Sunday, 16 September 2012
Blogger and Commentator Fast--September 21st
Posted by
Supertradmum
Can we all organize a commentator and blogger fast day for America for this coming Friday, September 21st?
I am asking everyone to join me in this fast for a new president and a new America which puts God first.
I put up a poll on the side so that we can encourage one another.
I shall pledge my Friday as a day of fast and abstinence.
Please let us try and do this together. Where two or three are gathered in My Name..the promise of Christ.
Supertradmum
Meditations on Death
Posted by
Supertradmum
Because I am going to try a religious vocation, I have been meditating on death for about two weeks. This is not new to me, as I have had three brushes with physical death in my life owing to several operations and the fact that I had deadly reactions to the anaesthetics, which my doctors had not anticipated (nor I). I also discovered I had problems with my blood, which lacks properties which interferes with clotting or coagulation. To make very long stories short, with cancer and complications of breathing, I faced death physically three times.
My only sister died two weeks before her first birthday.
My son almost died at birth, he stopped breathing five times in the womb, and of pneumonia when he was seven . One faces death in many ways.
Now, facing physical death in one's self is not as difficult as one may think. When I had cancer, I had to face all types of possibilities, but I can honestly say that the entire time, after the initial shock, was like being on a retreat. God was very close to me during the entire process. Some other women with whom I have spoken have said the same thing. If we are open to God, He is there.
At this time, I am facing several different "deaths". All mothers experience death of a sort when their children finally leave the nest. I first faced that when my son went away to college. I cried all the way home in the car from the airport. Now that he is in the seminary, there is another type of death. But, he has always belonged to God , although he was loaned to me for a short time for God's glory.
Most parents state that the happiest times of their lives were the raising of their children. And, so do I. Having and raising a child is sheer joy.
Another type of death has to do with giving up the following. I have had to give up dreams of success in the world, not for monetary gain, but for my own satisfaction of a completion of years of study and research. High academic success would have been nice.
I have died to my own imagination. We can image all types of things we want to do or have, such as a peaceful,comfortable family life and, as in my case, as I have written hundreds of poem, dozens of plays, short stories and children's stories, artistic success. I have published only a smidgen of what I have produced over the years. This is a type of death, as each poem, each story is like a child of the imagination, waiting to go out into the world and stand up on his own. When this does not happen, the creative process is incomplete. That is a type of death.
When I give up what I want, either in the imagination, or in physical things, something happens. When I cooperate with the Cross, something happens. That happening is called freedom.
Almost two years ago, I downsized. Thankfully, before the downturn previous to that, I sold my house. I then, slowly but surely, divested myself of probably six thousand books, twenty plus years of teaching materials and notes, home schooling notes and aids, RCIA stuff, catechetical materials and material items, such as furniture and all the necessary items for a well-run, orderly, attractive, Midwest home until, finally, by March, 2011, I had passed on most of the things I had accumulated over many years of life. I sold my car.
God put people in my life who wanted and needed my things.
I do not miss any of it.
Dying by stages, I think, is easier than all at once. But, how can I tell? A friend of mine's husband, and also one of my uncles died walking the dog and on the way to meet friends on a Sunday afternoon.
These two men passed away, like a third friend of mine who died in his sleep, so quickly that their spouses had to take time to adjust. Some marriages end in death and some in separation, which can be a death.
Financial set-backs, which I and many Americans have experienced in these years, is another type of death. We think money and things give us freedom. It is just the opposite. Financial "downsizing" destroys pride and prejudice.
Some women cry at weddings as well as at funerals. A wedding is a joyous occasion, but it also a death-of independence, of other choices, of one's own will. We instinctively know that a choice closes other options. But, in that choice is freedom.
We are called to die daily in some ways. Perhaps it is in being patient; one of my worst faults is impatience. Impatience is pride and insecurity combined. Only God can help us die to ourselves in sins and imperfections. Only God can heal us. Patience brings healing and renewal.
If we look at the Passion and Death of Christ, we should notice something. His Resurrected Body holds the stigmata. Why? Because death changes us. Christ allowed Himself to die and He is in glory with the marks of His Wounds. We are never the same after deaths or Death. Even our crosses mark us.
As Christians, we are marked with the sign of the Cross. That is our badge of honour.
If we allow God to love us as He wants to do, we are free.
But, without the letting go, without the will to die to our own will, there is no chance for holiness.
And, only the holy see God.
One of my favourite passages of Scripture is this from Matthew 11:12:
And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.
It is the violence of the Cross, whether it be cancer or the empty nest, or failure or unrequited love, which creates the Kingdom of God within us. There is no other way.
To be continued.....
Just a note on reading highlighted articles
Posted by
Supertradmum
Just a note. I have listed several articles below which are worth reading. I know my readers are busy, but I am selective in highlighting commentaries here. Please go back over the past week and read those journalists who have figured out the truth of the present violent situations. Some Catholics have understood this, especially as we have a feast on September 12th. And, of course, articles are linked on the titles and words highlighted in colour. From the 11th on, please take time to put together the threads on this blog.
Navies to the Gulf
Posted by
Supertradmum
Thanks to Wiki and check out this info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_Force_Task_Group |
I hope people are paying attention to the news. Go to confession, stay in the state of grace, pray for real peace.
Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.
Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the world’s petroleum traded by sea.
A blockade would have a catastrophic effect on the fragile economies of Britain, Europe the United States and Japan, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas supplies from the Gulf.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most congested international waterways. It is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point and is bordered by the Iranian coast to the north and the United Arab Emirates to the south.
In preparation for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action by Iran, warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will today begin an annual 12-day exercise.
Acton Institute on Rules for Radicals for Dummies
Posted by
Supertradmum
A famous priest blogger gave me the heads up yesterday on this excellent site. Take time to read and to listen about this subject more, please. What I had known, I had learned from experience in my college days. Now, more experts are warning us of the Alinksy (and may I add Gramsci) dangers in local politics across the United States. A bit late, but better late than never...I hope. I am not going into personal history here, but I narrowly escaped working in and with these Alinsky guys in Chicago in 1971. Many of us were saved by God from falling into soul-destroying error.
I do not know if we can stem the tide and the influence in the Catholic Church in America and in our grass roots politics. Please listen to the entire tape. It is not long.
http://blog.acton.org/archives/16800-acton-lecture-series-alinsky-for-dummies-2.html
I do not know if we can stem the tide and the influence in the Catholic Church in America and in our grass roots politics. Please listen to the entire tape. It is not long.
http://blog.acton.org/archives/16800-acton-lecture-series-alinsky-for-dummies-2.html
We’re posting the audio from Mr. Joseph Morris’ excellent May 6 Acton Lecture Series presentation, Alinsky for Dummies: His Persistent Influence and Its Meaning for American Society and Politics. As Lord Acton warned that power corrupts, Saul Alinsky— the father of modern “community organizing” — rejoiced that corruption empowers.
As Morris pointed out, decades after Alinsky’s death his ideas and teaching continue to shape the American political and social landscape. Barack Obama’s first job in Chicago was as an “organizer” for an Alinsky group; Hillary Clinton’s undergraduate thesis was written on Alinsky’s precepts; contemporary organizations from the notorious ACORN to the Catholic-Church-supported United for Power and Justice are among Alinsky’s progeny. The lecture provided an overview of Alinksy’s thinking and showed how that thinking is applied in current events. Morris encouraged ALS attendees to read Alinsky’s short but seminal Rules for Radicals, widely available in inexpensive paperback editions.An amazing link to 2009 and Father Mitch Pacwa
Posted by
Supertradmum
On Saul Alinsky
Sunday, August 02, 2009
http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2009/08/fr-mitch-pacwa-on-the-sol-alinsky-style-of-community-organizing.html
Fr. Mitch Pacwa on the "Sol Alinsky style of community organizing"
This most recent newsletter from Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., received this morning, has some interesting historical infomation, some frank talk, and some strong opinions:
I recently became upset when Newsweek's "Without A Doubt" feature published an article by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend entitled, "Why Barack Obama represents American Catholics better than the pope does." She commend President Obama's "pragmatic approach to divisive policy" and his "social justice agenda." Meanwhile, she claims that the positions of the pope, the bishops and the pro-life activists do not. In fact, Townsend asserts that the Chicago community organizer president could teach the pope a lot about a Catholic approach to politics and the ability to listen to other people's points of view with empathy. Townsend continues her rant against the Church's teachings on various issues regarding human sexuality - contraception, abortion, homosexual unions and women priests, decrying the Church's unwillingness to listen to other points of view while ignoring the various documents on these issues which were written with an intent compassion for the people to whom they were addressed. Townsend shows no indication that she has listened to the Church's teachings on these topics, though the documents are easily acquired in print or on the Internet.
I recognize the community organizer approach that Townsend commends in this piece. I learned Sol Alinsky style of community organizing as a novice in Chicago when President Obama was a little boy living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Mr. Tom Gaudette, an associate of Sol Alinsky, trained a number of us Jesuits. I was the youngest man in the group, and I was certainly not well developed in the practice of organizing, but I tried my best in COUP - the acronym for Community of United People - on Chicago's near West Side. Most of the folks were African Americans trying to get their public housing projects brought up to city codes; I especially made contact with the Mexican community near Racine and Taylor streets, a line of housing between Italian residents and the public housing projects. I was particularly drawn to work with a street gang, which saw a lot of gang fights in the year I worked there. In fact, I eventually had to leave the area after having seen a friend of mine killed: they made him kneel down and shot him through the head; they merely beat me up.
Despite the trauma, I never forgot the lessons I learned about Alinsky's community organizing. The key to starting an organization was to find an issue that united the people. The issue should be small enough to win a victory, but large enough to matter to the folks. Second, after choosing the issue we had to identify an enemy the community could recognize as the personification of the issue. Usually this was some politician or businessman. Third, an action had to be designed by which the people could attack the enemy and force his or her hand on the issue, thereby giving the folks a victory. That would motivate them to take on bigger and more important issues, while the leaders among the people could emerge. This was a means of bringing power to the people.
Townsend certainly understands these tactics, as does President Obama. Notice how she has focused on issues of human sexuality, since these concern the most intimate areas of any person's life. People feel these issues quite strongly, so it would be popular to take them on. Second, she identifies the enemies who personify the problem: the Pope, the bishops and the pro-life activists. She develops the strategy of making popular popes - John Paul II, who motivated Paul VI to promulgate Humani Vitae, which continued the age old Christian rejection of artificial birth control and abortion, and Benedict XVI, whom she portrays as a man sheltered within the Roman Curia who is more concerned with papal power than with love of the people. Her approach reminds me of the battle cries after Humani Vitae: "I don't want the pope in my bedroom." My response is: "You flatter yourself; he does not want to be in there, either. But the pope will insist that God is Lord of the sexual realm, including everyone's bedroom."
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, President Barack Hussein Obama, and a number of others will arise to make the pope and bishops into our enemies. This will be especially important as the politicians begin pushing the end of life and the prevention of life as money saving programs in the health care proposals. Already Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed three hundred million dollars for condoms as a part of this congress' first stimulus bill - a rather odd idea for a bill focused on stimulating the economy. However, her reason was to prevent births as a money saver for the states. That is one of the ways she sees the birth of children. There will be many more proposals for taxpayer funding of abortions and euthanasia, since early infancy and end of life are the most expensive periods in regard to health care. The proposed health care bill in the House of Representatives will require the elderly to consult with their doctors every five years about alternatives to long term care. The doctors may be required to inform the elderly about assisted suicide, or at least the need to refrain from long term, expensive procedures. "Grandma may just need to take a pain pill," President Obama told us in a town meeting recently.
Of course, Kennedy Townsend and Obama want to make the pope and bishops into our enemies. I, however, ask why? Do the politicians fear the Magisterium's authority to teach us the holiness of human sexuality, the sacredness of Matrimony, or the sanctity of the right to life which comes from God our Creator and never from the state? Do they fear the goodness of our popes or the deep joy in Jesus Christ which radiates from their eyes, attracting many people to the Catholic Church? Do they fear a solid Catholic critique of their proposals to use death of the unborn and elderly or the prevention of new life as a solution to their inability to pay for all of the medical care they have promised but cannot deliver without eliminating the most vulnerable people who might need care?
Let us not fall for the Alinsky tricks of letting community organizers set up our enemies. These organizers try to stay in the background, manipulating the folks to go after an enemy. We Catholics will do well to stand shoulder to shoulder with our pope and bishops as we move forward in history to promote life and love, all the way to heaven. Those who sow division between us and our leaders will march to their own chosen destinations.
In Christ Jesus,
In Christ Jesus,
Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.
Thanks to new friends online. And, also an update on Ms. Kennedy which is quite to the point as well.
http://townhall.com/columnists/billoreilly/2012/09/15/losing_your_religion
Thanks to new friends online. And, also an update on Ms. Kennedy which is quite to the point as well.
http://townhall.com/columnists/billoreilly/2012/09/15/losing_your_religion
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