The Blue Movement

from Facebook (with over 3500 attending!?)

My youth group leader was giving a talk one night and he said, "There are over a billion Catholics in the world. If Catholics decided to wear the color blue tomorrow, everyone would be like...Blue is a cool color." And that made me have this crazy idea.... What if all of us Catholics actually did that? So I decided in honor of our mother Mary, on December 8th, which is The Feast of The Immaculate Conception, we will all wear the color light blue. Please help me accomplish this goal! Invite all your Catholic friends! Even if you are not Catholic and you want to honor Mary...that's cool too. Join us in this movement and be a witness to the world!


"If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire. Let the truth be your delight...proclaim it...but with a certain congeniality."
-- Saint Catherine of Siena

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is December 8.

Here's what the Compendium has to say about the Immaculate Conception:

96. What does the “Immaculate Conception” mean?

God freely chose Mary from all eternity to be the Mother of his Son. In order to carry out her mission she herself was conceived immaculate. This means that, thanks to the grace of God and in anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary was preserved from original sin from the first instant of her conception.

And here's what the Catechism has to say:

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

492 The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature". By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.
(thanks to Jimmy Akin)

Exposed - Planned Parenthood

As Jill Stanek says, they're having a bad 'PR' day:






Indiana Planned Parenthood Covers Up Sexual Abuse of 13-year Old - More amazing videos are a click away

Pro-Life Answers

CONCERNED FOR LIFE:

....This morning, I received an email from a young woman who very politely objected to our vigil outside the hospital this fall. I have just spent the last two hours writing a logical response to her objections. I am convinced that most pro-choice women have never heard a consistent pro-life argument; their statements are always highly emotional and betray a lack of real knowledge of the facts....

“Abortion is not pleasant for anyone - least of all those with unwanted pregnancies who decide to seek them.”

You are right, abortion is not pleasant, however have you researched what happens to women who have abortions and the aftermath? Abortion is sought as a quick solution to a problem; however, studies are showing that it brings a host of problems that unfortunately, our society is not willing to disclose – more on this later. Most women think that abortion will solve the pregnancy problem and they can move on with their lives; however that is just not the case for a huge number of women....

“I also believe that abortions are less evil than bringing more unwanted children into the world.”

This statement is often made and Hillary Clinton herself used it a number of years ago when promoting abortion. However the statistics actually show that the number of abused children has increased.”Statistics reveal a sharp rise in child abuse in countries that legalize abortion. In 1973, when abortion was legalized, child abuse cases in the United States were estimated at 167,000. By 1982, the number had risen to 929,000. In the first ten years after the legalization of abortion in America, child abuse increased over 500 percent.” Pro Life Answers to Pro Choice Questions, by Randy Alcorn

If we allow women and their doctors to kill children inside the womb, how do you tell a woman not to batter her child outside the womb? Violence is not a solution to an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy; violence breeds more violence. The statistics confirm this....

There are many more questions and answers in the article. They are a very good response to some very familiar objections.


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Canadian Update

Ezra Levant:

....It's not just that the overwhelming majority of Canadians are against this separatist coalition. Most of them are very much against it -- they're revved up about it...

Poll Analysis:

.... An exclusive Sun Media-Leger Marketing poll finds that if the Tories are toppled in a non-confidence vote, 43% would prefer to return to the polls while 40% would opt for a Liberal-NDP coalition supported by the Bloc Quebecois.

Albertans are most staunchly opposed to a coalition, with 71% favouring another election. Those in the East and Central Canada are more open to a coalition, especially in Quebec where 58% would choose that option over another federal vote....

Parliament Prorogued:

....Harper: Following my advice, the Governor-General has agreed to prorogue Parliament. Last Friday, I asked Canadians to make apparent their opinions to the Parliamentary situation. Their comments were numerous and very clear. The men and women of Canada want the government of Canada to continue to work on the agenda on which they voted - our plan to strengthen the Canadian economy.

When Parliament resumes its work on January 26, the first item on the agenda will be the presentation of the federal budget...

"The Tories Made Them Do It!"

Andrew Coyne:

...And the settled wisdom of every single pundit in the country is that it is all the Conservatives’ fault. After all, they provoked the opposition beyond endurance. They made demands of the opposition that they could not possibly accept. How could Harper have been so reckless? What a toxic gambit! What a colossal miscalculation!

Absolutely no one pins even a sliver of blame on the Liberals, the NDP or the Bloc. Of course not. Faced with the unreasonable and extreme proposal that they raise funds in the same way as the Conservatives have been doing for years — by asking people for their money, rather than taking it from them — they really had no alternative but to seize power. What on earth were they supposed to do? Revamp their moribund fund-raising organizations? Find a message and a leader capable of motivating large numbers of Canadians to click the “donate” button on their websites? Get off their collective duffs? What were the Tories thinking?....

Support Jamaican Life

Remember Fr. Richard Ho Lung in your prayers tomorrow, as he speaks in support of LIFE in Jamaica.
Fr. Ho Lung is the founder of Missionaries of the Poor, an order of brothers who work for the poor and abandoned.
In response to the Jamaican parliament's temptation to legalize abortion , the Missionaries of the Poor are opening the 'Holy Innocents Center'.

Fr. Ho Lung :

...Many of our women are being chastised as foolish for wanting to carry their children even when they do not have a thought of abortion. This is true primarily for poor ghetto women, but even the middle class are being told likewise.

At Holy Innocents we will organize a free daycare center for 200 mothers and their babies. We will offer them free service.

Often our mothers worry about losing their jobs if they take time off for child bearing and after care. This will relieve them. Our home will be right in the heart of another ghetto, near what is known as heroes' Circle.

We will have deliveries. Hopefully volunteer nurses, midwives and even doctors will help us.

A donor (who doesn't want to be named) purchased this building for Missionaries of the Poor's use. God bless this kind man. We hope many donors will come forward to help us repair it.

We believe this will be a center filled with life and happiness. On Sundays we will have Mass with Jamaican music, and our brothers telling of the Lord Jesus.

We don't want to just be against abortion. We want to be Pro-Life.

All the services provided by the Missionaries of the Poor are free. They support themselves with a music ministry and through the generous support of donors and volunteers. Please go to their website for information on how you can best support their good work. And Pray. A Lot.

"Canada On The Brink" cont'd

Steyn:

.....The "checks and balances" of most free societies operate on a kind of honor system. In the Westminster form of parliamentary monarchy, the important stuff isn't written down: it depends on codes and conventions agreed over the ages. All very gentlemanly - until some thug decides he doesn't care about gentlemen's agreements and drives a truck over the conventions. That's what the three-reared horse is proposing to do.

Catholic Carnival # 201

Carnival in full swing at This That and the Other!

Lots of Advent resources, book reviews, meditations and 'other'!

"Cynical? Me?"

And what do the youth of the country think of the 'coalition'?

fromDartmouth Soundspeaker:

....As a young Canadian, I am pretty much used to being completely jaded in terms of who is running the country, but, frankly, this is all getting a little ridiculous. In protest of the current state of our government, I am suggesting we replace all 308 members of the House of Commons with a "coalition" of the following people:

1. The Original Cast of Degrassi......The national anthem will be replaced with the Zit Remedy's opus "Everybody Wants Something"......

2. The Muppets from Sesame Park.......Francophones would be pleased with the French vignettes that frequently appear in dialogue with the media......

(young Canadians without sattelite t.v.?)






'CHAOS'

Relevant E-Mails

In case you are inclined to write someone a note about the recent losers coalition and their prospects for seriously damaging the Canadian economy or themselves or each other, here are some e-mail addresses of 'relevance':

Stephane Dion = dion.s@parl.gc.ca
Jack Layton = Layton.j@parl.gc.ca
Gilles Duceppe = Duceppe.g@parl.gc.ca
Communist Party of Canada = info@cpc-pcc.ca
Elizabeth May = leader@greenparty.ca

(might as well get all the losers together!)

Political Science 101 - Canada

with Prof. Mark Steyn...

....The difference between the US system and a parliamentary democracy is that, in the latter, events can turn on a dime (as Mrs Thatcher discovered in 1990). In Canada, in October, Stephen Harper's Conservative Party was returned to office - not with a majority in the House of Commons but nevertheless with an increased minority. By contrast, Canada's formerly "natural governing party", the Liberals, got their lowest percentage of the vote since 1867, shriveling away to their Toronto heartland with a few redoubts in the Maritimes and the Yukon. Stephane Dion, an unpopular eco-obsessive with an ascetic mien and poor English presiding over an impoverished party trying to sell the nation an unwanted "Green Shift", immediately announced his resignation as leader, and it seemed the Tories would have the luxury of watching the Loyal Opposition tearing itself apart all winter electing his replacement.

Now, a mere six weeks later, what David Frum calls "the Harper government"* is about to fall, and the fellow set to replace him as Prime Minister is the October flopperoo Dion, reborn as leader of a freakshow coalition of Canada's three opposition parties - the soft left, the hard left and the separatist left, all of whom have figured out that what they have in common (unbounded love of big government) is bigger than what divides them. Which is true. Quebec separatism is mostly one almighty bluff, a giant racket by which the francophone minority screws out of English Canada a hugely disproportionate share of the spoils. The Bloc Quebecois are separatists who have no interest in separating: no matter how wide you open the stable door, the flea-bitten old nag refuses to bolt. Granted all that, it's weird to see the Liberals, until recently the most electorally successful party in the western world, reduced to climbing into bed with separatists and socialists.

How this will all play out I haven't a clue. There are those who say Harper's a genius to allow himself to be temporarily dethroned in glum economic times by two unpopular Quebeckers (M Dion and the separatist Gilles Duceppe) who'll get stuck with the blame for everything that goes wrong. Maybe. But Quebeckers are to Canada what the Sunni were to Saddam's Iraq....

The Finer Points of the Betrayal

Ezra Levant fills us in...

....I was just watching Mike Duffy Live on CTV, and learned that Pauline Marois, the leader of the provincial Parti Quebecois -- the sister party to the separatist Bloc Quebecois -- announced that part of Gilles Duceppe's price for supporting the coalition is an immediate $1 billion transfer to Quebec.

No doubt that news wasn't supposed to leak out until after the dirty deal was done -- Marois needed a boost in her provincial election and so she stole Duceppe's thunder. But surely the only surprising thing about this is that the dollar amount is so low. Surely the Bloc wouldn't agree, in advance, to support two budgets they haven't even seen yet, and to support the coalition in any non-confidence vote.

But on the same show, we learned of other coming pay-offs: separatist appointments to the Senate. There are 18 vacancies in the Senate, including four in Quebec. Not only are the Bloc in for patronage pay-offs, but Elizabeth May, the Green Party leader, was on Parliament Hill today, and she wouldn't deny that she, too, was offered a Senate seat.

It's a fire sale in Ottawa! Senate seats, billions of dollars, whatever you want -- just make Stephane Dion the prime minister!

Fire sale -- or looting, I'm not sure.....

"Penance And The Gift Of Forgiveness"

(part one of Archbishop John C. Neinstedt's Advent series on the sacrament of penance)

(Catholic Spirit)

Within the first verses of St. Mark’s Gospel, Jesus appears in Galilee, proclaiming God’s Good News:

“This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and be­lieve in the Gos­pel!” (Mark 1:15).

From the very be­ginning of his public ministry, then, Jesus calls all men and women to conversion from sin. But, one might ask, what is sin? Why are we call­ed to conversion? What kind of reform is being asked of us?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates the answer:

“To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognize the profound relationship of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity’s rejection of God and opposition to him...

“Without the knowledge Revela­tion gives of God we cannot recognize sin clearly and are tempted to explain it as merely a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social struc­ture, etc. Only in the knowledge of God’s plan for man can we grasp that sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another” (CCC. 386-387).

Who has sinned? St. John gives us the answer in his first letter:

“If we say, ‘We are free of the guilt of sin,’ we deceive ourselves; the truth is not to be found in us” (1 John 1:8).

Therefore, to be truthful, we must all admit that we have sinned. Sin affects both our relationship with God and with our neighbor. But the truly good news is that Jesus came to save us from sin and that he has entrusted the power to absolve sin to his apostles. That power of forgiveness is offered to us in the sacrament of penance, otherwise known as reconciliation.

The ordinary, and therefore most appropriate, way of celebrating this sacrament calls for a verbal confession of our sins to a priest. Why? Allow me to give three reasons for this.

The first reason is that, during his earthly ministry, Jesus himself always forgave sins in a one-on-one encounter with the penitent. While other miracles in the Gospels may have involved groups of persons, the gift of forgiveness is always given to an individual, who hears Jesus speak the words, “Go, your sins have been forgiven.”

Second, as human beings, one of the most difficult things we ever have to say is, “I’m sorry.” Yet, once we have said it, we are freed to accept our guilt and then to begin the process of reconciliation. We can inevitably find all kinds of self-justifying reasons for what we have done or failed to do. Yet, once we have spoken out loud the reality of our guilt, it is often only then that we accept responsibility for what we have done, and only then can we begin to reform our ways.

Finally, the actions that we call “sins” very often betray an attitude or an inner disposition that ultimately led us to commit a particular sin.

Over the next weeks, I plan to share with you some thoughts as to how we can move forward with a total re-catechesis for the sacrament of penance Having taught a penance practicum to seminarians for 13 years, I have learned that there is an art on the part of the confessor in hearing a confession. The priest has to listen closely to what is being said “between the lines.” It is one thing to know that one has been uncharitable, hurtful or unfaithful, but that doesn’t necessarily lead one to know why he or she committed the particular act, i.e., what prompted this action in the mind or heart.

Only by getting “behind” the objective sinful act, can one begin to change one’s life with a firm purpose of amendment. The assistance of a confessor can be invaluable in this process.

Historically, the Second Vatican Coun­cil, contrary to what some may think, never envisioned the use of Form III with General Absolution as the ordinary way to experience the sacrament of pen­ance. The church has never approved its use, even though it has been widely practiced in some places.

In response to a question regarding this very point, Archbishop Harry Flynn wrote clearly in his pastoral letter of Feb. 20, 1996, that general absolution is not acceptable as a normal practice. This is also the position of the last two popes, a synod of bishops as well as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ general assembly. It is now codified into law.

But my concern here is much more a pastoral one than a legal one.

A regular use of general absolution is bound to have a negative effect on the spiritual well-being of the penitent because general absolution involves a depersonalized experience of the sacramental grace of forgiveness.

Without the one-on-one encounter and an explicit confession of guilt, penitents also risk developing a superficial understanding of their willing participation in the personal evil that is sin.

I am pleased to be receiving requests these days from pastors who are planning penance services using Forms I or II during the upcoming Advent season. I encourage all pastors in the archdiocese to do the same. To be clear: The use of general absolution is simply not allowed.

I appeal to all of our priests to be obedient to the promises they made on their ordination day and offer our Catholic people the sacrament as it is meant to be celebrated. I likewise appeal to our faithful laity not to participate in celebrations prohibited by church norms.

It is my sincere hope that the clergy, religious and laity in this local church may reflect in practice the unity that Jesus himself desired as we join in a common celebration of the sacrament of penance.

Over the next weeks, I plan to share with you some thoughts as to how we can move forward in this archdiocese with a total re-catechesis for the sacrament of penance so that it may be the powerful help in our growth toward holiness that it is meant to be.

Until then, let us pray again and again for the grace of that conversion from sin that Jesus announced so long ago: “This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel!”

God love you!

You Don't Need To Win To Be Prime Minister!

In fact you could be the biggest loser in the country and still get it handed to you by the second biggest loser and the anti-canada club!



Swiftly followed by...







The Toronto Stock Exchange doesn't think this is a good idea.... -864.41 (-9.32%)!!

RALLY FOR CANADA!

Stephen Taylor:

In response to the madness that has occurred on Parliament Hill within the last week - the Conservatives announcing their economic statement, the Opposition foaming at the mouth over it, the revelation that this was all contrived as a NDP-Bloc plan to install a Liberal government was in the works for “a long time” and so on - RallyforCanada.ca has launched.

I for one think that while the opposition has the right to play their games, this is the wrong time for Canada. We just came through an election and the Prime Minister earned a mandate to lead Canada through the economic crisis. Do we really want the Bloc Quebecois dictating the terms of the next government? Do we want the NDP at the economic helm as people stand on the verge of losing their jobs across Canada?

I put together the website to support the grassroots efforts already underway to organize rallies in cities all across this great country. People who want Parliament to stop bickering and get back to work are joining up and spreading the word. Less than 1% of Canadians are members of political parties and most people think of politics for a full 7 seconds a week. The rest of Canada worries about their kids, their paycheque and their mortgage payment.

So, go join up at RallyForCanada

Carleton U. (Home of a School of Journalism!)

David Warren on "Equality":

....Last Monday, the student council of Carleton University attracted much attention to their university and to the city of Ottawa—around Canada and the world—with their decision to cancel their annual Shinerama fundraising efforts on behalf of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Their argument was that this disease afflicts “white people and primarily men.“ They would rather choose a charity that is more “inclusive.“....

....“Good intentions” do not excuse them, as their president, Brittany Smyth, has tried to argue with several media callers. Anti-white and anti-male prejudices are not well-intentioned; she should have been corrected publicly on that. And here is how Ms. Smyth dismissed the disgraceful preamble of Mr. Northup’s motion, to CTV News: “It’s 100 per cent their opinion. Their opinion doesn’t have to be fact or anything really. It’s just how this individual felt.“

This remark reveals an extraordinary degree of incuriosity, allied perhaps with lethargy and cowardice, on the part of the student councillors. Political correctness has numbed their brains. How has it done so? By instilling indifference to truth in their souls.

Evil and stupidity reinforce one another. Even acts which appear, on their face, to be devilishly clever, turn out not to be, with a little extra cunning. There are arguable exceptions, but in the main, the reason so many criminals get caught, even by rather flat-footed policemen, is that they suffer from cruel deficiencies of intellect. They can’t keep up with the lies they are living.....