This week: From the Susan B. Anthony list…   Welcome to the Bureau of Womanhood Conformity. The Fathers of Mercy: supporting the new evangelism since 1808. A child’s story of survival, born 4 months premature. Candid comments on the abortion business, from a former clinic owner. A whole new market snuffing-out life at the other end – Planned GrandParenthood. The liberal magazine cover craze.

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Welcome to the Bureau of Womanhood Conformity. Independent thoughts are considered subversive. Rule #1: all must agree with Our Leader. Deviations will not be tolerated.

Tell President Obama to respect a woman’s choice to practice her beliefs…   not his. It is not Obama’s opposition who is waging a war on women.

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This is not the first time the Church has had a call for a new evangelism. The Fathers of Mercy were founded in 1808 to fulfill this very purpose. They are still going strong! Stop by their website to learn more about them or visit their YouTube channel for some excellent homilies. For example, there is this one on superficial preaching:

…or this on on the warnings and prophecy of Pope Paul VI in his 1968 masterpiece Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life):

Fallen away Catholics and those interested in the fullness of the Christian faith might be interested in the basics:

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Only 1 pound, 2 ounces and 12 inches long – Ezekiel Cal Lugo was born 4 months early. This beautiful video tells the story:

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Pregnancy services such as abortion protect a woman’s right to choose and make it the “safe, legal and rare” option that it is today. Women’s health, not profit, is the motive. Yea, right.

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Laugh now, but for the culture of death, the implications of this are not at all far-fetched:

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Thanks to a new California law, school students will now receive mandatory indoctrination instruction on the historical contribution of homosexuals. California lawmakers are determined to brainwash teach their young children that which is necessary to become successful adults. Apparently, that does not include things like science. California now ranks 47th in the nation in science at the 8th grade level. Only 22% of California 8th grade students managed to even pass the national standardized test.

Oh, and while California lawmakers are focused on honoring the gay agenda, the state itself is sinking fast. Governor Moonbeam (Jerry Brown) announced the deficit is now $16 billion (up from $9.2 billion in January). Expect drastic cuts and huge tax increases, followed by an exodus of individuals and companies to…   anywhere else.

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Newsweek, irrelevant as ever, pays homage to their candidate. If you have been under a rock, that first cover is real. The others are products of The Looking Spoon and The People’s Cube.

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

Nothing could be further from the facts. Catholics love truth, science reveals truth – ergo, Catholics love science! It is through science that we explore the beauty and richness of God’s ordered and intelligible creation. Science and Catholicism are completely compatible without qualification.

Those without faith will tell you that “the right to look through telescopes and speculate about the result was obstructed by the Church.” Let’s just say that the truth is not in them. J. L. Heilbron (former professor and vice chancellor of UC Berkeley) notes “the Roman Catholic Church gave more financial aid and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, than any other, and, probably, all other, institutions.”

You might be surprised who proposed the theory of the expanding universe (the “big bang”), Hubble’s law and the first estimation of the Hubble constant. It was NOT Edwin Hubble! In fact, it was Georges Lemaître. That is, Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître – a Catholic priest, astronomer and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Leuven.

At this point I had intended to include a list of famous Catholic scientists. Since such a list would be immense, I was thinking a more manageable list would be only Catholic scientists who were priests – similar to Monsignor Lemaître mentioned above. Most people would likely assume such a list to be tiny. Alas, even Wikipedia lists 236 priests who “have made significant contributions to science“.

Of course, there was the Galileo incident – commonly misreported by secularists, anti-Catholics and others against the Church. Even in their misreporting, one can see that the Church and science were not separate. In a nutshell, the issue the Church had with Galileo was that he published as fact that which, at the time (and for many decades later), was an unproven theory. Modern scientists do not accept such behavior either. Galileo also did not win any friends when he jumped far outside of his area of competence to lecture Church authorities publicly on the true meaning of Holy Scripture. To learn more, see this and this.

We still build observatories. Our roots here go back to Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, ultimately resulting in the Observatory of the Roman College (1774), the Observatory of the Capitol (1827) and the Vatican Observatory (1789, refounded 1891 by Pope Leo XIII). In subsequent years more were built, including the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) in Arizona in 1993.

Much of my focus above was on astronomy. The Church has been just as involved in every other field be it physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine and other scientific disciplines.

BTW, guess who invented the University System? It wasn’t the Greeks or Romans, Eastern mystics or even mathematically literate Arabs. It most certainly wasn’t atheists. It was the Catholic Church from centuries before the Renaissance the Catholic Church has built and operated universities throughout the world. Most major universities trace their roots to the Church.

An excellent source of additional information is Thomas Woods’ How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Online, two extensive archives on the Church in science are at the Catholic Education Resource Center and at Catholic Answers. Numerous, well-researched, detailed articles are available from both.

This week: Obama has now “evolved” and is out of the closet on so called “gay marriage.” Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi teach the Catholic faith and explain how it moves them to support unnatural unions. “Occupiers” have been showing their political leanings via their t-shirts. “Hope and Change” has become “Hype and Blame,” so a new slogan has been unveiled. The Copenhagen Philharmonic takes us away from all of this in a flash mob.

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Obama has now “evolved” and is out of the closet. He has given his full support to “gay marriage”. If given the opportunity, he will back that with the full power and might of the federal government. “Gay marriage” is not about discrimination, bigotry or equality. See my earlier piece But how does “gay marriage” hurt you? for a primer. The Manhattan Declaration folks also recommend the following:

• What is Marriage?
• Why I’m Optimistic About Natural Marriage
• Why Is Marriage Important? (video)
• Who Needs Marriage?
• Marriage in Society: The Generation Clash (pps. 47-57)
• What Would Bonhoeffer Do?
• Dennis Prager Debates Perez Hilton on Same-Sex Marriage (video; contains objectionable content)
• Religion, Reason, and Same-Sex Marriage
• A Marriage in Full
• On Marriage and the Moral Limits of Human Sexuality

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Father Joe (Biden) has again been teaching the faith to all who will listen. His lessons span wide ranging topics from abortion to unnatural sexual unions to social teaching. Always interesting and always wrong. His bishop has corrected him before, but can not be on alert 24/7 to counter every statement this guy makes.

Why does he do it? After all, Biden could simply give his support to all these things and his reason for doing so, WITHOUT identifying himself as a Catholic or falsely claiming congruity with Catholic teaching. Answer: to give cover to those who wish to place political interests above God. To those inclined to think of his “teaching” as giving “plausible deniability,” remember that God knows your heart.

Father Z does a great job as always commenting on a Life News piece in his: Joe Biden: Theologian!.

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Nancy Pelosi has added her own colorful comments, explaining that her Catholic faith “compels” her …[to be]…   for same-sex marriage.

Biden and Pelosi both are speaking loudly and proudly for the Catholic faith. This is not ignorance, given that they have been clearly told of their error. Access to any Catholic Catechism or faithful Catholic would also have quickly cleared up any misunderstanding. This is continuing, purposeful scandal to mislead the faithful and general public.

Father Z also covers this well, commenting on a CNSNews piece in his: Nancy Pelosi, Doctrix of the Church, cites Theologian Obama and calls evil “good”.

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Are they simply stupid or historical ignorant? The “occupiers” have a strong affinity for communist icons as evidenced by the popularity of t-shirt images. Then again, it may simply be a proclamation of their politics:

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Obama’s last campaign slogan was “Hope and Change.” As president, this has morphed into “Hype and Blame,” fundamentally transforming America away from Christianity into something we do not want and from which recovery will be difficult.

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Obama officially announced his presidential reelection campaign last week on Karl Marx’s birthday. His new, official campaign slogan was also announced – Forward. “Forward” has long been a rallying cry for Marxist propaganda as explained by The Washington Times. See their piece: New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism. Really, comrade.

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Too much depressing political news this week. For something much lighter and uplifting – the Copenhagen Philharmonic participate in a flash mob:

The music (Grieg’s Peer Gynt) was performed and recorded on the subway. The Danish metro is very quiet. They used 3 camera mounted mics, two microports glued to the ceiling and one stereo mic in the middle of everything. Spotted by Deacon Greg.

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler to address this blogging need, but is guest hosted this week by Hallie Lord at Betty Beguiles. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen (and Hallie) for hosting this project!

Just this morning I was lamenting with friends the complete loss of truthful, unbiased news reporting. In place of practicing journalism, mainstream media unabashedly seeks to leverage their power position to gain political and social goals.

A frequent thorn in their side is the Catholic Church. Sometimes I feel like we have absolutely no voice in society, but when I consider the unceasing, slanderous statements made against us – maybe truth does threaten the media. People of good will should look critically at media bias. They make little effort to hide it any longer.

The Catholic League regularly reports on the duplicity of the media. Yesterday was typical…   they reported on two very frequent offenders — The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on editorials that appear today in the New York Times and Washington Post:

Both of these newspapers misstate the facts, fail to mention relevant data, and then make unfair accusations against the Catholic Church on the issue of sexual abuse.

Both newspapers today editorialize on the subject of “pedophile priests.” It is one of the biggest myths of our time that the Catholic Church has had a problem with pedophile priests: as the John Jay College for Criminal Justice showed in its 2011 report on this subject, less than 5 percent of the abusers were pedophiles. In almost all cases, the victims were adolescent males who were inappropriately touched by homosexual priests. Both newspapers cover this up, thus perpetuating a lie.

Today’s New York Times criticizes Timothy Cardinal Dolan for opposing legislation by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey which would lift the statute of limitations for one year on civil lawsuits involving the sexual abuse of a minor. Once again, we have a cover-up: what the editorial does not say is that this bill does not apply to the public schools.

Today’s Washington Post adds to the cover-up by pretending that the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is a legitimate organization that is being harassed by the Church. But anyone who has read the report we issued last year on inside information that was obtained from a SNAP conference knows that it is driven by raw hatred of Catholicism and intentionally manipulates the media. Also, the deposition from earlier this year of SNAP’s leader shows beyond a doubt that he lies to the media, and that he counsels alleged victims without a license in a coffee house.

Moreover, 85 Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn have recently been arrested for the sexual abuse of minors and yet neither newspaper reports on this.

Nothing unusual. The same stuff every day. If you keep repeating lies again and again, do people eventually believe you?

Another good example is media sensitivity to outrageous statements. Remember the Georgetown University student who could not afford contraception? Her apparent sexual activity level is so high (based upon her staggering contraceptive bill) that Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut.” I don’t like Rush Limbaugh and it was offensive for him to call her that. However, it was her choice to publicly testify to her high level of sexual “protection” needs. His comment did not seem like a big deal to me. The liberal media went wild.

OK. Clearly the media is sensitive to name calling. You would think then that they would report on and vigorously condemn another (liberal in this case) radio talk show host who referred to Christ’s Church and his Vicar as “you child-raping sons of bitches in the Catholic Church, I am so sick of all of you – especially your priests and your bishops and your scum, the Nazi Pope.” Absolute silence. No outrage. No condemnations.

NewsBusters (tagline: exposing & combating liberal media bias) did cover it:

Liberal radio hosts were furious with the Catholic League for mocking Hillary Rosen after she attacked Ann Romney for not working. Their tweet said “Unlike Rosen, who had to adopt kids, Ann raised 5 of her own.” This was seen by liberals as signaling Rosen’s children adopted with former partner Elizabeth Birch were “less valid, less worthy of respect” and homophobic.

On Friday, Bill Press confused the Catholic League with the nation’s bishops (they are not connected), but on Thursday, rabid atheist Mike Malloy was nudged into erupting about “child-raping” Catholics and their scummy “Nazi pope”:

MALLOY: And the Catholic League – that piece of human waste Bill Donohue – then twitted or tweeted or tweaked – ‘glad to know Hilary’s fans are in a state of apoplexy – you’d think she was outed by their hysterical reaction. Get over it and grow up! You child-raping sons of bitches in the Catholic Church, I am so sick of all of you – especially your priests and your bishops and your scum, the Nazi Pope, I am so sick of all of you. And this Donohue freak — wow.

He then circled around to attacking Mrs. Romney:

MALLOY: She has never worked a damn day in her life. She has not a clue. When’s the last time Ann Romney cleaned a toilet? When’s the last time Ann Romney had to catch a bus at four o’clock in the morning and make uh two or three transfers so she could go clean somebody else’s goddamn house? When’s the last time Ann Romney went to work as, uh, some chump bastard’s secretary taking all – excuse me – administrative assistant – taking all the flak, knowing that the job was only as secure as the creep she worked for”

Ann Romney, you’re a multi-millionaire you’re net worth is almost a half a billion dollars! Don’t try to compare or find equivalence between you and working mothers! There is none and you know it! And so does your funky husband! And so does every single disgusting right-wing cockroach in this country who just couldn’t wait to come screwing up over the slime and jump on this one! And isn’t it nice that the first thing that the fascist Bill Donohue Catholic Nazi goes for is Hilary Rosen’s sexual orientation ya filthy pig! Have I mentioned yet tonight how MUCH I hate these right-wingers”

Tim Graham’s entire piece is: Liberal Radio Hosts Rant at Catholic League, Scummy ‘Nazi Pope’.

Again, nothing unusual. This blatant bias is now an every day thing. Expect things to actually worsen in this election year. For example, see this simple example from Elizabeth Scalia.

This week: To Be Born – a video short story exploring one woman’s “choice.” Paul Ryan speaks sensibly at Georgetown, result as expected. More background on the LCWR (lest anyone still thinks action was either unnecessary or rash). Our hope is in our young and there is reason to be optimistic. Some good pieces last week on radical feminism. Welcoming our soldiers home. A quote of the week.

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To Be Born is a short video about a young woman who becomes pregnant, her struggle alone and the chance not to make the “choice” Planned Parenthood is banking on. This is a very powerful and very touching presentation of the short story A Letter from an Aborted Child.

This film is not excessively gory, but it briefly, dramatically portrays the horror a woman suffers with abortion. The real choice a mother has is well presented. Women who are recovering from an abortion may find it difficult.

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Paul Ryan spoke recently at Georgetown (Georgetown = liberal; Georgetown ≠ Catholic) on how Catholic social teaching influenced his budget proposal. He spoke not only of solidarity, but the often ignored principle of subsidiarity. He explained how a vigorous economy helps everyone and how big, central government doesn’t saying “I do not believe that the preferential option for the poor means a preferential option for big government.” Far better than a distant federal bureaucrat deciding what a person needs is “a human being that knows you, that knows your problems, that looks you in the eyes and sees the suffering that you’re experiencing.”

He is absolutely correct. He actually understands Catholic social justice, not the false doctrine incessantly chanted by liberal progressives with their false claims of social justice. Naturally, to borrow a phrase from Father Z, the left threw a “spittle-flecked nutty.” 90 (out of 2,000) of Georgetown’s faculty once again embarrassed themselves in signing a protest letter. Students also organized a protest and were quoted in the liberal media. Satellite TV vans were dispatched to cover the action. One might have thought there was danger of a riot! Here is a wide-angle shot of the protest:

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Last week I noted Father Z’s recounting (Nuns Gone Wild: A Trip Down Memory Lane) of the long history of dissent, disobedience and heterodoxy at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). While the service of individual nuns and sisters have often been selfless and loving, their leadership organization has been a source of scandal and divisiveness from Christ’s true Church.

Father Philip Powell has updated his excellent piece on the LCWR mindset as reflected in the content presented at their annual conferences: 8 Themes of the LCWR Worldview.

Also don’t miss these insightful pieces:

• Marco Tosatti’s excellent summary for Vatican Insider: Crisis between U.S. nuns and Vatican has been a long time coming
• Jeffery Miller’s: Faith and Works and the LCWR
• Jimmy Akin’s interview with Ann Carey (author of Sisters in Crisis)

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What do young people hunger for today: relativistic hippie or sacred, reverent liturgy? Father Joseph Kramer, FSSP discusses how the pendulum has swung back:

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Several recent pieces take an interesting look at feminism, not in the true sense of the word but as meant by those who typically use it – radical, liberal women.

First up is Patti Maguire Armstrong with her piece for Catholic Lane: Feminism vs. Feminine. She looks at scripture and how feminists twist it to mean exactly the opposite of the truth.

Jennifer Fulwiler wrote about the link of feminism with contraception and abortion. Her piece for the National Catholic Register is Why Do We Call It a “Culture of Death”?

Lastly, Dale O’Leary writing for Crisis Magazine looks at The Oppressed Lives of Stay-at-Home Moms. She explores the feminist underpinning of Obama operative Hilary Rosen’s recent attack on mothers.

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After the wives, children, parents and siblings — there are other family members who are ecstatic to see their returning soldiers:

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A quote of the week:

The Council did not create new articles of faith, nor did it replace existing ones with new ones. Its only concern was to make it possible to hold the same faith under different circumstances, to revitalize it. As for the work that preceded the Council, it seems to have been more intensive in Germany than elsewhere, for Germany was the heartland of the liturgical movement, the primary source in which the documents of the Council had their origin. But many of these documents were issued too abruptly. To many of the faithful, most of them seemed to be a challenge to the creativity of the individual congregation, in which separate groups constructed their own “liturgies” from week to week with a zeal that was as commendable as it was misplaced. To me, the most serious element in all this was the breach of fundamental, liturgical consciousness. The difference between liturgy and festivity, between liturgy and social event, disappeared gradually and imperceptibly, as witness the fact that many priests, imitating the etiquette of polite society, feel that they ought not to receive Holy Communion until the congregation has received; that they should no longer venture to say “I bless you” [German euch: familiar form of plural "you"] — thus dissolving the fundamental liturgical relationship between them and their congregation. In this context belong also the often obnoxious and banal greeting which, it must be admitted, many congregations tolerate with a kind of patient forbearance. In the period before the new missal made its appearance, but after the old one had already been characterized as “old-fashioned,” people forgot that there is a “rite,” that is, a prescribed liturgical form, and that liturgy is genuinely liturgy only if it is not subject to the will of those who celebrate it.

Pope Benedict XVI
The Feast of Faith

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

Devin Rose is a smart, thoughtful Evangelical convert and Catholic apologist. His book, If Protestantism is True is not his conversion story. It is a rather unique exploration of Protestant claims and beliefs.

Instead of saying Protestantism is in error and why the truth is in the Catholic Church…   author Rose simply takes Protestant claims at face value, methodically explores them and draws the conclusions which logically flow were they true. Many topics are covered and at the end of each, the conclusion is presented beginning with “If Protestantism is true, …”

For example, on “Heresy and Schism in History” Rose gives 4 pages of the background leading up to the Reformation and concludes:

If Protestantism is true, then throughout all of the history of the Church until the Reformation, a heresy was a heresy and a schism was a schism, but the schisms caused by the Reformers were instead new branches on a tree, in spite of the fact that they caused divisions from the Church like every other schism in history had done. Martin Luther was well-intentioned and saw true abuses and evil practices by some leaders in the Church, but unlike the great saints before and after him, he decided to disobey the Church and abandoned any attempt to reform her from within. Had he made different choices, we would likely be calling him St. Martin Luther the Reformer — in the true sense of the word.

In another section, he looks at the disintegration of mainline Protestantism concluding:

If Protestantism is true, then no one Church has the fullness of the truth, but all churches teach a mixture of true and false doctrine. So it makes sense to find one that agrees on enough of the truth that you deem essential and also that appeals to your tastes and preferences. In addition, as your tastes change and your church feels less relevant, it’s your right to find a different church that meets your needs.

As a final example, at the end of the section on the sacraments:

Most practically, if Protestantism is true, then Protestants have some mighty decisions to make — all on their own, as there is no other true authority than their own interpretation of the Bible. They must decide which Protestant (Luther or Calvin) was right about baptism, which Protestant (Luther or Zwingli) was right about the Eucharist, which Protestants (the liberals or the conservatives) are right about marriage, which of their many and varied teachings on confession and forgiveness are valid, etc. I don’t envy the Protestants this task.

Each of these conclusions (and many more) are reached after a non-emotional, straight forward presentation of facts. Most objective readers will probably not take serious issue with that. Committed Protestants will have a natural aversion to where it must lead!

The book is 178 pages divided into 11 chapters (counting the conclusion), supported with acknowledgments, notes and index. The chapters are:

1. A Search for Truth
• Anywhere but the Catholic Church
• A Note About Terminology
• Protestantism Then and Now
• About Indulgences
• The Purpose of This Book
2. A Call to Honest Self-Examination
• The Difficulty of Conversion
• The Subtlety of Bias
• Is Truth Accessible to All?
3. The Catholic Church in History
• Ecumenical Councils
• The Papacy
• Divine Authority
• The Four Marks of the Church
• Celibacy for the Kingdom
• Beneficial Requirements
• The Saints
4. Reformation: Schism or Branches?
• The Reformation
• Heresy and Schism in History
• Mary’s Perpetual Virginity and Her Title of “Mother of God”
• Martin Luther’s Personal Holiness
• The Catholic Perspective on Protestants Today
• A New Reformation Needed?
• A Need for Reformation in Every Century of the Church
5. The Canon of Scripture
• The Centrality of the Canon
• A Brief History of the Canon
• Martin Luther’s Rejection of Four New Testament Books
• The Seven Deuterocanonical Books
• Accepting the Canon from an Apostate Church
• The Myth of the Self-Authenticating Canon
• The “Fallible Collection” and “Reasonable Certainty”
• Sola Scriptura‘s Logical Consequences
• The Canon of Shakespeare
6. The Reformers’ Legacy: Protestantism Today
• The Protestant Meltdown over Questions of Sexuality
• The Protestant Flip-Flop on Other Moral Issues
• The Disintegration of Mainline Protestantism
• “I Have No Authority But Jesus”
7. Protestant Objections to the Catholic Church
• “The Catholic Church Manipulated Historical Texts”
• “No One is Infallible, so the Church Cannot be”
• “The Catholic Church Prevented Vernacular Translations of the Bible”
• “The Catholic Church Puts God in a Box”
• “The Catholic Church Does Not Produce Good Fruit”
• “The Early Church Was Like Protestantism”
• “The Catholic Church Invented Doctrines Late in History”
8. The Sacraments
• The Sacraments
• The Unanimous Teaching of Baptismal Regeneration
• Baptism, Sola Fide, and Salvation: Two Different Understandings
• Infant Baptism
• The Protestant Rejection of Marriage as a Sacrament
• Anointing of the Sick
• The Eucharist
• Confession
• Holy Orders and Apostolic Succession
9. Tradition
• The Closure of Public Revelation
• Oral Tradition and John’s Third Letter
• Evangelical Protestantism and Tradition
• The Family of God Versus “Me and God”
10. The Scriptures
• Are the Scriptures Difficult to Understand?
• Protestantism’s Lack of Interpretative Authority
• The Perspicuity of the Scriptures
• Misinterpreting the Great Commission
• Interpreting the Bible with a Modern, Scientific Mind
11. To Find the Truth, Follow the Trail of Authority
• Authority is God’s Intention
• Interpretation vs. Authority

This is a very readable book, easily consumed in sections. I recommend it for anyone interested in understanding the claims of Protestantism. It will be especially helpful for Protestants who are reconsidering their denomination’s direction, folks who are interested in Catholicism and all seekers of truth. Lapsed Catholics now in Protestant communities and other poorly catechized Catholics may also find it useful.

From the conclusion:

Jesus Himself gives us the confidence that in seeking Him we will find Him, Who is the Truth and ultimate Authority: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8). May Christ bless and guide your search to find and worship Him in spirit and in truth (see John 4:23), and may He unite us all as one in the fullness of the truth.

More and more people are beginning to understand the staggering implications of the war on religious liberty. It has united all of the Catholic bishops, together with leaders of other religions and other people of good will who simply want to preserve and protect the constitution.

This is not a war we started or want, but it will not end until the unprecedented attack on our basic freedom is neutered, one way or another. President Obama’s mandate is carefully crafted to protect everyone except Christian ministries. He could literally end this tomorrow if he so wished.

My last summary was 4 weeks ago. This is the latest update. To see the whole series, click here.

Face the Nation

On April 9th, Cardinal Dolan appeared on Face the Nation:

Missouri Rally

Archbishop Robert Carlson (Archdiocese of St. Louis) spoke at the Rally for Religious Liberty in Missouri on March 27th. Check-out this brief clip:

Chelsea Zimmerman has some good coverage of the event. A longer version of the video is available here.

“Balancing” rights

On April 26th, Kathleen Sebelius testified before a congressional hearing on the “balance” she used against religious liberty. This video starts out a little slow, but things pick-up after 2 minutes:

Religious Liberty

The Newark, NJ Newman Center produced this video on Religious Liberty:

Further Reading

Here is a good sampling of the new articles written on this topic in the last few weeks:

1. A True Champion of Religious Freedom
2. Alabama stands for religious liberty
3. Archbold: Commonweal’s “But”
4. Authority and Its Discontents
5. Becket Fund Fires Back at Administration’s Attempt to Dismiss HHS Mandate Lawsuit
6. Bishops Issue Call To Action To Defend Religious Liberty
7. Bishops urge rejection of laws that attack religious freedom
8. Bp. Jenky (D. Peoria) unloads about “Judas” Catholics and Pres. Obama
9. Cardinal Burke explains: Catholic employers cannot provide contraceptive coverage because they would be materially and formally cooperating with sin
10. Cardinal Raymond Burke Discussing Religious Freedom
11. Catholic Cardinal: A Sin to Cooperate With Obama Mandate
12. Catholic Clergy Continue to Speak Out Against HHS Mandate
13. Catholics urged to resist unjust laws, join in ‘fortnight for freedom’
14. Congress to Sebelius: “This mandate is going to end up in the Supreme Court”
15. Democrat candidates in Connecticut favor forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions
16. Don’t Be Tricked by the Lowest Teen Birthrate Ever
17. Flash! Bishops Love Bloggers!
18. Fortnight For Freedom-Input Wanted!
19. Good piece by Catholic League on links between Obamacare, HHS mandate, and ACLU
20. HHS Mandate: Morality and the Common Good
21. HHS Mandate Remains Unchanged
22. HHS hire of Planned Parenthood spokesman reflects close relationship
23. Hey Bishops: Offer to fund NFP for Mandate!
24. In 2008, Who Could’ve Predicted This?
25. Is the Health Care Law Constitutional? No, Strike It Down
26. Justice Served to Obama
27. Knights of Columbus leader speaks on religious freedom
28. Miami archbishop laments pressures against religious liberty
29. Obama Misunderstands
30. Obama’s Monumental Misunderstanding
31. Old Contraception Talk Given Youthful Jolt
32. On Hope and Hate: Week One of Obama v. Romney
33. Our First, Most Cherished Liberty
34. Peoria bishop’s Hitler, Stalin references in homily stir controversy
35. Pope asks US donors to pray for religious freedom
36. Pres. Obama undermining free-speech
37. Proposed Law Would Force Churches to Host Gay Weddings
38. Religious liberty: Why a battle 1,700 years ago is relevant today
39. Salvatori Prize Goes to Advocate of Religious Liberty
40. Sick Chickens and Sick Laws
41. US Bishops: Bloggers play ‘critical role’ in defending the Church
42. US Bishops Call for Summer “Fortnight for Freedom”
43. USCCB appeals ruling that Constitution forbids religious accommodation
44. Why Religious Freedom?
45. Why We Have Gone to Court against the Obama Mandate
46. Xavier Drops Contraceptive Coverage!
47. Yes, Congresswoman Pelosi, We’re Serious
48. Young Catholic women try to modernize the message on birth control

This week: A powerful video: If I wanted America to fail. Father Z takes us on a trip down memory lane with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The Mississippi governor nails it. What a post-ObamaCare world will look like. Wheelchairs are so 20th century. Federal debt is an enormous social justice issue. A quote of the week.

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Hope and change. Not my hope and not my desire to “fundamentally change America”:

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Catholic women religious are, and always have been, outstanding examples of service to the Church. HOWEVER, some among them – particularly their leadership – are seriously heterodox. They have repeatedly taken positions in opposition to the teaching of the Gospel and have rejected the authority of Christ’s Church. The scandal this caused has done real damage.

This is finally being addressed in a respectful and sensitive manner. Father Zuhlsdorf assembled a compilation of incidents to remind us why this action is necessary: Nuns Gone Wild: A Trip Down Memory Lane.

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Mississippi governor Phil Bryant recently signed into law a bill requiring physicians performing surgical abortions to be board certified and have admitting privileges at a hospital. Yes, this is a pro-life law (Planned Parenthood is “sick about” it). It also protects the women receiving surgical abortions.

On a radio talk show, he opines that the left – enamored with women’s health – should rush to support this bill. Gov. Bryant bluntly explains why they don’t:

Supporting his view of their hypocrisy, we see in California the pro-abortion lobby pushing for *less* protection in not requiring a doctor AT ALL. The left will have to update their mantra that the “choice” is between a woman and her doctor to “abortion practitioner”. Planned Parenthood thinks this is a dandy idea.

— 4 —

With ObamaCare gone, either by judicial or legislative remedies, what happens to healthcare? Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar suggests in a recent piece – The next health care overhaul? Look to employers – the probable positive outcomes. Worth a read.

— 5 —

Wheelchairs are so 20th century.

— 6 —

The crushing impact of federal debt on the economy, the resulting impact on families and the burden placed on our children is an extremely serious social justice issue. This graphic sums up our free-fall from prosperity:

In the coming months, you will be *ceaselessly* bombarded by class-warfare advertisements, backed by biased, liberal media to question if Mitt Romney has too much money. It is a ridiculous distraction.

— 7 —

Quote of the week:

Deconstructing one of President Obama’s speeches can be a bit like taking a trip to an alternate universe.

Michael Tanner in the National Review Online

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

Catholics believe human life begins at conception. At that time, a new human being is created with his or her unique DNA. Regardless of circumstances, even very tragic circumstances, choosing to terminate that life is murder in God’s eyes. This is the well-documented belief of the Church from the time of Jesus onward.

The Holy Bible itself recognizes human life commencing not at birth, but in the womb in both the Old and New Testaments. As usual, it takes significant and creative effort to explain this away. Let’s try anyway! Not in scripture are words shown in strike through. Words shown in bold actually are in scripture.

When was I “formed”?

Thus says the LORD who made you, your help, who formed you from birth the womb: Do not fear, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

Isaiah 44:2

The word of the LORD came to me: Before I formed you as a child in the womb I knew you, before you could speak were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

Jeremiah 1:4-5

When did I become a child of God?

You formed my inmost being; you knit my fetal material me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know. My bones are not hidden from you, When my biological components I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw pre-human cells me unformed; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.

Psalms 139:13-16

What was that in the wombs of Mary and Elizabeth?

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the product of conception infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the cellular fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the future mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the non-human life infant in my womb leaped for joy.”

Luke 1:41-44

Also in Biblical Times…

What were the first medical ethics?

I will provide neither give any deadly drug, having been asked for it, and nor will I guide the same advice. Similarly, I will readily not give an abortifacient pessary to a woman. In purity and in holiness I will maintain my life and my art.

Hippocrates circa 400 BC
The original Hippocratic Oath

What does the first Christian catechism say?

You shall not kill that which is born, but until then your right to choose is sacred.

You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born.

Didache, Chapter 2 (as early as 65 AD)

What was Christian thinking in the time of the Apostles?

A woman’s body is her own, but thou shalt not terminate a child after it is born.

Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born.

Letter of Barnabas 19, 74 AD

Church Fathers

Now we allow that life does not begins with conception because we contend that the soul also begins at birth from conception; life taking its commencement at the same moment and place that the soul does.

Tertullian, 210 AD (Apology 27)

Some, when they find themselves with child through their sin, use drugs to procure abortion, and when, as often happens, they die with their offspring, they enter the lower world laden with the guilt not only of adultery against Christ but otherwise innocent of killing also of suicide and child murder.”

St. Jerome, 396 AD (Letters 22:13)

The above quotes only touch on this topic. There is much more. One excellent resource of scriptural references is Priests For Life. Some good articles on the teaching of the early Church on abortion are here, here and here.

Lesson 16

*176	Q.	What are the effects of Confirmation?
	A.	The effects of Confirmation are an increase of sanctifying grace, the strengthening of our faith, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

“Increase,” because we must be in a state of grace, that is, having already sanctifying grace in our souls when we receive Confirmation. “Strengthening,” so that we have no doubt about the doctrines we believe.

*177	Q.	What are the gifts of the Holy Ghost?
	A.	The gifts of the Holy Ghost are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

*178	Q.	Why do we receive the gift of fear of the Lord?
	A.	We receive the gift of fear of the Lord to fill us with a dread of sin.

On account of the goodness of God and the punishment He can inflict.

*179	Q.	Why do we receive the gift of piety?
	A.	We receive the gift of piety to make us love God as a Father, and obey Him because we love Him.

*180	Q.	Why do we receive the gift of knowledge?
	A.	We receive the gift of knowledge to enable us to discover the will of God in all things.

*181	Q.	Why do we receive the gift of fortitude?
	A.	We receive the gift of fortitude to strengthen us to do the will of God in all things.

Some know the will of God – what they should do – but they have not the courage to follow the dictates of their conscience. For example, a person goes with bad company: the gift of knowledge will teach him that he should give it up; but the gift of fortitude will enable him to do what his conscience shows him to be right.

*182	Q.	Why do we receive the gift of counsel?
	A.	We receive the gift of counsel to warn us of the deceits of the devil, and of the dangers to salvation.

The devil is much wiser than we are, and has much more experience, being among the people of the world ever since the time of Adam – about 6,000 years. He could therefore easily deceive and overcome us if God Himself by the gift of counsel did not enable us to discover his tricks and expose his plots. When at times we are tempted, our conscience warns us, and if we follow the warning we shall escape the sin. Counsel tells us when persons or places are dangerous for our salvation.

*183	Q.	Why do we receive the gift of understanding?
	A.	We receive the gift of understanding to enable us to know more clearly the mysteries of faith.

“Mysteries,” truths we could never know by reason, but only by the teaching of God; and the gift of understanding enables us to know better what His teaching means. The Apostles heard and knew what Our Lord taught, but they did not fully understand the whole meaning till the Holy Ghost had come.

*184	Q.	Why do we receive the gift of wisdom?
	A.	We receive the gift of wisdom to give us a relish for the things of God and to direct our whole life and all our actions to His honor and glory.

“Relish,” a liking for, a desire for.

*185	Q.	Which are the beatitudes?
	A.	The beatitudes are:

(1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (2) Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land. (3) Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. (4) Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled. (5) Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (6) Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. (7) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. (8) Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

The beatitudes are part of a sermon Our Lord once preached to the people on the Mount. (Matt. 5). When Our Lord wished to preach, the Jews would not always allow Him to enter their synagogues or meeting houses; so He preached to the people in the open air. Sometimes He stood in a boat by the seashore; sometimes on a little hill, with the people standing or sitting near Him. Did you ever think how you would have acted if you lived at that time and were present when Our Lord preached? How anxious you would have been to get near to Him? How you would have pushed your way through the crowd and listened to every word? Why, then, do you sometimes pay so little attention in church or at instructions when the words of Our Lord are repeated to you? Our Lord instituted a Church which, as we know, is sometimes called the kingdom of Heaven. In this sermon He laid down the condition for being good subjects of His kingdom; that is, He gives the virtues we should practice to be good children of the Church. He tells us what rewards we shall have for practicing these virtues and leading a holy life: namely, God’s grace and blessing in this world and everlasting glory in Heaven.

(1) “Poor in spirit.” One is poor in spirit if he does not set his heart upon riches and the goods of this world in such a way that he would be willing to offend God in order to possess them, or rather than part with them. Thus one who has no money but who would do anything to get it, would be poor, but not poor in spirit, and therefore not among those Our Lord calls blessed. If we are really poor and wish to be poor in spirit also, we must be contented with our lot – with what God gives us – and never complain against Him. No matter how poor, miserable, or afflicted we may be, we could still be worse, since we can find others in a worse condition than we are. We do not endure every species of misery, but only this or that particular kind; and if the rest were added, how much worse our condition would be! The very greatest misery is to be in a state of sin. If we are poor and in sin, our condition is indeed pitiable, for we have no consolation; but if we are virtuous in poverty, bearing our trials in patience and resignation for the love of God, we have the rich treasures of His grace and every assurance of future happiness. On the other hand, if one is very rich and gives freely and plentifully to the poor and works of charity, and is willing to part with riches rather than offend God, such a one is poor in spirit and can be called blessed. It is a great mistake to risk our souls for things we must leave to others at our death. Sometimes those who leave the greatest inheritance are soonest forgotten and despised, because the money or property bequeathed gives rise to numerous lawsuits, quarrels and jealousies among the relatives, and thus becomes a very curse to that family, whose members hate one another on its account. Or it may happen that the heirs thoughtlessly enjoy and foolishly squander the wealth the man, now dead, has labored so hard to accumulate, while he, perhaps, is suffering in Hell for sins committed in securing it. Again, how many children have been ruined through the wealth left them by their parents! Instead of using it for good purposes they have made it a means of sin; often lose their faith and souls on account of it; and in their ingratitude never offer a prayer or give an alms for the soul of the parent, who in his anxiety to leave all to them left nothing in charity to the Church or the poor. Surely it is the greatest folly to set our hearts upon that which can be of no value to us after death. When a person dies men ask: What wealth has he left behind? But God and the angels ask, What merits has he sent before him?

(2) “Possess the land” – that is, the promised or holy land, which was a figure of the Church. Therefore it means the meek shall be true members of Our Lord’s Church here on earth and hereafter in Heaven, and be beloved by all.

(3) “That mourn.” Suffering is good for us if we bear it patiently. It makes us more like Our Blessed Lord, who was called the Man of Sorrows.

(4) “Justice” – that is, all kinds of virtue. “Filled” – that is, with goodness and grace. In other words, if we ask and really wish to become virtuous, we shall become so. St. Joseph is called in Holy Scripture “a just man,” to show that he practiced every virtue.

(5) If we are “merciful” to others, God will be merciful to us.

(6) “Clean of heart” – that is, pure in thoughts, words, deeds, and looks.

(7) “Peacemakers.” If persons who try to make peace and settle disputes are called the children of God, those who, on the contrary, try to stir up dissensions should be called the children of the devil. Never tell the evil you may hear of another, especially to the one of whom it was spoken; and never carry stories from one to another: it is contemptible, and sinful as well. If you have nothing good to say of the character of another, be silent, unless your duty compels you to speak. Never be a child of the devil by exciting jealousy, hatred, or revenge in anyone; but on the contrary, make peace wherever you can, and be one of the children of God.

(8) “Suffer persecution.” Therefore, when you are badly treated on account of your piety or religion, remember you are like the martyrs of your holy faith, suffering for virtue and truth, and that you will receive your reward.

*186	Q.	Which are the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost?
	A.	The twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost are charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity.

“Fruits,” the things that grow from the gifts of the Holy Ghost. “Charity,” love of God and our neighbor, “Peace” with God and man and ourselves. With God, because we are His friends. With man, because we deal justly with all and are kind to all. With ourselves, because we have a good conscience, that does not accuse us of sin. “Benignity,” disposition to do good and show kindness. “Long-suffering” – same as patience. “Modesty, continency, and chastity” refer to purity in thoughts, words, looks, and actions.