Thursday, April 15, 2010
PRO-LIFE AMENDMENTS NEEDED FOR STATE BUDGET!
TAKE ACTION to ban state funding of abortion, Planned Parenthood, and life-ending research!: On March 14, the Virginia General Assembly approved a budget to guide state spending for the next two fiscal years. This budget fails to prevent the use of state taxpayers’ money for abortions, Planned Parenthood projects, or research that requires a newly conceived life to be destroyed. Together, the Governor and the General Assembly have a final opportunity to amend the budget on April 21. Between now and then, it is critical for us, as constituents and taxpayers, to let our state leaders know we do not want to be forced to pay for life-ending practices and providers. Virginia currently funds one abortion every two days, and your input is needed to stop this practice! To take timely action, visit the Virginia Catholic Conference website (www.vacatholic.org) and use the alert linked at the top of the page.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Babies are a Blessing!
Life is beautiful! Babies are a blessing!
Sadly, most think of babies not as a blessing but a burden. As a new parent, I can tell you that most of the comments you receive when you're having a baby reflect this overall negative view of life. People talk about losing sleep, changing diapers, financial burdens, and other challenges. Even if someone is joking, it often shows how they really view something. People ask if this baby was an "accident." The most incredible thing we can do with our lives is bring a new life into existence - a life that did not exist before, and will exist for all eternity. And all some people can come up with is, "Was this planned?" This lame response reduces the most exciting thing to a business transaction.
Having and raising children are difficult things. So is getting married. But the key is that the difficulties and sacrifices you make are worth the joy you receive. It's part of the package deal. The hardships are part of the whole picture, but they are not the whole picture in themselves. Marriage is difficult - but worth it! Having children can be tough - but great joy comes through great sacrifice. If you want to have joy, you need to make sacrifices.
Babies are not a burden but a joy!
This is the best sign you can have - a smiling baby! He's saying, "It may be cold, but I'm glad I'm here!"
Our final attempt to show that life is joyful, no matter the circumstances.
Sadly, most think of babies not as a blessing but a burden. As a new parent, I can tell you that most of the comments you receive when you're having a baby reflect this overall negative view of life. People talk about losing sleep, changing diapers, financial burdens, and other challenges. Even if someone is joking, it often shows how they really view something. People ask if this baby was an "accident." The most incredible thing we can do with our lives is bring a new life into existence - a life that did not exist before, and will exist for all eternity. And all some people can come up with is, "Was this planned?" This lame response reduces the most exciting thing to a business transaction.
Having and raising children are difficult things. So is getting married. But the key is that the difficulties and sacrifices you make are worth the joy you receive. It's part of the package deal. The hardships are part of the whole picture, but they are not the whole picture in themselves. Marriage is difficult - but worth it! Having children can be tough - but great joy comes through great sacrifice. If you want to have joy, you need to make sacrifices.
Babies are not a burden but a joy!
This is the best sign you can have - a smiling baby! He's saying, "It may be cold, but I'm glad I'm here!"
Our final attempt to show that life is joyful, no matter the circumstances.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Pornography and Abortion
Recently I went to the mall -- for the first time in a while. I was absolutely appalled at the pornography plastered on the windows of Victoria's Secret. Every 11-year-old boy in our society is learning to treat women as objects. Every 11-year-old girl is learning that if she wants to be valued, she has to take off her clothes. Advertisements constantly reduce women to objects of gratification. The message to their audience is simple: this is what a woman is for.
With such a message so shamelessly proclaimed, are we surprised that sex has become completely divorced from the life-long commitment it requires (marriage) and openness to life? We are told that sex has nothing to do with marriage or bringing new life into this world -- unless you want it to. By removing these intrinsic meanings from sex, we reduce it to mere physical recreation. If it's only physical, why treat that person with dignity? If sex doesn't require a life-long commitment, or openness to life, it is just fertile ground for use and abuse. Are we surprised that divorce, rape, abortion, and contraception parallel the extensive pornography across our country and globe?
These selfish substitutions for true love reduce something beautiful to something cheap. Love becomes lust. Lust tells us that a person is to be used like a machine and can thus be disposed of afterward. And what if a new human is created by this sexual union? Well that one must be disposed of too. Abortion follows unbridled lust -- the lust that companies like Victoria's Secret tell us is normal, the lustful gratification they insist we deserve, the lust at the eye-level of a 6-year-old at every grocery store.
In this way, men are told women are sex objects. And this is one man that is very angry about it. Women are reduced to animals and men are reduced with them. We are told, as one "expert" said on the Today Show, "Men are hard wired to have lots of sex with multiple partners." Self-control! What's that? Fortitude? Temperance? "Do whatever feels good" is society's mantra: starting with lust and leading to abortion, leaving women, men, and children broken in its wake.
Is there an alternative to this lust-laden way of life where self-satisfaction only leads to destruction and misery? Yes!
A chaste woman who values modesty -- now there's something attractive. Anyone can take her clothes off, and reduce herself to an object. But a woman who respects her body, that's hot. A courageous man with fortitude who doesn't want to be sold sex -- there's the moral fiber that will bring an end to abortion.
That man and that woman are the kind who will seek to do the right thing, even when its difficult. Abortion and its precursor, lust, are about convenience. Child-rearing and its precursor, virtue, are about sacrifice. And that's true love.
With such a message so shamelessly proclaimed, are we surprised that sex has become completely divorced from the life-long commitment it requires (marriage) and openness to life? We are told that sex has nothing to do with marriage or bringing new life into this world -- unless you want it to. By removing these intrinsic meanings from sex, we reduce it to mere physical recreation. If it's only physical, why treat that person with dignity? If sex doesn't require a life-long commitment, or openness to life, it is just fertile ground for use and abuse. Are we surprised that divorce, rape, abortion, and contraception parallel the extensive pornography across our country and globe?
These selfish substitutions for true love reduce something beautiful to something cheap. Love becomes lust. Lust tells us that a person is to be used like a machine and can thus be disposed of afterward. And what if a new human is created by this sexual union? Well that one must be disposed of too. Abortion follows unbridled lust -- the lust that companies like Victoria's Secret tell us is normal, the lustful gratification they insist we deserve, the lust at the eye-level of a 6-year-old at every grocery store.
In this way, men are told women are sex objects. And this is one man that is very angry about it. Women are reduced to animals and men are reduced with them. We are told, as one "expert" said on the Today Show, "Men are hard wired to have lots of sex with multiple partners." Self-control! What's that? Fortitude? Temperance? "Do whatever feels good" is society's mantra: starting with lust and leading to abortion, leaving women, men, and children broken in its wake.
Is there an alternative to this lust-laden way of life where self-satisfaction only leads to destruction and misery? Yes!
A chaste woman who values modesty -- now there's something attractive. Anyone can take her clothes off, and reduce herself to an object. But a woman who respects her body, that's hot. A courageous man with fortitude who doesn't want to be sold sex -- there's the moral fiber that will bring an end to abortion.
That man and that woman are the kind who will seek to do the right thing, even when its difficult. Abortion and its precursor, lust, are about convenience. Child-rearing and its precursor, virtue, are about sacrifice. And that's true love.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
"Have you read your sign?"
"Have you read your sign?"
It was an extraordinary sort of question, which perhaps excuses our slowness to respond. Finally someone replied: "I beg your pardon?"
The woman repeated her question and, when we assured her that we had certainly read our own sign (which begs readers not to believe the lies, and declares forthrightly that abortion kills babies), she continued: "Of course abortion kills babies. That's why people have abortions. Everyone knows that. Do you think people are stupid?"
The conversation did not become less bizarre as the minutes passed. When asked whether she was comfortable with the brutal dismemberment of babies, the woman discarded the term which she herself had used. They were no longer "babies" -- they were "fetuses". A few minutes later, they were "babies" again, and in a flash they were reduced to "parasites". She denounced unwanted infants in the womb as "inconvenient", then proudly noted that she had four children. She objected to our protesting of Planned Parenthood because of "all the good things they do" (which, from what she said, consists of providing contraceptives and having vaguely positive notions as to women). She almost angrily dismissed points made by Chris Gilbert saying: "You don't have uterus, so you can't have an opinion." She laughed when we likened accepting abortion to tacit acceptance of slavery, awkwardly waved off any references to the racist agenda inherent in abortion and particularly in the history of Planned Parenthood, and generally changed the subject every time she became uncomfortable (which was approximately every twenty seconds). She demanded to know if we had seen an abortion and when we all said that we had insisted that videos were not accurate; we could only understand abortion if we had had one or if we had stood beside someone as her baby was dismembered. Finally she shrugged us off, made a vague reference to war and to Iraq, and walked to her car, only to be confronted by two remarkably unfriendly Planned Parenthood employees who pointed out that she was trespassing on private property and must remove her car and herself immediately.
The entire conversation lasted five or ten minutes. It left us a bit stunned -- if not incredulous -- and rather thoughtful. There is so much ignorance, so much confusion, and so much pain. There are many who would not even have had the conflicted courage (or the longing) to stop and speak with us.
God bless her, whoever she is.
Have you read our sign today? Abortion kills babies.
Yes. It does.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Slavery and Abortion
Homily given by the Very Reverend Father, Greg Maturi, O.P. on Sunday, Jan. 17th at St. Dominic's in Youngstown Ohio:
This Friday, several hundred thousand people will march in Washington DC in the Pro-Life March. They have done so every year for the past 36 years. They march because in this great country of ours, babies are being sacrificed simply for the sake of convenience. Those who march love this great country of ours. And as with the prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading, for the sake of this country they will not be silent, they will not be quiet. They will not be silent as long as our government calls a constitutional right that which is manifestly evil.
Yes, it’s sad that in this great country of ours, the evil of abortion has darkened the minds of so many. Our country has overcome evil in the past. One thinks of the great evil of slavery. The parallels between slavery and abortion are stunning. It’s as if history is repeating itself. 150 years ago, in 1857 the supreme court of the US passed the Dred Scott decision which held that slaves are not citizens and therefore not protected by the constitution. The president of the US at the time, James Buchanan, had hoped that the supreme court decision would finally put to rest the slavery issue. But it did not. In fact, it made it worse. The decision so upset good people, that they formed a new political party in opposition to slavery. They called the new party the Republican party. In 1860, the Republican party nominated for president a senator from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln. During his campaign to become the 16th president of the United States, Lincoln debated with the Democrat senator from Illinois, Stephen Douglas, who along with the Democrat party, defended slavery. The transcript of their debates illustrates the parallel between slavery and abortion.
During their debates, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at Cooper Union in NYC where he defended the Republican position against slavery. The speech is well worth the read. In that speech, Lincoln used the US constitution, and the voting record of the founding fathers, to make his case. He denounced the Dred Scott decision as wrong and non binding.
In reply, Stephen Douglas, representing the Democrat party, held that slavery should not only be permitted, but that it is morally acceptable, socially elevating, and should have national recognition as a legal right and a social blessing. But the parallel between slavery and abortion goes even deeper. As in today’s Republican party, so in Lincoln’s time, a certain faction of the Republican party known as “Copperheads” did not want to deal with the issue of slavery. They were more concerned about keeping political peace than ending slavery.
History has shown them to be wrong, dead wrong.
History will do the same for those who do not stand up against abortion today.
Today’s situation is not all that different from then. We are faced with a grave evil that cries to the Lord for vindication. And so today we look to the Lord for grace. We come to Jesus here in the Eucharist, just as Mary came to him at the wedding of Cana. We seek his wisdom and strength. We seek his power to transform the hearts of those in elected office who stubbornly refuse to accept the truth about human life in the womb.
Still, we know that the battle against abortion is ultimately a spiritual battle. And so we look to the Holy Spirit. It is He, St Paul says in today’s 2nd reading, who gives each of us the spiritual gifts we need. We ask the Holy Spirit to give us His gifts. And as we use those gifts to stand against evil, then we will be able to proclaim authentically, in the words of today’s psalmist, God’s marvelous deeds, one of which is this great country of ours.
God Bless America!
It is also worth noting that both Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade passed with the Supreme Court rule of 7 to 2.
Also, in 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court declared that blacks are "...a subordinate and inferior class of beings..." [Dred] Scott v. Sandford.
The Supreme Court similarly said in 1973, "The word 'person' in the XIV Amendment does not include the unborn." Roe v. Wade
Science continues to claim otherwise.
Read Dr. Alveda King on abortion:
Planned Parenthood, Stop Lying about My Uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!
"Please visit www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican and view the Martin Luther King, Jr. PDF about Planned Parenthood. My uncle didn’t even attend their awards ceremony. He didn’t write the speech. Could a man who warned against the evils of infantacide in his Letter From A Birmingham Jail; who said “the Negro cannot win if he is willing to sacrifice the future of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety,” whose father was staunchly prolife; who said “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere support abortion and killer chemicals called “safe” birth control? Dr. King did support natural family planning. He did teach youth to live purposeful lives. He did not and would not support abortion and sterilization! Planned Parenthood tricked me into having secret abortions which hurt me and killed my babies. They lied to my uncle, Dr. King. How can the dream survive if we murder our children?
Read on to view more of their trickery in their media release!"
Sadly, racism continues to be a reality in our country, yet many do not recognize the most brutal face of racism - abortion. Here is one man who knows the truth:
"The most dangerous place for an African American to be is in the womb of their African American mother." Rev, Clenard H Childress Jr
www.blackgenocide.org
This Friday, several hundred thousand people will march in Washington DC in the Pro-Life March. They have done so every year for the past 36 years. They march because in this great country of ours, babies are being sacrificed simply for the sake of convenience. Those who march love this great country of ours. And as with the prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading, for the sake of this country they will not be silent, they will not be quiet. They will not be silent as long as our government calls a constitutional right that which is manifestly evil.
Yes, it’s sad that in this great country of ours, the evil of abortion has darkened the minds of so many. Our country has overcome evil in the past. One thinks of the great evil of slavery. The parallels between slavery and abortion are stunning. It’s as if history is repeating itself. 150 years ago, in 1857 the supreme court of the US passed the Dred Scott decision which held that slaves are not citizens and therefore not protected by the constitution. The president of the US at the time, James Buchanan, had hoped that the supreme court decision would finally put to rest the slavery issue. But it did not. In fact, it made it worse. The decision so upset good people, that they formed a new political party in opposition to slavery. They called the new party the Republican party. In 1860, the Republican party nominated for president a senator from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln. During his campaign to become the 16th president of the United States, Lincoln debated with the Democrat senator from Illinois, Stephen Douglas, who along with the Democrat party, defended slavery. The transcript of their debates illustrates the parallel between slavery and abortion.
During their debates, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at Cooper Union in NYC where he defended the Republican position against slavery. The speech is well worth the read. In that speech, Lincoln used the US constitution, and the voting record of the founding fathers, to make his case. He denounced the Dred Scott decision as wrong and non binding.
In reply, Stephen Douglas, representing the Democrat party, held that slavery should not only be permitted, but that it is morally acceptable, socially elevating, and should have national recognition as a legal right and a social blessing. But the parallel between slavery and abortion goes even deeper. As in today’s Republican party, so in Lincoln’s time, a certain faction of the Republican party known as “Copperheads” did not want to deal with the issue of slavery. They were more concerned about keeping political peace than ending slavery.
History has shown them to be wrong, dead wrong.
History will do the same for those who do not stand up against abortion today.
Today’s situation is not all that different from then. We are faced with a grave evil that cries to the Lord for vindication. And so today we look to the Lord for grace. We come to Jesus here in the Eucharist, just as Mary came to him at the wedding of Cana. We seek his wisdom and strength. We seek his power to transform the hearts of those in elected office who stubbornly refuse to accept the truth about human life in the womb.
Still, we know that the battle against abortion is ultimately a spiritual battle. And so we look to the Holy Spirit. It is He, St Paul says in today’s 2nd reading, who gives each of us the spiritual gifts we need. We ask the Holy Spirit to give us His gifts. And as we use those gifts to stand against evil, then we will be able to proclaim authentically, in the words of today’s psalmist, God’s marvelous deeds, one of which is this great country of ours.
God Bless America!
It is also worth noting that both Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade passed with the Supreme Court rule of 7 to 2.
Also, in 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court declared that blacks are "...a subordinate and inferior class of beings..." [Dred] Scott v. Sandford.
The Supreme Court similarly said in 1973, "The word 'person' in the XIV Amendment does not include the unborn." Roe v. Wade
Science continues to claim otherwise.
Read Dr. Alveda King on abortion:
Planned Parenthood, Stop Lying about My Uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!
"Please visit www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican and view the Martin Luther King, Jr. PDF about Planned Parenthood. My uncle didn’t even attend their awards ceremony. He didn’t write the speech. Could a man who warned against the evils of infantacide in his Letter From A Birmingham Jail; who said “the Negro cannot win if he is willing to sacrifice the future of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety,” whose father was staunchly prolife; who said “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere support abortion and killer chemicals called “safe” birth control? Dr. King did support natural family planning. He did teach youth to live purposeful lives. He did not and would not support abortion and sterilization! Planned Parenthood tricked me into having secret abortions which hurt me and killed my babies. They lied to my uncle, Dr. King. How can the dream survive if we murder our children?
Read on to view more of their trickery in their media release!"
Sadly, racism continues to be a reality in our country, yet many do not recognize the most brutal face of racism - abortion. Here is one man who knows the truth:
"The most dangerous place for an African American to be is in the womb of their African American mother." Rev, Clenard H Childress Jr
www.blackgenocide.org
Friday, January 15, 2010
My Chance
Abortion equals pain. Please help prevent it. Please help those who have experienced it know that there is healing, forgiveness and peace.
http://www.jtmusic.net/video/
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The True meaning of Christmas
What better way to celebrate the Christmas season than praying that the reason God became man - to give LIFE - would continue to effect our culture?
God came to earth that we might have life - beautiful life. Each life has deep meaning because God has stamped his presence into our existence. We witness this in a special way when we consider the Incarnation - the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. Jesus, the God-man grew as single celled human, as a zygote, as a fetus. There's something worth meditating upon. And there we find the G0d's love, the purpose of Jesus' birth. God pursues us relentlessly, and even became one of us that we might know this truth. The Author of Life conquered death. Those who protect the dignity of human life defend this message - life belongs to God. Those who further the destruction of human life mock this message - and belittle the handiwork of the Almighty God. May the Lord's blessing give us a fresh spirit of defending the lives of the unborn this year. May He renew our hearts to do what we know we must: speak the truth in love and pray for His will.
These images are from Christmas Eve:
You can't tell, but the man with the blue coat has a baby in there!
Sometimes you need 5 blankets for your baby and a warm drink for yourself!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
God came to earth that we might have life - beautiful life. Each life has deep meaning because God has stamped his presence into our existence. We witness this in a special way when we consider the Incarnation - the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. Jesus, the God-man grew as single celled human, as a zygote, as a fetus. There's something worth meditating upon. And there we find the G0d's love, the purpose of Jesus' birth. God pursues us relentlessly, and even became one of us that we might know this truth. The Author of Life conquered death. Those who protect the dignity of human life defend this message - life belongs to God. Those who further the destruction of human life mock this message - and belittle the handiwork of the Almighty God. May the Lord's blessing give us a fresh spirit of defending the lives of the unborn this year. May He renew our hearts to do what we know we must: speak the truth in love and pray for His will.
These images are from Christmas Eve:
You can't tell, but the man with the blue coat has a baby in there!
Sometimes you need 5 blankets for your baby and a warm drink for yourself!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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