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Thursday, 11 April 2013

Persecution Watch in the United States

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/elderly-christian-florist-faces-thousands-in-fines-for-refusing-to-provide

If you think Catholics and Christians are not in for dangerous times, read this. No freedom of conscience or freedom to practice one's religion in this instance. So much for the "tolerance" of liberals, but I knew they were never tolerant; maybe I need to do another Gramsci post.

Here is a selection from the article:

OLYMPIA, WA, April 10, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Christian florist in Washington state could be slapped with hefty fines because she refused to provide a floral arrangement for a gay “wedding.”
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed charges today in Benton County Superior Court.
Barronelle Stutzman is facing thousands of dollars in fines.
Barronelle Stutzman is facing thousands of dollars in fines.
On March 1 Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts in Richland, refused to sell flowers to Robert Ingersoll for his “marriage” to Curt Freed.
“He said he decided to get married, and before he got through I grabbed his hand and said, ‘I am sorry. I can't do your wedding because of my relationship with Jesus Christ,’" Stutzman said. She said it was the only wedding she had declined in 37 years.
But Ferguson said that stance violates the law.
“Under the Consumer Protection Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against customers on the basis of sexual orientation,” Ferguson said. “If a business provides a product or service to opposite-sex couples for their weddings, then it must provide same-sex couples the same product or service.”
The state of Washington is seeking $2,000 in fines for every reported violation, as well as a permanent injunction requiring the shop to violate its conscience or stop selling flowers for wedding ceremonies.
Some of her neighbors in this very liberal state agree she should be compelled to sell flowers regardless of her religion.
One resident told KEPR-TV, “She doesn't have the right to say no.”
The station reported Stutzman has received death threats after her simple testimony of faith went viral.

More on the site....

Perfection Series continues later today/Pro-life morning

The last three in the perfection series will be covered within seven days, hopefully. I am travelling to a place where I am not sure about wifi connections, so we shall see. April is turning out to be a very busy month for me. However, this series is a priority for me. I have posted many pro-life items on this morning, as so many issues at this crucial moment for the protection of both babies and women have arisen, that I thought I needed to stop and put that news in the spotlight.

God bless all the good people in the pro-movement, especially the Priests for Life and Father Pavone, the Good Counsel Network, and LifeSiteNews. Remember to support these excellent groups financially.



On the Irish Life Story of Last Year

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/savitas-doctor-denies-catholic-ethos-remark-says-she-was-prepared-to-offer

More pro-life stuff

http://stlouisreview.com/article/2013-04-03/woman-conceived

This escaped me a few weeks ago, but worth reading on anti-life Catholic decision

http://www.laetificatmadison.com/2013/03/bishop-swain-speaks-ou/

Good answer to a question on the baptism of a child of lesbian parents....

http://relevantradio.com/dailyquestions/some-friends-of-mine

From Yesterday


  1. 2013 Worldwide Abortion Count April 10th 11,780,000 unborn babies have been killed.
  2. “: 2013 USA Abortion Count April 10th 351,500 unborn babies have been killed. ”

LifeSiteNews-the best

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/04/09/obama-admin-will-force-hhs-mandate-compliance-on-august-1/

Bible Study Time....


Wednesday, 10 April 2013

I am so relieved. Hollande is getting a new camel

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/mali-presents-franois-hollande-with-a-new-camel-after-the-first-one-was-eaten-by-the-family-caring-for-it-8567811.html

Not this one, but this photo is cute!
"It was a present that did not deserve this fate," said an unidentified Mali spokesman.

Thanks to Catholic Bandita: RNC will vote on this-pray



hope you can read this--here is the original post where you can make it larger...

http://www.catholicbandita.com/text-of-marriage-resolution-rnc-will-vote-on-this-weekend/

Bravo Cardinal Burke-Catholics Cannot Cooperate with Obamacare

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/04/10/catholic-cardinal-a-sin-to-cooperate-with-obama-mandate/

a snippet


Thomas McKenna: “So a Catholic employer, really getting down to it, he does not, or she does not provide this because that way they would be, in a sense, cooperating with the sin…the sin of contraception or the sin of providing a contraceptive that would abort a child, is this correct?”
Cardinal Burke: “This is correct. It is not only a matter of what we call “material cooperation” in the sense that the employer by giving this insurance benefit is materially providing for the contraception but it is also “formal cooperation” because he is knowingly and deliberatelydoing this, making this available to people. There is no way to justify it. It is simply wrong.”
Responding to the comments, Giroux says, “This comment by a high ranking Cardinal is the clearest explanation to date on the issue of an employer’s culpability when providing contraception, sterilization, and abortion inducing drug options in the insurance plans for employees.”

Fifteen Posts This Morning and Early Afternoon

Much going on....

from today's Tablet


Latest News


CofE calls for priests to ‘better accommodate' gay couples

10 April 2013
The Church of England has urged its priests to be more flexible in helping gay couples achieve a "closer approximation" to marriage.
A report by the church's Faith and Order Commission - its doctrinal watchdog - said priests should "devise accommodations" for same-sex couples in their parishes but stopped short of encouraging formal public blessings of gay civil partnerships.
Revd Colin Coward of the pro-gay Changing Attitude group said the Church's refusal to encourage same-sex blessings was "deeply offensive". But Revd Dr Giles Fraser, a former canon chancellor at St Paul's Cathedral, said the report, Men and Women in Marriage, gave clergy a green light to conduct blessings for same-sex couples in all but name.
The Church of England opposes same-sex marriage, although the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has referred to gay couples he knows as having a "stunning level of commitment' to each other.

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/latest-news/5190

Damian Thompson on the Pope Emeritus' Health This Morning AND UPDATE FROM LOMBARDI

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100211536/fears-for-the-health-of-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi/


FrLombardi says B16 not suffering from illness, "his problems are age-related", after Spanish author claims his health is rapidly worsening.

You might be interested in such a note from the Vatican


Sunday, April 14, 2013, at 17.30, in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Holy Father Francis will celebrate Mass on the occasion of the first visit to the Basilica.
Concelebrate with the Holy Father Eminent Cardinals James Michael Harvey, Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Francesco Monterisi and Rev.mo Father Abbot Dom Edmund Power, OSB
***
All those who, in accordance with the Motu Proprio " Pontificalis Domus ", make up the Papal Chapel and wish to participate in the liturgical celebration are requested to meet, at 16.45, in the Basilica to occupy the place that we tell them.
As for the dress, want to follow these guidelines:
- The Cardinals, Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops on the vestment proper to wear the spool, the mozzetta and cap;
- The Abbots and religious: the choir dress;
- The prelates: the spool and the cape, or a surplice over the purple robe with purple band, depending on their level;
- Chaplains of His Holiness the surplice over a black cassock with purple sash.
To the members of the Papal Chapel will provide a bus service, departing from the square in front of the entrance to the Paul VI Hall at 16.30. Those who wish to use the service are asked to notify the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.
Vatican City, April 10, 2013.
By mandate of the Holy Father
Monsignor Guido Marini, 
Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations


Spanish Report on Twitter and Blogs: Pope Emeritus Very Ill

09/04/2013 23:36:55: Benedict XVI is in very bad health

Castelgandolfo

The health of Benedict XVI has dramatically diminished in the last two weeks, Paloma Gómez Borrero wrote Tuesday night in the Spanish paper El Mundo. According to her, Benedict suffers from something – quote – “very severe”. She adds: “We won't have him with us for very much longer”.

Gloria TV



For Cute Wednesday: Cute American Habits



http://goo.gl/NHIgS


Seder Meal, 2013

I am the one in the blue sweater lighting the candles. A woman helps with the hand washing three times, which we cut down to one for time. It lasted three hours. The grapes are extras and symbolic of Christ and the Eucharist, as we are all Christians. Seminarians learn about the Holy Mass by such a dinner. Some of the prayers are used in the Mass.



The plate with the "stuff" on it is the main Seder Plate. Each item is symbolic.



The lamb shank (zeroah) is on a separate plate for space. The matzoes are the unleavened bread. The symbolic food also includes the bitter herbs (maror); the mortar for the bricks to build the pyramids of slavery (charoset); the vegie (karpas) to dip in the salt water, the bitter waters of slavery; the boiled egg, both a symbol of mourning for the Jews, and new life for the Christians (beitzah). The white splodge on the plate is horseradish, another variation of the bitterness of the slavery in Egypt, and it goes nicely with the roasted lamb.

We had it earlier this last month before Easter. It was attended by two seminarians, a married couple and baby and a single gentleman, plus a priest.


I have done so many of these I have lost count, maybe 27. This haggadah includes praising Christ the Messiah and Saviour at the end. We also sang many songs together.

What does one do at the end of a civilization? Part One.



When I was in Malta and watched the anarchists destroying a shrine of Mary, Our Mother, in Rome in the Autumn of 2011 on television, I knew the persecutions would come more quickly than most people admit.

Anarchy is the undergrowth of larger problems. I and other kids liked lifting up a medium-sized stone in Iowa in the summer to see the insects which only lived in the dark and damp; anarchy grows unnoticed until the environment is disturbed. Many of those animals could not see in the light. Anarchists have chosen the dark, but the darkness is created by another.

They are blinded when we disturbed the environment.

We are in the last stage of persecution, which will lead to laws against Christians and specifically Catholics in the future, the near future.

Here are some things people have done in history at the end of civilizations.

One, create communities, real ones. Create groups to care for the vulnerable and meet regularly. Do not wait for a crisis, start now. Make a support group from your TLMs or from your parishes. Do not pretend that commuting to Mass is always going to be a possibility. Work at local Catholic, orthodox communities.

Two, learn as much as possible your Faith, including memorizing prayers and important documents, such as the Creed. Do not imagine you will have access to these things to pass on to your children or grandchildren. One woman I know who is now in her forties grew up in Soviet Czechoslovakia. At the age of 23, when I first met her, she had never seen a Bible and had never heard of Jesus Christ. That was in 1992. a mere twenty years ago.

It will be like this again.

Three, train your children to be counter-cultural. Do not let the culture snatch them away from you. Discipline them in love and care and "train them in the way to go". Home school.

Four, encourage your older children to choose careers and vocations which will not make them compromise their Faith. There will be more and more jobs closed to Catholics with consciences. Do this NOW. For example, one cannot be a Catholic and a pharmacist in Illinois. A Catholic cannot work for some school systems where sex education is demanded of elementary teachers. Catholics in England who are teachers will fact the gay agenda in the curriculum immediately, causing some who are good Catholics, who have formed their minds to the Mind of Christ to leave the profession. Make choices.

Five, teach and form children in the way of virtue.

Six, choose basic Catholic catechetical books and Catholic Bibles for the home and keep them there. These may disappear. Many things have already gone out of print. Do not rely on future publications of Catholic classics.

Seven, create a "home church" where you are praying daily with the children and inviting others in. Do Bible studies together which center on being strong in persecution. Saints are made, as well as born.



To be continued...