Kind of cute...

It is interesting that St. Paul speaks about not owing anything to any man. In our modern economic climate I thought this was kind of cute to understanding one interpretation of what is going on in with the curren market situation:



It is always good that we are informed about various perspectives, I would say.

This above refers to Mises.org at the end: I checked it out and here is a little gem that gave me a chuckle, in the way only the British can do, as I hope it will for you:

Well, at least we know this is true...

In a few days, beginning on Oct. 5th, Holy Mother Church will convoke her shepherds in Rome for a Synod on the Holy Scriptures entitled: “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.” Synods are a way for the bishops to gather together in order that they might enter deeper into discussions and explanations of various elements of Catholic life. This was one of the innovations that came from Vatican II to enhance the understanding and communication amongst the bishops.

To assist us lay people a new website has been launched to keep us up to date on what is happening there in Rome. The website may be found here. But here is the welcome video which actually sounds kind of exciting - in a history is about to be made kind of way.



I hope that you will find an occasion or two to check out what is taking place that will continue to shape the Church on her earthly pilgrimmage.

Could it be true...

I know that not everybody likes Pat Buchanan. Some people say he is flat out racist or even anti-semitic. I am unsure about that, but I do know he does make a few good points beyond those charges. Take for example this recent article in which he asks whether the Republican party is actually over. One wonders about whether all the hype around Sarah Palin will be for naught if he is also correct about this position.

For us who are of a Catholic worldview, I think these should be things to consider when we place our votes in the fall. I was really struck by the video I posted earlier from CatholicVote.com that it only showed the two parties. The more I have been thinking about that the more I have been wondering how inconsistent is the message? If we are supposed to use our Catholic conscience to vote, then how can we have informed consent if we aren't even willing to consider the other parties? We Catholics must excercise our right to vote in this country. We are by some estimations as much as 1/4 of the electorate!!! THAT IS INCREDIBLY STAGGERING! Sure, many people would follow Biden into his errors that allowing the legal murder of an unborn child is peachy keen, but still the fact that if we were actually taught and were docile to being conformed to Christ then we would not value choice over life, just as Pontius Pilate did.

Pontius Pilate, as I understand it, according to Sacred Tradition is held to actually have become a saint, because he realized what he had done all to late! I wonder if some won't experience the same deception now, and, please God may they have a conversion later if that is the case. Nevertheless, I think if we are to make an informed decision then we ought to research all the parties and find those with whom we agree.

There are four that are most prevalent apparently:

The Libertarians
The Green Party
The Constitution Party
and independant Ralph Nader.

As this article points out, these parties have an invaluable role to play in our politics, even if you won't vote for one, at least consider their ideas that each of us may make an informed choice, and more importantly for Catholics, our conscience can vote in union with our Catholic Faith.

What it takes to be a Catholic man...

Recently, apparently, there was a pro-abortion (or more specifically pro-death) march in Argentina. Apparently the course of the march went right by the Cathedral. What appears to be a very small group of men and women stood up to the crowd and protected the Cathedral by ... praying the Rosary. This video is incredible. It speaks volume about where we are today as a world. Please God may I have the strength to stand up for life, for Christ, and for the Church when the time comes... as it appears it may possibly be coming... At any rate reflect on the power of the witness of these young men standing up for Christ, for the Church and for life in the face of this onslaught:


UPDATE: In preparing for my lecture on Mt 11-18, I found this quote by Pope St. Gregory the Great and it speaks to the heart of what I hope for:

"What can we men [do], fully-grown, but weak, who are overcome by anger, inflated by pride, disquieted by ambition, corrupted by pleasure, when we see young women sent to the sword [or to an abortion!] to the Kingdom of Heaven? We may not be able to attain the kingdom through battle and persecution, but let us be ashamed, that we are unwilling to follow God even in times of peace. At present God is not saying to any of us, "Die for me" [yet!], but just put to death the unlawful desires within you! Would we give our bodies for the Lord in time of war, when we are not willing to subdue their desires in time of peace?" Yes, I did ad those things in brackets... so sue me, already!

Spoken like a true American...

I know he is not Catholic,and therefore has some positions that I may still disagree with politically (as I apply my faith to my political positions), but Ron Paul continues to promote a vital element of our Republic. If he were a practicing Catholic, I would at least know a few more things about him than the questions that still remain about certain issues. Nevertheless, like Mike Gravel, he is at least honest. COnsider his message given a few days ago at a press conference on Sept. 10th:



If you are pro-choice, then check out all the other substantial parties so that you can truly make an informed choice, instead of just following the herd for Obama. If you are pro-life then DEFINITELY check out other parties (see Mccain's position on embryonic stem cell research below!)

I for one am sick of the hijacking of our political process.

Consider this guy's position:



After all, as Laura Ingraham is so want to say, "POWER TO THE PEOPLE!" Only we have the ability to change things, not two party bred candidates that represent the media pronounced "mainstream" thinking.

You have to love an honest man...

If you have never heard of Former Sen. Mike Gravel, then you have missed out. He was quite a show in the Democrat Primaries. He definitely is a man who speaks his mind, regardless of the consequences. I think it is interesting to hear his take on the Palin interception of public discourse in America:



Again, I find myself being more moved by a third party. And I think it is high time that each of us truly understand our candidates and vote our conscience.

Nevertheless, too bad the distributists don't have a ticket, I just might be more moved there...

You know you saw it coming...

How can a person of faith, knowing the reality of all I just said about Barack Obama, reconcile voting for John Mccain when he IS a "Maverick" apparently. He won't even follow the Republican Party Platform. Sucka. How in the world am I supposed to support this guy who is supposedly pro-life, as someone with religiously motivated politically conservative views?

Here it is the news you dreaded but knew was coming. COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IT ISN'T TRUE?!

All I know is that I am seriously considering the Constitution Party, though... I have my concerns there too. I still find myself most behind the Ron Paul platform, which I wish someone other candidate truly espoused - and Chuck Brown doesn't seem too far off... for example!

What is happening to America...

If found this video on Youtube (its about 20 min long):



There are many things wrong with this video. But the least of which is that Barack Obama appears to be ok with dealing with the Tragedy of a teenager becoming pregnant, but seems unconcerned with the unborn girls and boys who are being surreptitiously murdered because they have become inconvenient. The Senator appears to believe teaching kids how to have sex properly is the wise thing to do? Yet he fails to pass the common sense test which tells us that doing that is about as wise as giving a teen a firecracker and a match and saying, "Don't light it." A further shocking reality is that Sen. Obama praises Margaret Sanger, who history shows us, was an avowed racist and demonstrably set up planned parenthood to destroy black babies primarily. Take for example this article from the Life Education and Resource Network.

But here are some more truths about Barack Obama's beloved Planned Parenthood:



A friend of mine, who works somewhere in the halls of the great State of Colorado, received this - what appears to be - a newsletter. In it she was directed to this "exemplary" article entitled: "Abortion should be mandatory for pregnant teens."

What have we become in America? I am shocked that we neither know history, and have lost all common sense when certain people would have us become the Nazi state or even the Communist state of China where abortion is meant to be imposed on those over whom "we know better." What happened to freedom and responsibility?

Take for example this statement at the end of the article:

"Congress should act to protect these kids from themselves: Ban teen marriage, mandate teen abortion."

Seriously, mandate that innocent human beings be murdered? Why? Because of inconvenience? Is this not the same arguement made by the Nazi's!!!! IS ANYONE LISTENING OUT THERE!?


"Dude, have you seen my country?"

Vote your Catholic conscience...

I am now reading Archbishop Chaput's new book "Render Unto Caesar." It is a very enlightening book about the need to not separate our faith from our public life. Then, a friend from Rome sent this video below to me and it struck me... primarily because of my Religious Education Scripture verse for the year:

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him (Phil 3:8-9)"

I hope that you too might watch this video from the "Catholic Vote" website, and take it to heart, dear reader:




After all, we have no rights, unless we have the right to life!

A new milestone for me.

As of today, I have begun teaching for the Catholic Biblical School here in the Archdiocese. I have become an instructor in the 2nd year of that school. This, I think will feed many posts to come here on this blog.

Today, it has struck me as I began to teach on the Gospel of Matthew the idea of God's presence. I think so often we forget or flat out deny, in practice if not in faith, that Jesus is with us. JESUS IS WITH YOU!!! I wonder if we realize what we say three times in the Holy Sacrifice of Mass,
"Priest: The Lord be with you."
"us: And also with you." (which will soon be more properly translated, 'And also with your spirit.')

Of what then should we be afraid? Well, I will tell you. I think what we must be fearful of is the Lord! I don't mean "shaky in the knees" fear but "the kind of fear you had when Mom said don't run through the house with muddy shoes, and you stop halfway through the living room and realize you just came in from the backyard in the rainy and muddy ground" fear. Its the fear of Love, the fear of wounding the lover of your soul. Those of you in a marital relationship or in a dating relationship know exactly what I mean. No one wants to annoy one's beloved. This is precisely how I think the Scripture and thus Holy Mother Church is directing us towards Jesus. When Saint Paul rhetorically and significantly asks, "What will separate us from the Love of God? (Rom 8:35)" I like to think he, with a toungue in cheek attitude, is actually telling us only you and only me! He continues:

"Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in CHrist Jesus our Lord."

Let us have confidence in Christ, then. Let no matter seen by God become a moment that causes us to lose faith in the loving plan of God the Father. As one theologian put it, if we follow Jesus Christ, we must know that follow the one who said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." But, I would add, the one who also said, "Not my will but yours be done."

I mean, come on!

Infanticide, really? Is this where we are in our country!? You have to read this article. Please post your comments here after you are done!

Thank God for the Truth!

Perhaps you did not see the Democrat party's Vice-Presidential candidate and his take on abortion, conscience and faith. You should watch it:

Unfortunately, Senator Biden has joined the Madame Speaker's error:



She is patently wrong. Every Ancient Catholic written teaching starting with the Didache, chapter 2, (ca. 100AD) is explicit that abortion is evil.

It is important to hear the teaching of Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, WI, which I would bet reflects our own Archbishop's sentiments on this matter. Take a listen here.

Let know one of us think we are above learning more about or being formed in our Catholic Faith, whether a Senator, Speaker of the House, a housewife, or a lay Catholic, for certainly gathering the fruit of the mysteries of God is something that can be done at any age. But more importantly, savoring the fruit of the Mysteries of our Holy Catholic Faith is far more necessary! Pray for Sen. Biden and the Madame Speaker that they too might savor the truth of the Church's teaching, not their own understanding of that truth.

Precisely, what is it that makes no sense?

Oddly enough here is a very apolitical message from Dr. Elizabeth Lev, who is a professor in Rome, about the horror of the Born Alive infant protection act being rejected by certain high-ranking politicians. This article just came out today! Perhaps it will shed light on the barbarity of our day.

I can't understand it...

There are actually Catholics that I am aware of, and I am sure others are too, who really think that Barack Obama is a good choice for president. There is no more foundational issue, though definitely not the only issue, that must be considered in making such a claim than Senator Obama's seemingly wanton desire to allow any inconvenient unborn human life to be destroyed. Consider this video:



Regardless, of politics, the desire to destroy human life is an affront to humanity - much like the German National Socialists of the late 1930's-40's, aka the Nazi's. I am NOT saying that Obama is a Nazi, but whether he is a socialist appears to be demonstrable and has purportedly been shown by people much more adept at political ideologies that me. Regardless of these political accusations and labels, one must understand that life is being destroyed at an alarming rate. The respect and dignity of human life is being subsumed under the mantle of convenience. As Catholics we cannot support mankind's murdering of innocent children under the guise of "choice." We each must inform our conscience and consider the gravity of what we are voting for. As Archbishop Chaput says in his new book, could a person who votes for such a pro-abortion candidate, such as Barack Obama, look those aborted children in the eye when they meet them at the Last Judgement?

As far as politics go, here is Glenn Beck's understanding of Obama:


If you want Obama's own words about forcibly redistributing wealth, as the Socialists would suggest we do, listen to his own words about so-called "fairness":


It is amazing to me that some Catholics will actually vote for this man. Mind you, I can't say that I am necessarily saying vote for John Mccain. In fact, I have been kind of interested in the Constitutionalist Party myself. Nevertheless, I am so disheartened once again that as a country we have allowed ourselves to be submersed into the banter of a two party system. My personal opinion is that we should have a third party (and a fourth and fifth) come forward which allows us the opportunity to vote amongst real choices. We should not settle for merely two choices, as if all of the issues fit squarely into these two parties. But such is America in these days, and if it is to change each of us must truly seek to vote our consciences rather than vote for party affiliations.