Terse Verse - John 12:24

As I try to get back on schedule here after having a lot on my plate for the past couple weeks, especially now that the Monk Rock concert is over, I'm going to use a verse that I heard last night. This verse was mentioned by Tom Booth last night before he sang one of his songs, which was inspired by it, called "Slipping." And it just got me thinking, alot, during his singing last night.

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

God is calling us each and every day to die. Not necessarily die in a physical way, of course we are all going to die someday. But, God calls us to let go of something, let go of ourselves each day. Only by letting go and letting that part of ourselves die, will we provide fertile ground for God to cultivate us so that we can bear much fruit. What is it that God is calling you to let go of, which part of you do you have to let die?

Paix du Christ!

Monks Rock!

Wow, yesterday I had a wonderful opportunity to join a 76 member, 9 church, ecumenical choir (6 Catholic, 2 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist) when John Michael Talbot brought his Monk Rock Tour band to Huntsville for a concert. Included in this band were 3 other great Contempoaray Christian artists. Tom Booth, John's brother Terry, and Joe Hand. I'd never really heard Terry's songs before, or Joe's. Although John was spiritual, Tom is an excellent artist, and Terry was good and funny, Joe was a great guy. Joe played the bass and was the closest to the choir. As soon as he went up on stage for a sound check, he started chatting and cutting up with us. He was always smiling and very positive. Unfortunately, we weren't blessed with any of the song's he has written, but I did buy a CD to be able to hear his songs ^_^ It was an excellent evening of Christian music and fellowship! Definitely a wonderful way to start looking toward the lenten season.

If you haven't noticed, I've added the Unseen Blog to the list on the right. Also, In lieu of my most recent musical experience, be looking for links to blogs of Christian artists (mainly JMT, Joe Hand, and Ceili Rain).

Paix du Christ!

Theology Thursday - Rosarium Virginis Mariae 1-8

Today, I figured we could start looking at the Apostolic Letter from John Paul the Great entitled Rosarium Virginis Mariae (The Rosary of the Virgin Mary). It's a very reverent and uplifting document of the church and a great reminder of the wonderful gift we have in the rosary and that we should all pray it.

At the beginning, the Pope states that the rosary is "simple yet profound," the hardest part of the rosary is probably the apostles' creed at the beginning. other than that, the rosary is prayed with 3 short prayers and focused on events in the life of Christ. Most people don't realize that although the rosary appears to be totally Marian (and sometimes as worshipping Mary to the non-catholic), the rosary is really a prayer centered on Christ.

He continues in the next section by describing how many Popes have exaulted the wonders of the rosary. John Paul even said that the rosary is his favorite prayer. Do to the many graces he received from the rosary, he dedicated most of his papacy to the rosary. In our experiences, we can all relate to the joy and sorrow expressed in Christ's life through the rosary. "Thus the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rythm of human life."

In the fouth section, we see where people, even within the Church that might have problems with the rosary. The first objections is that the only prayer they should be concerned with is the Liturgy. However, Paul VI tells us that the rosary doesn't take anything away from the Mass, but sustains it as it brings the Liturgy into our daily lives by meditating on the events in Christ's life. Others think that the rosary may turn off people from other religions because it is praying to Mary. But, the rosary is Christological to its core. The 20 mysteries are based on Christ's life. Also when we honor someone's mother, we honor them, and so it is with Mary and Jesus. The relationship a son has to his mother even comes up in modern culture. Remember Yo' Momma jokes? They were started as a way to really insult someone by slandering their mother. So, with the rosary, the reverse is true, by saying good things about Christ's mother we are raising him up. Also, I've noticed more and more non-catholics taking a liking to the rosary. Many of my co-workers here ask me if I'm currently making a rosary and if they can see it, some of them (non-catholic) even want me to make one for them. I knew an agnostic at my last job who said that he likes and respects the rosary. My friend's wife is a Baptist and prays and even makes rosaries on her own. The Anglicans are even trying to get in on the act, I've heard more people saying they have an "Anglican rosary." I don't have a problem with other religions having prayer beads, but personally I don't like calling it a rosary. I'll stick with Anglican chaplet. So, I see many people outside of the Catholic faith that are drawn towards the rosary.

The most important reason to encourage the rosary is that of self-discipline and spirituality. Both of which seem to be harder and harder to find in today's world. As the rosary is a simple prayer made up of only a few small prayers it is easily taken up on a regular basis and can be prayed anywhere. I believe that God made humans, living rosaries. As long as you can remember which mystery on which you are supposed to be meditating ^_- all you need to do is to use 10 things to keep track of your prayers. Now, how many fingers do you have? In a pinch, you can just count on your fingers.

Historically, the rosary has been used to pray for peace locally and throughout the world. With terrorists attacks, rebels in Iraq trying to start a civil war, Muslim extremists rioting over cartoons in totally other parts of the world, Hamas being elected into national government to increase tensions in the holy lands, the rosary can be a very powerful tool for peace. Also, with traditional family being threatened with homosexual marriages, sexual molestations, high divorce rates, abortions, pre-marital sex, the rosary can be a powerful prayer where remember the familial relationship between Christ and His mother.

Christ himself asked his apostles to treat Mary as their own mother as he stated "Woman, behold your son!" and "Behold, your Mother" in John 19:26-27. Many Christians since then have followed in these footsteps by calling on Mary, their spiritual Mother, in times of need just as they would call on their own mother as a child.

Paix du Christ!

More on fires

This past weekend, more news about fires in Alabama cropped up. There was another attempt at setting fire to a church, but not by the same people as before.

Sunday morning the pastor arrived early in the morning at Chapman Chapel in near Glencoe in southeast Etowah County. What he found was a small blackened burn mark on the outside siding of the church. This incident was reported about 7:30 Sunday morning. Although it drew the attention of the church arson task force here in AL, they are pretty sure this attempt was not by the same perpetrators as the string of 9 (and a possible 10th) linked fires in west-central AL.
Why does it not appear to be linked? First of all, by looking at a map, one finds that Etowah Co. is is in north-east AL (approximately 80 miles south of Huntsville off US Hwy 431). It is in a different part of the state. Also, the other 10 fires were started inside the church around the pulpit area and the churches that were not destroyed had knocked-in back doors (again showing that the fires would have been started inside). This church had a burn mark on the outside and apparently a broken bottle had been found. This bottle would have been filled with a cocktail of flammable liquids and usually tossed at a distance or from a moving car in an attempt to start a fire. Definitely a different approch to setting the fire.

Although the damage was only cosmetic and easily fixable, we should still pray for people who would try to disrespect the property of others, especially when the attempt is to destroy property. We can't let the mind set that arson (especially on churches) is a crime you can get away without punishment.

Paix du Christ!

The bright side of fire

While there's been no news about more church fires or capturing the culprit(s), there have been related stories. One story, which was considered copy-cat (I don't really consider it so), is a boy who set fire to an abandoned church fires, with the supposed motive of simply watching his brother put out the fire. They know who the boy is and have him, apparently he has previously started brushfires. To me that's more of a pyromaniac with issues rather than a copy-cat.

However, a more interesting and brighter story comes from around 150 miles away from the church fires, right here in Madison Co. Apparently, a church congregation which had recently moved to a new location had left the pews in the old building. The new owner of the property, which I believe is become a storage building, doesn't have any use of the pews and decided to donate them to an unfortunate congregation that was a victim of the fires in central AL.

Paix du Christ!

Stranger and stranger

Sorry, for this link you might have to either put in your zip code and gender, or click the link at the bottom to skip it.

I'm not so sure about these people down south in central AL anymore. Shooting cats and cows with crossbows and a dog with a bow and arrow? These shot animals were found in Bibb and Shelby counties. To jog your memory, you might remember that Bibb county is where the first 5 churches burned down and Shelby is adjacent to the northeast. Does anyone else find it a little strange that these two weird acts happen in the same area within the same month?

Paix du Christ!

Dark-sided spouses

I was browsing around the Google Video of the Day blog and found this video. I don't know if anyone watches the FOX show Trading Spouses and might have seen this episode to know exactly what's going on, but did she say "I had to make them go to a Catholic Church?" Does that mean that she's Catholic. I can understand about being wigged out to find out there is a pagan living for a couple weeks with your family where they have to listen and usually do what she tells them to do. But, first pray that God will take care of the situation, and then lets use a little rationale to find out exactly what happened first. I hope this video isn't out there representing Catholics as looneys.

Paix du Christ!

Alabama Church News

Hullo to Name Hidden, and Former Alter Boy. It's great to see some familier faces around here ^_^

I have been keeping my ears open and searching the news (and their websites) for any updates on the hate crime committed at a Catholic church in Decatur AL last Oct. Unfortunately, it seems recently that hate crimes against churches in this area isn't contained.

You all may have heard of the recent church fires in western AL. These hate crimes are heinous, because they not only terrorize, but are quite destructive. I've been trying to do a little extra news investigating this weekend so that I can better inform you. However, this weekend, another church burned up.

Friday, Feb. 3: Early Friday morning (overnight) 5 churches caught on fire and in Bibb Co., just south of Birmingham. Rehobeth Baptist, Ashby Baptist, Old Union Baptist, Pleasant Sabine Baptist, and Antioch Baptist. All 5 churches were rual off-the-road churches, not far from US 82. Most churches were old, some pre-civil war. 4 churches are predominantly white congregations and 1 predominantly black congregation. 3 of the churches burned to the ground and reduced to rubble. 2 are being reported as damaged, but not destroyed. Not being counted from Chilton Co. is a retired church now being used as a thrift store that was set ablaze Thurs. afternoon.

Tuesday, Feb. 7: Early Tuesday morning (again overnight) 4 churches caught on fire in 3 counties on the Mississippi boundary. Spring Valley Baptist Church and Galilee Baptist Church in Sumter Co. , Morning Star Baptist Church in Greene, and Dancy Baptist Church in Pickens Co. This time all within 25 miles of each other, all rual, all baptist, all old buildings, and all predominantly black.

At this point, there are plenty of ATF and FBI federal investigators around these areas. Although, copycat is on the radar, they are pretty sure that all 9 fires are linked and probably the same people. The leads that they have released to the news are a supposed sighting of 2 white males in a dark SUV, probably a Pathfinder at one of the churches. The investigators also said they have lifted a shoe print at one of the sites.

Saturday, Feb. 11: Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church in Lamar Co. is set on fire. This time, the fire is set a little after 4 in the afternoon in the daylight unlike the others that occured under the cover of night. This church is on the MS border just north of the previous 3 counties, predominantly white, baptist, rual, and an older building. Investigators have definitely ruled this church fire caused by arson, but cannot, yet, conclusively link it to the other 9 churches, but are very suspicious.

For everyone keeping count here is a recap. Within 8 days of each other, 10 churches have been set on fire in 5 different counties. All are baptist. All are older and rual buildings. 5 are predominantly white, 5 are predominantly black. A thrift store which used to be a church was set on fire in an adjacent county.

Who are these people? Who knows. People that hate established religion? Some one and his friend who have been estranged/abused/ostrisized by a baptist church? A satan worshiper? Someone who likes fires? College kids with nothing to do but play nasty pranks? No one really knows, these are just some speculations off the top of my head. The FBI profilers believe these are 2 white men in there 20 or early 30's who know what they are doing and how to do it quickly. However, to shine some good light on the subject, at least these people are choosing churches at times most likely not to have anyone in them, instead of apartment buildings where people could definitely be injured or killed. But, these acts are definitely horrible. Police all across Northern Alabama have been building in more frequent stops past churches, especially more rual ones. Let's all keep these Baptist brethren in our prayers that they may have fortitude and find forgiveness in their hearts, the law agents that they have the strength and wisdom to carry out their jobs, and especially the perpetrators that they may have the repentance to stop these fires. On Thursday, mobile units had started moving into the area to aid some of the congregations find a temporary home. It's nice to see communities bonding together to help each other. Currently, the reward money for help in capturing the ciminals is upto $77,000. If I have time today, I hope to find some pictures of locations on the map to give you a better idea. Here is a page for Rehobeth, one of the first 5 churches that was totally destroyed. I like the header on the front page, "God is Love" (which of course is Deus Caritas Est), you can click on the photos link at the top to see a picure of the church, the devastation, and the room they have found nearby to use for worship. I will also keep you informed if any more information comes across in the news.

Paix du Christ!

Stop Hatin' on Catholics

Once I got back to watch the Super Bowl, it was already half time. Most of the commercials weren't very good this year, so I flipped from the game to Crossing Jordan during commercials. It's only 2 channels away since I don't care to pay for cable. In the middle of a change, I noticed a picture of JP, of course I had to stop. As soon as I did, I remembered what the channel was between ABC and NBC - 3ABN. That's right, the Seventh Day Adventist channel. I groaned, and then as they started talking, I painfully watched part of it until I figured the timeout was over.

These vultures have to attck the Church by attacking a man when he's dead. What morons. JP's funeral was acclaimed to be the largest attend in history, President Bush as well as most former presidents attended the funeral, many national and religious leaders from all over the world attended, and were the premise for their argument that the Catholic Church is the beast in revelation, will force it's power on the United States, and take over the world to become the great anti-christ. They also noted that JP appeared on the cover of Time a record 16 times, and said how horrible that was. Apparently we Catholics have a goal of converting a majority of voters in all precincts according to the Glenmary website. The program was also date since they said that if Roberts was confirmed that there would be 4 Catholics on the Supreme Court (can you really count Kennedy?).

You know why so many people attended the Pope's funeral, you know he was on the cover of Time so many times, you know why none of the SDA leaders will ever see these things happen to them? Because the Pope (JP, as well as Benedict) is a man of peace and kindness. JP was the most world-wide influence on the fall of communism and he did all of his work through peace and love. The SDA message on the other hand is all about hate and division. Make people hate the Catholic Church with their lies so they leave the Church. Divide all christians so the SDA can further spread their falsehoods. When I turn on 3ABN, I continually hear hatred, mostly towards Catholics, but towards anyone who isn't SDA. No one's gonna attend a funeral of anyone with that attitude. I have a hard time believing that a church that vommits all that hatred is Christ's Church. Although they are considered christian, I am having a hard time calling them christian, because true Christians wouldn't say the things they do about everyone else.

I'll keep watching 3ABN off and on. Not too listen to the messages, you want me to listen, then you at least have to act christian. But, to improve my appologetics. Watching this channel, I can at least hear attacks and have time to polish any responses with out being in the middle of a personal fire fight.

Paix du Christ!

Where's the Reverence?

This past weekend I attended 3 Masses (singing at all 3), 2 different priests presided. An older, retired priest presided at the first Mass. He had an absolutely outstanding homily. He said he was standing there noticing how wonderful the Gloria sounded in the church and then he looked up and noticed that many people were just there and not singing (not participating in Mass). He also mentioned that sometimes he wonders how many people walk into a church and notice Jesus. He's always present and visible in the tabernacle, but how many people stop to think and recoginze that it is actually Christ, how many people think to say a prayer or thank the Lord for his gifts in life and his presence. Some may have noticed that this past weekend was Scout Sunday (always the first Sun. in Feb.) where any troops, packs, etc. are recognized and thank their charter organizations (usually churches) and typically participate as ushers, greeting people, breakfast afterwards, or other ministries. At the end of the second Mass, the pack and troop were both recognized and came forward to present the charters to the church. The priest preceded to place the framed charters on the altar. Now, I love all of the priests here (even the handful of retired ones who help out), I think they all have great personalities and are great people. But sometimes I can't say that they are all reverent. Some priests refuse to have announcements at the end of Mass as they believe it would disrupt the solemn setting that had just been set by the Mass. But one priest always insists on telling a story or two with a comic punchline at the end of Mass. The third Mass was a Youth Mass that typically only has 10-20 people present (held once a month for the high schoolers in Youth Ministry). The same priest presided at this small Mass. It seems that in this small setting people tend to forget how to be Catholic and no one wants to correct anyone else. People sometimes don't kneel and stand. In fact, this last time, when people started to shuffle to kneel, the priest said "Oh, that's okay you don't have to stand...(people are starting kneel)...but if you want to kneel, I guess you can." So, people are just supposed to sit during the Eucharistic prayer. While eating some of the adults mentioned how they wish Father could be at every Mass because he's so welcoming and how he's still reverent while doing it. Sure, I like some of the things he does differently, but full of reverence is not something I would use to describe the whole of his Masses. Buy condoning priests that don't follow the rules, what are we telling kids these days. Priests should be shepherds and set examples for the people. Maybe people today are being less reverent because of the examples they happen to see in front of them at the altar.

Paix du Christ!

Super Sister Update

GMA reported on Sister's trip to the Super Bowl this morning. Although most of her weekend was filled with a schedule of Super Bowl event, Sister still started off Sunday morning with Mass. She enjoyed just being at the Super Bowl even though her Colts weren't playing. Most people treated her like a celebrity, wanting to shake her hand and get pictures with her, what a great time it must have been for her. Although most people recognized her from the news show, there was someone that tried to buy her ticket for $5,000 (guess he didn't recognize her). Guess a Sister just has more moral values than to scalp her ticket (even if that money could have been used for a good cause). You go, Sister.

Paix du Christ!

Super Sister Mary John

We've all heard of flyin' nuns, but ever heard of a bowlin' nun? This morning on GMA, the winner of the Greatest Football Fan in America Challenge was announced. And the winner is Sister Mary John. Sister is the chaplain at St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis and a dedicated Colts fan. This old nun LOVES football. Her friends at the hospital submitted her entry video on her behalf because she's such a kind and loving person. When Mike Barr showed up to surprise her, he couldn't hardly get a word in becasue Sister had to hug and thank everyone there. Finally, he got to tell her that her prizes were a limo to the airport, a plane trip, dinner with Peyton Manning, a hotel, 2 tickets to Super Bowl XL, and backstage passes to an ESPN show. And who says nuns don't know how to have fun? While your watching Pitt play Seatle, look for Sisters Mary John and Catherine in the 11th row, what great seats. If you missed the story, I strongly suggest going to their page and watch her segment as well as her entry video. Sister predicts the Steelers will win by the width of a safety (27-25), don't call your bookie just yet. Sister ended with some great words of advice for fans (especially Ville fans, they are so unpredictable, but it's great when they are ontop like last year, this year not so hot), she says she doesn't pray to win a game she just asks to be able to accept the outcome whatever it is.

Paix du Christ!

The best feast day

Today is the feast of St. Blaise. This was definitely my favorite feast day growing up. In elementary school, we would go to church and during Mass our throats would be blessed. It's not any normal blessing, you walk up (like a communion or ash wednesday line) and the priest has two candle sticks and would cross them like an X with the ends on either side of your neck as he said the blessing. Why use candle's? Well, why not? As I said yesterday it was Candlemas, which traditionally was the end of the Christmas season and the candles in the church were blessed (hence the name candle mass = candlemas). Since you just blessed the candles the day before, why not use them in a blessing on St. Blaise Day? And then we have the coolest blessing on any feast day. May all of your throats stay healthy!

Paix du Christ!

Happy Candlemas

...or Presentation of the Lord, which ever you prefer.

Well, today I finally did it. I finally bought a Sirius receiver and activated it. No, I'm not a Stern junkie at all (don't even like the show). The whole reason I settled on Sirius is because I'm an Catholic Answers junkie. That's right, after moving from Kentucky to northern Alabama, I miss being able to switch my radio over to the local EWTN station and seeing what's on. I got Sirius solely for the Catholic Radio station; Stern, OutQ, and a few other off-color channels will definitely be locked with a code, so if I'm on youth group events, the kids can't get to them and listen to things they shouldn't (especially on a church trip). EWTN is great to listen to in the car, and you can find out a lot of information about being Catholic, or even other people's faiths just by tuning it on. If you can't get Catholic radio in your area, check out Sirius.

Paix du Christ!

One small step for life

Today, Judge Alito was confirmed by a senate vote of 58-42. One Republican from Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, voted no, but four democrats (Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Ben Nelson of Nebraska) gave a yes vote. Alito will be installed on Wednesday as Justice Alito and hopefully will move this country in the right direction to be re-born into a culture of life.

Paix du Christ!

Terse Verse - 1 John 4:16

We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.

If this verse sounds fairly familiar from recent events, it should. This verse is the very first line of Deus Caritas Est. As christians, we should take this verse to heart. Christians believe that God can be found in all of creation, especially the perfect creation of man. If God resides in all of us and we say that we love God, then we should only love others. However, sin exists and seduces us with jealousy, greed, etc. that makes people hate one another. If we find ourselves in that situation, then we must stop and remind ourselves, that we would be saying we hate God himself. "Whoever remains in love remains in God." Without God there is no room in one's heart for love, which only leads us to emptiness and evil. The writer in 1 John is responding to people who feel betrayed, he tells them to respond with love instead of anger. We should definitely take heed of his words when it's hard to see God's love around us.

Paix du Christ!

Theology Thursday - CCC Abortion

Continuing the theme of pro-life that has filled this week as the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, The Catechism covers abortion in paragraphs 2270-2275.

2270
Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

Here, spelled out in black and white, is stated that ALL human life must be respected. We are all created in God's image and the human body is a temple of God and we must realize and respect that God resides inside each one of us. If there is any question as to if the first moment of existence is at birth or before, we are even provided with scriptural references which state that God knew us as human beings while being created in the womb.

2271
Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.

God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.

Unlike other churches which change their stance about truh to stay more "modern," the Church upholds that the Truth is constant and unchanging which should always be defended. This paragraph even states that abortion cannot be either an end or a means to an end. What to these two philosophical terms describe? Abortion as an end in itself would be to use abortion as a measure of birth control simply that the intent is to end an unplanned pregnancy or an intent solely to end the baby's life. Abortion as a means to an end would be using abortion to "undo" the effects of a rape, to keep the couple financially stable until better times, to not bring shame upon them. Basically there is no excuse for having an abortion; there are plenty of viable and moral alternatives to having an abortion.

2272
Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

Here's a kick in the head. Anyone who formally cooperates in an abortion is excommunicated upon the act itself. Notice it says cooperates and not participates. This page from EWTN gives more detail about who can be excommunicated. Essentially, you have to be over 16 and know that it is an excommunicating offense to be excommunicated. Which, if you just read this article, then you probably aren't exempt since you are now informed ^_^ Cooperation includes working at a clinic, financially supporting an abortion, walking (including clinic escorts) or driving someone to the clinic, friends or family who know they are trying to make this decision and encourage or even if they don't try to talk the person out of an abortion. Participating in any of these activities, is a mortal sin as well as excommunication if you know that is the penalty.

2273
The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:

"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."

Any of this paragrph sound familier? It should. Remember the declaration of independence? We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The Catechism even uses the same language as the document on which our country was founded over 225 years ago. Inalienable rights and to deny these rights would be inequality. It's all right there and the same. To be American is to be anti-abortion.

2274
Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.

Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence."

2275
"One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival."

"It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material."

"Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity" which are unique and unrepeatable.

In the last paragraphs, we see the Church stating that embryonic stem cell research or any other scientific or medical research on a human fetus is no different than an abortion. The Church also teaches that producing or manipulation in the creation of humans is morally wrong.

The Church takes a very stong and foward stance on abortion and the taking of a human life. It is just not morally possible. There are stiff penalties incurred by just the act of cooperating in an abortion, you don't have to wait for a bishop to excommunicate you, you have already done so yourself by committing the act. God states that abortion is wrong and so do our forefathers who signed the Declaration of Independence. There must be an end to abortion and we must all continue to fight for the equality of ALL.

Paix du Christ!

Message for you, Sir

Wow, an interesting thing happened today. I got a letter in the mail! Not just any letter. Let me back up a little. Last year, December 1, I wondered onto the National Right to Life website and found a rating of my new Senators and Representatives from Alabama. I noticed the Congressman who represented me had a low score and voted on some morally questionable bills. So, I wrote a lengthy email and sent it through the page (unfortunately, I didn't send myself a copy). I decided not to make it a personal, moral issue as that tends to not make people listen. I decided to defend my views some other way, and why not play on his own grounds. To me, abortion is unconstitutional and I used my points in there. I also brought up bills for which he voted and of which I approved, and those of which I did not. Don't forget if you want a politician to listen to you, make sure to nicely remind him that you will have to decide who to vote next election and he has to win your vote. His auto response says he replies by snail mail to all letters. I figured I would eventually get a general response saying thanks and I'll take what you said in consideration. Time went by and though I know he probably gets plenty of mail and would take some time, I figured I wouldn't hear from him and actually started to forget about it. But, today I got his response in the mail. And he personalized it too, impressive. So, I'll post his response, but first, I'll remind you that I do not affiliate with any party, but he is a democrat.

December 22, 2005

(Address with-held)

Dear Mr. McKinley:

I have received your e-mail regarding the sanctity of pre-born life. I would like to welcome you to North Alabama. I hope you will feel free to contact my office in the future regarding issues of importance to you.

I want to make it clear that I do not believe that abortion should be used as a means of birth control. In 2003, I voted in favor of H.R. 760, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. This legislation, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 282 to 139, makes it a federal crime to perform a partial birth abortion unless the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother. This legislation banning partial birth abortions was signed into law by the President in November of 2003.

Also, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act passed the House of Representatives in February of 2004. I voted for this legislation which passed by a vote of 254-163. This bill makes it a federal crime to harm or cause the death of an unborn child. Specifically, the bill requires that separate charges be brought against an individual who harms a fetus in the womb while committing any one of more than 60 specified violent crimes against a pregnant woman, regardless of whether or not the perpetrator intended to harm the fetus or even knew if the woman involved was pregnant. The Unborn Victims of Violene Act was signed into law by President Bush on April 1, 2004.

In your e-mail, you also mention your concerns regarding embryonic stem cell research. In May of this year, the House pased H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. Currently, only human embryonic stem cell lines derived before August 9, 2001 are eligible for federally funded research. H.R. 810 would lift that restriction, making stem cell lines eligible for federally funded research regardless of the date on which they were derived. Under the provisions of the bill, only embryonic stem cells that would never have otherwise been implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded would be eligible, and no financial or other inducements could be made available to the donors.

As you may know, I voted in favor of H.R. 810. I understand that this is a controversial issue, and I respect the views of my colleagues who opposed this bill. However, embryonic stem cell research has incredible potential to generate cures and treatments for an enormous range of diseases, including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. I voted for this bill because I believe we must to do all that we can to provide assistance to the millions of Americans who suffer daily with these afflictions.

I thank you for contacting my office. For updates on current events and issues in Washington and North Alabama, please visit my website as http://cramer.house.gov and sign up for my monthly E-Newsletter.

Sincerely,
(signed as Bud)
Bud Cramer
Member of Congress

BC:mh

So, let's see, he supports abortion, but not partial birth abortion, and he supports considering it murder if the fetus is killed in any other matter. Okay, is it or is it not murder? That's like saying if a doctor shots you in the head its not murder, but if anyone else does it its not murder. He also supports ripping embryos out of the womb to kill them for scientific medicine when there are viable and "just as good" options. So, I guess this way, we can make the person having an abortion feel good because they are donating their baby to science. Anybody know where I can find credible sources to inform this goon that adult stem cells are just as good, if not bettern than embryonic stem cells? This is the only one of my 3 reps in the national government that seems to be confused. The 2 senators have all green marks on the NRL site. And one of them, Jeff Sessions, was on the committe to approve Alito.

I encourge you to communicate with your senators and representative. They are supposed to be representing you, so let them know what to do. Let them know if you aren't happy with them and they need to do something to win your vote. If enough people convince them that their position is in jeopardy, they have to change or they won't stay in office. The NRL site gives you contact infor for national, state, and local officials. They let you know bills on which they have voted, and bills that are coming up and a great resource to use to follow up on your pro-life views. It doesn't take any longer to write an email than it does to write a blog entry or read one. Maybe one person can't change the world, but you can make a dent.

Paix du Christ!

God is Love

Today Benedict XVI released his first Encyclical to the Church entitled Deus Caritas Est (God is Love). The letter was released around noon Rome time which would be about 6:00 Eastern. The news actually made it on GMA this morning, it was brief, but it was mentioned. The link in the title takes you to the Encyclical on the Vatican site (English version). Since the document is brand new, and I couldn't find it in PDF anywhere, I copied it to MS Word and made some slight formatting changes to make it more printer/reading friendly. Click to view the printable/downloadable version, or right-click save-as if you want to save it to your computer of course. The Word document comes out to 21 pages long with the last page solely containing the footnote references. I haven't had time to read anything but the introduction yet, but it looks like it has all the essential elements of writing: sex, violence, and religion. No, not any nude and violent nuns here. ^_- But the Pope does talk about sex! Hopefully that will get your attention and peak your intrest to pick it up.

Paix du Christ!

Terse Verse - Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision and today was the 33rd March for Life in DC. God formed and created everyone of us from the beginning, God is the only one who has the right to take that life away. Even the Constitution protects these rights. It states that all humans have inalienable (no one can take them away) rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It doesn't say only Americans, or only those outside of the womb, or only the fittest, but ALL humans. God dedicated us all to a special and unique way of life to be a prophet of God in our own way. By denying the essential right of life, the right of liberty, happiness, or the rest afforded in the amendments are meaningless; there is no right to privacy or right to choose when the right to life is taken away. Today should be a call to prayer for all in the cause for the culture of life. Take some extra time out of your day, even a few minutes to ask God's forgiveness to those who support the culture of death and to ask God to change people's hearts so that they may know Him better and protect all life, especially innocent life. I know I'll be visiting a local adoration chapel armed with a rosary.

Paix du Christ