2/27/10

Day 11- 40 Days For Life



Intention:

Pray that people of faith will have their strength renewed even in the face of the violence of abortion.

Scripture:

The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent. They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait in silence for the saving help of the Lord.

--Lamentations 3:22-26

Reflection:

The Book of Lamentations, a short book of only five chapters, contains some of the most poignant expressions of human grief. These verses are used in many Churches on Good Friday, since they can be seen to express a prophecy of the suffering of the Lord and the lamentation of his followers on that dark day.

But in the midst of his grief, Jeremiah writes the verses quoted above. "The favors of the Lord are not exhausted." It is a call to hope that no matter how much violence there is, life will prevail in the end.

Why does he say, however, that God's mercies are renewed each morning?

Because early in the morning, on the first day of the week, the women came to the tomb -- and they found that the events of that morning changed everything.

Christ's victory over death came in the morning, and therefore each day we can renew our confidence that life has the final victory.

Prayer:

Lord, look kindly on your people who weep and mourn amidst the vast devastation that abortion has brought upon our land. We cannot even count the children killed, and the mothers and fathers wounded.

We cannot measure the devastation and corruption abortion has brought upon the very fabric of our society. But we declare today that your favors have not been exhausted, your mercies have not been spent. They are renewed each morning.

Give us new strength today in the resurrection of Christ your Son, that we may bear effective witness to the victory of life! In His name we pray, amen.

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life and President, National Pro-life Religious Council

40 Days For Life

Nova Scotia : Province Of The Dead

Nova Scotia has had more babies aborted than the populations of Bedford,Sackville and Truro combined...


Julie Culshaw writes:
Sixty Thousand and counting! That's the number of babies that have been aborted in the tiny province of Nova Scotia between 1970 and 2004. For some reason, this doesn't even appear on the radar of any of our political leaders and, if you tell them, they simply ignore the statement. Yet, they are concerned with creating jobs, providing health care, looking after seniors' care, programs funded by grants, on and on, without ever once considering that all of these things require tax-payers to fund them.

With fewer and fewer people actually being born, where do they think these taxes are going to come from? I heard an alderman last week saying that we had to do something in this province to attract Maritimers to return here, to reverse the flow of workers to central and western Canada searching for work. Never is there a mention of the declining birth rate and one simple thing that could be done to help reverse that: strongly advise women against abortion.

Hello? anyone paying attention to the number of births in the province? Stats Canada shows that in 2007, there were 8868 babies born in Nova Scotia with approximately 1700 abortions for the same year. Nova Scotia is the province with the second highest percentage of elderly people, as those who should have babies aren't, and the percentage of the population that can actually have babies is decreasing...

Read more...

Euthanasia As 'Health Care'? UK PM Says 'No'; Quebec Doctors Say 'Yes'

UPDATE!!
Apparently PM Brown was less than sincere ...
Gerald Warner, a staunchly pro-life columnist for the Telegraph, is not among those who are convinced by Brown’s rhetoric in praise of palliative care and a “good death.” Warner called the guidelines “weasel-worded” and said that the facts contradict Starmer and Brown’s warm assurances.

They do indeed override Parliament and change the law, Warner said, “by radically hobbling its implementation.” Warner cited suicide-campaigner Debbie Purdie’s positive response as evidence.

“Changing the application of assisted suicide law to focus on the supposed ‘motivation’ of the perpetrator dilutes its efficacy in a way that would not be countenanced in respect of other statutory enactments.”

“Britain,” Warner wrote, “is governed by statute, not by guidelines. The will of Parliament, reaffirmed very recently, is to maintain the status quo. So, who empowered Mr. Starmer to subvert it on his own initiative? The answer is not far to seek: Gordon Brown.”

Brown’s column, he said, is written in “typical snake-oil salesman fashion.” Its purpose, he said, was to do nothing more than promote his putative pro-life credentials on the eve of a general election.

“The real purpose was to nod through a change in the law without consulting Parliament, while repudiating all responsibility,” Warner concluded.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said on Thursday, “It is not credible for Keir Starmer to claim that he has not relaxed prosecuting policy on assisted suicide. The new policy effectively decriminalises assisted suicide in a wide range of circumstances.”


see also:
English Catholic Bishops Support What Pro-Life Groups Oppose

Anglican Bishop Supports Life


(ORIGINAL POST)
A very thoughtful and timely article in the Telegraph by PM Gordon Brown :

...The law – together with the values and standards of our caring professions – supports good care, including palliative care for the most difficult of conditions; and also protects the most vulnerable in our society. For let us be clear: death as an option and an entitlement, via whatever bureaucratic processes a change in the law might devise, would fundamentally change the way we think about mortality.

The risk of pressures – however subtle – on the frail and the vulnerable, who may feel their existences burdensome to others, cannot ever be entirely excluded. And the inevitable erosion of trust in the caring professions – if they were in a position to end life – would be to lose something very precious. For when I think of the kind of care Sarah and I saw in our local hospice, where we worked as volunteers, I know in my heart that there is such a thing as a good death.

And I believe it is our duty as a society to provide the skilled and loving care that makes it possible; and to use the laws we have well, rather than rush to change them.


In Canada, a Quebec MP has proposed a law to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, BILL C-384.

Meanwhile in 'la belle provence' DOCTORS OF QUEBEC feel that to KILL patients is appropriate care:

In fact, the difficulty that we are all coming up against is not related to possible disagreements. On the contrary, it arises mainly from the fact that legislation (which has nothing to do with treatment) can suddenly encroach on the decision making process. In effect, there are certain exceptional situations — uncontrollable pain or interminable suffering, for example — in which euthanasia could be considered to be a final step required to assure the provision of quality care. Subsequent to a careful and thorough decision making process involving all parties concerned, some treatments could be deemed appropriate even if they contravene certain legal stipulations. This could explain the fact that certain practices transpire despite being highly controversial.


Am I wrong? Are the 'doctors' saying that the law is an impediment to them using death as 'health care'? Eventhough they admit that they are already doing so?

(Get a grip on reality, boys. The law is in place to PREVENT you from making those decisions, which you admit you are currently doing. That's the purpose of the law. To prevent you from using death INSTEAD of care. Get it? )

When people are polled about whether or not they approve of assisted suicide and euthanasia, are they picturing their own miserable deaths and fearing to suffer? Are gov'ts around the world using this fear to their own economic advantage ? Is this being discussed at all because people have lost the ability to discern the value of even their own lives? Does the entire world have a death wish?

Are we really that hopeless and miserable?

“The true answer cannot be putting someone to death, however 'kindly,' but to bear witness to the love that helps us to face pain and agony in a human way. We are certain: No tear, whether it be of those who suffer or those who stand by them, goes unnoticed before God.” (Pope Benedict XVI)


related articles

Eauthanasia Prevention Coalition

"Barely Human"

"Medical Science Under DIctatorship"

"Cutting Costs, Costing Lives"

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2/26/10

Reality Wins Over Politics...

NDP MP decides to support 'Youth For Christ' activity centre in Winnipeg :

A New Democrat MP now says he'll help the Christian organization he excoriated last week as a "fundamentalist group" to build an $11.7-million youth centre in downtown Winnipeg.

Winnipeg's city council voted 10-4 on Wednesday to contribute $4.2-million toward the non-profit organization Youth For Christ's $11.7-million plan to build a Youth Centre of Excellence.

The council decision arrived after 5½ hours of debate and often emotional presentations from dozens of opponents and proponents of the plan.

NDP MP Pat Martin had condemned public funding for the plan, equating the idea of giving government money to the group as "taxpayer-funded proselytization" and accusing Youth For Christ of targeting vulnerable kids with its religious agenda.

But in the wake of council's decision -- which allows the centre to access $3.2-million in federal infrastructure-stimulus funds-- Mr. Martin said he harbours no ill will toward Youth For Christ and wants to help it build a facility that will include a gym, skate park, fitness centre, classroom, climbing wall, dance studio and other amenities.

"Now that it's over, I'm going to do all I can to ensure it's a success," Mr. Martin said. "Anything happening in the inner city is better than nothing."


Read more: The National Post

"Escape From Theological Minimalism"

An interesting article by Dr. Jeff Mirus :

In the United States and elsewhere in the Western world, we have been immensely weakened in our understanding of both the Church and our role in the Church by the problem of theological minimalism. Originally thought to be the stock-in-trade of Modernists, this intellectual disease is now affecting most of us. The result is a loss of ecclesial communion, a weakening of apostolic mission, and a growing unconsciousness of the links between the Church here on earth and the Church in her heavenly reality. Much of this arises from the loss of “corporate thinking” in Western civilization, but it has been greatly exacerbated by the failure of large portions of the Western episcopacy in the twentieth century, and by all the succeeding chaos...

Read more..

Opposing the Homosexual Agenda: Religious Bigotry or Science and Justice? - Catholic Online

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

To claim that by opposing the gay agenda the Church is acting in an unloving manner is patently untrue.



BETHPAGE, TN (Catholic Online) - It is considered negligent to allow or actively support action, drug abuse for example, that you know is both dangerous and destructive. Imagine being accused of bigotry after forbidding such action in one of your children. Yet Church opposition of the homosexual agenda draws angry criticism from those who claim her stance on homosexuality is based solely on religious bigotry against homosexuals.

The claim of bigotry is exacerbated by the fact that the American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Psychoanalytic Association have endorsed gay marriage on the basis that since marriage is best (everyone agrees), then gay marriage is better than gay co-habitation.

These endorsements somehow "prove" it is in the best interests of homosexuals, society, and for children, for there to exist something called gay "marriage" according to its supporters. They maintain there is no ethical reason to "discriminate" against homosexuals and children of "same sex families" by not "allowing" same sex partners to marry. They further argue that to not allow such a legal status is to somehow force a religious position on people who do not share it.

The conflicting messages confuse people to the point that they believe the Church, by opposing the gay agenda, is acting in the ugliest, most unloving light toward gays, but that is patently untrue. She is defending their safety, and that of everyone else, with great love and loyalty. Please consider science regarding homosexuality.

Science and Justice or Religious Bigotry and Prejudice?

A "Review of Research on Homosexual Parenting, Adoption, and Foster Parenting" was done by George A. Rekers, Ph.D., Professor of Neuropsychiatry & Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, South Carolina. It is a well-known review, and in it, Rekers cites numerous national and international studies that revealed:

• Households with a homosexually-behaving adult uniquely endanger children.
• Households with a homosexually-behaving adult expose children to significantly higher rates of psychological disorder, (particularly depression), suicide, and substance abuse in homosexually-behaving adults, which results in higher rates of child depression, child maltreatment and neglect.
• Households with a resident homosexually-behaving adult are substantially less capable of providing the best psychologically stable and secure home.
• Households with a homosexually-behaving male contribute to a potentially higher risk of removal due to the sexual abuse.
• A husband/wife relationship is significantly healthier and substantially more stable socially and psychologically.
• The best child adjustment results from living with a married man and woman compared to other family structures.
• Compared to a family without a homosexually behaving adult, empirical evidence and 30 years of Rekers´s own clinical experience with children strongly support the conclusion that a home with a homosexual-behaving individual subjects a child to a set of disadvantages, stresses, and other harms that are seriously detrimental to a child´s psychological and social development.

This review is an extensive survey of many, many studies and their research; the science behind it was used at state levels to guide public policy regarding child custody decisions, adoption, and foster parenting, as well as to defend and uphold laws to this effect in other states and on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America. These laws were upheld by the US Supreme Court.

It lays out the empirical evidence regarding the higher frequency of domestic violence, pedophilia, and sexual disease transmission by homosexual adults to children compared to married couples with children, among other scientific findings.

The "Normal," "Healthy," and "Harmless" Myths

Sexual and gender identity are fragile developmental processes that can be disrupted and harmfully influenced by environmental factors during childhood and adolescence. Gay activism insists that homosexuality is a healthy, inborn, alternative "norm," and seeks to promote it in the social order, but that position is against science and is particularly harmful toward children.

Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is a formal psychiatric disorder recognized as needing psychological treatment. As such, it should not be normalized, especially to children who are particularly damaged by it (Zucker & Bradley, 1995). Homosexual activists, however, encourage transgender and other gender-disordered behavior by modeling and asserting every sort of such behavior in the public domain.

Resolving gender identity issues requires early intervention and treatment, not school assemblies, marriage laws, or TV shows that teach the normalcy of a gender-confused lifestyle. No one should be encouraged by Mother Church to question, doubt, or otherwise reject their innate gender identity when to do so is known to be detrimental to their health.

In addition, the research is also clear that those involved in a gay lifestyle are much more likely to suffer from negative health effects ranging from psychiatric disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide attempts, domestic violence and sexual assault, and increased risk for chronic diseases, AIDS, and shortened lifespan. The Church, bearing the supreme obligation to oppose any message damaging to her faithful, especially her youngest and most vulnerable, must also oppose the "normal," ´healthy," and "harmless" messages.

The Myth of Inevitability

Homosexuality is not inevitable, immutable, irresistible, or untreatable. Homosexual activism seeks to portray homosexuality as having these properties by socially framing it as genetically transmitted, but fortunately for the safety and welfare of those ensnared, it is not genetic, and prevention is effective. Change is possible.

Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, the Columbia University psychiatric professor and researcher who led the 1973 APA decision to declassify homosexuality itself as a mental-health disorder, released findings in 2001 that disproved his earlier position of immutability and demonstrated, instead, that change is possible. He said specifically, that data from his study "show some people can change from gay to straight, and we ought to acknowledge that" ("Some Gays Can Go Straight, Study Suggests," Malcolm Ritter, Associated Press, 9 May 2001).

Dr. Spitzer´s and others´ findings (some are Barlow, Abel & Blanchard, 1977; Pattison & Pattison, 1980) merely support what loving, supportive homosexual rehabilitation programs like Courage, NARTH, and Exodus International know to be true from experience: that homosexuals can escape successfully. They can "move beyond the confines of the homosexual identity to a more complete one in Christ."

The "Gay Gene" Myth

In addition, no respected geneticist has found, or claimed to have found, a so-called "gay gene" or any other indicator of genetic transmission. Despite all media headlines that seem to report the contrary, consideration of their full story always reveals that such an indicator is yet non-existent, and the research remains inconclusive.

That is not to say that there may not be some biological predisposition or an inherited temperament still to be uncovered that increases one´s vulnerability to environmental influences. That, in fact, seems probable. But currently it is known that homosexual behavior is clearly not genetic, and homosexuals are not "born that way."

In fact, an accumulation of extensive research on millions of research subjects finds that environment, not genetics, is the main factor in the development of non-heterosexual behavior. Recent extensive studies compared rates of homosexual behavior in sets of identical twins. If homosexual behavior were genetic, both twins in any given set would be homosexual at a rate of 100%.

But this is not what the research revealed. Rather, when one identical twin was homosexual the twin was only homosexual at a rate of 10% - 11%. Environment is obviously the major factor, as the science attests (Frisch & Hviid, 2006; Langstrom, Rahman, Carlstrom, & Lichtenstein, 2008; Lauman, Gagnon, & Michael, 1994; Santilla, Sandnabba, Harlaar, Varjonen, Alanko, von der Pahlen, 2008).

Dr. Rekers´ ongoing findings in researching the causes and prevention of Gender Identity Disorder led him to the conclusion that "it would now appear logical that homosexuality per se be re-examined as a mental disorder," but that "[i]t remains to be seen if the mental health professions will be able to readdress the issue of homosexuality from a logical and scientific perspective in the near future. The use (or abuse) of research may continue to be influenced by ideological factors in American culture."

Ferociously Protecting Her Faithful

Homosexual marriage and other gay activism in society is harmful, in part, because it affects sexual preference and gender identity formation of some children, exposing them to the false ideology that all sexual and gender variations are equally healthy and harmless.It also negatively impacts all of humanity through our largest social systems (legal and health care, for example), and individuals who seek or practice it. This means that homosexuality cannot be morally neutral.

Therefore the Church´s commitment to morality, justice, and the dignity of man demands that she oppose it, just as she actively opposes such within her own ranks if and when it appears, as in the homosexual scandal that came to light in recent past. The Church, as the mystical Body of Christ, is committed to the health and well-being of her faithful and that of the whole world.

We know from all the research that traditional heterosexual marriage strengthens the mental and physical health and the longevity of couples, and provides greater legal and financial security for children, parents, and seniors. But the research also proves homosexual "marriage" is not the same entity as heterosexual marriage, simply because gay and straight lifestyles are not equally beneficial. And the activists know this, while claiming all the while that they are.

Because the science has always been conclusively against homosexuality as healthy, natural, biologically caused, or unchangeable, researchers are now doing away entirely with research models that use heterosexuality as the basis for what is healthy, natural, biological (and therefore immutable) and moral. They have resorted to reconstructing the entire basis of reality in order to support positive findings for homosexuality.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, "[t]he new model rejects using a heterosexual parent household as the ´gold standard´ for what is normal and views differences as simply differences and not evidence of superior or pathological development. The new model asserts that family forms are socially constructed and rejects heterosexism" (Goldberg, 2008).

To make the issue and argument solely about what the Bible or Catechism says is to deliberately misconstrue the real issue: homosexuality is detrimental to the health and welfare of individuals, to society, and especially to children. Honest science and Church teachings will always be mutually supportive, because both are God´s and are, therefore, based on truth.

The Church has the absolute duty to oppose in Charity any legislation or message that seeks to harm her faithful or the dignity of humanity in general. Homosexuality, like all disordered passions left unchecked, is dangerous and destructive.

Mother Church, out of her supreme respect for the dignity of the human person, is ethically obligated to discriminate between "gay" and "straight" laws and messages, not out of an imposition of her own "ideology" or "religious bigotry," but because to do otherwise would be negligent. It is simply the right thing to do.

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Sonja Corbitt is a Catholic Scripture teacher, study author and speaker. She is a contributing writer for Catholic Online. Visit her at www.pursuingthesummit.com and www.pursuingthesummit.blogspot.com.



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Day 10 - 40 Days For Life


Intention:

May those who hold life as trivial realize that we live because God wills it so.

Scripture:

Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

-- Job 12:9-10

Reflection:

Job was a man acquainted with grief, trials and tribulation. He had everything taken from him, including his family. He endured sickness, ridicule and judgment from his friends. Everyone gave him advice about his situation, questioning his spirituality and his God. Job's circumstances were bad but he never loses faith. Why? Because "the hand of the Lord has made all life." Created by God, he knows his life has meaning and purpose, regardless of the circumstances.

In our present culture, we've lost that basic truth; every life is made and allowed to live by God's sovereign authority. As people who pride ourselves on our independence, we have a hard time acknowledging our dependence on God. From our creation, when we were knit together in our mother's womb to our last breath, God's word is clear that "in His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."

It's time for us as individuals, and as a society, to recognize that we exist by God's grace and turn back to Him, honoring His word and His teachings. Why? Because our world is full of Jobs, people who are dealing with trials and tribulations and hurting desperately. Job's response should be ours as well. Regardless of what we face (even an unplanned pregnancy) God in His wisdom and mercy will redeem it. How do I know? Job's friends who doubted God's sovereignty cry out to God asking for help, God instructs Job to pray for his friends and after he does, God restores all that Job had lost. In other words, because Job never lost faith and knew and trusted His Creator, the Lord blessed Job.

Prayer:

Thank you Father God for being the Creator of my life and every life. Please give me, and the society in which I live, an appreciation for your gift of life. Please help us set aside our pride and acknowledge that we need you. Show me how I can honor you today in response to all the blessings you bestow so freely. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Georgette Forney
President, Anglicans for Life

40 Days For Life

2/25/10

Day 9 - 40 Days For Life




Intention:

Pray that the post-abortive woman would be repentant, accept forgiveness, be healed and restored, and bring glory to God with her new life.

Scripture:

I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

-- Psalm 32:5

Reflection:

Because abortion is legal in America, many have justified their choice. "If it's legal, it can't be wrong, right?" We now have an entire generation of men and women who have never known abortion to be illegal; a generation of people who have never been broken over their sin of abortion.

As a result, the consequences of unconfessed sin weigh on their souls, yet they have never connected the dots as to why their hearts are heavy. No wonder we have millions of women who are struggling with depression, addictions, eating disorders and more.

Post abortion syndrome is very real but recovery begins when the individual agrees with God as David confessed in Psalm 51:3-4, 14, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight - that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when you Judge. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation."

Brokenness is the key to accessing God's glorious mercy and healing. Christ came to heal the broken hearted and He is waiting with open arms to take the post-abortive woman on a glorious journey of healing and restoration if she will only run to Him.

God will not waste any sin we lay at His feet. Imagine millions of healed and restored post-abortive women like myself singing aloud of His righteousness and giving testimony of His love and forgiveness. What a day of rejoicing that will be!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you are our Healer. You have forgiven all my iniquities and removed my transgressions from me as far as the east is from the west. Guilt no longer has dominion in my life. Lord, we pray that post-abortive women across this nation will run to You to receive the gift of redemption and healing that comes from You only. In the name of our Savior we pray, amen.

Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" talk show

40 Days For Life

2/24/10

Gold and Silver in Women's Bobsled

Who Are the Liberals In Bed With?

Since Ignatieff so generously opened the discussion, let's see what he's supporting... this :

New undercover video footage shows the tenth Planned Parenthood abortion center across the nation engaged in covering up a potential case of sexual abuse of a minor. The video shows staff at a Wisconsin facility counseling a purportedly 14-year-old girl to not divulge how a 31-year-old man impregnated her.

The video also shows Planned Parenthood staff coaching the girl on how to obtain an abortion without her parent's consent -- in violation of Wisconsin state law....



and this :

...State authorities last night suspended the medical license of a West Philadelphia doctor whose practice was raided last week by federal drug agents.

The suspension came after a hours-long search of Kermit B. Gosnell's practice, Women's Medical Society, at 3801 Lancaster Ave. in Powelton Village.

The suspension order says the conditions of the clinic were "deplorable and unsanitary."

It states: "There was blood on the floor, and parts of aborted fetuses were displayed in jars."...



and this.



Very Progressive folks.

Day 8 - 40 Days For Life


Intention:

We pray for a renewal of our zeal to offer generous help to the unborn and their families.

Scripture:

If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me, What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

-- Job 31:13-15

Reflection:

The ground is level as we stand before God.

Job lived with an awe provoking sense of God's expectation of him, particularly regarding his obligation to care for the weak and needy. He knew that in God's economy everyone stands on level ground when it comes to our status as God's creatures. Because of that central truth, we must take care of each other.

Job also knew that he didn't deserve any of the good things God gave to him. Instead, those blessings came to Job from God's benevolent heart. As an extension of that knowledge, Job instinctively linked his obligation to be generous to others to God's kindness toward him.

As in Jesus' parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35), Job knew that it is an egregious sin to deny to others what we enjoy ourselves. He actually calls down on his own head severe condemnation and even punishment should he fail to share with others out of his own abundance (see verses 16-23).

Proverbs 3:27 reads, "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so." Some things are so obvious that we don't even need to pray except to ask of God forgiveness and the power to do what so obviously needs doing.

Prayer:

God, forgive us when we try to explain away the obligation we have to help others who need help. Enable us to not devalue them because they are in the circumstance that they are in, but to see them for what they are, those, who like us, were formed by your hand in their mother's womb. Amen.

Rev. Rob Schenck
President, Faith and Action, and National Clergy Council

40 Days For Life

Euthanasia Advocates Mentally Ill?

Michael Cook at LifeIssues.Net :

...after tracking the increasingly outrageous suggestions from advocates for assisted suicide and euthanasia, I feel that jail is not the place for people like Nitschke. They belong in a straitjacket. It is becoming increasingly clear that euthanasia advocacy is an illness characterised by an unwillingness to take responsibility for one's actions, an inability to empathise with normal people, and a morbid desire to help others die. Like mad cow disease, it lies dormant for years. Its victims look normal, but eventually the spongy degeneration of the brain becomes evident....


Self-help, anyone?

Lord Monckton With The' Money' Quote

Lord Monckton, during an interview with Tom Minchin, explains his motivation and methodology whilst uncovering the 'global warming' fraud. He also explains the IPCC's motivation to pull this 'global scam'.

"Bureaucrats and politicians find the notion of saving us from ourselves at our expense mesmerically attractive".


(h/t Dr. Roy)

2/23/10

Who Da Boss?


Dennis Prager on who has authority over the unwashed and their children :

One of the major differences between the Right and the Left concerns the question of authority: To whom do we owe obedience and who is the ultimate moral authority?

For the Right, the primary moral authority is God (or, for secular conservatives, Judaeo-Christian values), followed by parents. Of course, government must also play a role, but it is ultimately accountable to God, and it should do nothing to undermine parental authority.

For the Left, the state and its government are the supreme authorities, while parental and divine authority are seen as impediments to state authority.


Read more...

Lemming Press : Star Phoenix, Saskatoon


The Lemming Press strikes again. The Saskatoon Star Phoenix prints an editorial void of fact (making it fiction) and gets set straight by my Dad....


To the Editor,
'The Star Phoenix'

Regarding: The Star Phoenix - February 22, 2010

You really should become more familiar with International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) before demanding more government support for its anti-life advocacy and 'ethnic cleansing' abortion policies. Are you aware, for example, that reducing births of certain ethnic groups and religions is central to the 'raison d'etre' of IPPF? Do Star Phoenix editors share such an abhorrent objective? Beware of IPPF lies covering up their bad policies and practices.

Knowing the answers to three questions may help The Star Phoenix editorials be balanced, truthful and fair. How did IPPF come into being? How is IPPF supported? What are IPPF's objectives?

Margaret Sanger, who founded IPPF, was a racially prejudiced socialite. She was instrumental in establishing IPPF as a non-government bureaucracy, with the primary objective of reducing births of certain undesirables, ie. blacks, latinos, immigrants, Catholics and the poor. She railed against these groups, calling them, "irresponsible breeders". IPPF continues to act in many ways against these same groups.

Planned Parenthood is expert at writing grants and lobbying governments for support, obtaining the majority of its funds this way. The public, however, does not support IPPF to any significant degree. Planned Parenthood operates the largest chain of 'for profit' abortuaries in USA, charging $700 to $1800 for an abortion. The larger the child, the more they charge to kill her. They rarely provide support for post-abortive problems, medical or psychological, sending victims off to local public health facilities.

To believe the lie that abortion is less harmful than birthing for women, one must accept Planned Parenthood's version of truth. The Guttmacher Institute claims to do independent research on life issues, but is actually an IPPF affiliate, designed to deceive legislators, judges and the public with their version of IPPF 'truth'. If you believe your role as editor is to perpetuate IPPF lies in support of the Canadian status quo (no protection whatsoever for the lives of unborn children), then, by all means, accept Guttmacher statistics, listen to Planned Parenthood and put aside contemporary medical and psychological research from impartial studies.

In fact, every honestly run study on the effect of abortion on women describes multiple increases in physical and mental risks vs non-abortive women. Risks increase as numbers of abortions per woman increases. The younger abortions begin, the worse are the effects on her future health. Set an objective reporter to do the research.

Where is concern for women, when IPPF fails to report abortions sought by under-aged girls being abused by older men or a relative, or young girls brought in by a pimp? IPPF simply kills the child for cash, keeping parents of under-aged girls and police in the dark. IPPF routinely sends women they damage to hospital emergency for repairs. Increasingly, however, Planned Parenthood's illegal and unethical operating policies are being brought into the light by a new generation of courageous young women. They tape interviews at IPPF and report 'sting' results to authorities, inspiring investigations and charges, ranging from fraud and assault to criminal negligence causing death. Many cases of abuse of women and girls by abortion providers are before the courts but are rarely reported by media. Maybe there's an editorial responsibility, especially for a newspaper purporting to support women, to report on cases of abuse of women by abortion providers?

Lastly, rather than abandoning reason by conceding that "personal choice" supersedes "human life" as highest and best good, you might consider providing a balanced life issues education for your subscribers. You may easily obtain valid life issues information by reporting objectively on interviews with local "Culture of Life" leaders. Subscribe personally to the Lifesite News online daily report. Lifesite News is a Canadian online news service, the world's foremost news source for life issues. As editor, you may find it profitable to offer a column to Maurice Vellacott, MP, thereby providing an Ottawa insider balance to any further "Culture of Death" infomercials.

Kindest regards,

Ed Mullen
Halifax, NS
Catholic, proud parent of ten.


(links added by me)

other relevant posts:
"REAL MAN:Canadian MP Brad Trost"
"REAL DOCTOR" (Dr. Robert Walley of Cdn NGO, Matercare )
"Ignatieff FAIL"

Day 7 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:
Pray that the abortionists and all workers in abortion facilities would be troubled in their souls regarding their work and would seek truth.

Scripture:
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
-- Ephesians 4:31-32

2/22/10

Teaching The Faith

Here is a fun idea for the kids, from Catholic Culture, which also has many resources for the family church and spiritual growth.

Apostle Cookies

Make cookies honoring an individual apostles or all at one time.

Any good gingerbread cookie dough will do, and any good gingerbread-boy cookie cutter will make a gingerbread Apostle (or you may cut them freehand with a knife). The twist is in the decoration. We decorated each one with his own symbols, tied a ribbon through a hole pierced (before baking) in the top of each cookie, served them on a tray, covered, with only the ribbons showing; you got your dessert by choosing a ribbon, finding the cookie, and identifying it. This is an excellent way to learn all the Apostles.

The frosting is a confectioner's sugar recipe tinted with vegetable colors. The symbols may be made with stiff frosting squirted through a squeegee, if you have one, or may be cut from foil, paper, or made of any materials that suggest themselves. Here are suggestions for cookie decorating.

St. Peter (June 29)
Red frosting because he was a martyr. Symbols: two keys, a cock crowing, an upside-down cross, a fish, a sword. The keys remind us that Jesus gave him the Keys of the Kingdom; the cock recalls his denial of Our Lord; the cross tells that he is supposed to have been martyred head down; the fish — he was a fisher of men; the sword tells of his temper on the night he cut off Malchus' ear. Our Peter cut a silver-foil fish for this cookie and stuck it in the frosting. You could do the keys and sword of foil also, with the cross of melted chocolate. The cock can be drawn or cut from a picture, cut out and stuck on. St. Peter is the patron of locksmiths and cobblers.Read more...

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...” (1 Peter 1:3a).
Pope Benedict XVI,2006
...Which was, then, the "cathedra" of St. Peter? He, chosen by Christ as "rock" on which to build the Church (cf. Matthew 16:18), began his ministry in Jerusalem, after the ascension of the Lord and Pentecost. The first "seat" of the Church was the Cenacle, and in all probability in that room, where Mary, the Mother of Jesus, also prayed with the disciples, a special place was reserved for Simon Peter.

Subsequently, the see of Peter was Antioch, a city situated on the Oronte River in Syria, today Turkey, which at the time was the third metropolis of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria in Egypt. Of that city, evangelized by Barnabas and Paul, where "for the first time the disciples were called Christians" (Acts 11:26), Peter was the first Bishop.

In fact, the Roman Martyrology, before the reform of the calendar, established also a specific celebration of the Chair of Peter at Antioch. From there, Providence led Peter to Rome, where he concluded with martyrdom his course of service to the Gospel. For this reason, the See of Rome, which had received the greatest honor, received also the task entrusted by Christ to Peter of being at the service of all the local Churches for the building and unity of the whole People of God.

In this way the See of Rome came to be known as that of the Successor of Peter, and the "cathedra" of its Bishop represented that of the apostle charged by Christ to feed all his flock. It is attested by the most ancient Fathers of the Church, as for example St. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, who in his treatise "Against Heresies" describes the Church of Rome as "greatest and most ancient, known by all; … founded and constituted at Rome by the two glorious Apostles Peter and Paul"; and he adds: "With this Church, because of her outstanding superiority, the universal Church must be in agreement, that is, the faithful everywhere" (III, 3, 2-3).
Read more...

also at American Catholic

Day 6 - 40 Days For Life

amywalsh

Intention:

That those tempted to abort may understand that their child is already present, and already a real person.

Scripture:

And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

-- Luke 1:41-44

Reflection:

Jesus not only loves unborn children -- He was one himself!

Think about this for a moment.

We often hear people speak of a pregnant mother by saying, "She's expecting a child." Now if one is expecting a package, the package is not yet there. As reflected in our verse for today, however, this is not the case with the mother. Her gift is already there. The pregnant woman, a mother already, does not have a child "on the way," but has a child, already present and in full possession of his or her human rights, starting with the right to life.

Prayer:

Jesus, open my eyes to your presence in the life of every child. Open my heart to joy in the birth of every child, a birth that reflects the joy of your own birth in Bethlehem. As you shared life in the womb of Mary, so now send your protection upon every child still in the womb, and grant to their mothers the strength and joy that comes from welcoming the gift of life. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life

40 Days For Life

2/21/10

Why The World Depends On America To Uphold Civil Liberties...

Internat'l Civil Liberties Alliance :
Today, members of the English Defence League were arrested and denied their civil liberties when attempting to join the Scottish Defence League for a peaceful protest in Edinburgh. The EDL Leadership Team were detained without cause and arrested for “incitement to cause a breach of the peace”. Supporters who arrived at Waverley train station were forced back onto trains heading away from Edinburgh by the Police. Those travelling by road were stopped; some had their vehicles damaged by aggressive Police officers. In the City itself, the Police threatened anyone who attempted to protest with immediate arrest. Meanwhile, far-left so-called ‘anti-fascism’ protesters were allowed to wander the streets without any Police opposition. These same protesters made numerous attempts to attack EDL and SDL supporters, while nearby Police officers turned a blind eye. It is clear that today’s Police actions were politically motivated and that the Police Force as a whole can no longer be considered to be politically neutral. They have chosen their side. No further confirmation is needed other than the statement of the Scottish ‘Justice’ Minister, Kenny MacAskill (SNP), when he said that the “fact that the SDL didn’t make it out of Waverley Station is testament to good policing”...
Read more...

BIG BLUE WAVE: The Pro-Abortion Scandal in the Canadian Catholic Church Continues

Through some investigation, Suzanne proves the connection between the 'feminist ministries' in Quebec dioceses and support for scandalous investment by Development and Peace. As she says, 'the foxes are in the hen house'!


The head of the Diocese, whose Women's ministry works with a hard-core pro-abort group, Msgr Martin Veillette, is President of the Quebec Assembly of Catholic Bishops.

(And the Quebec Assembly of Bishops has its own network of women involved in "la condition feminine. How entrenched is pro-abortionism in the Quebec Church?)

Now if he's letting a pro-abort work under him, do you suppose he is going to be thorough in making sure that no money serves the interests of any pro-abort group?

I have reason to believe this is not the case.

How are we supposed to have an authentically pro-life agenda in this Church when the foxes are in the hen house?

Is it any wonder that Development and Peace, a group rooted in Quebec, has trouble understanding what the fuss is all about?


And of course, the Americans have their own problems with the CCHD...

Please , someone, rout them once and for all! (Anyone in Rome listening?)


For a perspective truly 'pro' women, listen to Andrea Mrozek's talk to the Ottawa Students For Life here.

Our priests and bishops need to start meeting REAL women, instead of the re-cycled plastic replicas from the 70's.

Day 5 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

May God's justice sober our society, and may mercy triumph over judgment.

Scripture:

Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.

- Genesis 9:5-6

Reflection:

The value of every human being can hardly be seen more clearly than with this verse. God, the King of the universe, has created all human beings in his image, and declares forthrightly that shedding the blood of any individual will require the blood of the one who shed it. God's concern for human beings is not limited to any particular group. Indeed, his concern is universal, and includes male and female, young and old, born and unborn, disabled and able-bodied, the citizens of every nation on earth.

Abortion, the deliberate killing of the unborn, is the shedding of innocent blood. Surely the blood of millions upon millions of innocent children cries out to God. It is true that we live in an age of grace, and yet this passage (among many other texts which express similar sentiments) should give every thinking Christian pause.

Christians of all people, entrusted with the Word of God as we are, must take a stand. We must speak out. We must do all that we can to protect the innocent, to pursue justice, and to encourage the repentance of all those who bear responsibility for this great evil. Only in this manner can we hope to forestall the judgment that must otherwise surely come.

This passage should also be seen as an encouragement to educate and disciple our children and grandchildren about what it means to be human, and the responsibility that will become theirs in this ongoing struggle.

Prayer:

O Father, forgive us for our lack of courage and our want of compassion for the unborn and for those lost and hurt by abortion. Fill us anew with your Spirit. Renew our minds, strengthen us in righteousness, help us be people of salt and light within our nation. May every human being, from conception to natural death, be treated with the respect due those made in your image. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Rev. John Brown
Director, United Friends for Life (United Church of Christ)

40 Days For Life

"The One Who Shows Mercy"



I found this wonderful piece at Stone Art where you can also find a great meditation by the artist, on the parable of 'The Good Samaritan'. As a bonus,it is also relevant to today's '40 Days For Life' posting!