The Death of the Wicked

Folks,

Lest anyone misunderstand the previous post on the murder of Dr. Tiller, the infamous abortion physician and personal friend of Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, please let me point out what Ezekiel 18:23 states:

Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord GOD. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?

But the key here is that the wicked man turn from his evil way and live. If a man spends an entire life murdering unborn babies and fails to repent, then God will allow him to reap the wrath that he has sown. As Galatians 6:7-8 states:

Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows, because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit.

God wants us to repent. That is why He gave us His only begotton Son. But if we refuse repentance, then we need to be reminded of Romans 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I deplore the vigilante murder of Dr. Tiller and I hope that his murderer is brought to justice. But Dr. Tiller's own actions have a hand in the fate that he met. God never desired his murder, but God did allow it. Let this be a lesson for all of us, for every single one of us put the nails in Jesus hands and feet to make our deaths unnecessary. None of us deserve His love, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), so let us accept it while there is yet hope.

Justice Served?

Folks,

I'll let you decide for yourselves. Sadly, the issue of abortion is just as devisive today as the issue of slavery was in 1860, and that took a civil war to resolve. No truly pro-life person wants that, but as Thomas Jefferson once said,

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

Wichita police: Slaying at abortion doc's church

WICHITA, Kan. – A Wichita, Kan., official has confirmed that late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was shot and killed at his church in Wichita, Kan.

A City Hall official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the case told The Associated Press that the 67-year-old doctor was killed Sunday morning at Reformation Lutheran Church.

Police spokesman Gordon Bassham would not confirm the victim's identity pending notification of relatives. He says the shooting occurred at 10:03 a.m. and the gunman fled the scene in a 1993 powder blue Ford Taurus registered in another part of the state.

Bassham says no suspects are in custody.

Tiller has been among the few U.S. physicians performing late-term abortions. His clinic has repeatedly been the site of protests and he was shot and wounded by a protester in 1993.

Amos 9:10 says:

By the sword shall all sinners among my people die, those who say, "Evil will not reach or overtake us."

The Word of God is infallible.

Dei Verbum - "The Word of God"

Folks,

I received this message in my e-mail in-box today from Father Corapi's web site. I commend it to your attention. Sacred Scripture exists in a Trinitarian relationship with Sacred Tradition and the Teaching of the Magisterium of the Church, just as Jesus Christ exists in a Trinitarian relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Where there is one person of the Trinity, the other two must be because they are all one. In like manner, so is the relationship between Scripture, Tradition and Magisterial Teaching. That uniquely sets Catholics apart from our Protestant brothers and sisters who fall into the error of Sola Scriptura, not realizing that the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit established what would be in the Sacred Canon and what would not be. Tradition and Magisterial Teaching were essential in finalizing the Christian Canon of Scripture to include the Septuagint and the New Testament as inspired. But before I digress, please read on.

Dei Verbum - "The Word of God"

In my personal opinion, the best short series that I have ever produced is entitled Word of God. The subject matter of this series concerns what we call Divine Revelation. Another way to explain it would be how the Catholic Church reads the Bible. If you were to ask Catholics in general anything about this, 99% could not answer. As a matter of fact, significant numbers of priests could not give a satisfactory exposition concerning the Catholic Church’s teaching on Divine Revelation. This is a serious defect.

This series consists of six lectures of approximately an hour each. Each one of them synthesizes one of the six chapters of the Church’s major contemporary document on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, or, Word of God. In short, the topics are Divine Revelation itself, the transmission of Divine Revelation, Sacred Scripture: its divine revelation and its interpretation, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church.

A very common error concerns the interpretation of Sacred Scripture. The error would never be made if people knew the 3 basic principles used for authentically interpreting the written Word of God. Do you know what they are? They are: 1. You must read the Scriptures as a totality, not taking individual elements of it out of context. 2. You must read the written Word of God (the Bible) in the light of Sacred Tradition. (Do you know what Sacred Tradition is?) 3. You must read the Scriptures applying the Analogy of the Faith. (Do you know what the analogy of the faith is?)

This is very basic and very essential Catholic teaching. Put very simply, Divine Revelation is God our Father revealing himself to us in the Person of his only Son, Jesus Christ—the Word of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This revelation of God our Father to us in the Person of his only Son is at once ONE and THREE, like the holy Trinity. Wherever one Person of the most holy Trinity is, there the other two must be in virtue of the theological reality of what we call circumincession or the divine perichoresis. This is the basic principle behind our Catholic-Christian understanding of God’s revelation of himself to us.

Like the Trinity, revelation of the one God is Trinitarian in nature as well. God reveals himself to us by way of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and Magisterial teaching—no one of which can subsist without the other two. To use an analogy, God is not God unless Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and authentic Divine Revelation is not that unless Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterial teaching. The three are one, indissoluble and compenetrated.

The knowledge contained in this enormously important Church teaching will go a long way in helping you to understand the Bible and how to read and interpret it.

God bless you,

Rev. John Corapi, SOLT, STD

Faith in God Alone

Folks,

2nd Kings 19:15-19 records the prayer of King Hezekiah to the Lord God:

O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and cast their gods into the fire; they destroyed them because they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone. Therefore, O LORD, our God, save us from the power of this man, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.

Tom Campbell Clark, an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court from 1949 to 1967, stated:

The Founding Fathers believed devoutly that there was a God and that the unalienable rights of man were rooted - not in state, nor the legislature, nor in any human power - but in God alone.

I have to wonder if the Senate Judiciary Committee will ask "Catholic" nominee to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, if she agrees with the Founding Fathers of these United States. Somehow, I doubt it.

P.S., Please note in verse 20 what the prophet Isaiah said concerning Hezekiah's prayer:

Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, in answer to your prayer for help against Sennacherib, king of Assyria: I have listened!

God listens and God answers prayer. Sometimes, though, we just don't like the answer we're given.

The Lord Does NOT Desire the Death of the Wicked

Folks,

I feel a need to make perfectly clear to anyone (man or woman) who is struggling over the grief and guilt of abortion that our Lord God is a merciful, just, forgiving and loving God. He says very clearly in Ezekiel 18:23:

Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord GOD. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?

Indeed, anyone suffering from this terrible evil should and must read all of Ezekiel 18. John 3:14-18 makes this very clear:

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Let us expand on this theme a bit. 2nd Kings 21 and 2nd Chronicles 33 record the story of King Manasseh of Judah. He became king at 12 years of age. He erected altars to Baal, worship poles to Asherah and an idol to Asherah in the Temple of the Lord. He even immolated his very own son by fire. So the Lord God allowed the Assyrians to lead him away by a nose ring into captivity (there's always penance, folks - you can do it willingly or unwillingly; Manasseh chose the unwilling way which was far more painful). This is what it took for Manasseh to repent, as 2nd Chronicles 33:9-13 explains:

Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into doing even greater evil than the nations which the LORD had destroyed at the coming of the Israelites. The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the LORD brought against them [Judah] the army commanders of the Assyrian king; they took Manasseh with hooks, shackled him with chains, and transported him to Babylon. In this distress, he began to appease the LORD, his God. He humbled himself abjectly before the God of his fathers and prayed to him. The LORD let himself be won over: he heard his prayer and restored him to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh understood that the LORD is indeed God.

The Lord forgave Manasseh even for immolating his own son. The Lord would have gladly done so in the beginning if Manasseh and the people of Jerusalem had listened, but Scripture is quite clear: "...they paid no attention."

Let us pay attention to the Lord. He wants to forgive. Captivity in Babylon is not required. It is only an unrepentent heart that results in such a fate. As 1st John 1:9 states:

If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.

Forgiveness for Abortion

Folks,

There is no sin except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29) that Jesus will not forgive. Therefore, if a women has had an abortion, or if a man helped in arranging for or providing an abortion, and that woman or man has a truly repentent heart, then Jesus will forgive.

Period.

Abortion creates victims everywhere, not the least of which is the would-be mother. I believe - and this is just my opinion - that the real criminals are those individuals in organizations that make money off abortion or get votes by supporting abortion. They are far more culpable before God. It is not so much the woman having had the abortion who is at fault, but the individuals who changed abortion into a right of choice, while giving the woman no choice but abortion. People like Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Dennis Kucinich, Patrick Leahy, Kathleen Sebelius, Andrew Cuomo, Mario Cuomo, Ted Kennedy, etc. ad nauseam have NO excuse. They are Catholic, they are our elected leaders, and they KNOW better. They are guilty of the greater evil, and what is even more reprehensible is that while the Church rightfully has rules about abortion and ex communication, too few bishops will actually enforce those rules against these reprobate politicians who leave otherwise innocent women without the choice for life.

Now those things being said, EWTN has an excellent article on Abortion and Ex Communication. Please read this article and note that:

1. There are certain criteria that must be met for one who had an abortion to be ex communicated.
2. While only a bishop may lift the ex communication, he can give this faculty to the priests in his diocese and often does so.

The bottom line still remains: Jesus forgives a repentent heart. Period.

The Lord God is Still on the Throne

Folks,

Today I asked a friend if he thought I was "flipping out" over all the madness that is happening in our nation. I complained to him that "Obama Messiah" has appointed another liberal Catholic, Miguel Diaz, as ambassador to the Vatican. He is a liberation theologian, a supporter of pro-abortionist Catholic Kathleen Sebelius (HHS Secretary), and a modest campaign donor to Obama. I went on to describe how frustrated I feel that "Obama Messiah" seems to be succeeeding in dividing the Church between pro-life Catholics and social justice Catholics, and all Cardinal George - the head of USCCB - can say in response to the President's Notre Dame speech is thank God he promised to support conscience protection. Frankly I was quite depressed.

My good and faithful friend responded with the following:

I think God is working double time. Here are my thoughts. Just about every position in power is held by a fallen-away Catholic. When all the positions are filled, He is going to send the Holy Spirit (maybe this Sunday, huh?), and fill their hearts and minds with right thinking. They will immediately rush to reverse all the damage done by their kind over the last half-century, and little Brackie will go off to Europe where they will immediately "dis' him" because he's nothing after all.

I have to remember: the Lord God is still on the Throne. When I get on the throne, there's only one thing that I do, and it's quite odiferous. So I need to let God be on the Throne. Therefore, my apologies to one and all if I seem to have "flipped out." I am not all sane, either (and the only one who was perfectly sane faced the cries of "crucifige eum, crucifige eum" before Pontius Pilate).

Freedom and Judgment

Folks,

Last night at Eucharistic Adoration I re-read the story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37 through 48. Genesis 37:28 says, "They [his brothers] sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver." I was reminded of how Judas Iscariot sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. I wonder for how much we would sell our freedom out. Dick Cheney, Joe Biden's predecessor, summed this up quite nicely: "It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you." Of course, in this day and age of Novus Augustus Divus, it's frowned upon to quote Dick Cheney, but I don't care. I actually (in a perverse sort of way) enjoy being judged by our liberal friends. Indeed, the very next chapter in this story of Joseph, his brothers and Pharoah is about the affair between Judah (one of Joseph's many brothers who had sold him into captivity) and his daughter-in-law Tamar in Genesis 38. I encourage everyone to read this, and then do a comparsion with John 8:2-11. For those of you who may have forgotten, perhaps this summary will help.

Judah left his brothers and ran off with a friend and subsequently married a Canaanite woman named Shua who bore him three sons: Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah got a wife named Tamar for Er, but Er did something (we don't know what) very wicked in the sight of God, so the Lord executed him (apparently the Lord does consider certain crimes capital offenses, a lesson we would do well to remember today). At this time Tamar hadn't become pregnant. So Judah told Onan (one of the other two sons) to then take Tamar as his wife and have children in his brother's stead. But Onan found that objectionable (apparently he had some humility issues), so during intercourse he spilled his seed on the ground. The Lord found that to be a capital offense also (see what lack of humility causes?). So with no more Onan, Tamar was still childless (and remember: that condition was a curse in this ancient society - so unlike today where abortion rules the land). Shelah, the last of Judah's sons at that time, was too young to wed Tamar, so Judah told Tamar to go back to her own father's house until Shelah had grown up. Of course, Tamar (after waiting for a considerable period) lost hope of getting Shelah as a husband. Thus, to get back at Judah, she dressed as a harlot with a veil over her face to prevent herself from being recognized, and she went into the field where Judah was working. Judah, being a typical red blooded male with a malformed conscience and a lustful predisposition (sound familiar, anyone?) asked her to have sex with him. She wanted to know what he would give her in return (after all, prostitutes have to be paid, too). He promised a young goat and gave her his signet and cord as pledge to provide the goat afterwards. Of course the two had sex and Tamar returned to her father's house. Judah and his servants then got the goat (Judah might have been lustful, but at least he was honest - an honest whoremaster) and went looking for the harlot in order to collect his pledge back after delivering payment. Needless to say, no harlot was to be found, so they gave up their search lest they be the laughing stock of the village (appearances and what other people think always seem to mean a whole lot more than actually being righteous and holy - or is that just my own jaded outlook?). Well, after three months Tamar's pregnancy became obvious and someone told Judah that she had been playing the harlot. In a rash of indignation and self-righteousness, he demanded that she be brought forth and burned (perhaps at the stake - we don't know). When she came to Judah, she presented the signet and cord she had received as surety from Judah when he slept with her. In verse 26 of chapter 38 Judah declares:

She is more in the right than I am, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.

You see, this was all Judah's fault in the very beginning. In fact, if Judah hadn't left his brothers for the pagan Canaanites, then this whole series of events would have never happened. Oh, by the way, Tamar delivered twins: Perez and Zereh. I have a feeling that there is some hidden meaning behind those two, for Zereh reached his hand out of his Mommy first, and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around it. But then Zereh withdrew and Perez came out first. This will be the subject of another blog entry.

Now the reader may recall that this story about Judah and Tamar is alluded to in (or at least prefigures) the story of Jesus and the woman caught in sin in John 8:2-11. (By the way, where is the man who was having sex with her? Did he escape as Judah did?) We all know the story - the self-righteous bring a dirty filthy prostitute to Jesus to stone her, He says nothing but that the one who is without sin should cast the first stone, and then He bends down to write in the sand. I have to wonder if He was writing the story of Judah and Tamar. Well, we don't know. All we do know is that the people surrounding them left one by one, eldest to youngest, and the One who is without sin did cast the first stone when He asked, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said no one, and He responded by saying, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more."

The reason why I think of these two stories (Judah and Tamar, and Jesus and the Woman Caught in Sin) right now is because when George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were President and Vice-President respectively, liberal leftist Catholics wasted no time reviling, condemning, vilifying and ridiculing them. Now that Barack Hussein Obama and Joseph Biden, both open supporters of baby dismemberment and murder, are elected, we who are pro-life are told that we are being nasty, mean and cruel when we point out what sin really is. Thus we become judged by the very people who thought that they were doing the same thing (i.e., pointing out sin) with George Bush and Dick Cheney. My how people change when the tables are turned. I solemnly promise this: I shall be fair and give their leaders all the respect that they gave mine.

And NO, Barack Hussein Obama is NOT my President.

Defender

Folks,

Isaiah 26:2-4 states:

Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith. A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you." Trust in the LORD forever! For the LORD is an eternal Rock.

Samuel Chase, another signer of the Declaration of Independence and a Justice on the US Supreme Court (a position for which Sonia Sotomayor has been nominated) said the following in the Court's opinion in the case of Runkel v. Winemiller in 1799:

Religion is of general and public concern, and on its support depend, in great measure, the peace and good order of government, the safety and happiness of the people. By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing, and are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty.

I have to wonder if Ms. Sotomayor would agree with her potential predecessor. O Tempore! O Mores!

Sotomayor Pick Not Based on Merit

Folks,

Ilya Shapiro at the Cato Institute has written an excellent article entitled, "Sotomayor Pick Not Based on Merit". I encourage everyone to read this article. We Catholics had better start educating ourselves on the real issues and not on the disinformation from ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, NPR and PBS. Let us remember the following:

A jurisprudence of empathy is the antithesis of the rule of law.

By the way, in case the reader does not recall who Cato was, a Wikipedia entry provides the following description:

Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (95 BC–46 BC), known as Cato the Younger (Cato Minor) to distinguish him from his great-grandfather (Cato the Elder), was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy. He is remembered for his legendary stubbornness and tenacity (especially in his lengthy conflict with Gaius Julius Caesar), as well as his immunity to bribes, his moral integrity, and his famous distaste for the ubiquitous corruption of the period.

We need more men of virtue and honor like Marcus Tulius Cicero and Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis. The Roman Republic became Empire because such men were forced out of the Senate. Yes men beholden to the whimsical desires of non-productive plebians replaced them, and so Rome fell.

Sound familiar? Here comes Sotomayor.

North Carolina “Healthy Youth” Act (HB88)

Folks,

This message is from the Bishops of North Carolina. Please act on it. Do NOT allow our children to be taught sexual immorality in our public schools for which we pay taxes.

May 27, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

The euphemistically titled bill, the “Healthy Youth” Act (HB88), is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Committee on Mental Health and Youth Services on Wednesday, May 27, at noon. We seek your assistance with this bill.

We remain opposed to the bill in its present form because it permits immorality to be taught to children in our public schools through the use of a comprehensive sex education curriculum. Although our preference did not prevail in the House in April, enough pressure was applied that they agreed to a number of amendments, among them one that requires parents to decide what curriculum their child will be exposed to and one that makes “no sex education” the default if parents do not choose a curriculum.

There is serious concern that some Senators will ask that comprehensive sex education become the default if parents do not choose a curriculum or worse, make it the requirement for all children.

Please contact your Senator today and express your desire to retain the abstinence until marriage curriculum that is presently being used in our school systems as the only fail safe and moral model for sex education. Please tell your Senator that each parent, not the state, should retain the right to determine what their children will be taught regarding sexuality.
You may send a message to your Senator by clicking the link below our names.

Sincerely yours,

The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis
Bishop of Charlotte

The Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge
Bishop of Raleigh

Click the link below to log in and send your message: http://www.votervoice.net/link/target/cvnc33643447.aspx

Religion and Law

Folks,

Justice James Wilson was one of the original members of SCOTUS as well as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. In 1792 he wrote a Commentary on the Constitution of the United States in which he told his law students the following:

It should always be remembered that this law...made for men or for nations, flows from the same Divine source: it is the law of God...What we do, indeed, must be founded on what He has done; and the deficiencies of our laws must be supplied by the perfection of His. Human law must rest its authority, ultimately, upon the authority of that law which is Divine...We now see the deep and solid foundations of human law...From this short, but plain and, I hope, just statement of things, we perceive a principle of connection between all learned professions; but especially between the two last mentioned [the profession of Divinity and the profession of law]. Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other.

I have to wonder: does Sonia Sotomayor, a potential successor to Justice James Wilson, agree with him or not? Hosea 4:6 gives us a stern warning:

My people perish for want of knowledge! Since you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from my priesthood; Since you have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your sons.

Without God's Justice, there can be NO social justice.

Appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to SCOTUS

Folks,

Barack Hussein Obama has appointed Sonia Sotomayor (another self-described Catholic) as a Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States:

Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York Nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court

She is reported to have said the following:

'I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male'

Since when is truth determined by race or culture? Imagine if you will such a statement in reverse being said by a person of German or English descent. The liberal news media would be in an uproar.

Sonia Sotomayor appears to be unqualified to hold a seat on the bench of any court since in her view truth and justice are NOT objective, but can change based on one's racial or cultural heritage.

Does anybody want to bet on what her position is with regard to the Right for Life? She is after all another liberal Democrat 'Catholic' in the tradition of Joe Biden, Patrick Leahy, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Dennis Kucinich, Nancy Pelosi and all the rest.

Pray, folks, that I am wrong and that this choice for SCOTUS isn't as bad as I fear.

Boston Archdiocese To Do Abortion Referrals?

Folks,

Over at American Papist there is a blog entry entitled, "Will the Boston Archdiocese really allow abortion referrals?" Apparently Centene Corp., a St. Louis-based health organization, and Caritas Christi Health Care Network, a Catholic health careprovider, are entering into a joint contract with the State of Massachusetts to provide health insurance to thousands of low-income residents. The state required that the Catholic health care provider agree to ensure that women will have "ready access" to family planning and reproductive services, euphemistic terms for abortion and contraception, both of which are prohibited by Catholic doctrine.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley (the cleric in charge of the Boston Archdiocese) is reported to have stated, "There seems to be a lack of trust and charity among orthodox Catholics. I was shocked a few months ago when people thought I would ever allow our Catholic hospitals to do things which would conflict with their Catholic identity."

Yet the contract into which a Catholic health care provider (under the jurisdiction of the good Cardinal) and the State of Massachusetts are entering is legally binding and requires the Catholic health care provider to ensure 'ready access' to family planning and reproductive services. I sense an inconsistency here.

Now first of all, not even David before he became King of Israel would lay his hands on the Lord's Anointed which at that time was King Saul. The story is in 1st Samuel 24. King Saul was out to kill David, seeing him as a threat to the throne. Yet when David had him in his grasp within an unnamed cave, David declared (verse 7):

The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD'S anointed, as to lay a hand on him, for he is the Lord's anointed.

However, the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 23 of the book by the same name, issued a stern warning to shepherds who mislead the flock. In verses 11 and 12 he states quite clearly:

Both prophet and priest are godless! In my very house I find their wickedness, says the LORD. Hence their way shall become for them slippery ground. In the darkness they shall lose their footing, and fall headlong; Evil I will bring upon them: the year of their punishment, says the LORD.

NO ONE (except God) can judge the good Cardinal's heart, and we all have our own private sins to confess and for which we must do penance. Nevertheless, all of us should lift Cardinal Sean up before the Lord in prayer because he has a very difficult office to administer. However, as I wrote over in the comments section at the American Papist blog site:

This is just such an excellent chapter [in Jeremiah]. Every social justice, common good cleric [Protestant, Orthodox or Catholic] willing to look the other way while unborn babies are dismembered and sacrificed to Moloch and Baal ought to have this chapter shoved down his throat.

There is NO excuse for compromising with the enemy, and the entry of any Catholic institution into a contract to provide "ready access" to family planning and reproductive services is compromising with the enemy. A Protestant church I passed by while driving had a sign which stated the following:

Give the Devil an inch and he'll BE the ruler.

Now ain't that the truth!?

P.S., If the interested reader would like to ask the Cardinal directly about these things, then here is the link to his blogsite: Cardinal Sean's Blog. Perhaps I missed it, but the good Cardinal seems remarkably quiet about this contract in which Caritas Christi is entering, yet he finds time to mention "a dinner in support of Por Cristo, a member of the Caritas Christi Healthcare System", and "a doctor who works for the Caritas Christi hospital system". I will now leave the reader to the privacy of his personal thoughts.

Moral Strength

Folks,

Zephaniah 2:3 states:

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; Seek justice, seek humility; perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the LORD'S anger.

Federick Douglass, one of the greatest civil rights leaders of the 19th century, and in his own words, "...a fugitive slave lecturer...being the first one out," explained that verse of Sacred Scripture as follows:

I have one great political idea...That idea is an old one. It is widely and generally assented to; nevertheless, it is very generally trampled upon and disregarded. The best expression of it, I have found in the Bible. It is in substance: "Righteousness exalteth a nation; sin is a reproach to any people." This consitutes my politics - the negative and positive of my politics, and the whole of my politics...I feel it my duty to do all in my power to infuse this idea into the public mind, that it may speedily be recognized and practiced upon by our people.

I do hope that our liberal Demokrat friends who preach the gospel of diversity and inclusivity read the other things Mr. Douglass said:

I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress.

I recognize the Republican party as the sheet anchor of the colored man's political hopes and the ark of his safety.

People have forgotten that it was the Demokrat Party that supported slavery in the War between the States, and it is the Demokrat Party today which wishes to maintain control by doling out largess from the public treasury and calling it "social justice." It's very clear that addiction to social justice from the public treasury is no different in morality than the slavery of a century and a half ago. In the meantime, the way to freedom remains exactly what St. Paul said in 2nd Thessalonians 3:10-12:

In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.

Or, in Mr. Douglas' own words:

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.

An athlete strengthens his muscles through exercise. In the same fashion, moral strength and fortitude of character comes from doing the right thing. Sucking milk from the teat of the public treasury brings forth obesity, not moral strength, not fortitude of character.

Saturday's Right to Life Prayer Vigil

Folks,

This past Saturday I again had the opportunity to participate in a small "Right to Life" prayer vigil near the abortion clinic in my hometown. There were only three of us, but as Scripture says, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst." Again, I was amazed by the overwhelming positive responses we received from peoples in cars flowing by. In the hour or so we were there on the curb side, only one person (can I recall) gave us a negative shake of his head as he puttered by on his moped. Indeed, what was more amazing was the outpouring of positive response from black people, mostly women. Yet I find it most ironic that the overwhelming majority of black people, while professing a "right-to-life" mentality, voted for Barack Hussein Obama. One of my friends with whom I was standing said that this is the case where Jesus' prayer on the Cross becomes quite real: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

Satan is insidious and clever. He uses a good sentiment, indeed, a virtue (i.e., equality, racial justice, diversity, etc.) to get an evil man into power while keeping those whose vote placed him in power in abysmal ignorance. The old Biblical saying about the sheep being led to the slaughter, not opening its mouth comes to mind. It is so very sad and deplorable that we repeat the Crucifixion in a very real sense day after day. That is why I always remind people that God, being perfect Love, is perfect Justice and He loves little unborn babies, too.

I pray that the eyes of Americans will be opened to the Obamanation of Desolation before it is too late, before we reap what we have sown.

The Defenders of the Republic

Folks,

From Dr. Pournelle's Chaos Manor web site:

We honor those who fought to preserve our liberty. May we always have defenders. Republics die when the citizens will no longer fight to preserve them.

Today's News

Folks,

North Korea has apparently successfully detonated a second nuclear weapon, one that is this time as powerful as the weapons used against Japan to end World War II:

North Korea declares it conducted nuclear test

This fulfills the pessimistic predictions of former US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton.

Kim Il Jong, North Korea's dictator, is also a close friend of the mad mullahs in Iran, and no doubt is sharing data with the scientists and engineers in that country intent on threatening Israel with nuclear weapons of their own.

In the meantime, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on a trip to Red China, and while she was in times past an outspoken advocate of human rights issues in that communist regime, this time she is silent:

Speaker Pelosi dodges human rights on China visit

The reader should note that a major financier for the North Korean communist dictatorship is the communist dictatorship in Red China. These are the fruits of the diplomacy of Barack Hussein Obama - full nuclear weapons capability for North Korea, acquiescence to Red China, and tacit acceptance of the inevitability of Islamic nuclear weapons capability.

Jesus predicted this in Matthew 24:6-8:

You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. All these are the beginning of the labor pains.

These signs, however, should be a cause for joy and not fearfulness for those of us who are Christians. Jesus went on to give us His promise in Luke 21:28:

But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.

As Father Corapi always says: we know the end of the story; we know who wins. It isn't Kim Il Jong of North Korea, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, or Barack Hussein Obama of Amerika. The winner is Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords. He is on the throne and He is still in control.

The Nature of Liberty

Folks,

The first half of Malachi 2:10 states:

Have we not all the one Father? Has not the one God created us?

Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father of this Republic who co-wrote the Federalist papers, explained the nature of liberty as follows:

The fundamental source of all your errors, sophisms and false reasonings, is a total ignorance of the natural rights of mankind. Were you one to become acquainted with these, you could never entertain a thought that all men are not, by nature, entitled to a parity of privileges. You would be convinced that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race; and that civil liberty is founded in that and cannot be wrested from any people, without the most manifest violations of justice.

Sadly, however, in post-modern, neo-pagan Amerika, we have forgotten our Creator from whom liberty comes, and thus we see the most manifest violations of justice: the infanticide of the unborn. Let us therefore remember and heed the words of the second half of of Malachi 2:10:

Why then do we break faith with each other, violating the covenant of our fathers?

Memorial Day

Folks,

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry concluded his speech before the Second Virginia Convention at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia with the following words:

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

This re-echoes what Jesus Himself said two millennia ago in Matthew 10:34-36:

Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man 'against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household.'

An uncountless number of American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines have fought, shed their blood and died so that you and I may worship our Lord and Master in freedom. They sacrificed their peace and their very lives for our freedom, proving that freedom is never free. Let us remember them this day, and let us never shirk our sacred duty to preserve and defend freedom - not license to do whatever one wishes to do, not slavery to carnal desire and the whimsical passion of the moment, but the freedom to be responsible and held accountable before God Almighty for all that He has given us.

P.S., Catholic Online has a good article concerning this day: "Memorial Day: Chaplains – A Reminder that We Are One Nation Under God". Let us take time to remember all those who serve and give thanks in memory of those priests who were willing to enter into harm’s way as Catholic chaplains.

With Summit, Iran Demonstrates Its Regional Clout

Folks,

This is the fruit of President Obama's diplomacy:













President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, hosted a summit with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, left, and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan as reported in the NY Times article, "With Summit, Iran Demonstrates Its Regional Clout".

Now tell me, why should we NOT be concerned that the terrorist leader of an Islamic fascist state intent on acquiring nuclear weapons capability is meeting with a nuclear-armed nation on the verge of civil war and a fledging state still torn between opium poppy production and Taliban terrorism?

This is what Barack Hussein Obama has wrought. I for one am proud to have voted AGAINST him.

Today's Homily at St. Peter the Fisherman

Folks,

Today I had the opportunity to visit a Charismatic Episcopal Church called St. Peter the Fisherman. The church is a member of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC) and is unrelated to the Episcopal Church USA or the Anglican community in general. In fact, while it uses the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, it describes itself as neither Protestant nor Catholic nor Orthodox, but rather a blending of the three major streams of mainline Christianity: the Charismatic or Pentecostal, the Evangelical and the Liturgical. Having attending Mass at this church many times in the past, I sense that (while it is not in communion with Rome) to all intents and purposes it is authentically Catholic (indeed, more so than some of our very own so-called Catholic institutions) and I can give no church higher praise than that. However, the purpose of this blog entry is not to dwell on the ICCEC as a denomination, but to try to relate the homily that one of the Deacons gave which I think is worthy of much meditation.

The Deacon used the daily readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter as his starting point, except instead of using the reading from Acts 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26, he used verses from Exodus 28. The remainder of the readings were the normal ones as far as I can recall:

Psalms 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20
1 John 4:11-16
John 17:11b-19

The Deacon had prepared a teaching aid for his homily. He had posted to a white board two cardboard circles, each with a man standing in the center. These circles were then spun around. In one circle the man was fixed to the surface of the cardboard so that as the cardboard circle spun, so did the man, and the Deacon likened this to how we often feel about our lives: being tumbled to and fro within a sealed wooden barrel. The Deacon explained the misery we often feel as we try to claw at the inner surfaces of the barrel, attempting to straighten ourselves vertically with God, but the more we struggle, the worse our predictament becomes.

Then came the second cardboard circle. As the Deacon spun that circle around, the man in the center stayed vertical, fixed on God above, because he was not a part of the barrel as the man in previous example had been. Then the Deacon explained how Exodus 28 and John 17 both tell us that we are not to be a part of this world, but set apart, sanctified.

In the account of Exodus, Aaron (Moses' brother) and his sons (Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar) were set apart for service to the Lord. For Aaron and his sons priestly vestments were made and to be worn to denote their consecration to the Lord. In the same fashion, Jesus says in John 17:16-19:

They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.

The Deacon explained it in this way: while we may be in the world as a man may be in a barrel, we cannot and must not allow ourselves to be a part of the world. If we do, then we will be like the man on the first cardboard circle cutout, having no control over what direction we face, knowing not what is up or down. Rather, we must be consecrated - sanctified - apart just as Aaron and his sons were, and just as Jesus and His disciples were. In that way, we are like the man on the second cardboard circle cutout. As the circle was turned, the man stayed straight because he was not fixed to the circle, but to an invisble, unmoving axis in the circle's center. In like manner we must be fixed onto the axis that is the Lord, thereby detaching ourselves from the tumbling barrel of life. Thus do Jesus words in verse 13 come to fruition:

I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.

Only by being detached from the world can we have joy.

I was impressed with the Deacon's homily. It has given me much food for thought. I hope it is useful to you, the loyal reader, as well.

New Pastor at St. Mark's

Folks,

I just received an e-mail today on the replacement for the pastor at St. Mark Catholic Church in Wilmington. What follows is this message. Let us pray for both Father Dan Oschwald who is leaving Wilmington to go to Raleigh, and for Father Steve Carlson who is coming to us from the First Martyr Catholic Church in Sanford, N.C.:

The following is from an Army newsletter dated October-November 2006 about Fr. Steve Carlson, the new pastor at St. Mark. Let's pray for him.

Chaplain lives out the meaning of Special Forces Motto

by Chaplain (Lt. Col.) David R. Beauchamp, USASOC

The Special Forces motto, “De Oppresso Liber” (to liberate the oppressed), was the theme at a recentretirement ceremony. On July 14, Chaplain (Capt.) Steven V. Carlson retired from the United States Army —again. That’s right, again. He had retired the first time back in 1991. To understand this remarkable man I will paraphrase from the biography printed on his retirement program and incorporate a few comments of my own. Chaplain Carlson began his Army career as an infantryman in 1971. His first assignment was with the75th Infantry as a recon team leader. Later he served as an instructor and senior tactical advisor in the 3rd Ranger Company, Fort Benning, Ga. I found out that he worked for a Capt. Vines during this time. Capt.Vines is now Lt. Gen. John Vines who was the guest speaker at the retirement ceremony providingunabashed support for Chaplain Carlson. After serving at Fort Benning, Chaplain Carlson then completed the “Q Course” and was assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group. His Special Forces assignmentsincluded service with the 3rd, 7th and 10th Special Forces Groups. In 1991 he retired as a warrant officerafter 20 years of service in liberating the oppressed.

After living the Special Forces motto as a Special Forces Soldier, Chaplain Carlson entered the seminary in 1991 and eventually was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. Less than 10 years after his original retirement, in June 2001, he entered the Army again, this time as an Army chaplain. Chaplain Carlson served with the 2nd Infantry Division and the 82nd Airborne Division prior to being assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne).

During his quarter of a century service in Special Forces, Chaplain Carlson deployed numerous times on overseas missions and served combat tours in El Salvador, Afghanistan and Iraq. Chaplain Carlson’s accomplishments in the Army are remarkable. His education included the Ranger Course, the Jumpmaster Course, the Pathfinder Course, the Basic and Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course, the Survival,Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course, the Special Forces Qualification Courses in weapons and communications, the Special Forces Operations and Intelligence Course, language courses in Swedish, German and Spanish (and I’ll have to assume Greek and Hebrew!), the Warrant Officer Candidate School, the Special Forces Warrant Officer Course and the Chaplain Officer Basic Course.

Wow. I was impressed after the first four or five courses that he had completed. Even though impressive, if Chaplain Carlson had only attended courses I would not be writing this article. You see, Chaplain Carlson shared at his retirement that the Special Forces motto continued to serve him well as he became a chaplain.

He took seriously his own calling from Jesus Christ to liberate the oppressed in the spiritual realm. He no longer bore arms, but was instead armed with the Word and the Spirit of God. I had the honor to serve recently in the southern region of Afghanistan with Chaplain Carlson. I observed first hand his love for Jesus and his love for his Special Forces soldiers. He truly was living the life of a man called to give the good news of liberation to the spiritually needy and oppressed.

Truly, Chaplain Carlson is a model for all of us. If we understand our role in this world, then we too can be about the task of sharing good news with others who are oppressed. The message of the Bible continues to be one of liberation. The question now remains: To what extent will we be about the purpose of liberating the oppressed? Perhaps an even more telling question is this: Do we see ourselves as having been liberated?

Father Carlson is [currently] the pastor of St. Stephen, the First Martyr Catholic Church in Sanford, N.C. I’m sure that he would be pleased and honored if you happen to drop by to say hello.

What Is Notre Dame Really Like?

Folks,

The first three paragraphs of Mencius Moldbug's essay, Futarchy Considered Retarded, at the Unqualified Reservations blogsite deserve to be reprinted:

The 21st-century American university is a pathologist's dream. But surely among its most revolting terminal diseases is a near-complete absence of any genuine intellectual hostility.

The T-cells are depleted. The bone marrow is exhausted. The mind's immune system is almost done. Exotic cancers and weird infections sprout like desert flowers. Gray berries hang from the liver; Spanish moss burgeons in the lungs. And people believe anything. Fortunately, UR is on the case again - with our special, home-cooked chemo recipe, half LSD and half mustard gas. If it doesn't cure you, you'll wish it had.

If we look at what academia is, rather than what it purports to be or what it once was, the cause of this immune degeneration is obvious. Academia is a guild of talented and ambitious professionals who, by demonstrating their large and dexterous brains - not to mention their impeccable networking skills, and their infinite patience with the brown product of the cow - extract: money, power, and/or status from USG [i.e., US Government]. Need more be said?

Can there possibly be any better description of what Father Jenkins so proudly presides over? I am certain that Mr. Moldbug never intended his short little entry into Futarchy to be so descriptive of America's "premiere" Catholic University, yet there it is in livid color!

By the way, do educate yourselves on Futarchy. From Wikipedia: Futarchy is a form of government proposed by economist Robin Hanson, in which elected officials define measures of national welfare and prediction markets are used to determine which policies will have the most positive effect.

So in this scheme which comes from some of the 'finest' minds in our Universities social justice and the common good would be satisfied by government speculation in some sort of jury rigged market place. This sounds awfully much like corporate socialism, but what do I know - I'm just a 'nuclear engineer'?

Yes, the fruits of the Obamanation of Desolation: no more GM, no more Chrysler, just the almighty USG.

Cardinal George grateful for Obama promise to support conscience clauses

Folks,

With all due respect to Cardinal George (the current head of the USCCB), I think that he is grapsing at straws, but let the gentle reader decide for himself.

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, praised President Barack Obama’s promise to support conscience clauses.“Caring health professionals and institutions should know that their deeply held religious or moral convictions will be respected as they exercise their right to serve patients in need,” Cardinal Francis George said. “Catholic providers, in particular, make a large and essential contribution to health care in our society. Essential steps to protect these conscience rights will strengthen our health care system and enhance many patients’ access to necessary life-affirming care.

The entire article may be found by left clicking your mouse cursor on the web link below:

Cardinal George grateful for Obama promise to support conscience clauses

H.Con.Res.284 - Year of the Bible

Folks,

US Representative Paul C. Braun from Georgia has introduced a resolution for a National Year of the Bible in 2010, number H.Con.Res.284:

“I hope that the National Day of Prayer will encourage America’s citizens and leaders to seek God’s help through prayer and Bible reading. The Bible’s tremendous influence in the shaping of American history and providing hope for all Americans is something that Congress and the President should formally acknowledge.

“The National Year of the Bible Resolution reminds us that our great nation was founded upon Biblical principles and that religious freedom is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. I encourage Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring this resolution to the floor so President Barack Obama has the opportunity to designate an appropriate year as ‘The National Year of the Bible,’”

As a devout Catholic Christian, I wholeheartedly applaud the Congressman's efforts. We must take what is left of our Republic out of the hands of the liberal atheist humanists and surrender our families, fortunes and lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Memorial Day

Folks,

Let us remember this Memorial Day that our freedom has always purchased with blood of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. No greater love hath any man than to lay down his life for another...

Call To Action

Folks,

This is a message from the Bishops of North Carolina:

Call To Action
May 22, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

We seek your continued assistance with Senate Bill 526 (SB526), the “School Violence Protection Act” (also known as the “Bullying Bill”). The North Carolina Senate narrowly passed their version of the bill by a vote of 26 to 22 on May 6. It is scheduled to be heard by the House Education Committee on Tuesday, May 26, at 11 a.m.

We wholeheartedly support the goal of this bill: to ensure that NO student or school employee is subjected to any form of bullying or harassing behavior. We believe there should be NO EXCEPTIONS to the goal of this bill. Everyone is entitled to his or her human dignity as someone created in the image and likeness of God and bullying or harassment should never be tolerated.

A bill introduced by the House (HB776) prevents ALL forms of school violence and has 62 sponsors or co-sponsors, a majority of the House membership. We endorse this version of legislation which, if passed, will protect all children and employees from bullying and harassing behavior.

We ask you to contact the members of the House Education Committee by no later than 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, and ask them to vote in favor of the language of HB776 to protect all school children and employees from bullying or harassing behavior. You may send your message to the committee members by clicking the link below.

Sincerely,

Bishop Peter J. Jugis
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge

Click the link below to log in and send your message:

http://www.votervoice.net/link/target/cvnc33560466.aspx

More on the Tyranny of Liberalism

Folks,

David Bradish at NEI Nuclear Notes has very kindly asked me the following:

"Ioannes, let me ask my question again: If you hope we're right, then can we get ya to start persuading more on the left to support nuclear instead of complaining about them? You're an engineer in North Carolina. Certainly you have an interesting story to tell about your experience in nuclear that I'm sure others would enjoy hearing. Would you mind doing some of that instead of always complaining about people who don't 100% support our favorite technology? That would be helpful, thanks."

I have given this serious thought time and again. Can I ally myself on nuclear energy with those people who regard unborn babies as a disposable item subject to "choice"? I did respond to Dave at first in the affirmative. After all, supporting nuclear power doesn't mean that I support baby murdering, does it?

But I continually come back to this point: no matter how much the liberal left claims it will now support nuclear power, I cannot ever ally myself with people who have so denigrated the sanctity of life and the sanctity of Holy Matrimony. The left wing's "right to choose" is nothing other than a euphemism to murder the baby one has wilfully created through engaging in sexual intercourse, and invariably the cause is adultery or fornication, both of which are sins in and of themselves. The left wing's equal rights for gays is simply an euphemism for the legalization of sodomy; sodomy is NOT a human right - it is a human perversion and gay rights undermine the foundation of society which is the sanctity of Holy Matrimony. So how could I ever ally myself with the liberal left on any issue - even those on which I may agree with them - when they support such evil? I cannot, and NO thinking, reasoning, intelligent person who has Natural Law written in his heart can either, except in deliberate defiance of that Law itself.

Now those things being said, I vehemently oppose bombing abortion clinics, or executing abortion doctors. I vehemently oppose maltreatment or abuse or bullying of anyone, gay or straight. Violence against such people is the exact opposite of what we as Christians ought to do. However, just as our Republic entered into a Civil War due in part to slavery, so also is it possible for what is left of our Republic to enter into a Civil War due to abortion. No one should want that to happen, but sadly, as Thomas Jefferson noted in 1787:

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

Freedom is NOT free, and little unborn babies are as much deserving of the right to life as any born human being.

The children of Israel in their apostasy recorded in the Old Testament would practice the pagan Canaanite rituals of child sacrifice to Baal and Moloch and other false gods. They literally enraged the Lord God by these heinous crimes against humanity, and in His infinite mercy, God allowed the Northern Kingdom to be carried away into captivity by the Assyrians and the Southern Kingdom by the Babylonians. I deliberately use the word mercy because it took bloodshed to prevent further heinous crimes.

America was no different in 1860. God is His mercy allowed the Civil War because the scourge of slavery had to be destroyed. No man has any right to own another man (whether born or unborn), just as no man has any right to end the life of another man (whether born or unborn). God may yet shed His mercy again today just as He did in 1860 for black slaves. This time He may shed His mercy in behalf of little unborn babies. Do NOT think it cannot happen. Remember what Jesus told the women of Jerusalem as He was being led away to the Cross:

"...for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?" (Luke 23:31)

Today's liberal society - and our liberal President - would have you believe that calling abortion murder and calling homosexuality sodomy are unfair, unkind words. Actually, it is unfair to call abortion anything other than murder, and unkind to tell a pregnant woman that it's her right to chose, thereby sending her on that slippery slope whose end is a hell that begins in the here and now, and can last forever for an unrepentant heart. It is unfair to call homosexual activity anything but sodomy, and it is unkind to allow a homosexual to believe that he has right to commit sodomy; no one has a right to commit sin. No one.

Now does that mean I am without sin? Hardly! I am more in need of God's mercy than most because I know what darkness can lurk in my heart. Fortunately for me, there is the Confessional and Penance. Yet when I see the Orwellian turn of good into bad and bad into good, I am reminded that liberalism is truly a tyranny of the mind and spirit. It is nothing other than license - constant and undefeated slavery to one's least whims and passions, a shackling of the spirit to the wants of the flesh. Thus, I am reminded of Jim Kalb's writing of 2004 on the Tyranny of Liberalism, and of Dr. Don Felix Sarda Y Salvany's writing of 1899 entitled, "Liberalism is a Sin." The reader may simply left-click his mouse cursor on the aforementioned links to read these writings. I think the following excerpts that the EWTN web site has selected from Dr. Salvany's writing summarize it all:

Liberalism is the root of heresy, the tree of evil in whose branches all the harpies of infidelity find ample shelter; it is today the evil of all evils. (Ch. 4).

"The theater, literature, public and private morals are all saturated with obscenity and impurity. The result is inevitable; a corrupt generation necessarily begets a revolutionary generation. Liberalism is the program of naturalism. Free-thought begets free morals, or immorality. Restraint is thrown off and a free rein given to the passions. Whoever thinks what he pleases will do what he pleases. Liberalism in the intellectual order is license in the moral order. Disorder in the intellect begets disorder in the heart, and vice-versa. Thus does Liberalism propagate immorality, and immorality Liberalism." (Ch. 26).

Liberalism "is, therefore, the radical and universal denial of all divine truth and Christian dogma, the primal type of all heresy, and the supreme rebellion against the authority of God and His Church. As with Lucifer, its maxim is, 'I will not serve.'" (Ch. 3).

"Liberalism, whether in the doctrinal or practical order, is a sin. In the doctrinal order, it is heresy, and consequently a mortal sin against faith. In the practical order, it is a sin against the commandments of God and of the Church, for it virtually transgresses all commandments. To be more precise: in the doctrinal order, Liberalism strikes at the very foundations of faith; it is heresy radical and universal, because within it are comprehended all heresies. In the practical order it is a radical and universal infraction of the divine law, since it sanctions and authorizes all infractions of that law." (Ch. 3).

The last sentence in the second to last paragraph is particularly noteworthy: "As with Lucifer, its maxim is, 'I will not serve.'" Liberalism will not serve. However, a sponsor in a 12 Step Program once explained to me a very simple principle:

I will either willingly bend my knee now and serve my Creator, or I will get drunk and sick again, bending my knee before the porcelain god of the vomitorium, but I will surely bend my knee. I alone get to chose how.

As Philippians 2:9-11 states:

...God greatly exalted [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Devotion: Christ-ocrat

Folks,

Benjamin Rush, one the the original signers of the Declaration of Independance more than 200 years ago, explained his political party affiliation with the following:

I have alternately been called an Aristocrat and a Democrat. I am now neither. I am a Christocrat. I believe all power...will always fail of producing order and happiness in the hands of man. He alone who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.

And here is that happiness as described in Revelation 14:1-5:

Then I looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of rushing water or a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. They were singing (what seemed to be) a new hymn before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn this hymn except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women; they are virgins and these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the firstfruits of the human race for God and the Lamb. On their lips no deceit has been found; they are unblemished.

Praise the Lord for Jesus wins in the end!

President Above-It-All

Folks,

The National Review Online had a great article entitled, "President Above It All". Just left-click your mouse cursor on the web link to read the article. I am so reminded of Pontius Pilate, staring at Truth right in the face, and asking, "Truth, what is Truth?"

Can There Ever Be Self-Murder with Dignity?

Folks,

The State of Washington has had its first death under its new suicide law which is called the "Death with Dignity Act". The reader may read more about this event at the following link:

Wash. state has first death under new suicide law

Since when is anything of Satan - particularly death - dignified?

Since the ascendency of liberal atheist humanism in these United States, we murder our own unborn babies, we experiment on their mutilated remains (calling that embryonic stem cell research), and we put to death the weak and infirmed and aged. We are becoming Nazi Germany.

Nuclear Energy

Folks,

I want to make something very clear: I support low cost, pollution free nuclear energy 100%. God has given humankind enough uranium and thorium in Earth's crust so that every one of the six billion inhabitants on this planet can live at the same standard as the average American. With access to low cost, pollution free energy no one ever need starve in the cold and dark again. Therefore I applaud 100% the efforts of the Nuclear Energy Institute and Rod Adams' Atomic Engines in promoting safe and clean nuclear energy among our Democrat "friends". But I will remind everyone that former President George W. Bush was nuclear energy's closest friend in the White House in decades, and because of his efforts with GNEP and DOE funding, Westinghouse's AP-1000 PWR and GEH's ESBWR and ABWR are moving forward (albeit too slowly for my comfort). Furthermore, I am dismayed at the ambivalence (at best) that the Obama Administration has shown towards nuclear energy. I am hopeful that the good people at NEI Nuclear Notes and Atomic Insights can pursuade the Administration to go full bore with nuclear energy, for despair is a sin.

I cannot, however, in good conscience support any part of an Administration as evil as the current one is in legitimatizing the infanticide of the unborn. Of course, that issue has NO relevancy to nuclear energy. But I shall NOT ever ally myself with anyone who supports the Obama Administration while ignoring the murder of over 50 million unborn babies since 1972. I am NOT a single issue voter. I am a voter of 50 million "issues" and what Barack Hussein Obama has legitimatized is the same as what Adolf Hilter did to the Jews in WWII. Indeed, I argue to everyone that NO amount of nuclear energy (or any other program) can possibly save our nation from its eventual destruction as long as we murder our own babies. The children of Israel learned this the hard way in ages past, and the United States of America will apparently have to follow their sad example.

Two Good Catholic Online Articles

Folks,

Below are links to two good articles at Catholic Online.

Bishop Finn: Obama's Words Bring Abortion Dialogue to 'Screeching Halt'

Guest Opinion: Catholic Left has Lost its Moorings

I will say again: the ONLY way to stop unwanted pregnancy is stopping adultery and fornication - period. We must become a righteous, holy, virtuous and moral people once again as our forefathers who established this Constitutional Republic were. We need to take our nation back from the secular liberal humanist atheists. And most of all, we need to support our holy Bishops who have courageously opposed the appearance of a pro-abortion President at Notre Dame. How can this event NOT be liken unto the time when Antiochus IV Epiphanes sacrified a swine to Zeus Olympus in the Holy of Holies, except to point out that this time, unborn babies by the millions are being sacrificed?

Perhaps re-reading 2nd Maccabees chapters 5, 6 and 7 is in order. I am reminded again of Jesus' own words in Matthew 24:15-21:

"When you see the desolating abomination spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, a person on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house, a person in the field must not return to get his cloak. Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days. Pray that your flight not be in winter or on the sabbath, for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be...."

To a people who forget it, history is doomed to repeat itself.

Today's Humor - From Our Vice President

Folks,

Here is today's humor from our self-described "Catholic" Vice President. As always, a picture speaks a thousand words:

Novena to the Holy Spirit

Folks,

Today, May 21st, is the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, and a week from this coming Sunday, May 31st, is Pentecost. Let us therefore remember to pray a Novena to the Holy Spirit, especially in these troubled times where darkness rules the land from the Oval Office to Main Street, USA. As Jesus said in John 16:7-11:

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

Thus did Blessed Elena Guerra pray:

Oh, if only...unanimous and fervent prayers could be raised to Heaven in every part of Christendom, as they were one in the Cenacle [upper room] of Jerusalem for a rekindling of the Divine Spirit

I therefore encourage the interested reader to become involved in the Charismatic Renewal of the Catholic Church, "for our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens" (Galatians 6:12). More information may be found about the Ten Day Pentecost Project at the web site of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services.

NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Say this prayer each day for nine days:

O Holy Spirit, my Lord and my God, I adore you and humbly acknowledge here in your sacred presence that I am nothing, and can do nothing, without your operation within me. Come, great Paraclete, Father of the poor, Comforter of the blest, fulfill the promise of our Savior, who would not leave us orphans, and enter my mind and heart as you descended on the day of Pentecost upon the holy Mother of Jesus and upon his first disciples. Grant that I may have a part in those gifts which you so prodigally bestowed upon them.

Take from my heart all that is not pleasing to you and make of it a worthy dwelling place for Jesus. Illumine my mind, that I may see and understand the things that are for my eternal welfare. Inflame my heart with pure love of the Father, that, cleansed from attachment to all unworthy objects, my whole life may be hidden with Jesus in God. Strengthen my will, that it may be conformable to the will of my Creator and guided by your holy inspirations. Aid me to practice the heavenly virtues of humility, poverty and obedience which are taught me in the earthly life of Jesus.

Descend upon me, O mighty Spirit, that, inspired and encouraged by you, I may faithfully fulfill the duties of my state in life, carry my daily cross with patience and courage, and accomplish the Father's will for me more perfectly. Make me, day by day, more holy and give to me that heavenly peace which the world cannot give.

O Holy Spirit, Giver of every good and perfect gift, grant to me the intentions of this novena of prayer. (List your petitions here). May the Father's will be done in me and through me. And may you, O mighty Spirit of the living God, be praised and glorified for ever and ever. Amen.

Pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary. Then either the following prayer or one of the prayers listed for each of the nine days of the novena may be said. Close with Veni Creator Spiritus

O God, who teaches the hearts of the faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit,: grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

First Day

Come, O Holy Spirit, the Lord and Lifegiver; take up your dwelling within my soul, and make of it your sacred temple. Make me live by grace as an adopted son/daughter of God. Pervade all the energies of my soul, and create in me a fountain of living water springing up into life everlasting.

Second Day

Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to my soul the mysteries of heavenly things, their exceeding greatness, and power, and beauty. Teach me to love them above and beyond all the passing joys and satisfactions of earth. Show me the way by which I may be able to attain to them, and possess them, and hold them hereafter, my own forever.

Third Day

Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten my mind, that I may know and believe all the mysteries of salvation, and may merit at last to see the eternal light in your light; and in the light of glory to have the clear vision of you and the Father and the Son.

Fourth Day

Come, O Spirit of Counsel, help and guide me in all ways, that I may always do your holy will. Incline my heart to that which is good, turn it away from all that is evil, and direct me by the path of your commandments to the goal of eternal life.

Fifth Day

Come, O Spirit of Fortitude, and give courage to my soul. Make my heart strong in all trials and in all distress, pouring forth abundantly into it the gifts of strength, that I may be able to resist the attacks of the devil.

Sixth Day

Come, O Spirit of Knowledge, and make me understand and despise the emptiness and nothingness of the world. Give me grace to use the world only for your glory and the salvation of your creatures. May I always be faithful in putting your rewards before every earthly gift.

Seventh Day

Come, O Spirit of Piety, possess my heart; incline it to a true faith in you, to a holy love of you, that with my whole soul I may seek you, and find you my best, my truest joy.

Eighth Day

Come, O Spirit of holy Fear, penetrate my inmost heart, that I may set you, my Lord and God, before my face forever; and shun all things that can offend you so that I may be made worthy to appear before the pure eyes of your divine Majesty in the heaven of heavens, where you live and reign in the unity of the Ever-blessed Trinity, world without end.

Ninth Day

Come, O Holy Comforter, and grant me a relish for heavenly things. Produce in my soul the fruits of virtue, so that, being filled with all sweetness and joy in the pursuit of good, I may attain unto eternal blessedness.

Close with the following:

Veni Creator Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit, ours souls inspire, and lighten with celestial fire, Thou the anointing spirit art, Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.

Thy blessed unction from above, is comfort, life and fire of love, enable with perpetual light the dullness of our blinded sight.

Anoint and cheer our soiled face with the abundance of thy grace. Keep far our foes, give peace at home; where thou art guide, no ill can come.

Teach us to know the Father, Son and thee, of both, to be but One. That, through the ages all along, this may be our endless song: Praise to thy eternal merit, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.