them about patients with terminal illnesses and accident victims. We still have passionate debates about the justifications of our actions as a society, but we don’t have to do it while being bullied around by the vague idea that if you say we’re talking about human life, then the jig is up, rights-wise. [Pardon me, but bullies are big people who beat up and even kill smaller, weaker people -- like the babies in the womb. Duh!]

If you click on this gal's hotlinks, you reach articles about drones killing civilians, the death penalty, right-to-die laws, and taking someone off life support. Apparently, this panoply of situations, some of which are morally neutral, in her mind justify the murder of the baby in the womb whom she is careful to label "a fetus" anytime during the nine months of pregnancy. This is the same old argument the strong have always used to justify killing the weak. And it's instructive to remember that blacks at one time were ruled 2/3 of a person by the Supreme Court. Babies waiting to be born apparently aren't even worth that much.

All I can say about Mary Elizabeth Williams is I sure wouldn't want her to have my medical power of attorney. Somehow I think making her "the boss" would be very dangerous indeed.

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Never Forget!... What a Rogue Government Did at Waco

The Davidian Massacre Pages

Waco was the warning of what an out-of-control federal government can do to its citizens. After the ATF and the FBI killed the Branch Davidians in what was an unconstitutional military-assisted assault, they destroyed evidence, lied, and demonized a religious sect guilty of little more than being different. The attack happened only a year after Ruby Ridge, another assault on a family for little more than being different. Interestingly, Lon Horiuchi, the sharshooter who killed unarmed Vicki Weaver as she stood in the doorway holding her baby, was also involved in the Waco siege. While they feds claimed they did not fire on the compound, spent shell cases were found at the location of Horiuchi and his team. There is also evidence that helicopters were shooting machine guns at the one possible remaining exit after the fire began. It was overkill -- literally! In her book on the Waco Massacre, Carol Moore made this interesting observation:

In the video "The Waco Incident: The True Story," controversial investigator Gordon Novel asserts, "That's America's first Auschwitz right there. They're gassing them prior to cremating them." The massacre of the Branch Davidians was the greatest government massacre of civilians on American soil since the massacre of 300 Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1890. There are hundreds of disturbing questions about this massacre that must be answered.

I agree and
I hope people not only don't forget about it, but do research on it, check out the evidence, encourage their children to write papers on it, and never let the American people forget what Uncle Sam is capable of doing to those who are different.

Who in this country is most different today according to an increasingly paganized culture? Think about it as you see Christians forced into cooperation with the evils of abortion and same-sex perversion.

Concern over Waco continues. Check out these sources:

Helicopter Attack
Day 51

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WACO: Warning about an Out-of-Control Government

Has the government become less draconian since Waco or more? Watch this video and consider the fact that the government "lost" the videos showing the beginning of the attack and "lost" the pages from the log that outlined how things came down. David Koresh and his followers were demonized to justify the excessive force used by the federal agents. There were never any good faith negotiations. The federal agencies were simply determined to win at all costs. The spokesmen lied over and over both to the people in the compound and to the public. Consider what those little children went through as they were sprayed with the CS gas. The crime scene was destroyed. Why? To get rid of the evidence?

Waco was monstrous and unconstitutional. But constitutionality doesn't matter to those who believe they are above the law.

Will we see another Waco? What do you think?

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Out of the Mouths of Babes: Alexander's Letter to President Obama

National Right to Life ran a letter the other day from a 7-year-old asking the president to protect the babies! Why don't you consider following this little boy's example today. Write the president a letter. Just imagine if every pro-lifer in the country wrote to him and said a prayer for his conversion. Who knows what good might come of it? Here's the address:

President Barack Obama,
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

And here's Alexander's letter exactly as he wrote it:


Dear Presedent Obama

My name is Alexander. I’m 7. Please change the law about killing babys when they are still in mommy’s tummys.

This babys are a live and not one chose to die.

Please make a new law that will protect the babys.

Marten Luther King, Jr. had a drem and he changed America and I also have a dream that Momys have to take good care of the babys in there tummys and bring babys to the orfanedg and other mommys can adopt them and they will be happy.

I will also be Presedent wen I grow up.

Your Friend

Alexander G.

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Black on White Violence: It's Being Taught in School...

...and by the media. 

You're White, You're Guilty, You're Dead 

Here's a bit from the article:

“Black people have been encouraged to hate whites and to discriminate against them from the so-called civil rights leaders,” said author and syndicated talk show host Jesse Lee Peterson: “And that is evil. The evil will get worse from generation to generation if you don’t deal with it.”
Taleeb Starkes is a social worker, film maker and author of the book called “The Un-Civil War.” 

“These schools are reinforcing the long-existing, deep-rooted, victimization gospel that’s religiously practiced in the African-American community,” said Starkes. “Moreover, denunciation of this victimization gospel by any African-American is sacrilegious and leads to the questioning of ‘blackness.’ Even scarier is the fact that this ideology is spawning urban terrorists whose actions are always justified by another tenet of the victimization gospel called P.T.S.D (Post Traumatic Slavery Disorder).” 

Starkes continued, “Combined with the race peddlers and the mainstream media’s intentional portrayal of African-Americans as permanent victims incapable of hate-crimes, this self-defeating ideology has become a societal toxin.

Scary, eh? What ever happened to Martin Luther King's admonition to judge people, not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character? And Obama has made the situation ten times worse with his policy of division and envy. God help us!

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Armed Guard Stops School Shooting in Atlanta

What did Joe Biden say about not putting armed guards in schools?

Armed guard disarms teen

And more here.

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Mahony's Evil Chickens Finally Come Home to Roost

Archbishop Gomez relieves Cardinal Mahony of duties; Bishop Curry steps down

Mahony managed to escape his just deserts for a long time, but his evil has finally caught up with him. Let's pray that it causes soul-searching and repentance. Think of people like Chuck Coulson who found their true ministry in jail. A little jail time for Mahony would probably do his soul good. I know when I was in jail (for rescuing babies) it was an opportunity to reflect on what's really important. Well, I doubt if he'll spend a minute in jail, but let's pray the humiliation is a blessing. Fr. John Hardon always said that only humble people get into heaven and we become humble through humiliation. Let's pray for Cardinal Mahony.

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Obama's Queeg Moment

Have you ever read The Caine Mutiny? It's a great book and well worth the time. The American Spectator's article, Obama's "Queeg Moment," is spot-on about Obama's incompetence and resistance to change. Funny that a guy who talks change, change, change is wedded to old, tired ideas that he keeps repeating no matter how much evidence exists that they don't work. Hasn't he heard the definition of insanity: repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Read the article and prepare for the shipwreck...or the court martial which would certainly be welcome.

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