Saying GRACE in a Restaurant...

Sometimes we forget the really important things in life.                                 Last week, I took my children to a restaurant. My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, "God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert.  And liberty and justice for all!  Amen!" Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, "That's what's wrong with this country.  Kids today don't even know how to pray.  Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!" Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, "Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?" As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son and said, "I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer." "Really?" my son asked.  "Cross my heart," the man replied. Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), "Too bad she never asks God for ice cream.  A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes." Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at  the end of the meal.  My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.  He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, "Here, this is for you.  Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already."  The End I love this story! Please keep it moving.  Sometimes, we all need some ice cream. I hope God sends you some ice cream today!

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Heaven Speaks to Those Who Suffer From Financial Need: Part Two

Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr

Written by Anne, a lay apostle

St. Augustine

 

Dear brothers and sisters, we in heaven remember being on earth. We remember having great wants and suffering from poverty. Some of God's saints were wealthy on earth, of course, but many were not. The time in which you live is a time of great abundance for some. It would make God happy if this abundance were shared so that few experienced hunger that resulted in disease and death. There will always be poor people, it is true, but this fact does not excuse anyone from failing to assist them. If you are wealthy, you may say, "What can I do?" I will answer you today. Give. Give often and give more. Work for others with your power and influence. Spread holy principles of responsible use of material and financial wealth. Also, deprive yourself of something. Sacrifice. Perhaps you are in a situation where you were accustomed to a high standard of living and now you find that you have had to reduce your standard. Praise God for this. Rejoice because in this circumstance you will learn many things. You will learn to trust God. You will learn to have compassion for others. You will learn that not everything has to do with bodily comfort.

 

In looking back at my time of service on earth, I am aware that the time of greatest growth for me was the time when I suffered. This is basic spirituality of course, in that it is hard to become holy if you never deny yourself. In order to become holy you must take up your cross. This cross can come in many forms and the best response to the cross is always to pick it up and walk with it. Move. Do not lament that the cross has been placed on your doorstep. Accept the cross as coming from heaven and, putting one foot in front of the other, climb the mountain toward Jesus. There are always those who suffer more than you and there will always be those who suffer less. Do not let poverty make you bitter. To do so would be to reject God's generous offer of holiness. During this time, many are suffering from financial difficulties. Is heaven any less present? This is the same as in many periods of history. Be at peace in all circumstances around you and you will find that God gives you what you need to serve Him in each day. If you are hungry, offer this to God, even while asking Him to provide you with more food. God will make you a saint quickly in these circumstances and you will experience spiritual richness. If you have enough and you are not hungry, deny yourself food periodically. Simply do not eat for a day and offer your hunger to God so that He can take your little sacrifice and obtain graces with which to feed others. Heaven will help you to understand God's will in either situation, either poverty or affluence.

 

 

In a world where many have rejected God, it is necessary for many to learn about trust. Reliance on God is something that liberates a person. God can teach this lesson by withdrawing financial security. If you have lost your financial security and you are fearful, talk to God. Tell Him your fears. Tell Him about your obligations, particularly those you find you cannot meet. God will help you. There is no shame in not having enough money. Jesus Himself seldom had money. Did people look down on Him? Yes, they did. Did people have to take care of Him? Yes, they did, and they are being eternally rewarded for doing so. If you find that others have to help you, accept this with grace. Perhaps this is painful for you. Perhaps you find it humiliating. I understand. I am with you in this humiliation.

 

Humiliation brings humility, though, and while I know the humiliation part is difficult, the humility part is heavenly and makes you open to God's love in a way that delights heaven. If others have to care for you, sharing their food, shelter, time or wealth with you, accept this in peace. You may not have anything with which to reward them but God has all of infinity to bless them for their kindness to you. Indeed, your situation may be the best opportunity these people have to obtain holiness. Here is a snare. Do not become angry at the ones who help you, even if they give with superiority. If your circumstances make them feel superior, then they are in greater trouble than you and they have their own lessons to learn. You must pray for them and concentrate on the lessons God is teaching you today. Accept the help of others as though it were directly from the hand of God. You are in financial trouble. You pray. God sends help. Be grateful to Him and rejoice. Do not criticize the manner in which God sends the help. That is like being on a road walking, certain that you cannot continue as you are too tired. You have miles to go. A car comes along and offers you transport. You get into the car and begin to criticize the color of the seats. Would you not shake your head at this foolishness? Would you laugh at the ridiculousness? Would you feel sad for the one who offered his help, only to be mocked and ridiculed by a mean-spirited one? Be loving. Look with favor on those whom God sends to assist you.

 

Dear friends, we in heaven see your needs. We hear your prayers. Come to God with everything. Be at peace in everything. Be like trusting children who know that their father will provide for them when the time is right. You will not regret trusting God. Trusting the Father becomes a habit and it will serve you well in every area of your life. Perhaps you have enough money and you always have had enough money. You, even more than a poverty-stricken one, must learn trust because there is a temptation when you are wealthy to rely on your wealth to protect you. Such folly. Such perilous folly is this. Truly, this is living in a house with no foundation. All may be well when it is sunny but in life storms must be expected as they come with regularity. An abundance of material wealth makes it even more imperative that you learn to rely only on God. Ask me for help with this and I will teach you everything I know about trusting God.

 

If you fear for the financial protection of your family, ask me to intercede for you. Jesus has the greatest tenderness for the poor because He Himself was poor. Jesus understands that you worry about providing for your children and taking care of each other. Jesus accepts that this desire to provide for your loved ones is a holy inspiration that comes from Him. He will reward this by giving you all possible assistance. Do not think that you are working outside of God's will if you strive to protect your family financially.

 

Also, do not be afraid that God will punish you if you are wealthy. God Himself has allowed you to be wealthy but God did not allow your wealth simply for your personal comfort. God allowed wealth for you so that you could steward this wealth in such a way that God could assist others through you. You will want to allow God to do this with freedom, which means you need to be praying for God's direction at all times.

 

Be at peace in all circumstances. God loves His children and you will not be abandoned. We, the saints in heaven, will assist you to find the right answers to all of your financial difficulties. There will come a day when you finish your life and all of these problems will cease. On that day, I, Augustine, will be waiting for you so that I can congratulate you on the holy way in which you faced your financial circumstances. 

 

Blessed Mother 

My dear child, I am with you. There is a holy way to conduct your self in your situation. If you pray, you will know which is the holy way that leads to my Son. I will protect you from choosing an unholy way that leads away from my Son. You see, my child, in everything you face there is opportunity for holiness. Heaven can use your day to move our goals forward if you are the poorest of the poor or the richest of the rich. All we need is your "yes" to Jesus. Say yes to my Son. Accept any crosses you have. We will help you to provide for your family. We will help you to have peace in any suffering. You will not be abandoned. I am a mother and I had many worries because of our lack of means. Many people assisted my little family. My gratitude for the generosity of others is still with me and God's gratitude for their generosity is still with them. Do you see? If you help others you will be rewarded for eternity. If you accept the help of others with dignity, you will become holy and set an example of dignified suffering. Beloved ones, I promise you that you will have what you need to become holy. Do not think that heaven abandons you with financial problems. Heaven helps in these matters as much as heaven helps in spiritual matters because we understand that all that happens in your life shapes your spirituality. Walk each day with heaven and you will see our help. I am your mother and I will not abandon you to these troubles. I will give you peace in all of your troubles.

 

For further information regarding the Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King, or to purchase Heaven Speaks booklets, please contact Direction for Our Times on the Web at www.directionforourtimes.com, or mail inquiries to the following address: 9000 West 81st St., Justice, IL  60458, U.S.A.

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Love God, Love One Another: "Suffer with Joy" by Rita Ring, May 16, 1994

Image by PHP Films & Photography via Flickr

Suffer with Joy

June 16, 1994 After Communion 11:50a.m.

I ask you to suffer with joy, child. Take the cup of suffering. Accept it. My way is the way of the cross. Suffer with Me as I ask you to suffer. I love you. I never give you more than you can handle. Know that My Will for you is to suffer with joy.

 

A prophet is without honor in his own town. Stay steadfast in Me and accept what I give you. It comes with greatest love. Have nothing but peace in your heart. The world may hate you one minute and love you the next minute. Remain in Me. I am there. I am consistently in love with you. I am all that you are absolutely sure of. I will never abandon you. I will never give you more than you can handle. Surrender your hearts to Me and to My mother. Give yourself entirely to Me and I will sustain you. I love you so, My precious ones.

http://www.sofc.org/

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[MaryVitamin] a cross is a crown begun

Mary Vitamin for January 29th

 

Topic: Preparing for the Presentation of the Lord (Feb 2)

"A Cross is a Crown Begun"

 

Quote:

"A sword shall pierce your heart."

"This first dolor discloses to us one of the most universal supernatural principles, which characterize His dealings with His saints. Earthly sorrows are the roots of heavenly joys. A cross is a crown begun. Suffering is dearer to the Saints than happiness; for similitude of Christ has passed upon them."

Father Faber, The Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books)81.

 

Meditation:

"Yet we never had more than a touch of God's little finger upon us, while both His Hands, heavier than a thousand words, held Mary down in the dust. Nevertheless, no duty saw her absent. No common thing missed at her hands the same degree of zeal and attentiveness which the greatest could require. She seemed busy everywhere, engrossed in everything, with a mind all free and at her own disposal. She went and drew water from the well. She cleaned the house, and prepared the food, and spun the flax.  Every thing was at its right time and in its proper place. But the sword was there, in the very quick of her heart."

Father Faber, The Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books)83.

 

Resolution:

Today, I will repeat "a cross is a crown begun." I will do my work the best that I can today, in imitation of Our Lady, who didn't let the shadow of The Cross and Her sorrows lead her to self-pity. They led Her to God.

 

Marian Vow:

I will see Our Lady as the fulfillment of "a cross is a crown begun." I will think of her as the Immaculate and Sorrowful Mother with seven swords in Her heart and the triumphant Woman of Revelations:

"A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." Rev. 12:12

 

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Thanks be to God for graces received.

 

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria

Father Faber wrote the words of the Eucharistic hymn

Jesus My Lord, My God (Sweet Sacrament) and translated St. Louis de Montfort's True Devotion to Mary.

 

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Love God, Love One Another: "Study Christ to Become Christ-like" by Rita Ring, June 16, 1994

Study Christ to Become Christ-like

June 16, 1994

R. It is in studying Christ that I learn to be Christ-like. Christ says to study His Passion. It is there He teaches us true love, to lay down our lives for our friends.

To understand His love, I must study how He loved. He loved in silent surrender. He and Our Blessed Lady both suffered such anguish silently and willingly. They did not complain, they did not cry out in pain.

St. Peter: "Quo Vadis?" Jesus answers: "Eo Romam iterum crucifigi"

"Where are you going?" "I am going to Rome to be crucified again."

He is here today. He gives Himself to us in Holy Communion. He is totally present. He gives me the cross. I carry it a while, then I want to give it back. Carry it until the end! Suffering leads to union with God. If I search for that which the soul craves in anything worldly, it is a futile search.

God alone knows our hearts so well. No human can fully understand our suffering. God fully knows us from when we were born. No human can give us the compassion, love, and understanding as He, since He knows us so well. He knows us far better than we know ourselves. We turn to Him. He knows we don't have to explain.

As Jesus looked at Mary, they didn't have to say a word. To turn to Jesus in suffering, we don't have to say a word. He knows our hearts far better than we. We look, He knows. No human being can share this with us. This creates union.

http://www.sofc.org/

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From Mark Mallett: Some Questions Answered:

On Heresies and More Questions

Mary crushing the serpent, Artist Unknown

 

First published November 8th, 2007, I have updated this writing with another question on the consecration to Russia, and other very important points. 

 

THE Era of Peace—a heresy? Two more antichrists? Has the "period of peace" promised by Our Lady of Fatima already happened? Was the consecration to Russia requested by her valid? These questions below, plus a comment on Pegasus and the new age as well as the big question: What do I tell my children about what’s coming?

Continue reading here: http://www.markmallett.com/blog/?p=539

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In Russia, the path to unity is defrosting:

Tribulation Times

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/january.asp?version=63&startmmdd=0101

January 28, 2010 

(John 17:20-22) And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them: that, they may be one, as we also are one.

POPE BENEDICT XVI: "The communion and the unity of the disciples of Christ is... a particularly important condition for greater credibility and effectiveness in the their witness."

In his homily Benedict XVI explained how the choice of the theme for this year's Week of Prayer - "that is, the invitation to a offer shared witness of the risen Christ in accordance with the mandate He entrusted to His disciples" - is linked "to the hundredth anniversary of the missionary conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, which many consider as a decisive event for the birth of the modern ecumenical movement".  "It is precisely the desire to announce Christ to others and to carry His message of reconciliation to the world that makes us aware of the contradiction of division among Christians".  he said.  "The communion and unity of the disciples of Christ is, then, a particularly important prerequisite for a more credible and effective witness".  The Holy Father explained how, "in a world characterised by religious indifference and even by a growing aversion towards the Christian faith, what is needed is new and intense evangelising activity, directed not only at peoples who have never known the Gospel, but also at those among whom Christianity is present and has become part of their history".

After then referring to "questions that still separate us from each other, and that we hope may be overcome through prayer and dialogue", the Pope explained how there nonetheless exists "a core content of Christ's message that we can announce together: the paternity of God, Christ's victory over sin and death with His cross and resurrection, and trust in the transforming action of the Spirit.  "As we journey towards full communion", he added, "we are called to present a joint witness in the face of the increasingly complex challenges of our time, such as secularisation and indifference, relativism and hedonism, delicate ethical questions concerning the beginning and end of life, the limits of science and technology, and dialogue with other religious traditions".  Pope Benedict continued: "There are other fields in which we must already show our joint witness: protecting creation, promoting peace and the common good, defending the centrality of the human person, and the commitment to defeat the poverties of our time such as hunger, indigence, illiteracy and the unequal distribution of wealth".  And he concluded: "Commitment to the unity of Christians is not just a task for the few, or an appendage to the life of the Church.  Each is called to offer his or her contribution to help take those steps towards the full communion of all Christ's disciples, never forgetting that it is, above all, a gift constantly to be implored from God".

EDITORIAL: "The Pope Is the First Among the Patriarchs" by Sandro Magister

THE CATHOLIC HERALD: In Russia, the path to unity is defrosting

NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER: Why the Anglicans are Coming?- Full Text of the TAC Petition to the Holy See Released

Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 25- "On the destroyer of the passions, most sublime humility"

37. A holy team is love and humilty; the one exalts, and the other, supporting the exalted ones, never fails (1Cor 13:8).    

---

Prayer request?  Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com

This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.

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On the apparition beat, there is always Medjugorje, which seems more the topic of discussion now that one of the world's most eminent cardinals, Christoph Schönborn, of Austria, has visited and issued a strong endorsement. Two other archbishops followed suit with positive statements about this place that since 1981 has been visited by more than 30,000 priests, hundreds of bishops (75 were officially logged by the parish by 1995), more than a dozen archbishops, and at least half a dozen cardinals.

The number of cardinals is not fully known, for several have gone there incognito, including Cardinal Jaime Lachica Sin of the Philippines (whom we saw there) and according to witnesses, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, who twice was reported in the village when he was prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees alleged apparitions.

Read this story here: http://www.spiritdaily.com/medjfatima.htm

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Reading: Priest shortage leaves faithful alone on sickbeds

Last sacrament hard to come by at most hospitals, ill Catholics discover.

This story makes me sad that people are not receiving the "last Rites" as they used to be called. As a deacon I brought Viaticuum to many sick people in hospitals and always wished that I could also anoint them with the sacred oils. Maybe, someday, because of the shortage of priests, deacon's will be allowed to administer this Sacrament; we do celebrate the Sacraments of Baptism and Marriage now. Did you know that one of the promises of the Sacred Heart First Friday devotion says that "they shall not die without receiving their Sacraments"? Very interesting. Dear Lord, send us priests to administer your beloved Sacraments by the excessive love of Your Most Sacred Heart! Amen.

Read this story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35100913/ns/health-behavior/

 

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Our Lady of the Cape Video & Story

View short video here: http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22444723&catid=155&Itemid=14 Our Lady of the Cape or “Notre Dame du Cap” in Quebec is the oldest Marian Shrine in Canada.  In 1652, the Jesuits established a mission there, and 9 years later the parish of Cap-de-la-Madeleine began. Soon afterwards, a rosary confraternity was started in the parish. The chapel that was constructed in 1720 -- the oldest chapel in Canada still standing today -- became the Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape at the end of the 19th century.   It was at that time that Mary came to visit the people of Quebec. In 1854, the year of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, a parishioner gave a statue of Our Lady as a gift to the church. A few years later, this Marian devotion increased as a result of two miracles in the parish.   Around the year 1870, the Church that had been built in 1720 was not big enough to accommodate all the faithful; and so the construction of a new place of worship began. By 1879, the stones that would be used to build the new Church had already been hewn and pilled up on the other side of the river. Since it had been a mild winter, the river was not frozen over and so the stones could not be brought over to the construction site. Under the advice of Father Luc Désilets, the people began to pray; and on March 16th a sheet of ice began to form between the banks of the river, which was almost 2 kilometers wide. The parishioners call it the “Rosary Bridge.” Mary interceded on behalf of that small church so that it would not be destroyed.   It was in this same place that Mary performed a second miracle. On June 22nd, 1888, the tiny church dedicated to Mary became the Shrine of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and the statue given in 1854 was placed above the central altar. One night, before three eyewitnesses -- Father Désilets, Frédéric Jansoone y Pierre Lacroix -- the statue of Mary opened its eyes.  Father Jansoone described this extraordinary event: “The statue of Our Lady, whose gaze is fixed on the ground, had its eyes wide open; Our Lady was staring… her gaze was that of a living person, and she had a stern expression, with a certain sadness.”   The Canadian people recognized this miracle as a sign from heaven and pilgrimages soon began.  In 1904 Pope Pius X sent a delegate to crown the statue -- the second statue in the New World, after Our Lady of Guadalupe, to receive this honor. Mary became the Queen of Canada, “The National Patroness of Canada!” The prophetic words of Father Frédéric Jansoone during the opening ceremony of the shrine in 1888 were ultimately fulfilled: “From now on, this shrine belongs to Mary.  And pilgrims will come from among all the families of the parish, from among all the faithful of the diocese, and from all the dioceses of Canada.”   Gentle Mother and Mighty Queen, humbly prostrated at your feet, we offer you our tribute of respect and affection.   With our gaze fixed on your holy Shrine  -- the very place that you have chosen --  we turn to you with filial confidence,  certain that we will receive the graces we ask of you. For more about Our Lady of the Cape see: http://www.michaeljournal.org/ndcape.htm

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From Oakland A’s to Norbertines: Let's pray for this guy to persevere!

23-Year-Old Ball Player Retires to Priesthood

Image via Wikipedia

This excerpt is from a January 22 story on mlb.com 

OAKLAND -- Grant Desme entered the 2009 season with an injury-prone past. 

Image via Wikipedia

The A's prized prospect exited the season with a head-turning presence, accompanied by a bat that produced 31 home runs and a speedy 6-foot-2 frame that stole 40 bases in Class A ball -- making him the only player in Minor League Baseball to enjoy a 30-30 campaign. 

An exceptional performance and MVP honors in the Arizona Fall League followed, so surely Desme was close to getting a call, most assumed -- if not for a trip to The Show, then at least for an invitation to Spring Training. 

Yet, Desme insists he'd already received the call long before his final at-bat in the fall came and went -- the one that would take him to bigger and better places. 

It just so happens it wasn't what the A's organization -- or anyone else, for that matter -- had in mind. 
The call, Desme announced Friday, came in the form of priesthood in the Catholic church. 
"Last year before the season started, I really had a strong feeling of a calling and a real strong desire to follow it," the 23-year-old said. "I just fought it." 

Thus, Desme chose to play out the season as a test of sorts, "just hoping and praying about it." 
"As the year went on," he said, "God blessed me. I had a better year than I could have imagined, but that reconfirmed my desire because I wasn't at peace with where I was at. I love the game, but I aspire to higher things. 

"I thought, I'm doing well in baseball, but I really had to get down to the bottom of things -- what was good in my life, what I wanted to do with my life. And I felt that while baseball is a good thing and I love playing, I thought it was selfish of me to be doing that when I really felt that God was calling me more, which took me awhile in my life to really trust and open up to it and aim full steam toward Him." 
* * * 

So now, the brave Desme faces what he says is a 10-year path to becoming a priest while studying at St. Michael's Abbey in Orange County beginning in August. 
"It's like I'm re-entering the Minor Leagues," he said. 

To read entire story, Click here.

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Love God, Love One Another: "He Asks Us to Fast" by Rita Ring, June 16, 1994

He Asks Us to Fast

June 16, 1994

R. Pleasure and pain. Animals seek pleasure. They want to eat and be satisfied. We are created in the image of God to understand so much more than momentary pleasure.

See their eyes meet. His Heart was lanced, her Heart was pierced. Sorrow between them was so intense, more so than joy between two people. There is unity in that gaze between them, a joining. There is a unity with us when we join our hearts to their Hearts in quiet acceptance of all that they send us, whether it be pain or joy. They ponder the ways of our hearts. They know the true hearts that beat within us.

Jesus: Such sorrow, such joy, joy to be united, sorrow to suffer the pain. It is in sweet surrender you are joined to Our Hearts. You accept all I have given you, you consecrate yourselves to our hearts, a total surrender of yourself to the Hearts of Mary and Jesus.

R. The gaze between them is enough to write volumes. The suffering that exists between them! How tenderly she had looked upon her infant baby and then beheld His lifeless body on her lap after He was taken down from the cross!

Union between the Two Hearts of mother and Son, union between our hearts and Theirs. It is in being detached regarding the things of this world that we are joined with them. Total consecration to Their Hearts, our hearts merging with Theirs in total fusion! It is in this oneness that I can put on Christ and preach the gospel in my very being, to be joined as one with Mary and Jesus!

http://www.sofc.org/

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Ignatius Press Celebrates the 'Year for Priests' with New Book on Cure of Ars by Expert Priest

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SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- In a remarkable new book just released by Ignatius Press, "The Grace of Ars," readers are given the incredible opportunity to experience the life of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of all parish priests and the role model to follow in the recently declared Year for Priests (2009-2010).

Author Fr. Frederick Miller has taken many groups of priests and seminarians on pilgrimage to Ars, France, where he leads retreats based on the life and ministry of St. John Vianney. Based on his years of personal experience at Ars, and the impact that the holy Curé has had on men who go there to learn from his inspiring life and work, this book is the distillation of wisdom and grace that St. John Vianney has passed on to his brother priests.

But this is not a book only for priests. Laymen will find in this reflection on St. John Vianney a model parish priest who will inspire all to love the priesthood. Through his holy example the Curé of Ars will help all understand that the priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.

Including eight pages of color illustrations, this is a treasury of spiritual wisdom that will take you along on a pilgrimage to the very place where St. John Vianney labored so long and so heroically for the good of souls and the love of God, often in direct battle with Satan. The reader will have the experience of making a retreat in the presence of the saintly Curé, and be able to ponder the Grace of Ars, in particular what he has to say to his fellow priests of the twenty-first century; another difficult time for those who seek to be faithful to their promises to God and build up the Church of Christ.

Fr. Frederick L. Miller, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, is the Chairman of the Department of Systematic Theology at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He has extensive parish experience and has spent nearly twenty years as a seminary professor and spiritual director. Fr. Miller is an author and a well-known retreat master.

To request a review copy or an interview with author Fr. Frederick Miller, please contact: Rose Trabbic, Publicist, Ignatius Press, (239)877-3034 or rose@ignatius.com.

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Report says Iran Working on Nuclear Bomb: Who will blink first?

Tribulation Times

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/january.asp?version=63&startmmdd=0101

January 27, 2010 

POPE BENEDICT XVI: “In a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims.”

NEWS REPORT : Report says Iran Working on Nuclear Bomb

Iran is serious about developing a nuclear bomb and has the ability to produce a primitive, truck-sized bomb this year, the German magazine, Der Spiegel, reported on Monday, citing secret intelligence information handed over to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

According to the report, Iran now needs to work on compressing such a bomb so that it can be fitted on a ballistic missile. Experts said Tehran could reach that stage by sometime between 2012 and 2014.

An intelligence dossier, portions of which were obtained by Der Spiegel, shows that there is a secret military branch of Iran’s nuclear research program that answers to the country’s Defense Ministry.

Officials who read the document, which is currently under review by the United States, Germany, Israel and the IAEA, claim that it shows that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at producing a nuclear bomb and that its plans are well advanced, said the report.

MORE

Iran crosses red line, can enrich uranium up to 20 pc
Iran to unveil missiles during anniversary
Iran to start new missile projects next month

EDITORIAL: Much bigger than soccer, the Israel-Iran game is afoot

OPINION: Who will blink first?

WORLD REACTION

China says still time for diplomacy on Iran nuclear row
Iran nuclear negotiator postpones Russia visit
Israel says Iran using nuclear talks “to buy time”
Iranian Spokesman Reiterates Peaceful Nature of Iran's N. Program

Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "On discernment of thoughts, passions, and virtues"

39. What are the particular offspring of the eight deadly sins? Or which of the three chief sins is the father of the other five (minor sins)?  I learnt from the holy men the following: 'The mother of lust is gluttony, and the mother of despondency is vainglory; sorrow and also anger are the offspring of those three (i.e. cupidity, sensuality, ambition); and the mother of pride is vainglory.'    

---

Prayer request?  Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com

This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.

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Love God, Love One Another: "Suffer with Jesus and Mary" by Rita Ring, June 16, 1994

Image by Susan WD via Flickr

Suffer with Jesus and Mary

June 16, 1994

Look, child, at Us as We suffer all through this Passion. Quiet acceptance, a sharing in our eyes meeting! I ask you to suffer in silence. Carry your cross. Do not give your burdens to others. You are this light that shines in the darkened world. If I give you sufferings and you complain, your light does not shine.

You can accept your cross or reject it. If you accept your cross, you should carry it, not give the burden to others. This is sainthood. This develops intimacy with Me and our eyes meet and we know the suffering, as the suffering between My mother and Me!

The way to Me is to pick up your cross and follow Me as I trod in silent surrender.

Image by chooyutshing via Flickr

R. Their eyes meeting is the key. This is how our eyes meet with theirs. This is intimacy. This is union in their Hearts. His Heart was lanced, her Heart was pierced.

Jesus: Bring your suffering to Our Hearts and be united to Us. In suffering there is pain, sometimes physical pain, sometimes pain in the heart. There is a bearing down with pain, the carrying of a load.

R. If He went out in such suffering, why do we think we should not have to suffer?

Jesus: Life is a bittersweet symphony, My child. You have a mixture of suffering and pleasure. The way to Me is the cross, to relinquish your life here and live it totally for Me.

Suffering suffered for Me lasts forever. It is the crown I wore that won your salvation. It is in your suffering you will help to save souls.

You are not here for momentary pleasures. I ask you to carry crosses, to carry the burdens that I place on you. It is through these burdens you are drawn closer to Me.

Accept your suffering with joy. It is in this joy that you will find the true joy of everlasting happiness.

I love you so. I am your Jesus and I will make more teachings clear to you in your life. Live My Passion with Me and come closer to the Hearts of Me and My mother.

http://www.sofc.org/

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Love God, Love One Another: "In Your Suffering, Become Intimate with Me" by Rita Ring, June 16, 1994

In Your Suffering, Become Intimate with Me

June 16, 1994 3:15a.m.

Ed. Note: The following occurred during the praying of a rosary at home.

R. (Agony). You, Jesus, did not lose Your focus on the Father, and You still had peace in Your Heart, but You sweat blood, so I think about my mental anguish. Such anguish, to sweat blood! Do You know mental anguish? You were a human and You knew You were going to die this brutal death. How I anguish over doing what You tell me to do. How ashamed I feel when You ask so little!

Jesus: (Scourging). They beat Me. I held nothing back. They tore My beloved flesh. I bled. They took My body, tied Me to a pole and beat Me. I could not move. I was bound. I give you freedom to choose to do little things and you say no. I could have broken the cords, I was God. I stayed bound, and subject to this awful violation of Me, for love of you. I love you. Don't ever say no to little acts I ask you to do to prove your love for Me. This offends Me so! I gave so much for you, little one. The acts I ask you to do are for your own good.

Accept suffering, accept it as your life with Me. I ask you to suffer. You miss My lessons I so sweetly teach. Quit complaining, suffer in silence, suffer with joy. Love your children, do not be glum around them. I call you to hard tasks. Do the hard things. Watch the results! Strive to be a saint. Saints never complain. Suffer My scourging by joyful acceptance of suffering. It is My way. It will save souls!

R. His Passion has meaning in how He suffered. How little He asks of us, yet we cannot even do it!

(Carrying of the Cross). Their eyes met, both in acceptance, both suffering, both silent, both knowing they had to accept it and He could stop it at any moment. He did it totally. They wept inside. How do we weep when we are offended? Did they holler from the housetops or weep softly? With such pain inside, her Heart pierced with such sorrow, as she beheld her beloved Son! Both weeping in silent surrender in such brutality.

Is this a lesson in silence? Silent acceptance! This is my lesson. I am complaining. Where am I? Certainly not a light that shines in the darkness! Doing His Will is silent acceptance. "She did it, He did it? It is so hard." How blind we are to so much!

(Crucifixion). She stood under the cross and cried to herself. Silent acceptance. She didn't protest.

How the body wants all to know how we suffer. Take away the pain. Did she take pain medicine or did He? They accepted in silence this horror. And We complain and complain!

Jesus: Suffer, My child, with joy. This is a key to sainthood. Pull your phones from the walls and take your complaints to My Heart. You are missing such rewards and I have to give you more suffering to learn the lesson.

R. Sweet surrender! It is as if I have a secret with Jesus and it binds me to Him. It is hard, but then I feel such unity with Him. He and I know, as Mary and Jesus felt when they looked into each other's eyes, such oneness to share the suffering. Such oneness, to share My intimate suffering with Jesus alone! What a treasure I lose, to miss such an intimate connection with Jesus! We have a secret. This creates such intimacy! He knows my heart. I mature in My relationship with Him.

Intimacy is sharing with the exclusion of others. To be intimate with Him, I share things with Him and not others. Suffering is such intimacy!

Jesus: To suffer and carry it and be glum casts a shadow on your fellows. To suffer and share only with Me creates a love, a bond and a trust that cements our hearts together.

R. The deepest suffering was shared between Jesus and Mary, looking at each other in total silence. Silence is the key to receiving benefits from suffering. "Suffer for Me with joy! Receive such a reward!"

Jesus: Do you wear your problems on your chest? "Oh," you say, "I have so much to learn and I fail so miserably," and I say you are blind and you must come to Me to be taught! Suffer with joy and in silence!

R. He is showing us constantly how we can have a deeper union with Him. It is I who keep myself away from Him.

Suffering is a bearing down. When you suffer, there is a weight you carry on your back. He asks us to suffer, to carry this cross with joy. As He carried His cross, He asks us to carry ours with greatest joy.

http://www.sofc.org/

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The following is Our Lady of Medjugorje's January 25, 2010 Monthly Message :

Image via Wikipedia

“Dear children! May this time be a time of personal prayer for you, so that the seed of faith may grow in your hearts; and may it grow into a joyful witness to others. I am with you and I desire to inspire you all: grow and rejoice in the Lord Who has created you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

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[MaryVitamin] St. Paul

 

Mary Vitamin for January 25^th 

Topic: The Apostle Paul

(Conversion of St. Paul January 25)

Quote:

"[I]n the order of sanctifying grace, the office of Apostles is the most sublime; but [the theologians] recognize in the Mother of God, and in St. Joseph, an order, a hierarchy apart superior in dignity to the first. The apostles, as we said above, are only the servants of Jesus Christ; Mary and Joseph are His mother and His father."

Pere Binet, The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph, (Tan Books)21. 

Meditation:

Ponder the depth of St. Paul's theology.  Contemplate his interpretation of Christ's life in Scripture. Consider St. Paul's impact on the development of the Church (he contributed 14 of the 27 books comprising the New Testament).  Bear in mind his ability to suffer (three shipwrecks, numerous stonings, imprisonments, and finally martyrdom).  Despite all these talents and accomplishments, St. Paul would be the first to acknowledge that his theology, his witness, his zeal, his love for Christ, pales in comparison to that of the Lord's Blessed Mother. 

Resolution:

Today, I will call upon Our Lady as Queen of the Apostles. I will think of Our Lady as the greatest Apostle as she continues to bring the message of Her Son to every age. She scours the earth looking for the most needy and with her motherly care she brings them to her Son.

Marian Vow:

One of the seven main biblical passages for study of Mary, the Mother of God is found in The Acts of the Apostles. (Acts 1:14) 

"It is the mission of the Mother of the Church, of the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, of the Queen of the Apostles in prayer at the Cenacle. The Eucharist, the Holy Spirit, our Lady, the Church: the Immaculate is at the center with her mission of gathering all her children into the Church animated by the Holy Spirit at the foot of the Tabernacle."

Marian Seraphic Pathways 

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria

__._,_.___

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RT @dcagle: Funny to

RT @dcagle: Funny toon: Obama's agenda is looking more and more like a coffin being nailed up http://htxt.it/CRfl

via hellotxt

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Emotional outpour and protests among Christians following brutal murder of Catholic girl

ASIA/PAKISTAN - 

Lahore (Agenzia Fides) – Profound emotion, anger, and protests have been taking place among Christians in Pakistan after the murder of a Catholic girl, 12-year-old Shazia Bashir, who was tortured, raped, and killed by her employer, a wealthy Muslim lawyer in Lahore. As Agenzia Fides has learned from the Church in Pakistan, the girl was from a very poor Catholic family and had worked for eight months as a maid at the home of prominent lawyer in Lahore, named Chaudhry Muhammad Neem. The girl was beaten, raped, and murdered on January 22. 
As a local source told Fides, the girl's funeral, held today in Lahore, was attended by a crowd of thousands, visibly moved by the event. The funeral was also attended by Bishops of all the Christian denominations, who have launched messages of solidarity and urged the faithful to pray. Many Christians were in tears, and even many Muslims showed affection and solidarity. 

This is one of many incidents of torture and mistreatment that Christians suffer, especially poorer ones, when they are employed as workers (for often very humble services) in the homes of Muslims. 
Shazia was working for 1,000 rupees a month (about 12 U.S. dollars) to procure a livelihood for her family: her parents, two married sisters, and an 8-year-old brother. 
The girl's parents have said that for days they were forbidden to see their daughter. After asking several times, they found her in serious conditions, with obvious signs of violence and torture. They immediately took her to Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, where Shazia died. 
The lawyer tried to buy their silence by offering 20,000 rupees (around $ 250), but the parents refused and reported the story. 

Police resisted and at first did not want to record what had happened, but protests of Christians brought the case to public attention. On January 23, a crowd gathered in front of the palace of the Regional Parliament of Punjab (of which Lahore is the capital), demanding justice. Only after over 18 hours, did the police finally register the case. 
Six people were arrested after the intervention of the Federal Government yesterday, January 24. The President of Pakistan, Ali Zardari, immediately allocated 500,000 rupees ($6,000) in “compensation” to the family of Shazia. The Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, has assured that "those guilty will be brought to justice." (PA) 

(Agenzia Fides 25/01/2010)

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A Powerful New Pro-Life Voice

A Leader Emerges

 

In America, the annual March for Life has become an international event. At the dinner following the march, the keynote address was delivered by a powerful new voice on the American scene. But first, Haiti...

By Robert Moynihan, reporting from America

=====================================

 

Tragedy in Haiti

 

Benedict XVI has written to Haitians to say the Church will do everything possible to contribute to the country's reconstruction following the terrible January 12 earthquake. 

The Pope wrote to Haiti's president, René Préval, and the head of the country's bishops' conference, Archbishop Louis Kébreau of Cap-Haitien.

Both messages, released Saturday by the Vatican press office, affirmed the Pope's sorrow for the quake victims and his nearness to the survivors.

The Haitian authorities have reported 111,500 people have died thus far, with another 193,891 injured, and some 3 million people displaced.

"I pray that the spirit of solidarity will live in the hearts of all and that calm will reign in the streets," Benedict wrote, "so that the generous aid that is arriving from all countries will bring relief to all and the people who today have lost everything will be comforted in knowing that the entire international community is taking care of them in concrete ways." 

 

In Haiti yesterday, January 23, a funeral Mass was celebrated for Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince, who died when the impact of the quake hurled him from a balcony. Also remembered was Msgr. Charles Benoit, the vicar general, whose body was pulled lifeless from the cathedral debris. 

In a message, Chicago Cardinal Francis George, the US bishops' conference president, told Haitians, "The Church in the United States stands with you. In our prayer, we recall that Jesus, too, wept before the tomb of one whom he loved. With you, we recall in trust that He is the resurrection and the life, offering Himself to us and calling us to Himself, even in our darkest hour." 

 

============================ 

 

Huge Pro-Life March in Washington DC Ignored By Media

 

It was a dramatic sight: tens of thousands of Americans -- and foreigners -- marching peacefully through the streets of Washington DC on behalf of life on Friday, January 22. 

 

It took about two hours for all the marchers to make the hike from the center of the Mall to the Supreme Court building, about 50 abreast across the main avenues of Washington. Some think there were half a million people present.

 

In America, the annual January 22 "March for Life" in Washington has become well known for two things.

 

First, it is big -- of the largest public gatherings in the country, year after year, with crowds numbering at least 200,000.

 

Second, it is ignored -- the country's mainstream media consistently downplay the size and significance of the March. Sometimes they don't mention it at all. Or, if they do mention it, they give "equal time" to the 250,000 marchers and a group of 40 or 60 opponents of the March for Life who also turn out each year.

 

But media silence cannot fully blot out reality.

 

And the reality is that, despite inadequate reports of its existence, one of the largest mass movements in America is continuing, and even growing, after 37 years.

 

Bigger Than Ever -- Including Young Women 

 

This year, in fact, the March for Life was as big as ever -- and maybe bigger.

 

How many were in the crowd? No one knows for sure. But Nellie Gray, the chief organizer of the event, told the Rose Dinner that evening that she thought this year's crowd was "larger than any numbers we have ever had before."

 

Since the March began in 1974, the number of marchers has often been estimated at 250,000 and sometimes more. Therefore, it seems reasonable to estimate, based on Gray's words, that about 300,000 people joined this year's March for Life. (Some observers informally estimated that 500,000 were present. From the large crowds I myself observed, that higher figure may not be far off the mark.)

 

What are the marchers marching for? To try to convince America's lawmakers and Supreme Court justices to overturn as unjustRoe vs. Wade, the January 22, 1973, decision which legalized abortion in America.

 

The essential "pro-life" position is that abortion, the taking of the life of an unborn child, is a violation of the "right to life," a right which is protected with great vigilance for all human beings in society once they are born into the world.

 

The pro-life position is that the unborn should have the same protection as those who are born -- that children in the womb are human beings even before birth, and as human beings, deserving of legal protection. 

But the laws of America no longer protect the unborn. And the American press, evidently, no longer wishes to report the protests of tens of thousands against this legal injustice.

Perplexing Media Distortion

 

One writer, Jack Cashwell at the American Thinker, wrote: "In covering the 2010 March, the media have morphed from laziness and incompetence to outright fraud. Someone should be fired.

 

"Let us start with Krista Gesaman writing for Newsweek. Her headline sums up the utter absurdity of her thesis, 'Missing at theRoe v. Wade Anniversary Demonstrations? Young Women.' Twisting the words of a police organizer, she informs the reader that 'a majority of the participants are in their 60s.' This leads Gesaman to conclude, 'So this raises the question: where are the young, vibrant women supporting their pro-life or pro-choice positions? Likely, they're at home.'

 

"All Gesaman had to do was stick her head out the window to know otherwise. Having been in Washington for the March this year, I can assure Gesaman that the demographics matched last year's. Young women were everywhere and unavoidable. They filled every hotel lobby in town. Many of them had spent countless hours on busses to get there." 

I agree with Cashwell. There were tens of thousands of young women at this year's March, as I was able to see with my own eyes. I am perplexed by Gesaman's assertion and cannot understand what march she was observing.

The "internationalization" of this March for Life is also noteworthy.

Pro-life leaders from Africa, Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania were present to protest the radical expansion of anti-life policies under the Obama administration. 

"America's March for Life is now the world's March for Life," Joseph Meaney, Director of International Coordination for Human Life International (HLI), said. "It has become the world's pro-life protest because of the aggressive promotion of abortion and population control that is now official policy of the United States, thanks to the administration of President Barack Obama."

"This is not only the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which has led to the destruction of almost 50 million American children," Dr. Ligaya Acosta, HLI Regional Coordinator for Asia and Oceania, said. "This is now the anniversary of President Obama's allowing Americans' taxpayer funds to be used to promote abortion and other assaults on life in my own country of the Philippines, in Africa, in China... all over the world where 40 million babies are killed every year. It is wrong and we are here to tell him and Congress to stop paying to kill our children!"

(Dr. Acosta was referring to President Obama's January 23rd, 2009 reversal of the Mexico City Policy, which had, under the Reagan and both Bush administrations, restricted the use of federal funds to support any organization that promoted or performed abortion abroad. In December, this reversal allowed Congress to pass an omnibus spending bill, signed by President Obama, which included almost $700 million for abortion-promoting organizations internationally.)

"These aggressive policies are undeniably hurting America's stature with the people of the world, even if they help America appeal to the cruel international elites who want to run everything," said Raymond DeSouza, HLI's coordinator for Portuguese-speaking nations. "When international aid is tied to abortion, it's like holding a nation hostage, telling them that children are bad, which translates into hopelessness for the future. This is a terrible violence against the families and children of the developing world."

And yet, the March for Life, ignored or distorted as it had been by the media, has also had a missing element: it has failed to produce a spokesman -- a leader -- who could articulate persuasively, copellingly, a complete, coherent vision for the movement within the context of America's legal tradition.

 

The Keynote Address

 

That spokesman may have emerged this year. His name: Professor Robert George (photo).

 

George, a Roman Catholic, teaches law at Princeton University, and was chosen by Nelli Gray to be the keynote speaker at the annual Rose Dinner, held in the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill on the evening of January 22.

 

In his talk, entitled “Our Struggle for the Soul of the Nation,” George, with remarkable conviction, articulated a comprehensive, nuanced, eloquent, balanced and persuasive pro-life vision for America, and the world, in a way that no other speaker at the dinner has managed to do in recent years.

George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and founder and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton, began to emerge as a public figure in America during the past year, especially after he co-authored the "Manhattan Declaration" (published on November 20), a manifesto of traditional moral principles which has since been signed by some 400,000 people worldwide.

 

He has even drawn the attention of the New York Times, which recently published a profile on him as the new conservative Christian "big thinker" in America. (Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/magazine/20george-t.html)

 

As a Professor of Politics and an associated faculty member of the Department of Philosophy at Princeton, and as someone who has served on the President’s Council on Bioethics and as a presidential appointee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, George has been able to reflect on the ethical issues facing the nation from the philosophical and legal as well as from a spiritual perspective.

 

Professor George’s scholarly focus has been on the dignity of the human person and its implications for moral, legal, and political philosophy.  He is author of Making Men Moral: Civil Liberties and Public Morality (1993), In Defense of Natural Law (1999), andThe Clash of Orthodoxies (2001).

A graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School, George earned a master’s degree in theology from Harvard and a doctorate in philosophy of law from Oxford University. In addition to his academic work, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as Of Counsel to the law firm of Robinson & McElwee. 

George's talk was a clarion call for continued commitment to the pro-life cause.

 

"Fellow warriors in the cause of human life, in the cause of human dignity, in the cause of love!" George began, dramatically. 

 

He then outlined the history of how abortion was legalized in America in 1973, characterizing the legal reasoning behind the decision of the Supreme Court justices of the time as "nothing short of absurd."

 

The judges found an alleged "right to feticide" within the constitutional right to privacy, he said.

 

This was an "outrageous usurpation" by the justices, he argued, and led to the "unmitigated disaster" of legalized abortion, with an estimated "50 million unborn victims" since 1973, he said.

 

But there has always been opposition to this decision, and the opposition, far from dying out, remains and is growing today, after 37 years, George said.

 

In fact, he said, today there is an "unprecedented interfaith alliance" of "Eastern Orthodox, Orthodox and Observant Jews, Catholics, Protestants, even atheists and agnostics" who oppose abortion.

 

"It is this alliance of people across the religious spectrum that stands in the gap today against abortion, cloning, and genetic experimentation," he said.

 

George then spent some time reviewing the history of the attitudes toward abortion of the two main American political parties.

 

He noted that many Democrats like Senator Edward Kennedy, representing the party of the "little guy," initially opposed abortion, then, bit by bit, changed their positions. (George was for some years an advisor to the pro-life Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, the late Robert Casey, who was ostracized by his own party for his strong pro-life views.)

 

George then said he believes that the present Democratic president, Barack Obama, "will continue to try to undermine the pro-life cause." He said those evangelicals and Catholics who "abet" the president by arguing that he is in fact "pro-life" are wrong.

 

But George, even-handedly, also criticized Republican presidents, saying they had not chosen Supreme Court Justices who would be firmly pro-life. "It wasn't the Democrats who appointed Sandra Day O'Connor," he said.

 

And he suggested that the election of the next US president, in 2012, will be critical, as that president will quite likely have the chance to propose several new justices. "That's when the seats will be on the line that will make the difference," he said.

 

But, he said, "success on the judicial front will only be the prelude to the larger political battle. The pro-life movement must bring the unborn fully within the protection of our laws."

 

He then turned to the example of the great 19th century British anti-slavery activist, William Wilberforce.

 

"We have a marvelous model in the work of the great anti-slavery crusader, William Wilberforce," George said.

 

He said that Wilberforce was tireless in his commitment to end slavery, though he was branded a "zealot," a "religious fanatic," an "enemy of freedom," someone who was "imposing his religious beliefs on others."

 

"Sound familiar?" George asked. "But Wilberforce refused to be intimidated."

 

And, George said, Wilberforce won. He ended slavery.

 

Then George took a more spiritual tack. He cited Mother Teresa, noting that she had said that "prayer is the most powerful weapon."

 

And he noted that she had called on America to be "true to yourself -- be faithful to the ideals you have."

 

George was at pains to emphasize that the pro-life position does not imply hatred of its opponents.

 

"Nothing could be further from the truth," he said. "For decades, pro-life women have devoted themselves to assisting their pregnant sisters who are in need. Even women who have succumbed to the temptation to abort have been offered forgiveness, reconciliation and healing."

 

He added: "For those of us who are Christians, we must love our enemies... The side that loves the most wins." 

He noted that the invention of the sonogram has been important in changing the opinion of many regarding abortion. He said many families now display sonograms of "little Sally or Joey" taken while in the womb. "It's hard to see little Sally or Joey and say it's all right to kill them," he said.

 

"Will we achieve our goal?" he asked. "Will abortion finally go the way of slavery?"

 

He said he "dared to hope" that "the killing of the unborn" would someday be "not only unlawful but unthinkable."

 

Abortion would become something "you wouldn't want to do it even if it were legal."

 

George concluded: "Let us become finally and fully, once and for all, a nation dedicated to the principle that all men are created equal."

 

And the Rose Dinner audience erupted in thunderous applause.

 

==================

  

Here are links to videos which show Professor George speaking. They are meant only to provide a sampling of his mind and presence as a speaker:

 

(1) On decent and dynamic societies:  

(2) Fox News video on the Manhattan Declaration, with Prof. George's remarks toward the end:  
(3) Brief clip on freedom and moral values: 

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“He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God's providence to lead him aright.” —Blaise Pascal(French mathematician, philosopher, physicist and writer, 1623-1662)

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Note: We still have one spot open on our Easter pilgrimage to Assisi and Rome. If you would like information about this trip, please email us immediately at: editor@insidethevatican.com.

 

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Gift ideas:

(1) a Russian Christmas Concert DVD;

 

(2) a CD on the Pope's decision to restore the old Mass;

 

(3) subscriptions to our magazine.

(1) Christmas Oratorio (Russian Concert) on DVD 

The music tells the Christmas story in the deep, rich tradition of Russian ecclesial music, using the Russian language and English subtitles.

On December 17, 2007, a leading Russian orchestra performed an exceptional "world premiere" concert of Russian Christmas music at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. Now you can order your copy of the concert on DVD, which includes English sub-titles.

The music is a completely new composition by a young Russian Orthodox Archbishop, Hilarion Alfeyev, 43. At the time, he was the Russian Orthodox bishop for all of central Europe, based in Vienna, Austria. He is now the head of the External Relations Department of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Makes a wonderful gift. Order one for yourself, one for a loved one and one for a friend... at three copies, the price is less! Click here to order

 

================

 

(2) A Talk by Dr. Robert Moynihan on CD

“The Motu Proprio: Why the Latin Mass? Why Now?”

To understand the motu proprio, one must know the history of the Mass. Dr. Moynihan gives a 2000-year history of the Mass in 60 minutes which is clear and easy to understand. Dr. Moynihan's explanation covers questions like:

— How does the motu proprio overcome some of the confusion since Vatican II?
— Is this the start of the Benedictine Reform?
— The mind of Pope Benedict: How can the Church restore the sense of the presence of God in the liturgy?

Click here to order 

 

(3) To subscribe to the print edition of Inside the Vatican, click here: 

 

 

 

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