Love, Peace, and Deer in the Headlights

 Tolerance is the only virtue common to those who don't believe in anything.----G.K. Chesterton 

This is going to be a really quick post.  It is entirely in response to my personal opinion of an audio that was posted on my Facebook by a friend, who just happens to be Novus Ordo.  I'm sure you've seen it posted on Facebook, too, or YouTube.  But just in case, here is Donna, the Deer Lady.  I remarked on Facebook that there is no excuse for the stupidity of the American people.  Personally, I think that was a fair representation of the situation, and something poor Donna even admitted herself!  What surprised me, really, in the whole matter, was that eventually I was admonished for my comments and counseled to be more tolerant and compassionate.  And why?  Because I found this poor woman's ignorance to be offensive rather than humorous.  What a shame.
     Somewhere in the comments, there began a conversation regarding the nature of what I was saying.  I was reminded that the poor woman was just "an airhead" and I should give her a break.  Most people, my Catholic friends, seemed to be offended by my not finding any humor in the ignorance and stupidity of this woman.  They were offended by me!  Finally, I was completely admonished and then reprimanded for not being tolerant and lacking compassion.  I shouldn't be surprised, really.   The modern Catholic Church has taught her children well:  Be Nice At All Costs!  Some People Are Just Born That Way.  They Can't Help It.  You MUST Show Them Compassion!  You MUST Be Tolerant!  
   Of course, poor Donna has zilch to do with Catholicism.  But lucky for Donna, she has had good friends who have been charitable enough to instruct her in her ignorance.  And because she is warm and forgiving, she has, by her own admission, learned the truth about the deer.  Good for Donna's friends!  So in a like manner, I am going to be charitable with my friends and instruct them in their ignorance.  What will happen as a result:  I will probably be unfriended and chastised for being judgmental!
     As always, I suppose the best place to start is with the words themselves.  Words have meanings.  Yes, some words, like "nice," have changed over time, well because we just don't like what they mean!  I will let you do your own research on that word and focus my thoughts on just four:  ignorant, stupid, compassion, and tolerance.  Oh this is so much fun!

Ignorant:  lacking knowledge or comprehension.

Stupid: acting in an unintelligent or careless manner.

Compassion: a sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.

Tolerance: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own.

    Let's talk about poor Donna first:  Poor Donna was ignorant.  She lacked a real knowledge about the nature of animals.  She really believed that these poor creatures had some primitive form of intelligence and could be convinced to cross the highway at specifically designated points.  I don't know why this poor woman thought this.  Perhaps this lack of comprehension grew out of her genuine love for animals and elevating them to some status they don't deserve.  Who knows?  But she admitted that this is indeed what she thought, that animals could understand road signs.  Her phone call into the radio station, her letter writing, her insistence were all very stupid.  She was acting in a very unintelligent manner.  Her actions were based purely on her lack of knowledge.  And she embarrassed herself.  And that is absolutely not funny.  But lucky for Donna, her friends decided she was important enough and loved enough to be saved from this embarrassment.  Out of genuine compassion, a desire to alleviate her stupidity and embarrassment, they called her and instructed her on the true nature of deer---they cannot read.  They do not follow road signs.  The deer crossing signs are not to guide them, but are there to ALERT US to their presence!  Out of love for their friend, they just could not tolerate her ignorance.  Why?  Because she had already had 3 accidents due to her ignorance and stupidity.  They love her and just could not imagine allowing her to continue to risk her life over her ignorance.  Such good friends that sweet Donna has.  And yes, I think Donna is genuinely sweet.  Bless her heart!
     Now let's talk about what any of this  has to do with Catholicism:  Modern Catholics are ignorant.  They, by their own admission, lack any real knowledge about their faith.  Oh sure, they know who the Pope is.  They love him dearly.  They trust him.  But they couldn't tell you a thing about Catholicism, other than what their priest tells them.  Syllabus of Errrors--what's that?  Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus--Huh?  Christ is Really Present in the Eucharist---what does that mean?  Why are so many Catholics ignorant of their own faith?  I don't know.  Most have never been properly instructed by either their parents or their priests.  Many just don't have time or no where to go.  Some or blissfully happy with the way things are because of sentiment.  Whatever the reason for their ignorance, these Catholics just do the silliest and nonsensical things.  They marry people who are not Catholic or who have no faith at all.  They don't have their children baptized.  They receive the Precious Body of Our Lord in their dirty hands.  They continue to send their children to public schools.  And they do so in good faith and in all sincerity.  And eventually they embarrass themselves, like these people in Germany.
     Lucky for our modern Catholics, they have friends of the traditional variety, who love them and don't want them to continue to risk their souls.  So out of compassion, we approach them.  We bring them books on the dangers of the New Mass.  We invite them over on Fridays in the summer for fish and chips.  We encourage them to read the Encyclicals of all the Popes, not just the modern ones.  We keep on encouraging them to find a traditional Mass and go there.  We share with them the necessity for confession.  Most of all we pray for them.  What we don't do is tolerate the ignorance, the stupidity.  Why?  Because tolerance is an infection.  It grows in our hearts like a virus, eventually making us comfortable with whatever anyone wants to do.  All we become concerned with in our tolerance is making people happy, being nice, and making people feel comfortable.  In our tolerance, we've decided to replace compassion with acceptance.  Instead of sharing other's distress and attempting to alleviate it, we just approve of whatever they are doing because it makes them happy or feel comfortable.  It is truly sorrowful.  But that is the state of modern Catholics and the modern Catholic Church.
    Advent is upon us.  Perhaps during the time of fasting, sacrifice, and contemplation, we can offer prayers up for the whole Church.  She is suffering.  She is not what she used to be and many Catholics are confused and many souls are lost.

St. Andrew, pray for us!
   

Oh, Beautiful Lady, Why Do You Weep?

     A day or two ago, I stumbled across a blog of some really amazing political cartoons by Me & Folly.  They have some great conservative political commentary through their cartoons over on their blog.  Check it out, here.  Just the other day, they posted this cartoon, in honor of the re-election of President Barack Obama.

Here she sits, Lady Liberty, an icon of our great nation, weeping in sorrow over what this election might mean for the United States.  And as shocking and representative as this image is in the outcome of this past election, let me offer you another image, of greater significance to compare.

This photograph is a picture of the statue of Our Blessed Mother in La Salette, France on the site where she appeared to two little children, Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, on September 19, 1846.  According to the children, they found this Beautiful Lady weeping in Her hands.  She wept the entire time she spoke to the children.  Why was this Beautiful Lady weeping so?  She was crying for Her children, Our Lord's children, because we have become so lost and have turned so far away from Our Lord.  She was weeping because She knew that Our Lord was going to punish us for our disobedience, for our rejection of His Commandments, and for our loss of love and faith.  She knew and She came to warn us.  What She had to say to these little children has gone mostly unheeded, except for a few.  What She warned would come to pass has been all but dismissed and, in recent years, redefined.  The leaders in the Catholic Church haven't wanted you to hear Our Mother for fear that you might "worry" or become "overburdened."  Well, American Catholics, it's too late now.  Our Lady Liberty weeps now because she is finally realizing that what Our Blessed Mother said is true.  If you don't know what Our Blessed Mother said, or if you aren't sure of the significance of it, I'll clarify it here.

     When Our Mother appeared on the Alps in Southern France in 1846, she spoke very seriously and sweetly with these two little, poor, uneducated children.  She gave them messages to take back to the bishops of the Church and secrets to be revealed only when She wanted them to be known.  Many of the messages Our Blessed Mother told the children were very disturbing.  In these messages, Our Lady warned that the whole world would suffer loss of faith, decline of morals, waging of war after war, poverty, and devastation.  While most of her messages have to do with France and the French Revolution in the 1850s, She made some dire predictions that would effect the entire world.  And while some priests and religious have continued to discredit what Our Mother said to little Melanie in the fields that day, I am inclined to believe the entire message.  And while there is much to read in Our Lady of LaSalette's messages, I specifically want to highlight something that applies to our times, in our beloved United States, and in the Modern Catholic Church.  After that, you can read Our Lady's messages and decide for yourself if what she said is true or not.

In the year 1864 Lucifer, together with a great number of devils, will be loosed from hell; little by little they will abolish the faith, and that even in persons consecrated to God; they will so blind them, that without a special grace, these persons will take on the spirit of these evil angels; a number of religious houses will lose the faith entirely and cause many souls to be damned.

     Why in the heavens would Our Blessed Mother mention the year 1864?  It seems like such an arbitrary number, doesn't it?  But a pretty quick search of history, reveals that 1864 was pretty significant for the Devil's work.  It was this year, that the Communist Karl Marx, in political exile in England, was able to exert his influence through the International Working Men's Association.  Where he had previously been isolated and ostracized, Karl Marx, through his journalism experience, was able to draft and launch a platform that would eventually become what we know as Communism.  In September of 1864, workers from across Europe met and organized to address the political and social plight of the working class.  And it was through this newly founded organization that Marx's was able to frame his political and social ideas in a way that seemed positive and hopeful.  He drafted his platform and set it in motion in his Inaugural Address, and thus, as Our Lady foretold, a great number of devils were loosed from hell.  

     That evil, repugnant, godless philosophy called Communism has many names, most specifically Socialism but one you may not have heard of---Communitarianism.  Communism has all but taken root in the entire world, and now, under another term of President Barack Obama, Socialism is set to become the new norm in the United States of America.  Oh, sure.  You've heard people proclaim that Communism is dead.  They will jump up and down insisting that Communism died with the last thud of the bricks from the collapse of the Berlin Wall.  Oh, Catholics will tell you that Pope John Paul II dedicated his Papacy to dismantling Communism.  These same people will tell you that Ronnie Reagan and Maggie Thatcher tirelessly and doggedly forced an end to that vile social, economic, and political system called Communism.  But they are all wrong.  Communism is not dead.  Communism lives on and it continues to invest every nation and every institution on earth, including the Catholic Church, just as Our Blessed Mother said it would.

     So pay attention my dear American Catholics!  Each year, our nation grows more and more socialistic in practice.  Almost half of American citizens depend on the government to do something for them:  Social Security, food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, farm subsidies, student loans, public schools, school lunches, day care subsidies, unemployment, disability.  Each year the programs grow and the people become less dependent on themselves and their families and more dependent on the government.  And there is nothing to be done.  The train has left the station, folks, and it ain't gonna stop until individuals have lost their personal sovereignty.  But of course, every American knows this.  And that is why there was so much backlash against another Obama term.  And who helped him get re-elected?  Why, the Catholics, of course!

    You see, just as Our Blessed Mother told little Melanie and Maximin, the priests, bishops, and religious will slowly become infected with the Communist spirit that they will lose the faith entirely and souls will be damned!  Once upon a time, Popes defended the Church from evil.  In 1878, Pope Leo XIII condemned the rising ideas of communism in Quod Apostolici Muneris.  He was certainly not trying to play nice when he called the socialists and communists a "wicked confederacy."  He exposed their plan for all to see--the overthrow of civil society.  He showed us how they work.  He condemned their ideas: refusal to acknowledge God, absolute equality of all men in rights and duties, sexual freedom, greed, materialism, and their assaults on the natural right of property.  Not only did Pope Leo XIII condemn the evil scourge of communism, he also forbid Catholics from becoming involved in any organization that promoted such ideas. In fact, Pope Leo XIII recognized that the ONLY defense against the spread of communism across the world was the One True Church:  Since they know that the Church of Christ has such power to ward off the plague of socialism as cannot be found in human laws, in the mandates of magistrates, or in the force of armies, let them restore that Church to the condition and liberty in which she may exert her healing force for the benefit of society. 

     But is the Catholic Church speaking like this now when socialism is running rampant throughout society and beginning to take root in the United States?  Nope.  Instead she is busy bringing the cause of sainthood forward for Communists!!  Just today, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops lead by the ever jovial Cardinal Dolan announced that they intend to canonize Dorothy Day, the communist turned communitarianist.  In case, you have never heard of Dorothy Day, let me share with you a few things I discovered on my own.

     Dorothy Day was born in New York at the turn of the 20th century.  She spent her 20s roaring through the 20s and embracing every feminist ideal that was popular in her day.  She had multiple sexual relationships, an unwed pregnancy, and an abortion.  She had been a nude model and was a member of the American Socialist Party.  She was a journalist, a peace activist during WWI, and a champion for women's suffrage.  She is by all signs, a model for modern women feminism.  It was perhaps her daughters illegitimate birth that led Ms. Day to her "personal" conversion, as she had her daughter baptized a Catholic.  In 1932, she met up with a man who shared her cause and together they established a newspaper called the Catholic Worker, which became a vehicle for her to promote her ideas regarding Catholic social justice.  Throughout her life and career, Dorothy Day, through her newspaper, which later became a movement, she continued to criticize the capitalist economic system, she supported the rising trade unions which were calling for worker's equality, she challenged the Catholic Church to embrace pacifism, and she insisted that Our Lord's teaching was one of non-violence and peace.  She spent her life leading causes such as ending nuclear war, opposition to WWII and Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement, and working with Cesar Chavez' United Farm Workers.  In short, throughout her entire life, Dorothy Day, in spite of claiming she had a conversion, continued to live, embody, and promote socialist ideals.  In fact, I don't believe she ever recanted her communist beliefs or apologized for her actions even until her death in 1980.

     Some say that Ms. Day was no longer a communist, that she did a great service for the Church, especially the poor.  But I say this is purely an attempt to mislead Catholics.  In fact, let me share with you her own words from her own newspaper in 1948:

To see only the good, the Christ, in others!  Perhaps if we thought of how Karl Marx was called "Papa Marx" by all the children on the street, if we knew and remembered how he told fairy stories to his children, how he suffered hunger and poverty and pain, how he sat by the body of his dead child and had no money for coffin or funeral, perhaps such thoughts as these would make us love him and his followers.  Dear God, for the memory of that dead child, of that faithful wife, grant his stormy spirit a "place of refreshment, light, and peace."
And there was Lenin.  He hungered and thirsted and at times he had no fixed abode.  Mme. Krupskaya, his widow, said that he loved to go into the peace of the pine woods and hunt mushrooms like old Mrs. Dew down at Easton did, and we with her one October.  He lived one time in the slums of Paris, and he lived on horse meat when he had meat, and he started schools for the poor and the workers.  "He went about doing good."  (For reference see this link.)

    Here is your new saint, modern Catholics!  Your new saint has told you to forget about the millions of CATHOLICS who were slaughtered by the Bolsheviks and Vladimir Lenin.  Is that the good he went about doing, Ms. Day?  Are we supposed to forget about it the repression, the gulags, the forced migration?  Are you so blind, Catholic faithful, that you cannot see what Our Lady of LaSalette warned you about your bishops and priests???

     Just as this is a dark day for the United States of America, this is an even darker day for the Catholic Church.  Yes, Our Lady is weeping.  She is weeping because their is nothing left for us to do.  The devil has been unleashed.  The Catholic Church, who once stood in armor battling evil, particularly communism in all its forms, is now either silent or embracing the very evil itself!  Our Lord is going to punish us very severely and soon.  The United States and the Catholic Church are about to suffer the same fate---we are all about to be chastised.  What can us Americans do to prepare for the economic and social depravity we are about to face at the hands of our socialist government?  Stock up on food and supplies.  Keep some cash on hand.  Find a safe place to go when it all comes crashing down.  What can Catholics do to prepare for God's wrath over the desecration of His Altars and the loss of faith of His holy priests?  Find a True Mass.  Wear Our Lady's Scapular.  Pray a daily Rosary as Our Lady of Fatima told us.  Keep your family close.  There is nothing left for us to do.

    May God have mercy on the United States and on His faithful Catholics!

     Our Lady of LaSalette, pray for us!

Halloween? Holy Day or Pagan Playtime?

     As the uber-American holiday, Halloween, is getting underway today, I thought I'd re-address the topic that I discussed a few years ago on another blog.  If you wish, you can read that post here:  Saint, Souls, and Saturday.  Since Halloween is one of those days that many of my Catholic friends are reluctant to give up for fear of being cast as an extreme Christian fundamentalists, I thought I would approach it again on this blog.  If you are new to Catholicism or new to this blog, if you are a cradle-Catholic or a modern Catholic, if you do nothing else today, please spend some time looking at the origins of Halloween using reliable Catholic information.
     In my previous article on Halloween, I mentioned in brief detail how and why the Church, in Her wisdom, introduced the feast days of All Saints and All Souls Day.  These Holy Days have very real significance in the lives of faithful Catholics.  In fact, they are central to what we know about our lives, the lives of the Saints, Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother.  Celebrating these days in Catholic fashion is significant and important.  It is something we should be doing as Catholics.  These days remind us that death is nothing to fear, as long as we are living in faith and following our Lord's Commandments.  They remind us that, if we live our lives properly, we will be united in Heaven with all the Saints who have gone before us.  We are reminded that Our Lord conquers evil, that Our Lord conquers death, that death brings us to Heaven.
     These days from All Saints to All Souls also remind us to pray for our loved ones who may be suffering in Purgatory, waiting on the Mercy of Our Lord.  In fact, praying for the souls in Purgatory is a great moral good.  As such, traditionally the entire month of November is dedicated to the Suffering Souls in Purgatory.  To ensure that faithful Catholics continued to pray for the souls of the faithful departed, the Church attached to these prayers a plenary indulgence, or a forgiveness of the temporal punishments of sin.  In the special circumstance of All Souls Day, this indulgence shortens the time in Purgatory of our loved ones.  In other words, praying for the Suffering Souls in Purgatory actually helps them.
     In Catholic countries around the world, All Hallow's Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day were spent in seriousness, joy, and prayer.  Families made long trips to the cemeteries where their loved ones were buried.  On these days, they cleaned the graves, lit candles, and often prayed for hours.  In many places, family members gathered together before or after Mass on these days, sharing family stories of their loved ones, and gathering to pray Rosaries for their souls.  These were days that ushered in a month long period of prayer and penance in hopes that the souls of long lost mothers, fathers, grandparents, and even children made their way to Heaven where once again families could be reunited.  It was a special time, a beautiful time for families to reflect on their own mortality and hope in the Lord's salvation.
     However, these age old Catholic traditions are something our nation has never known.  American Catholics have little or no knowledge of these beautiful, ancient traditions.  Yes, our immigrant ancestors brought with them the ancient practices of praying for the dead, especially in the cemeteries during Hallow Mass and All Souls' Day.  But these early Catholics ancestors were few and far between.  But because the Protestants dominated our new country, they despised these practices, considering them superstitious and evil.  To counteract them, they began to establish there own fall festivals and bonfire parties.  They began to have plays, dances, and costume parties, mostly celebrating Guy Fawkes and Reformation Day, and incorporating American Patriotism. By the 1920s, the celebration and costume parties had become just another part of American life.
     Catholics in America were faced, on a daily basis, with a dilemma.  How could a faithful Catholic survive in the workplace, in the neighborhoods, in an increasingly hostile Protestant environment?  In spite of Pope Leo XIII warning Catholics regarding the dangers of "Americanism," Catholics found themselves accepting of and influenced by Protestantism, just to get along with their neighbors.  As such, American Catholics, Catholics first in heart, doctrine, and spirit, slowly evolved into Catholic Americans, Americans first in heart, doctrine, and spirit.  And one of the quintessential celebrations of American life was the Halloween/Fall Celebration.
     By the 1950s, Halloween was so popular in the United States, that trick-or treating, what had previously been a night young people used to tip over outhouses and vandalize fences, became a night for little children to dress up, go door to door in the burgeoning suburbs, and get piles of candy.  Shortly thereafter, the celebration itself lost all religious and political meaning.  It had become just another day for Americans to celebrate their Americanism.  It was fun and it was mostly harmless.  And it was a chance for Catholics and Protestants to play together all nicey-nice.
     Over the years, Halloween celebrating has become so popular for Americans, that it is poised to take over Christmas.   At the same time that Halloween has become so popular for Americans, it has also come along way since the kids trick-or-treating and candy of even my day in the 1970s.  And while these were familiar Halloween costumes in my neighborhood, costumes are becoming more macabre and frightening.  Adults are increasingly becoming more involved, using the night for drunken parties and mischief.  Even Americans agree.  Halloween has moved from childhood fun time, to adult party time.   As such, it is becoming sexualized and scary, reminiscent of pagan rituals of ancient times.
     So what is happening?  And what are Catholics to do?  Sadly, whether anyone Catholic wants to acknowledge it or not, Halloween is returning to it's pagan origins and celebrations.  As a growing population of Americans identify themselves as non-religious or not affiliated with any religious group, there are bound to be ramifications.  The holidays that once held some religious significance have become completely engulfed by secular materialism and commercialism.  The sad thing, though, is that those who do consider themselves religious continue to fully participate in the slide to secularism.  This slide into secularism, the loss of religious practices and identity, has opened the gates for Halloween to return to its godless, pagan origins.  Very few people, even Catholics, recognize what Hallows Evening is supposed to be about.
     All Hallow's Eve begins this evening.  This is the evening many Catholics would do well to go to Mass instead of trick-or-treating.  Visit the cemetery where your loved ones are buried.  Light a candle as a reminder that the Light of Heaven is their guide.  Pray a Rosary.  Instead of spending time at the shopping mall looking for that last minute zombie costume, reflect on the Communion of Saints.  Read a story about your name saint, if you have one.  Help your children make a costume of St. Joan, St. George, St. Lawrence, or St. Kateri.  Instead of grabbing bags of candy for trick-or-treaters, bring out the old photos of grandma and grandpa.  Make a list of all the faithful departed in your family.  Work on your family altar.  Call your friends, have them over for a Rosary and tea.  Rejoice.  Pray.  Make it a Holy Day again.  Help a Poor Soul in Purgatory.

But most of all, leave the pagans to themselves.

Efficacious Prayer for the Faithful Departed

O most compassionate Jesus, have mercy on the Souls detained in Purgatory, for whose redemption Thou didst take upon Thyself our nature and endure a bitter death.  Mercifully hear their sighs, look with pity upon the tears which they now shed before Thee, and by virtue of Thy passion, release them from their pains due to their sins.  O most merciful Jesus, let Thy Precious Blood reach down into Purgatory and refresh and revive the captive souls who suffer there.  Stretch out to them Thy strong right hand, and bring them forth into the place of refreshment, light, and peace.

Amen.

May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.  Amen.

This is dedicated to the baptized Catholics in my family, whose souls are hopefully in Purgatory, awaiting their eternal reward.  May God have mercy on their souls.
 
   

Don't Look Now! The Emperor Has No Clothes!

     It has been some time since I posted.  I apologize.  I've had a mother to care for and a handful of children to homeschool.  It's been a rough two months.  But as issues with my mother are improving and the children are managing, I thought I'd write some more on politics as I had promised in the summer.
     I had wanted to write a lot of things, particularly about the history of Catholics in the United States, but recent events of the Catholic Bishops in the U.S have come to the forefront.  And I think it's a good opportunity to address what is wrong with the modern Catholic Church and why so many Catholics are ignorant of their faith and confused about how to cast a vote in this upcoming election.

     

     In case, the above image is not familiar to you, this is a photograph taken on October 18, 2012 at the 67th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner in New York.  Okay.  So what?  Who is Alfred E. Smith anyway?  And why is this dinner occasion for Bishops to cozy up to politicians?  Interesting questions, really, with answers I had to research myself.
    First just who is Alfred E. Smith?  Most notably, Al Smith was the Governor of New York in the 1920s.  He was a Catholic and he was elected 3 times in New York to guide and serve the people of that state.  Al Smith was an Irish Catholic, born in Manhattan, and a member of  the Democratic Party political machine called Tammany Hall.  In spite of his involvement in Tammany Hall, Al Smith was smart enough to separate himself from it, expose the organizations corruption, and propose necessary reforms in the State of New York.  This made him both popular and unpopular, but made him a favored candidate for President in 1928 against Herbert Hoover.  Unfortunately, the religious sentiment across the country proved doom for the Democratic party ticket with a New York Catholic at is head and a Southern Protestant underneath.  The campaign was rife with problems and it brought to the forefront anti-Catholic bias in this country, particularly in the South.
     Anti-catholic sentiment was nothing new to the United States.  The first permanent settlements in the United States were made up of English and German Protestants fleeing their own persecutions.  They brought with them the propaganda and hatred borne out of Martin Luther's Protestant Revolt.  Catholics were routinely accused of horrible crimes, banned from communities, and prohibited from owning property, home educating their children, or participating in political activities.  There was, of course, the theological prejudices accusing the Catholic Church of being the "Whore of Babylon" and the accusations that Catholics, themselves, were Satan worshippers and idolaters.  In fact, it was dangerous in the early years of our Nation to be a Catholic.  
     Aside from the theological differences, many people in the Colonies feared the secular mindset of Catholics, in general.  It is perhaps why the Protestant legislators in the colonies enacted laws prohibiting Catholics from voting or holding office.  Catholics were primarily unafraid of a monarchical form of government.  They weren't opposed to municipalities governing with Catholic ideas or theology.  In fact, from a Catholic theological and political perspective, this was necessary.  As such, the Catholics weren't necessarily in support of freeing themselves from rule of a King, even if that King was not Catholic or corrupt.  It posed a great problem for the Protestant colonists in the colonies and there was always propaganda floating around to humiliate and isolate Catholics in the United States.
     As Catholic immigrants began flooding the United States in the 1800s, anti-Catholicism reached it's peak.  Protestant preachers ignited the flames in there sermons across the country.  They called for prohibiting Catholics from settling in many places and continued to ostracize them.  Across the country, churches were burned, Catholics were killed, and tempers flared.  It was a very nasty time in American history, and one of the only ways for U.S. Catholics to defend themselves was to fight back and separate themselves from the Protestants.  The U.S. soon became a nation divided between Catholics and Protestants.  
      One way the Catholics sought to defend themselves was through the school system.  In 1875, Pope Pius IX wrote a letter to the U.S. Bishops cautioning them of the danger to the souls of their children in the public schools.  In 1897, Pope Leo XIII issued an Encyclical insisting that Catholic children be educated in Catholic schools by Catholic instructors.  And as anti-Catholic sentiment continued to rise, it was this instruction that the Catholics in New York took seriously.  Tammany Hall, the political machine in which Alfred E. Smith was made, invested millions of dollars in Catholic schools across the country.  This caused such a controversy in the United States, that political cartoons sprung up further inciting the anti-Catholic bias in this country.  This was a very dark time for Catholics.
     Yet, in spite of the Catholic hatred in the country, Alfred E. Smith won the Democratic nomination for President in 1928.  And his nomination let loose another hailstorm of anti-Catholic sentiment, particularly in the South, where the KKK rose up in loud protest.  Of course, the campaign was doomed to fail, with Al Smith receiving merely 87 Electoral College votes.  In spite of the Democratic platform of improvements in education, federal money for farmers, and an end to Prohibition, the Republicans fostered the sentiment made by a Southern preacher:  "No subject of the Pope should be allowed to become President."  Even members of his own party campaigned against him out of fear that he would make America a Catholic nation.  
      After Al Smith's humiliating defeat, he attempted to run for President once more in 1932.  Of course, he lost that nomination to FDR, and he went on to become very outspoken against that President's New Deal.  He spent the rest of his life in vocal opposition to Roosevelt's New Deal policies, hoping for reforms.  He did in 1944.  In 1946, the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Spellman established the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation in memory of Mayor Smith and all the good works he had accomplished for Catholics in both politics and public service.  The goal of the foundation was and is to raise funds for the neediest people, especially children, in the Diocese of New York.  The main fundraiser for the Foundation has always been the Al Smith Dinner, the black tie affair where the wealthiest donors come for a night of fun and entertainment, with the explicit purpose of political elbow-rubbing.  Cardinal Spellman hoped to remind people of the importance and significance of Al Smith and Catholicism in our political history.  There have been only few occasions where current presidential candidates have not participated in the dinner.  In other words, it's a big deal for politicians and it's a big deal for Catholics.
     The Al Smith Dinner has a long history, then, in American politics.  It also has a long history with Catholic Charities and collecting donations for health care, schools, and food for needy families.  Perhaps these are the reasons why Cardinal Dolan saw fit to invite both the President and his rival to the dinner this year.  But for whatever reason, the Cardinal has left Catholics scandalized and confused.  Yet, this does seem to be the mantra of the modern Catholic Church---keep the faithful ignorant, confuse them more, and lead them to believe that evil is good, no matter what the degree.
     Bloggers all over the blogosphere are rightly outraged and confused by the Cardinal's actions this year.  There was a petition out to stop the Diner completely.  Others have just questioned why Cardinal Dolan would invite President Obama.  Some retained hope that Cardinal Dolan would use this as an opportunity to confront President Obama about his abortion views.     And then you've got the Catholics giving rounds of applause to His Emminence, Cardinal Dolan.      What are Catholics to make of this whole mess anyway?
     For clarity sake let's have a look at what the stink is all about anyway.  Most of the individuals in opposition to Cardinal Dolan's invitation to President Obama has to do with his view and policies on abortion, homosexual marriage, and his Marxist ideology.  They argue that the President's pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, pro-government control of health care are incompatible with Catholicism and, therefore, he should not have been invited to the dinner at all.  These same people argue that Mr. Romney should have been the only one to speak since his views are consistent with or are at-least not as extreme as the President's.  I suppose that's their opinion.  However mine is much different.
    Until the 1980s, neither abortion, homosexuality, or Marxism had been on the radar or lips of American politicians.  Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Walter Mondale, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, Al Gore, and Dick Cheney were at one time or currently are all supporters of abortion and or homosexual rights.  They have all been speakers at the Al Smith Dinner.  If these politicians have been invited and spoken at the Dinner, then why the outrage over Obama?  For what it's worth, Mitt Romney is also pro-abortion.  Why not be outraged that he was invited and spoke at the Dinner?  It's truly a puzzle to me.
     Why has there never been outrage before?  Simple.  Money.  The modern Catholic Church is no longer interested in saving souls or avoiding the cause of scandal.  The bishops and cardinals are only interested in one thing--political posturing to raise money for this project or that.  It's a real shame.  The Cardinal, if he had really taking his role as Shepherd seriously, could have refused to invite them both, and instead invited Rick Santorum who is both Catholic and unequivocably pro-life and pro-family.  He could have invited Mike Huckabee who is also.  Perhaps he could have invited Todd Akin.  Now wouldn't that have made a statement!  But no, His Emminence decided it would be best to continue to confuse Catholics by allowing them to think that Catholics can simply separate Catholicism from their life, from their political decisions, from the voting booth.
     This is a complete insult to the memory of Albert E. Smith.  There was a man who faced assault after assault for his Catholicism. Here was a  man who denounced the KKK, who openly tried to rid it's influence from the Democratic party.  He was ridiculed and derailed by members of his own party.  Why?  Only because he was a Catholic.  
     The Catholic Church has always been the last bastion of hope in the world.  She has always defended the helpless and hopeless.  She has always stood for Truth.  She has always protected her children from evil and guided them to the Son.  Yet, here we are with Cardinals hamming it up with two pro-abortion politicians telling you on one hand "This is a political dinner and we are raising money for a good cause." and on the other hand telling you "That both parties, both candidates are acceptable choices as long as you don't think too hard."  It is scandalous!
     So be careful, my Catholic friends.  You simply can no longer trust your Shepherds!  They are all wolves in disguise!

Our Lady of Fatima, ora pro nobis!
      

Our Lord Jesus Christ---King of All Nations

     Just over 2 years ago, our family made the final transition from modern Catholicism to traditional Catholicism.  Of course, there were a lot of changes in our lives that were immediately obvious, most of which had to do with the Mass itself.  But there were also some changes that occurred in our lives that were, in many ways, unintentional.  In fact, we couldn't have really anticipated them as they merely flowed out of our participation in traditional Catholicism.  In other words, these changes just became a natural part of our lives as traditional Catholics.  As such, traditional Catholicism has given me a perspective I  don't believe I would have ever had while remaining in the Novus Ordo Church.  One change in perspective actually occurred quite accidentally around the time of Halloween.  Weird, I know.  But, if you will permit, you will see what I mean and how it relates to our current discussion regarding politics.
     In May of 2010 we began assisting at Mass at a small chapel affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X.  We really new nothing about the Society at that time, we only knew that we needed to leave our local Novus Ordo parish for our own personal reasons.  For the most part, the traditional Tridentine Mass was completely unknown and foreign to us.  We were confused some as well as awe-struck.  But we found a sense of immediate peace and we kept returning each week for Mass.  We muddled through the summer without really knowing much of what was going on, but participating in every way we could.  At the same time, we were trying to reconcile our modern way of living and thinking with t traditional Catholicism.  It was not an easy task.
     Perhaps not coincidentally that year, Halloween fell on the last Sunday of October.  Normally the only significance that held in our families life was when and what time the Trick-or-Treating would begin.  As Our Lord would have it for me that year, our little town faced a dilemma that annoyed me a lot and would start me reconsidering the American festivities a bit.  In our town, when Halloween falls in the calendar on a weekend, the city officials move Trick-or-Treat night to the previous Thursday.  Why?  Because Friday night is football and the weekend is too dangerous for little children to be out in the streets.  Whatever.  That conversation with the mayor where I learned this little tidbit irritated me to no end.  My response was one of tradition--who has the authority to just change the date of Halloween?  In my mind, it didn't make any sense, so we decided not to participate in our communities Halloween events that year.  And ordinarily, had we not been attending our new chapel, we might not have given the whole thing a second thought the following year.  But on this particular year, Halloween fell on a Sunday, the last Sunday, and we went to Mass instead.
     That evening, the last Sunday of October, we celebrated the Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Now, we had celebrated this Feast day before, but never on the last Sunday of October.  As a Novus Ordo Mass goer, that Feast day was celebrated on the Sunday before Advent and I, admittedly, never really thought about the significance of it. But that evening I began to wonder about the Feast of Christ the King, why it was moved in the liturgical calendar, and if it was important anyway.  I did a lot of digging into the Feast of Christ the King and found some really interesting things, most of which are relevant to these coming months and Catholics response to their civic duties.
     In 1864, Pope Pius IX recognized that the nations of the world and the people in them had begun to reject Catholicism and begun to embrace ideas that were a danger to their faith.  As such he issued for the entire world, the Encyclical Quanta Cura along with his Syllabus of Errors, in which he outlined and condemned all the errors of the modern world.  In this Encyclical, the Pope observed that nations had begun to declare and put into practice the idea that progress in society could only be made if civil institutions governed without regard to religion or religious beliefs.  This, Pope Pius IX, declared has always been condemned by the Church.  He noted that the natural outcome of this opinion would be the rise and control of a secular state, which would be absolutely detrimental to society and the people living therein.  By the early 20th century, Pope Pius IX's words seemed almost prophetic as nation after nation quietly and diligently abandoned Catholic principles in favor of a society absent of Our Lord and his laws.
     It was in the wake of this Godless society that Pope Pius XI decided to revisit the issue of God and civil society.  As such, he, too, issued an Encyclical, Quas Primas,  reaffirming what the Church has always taught about Our Lord by establishing a Feast Day to recognize the same.  In 1925, Pope Pius XI observed the same erroneous ideas as his Holy Predecessor recognized 60 years before--that "the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ an His holy law out of their lives, that these had no place in private affairs or in politics." He prophetically concluded that "as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rules of Our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations."  As such, to reminder the faithful and leaders of the world's nations of Christ's authority as Ruler of the whole world, the holy Pope instituted upon the whole Church the Feast Day of Christ the King.  When we read the document it is quite clear that Pope Pius XI understood and recognized that Christ is not only our spiritual King for us in Heaven but also our temporal King, our King on Earth.  For this reason, he placed the Feast Day on the Liturgical calendar in October, before the Feast of All Saints Day, as an implication that Our Lord is the Supreme Ruler here and now.  In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the Feast to the Sunday before Advent, the last Sunday of the Liturgical year, indicating, not so much Our Lord's temporal Kingship, but insinuating that Our Lord will merely become a Ruler in some future time, the end of the world.  (For an in depth look at the significance of this, please see Michael Davies', of fond memory, commentary on the Kingship of Christ since Vatican II.)  
     Initially, after I did my research on this, I didn't really think moving a Feast Day around in the Church's calendar really made that much difference.  But I have come to realize, even in such a short time, that this is not true at all.  As we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King at the end of October, immediately followed by All Saint's Day, I am reminded of how many men, women, and children suffered and were martyred in this world because they recognized Our Lord as the Sovereign King of all Nations.  Last year, because my son was reading of one particular great saint,  I thought of St. Thomas Becket who understood the State's duty was to support the Church in her mission, who understood that no earthly king or ruler had supremacy over Our Lord and His Church, who willingly gave his life to defend Our Sovereign King.  
  This truth, that Our Lord rules now and forever, was passed on from the Apostles through out the whole Church.  It was this truth that gave rise to Christendom, this truth that led all nations to convert to Christianity, and rulers to consider Our Lord's instruction first, that gave rise to great nations and great rulers, particularly in the Middle Ages.  And it was to this Truth that St. Pius IX addressed at the end of the 19th Century.  It was for this reason that St. Pius XI decided to institute a Feast Day in the Church's calendar, so that we could not forget that Our Lord Jesus Christ is, here and now, Our Sovereign King and to Him alone do we owe allegiance.  
     So it is with this in mind, the Kingship of Our Lord, that I begin this series on politics and civic life.  It would seem that many of our great Popes were prophetic in their observations that, once we lost this Truth of Our Lord's Kingship, that our nations would sink into secularism, materialism, and barbarism.  It would also seem that our Catholic politicians think that they can hold personal opinions regarding matters of faith without attempting to institute Catholic principles in our society.  It would also seem that the Catholic faithful consider it acceptable to support financially and emotionally people in positions of authority that do not hold the view that Our Lord's laws apply to everyone, everywhere, in all ages.  If this is indeed the case, may God have mercy on our souls!
  Stay tuned....

St. Thomas Becket, pray for us.

St. Pius IX, pray for us.

St. Pius XI, pray for us.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Christ Our Sovereign King, have mercy on us!
     

Catholics and Politics---Church and State

     I never intended this blog to be about politics.  It isn't that I don't have an opinion about it, it's just that I wanted the focus of this blog to be on matters of faith.  Also, out of fear mostly, I didn't want to become too personal about my own life.  You see, I didn't want to come across as preachy, judgmental, or a religious know-it-all.  And in an effort to be polite, I have avoided addressing topics that, I believe, are critical to Christian living.  And after this year, I've come to realize how silly that is.  Contrary to what many believe or insist, our religious beliefs dictate our very existence.  What we believe about God, or don't believe, affects every single area of our lives.  It determines how and why we do the things we do.  It dictates where we live, what jobs we have, how we raise our families, what we eat or drink, our health care decisions, our choices in spouses, where we vacation, what we read, what we do for fun, and how we vote.  People can no more separate their spiritual selves from their physical selves than could a person separate his head from his body and still live.  It is just not possible.  Rather, how we live our lives is a reflection of what we believe spiritually--what we believe about God.  So it is with that in mind that I write this series of blogs on religion and politics.
     In these next few months, every American is going to be inundated with political ads and robo calls.  This is an election year.  And as we hear every 4 years, this current election will matter more than ever to average Americans.  There is going to be talk about all sorts of issues: religious freedom, the economy, job creation, human rights, dignity, poverty, work ethic, and liberty. We are going to be told by who knows how many politicians and reporters that one issue is more important than another or than several issues are more important than just one.  People are going to be categorized into voting blocs and courted in exchange for a particular candidates vote.  And just like every other year I can remember, it's going to be ugly and lots of people are going to be disappointed.  It's inevitable.  
    More importantly however, and what concerns me most, is that Christians, particularly Catholics, are going to be called upon by both sides of the political aisle.  The parties are going to divide Catholics as many ways as they can.  The Democrats are going to attempt to appeal to the social issues they believe are most important:  poverty, immigration, equal rights, and the Republicans are going to attempt to appeal to the social issues they believe are important: work ethic, jobs, religious liberty.  We are going to be told that single-issue voters, i.e. those who vote primarily for pro-life candidates, need to put aside their personal beliefs and focus on the bigger picture.  We are going to be told, also, that we have a moral obligation to vote, a moral obligation to remove one political party from office, and a moral obligation to support this value or that value.  Many Catholics will accept this and persuade their family and friends that all of this is indeed true and holy.  But will they be right?
     Until 2007, I was not registered with any political party.  I had lived in States where a person did not have to be a registered anything to vote in political primaries.  One could just show up to the polls and pull the lever.  You see, I was always a discriminate voter.  I believed, whether rightly or wrongly, that most politicians were out to serve their own purposes and push forth their own ideas.  My earliest political memory is the Watergate hearings that aired on television in my own living room.  I was 6.  And whether or not I really understood what was happening or why it was significant, it left an impression on me that politicians, no matter how high a political office, were only out for power and could not be trusted.  And that impression remained with me through every single election cycle from Jimmy Carter to G.W.  In fact, the first election I ever voted in was marred by such scandal and controversy, that I was convinced the whole political system was a scam with big financial payoffs.  I was so leery of politicians and the political system that I wasn't moved or motivated by any issue to vote for one particular candidate over the other.  To me, they were all equally reprehensible.  
     Yet, in spite of my mistrust or perhaps because of it, I have continued to pay close attention to the political climate and the civic affairs of every community I have ever lived in.  Because I have not been politically associated with any party, I have been able to remain neutral--a political observer, if you will.  And in the years since I converted to Catholicism and have become a traditional Catholic, I have been able to assess the situation with any form of prejudice.  And what I see is frightening.  It's also motivated me to write a series of blog on politics, most specifically Church and State and the plight of politics and Catholics in this country.  I hope that what I have to offer is not judgmental in nature, but instead helpful and consistent with our Catholic faith.
     I hope to have several blogs on politics in the next coming weeks, so please bear with me.  Many of them, I hope, will be quite interesting and forthcoming.  Much of what I have learned over the years might be surprising to those people who are younger than I or who have never been interested in politics before.  I don't know how many blogs I will write or what many of the topics will be, but I do have some ideas.  However, before I can discuss any thing about politics, it would be prudent to begin with the Catholic Church.  As such the first article in this series with be in regards to what the Church teaches about the politics and civic duty. 
     Stay tuned...... 

Shut Up, You Freak! You Are Not In Command Here!

     What an outright mess of a country we live in!  The monkeys media are running the zoo.  And in cases like this recent statement by Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, the "experts" also get a big hat and a name tag.  What are they doing, really?  They are having a very good run of making Christians appear to be uneducated, backwards, unsympathetic, ignorant, rigid, and cold.  Why are they doing it?  There are two reasons, both closely related.  First and foremost, there is a call for an ever increasing secular society--a society that is not governed by religious principles or moral values.  In order to achieve that goal (and it is a real goal), the powers-that-be--the media, the elite, the political parties--must silence any meaningful discussion about moral issues as quickly as possible.  The second reason is something like that.  The political parties, fundamentally,  want to eject social issues from their platforms.  When this happens, they argue, our leaders can focus on the things that really matter, like jobs and the economy.  It's a twisted little game they are playing--and winning.  And Congressman Akin just happens to be a token to use on their playing board.
     I feel really very sorry for Congressman Akin.  Even though he was confused about the biology of how pregnancy works, I understood exactly what Congressman Akin was saying.  He was saying that it is very, very rare for a rape victim to fall pregnant.  And, in the case, that she did, it is morally unjust to murder the child for the crime of his father.  Mr. Akin is right, of course, and the media is using him to hammer into everyone's head the radical feminist agenda.  His own political party, the Republicans, are using him to pander to the secular, modernist voting bloc, because that is who they believe they need to win elections.  Personally, I think it's incredibly important to look at the issues, because many Catholics will be voting in this election.
   We have some real problems in this country and some of them stem primarily from the use or misuse of terms and language.  Mr. Akin used the term "legitimate rape."  Now any reasonable person knows perfectly well what that means.  In spite of what the media is telling you or what the law defines, there ARE different kinds of rape.  Rape is a crime, but so are theft, robbery, and murder.  There are several different types of theft all carrying penalties related to how this crime is committed and under what circumstances:  extortion, theft by deception, shoplifting, carjacking, theft of service, receiving stolen property, identity theft, etc.  Robbery, of course, is a form of theft but is more egregious because the theft happens in the owner's presence, willfully, and with violence.  There are different types of robbery, also, like armed robbery, home invasion, breaking and entering, aggravated robbery, etc.  These offenses, too, come with varying penalties and punishments regarding the circumstances.  Murder, yet again, has various classifications and punishments.  There's capital murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide, felony murder, etc.  And while all of these crimes are terrible and horrible trespasses on our citizens, they do have varying degrees of seriousness.
     Rape, as horrible as it is, is this way as well.  There is rape by force, rape by coercion, marital rape, acquaintance rape, drug induced rape, etc.  They are all crimes, yes, but they carry with them different penalties regarding the circumstances.  Yes, all rape is horrible, but some rapes are worse than others.  But what's worse about rape than the above mentioned crimes, is that it is often difficult to prove, and often places the victim's behavior under the spotlight.  For this reason, many, many women never report that they have been raped and many rapists never are arrested or convicted.  And precisely because rape is so hard to prove, it can be hard to disprove as well.  That's the reason many women have claimed rape or faked rape out of revenge, guilt, or to cover their own sexual misadventures.  The plot of Nell Harper's To Kill a Mockingbird centers around just such an injustice.  Think my statement is unfair to women?  Here's a bit of news that the media doesn't want to bring to anyone's attention.
   Women fake rape all the time.  In 2002, a young 17 year-old football player had a bright future.  A class-mate charged him with kidnapping and rape.  He plead non-contest at the advice of his lawyer, served 6 years in jail, and the school system paid the girl $1.5 million.  10 years later, she admitted she lied.  In the spring of this year, a woman in California claimed she had been attacked from behind and sexually assaulted.  She later came forth to tell the police that she had lied about the assault.  Two women in Fort Collins, Colorado accused three men of drugging and raping them in January of this year.  Those two women have since been arrested for lying and extortion.   There is also the story of the young teenager who was charged with raping a friend.  He plead guilty on the advice of his lawyer.  After the young man went to prison, his accuser recanted.  It took the Virginia Supreme Court to finally determine that he was falsely accused and improperly counseled, allowing his name to be removed from the sex offender registry. 
      These are just a few cases that I could find easily with a Google search.  Who knows how many cases of fake rape women report each year.  The point is, it is not unheard of.  And who knows how many women, past and present, who discover they are pregnant and claim they were raped or coerced.  In fact, sometimes women get drunk, go home with men, regret it the next day and charge that they were raped.  Often, these men, who freely admit the events that happened, are found guilty and spend long periods of time behind bars.  It's a mess!  So in Mr. Akin's defense, his term "legitimate rape" makes a whole lotta sense to me.
     But, for the sake of argument, let's consider that a woman is raped and she does fall pregnant.  What in the world to do about that?  First of all, no one is certain how many actual rape victims fall pregnant at the hands of their rapist.  It is estimated that the number is between 1-5%.  Of that number, no one is certain how many of those women have abortions, how many keep their children, and how many are put up for adoption.  What is clear, though, is that induced abortions as the result of rape makes up only a small percentage of the abortions performed in this country.  In fact, the Guttmacher Institute reports that only 1% of women seeking abortion have been forced to have sex against their will.    Because facilities are not required by law to report how many abortions they perform, abortion statistics in the U.S are only estimates gathered from the CDC and Planned Parenthood.  The estimate is that 1.2 million babies died from abortion last year.  If the statistics are correct, then that means over 100,000 of those babies were babies of rape victims.  In some people's view, that is 100,000 women did not have to suffer unnecessarily at the hands of her rapist by carrying the child, the reminder of such trama, to term.  Compassionate, right?
    The fundamental issue that really lies beneath abortion and abortion laws in this country is primarily one of language and technicality.  You see, in terms of the law, unborn babies in their mother's wombs, are not people and they are not citizens of the United States.  This is a very important distinction, legally, because under the Constitution then, they are not guaranteed any rights at all.  It's called Due Process.  It's a pretty ambiguous legal term but it is that clause that permits all woman to have an abortion in this country.  Under Due Process, everyone has a right to privacy, including when it involves a pregnancy.  In other words, a woman's pregnancy is purely a medical condition and a woman has the right to seek whatever treatment she chooses to treat that condition.  It is the liberal, feminist, ace-in-the-hole, if you will.  Under these terms, already defined by Roe v. Wade, pregnancy is a health condition, the "fetus" is a blob of tissue, and the woman can "choose" to do with it what she wants.  Induced abortion, the intentional expulsion of the products of conception through medicine or instrumentation, is THE cornerstone of feminism.  In real terms, it is perfectly legal to kill an unborn child by poison, stabbing with a sharp object, burning with acid, and dismemberment to remove it from its mother's womb as long as the mother chooses to do so.  And as long as we continue to consider pregnancy as a health condition and not a process by which new human beings come into existence, we will continue to face the wrath of Our Lord over the direct bloodshed of 1.2 million innocent children.
     Personally, I think Congressman Akin is a lot braver than most politicians.  He approached the abortion issue from the only completely logical avenue can be taken.  If it is true that unborn babies are people, then there can never be one single reason to allow for their execution.  Since they are not capable of acting in any capacity, they cannot be found guilty of any crimes committed.  They are 100% innocent.  Since that is true, they cannot be convicted and found worthy of death.  They have a right, as persons, to live.  Ending their innocent lives would be willful murder, a sin most grievous that it cries out to Heaven for vengeance.  As such, no God-fearing Christian could ever in good conscience claim that abortion can and should be permitted in certain cases, particularly in the case of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.  This would in essence be saying that it is okay to willfully murder people under whatever circumstances we deem appropriate.
     I recently read in the combox of someone's blog regarding this issue.  This was a Catholic blog, I can't really remember which one now, and the author was discussing what the Catholic Church teaches regarding abortion.  Quite a few people chimed in, but one person's comment was particularly disturbing.  She was a Catholic around the age of 65 or so.  She is a cradle-Catholic, educated her entire life in Catholic institutions.  She was college-educated by the Jesuits in the 1960s and was clearly outraged to discover that the Church had changed Her teaching regarding abortion.  You see, she had been taught, as did all of her peers, that abortion was perfectly acceptable in three cases--rape, incest, and the life of the mother.  She absolutely could not believe that, suddenly, the Church changed her position.  I am not certain that the author ever corrected her there.  So I will clarify her.  The Catholic Church has never taught, nor ever will teach, that abortion, the willful murder of an innocent child, is morally acceptable in any case.  It can not teach this because our Lord did not teach this to be so.  Any Catholic who believes otherwise will suffer under pain of mortal sin.  It would be best to educate yourself and get to confession.
     I believe that the devil is at work over time in this country and particularly with Catholics.  The Catholic Church is the One True Church left to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Nothing that she teaches within the Magisterium is false.  Nothing.  It cannot be.  If it were, then Our Lord would be a liar.  And He cannot be.  But the devil can.  The devil is having his hey-day with the general population at large, including many priests, bishops, cardinals, nuns, and Popes.  Not one of us is immune.  Not one.  The only thing we can trust or depend on is the One True Church, Our Lord, and Our Blessed Mother.
     I applaud Mr. Akin.  He may have missed biology class when the professor was talking about how the female reproductive system works, but at least he has back-bone.  He is right.  Rape is not as clear cut as people would like you to believe.  Some rapes are not "legitimate."  Induced abortion is always morally reprehensible.  There is never an excuse to murder an innocent child, particularly in the case where its execution is for a crime committed by its father.
     On this Feast Day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us ask her to end this scourge of humanity.  Because of Her place as Queen of Heaven and Earth, Our Blessed Mother can end this today, if we devote ourselves to Her Heart and ask her to take their unheard cries and buckets of shed blood and sorrowfully place them at the feet of Our Lord.  Otherwise, the United States is soon merit Our Lord's Justice.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

Holy Innocents, pray for us!

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!