Birthday and Life

A few weeks ago, on Friday the 13th, I celebrated a birthday, my 80th, and I’m slowly coming to terms with it all. I suppose, from one perspective, it’s just another birthday, one among many. But it’s also a birthday I never really expected to reach. When I was younger, 80 seemed so very, very old and I simply never really considered living that long. And later, as a Naval aviator, I thought my life might be cut short by some unanticipated, catastrophic event in either war or peace. But, surprisingly, I survived, and here I am, 80 years old! And it still seems so very, very old. But I thank God for permitting me to live so long, and ask what He still has in store for me. After all, He didn’t keep me alive just to count the days or aimlessly stumble about, but to do some good. Sometimes, though, the good we’re called to do is involuntary, simply the result of God’s work. We do it but don’t ever, at least in this life, either understand or see its results. So, as Jesus commands us, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Jn 3:15). Yes, we are called to repentance and to faith, and to keep doing as He commands throughout our days. 

Another redeeming value is my heath; it remains reasonably good, at least for now…although I could stand to lose a few pounds. I’m working on that, and still get up at 5 am every day to take my 2-mile fast walk. I also toss about 50 newspapers from driveways to front doors. Neighbors think I do this out of kindness, but in truth I reap the benefit of bending over to pick up each newspaper and give my back and tummy a minor workout. As a result, I have no problem reaching my 10,000 daily steps, although I’m not sure why that’s a desirable goal. Why 10,000, this remarkably round number, when 9,571 or 11,212 are probably just as good? But my little smart watch (Fitbit) tells me this is important, so I acquiesce and work to achieve this goal. Perhaps that’s the reason we need goals, easily defined, grasped, and achievable goals…like 10,000.

Other goals and hopes are, of course, far more important. For example, the American Catholic bishops have instructed Catholics to vote for life, to vote against those advocating abortion. We can only hope the faithful will listen and obey. That’s right, when the Church speaks definitively, when it speaks from its magisterial teaching authority, we are called to obey. The existing culture of death, which currently rules much of our political life, must be resisted by the faithful. You might not “like” every politician who pledges to support a culture of life. You might disagree on some issues, but as one spokesman for the bishops said, "At the forefront of 'life issues' is the right to be born as the right upon which all other 'life issues' rest.” We cannot, then, vote for anyone who supports abortion, the intentional taking of an innocent human life.

I’ve always believed that ultimately abortion will be overcome by prayer and through the work of the Holy Spirit, who alone can change the hearts and minds of the people. But that doesn’t mean we just ignore the political and simply turn it all over to God, while turning away from the evil surrounding us. The trouble is, when you’re surrounded, you really can’t turn away. And, anyway, God likes to use us to fulfill His work in the world. Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s our work, our effort that brings God’s will to fulfillment. As Mary said, just “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). And pray for life!

A Lifeless President

Long ago, in another parish far, far away, I was asked by my pastor to teach a mini-course on the major heresies that have plagued the Church over the past 2,000 years. It was one of those parish adult faith-formation evening programs -- you know the kind: too much information packed into a half-dozen one-hour sessions. When I told the pastor I was by no means an expert on heresies, and he might want to choose someone else, he just said, "Well, I guess you'll be an expert soon enough. We'll schedule it to begin late next month. That'll give you six weeks to get ready." The course actually attracted more parishioners than expected, and nobody threw soft fruit at me, so I guess it went well enough.

As I prepared the course, I probably learned far more than I wanted to about heresies and heretics. But one of the most revealing things that stuck with me was a basic attitude apparent among those who developed and propagated their heretical ideas. They seemed driven by a self-focused attitude, in effect declaring: "I am smarter and holier than the Church; listen to me." Most of these heretics were very smart people (I can't speak to their holiness. We'll leave that to God.) But none were smarter than the Holy Spirit whose inspiration guides the Church and its teachings. They were, then, destined to be heretical and not orthodox. 

Another thing worth noting: because heresies, by their very nature, originate within the Church, most of the Church's serious problems and attacks are internal. The Church's ecumenical councils -- at least the first 20 of them -- were dogmatic councils addressing heresies and other dogmatic issues, internal problems faced by the Church. 

All of this came to mind recently while reading a couple of news stories about our president. Both stories focus on his public comments and actions related to abortion and seem to reflect deeply held beliefs that ignore the magisterial teaching of the Catholic Church. This is especially troubling since President Biden often refers to himself as a "devout Catholic" even while undermining, or actually attacking, the Church and its teachings.

I suppose I’ve always expected him to experience a true metanoia, an inspired moment leading to repentance and true conversion, a moment when he publicly turns back to his Catholic faith. But so far, nothing. When it comes to virtually all moral issues, Joe Biden just takes on the role of heretic, apparently assuming he, too, is smarter and holier than the Church. In his case, however, I think we can dismiss any thought of his being smarter, and as for his holiness, I can judge only by the fruits of his words and actions. I will keep those judgments to myself.

You may have seen these stories, but each is truly cringeworthy when you realize they represent the policies of a self-declared "devout Catholic" president.

Official Guest at State of the Union Address. President and Mrs. Biden have invited Kate Cox to be one of their official guests at the next State of the Union Address. Ms. Cox recently aborted her disabled, unborn child. She was the key figure in the recent abortion case that centered on a Texas law preventing the abortion of a 20-week-old unborn child. The state Supreme Court upheld the law, so Ms. Cox went to another state for the abortion. The White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, stated that the president and his wife have "thanked her for her courage and sharing her story and speaking out about the extreme abortion ban in Texas. The First Lady invited her to join her as a guest at the State of the Union and Kate accepted." Here's a link to the story: State of the Union.

How sad that our Catholic president and his wife have publicly praised this woman who actually took the life of her disabled, unborn child. No doubt President Biden will honor her during his State of the Union Address. It would seem the nation's first family is openly taunting the Church's bishops: "We, not you, are the new arbiters of morality. From now on we will decide what is good and what is evil. The people will listen to us, not you." Yes, indeed, it gives new meaning to the words of Satan in the Garden:

"God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil" [Gen 3:15].

Pray for our president, for his family, and for Kate Cox, asking God to lead them to the conversion he desires for them. 

President Biden: Christian Doctors Must Perform Abortions. Our president just can't endure anyone who's opposed to abortion. He has taken on the prime directive of the radical left: We cannot tolerate those who disagree with our beliefs and our policies. Yep, those who disagree with us must be forced into agreement, or simply cancelled. 

A case in point involves President Biden's Department of Health and Human Services. In July 2022, shortly after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, HHS issued guidance claiming that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTLA) required hospital emergency staff to provide abortions. This rule change by Biden's HHS altered the previous policy protecting doctors and nurses from having to take part in medical procedures that conflict with their moral or religious beliefs. The new policy removes these protections which were actually strengthened by the Trump administration. Fortunately, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that the "Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act does not require hospitals to provide abortions" thus blocking the administration from enforcing this new rule.

But this is just a temporary victory. The Biden administration is not letting this go and is fighting for so-called "abortion rights" at every level. I expect this will, at some point, end up before the U. S. Supreme Court.

The President recently stated that he will make abortion the key issue in the upcoming presidential campaign. I suppose this means he will focus on the goodness of abortion and on the evil of all pro-lifers, as personified by former President Trump. I'll admit, I voted for Donald Trump twice, in 2016 and 2020 (but not in the primaries), simply because I always vote pro-life. I've long been a policy voter who sometimes must overlook annoying traits and personal weaknesses. After all, I have quite a collection of these myself. But abortion will always be a major determinant because it is among the greatest of sins, the willful murder of the most innocent human lives. At Mass every Sunday and Solemnity we pray together the Nicene Creed, affirming our belief in the "Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life." If we believe this, to take a living, human life before it even has a chance to breathe the air of Creation must be the most horrendous of sins.

Pray for our world, our nation, and our people.

Planned Parenthood

What follows is not a long post, but just long enough to give you something to meditate on and pray about. 

Planned Parenthood, the premier abortion provider in the United States, proudly stated in their 2021-2022 Annual Report that they performed 374,155 abortions, or more accurately, they had slaughtered 374,155 innocent baby girls and boys. 

Planned Parenthood has about a 40% share of the abortion "market" which makes them the definite leader in this gruesome business. Interestingly, despite the lockdowns resulting from COVID, they were able to achieve the second highest annual total in their history.

Yes, indeed, for Planned Parenthood abortion is obviously a very profitable business. Their revenue for the year was over $1.9 billion, and 35% of that income (over $670 million) came from you and me, the taxpayers of the United States, all cleverly described as "Government Health Services Reimbursements and Grants."

Their 40-page annual report is entitled Relentless, to sum up their attitude in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision that the Constitution includes no right to abortion. The report is quite slick, with lots of graphics, charts, and photographs. Surprisingly, though, despite the organization's supposed focus on parenthood, I found no photos of children, none whatsoever. I suppose that, in itself, tells us a lot about Planned Parenthood.

Like Planned Parenthood, the political left is always talking about how much they care for the children; but when it comes right down to it, all their policies focus on belittling the importance of children or lead to their utter destruction. 

Pray for the conversion of our nation, for the conversion of our national and state leadership in all three branches of government, for the conversion of those who work at and support Planned Parenthood. And pray especially for all those confused and misled moms and dads who believe abortion is the answer to their problems. It's never the answer to problems. In fact, it's always just the beginning of their problems.

St. Margaret of Castello, pray for us.

The War

The first major battle of the Civil War, the battle of Bull Run, took place near Manassas, Virginia, not far from our nation’s capital. Most Northerners expected an easy victory, and many civilians, carrying picnic baskets, followed the Union force, planning to watch the battle as if it were a sporting event. You can imagine their surprise when the Confederate troops not only won the battle but forced a Union retreat. Suddenly all those curious civilians became unwilling participants in the battle and ran for their lives. Most managed to escape, although one New York congressman was captured and spent many months in a Richmond prison. The battle convinced many Americans the Civil War would last far longer than anticipated.

Today we, too, are in the midst of a war, a very different war, one against demonic forces. I suspect most Americans don't realize this and assume, as one person recently told me “It’s just politics.” But it's not. It's a full-fledged, declared war against our civilization's foundational religious and moral values. To undermine these values the enemy first disguised their battle tactics as merely political, but then, realizing this couldn’t guarantee success, they decided, rather boldly, to claim traditional values are exactly the opposite of what people generally believe. The moral, then, became immoral, the good became evil, the Godly became diabolic, and vice versa. 

Our president has, willingly or not, joined the demonic forces as he accuses pro-life and pro-marriage Americans of being "white supremacists" and "extremists." Indeed, he slapped the same labels on anyone who objects to his economic agenda and went on to define “MAGA Republicans” as those who believe Americans have “no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who (sic) you love...MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.” Here we see a perfect example of the reversal of good and evil, where the truth is shrouded in a “shadow of lies.” And not surprisingly, he said little about his economic agenda, and nothing about inflation, gas prices, or border security.

And the demonic forces? Radical left or radical right, it makes little difference. Although the communists of the USSR and Mao’s China called themselves “international socialists” and the Nazis called themselves “national socialists,” both sought one thing: power. Both used that power to slaughter millions they considered threats. Both applied near identical methods to achieve total control over their populations. And surprise, surprise! Both claimed to be socialists. Today, though, the greatest threat to our civilization comes from the ideologues of the radical left. Yes, they rule China, a nation determined to replace American influence in the world. But they also educate our youth in high schools and colleges. You’ll find lots of victimized snowflakes, the left’s “useful idiots,” in every college classroom, but you’ll have to search long and hard to find a neo-Nazi on a campus. 

Because many of the radical left’s desired outcomes carry highly negative connotations, euphemisms abound. Abortion, the willful slaughter of today’s Holy Innocents, is disguised and celebrated as women’s health. Total control of our nation's citizenry (that's you and me) is disguised as national healthcare, or the patriotic search for enemies, or gun control, or necessary suppression of misinformation. To criticize an actual enemy — for example, the Chinese Communist Party or the Taliban — becomes racism. Global warming, because the facts keep getting in the way, is redefined safely as “Climate Change.” “Follow the science,” we’re told, even though the science, as always, is far from settled. For decades some scientists and pseudoscientific experts have issued a stream of predictions, each telling us the world will end on some future date that is inevitably forgotten as it moves into the past. But this doesn’t stop those in power from destroying the economy to protect us from terrors that never materialize. Why do they do this? If you want the truth, don’t bother following the science, just follow the money.

As I have often said on this blog, probably far too often, the left has focused primarily on abortion; it’s their sine qua non. For almost 50 years, since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, abortion was legal. But then in 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, claiming "The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision." The court, then, decided to "return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.” 

Abortion, no longer nationally legal, suddenly became a state and local issue. And so other moral issues now take center stage and the enemy has extended its reach to include transgenderism, even pedophilia, and the indoctrination of school children in sexual perversion. These are all celebrated as acceptable lifestyle choices and offered as positive alternatives to the intolerance of religion, especially Christianity, the bete noire of the radical left. Yes, indeed, just listen to the talking heads on CNN, MSNBC, et al and you will discover that Christianity is a racist religion of white supremacy. Following the same script, a highly politicized FBI decided that traditional Catholics were likely domestic terrorists and white supremacists. We’re it not so serious, it would actually be humorous since I know people of all races who regularly attend Latin Masses. The feds actually planned to, and likely did, infiltrate Catholic churches in which Latin Masses were celebrated. It doesn’t take a Constitutional scholar to recognize that the Department of Justice apparently isn’t bothered by First Amendment concerns.

It’s not just freedom of religion that’s under attack; it’s religion itself. And believe it or not, some people, far too many people, have bought into this. Let me just highlight one very recent example. Our president just proclaimed March 31, 2023 a Transgender Day of Visibility, and then using Twitter celebrated the day with some remarkable words: 

“On Transgender Day of Visibility we want you to know that we see you just as you are: Made in the image of God and deserving of dignity, respect, and support. We'll never stop working to create a world where you won't have to be brave just to be yourself.”

President Biden then went on to issue a lengthy proclamation on the Transgender Day of Visibility. It’s a bizarre proclamation, but worth your time if only to understand better who our president really is. We know our “devoutly Catholic” president openly rejects Church teaching on most moral and many theological issues. Reading his transgender day proclamation only confirms how distant he is from the Church. I think we can stop pretending Joe Biden is a Catholic since he ignores or openly attacks Church teaching. 

Of course, like all of us, so-called “trans” people were made in God’s image and likeness, but for them, that seems to be the problem. They want to change what God has done, to alter the image and likeness He created. In other words, they and their enablers want to assume God’s power, to become little gods able to recreate humanity in their own image, and a false image at that. If we truly “follow the science” we discover that DNA is forever, that males are males and females are females, just as God made them.

The timing of the president’s proclamation also seems a bit unusual. Just days before, a transgender woman had slaughtered six people, including three young children, at a Christian school in Nashville. She was killed by a team of courageous and competent police officers who responded and surely saved many more lives. Since then, some in the trans community have called her Nashville’s seventh victim, even though she was the murderer of six innocent people, and certainly no victim. To emphasize their obvious disdain for those six victims in that Christian school, a radical trans mob, led by several legislators, stormed the Tennessee legislature protesting guns but not murderer or the death of Christians. It is all, of course, symptomatic of the culture of death that St. John Paul described in his 1995 encyclical, Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life): 

“…this situation, with its lights and shadows, ought to make us all fully aware that we are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘culture of life.’ We find ourselves not only ‘faced with’ but necessarily ‘in the midst of’ this conflict: We are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life” (Evangelium vitae, 28).

Trans, pro-abortion, LGBTQ, and all the rest…it’s all of one piece, all part of Satan’s effort to undermine and destroy the domestic church, that is, the family, and to lead people away from God and His one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. The deceiver, who was “a murderer from the beginning…a liar and the father of lies” [Jn 8:44], uses whomever he can to spread evil throughout God’s creation. In the end, of course, he will fail, but how many souls will he take with him? 

As Christians we cannot sit on the sidelines and passively observe the battle. Like the tourists at Bull Run, we must eventually recognize and accept our involvement. 

Continued Atrocities

"You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. " [Jn 8:44]

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Looking at the world today it's apparent that the "father of lies" has been pretty busy. He makes use of all those caught up in themselves. He turns them into imitations of himself; turns them into liars, and haters, and lovers of chaos. For it is in chaos that he thrives. It is in chaos that his useful fools, who know not what they do, seek worldly power, the power they believe they can exert over others. 

Indeed, the devil is "diablo", from the Greek dia-bolos, meaning "one who divides or scatters." The evil one, then, is the scatterer, the one who strives to divide us, to create the chaos that comes from disunity. Note that Jesus' prayer to the Father seeks exactly the opposite; He seeks not division, but unity.

“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me" [Jn 17:20-23].

Jesus' prayer to the Father echoes His call to us:

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect [Mt 5:48].

His is a call to the perfection that can come only when we are united in God's love. We cannot achieve it on our own but must "be brought to perfection as one." The purpose? To show the world that the Father loves every one of us whom He created in individual acts of love; that the Son gave His life for our redemption, that the Holy Spirit is present doing God's work in the world, in the Church, and in our lives. 

Yes, the evil one is certainly active, but we should not become disheartened. Next to God's omnipotence, the devil's works are as nothing. God has an eternal plan, a plan that encompasses the entire span of history. He sees all -- past, present, and future -- and carries all of creation to the end He desires, to the fulfillment of His will. Caught up in time as we are, we often forget that God is eternal, beyond the time and space He created. Just keep in mind St. Paul's comforting and oft-quoted words:

"We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose" [Rom 8:28].

Confident, then, that for us all things work for good, let's take a look at some of the things the evil one is doing these days, and the help he receives from those who have been taught to hate, to grasp power, and to deny the God Who loves them. I will restrict these examples to just one diabolical issue, that of abortion, aware that the devil also strives to scatter and divide even nations, driving them from the peace God wills for us.

• The following story gives us a taste of what we the citizens and taxpayers can expect when we openly express our beliefs. A group of 12 high school students from Our Lady of the Rosary School in Greenville, SC took part in last month's March for Life in Washington, D.C. Afterwards they decided to visit the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. But during their stay they were approached by museum employees and told they must leave because they were wearing hats with a pro-life message.

In other words, these young citizens were evicted from the museum because they were pro-life and showed it. It's nice to know that the taxpayers (via the federal government) contribute 51% of the Smithsonian's revenues. (info from the Smithsonian's 2021 Annual Report.)

Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice stated that the students “were accosted several times and told they would be forced to leave unless they removed their pro-life hats...The museum staff mocked the students, called them expletives, and made comments that the museum was a ‘neutral zone’ where they could not express such statements.”

After being confronted and accused of blatant discrimination by the ACLJ, Alison Wood, the museum's deputy director of communication, stated, “Asking visitors to remove hats and clothing is not in keeping with our policy or protocols...We provided immediate training to prevent a reoccurrence of this kind of incident, and have determined steps to ensure this does not happen again.”

One would think training on dealing with the public would have been a major part of their existing training program, but...I suppose it's progress. What these young folks experienced says a lot, though, about the attitudes of too many of those who work in our nation's capital.   

Here's a link to the full story: Smithsonian Harassment

• Now a story related directly to my theme. The Satanic Temple, an organization devoted to worship of the evil one, has, of course, long promoted abortion. TST (as they like to call themselves) has decided to turn abortion into a "religious" ritual which they compare to sacramental rites such as baptism and holy communion. They will perform these murderous rituals in New Mexico through their so-called TST Health services. 

Since their "clinic" is a place devoted to the hatred of God and humanity, they gave it a name that demonstrates their hatred for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito: "The Samuel Alito's Mom's Satanic Abortion Clinic." According to Malcolm Jarry, the co-founder of The Satanic Temple, they chose that name because "In 1950 Samuel Alito's mother did not have options, and look what happened."

The Temple went on to claim that "TST is proud to expand reproductive options for our members. This is just the beginning...We remain steadfast as we continue the fight to uphold reproductive justice in the United States."

Yes, indeed, The Satanic Temple joins our President and almost the entire Democrat Party, as they disguise the willful murder of unborn children by simply calling it "reproductive justice." Hidden beneath this euphemism, slaughter becomes something they can talk about in polite company as they lift a drink celebrating the work of the evil one and his followers.

Elisa Martinez, of the New Mexico Alliance for Life, reminded us that "Their willingness to flaunt the practice of ending innocent human life as a ritualistic sacrifice shows how New Mexico public officials have cooperated with this evil by turning the state into the thriving taxpayer-funded abortion capital of the Southwest and even America."

Here's a link to the full story: Satanic Temple Ritual Abortion

• If you think evil has been empowered in New Mexico, check out Minnesota. The state legislature and its governor have just passed what they call the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, a law that guarantees "reproductive freedom" by allowing abortion for any reason right up to the moment of birth. But that's not all. Should a child happen to survive an abortion, the law prohibits any attempt to save the child's life. And there's more. Parental notification is not permitted, so a young girl can get an abortion without the parents being notified.  

Bishop Robert Barron described it well: "I don't know why this is really debated anymore in our country, but this strikes me as just the worst kind of barbarism. And in the name of, I don't know, subjectivity, and freedom, and choice and all this, we're accepting this kind of brutality."

When was the last time you told a pro-choice acquaintance that their support for abortion is nothing more than the support of premeditated murder, a barbaric evil that aims to destroy our nation and our civilization? Then just tell them you will pray for their conversion.

And if you live in Minnesota, how strongly did you speak out against this vicious law? Will you work to vote its supporters out of office? Will you pray for them, for their conversion?

Here's a link to the full story: Bishop Barron and Minnesota's Abortion Law

• The evil one is at work throughout the world, even in jolly old England. The esteemed, but only moderately relevant, House of Lords has voted to support the establishment of "buffer zones" around abortion clinics. The law would criminalize any attempt to "influence" someone seeking an abortion. It becomes a criminal offence to cause "harassment, alarm or distress to any person in connection with a decision to access, provide, or facilitate the provision of abortion services." Such influence, we are told, might well turn even private and silent prayer outside an abortion clinic into a "thought crime."

 If, however, we look at this objectively there may be a silver lining. Since some among the most honorable Lords apparently believe that silent prayer can influence the decision of a woman contemplating abortion, it would seem they recognize the power of prayer. After all, if prayer accomplished nothing, why ban it? But if such prayer actually causes a woman to change her mind and not abort her baby, something the Lords fear might happen, then prayer does have power. But it has power only if God, to whom the prayer is addressed, responds to it. And since God is all Good, He responds only to that which is good. This would mean, then, the House of Lords accepts that God is pro-life. If so, can we expect a mass conversion among these lordly ones? Just a thought.

Here's a link to the full story: House of Lords and Thought Crime

I think that's enough; anyway, I'm tired and still have a homily to write for a cemetery committal tomorrow. Don't fear the evil one; just stay close to Our Lord and pray for all those who have been led so far astray. Try fasting one or two days each week, all for the conversion of sinners. And remember, all those aborted babies are today's Holy Innocents and remain always close to the Father where they intercede for those responsible for their deaths. God's peace...

Homily: Feast of the Holy Innocents

 Readings: 1 Jn 1:5-2:2; Ps 124; Mt 2:13-18

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More than any other time in the liturgical year, Christmas is a celebration of life. It’s the day we celebrate the remarkable gift of the Father – the gift in which He gives us His Son, Jesus Christ, by having Him share in our human life. During this season God sends Himself into the world. He becomes one of us:

“And the Word became flesh, and made His dwelling among us” [Jn 1:14].  

Yes, Christmas is a wonderful manifestation of God’s love for us – His regard for the gift of life He has given us.

Today, however, in our Gospel reading we witness an event describing man’s rejection of this gift. Herod, so afraid of losing his earthly power, a power that cannot last, turned his fear into hate, and hate into the destruction of innocent life. In a very real sense, these little ones gave their lives so the Son of God could be Emmanuel and live among us.

Like many of today’s political leaders, Herod foolishly believed he could defeat the will of God. Driven by fear and hatred, he became a mass murderer of the most innocent among his people.

Slaughter of the Innocents

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Today we face with something very similar, but in truth it’s something far worse. Since 1973 over 60 million of our nation’s most innocent have been slaughtered by abortion. And that’s just a small percentage of the global total. It’s time to stop this child-killing and put the Life back into Christmas, to eradicate the culture of death.

I’m convinced, though, this won’t come about through politics. No, it will happen only when we as God’s People undergo a change of heart, when we all begin to lead the Christian life the Gospel calls us to lead. As Catherine Doherty phrased it, when we learn to live “the Gospel without compromise.”

We can start by following Joseph and obeying God’s commandments – quite simply, to do what He tells us, even if He tells us to get up in the middle of the night and go to where we don’t want to go.

We are called also to love, and that means loving even the Herods of today’s world. Love them into God's kingdom by forgiving them, praying for them, suffering for them, and sharing the love of Jesus with them.

We are called, too, to repentance, to ask God to heal our apathy, our own weak faith. As John told us in our reading today,

"If we acknowledge our sins, He Who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrong" [1 Jn 1:9].

You see, brothers and sisters, you and I aren’t engaging in battle with people. No, our real battle is with Satan. By prayer and fasting we can drive out the demons of abortion and hatred, as well as the plagues of war and terrorism.

And finally, we can fix our eyes always on Jesus. It is He who welcomes the innocents of yesterday, today, and tomorrow into the Kingdom, and it is He, and only He, Who can forgive those who took their precious lives.

Only Jesus Christ, and the grace He showers on us through His holy Church, can save us from our sinfulness and from eternal death.

Only Jesus Christ can give us the gift of life, eternal life, for He is the Lord of Life.

We must never forget that.

Just Some Stuff…

Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated. President Biden, and his sidekick, Dr. Anthony Fauci, have spoken frequently and loudly about the “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Their purpose was always to shame those who haven’t gotten the mRNA COVID shots or, almost as bad, neglected to be boosted. In the spirit of full disclosure, Dear Diane and I both got the two Moderna shots and the 1st booster…but that’s it. We’ve decided to get no more COVID shots until we know more about the effects of these still experimental drugs. 

I actually believe I contracted COVID back in early 2020, before I had been vaccinated. I felt so bad I went to the doctor on a weekend and was treated by a very nice and seemingly competent PA. I had all the symptoms of COVID, but since no test was yet available, she assumed I had a bad case of some random virus. She gave me meds and told me to rest, drink liquids, and come back if it got worse. After a week or so, I recovered and forgot about it. But many months later I spoke to several others who had suffered from COVID and our symptoms, although they varied in intensity, were identical. Despite my age, I am in good health, so I think I just slid through my case more easily than many. 

Anyway, yesterday the CDC released its latest data on COVID deaths and — surprise, surprise! — “a majority of Americans dying from the coronavirus received at least the primary series of the vaccine.” This, of course, alters the narrative that it is only the unvaccinated who will die from COVID. My unscientific guess is that those who are dying today are folks with serious comorbidity issues and compromised immune systems. Perhaps the president should change his mantra since it apparently doesn’t reflect the “science,” which is always a moving target.

Dumbing Down the Legal Profession. The American Bar Association has decided that those hoping to enter law school should no longer be required to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), and apparently Harvard and Yale have decided to go along with this. Interestingly, the LSAT is designed to measure prospective law students’ ability to reason, solve problems, comprehend what they read, along with other intellectual traits that lawyers believe they should possess. I certainly won’t argue with the need for these traits. If I ever need a lawyer, I want him to be rational and smart. But one can only assume that by failing to test for these traits and abilities, some aspiring lawyers will lack them. I suppose, then, we can conclude that, on average, the lawyer of tomorrow will be less rational, less capable, and not nearly as smart as today’s lawyer, assuming such an outcome is even possible.

Okay, okay…my apologies to all my lawyer friends for that last remark. Perhaps I was thinking only of those lawyers who gravitate to government and subsequently do everything they can to siphon political power from the people, who are sovereign.

Abortion, Religion, and Politics. Shortly before the recent mid-term elections, during one of those “after Mass” conversations with a parishioner, I was told that “the Church really shouldn’t get involved in politics. After all,” he added, “our country was founded on the concept of separation of church and state.” I assumed he was telling me this because of his tacit acceptance, and the Church’s adamant condemnation, of abortion. As it turned out, my assumption was correct. Of course, his supporting statement was false. Our nation was not “founded on the concept of separation of church and state.” In fact, that specific concept was voiced by only one man, Thomas Jefferson, in a rather obscure letter written to a Baptist Association in Danbury, Connecticut in 1802. The Constitution does not demand separation. Here’s the actual text of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Note that the first freedom, that which the founders believed to be most important, is the freedom of religion. The Constitution prohibited Congress from establishing a state religion of the sort found at the time in many European countries, especially England where the ruling monarch was, and remains today, the head of the established church. But it said nothing about banning religious faith from influencing political thought or action. Indeed, for true believers of any faith, religious values have a major influence on every aspect of their lives. This understanding no doubt drove the founders to add the second clause in which the government may not prohibit citizens from freely exercising their religious faith. Both religious freedom clauses are further supported by the subsequent clause that guarantees the freedom of speech. 

Because our bishops — and, yes, even priests, deacons, religious, and the faithful — are citizens, they may scream to high heaven about the gross injustice of the government’s support for the willful slaughter of the unborn. Abortion is by no means solely a religious issue. It is also moral and political, as we all saw in the last election. Politics, religion, and morality cannot and should not be separated. Religious values have always had an impact on politics. We need only consider the Ten Commandments and their place in many of the world’s legal systems. 

When I said all this to our parishioner, he just shrugged and mumbled something about disagreeing. But he apparently decided not to argue the issues with me and walked away. At first, I was pleased because his silence told me I had “won” the argument. But then I realized I had done little to change his opinion. In truth I had focused more on myself and my ability to argue effectively than on his need for conversion. We must learn to listen to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit speak through us:

“…do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" [Lk 12:11-12].

I’ll have to talk with this parishioner again.

Breaking with the Left. I often must remind myself of the reality of the passage of time. For example, anyone younger than 35 really has little memory of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European puppet states. After all, by the early 1990s much of the world had been transformed. For decades all of these nations had been ruled by the iron fist of communism, an ideology that maintained power only through the application of terrorism against its own people.

The exploited and the poor, those who suffered under earlier tyrannies, had liked the sound of socialism. It seemed to provide a solution to their problems, to offer a better life, to promise a leveling that would eliminate the vast disparity among the classes. Yes, indeed, socialism, and even its more violent and oppressive manifestation in communism, sounded so very good to the uninformed. Often enough, war and revolution created the catalytic environment needed to bring about radical societal change and a total shift in the balance of power. The Soviet Union was born out of the chaos of World War One and its subsequent discord, while Communist China arose in the aftermath of World War Two. 

But once the left assumes power and the people actually experience the reality of totalitarianism, they realize their lives are controlled by a corps of elites who wield absolute power. Even after they come to understand the truth about socialism, it becomes very difficult to turn back the clock. Only when an oppressed people decide that their freedom and that of their children is more important than life itself do they rise up, cast off their chains, and overthrow the tyrants. Perhaps the people of China, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and too many other nations will someday make that decision.

Now for something a bit lighter, a wonderful fish story. 

A Goldfish Story. When I was growing up, like a lot of kids, I had a few goldfish. I managed to keep them alive, at least for a while, and I suppose the biggest ones might have grown to four or five inches long. The size of the tank seemed to be the limiting factor, so they never got much bigger. I just assumed that goldfish were by nature small fish. But the other day I was hooked by a story about a man who caught a rather large goldfish in a French lake. How large was it? A whopping 67 pounds. Here’s a photo of the UK fisherman, Andy Hackett, with his catch, a goldfish appropriately named “Carrot” by the locals. And don’t worry, after photographing his record catch, Hackett released Carrot so the remarkable fish could gain a few more pounds and continue to set new world records.

 

It’s Time for Our Bishops to Act

The other day, during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, a senior White House official, Keisha Lance Bottoms (former mayor of Atlanta, but now the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement), was asked about the extent of President Biden’s support for abortion. The program’s co-host, Willie Geist, asked Bottoms, “Does the President, does White House, believe there should be abortion available without limits in the country?” As you might expect from this White House, Bottoms did not provide a clear “Yes” or “No” response, but instead said the following:

“What the president believes is that there should be a fundamental right for a woman to choose what to do with her own body and the President has said this time and time again, that there are basic, fundamental rights, access to health care, this access to health care includes women across this country. And what we expect to see is that, especially college-aged women, women who’ve had to face these very difficult choices will be reminded of this, especially during this season. And it’s something that we can’t ever put too far behind us because, again, we know that elections matter and we know that congressional Republicans want to take us back. I’m 52 years old. In my lifetime, I’ve always known that a woman has a right to make decisions about her own body and what we are seeing being put forth by congressional Republicans right now takes us back more than 50 years.”

It would seem her response confused even the folks at MSNBC; and Geist, trying to elicit a more definitive answer from Bottoms, asked: “So, does that mean the President supports abortion at any time during the pregnancy, whether it’s 3 weeks or 30 weeks?” To this, Bottoms replied: 

“What the President has said very publicly is that he supports a woman’s right to choose. I’ve never heard the President give a timeframe on that. But he has said that he believes that a woman has a fundamental right to make decisions about her own body and her healthcare choices.”

I’m pretty sure this is White-House-Speak for a “Yes” answer, that the administration is telling us President Biden supports abortion at any time during a woman’s pregnancy. Ms. Bottoms certainly didn't say otherwise.

The next question, then, should be asked of the Catholic Bishops of the United States. If President Biden, who frequently declares himself to be a "devout Catholic," absolutely denies the Church’s consistent magisterial teaching on life and a host of other moral issues, should he be allowed to partake in the Church’s sacramental life? Just consider the scandal the President causes as he publicly attacks the Church by denying its teachings and, as one parishioner remarked the other day, “…just gets away with it. Where are our bishops?”

Yes, indeed, where are our bishops? One priest told me they likely hesitate to get involved in what they view as political issues, something that might influence elections. I think my response surprised him. I simply said the Church has always taught that the goal of evangelization is to ensure the Good News of Jesus Christ reaches individuals and also penetrates and transforms cultures, highlighting and lifting up those aspects of culture relevant to the Gospel. 

Too often today we live our Christianity strictly as individuals. Even in societies with large and majority Christian populations, Christian influence on laws and institutions, on education, science, entertainment, sports, and the arts is lacking or completely absent. Some say that this is fine and in keeping with our Constitutional freedoms. And I agree, at least partially. Our Constitution guarantees our religious freedom, prohibiting the government from establishing a state religion, but also prohibiting that same government from "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion by the people. If that's the case, and it is, we can certainly exercise our Church's primary task: evangelization. As Jesus commanded the disciples right before He ascended to the Father:

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” [Mt 28:19-20].

As Pope St. Paul VI reminded us:

“…The split between the Gospel and culture is without a doubt the drama of our time, just as it was of other times. Therefore, every effort must be made to ensure a full evangelization of culture, or more correctly of cultures. They have to be regenerated by an encounter with the Gospel. But this encounter will not take place if the Gospel is not proclaimed” [Evangelii Nuntiandi, 20]

This teaching was echoed by Pope St. John Paul II who wrote: 

“A faith that does not affect a person’s culture is a faith 'not fully embraced, not entirely thought out, not faithfully lived.'” [Christifidelis Laici, 59]

It’s time to act and restore a culture of life in our nation and in the world. We each have a part to play in this drama, but our bishops should lead the way and set the example for the faithful.

Polls and Their Interpretation

Just a few thoughts about the midterm election polls and their misinterpretation not only by the media but also by both political parties. I’m particularly concerned with the question asked by almost all pollsters. The question might be phrased somewhat differently by each pollster, but essentially they all ask: “What’s the most important issue for you in the midterm elections?” The question might be followed by a list of several issues from recent headlines; for example: crime, border security, national defense, Communist China, immigration, education, inflation, abortion, democracy, the president, and many others.

The left has been enthused about what they believe to be a growing number of voters who name abortion as their key issue, assuming this will drive their voting decisions. And they may well be correct, but not perhaps in the way they think. Let me explain.

The other day I received a request via text message to take part in a poll. I usually ignore these requests, but for some reason I figured, what the heck! I’ll give it a try. It didn’t take long to realize this was no politically neutral poll. It was obviously created to support a particular Democrat candidate who is running for Florida Attorney General. The questions were worded in a way that denigrated conservative viewpoints and extolled the candidate’s leftist beliefs. As expected, one of the questions asked me to identify the issue most important to me as a voter. I selected “abortion” simply because it is my driving issue. I have never voted for a “pro-choice” candidate at any level and never will. In fact, when faced with two candidates who both support abortion, I have simply not voted for either. To me, anyone who supports abortion is in a state of severe moral confusion and cannot be trusted to respond correctly to any moral issue.

Anyway, my poll response got me thinking, so I sent an email to a bunch of folks whom I know are pro-life. I just asked them the same question I’d been asked and listed many of those hot issues. Of the 24 folks who responded, 21 selected “abortion.” My conclusion, then, is something the pro-abortion crowd doesn’t want to hear. Many of those who say their primary issue is abortion are probably pro-life, and not pro-choice. I suppose we’ll just have to wait until November 9th to find out.

Baby Cells and Mama cells

Here's a beautiful post I came across on Facebook, thanks to the wife of another deacon in our parish who provided a link to it:

_______________________

When pregnant, the cells of the baby migrate into the mother's bloodstream and then circle back into the baby, it’s called “fetal-maternal microchimerism.”

For 41 weeks, the cells circulate and merge backwards and forwards, and after the baby is born, many of these cells stay in the mother’s body, leaving a permanent imprint in the mother's tissues, bones, brain, and skin, and often stay there for decades. Every single child a mother has afterwards will leave a similar imprint on her body, too.

Even if a pregnancy doesn't go to full term or if you have an abortion, these cells still migrate into your bloodstream.

Research has shown that if a mother's heart is injured, fetal cells will rush to the site of the injury and change into different types of cells that specialize in mending the heart.

The baby helps repair the mother, while the mother builds the baby.

How cool is that?

This is often why certain illnesses vanish while pregnant.

It’s incredible how a mother's body protects the baby at all costs, and the baby protects and rebuilds the mother back - so that the baby can develop safely and survive.

Think about crazy cravings for a moment. What was the mother deficient in that the baby made them crave?

Studies have also shown cells from a fetus in a mother's brain 18 years after she gave birth. How amazing is that?”

If you’re a mom you know how you can intuitively feel your child even when they are not there. Well, now there is scientific proof that moms carry them for years and years even after they have given birth to them.

I find this to be so very beautiful.

___________________________

So do I...

Source: Heart Prints on Facebook

Pro-Abortion Sadness

A few moments ago, I happened across a photo on Twitter. It shows a family protesting the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. I’ve included the photo below and hesitate to say much about it, since the sign carried by the mother and the expressions on the faces of her husband and three children really say it all. 

My only concern is what these beautiful children will think of their parents when they are old enough to understand exactly what their mom was thinking when she made that sign. This family and so many others like them need our prayers. 

Today also happens to be my mother's birthday. Martha Catherine (Cavanaugh) McCarthy was born 113 years ago on June 28, 1909. Mom died on March 12, 1977. I thank her for giving birth to me, for trying to raise me well in spite of my rebellious nature, for teaching me so many good and wondrous things, for the sacrifices she made for our family, and for the love she showered on me and my brother, Jeff. I know she is now with God and ask for her intercession for Diane and me and for our family. Happy Birthday, Mom!

D is for Democrat…and Death

I haven't posted anything about the recent Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade -- not because of a lack of interest...far from it. We simply had a few health crises to deal with in our normally peaceful home. Diane fell and broke her wrist, and last Thursday, the same day the court released its decision, she underwent some rather complex surgery that includes screws and metal plates. She came through it all very well and we hope she's on a fast track to full recovery. This morning she had a post-op appointment and initial therapy session, and all was good, so God be praised! I'm happy and thankful. On Friday, I underwent some oral surgery which left me grumbling about the resulting pain until Diane pointed to her wrist. Yep, she has it far worse than I, so the state of our relative suffering is now clearly understood, making me the primary caregiver. Please pray that the quality of my cooking doesn't add malnutrition to her problems.

Anyway, here a few thoughts about the current chaos. I try not to get too political on this blog, at least not too often, but in today’s world few issues are purely political since most also encompass faith and morality. A perfect example is the United States Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to overturn its earlier (1973) Roe v. Wade decision. The chaos in the streets, the violent attacks on pro-life centers, and the scurrilous claims and offensive comments by politicians, members of the mainstream media, Hollywood celebrities, and the professional pro-abortion crowd...well, it all typifies the ironic lack of choice desired by those who insist on labeling themselves "pro-choice." 

I am, of course, pleased and thankful about the decision, but I'm also disgusted with the hypocrisy, lies, and hatred we’ve had to witness these past few days. In truth, we’ve witnessed all of this for weeks, ever since the leak of the draft majority opinion and the resulting intimidation and threats aimed at the Court’s justices. So…what are we to make of it all?

First of all, the Court's decision did not ban abortion in the United States. It merely stated that the Constitution does not include a "right" to abortion. The earlier 1973 decision was based on a Constitutionally non-existent right to privacy invented by the earlier court; therefore, the current Court ruled that, when it comes to abortion or anything else not specifically included in the Constitution, the 10th Amendment holds; that is: 

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Constitutionally, therefore, the Court considered abortion a state issue, and the people of each state can decide on its legality. This, of course, really upsets the pro-abortion folks because they know if will lead to open debate in state legislatures and the public revelation of the truth about abortion. It will lead people to understand the inherent violence of abortion, a horrendous, barbarous act that destroys the lives of the most innocent among us. So long as Roe v. Wade was considered "law," abortion became an issue that could be pushed aside: "It's been decided; there's no need for further discussion." But now, the discussion, and the truth, will enter the public square and I believe the inherent goodness of most Americans will become evident. We shall see. 

Sadly, though, the Democrat Party is almost exclusively pro-abortion. They have become the party of both death and racism. How many people know that the leading cause of death among Black Americans is abortion. Why? Because Planned Parenthood, an organization that financially supports so many Democrat politicians, was formed by Margaret Sanger, a racist who wanted to eliminate the "lesser races." Why do you think so many Planned Parenthood "clinics" are located in minority communities? And how many Americans realize that it was the Democrats who were the party of slavery? Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Republicans were far more united than Democrats in support of civil rights legislation, while many Democrats voted in opposition. You won't hear that taught in our "woke" public schools.

For the past few days, in advance of the November elections, the Democrats have been trying to shift focus from inflation to abortion, hoping the people will forget about the nation's crumbling economy, climb aboard their sinking ship, and vote instead based on their support for abortion "rights." Yesterday I saw the results of a poll asking Americans what their #1 issue would be in the ballot box. 28% said abortion, while 60% said inflation. The news commentator believed abortion would, however, climb and eventually become the major issue. Of course, he assumed those 28% were all pro-choice. I disagree. For example, I and most of my pro-life friends have always given priority to abortion. For over forty years, I've considered abortion my #1 concern when it comes to voting. Indeed, I have never voted for a pro-choice politician, and actually voted for several Democrats because they were pro-life, and their Republican opponents were not. And I've been a registered Republican since I came of age. 

I may be wrong, but I believe the pro-abortion position will show itself as a big loser politically, especially if the radicals continue to demonstrate their terroristic tendencies. America is a nation of hard workers and entrepreneurs and creators and innovators. We are a nation of builders; a nation that strives to build up, and not tear down. We are a God-fearing nation, not one that tries to cast God out of the public square. We are also a nation of life-givers, live-savers, and life-believers, not a nation of life-destroyers. Too many of our politicians, self-isolated in their D.C. cocoon, simply don't understand this. Perhaps they'll come to appreciate it in November.

In the meantime, sisters and brothers, pray for life and let the world know it!

Thank God for WHAT?

Let me begin simply by repeating the chant of a large collection of pro-abortion screamers who were trying to disrupt worshippers at a Catholic church: 

"Thank God for abortion!" 

Yes, indeed, that's what they shouted at anyone and everyone within earshot. Of course, for someone who actually believes in God, such a chant is pure blasphemy, since it attributes an intrinsic evil to God. I have, however, become convinced that pro-abortion fanatics, and this also includes most of today's Democrat Party politicians, really don't believe in God. Oh, they talk about God as their biggest supporter, they attend church services and take advantage of the photo-ops, and they always refer to themselves as "devout." But it's all just talk, just smoke and mirrors...you know, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." 

The pro-abortion pols who claim to be Catholic apparently have no problem discarding Church magisterial teaching when it seems politically expedient to do so. We are left to conclude that they have raised their personal beliefs above the Word of God and the Church's deposit of faith. In other words, they have replaced the Living God with themselves, a bunch of little god wannabes. This is the great temptation to which those who crave power always fall prey: to become a god. 

Our Vice President, too, joined in the cacophony and in a recent speech repeatedly screamed, "How dare they!" She was all upset that any Supreme Court Justice, or any legislator, would try to prevent a woman from doing whatever she wanted to her body. Kamala Harris conveniently failed to mention that there's another body involved, and that the woman's decision to abort brings about this innocent person's violent death. Her near frenzied support of abortion is difficult to understand since she is a black woman and abortion providers have specifically targeted minority women. In truth the population of black Americans would be double its current numbers if abortion had not been legalized by the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. Any black American who supports abortion is grossly ignorant, a pure Leftist ideologue, or just suicidal...or, more accurately, self-genocidal. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I believe the Left has made a crucial error by reacting as they have to the illegal leak of the court's draft majority opinion. All they have done is released the crazies who will show the rest of the country what complete weirdos the abortion-loving fanatics really are. I realize I will be criticized for labeling them, but I've always believed that telling the truth is a charitable act and should not be avoided when to do so would lead others to sin. Just check out these photos of current protests.

Yep, these folks will certainly convince all those average Americans to join the next pro-abortion protest in their quiet neighborhoods...yeah, right.

Lest we get distracted by all the weirdness in the streets, let's keep one thing in mind: abortion is the work of Satan and those who support abortion are joining in his evil work. Of course, ultimately, they will fail. They just don't know it. Pray for them.

And to alter that ugly chant slightly, let me quote the Catholic poet, Joyce Kilmer:

"Thank God for God."

More News Brought to Light

Our faith is truly under attack, not just here in the good ol' USA, but throughout the world. I don't have to search for examples of this, for these attacks are not only evident but also celebrated by those who despise Christ and His Church. These misguided people wrongly think that by attacking Jesus Christ, they will somehow destroy Him. Such attitudes do nothing but underscore their tacit disbelief. Here are just a few stories that highlight this.

Abortion Industry Discretely Targets Black Babies.  In recent years, the abortion industry (aka, Planned Parenthood) has tried to separate itself from its founder, Margaret Sanger, a notorious racist who planned and hoped for the destruction of the "lesser races" and came up with a diabolical plan to accomplish this. But with the rise of cancel culture, Sanger's racism could cause Planned Parenthood some problems, so it seemed best to downplay her involvement as perhaps the founder of the industry. 

Sanger's plans, though, have never really been discarded. For decades Planned Parenthood has targeted minority communities, and they continue to do so. CURE, the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, is a wonderful organization that has investigated the abortion industry's attack on our nation's Black communities.

As a recent press conference, leaders of CURE and a number of other organizations devoted to helping minorities thrive, focused on the Abortion industry's targeting of minority communities. Quite simply, the industry hasn't left Margaret Sanger behind but has actually increased its attack on Black women and Black babies. The percentage of abortions obtained by minority women, particularly Black women, continues to increase, making them "disproportionately, the leading consumer of abortion service." Black women account for more than 1/3 of abortions although they make up only 15% of the childbearing population.

And this wholesale murder, this genocide, of the unborn is supported by the vast majority of Democrat politicians.

Canada Attacks Christian Belief. That's a nice way of saying it. About a week ago, the Canadian Senate and House of Commons unanimously approved a ban on what it called "conversion therapy." In truth, though, it condemns Christian doctrine on the sinfulness of homosexuality and so-called transgenderism, and "ism" that does not exists in reality. The legislation also threatens pastors with up to five years imprisonment if they actually are faithful to the Gospel.

These Canadian pastors aren't preaching hell and brimstone. In fact, like Pastor David Lynn, of Christ Forgiveness Ministries, they're preaching a theology of love, of forgiveness, or mercy. And as they preach, as they share the Gospel, they receive nothing but hate from those who can't stand to hear any criticism of their sinful way of life. "We hate nobody..." Pastor Lynn explained as he described the enduring love of God.

Pastor Lynn was, of course, arrested as he preached the Gospel publicly in Toronto. Even though surrounded and physically assaulted by the crowd of LGBTQ+ whatevers, he was the one arrested.

One result of this has been the outpouring of support by thousands of American pastors who preached last Sunday on the immorality of the homosexual and transexual lifestyles. Unfortunately, I have yet to find an article in praise of Catholic pastors preaching similar homilies. That's the subject of another post...perhaps soon.

A Catholic University Denies Church Teaching. Isn't it interesting that so many universities and colleges love to claim and proclaim their Catholic identity, presumably to placate Catholic parents who will foot the exorbitant education bill, and yet regularly deny major aspects of the Catholic Church's magisterial teaching? It's just a wild guess, but I suspect 75% of so-called Catholic institutions of higher education are really not Catholic. 

The latest school to hit the headlines is DePaul University in (where else) Chicago. DePaul advertises itself as the nation's largest Catholic university. On the "Mission Page" of its website. DePaul declares:

"Guided by an ethic of Vincentian personalism and professionalism, DePaul compassionately upholds the dignity of all members of its diverse, multi-faith, and inclusive community."

As someone who has read many of St. Vicent de Paul's homilies, studied his life, and ministers in a parish blessed with his name, I'm not all that certain the saint would grasp what "Vincentian personalism and professionalism" actually means.

On its home page the school also states that "Chicago is Our Classroom, The World is Our Focus," a motto that (despite its strange capitalization) seems to ignore its supposedly Catholic foundation.

And then, under a heading proclaiming the school's "commitment to Anti-Discrimination," we encounter the following:

"DePaul University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, family relationship status, physical or mental disability, military status, genetic information or other status protected by local, state, or federal law in matters of admissions, employment, housing, scholarships, loans, athletics and other school-administered programs. Individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination, harassment or retaliation are encouraged to report what happened."

Heavens! What a list of potential bases for discrimination! Although some are a bit confusing. Why both sex and gender? In fact, why gender at all? I'm pretty sure sex is what separates male from female, and I have always considered gender to be a grammatical term; you know: feminine, masculine, or neuter nouns. Ah, well, the more things change...

DePaul University, however, has determined that sex comes in many more forms than the obvious two that have served humanity well since pre-historic times.  The university's web-based Campus Connect system was established to aid communication among students, faculty, and staff. Since January 4, "In addition to the Legal Gender, students may now also include a gender identity." Here are the choices: male, female, intersex, non-binary, transgender male, transgender female, cisgender, unspecified, and "I do not wish to self-identify." 

Having these options is especially important at DePaul since the university's student government has declared misgendering an "act of violence," a rather unique way to define violence.

The Church, of course, teaches the existence of only two sexes: male and female. And so, from the perspective of DePaul University's students, who seem to set the policies, the Catholic Church is committing repeated acts of violence. Maybe it would be best if the school just dropped its Catholic identity so prospective students (and their parents) understood that they were about to pay thousands of dollars to be educated by idiots.

That's enough...I'm tired.