A Repeat of a Bishop's Letter from 2008--We Are Facing Ruin in the States

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 thanks to Catholic Key Blog

http://catholickey.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/bishop-finns-election-eve-homily.html

Bishop Finn's Election Eve Homily

Homily for the Eve of the Election
November 3, 2008 – St. Therese North Parish
Most Reverend Robert W. Finn
Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph

Judges 7:1-22
Revelation 11:19; 12: 1-6, 10.
Matthew 10: 26-33

Dear friends,

Over the next 24 hours, millions of Americans will go to the polls throughout our country to cast ballots for the leaders of our nation, state, and community. We will make decisions about amendments and propositions. This is a wonderful process and privilege of citizenship in a country that values the ideal of freedom.

But let us have no doubt about this: through this process we are more than participants in a democratic process. We are becoming participants in life and death. The candidates we choose do not arise merely on their own. We place them in office.

Clearly, all these leaders are imperfect men and women like ourselves. They will make decisions day by day, and many of the circumstances of war and domestic work are not able to be known until they happen. Nonetheless, when they tell us specifically what they will do and we are therefore able to foresee some of the likely consequences of their leadership we share in the responsibility of their acts. In this sense an election is about even more than physical life and death. It is also about your eternal salvation and mine. This is the first reason to pray. Pray that we will take seriously – that every other voter will take seriously – the meaning of our choices. In a country where we have made choice an absolute, we must remember that underlying every choice is a value; that flowing from every choice is a consequence; that we must give an accounting to God for what we decide.

Our Lord instructs us in the Gospel we have heard, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.” The enormity of this election is founded, in part, on the radical determination of some who would lead our country deeper than ever before into the darkness of the culture of death. This is a path that would certainly mean the death of countless more innocent lives. As shepherd of this Diocese I am also deeply saddened by the prospect of the cost in people’s souls, the souls of those who would place a candidate’s promise of economic prosperity above the life of the most innocent of our brothers and sisters.

Most perilous is the fate of those Catholics who, with hardened hearts, decide to create for themselves, and preach to others, a false gospel that the “right” to an abortion must not be challenged, or that the humanity of the child need not be protected.

Most fraudulent are those Catholic leaders, or alliances of Catholics, that insist that the radically evil injustice of abortion need not be directly opposed, but rather, that somehow solving the dilemma of the poor in a sweeping act of charity will cause the foundation of this monstrous crime to crumble.

Why is this so terribly amiss? Because the foundation and cause of abortion is not poverty but a blind disregard for personal responsibility, a heinous denial and disrespect for human life, and an idolatrous worship of personal convenience. This is why even in the wealthy countries of Scandinavia the highest rates of abortions are followed by rampant euthanasia.

Friends, the poor do not hate their children any more or less than the rich. The poison of which abortion is the most dreadful manifestation is the sinful suffocation of selfishness, and it can and does affect all strata of society. Woe to those, particularly Catholics, who dare to try to convince us that their “choice” of a radically pro-abortion leader is within the parameters of conscience. God have mercy on those who exude freely this salve for their partisan cooperators. I fear that they will bear a greater responsibility than most. Against them will come not only the cry of millions of human lives savagely destroyed, but the souls of those they have sucked down with themselves. This is the very definition of scandal, and the reason that so many have spoken out with such urgency to announce the authentic teaching of the Church.

Part of the damage we have been promised is encapsulated in the Freedom of Choice Act, which has been held at bay the last eight years. When all the reasonable limits on abortion, gained in the last 35 years have been summarily swept away: parental notification, waiting periods, counseling and informed consent, the number of those killed will grow by more than 100,000 a year.

The Freedom of Choice Act will mark the beginning of a great persecution against religious liberty, because it will require tax payer money to be used for abortions. You and I will be faced with this legal trial: whether we should pay our taxes making us participants in the slaughter of Innocents or be liable for jail and fines.

And what of our Catholic hospitals? If we are forced to provide such destructive services under the Freedom of Choice Act, we will have to refuse. Catholic health care workers, and other men and women of good conscience, will risk losing their jobs when their conscience exception is lost and they are pressured to participate. I read a letter recently in our daily paper: The man said, “If you don’t want an abortion. Don’t have one.” Under a regime of such change, you and I will not have such an easy choice. By paying, it will become “our abortion.” Lord, have mercy on us, and on our country.

In the light of these clear and present dangers, I chose tonight’s Gospel, in part, because four times it tells us, “Don’t be afraid!” Let us not be afraid, dear flock. You are worth so much to God; more than sparrows, more than an election, more than any man can measure. Our first goal is this: we must get through tomorrow with our eternal souls intact. We know that God will take care of the rest.

A week ago, I wrote our diocese a letter hoping that it would be heard by all as a necessary call to prayer. Many of our pastors read it to their people. Some, I am sure, suffered a bit from doing so. Thank you, dear brave priests.

I also know that it wasn’t heard by all. Let us not be too hard on those who, for fear or even disagreement, have shrunk back even from the call to pray! It takes time for us to learn to carry our burdens, our obedience, our responsibility. I want you all to pray that – at the hour of greatest need – none will step back from the sacrifice that makes us most like Jesus Christ.

In the first reading, God tells Gideon that He is going to win a great victory. So that Gideon and the People of Israel don’t get too big a head, God determines to go against the hundreds of thousands of the enemy with only three hundred men. He even proceeds to choose those who are perhaps the least sophisticated of all, “those who lap up their water like dogs.” God certainly doesn’t pull any punches!

St. Paul says something similar when he announces that God chooses those whom the world considers foolish to shame the wise. (1 Cor 1:27) Dear friends, there is hope for us! God can use us – few and unsophisticated as we are to win the victory of life. God can choose “the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something.” (1 Cor 1: 28)

I pray this reading from about Gideon’s lopsided battle will remind God and us of the kind of victory He can win for His people. May He grant us this same mercy these days, all in accord with His will and plan; all for the glory of His name; all for the protection of human life.

In the second reading we have the image of Mary, the Woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and the crown of stars on her head. Mary, we cry out to you, O Mother of life, O Empress of America, O Star of the New Evangelization, O Immaculate patroness of our Diocese and our country: Gather us under the mantel of your maternal love. Mary, Lady of the Rosary whom we have invoked so often, particularly in the last month, “Pray for us sinners!” You, O Queen and our Mother, “despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever-glorious and blessed Virgin.

Dear friends, over the next 24 hours, millions of Americans will go to the polls throughout our country to cast ballots for the leaders of our nation, state, and community. We are called to be participants in life and death. May God guide us to choose life. May He make us his fearless apostles, and use us to construct a civilization of life and love.

Protectors, predators, and peter pans--a five post day

This is a five post day, so scroll down for all the goodies. Before I move on to something else, I have been thinking of raising Catholic boys to be men again, as I consider working in schools again as a substitute teacher. I always end up teaching boys....hmm. I teach boys to be men.

There are three categories of men: Protectors, Predators and Peter Pans. Now, young boys learn to be one of these types. I want to write about this from my own experience in teaching, observing and being in Confirmation prep, which, interestingly enough, allows one to watch the maturation or not of young people becoming responsible about their spiritual lives.


That phrase "becoming responsible" is the key and what every good Catholic mum wants her boys and girls to be. We raise children to become independent, responsible, with properly formed consciences and so on.


Sanctifying grace informs the virtues given through baptism, but these virtues must be accepted, trained, practiced, as in sailing a boat or being an accomplished painter. One can have gifts one never uses. Let me outline the three men types, starting with the best.


The Protector is the man who realizes that one of his responsibilities in life as a man is to protect a wife and family, or, in extension, as with a monk, a community, or a parish priest, a parish, or as a bishop, an entire diocese. 

The Protector learns to live the virtues, given to him by God through the sacraments. He embraces his role in the world as a protector, being full of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as counsel, knowledge, wisdom,piety and the four cardinal or moral virtues, fortitude, temperance, prudence and justice. Such virtues as perseverance or fortitude, and temperance are necessary daily habits, as well as the others. Of course, the first three Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, are a given. The Protector lives the virtuous life and teaches those around him to do likewise. The man who is a Protector also knows that he must be the wage-earner, the provider, the champion of the weak and helpless.


The Predator is a narcissist who only thinks of his own pleasure and needs. He looks on women and even other men totally from his viewpoint of what he can gain from these victims, or objects. The Predator is a sexual or military aggressor. So many women do not recognize the traits-bullying is one of the most obvious.But other Predator traits include selfishness, deceit, and a lack of self-mastery.


The Peter Pan has not grown up and lives either in the malaise of victim-hood (see my January post) or in the false security of irresponsible childhood. This type of man never grows up, wants to be taken care of and does not want children or any stake in the world, of which he is afraid. Frequently, the PP only engages in self-sex, that is masturbation, a sign of his immaturity and selfishness.

Catholic parents build character in their children at home. This is one of our primary duties. We look for the opportunities to instill personal responsibility and success. We watch for the signs of maturation. We try and help the male persons in our families grow into Protectors, rather than Predators and Peter Pans. When a good father is eyeing the young men who come to date his girls, he should be able to tell immediately whether the young or not-so-young men are Protectors, Predators, or Peter Pans.


Many women have not found a Protector. These men, real men, are rare indeed, as society has preferred to nurture Predators and Peter Pans, who are politically more pliable. Only Protectors live the Catholic virtues. I pray for my sisters in Christ who, sadly, have not been married or had children, or who are lonely in this big, bad world for the lack of Protectors. Many of us go directly to God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit for our Protection. 


I think of St. Joseph. He was the Protector par excellence. Many other saints show that they were Protectors. I think of Blessed Louis Martin, St. and King Henry, St. Thomas More, and even unmarried Protectors, such as St. Pius IX, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Philip Neri. St. Damien of Molokai, and many others.There is a saying going around the Net:

Real Men do not love the most beautiful women in the world. A real man loves the woman who can make his world beautiful...that is the attitude of a Protector.


St. Paul said, Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it- see 5:25-in the Letter to the Ephesians. 


Bishop Jenky is a Protector. Those monks above are Protectors. The Catholic Men in England in the 1950s are Protectors. St. Joseph is the Protector. Do you know a Protector? Sisters, pray for at least one in your life, and if you find him, love and cherish him. He is one of a rare breed.

Sharing the Attack on Tolerance Video with My Friends

Pass it on, please...

Trivia Quiz Winner and Second Winner Update!

Bls. Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi, who were beatified October 2001, is the correct answer, and Anita won the Trivia Quiz. No prize, except three Hail Marys, however.....Good one, Anita.

Ah, in all fairness, Anonymous came up with SS. Cecily and Valerian, who were indeed martyred husband and wife in 320 A.D. . I think this merits another winning combo. Anita shares the Three Hail Marys with Anonymous. I hope there are no more answers, as I need to say all the Hail Marys......six and I haven't finished my rosary today.

As Europe sinks in a sea of red ink, I am reminded of Camelot

I am reminded of a scene in Camelot, which is very sad, as Guinevere and Arthur have a moment of honesty and pathos in the midst of Guinevere's sinful life with Lancelot. The scene reveals a love, which if embraced by Guinevere, could have rescued her life and that cohesion of the Round Table. I saw Camelot on stage and to me, this scene was a key to the understanding of the difference between real love and sexual passion. Passion and greed have ruined Europe, as have other irrational movements of men and women, who, like Guinevere only care about their own lives and not the lives of the community, the whole. Like Guinevere, who did not control her passions and who let her private satisfaction ruin the Kingdom, we are facing a generation of selfishness and narcissism ruin nations. The lesson is the same over hundreds of years-personal sin brings disaster. A community, a church, a nation, a state, a continental government cannot stand without sacrifice of personal interests.

What do the simple folk doTo help them escape when they're blue?The shepherd who is ailing, the milkmaid who is glumThe cobbler who is wailing from nailing his thumb
When they're beset and besiegedThe folk not noblessly obligedHowever do they manage to shed their weary lot?Oh, what do simple folk do, we do not?
I have been informed by those who know them wellThey find relief in quite a clever wayWhen they're sorely pressed, they whistle for a spellAnd whistling seems to brighten up their day
And that's what simple folk do, so they sayThey just whistle?

What else do the simple folk doTo pluck up the heart and get through?The wee folk and the grown folkWho wander to and fro
Have ways known to their own folkWe throne folk don't knowWhen all the doldrums beginWhat keeps each of them in his skin?
What ancient native customProvides the needed glow?

Oh, what do simple folk do?, Do you know?
Once, upon the road, I came upon a ladSinging in a voice three times his sizeWhen I asked him why, he told me he was sadAnd singing always made his spirits rise
So that's what simple folk do, I surmise
Arise my love, arise my loveApollo's lighting the skies, my loveThe meadows shine with columbineAnd daffodils blossom away
Hear Venus call to one and allCome taste delight while you mayThe world is bright and all is rightAnd life is merry and gay
What else do the simple folk do?They must have a system or twoThey obviously outshine us at turning tears to mirthHave tricks a royal highness is minus from birth
What, then, I wonder, do theyTo chase all the goblins away?They have some tribal sorcery you haven't mentioned yetOh, what do simple folk do to forget?
Often, I am told, they dance a fiery danceAnd whirl 'till they're completely uncontrolledSoon the mind is blank and all are in a tranceA violent trance astounding to behold

And that's what simple folk do, so I'm told

Really? I have it on the best authority

LifeSiteNews, Steubenville, and the Pope on Catholic Universities-two stories

LifeSiteNews online has the story of the catastrophe of Catholic insurance coverage being forced to shut because of the Obamacare stand.


The Franciscan University of Steubenville announced it will not furnish students with health care coverage effective this fall, specifically citing the HHS mandate as the reason.

“The Obama Administration has mandated that all health insurance plans must cover ‘women’s health services’ including contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing medications as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),” a statement posted on its website states. “Up to this time, Franciscan University has specifically excluded these services and products from its student health insurance policy, and we will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life.

“Due to these changes in regulation by the federal government, beginning with the 2012-13 school year, the University 1) will no longer require that all full-time undergraduate students carry health insurance, 2) will no longer offer a student health insurance plan, and 3) will no longer bill those not covered under a parent/guardian plan or personal plan for student health insurance.”

The rising premiums that attend a greater government role in health care were another reason for the cancellation. “Additionally, the PPACA increased the mandated maximum coverage amount for student policies to $100,000 for the 2012-13 school year, which would effectively double your premium cost for the policy in fall 2012, with the expectation of further increases in the future,” the statement said.

The college located in eastern Ohio, which is ranked one of the best private college values by Kiplinger, noted its current student health insurance plan will expire on August 15th

See article for more.

And, remember,last week, there was a story on the Pope's call to clean up American universities which are not being Catholic? If you missed it, here is a snippet from the article.

ROME, May 11, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Against a backdrop of institutionalized opposition to Catholic teaching in much of American Catholic academia, Pope Benedict XVI has told visiting U.S. bishops that Catholic colleges need to return to being a bastion of orthodoxy against an increasingly hostile and aggressive secular world.
While improvements have been made, Pope Benedict said, “much remains to be done,” particularly in “such basic areas” as compliance with Canon 812 of the Code of Canon Law. That section mandates that theology professors at Catholic universities be faithful to the teaching of the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI

Canon 218 says, “Those who are engaged in the sacred disciplines enjoy a lawful freedom of inquiry and of prudently expressing their opinions on matters in which they have expertise, while observing due respect for the magisterium of the Church.”
This lack of progress, the pope said, has created confusion by “instances of apparent dissidence” between academics and the bishops. “Such discord harms the Church’s witness and, as experience has shown, can easily be exploited to compromise her authority and her freedom.”
The issue of religious freedom is at the top of the American bishops’ agenda at the moment, in the midst of their fight against the Obama administration’s attempt to mandate coverage of artificial birth control by Catholic institutions. Even as the U.S. bishops have fought the Obama mandate, prominent Catholic organizations have expressed their support, undercutting the efforts of the bishops. Most recently Georgetown University, a Catholic Jesuit university, invited Kathleen Sebelius, who as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was the architect of the birth control mandate, as a commencement speaker.
The pope called the need to reform Catholic academia the “most urgent internal challenge facing the Catholic community” in the U.S.
“Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus.
“All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to reappropriate their faith,” Benedict continued.


More on link above.

Prayer for the Success of the SSPX and Vatican Talks

I and many others have been praying for the success of the SSPX talks in Rome. Some of us have been praying to the Holy Spirit. May I share this prayer today.

Come, O Divine Spirit, fill my heart with Your heavenly fruits, Your charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, faith, mildness, and temperance, that I may never weary in the service of God, but by continued faithful submission to Your inspiration may merit to be united eternally with You in the love of the Father and the Son, Amen. Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us. St. Peter, pray for us. St. Benedict, pray for us. St. Pius X, pray for us.

Trivia quiz answers?

Not an answer to the trivia quiz yesterday is the couple SS. Isidore the Farmer and his wife, Maria de la Cabeza. The question has to do with married people being beatified together... and these two were not. I am open to other alternatives. One reader suggested SS. Henry and Cunegunda, or Kunigunde, who I have mentioned on this blog before, as patrons of Luxembourg, from which came 50% of my family members.

The first mentioned farming couple makes up two of the patrons of Madrid, which needs all the help it can get as a city today.

Their feast day was yesterday, May 15th, in some places...SS. Henry and Cunegunda have different feast days, July 13th and March 3rd. More input from readers?

Astounding Idea from Bloomberg Editorial-The Religious Right Helped American Investments Compared to Other Places--the Result of Roe v. Wade

I am not going to quote the entire article and here is the link, but an interesting and credible take on the horror of Roe v. Wade as organizing the Christian Right in the States has led this author to an interesting conclusion. I think this is worthy of debate and comment. One must not fall into cynicism, but Roe v. Wade took many of us by surprise and many Catholics were, well, sleeping politically. One may or may not agree with Edward Conard, but the ideas are stimulating and may point to what needs to happen in November, 2012--the marriage of convenience noted here. Of course, those of us who pay attention must add to this argument that the Democratic Party, since the 1999 platform, has officially been the party of death-pro-abortion and women's reproductive rights. Just look online at the platform and follow the history.

Why does the U.S. have lower labor redeployment costs, more open trade borders, lower marginal tax rates and, ultimately, more tolerance for unequal distribution of income?

By the random dint of history, the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade of 1973 brought pro-investment voters to power in the U.S. The faction of pro-investment voters, representing about 35 percent of the electorate, combined with enough of the now-mobilized social conservatives -- principally the members of the Christian Right, who vote Republican and represent 15 percent of the electorate -- to seize the majority and permanently shift the political economic center to the right.

A similar shift in political power didn’t occur in Europe and Japan, and pro-labor, anti-investment majorities continued to control those economies. These majorities increased labor- redeployment costs and closed trade borders to slow the need for redeploying labor; supported unionism by strengthening trade barriers; failed to lower marginal tax rates as much as the U.S.; and discouraged unequal distribution of income and wealth.

The U.S. differs from Europe and Japan in four ways. Europe and Japan have parliamentary democracies where parties are represented in proportion to their share of the vote. In the U.S., it’s a winner takes all, two-party system and that makes it easier for a large minority of voters -- in this case, pro- investment tax cutters -- to join forces with another large minority of voters -- the Christian Right -- to seize power.

Roe might have had a minimal effect on U.S. politics were it not for the fact that Christian fundamentalists are a large enough portion of the country’s population to affect the outcome of an election. About 25 percent of U.S. voters identify themselves as evangelical Christians. Prior to Roe v. Wade, three-fifths of evangelical Christian voters were Democrats, and two-fifths were Republicans.

Reagan Embrace

When Ronald Reagan endorsed the pro-life movement, these proportions reversed. Reagan combined the Christian Right with the pro-investment tax cutters to create a majority. Pro- investment tax cutters maintained control of the party, selecting fiscally conservative, but socially moderate, presidential candidates such as John McCain, George W. Bush, Bob Dole,George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford.

The fact that conservative Southern Democrats controlled political power throughout the southeastern U.S. amplified Roe’s political impact. As conservative pro-life voters defected to the Republican Party because of the ruling, it became increasingly difficult for fiscally conservative Southern Democrats to win elections as Democrats. Over time, these conservative Southern Democrats changed sides, gradually shifting political power to Republicans.

Most voters don’t realize that Roe does more than legalize abortion. It legalizes controversial third-trimester abortions in certain cases and takes away the electorate’s right to vote on this issue by making the late procedures a judicial right rather than a legislative decision. Third-term abortions are illegal throughout most of the democratic world. Their legalization by Roe, even if few women chose to have them, made opposition to the ruling more tolerable to pro-choice moderates.

The court’s denial of the electorate’s right to vote on an issue where both sides have legitimate points of view -- the majority of Americans opposes third-term abortions -- further increased the tolerance for opposition to Roe by pro-choice moderates. The denial of the other side’s right to vote -- because one fears the possible outcome of that vote -- is difficult for many to swallow when they acknowledge the reasonableness of the other side’s position.

The stance of pro-investment Republicans adds to this tolerance of pro-choice voters toward their position. Pro- investment Republicans oppose outlawing abortions by shrewdly arguing that the decision should be legislative, not judicial. Studies by the Pew Research Center show that more than half the voters support Roe, and only a quarter supports a ban on all abortions. If put to a vote, support among voters for first- and second-term abortions would assure legalization in all but a handful of states. If Roe remains as a judicial matter, it is far more likely that courts will outlaw abortions.........

Capturing an additional 10 percent to 15 percent of the electorate at the center likely demands at least a 10-point increase in the marginal tax rate -- probably significantly more. Ironically, the defection of these pro-investment tax cutters to the left increases the clout of social conservatives within the pro-investment coalition -- exactly the opposite of their objective.

This permanent shift in the center to the pro-investment right had a significant effect on U.S. economic policy. Americans remember the Reagan administration using its alliance with the Christian Right to cut marginal tax rates, tame inflation, and deregulate numerous industries, including trucking, telecommunications and airlines.

Less recognized is the administration’s profound effect on labor polices and private-sector unions. By deregulating industries and leaving trade borders open to international competition, Reagan put enormous pressure on heavily unionized industries, like trucking, airlines, steel and automobile manufacturing. He fired air-traffic controllers and replaced them with non-unionized workers, symbolically signaling to business leaders that he expected them to take a more aggressive stance toward unions. His ally, Margaret Thatcher, did the same thing in the U.K., enduring a long strike to weaken the coal miners’ union......

Democratic lawmakers and their public-union supporters recognize that consumers (voters) ultimately bear the increased cost of private-sector unions, closed trade borders, and the restriction on trade necessary to maintain them. They result in higher prices, slower growth, and less employment. Why would public-sector unions bite the hand that feeds them? Unlike private-sector unions, they have not pushed for these inefficiencies.


Also, update on Greek banks.....

Recommended article by Buchanan, one of my heroes

http://buchanan.org/blog/the-antietam-of-the-culture-war-5074?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PatrickBuchanan+%28Pat+Buchanan+Update%29

A Switch in Attitude

Many prophetic writers, including Christopher Dawson and Hilaire Belloc told us over 80 years ago of the now-obvious trials of Christians in the world. One of the great insights of Belloc was the rise of militant, jihadist Islam. Another prophecy from the 1920s was the spread of socialism interfering with education and the family as the unit of society. Yet another far-reaching view was Robert Hugh Benson's excellent book Lord of the World, mentioned before on this blog and written in, wow, 1907.

Pay attention, as the man or woman who will supposedly bring peace to a world in chaos by himself, on his own, without recourse to Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, will be the false prophet. Some will call him one of the many anti-Christs, who is anyone, from Antiochus, to Augustus, to Nero, to Stalin and Mao who have hated the Church and Her Members.

Pay attention to false promises of world order. The Prince of the World is not Christ, but he who said  "I shall not serve". We need a change of attitude.

Now, we must work very hard for political freedom, religious rights, and the freedom of the Church to be in the world as a power, the physical institution created by Christ. As I pointed out this weekend, passivity and quietism of any types are heresies. However, we need a change of attitude.

We need to see ourselves increasingly marginalized and under siege, not in order to become paranoid, but to be "intelligent" and using our brains. Catholics MUST become more techy, using the Internet, twitter, and all the social networking while we can. This is a necessity. Secondly, we must make our local communities strong and loving. This means real community, day to day living with and bearing with our brothers and sisters in Christ, not merely being Sunday Catholics. Sunday Catholics will not survive the onslaught of marginalization and persecution.

Those in America who have said it can't happen here, or Catholics in England, who have forgotten their own Recusant History, need to wake up.

The world, in my lifetime, will never be the same and will never be a haven of peace and goodwill towards religion. The only religion will be the religion which worships the State. We are entering the Age of the Martyrs. We need to be open and prepared to make choices for God and His Church.

A Rose for My Readers

As I am thinking of St. Therese and her family today, praying for their intercession, I thought I would write about my favorite rose. I love the blue rose. Some of you may have noticed this. There is only one natural, albeit, formed by man, blue rose, the Applause, seen here  which was developed in Japan, and finally on sale last November in America. It is really lavender but considered blue. Lavender is the color of romance and love, but the blue rose has many, varied meanings.

I love this rose, and also those which are made to be dark blue. However, the dark blue rose has mysterious origins, as some historians state that there was such a rose in the Medieval Period in the Far East.

I repeat an ancient love tale of a princess who could not decide whom to marry. She decided that whosoever would bring her a blue rose would be her husband. The first man to come was a king, who had a rose made out of sapphire. The young princess saw this as hard and cold, and believed it revealed his cold and hard heart, that he wanted to marry her only for her riches. She said no.

A nobleman came with a rose which has been dyed through its stem, and the young woman saw this as deceitful, like the heart of the man who gave it to her. She said no.

Another prince had a fragile, porcelain bowl made with a rose embellished on the side of it, an intricate blue rose. This was not real, and the princess saw that his love was not real, but that he only wanted power and status, not her love.

Finally, the young gardener of the palace, a young man who had been the friend and confidant of this princess all her life, brought her a white rose. He came into the palace room where the court waited and held the rose up to a blue glass window. The sun's rays made the white rose blue, and the princess discovered her true heart was his heart-simplicity and truth, nature and beauty. She and the gardener were married and lived happily ever after. As there was no blue rose, only those with the eyes of love could find one.

But, now, there is Applause, and those dark blue ones which are made by humans. The blue rose represents mystery, desiring the unattainable, spirituality, adventure, and love at first sight. May St. Therese give you a rose today of any color. St. Therese, pray for us.

For the Intercession of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin

Some families have been traumatized lately. Some for financial reasons, and some for reasons of the heart, such as grief in deaths, illnesses, or brokenness in marriages. Today, I also think of the many post-abortive women, who have covered up their sin and grief, and pretended all their lives as if nothing has happened when they aborted their babies.

I think that Louis and Zelie Martin would be good patrons for all the families who are experiencing a terrible time. I think of all the babies they lost through illness. Zelie may be a good intercessor for post-abortive women.

Louis and Zelie are two favorite blesseds of mine, and secondary patrons of this blog along with many others, including their great daughter, St. Therese the Little Flower. On October 19th, 2008, the Martins were only the second married couple to be beatified together in the long history of the Church. (Trivia quiz: who were the first?)

Throughout hard times, this married couple not only exhibited heroic virtue, but raised saints, and grew in holiness. I pray for all men and women who want to be saints and for all families today in these hard times. Louis and Zelie Martin, pray for us. Please pray for all women who have had abortions. Pray for our nations, and especially France and England.

Prayer for the Canonisation of Louis and Zélie Martin and to obtain favours through their intercession: 

God Our Father,  thank You for having given us Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Therese. United and faithful in marriage, they have left us an example of Christain living and evangelical virtue. In raising a large family through trials, suffering and bereavement, they put their trust in You and always sought Your will.

Deign, Lord, to make known Your will in their regard and grant the favour I ask, in the hope that the father and mother of St. Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, may soon be canonised and thereby held up to the Universal  Church as  models for the families of our time. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen

(Here  mention your request)

ekathimerini.com and Europe This Morning

An exit from Greece will cause Europe to lose 400 billion Euros.  Check out this link....Watch Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and even British banks are down today. Time for prayer. Germany is talking about "re-patriozing the banks." Nice, and that could have been done last year much more cheaply for all involved....

Some Comments on Bishop Morlino, Gingrich, Wisconsin, and the USCCB

"This administration is giving us no choice." Newt Gingrich had an exclusive interview on EWTN in which he confronted the fact that if Obama is re-elected, there is a real chance of the Church being persecuted. The USCCB will meet this summer on religious freedom and the Church, and Gingrich pointed out that this meeting will be extremely important. I was watching this today and the Republican was very clear on the goodness of the Paul Ryan budget, which has passed the House, and which has been maligned by the still socialist bent of the USCCB, who do not seem to understand the difference between sensible cut backs and caring for the poor. The USCCB must move away from a socialist mind-set regarding the Bloated State. This, sadly, is the result of years of socialist influence in that bishops' group. Bishop Morlino followed and the subject of the budget came up. Now, I have followed Paul Ryan and his career for years, having lived in Wisconsin. I have heard him in person at a conference. Paul Ryan does stay in touch with Bishop Morlino and the Bishop said that he trusts Paul Ryan "as a lay leader, to make his own judgments in a sound way... and very much in accord with the Catholic Church."


Bishop Morlino stated that the Church is not looking for issues to which to respond, but that the USCCB is trying to respond to these issues. He stated that religious freedom must and most likely will get top priority.

Bishop Robert Morlino had an excellent interview on the problem with the parish in Wisconsin, which is not the subject of this posting, but I recommend that interview, which also covered the Georgetown debacle with Sibelius, and the Catholic VPs stand on civil unions. The Bishop is an excellent leader.  The reference to the misunderstandings of Vatican II was clear as Bishop Morlino backed up Pope Benedict XVI's call to go back to orthodox Catholic teachings. Bishop Morlino is one of the best spokesman for Catholic teaching. God bless him.

Also, there is another link, a separate, but interesting subject--Rev. Wright.

Greekeconomics from a Catholic Point of View

The Greek political leaders did not form a government yesterday through talks about the economy. From a Catholic point of view, several problems arise. First, a first historical points.

One, Greece has never had a large industrial base, but the people expect to live with a status of living like those countries, such as Germany, which still do. The country has relied on the service industry, like many other warm countries, and it has relied on loans.

Two, Greece is the only country to have not paid back any money after the Marshall Plan. This means that Greece has some sort of modern history in not paying back debts to other countries. So, the idea of not paying back debt is not new.

Three, Greece has not, according the an expert on the Bloomberg Report, had property taxes. This is amazing. As one who has paid property taxes for the benefit of an entire community, my city, I find this almost unbelievable.

Four, Greece is experiencing a lack of creative leadership. This is obvious.

Five, the far-left parties, some of whom broke out of Eurocommunism, still hold communist ideals and really do not care if traditional capitalist forms of economy fail

What has this to do with Catholicism? Catholic social teaching has been based on the ideas of personal responsibility and inequality. Now, both of these ideas are missing from discussions in Greece. Pensioners do not want their pensions cut. This is understandable, but pensioners have taken cuts in other countries as well, including the States. My aged parents have taken cuts. We are not rioting in the streets, except in Wisconsin.

The idea of cut-backs causes pain and pain is part of life. My life-style is not a "high" as it was before the global economic crises around the world. Some of my friends have lost much money and had to down-size. Some people are not eating as much. Many of my friends in the States do not buy new clothes, but go to second-hand shops. Some have cut out vacations. I find that many Europeans refuse to consider these options, which are obvious to me.

The entire world is facing problems and to point to one group as if they are the only ones suffering is nonsense. The Greeks are very provincial in their outlook. They do not seem to me to be "Europeans" in the sense of wanting to identify with European values. What are these values, fast disappearing?

Catholic ones. The birth-rate of Greece is one of the lowest in the world. Out of 221 countries, Greece is 205, on a 2012 chart. The youth have not been able to take over their responsibility for taking over the infrastructure as necessary and, perhaps, the real leaders never saw the light of day through contraception, abortion. This is never discussed.

Catholic values include seeing the good of suffering. This idea is missing from modern Greece. Those who want austerity are fighting those who do not. Ireland, to the credit of the government, took bail-out money, but are meeting austerity measure guidelines. A lack of country-based industry or technological jobs, plus birth-control, plus the entitlement mentality has created a group who expect to get without work. I am astounded by those who were occupying and demonstrating on the weekend. All of them were dressed better than most, had jewelry, cell phones, nice hair, etc. No one interviewed on European television looked like a street person, or people suffering. Those demonstrating have not suffered enough not to buy middle-class goods.

Catholic values have meaning beyond the economic. Most people no longer define themselves outside of economics. Marx has won the mind battle.

Catholic values create unity, a true humanism, not division in a society. Again, class war-fare is not a Catholic value, but a communist one. Rioting, destroying businesses, breaking into jewelry stores and banks is simply not helpful....

Catholic values regarding social justice are based on the fact that each individual has value and something to do for the larger community. This idea of duty, whether civic duty or duty to the state as a responsible person is missing. In fact, one does not get a sense of a state with citizens who identify with such in Greece. This accounts for all the factions, and all the political parties, which are seriously fragmented. There is no real discussion, as ideologies have dominated all attempts at compromise.

Catholic values mean that merit and hard work are rewarded. This is not socialism. The moral idea of giving opportunity to all, including the poor, is a clue to free enterprise, which must be based on Christianity, which does not create the politics of envy. Free enterprise is about cooperation, not hatred or sloth. Socialism has been condemned by the Church for the reason I have listed on this blog earlier.

And, Greece is not alone. Spain is right behind Greece in the default, leave the euro-zone game. And, my friends in finance tell me that the collapse of Greece is a ripple in the lake, but the collapse of Spain will be a tsunami. Spain has many, and bigger problems than Greece. It is only a matter of time.