Kill the Babies Or Else…

President Biden and his increasingly far-left regime, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and most Democrat politicians have all proven one thing: they hate children. Why else would anyone actively promote the slaughter of unborn children and strive to stop any attempts to limit abortions? Remember, back in 2011, when President Obama threatened to cut off all Medicaid and related funding to Indiana when the state legislature and governor passed legislation to stop state funding of Planned Parenthood? Just think about that. If you don’t kill the unborn, Obama declared, we will cut medical funds to the poor. How nice...

Today is no different. As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to overturn the Texan law that severely limits abortion in the state, Joe Biden has pledged a “whole of government” response. He has called on his evil but feckless attorney general, Merrick Garland, to “protect abortion rights” of all Americans by applying the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra also chimed in saying, “…we are telling doctors and others involved in the provision of abortion care, that we have your back.” 

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, reminds us that “There are no lengths the Biden administration won’t go to in their drive to prop up the abortion industry and impose abortion on demand up to birth nationwide, on a public that resoundingly rejects their agenda.” But note the change in the pro-abortion forces’ language. Once they wouldn’t utter the word, “abortion,” but instead used such euphemistic phrases as “reproductive health.” But no longer. Now they openly declare their intention to support “abortion rights” and “abortion care.” I find the latter particularly disgusting. For whom are they providing “care”? Certainly not the unborn child who is torn apart during this “safe procedure.”

\What disturbs me most, however, is the cowardice of our bishops. Few seem willing to openly and consistently confront the Catholic politicians who support abortion. There are, of course, exceptions and Nancy Pelosi’s bishop, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, has been a true stalwart. The archbishop recently stated, “A conversion of heart of the majority of our Congressional representatives is needed on this issue, beginning with the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.” He then continued with more than mere words, but called for spiritual action on the part of the faithful: “I am therefore inviting all Catholics to join a massive and visible campaign of prayer and fasting for Speaker Pelosi: commit to praying one rosary a week and fasting on Fridays for her conversion of heart.” I intend to join Archbishop Cordileone and in my own small way, ask all those who read this blog to do the same. 

Another disturbing event, related to the slaughter of these modern day innocents, took place just the other day when Nancy Pelosi visited the Vatican on October 8. How ironic that this was the feast day of St. Simeon, who greeted the newborn infant Jesus when He was presented in the Temple in Jerusalem by Mary and Joseph. How many infants have never been presented in a church for Baptism, thanks to the child-hatred of Nancy Pelosi. 

More disturbing, however, was the reception the Vatican gave Pelosi. The Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development stated, “We welcome Speaker Pelosi from the U.S. House of Representative. We talked about caring for the environment, in the light of [Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical] Laudato si, migration issues, human rights, health in times of pandemic, and the work of the Vatican COVID Commission.” Note the one subject that apparently went undiscussed: abortion. Apparently the "human development" of the unborn does not merit any attention. This was especially troublesome given that Pelosi, along with the president, is among the most prominent Catholic politicians and has done all in her power to advance and encourage abortions in the U.S. 

Pope Francis and the Pelosis

Pelosi and her husband also had a private audience with Pope Francis, but the Vatican had no comment about any subjects discussed during their meeting. One can only hope the Holy Father explained Church teaching to this self-proclaimed “devout Catholic” who seems to consider herself holier and smarter than the Church. One wonders what Archbishop Cordileone thought of her Vatican visit.

Brothers and sisters, pray for the unborn, pray for those who seek and perform abortions, pray for those politicians who further the culture of death, and join the Archbishop of San Francisco by praying the Rosary and Fasting every Friday for the conversion of all.

“The Evil One Is At Work Here”

The words in the title of this post are words spoken by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone who has had to cope with a mayor and a governor that seem to be doing all in their power to shut down churches, especially Catholic churches, in San Francisco and throughout the state. Of course, Archbishop Cordileone and his brother bishops in California are not alone. Almost all American bishops, and many others throughout the world, have had to cope with some level of anti-religious control from local and state governments. It’s as if the political forces were just waiting for an opportunity to separate the people from the practice of their faith. Evil will, of course, fail at this, but in the meantime the faith of many will be challenged.

The celebration of Mass has been effectively banned in many cities and states. The same is true of most other sacramental rites. To understand how specifically anti-religious these controls are, one need only look at other permitted gatherings. Here’s just one example, In San Francisco even the celebration of an outdoor Mass, regardless of the size of the venue, must be limited to only 12 people, including the priest. And yet Black Lives Matter “protesters” can congregate in the streets, with no separation whatsoever, and are encouraged to do so by local politicians.  

In a recent interview, Archbishop Cordileone stated that there is a definite “spiritual” connection between these Mass restrictions and the defacing and destruction of Catholic statues that recently plagued His archdiocese. He went on to say, “I performed a minor exorcism at the site of the statue of St. Junipero Serra in Golden Gate Park because statues of holy saints are sacramentals; their destruction is a sacrilege. The Evil One is at work here.” The photo below shows the Archbishop blessing the site.

The Archbishop continued by addressing what this means to us as Americans: “To take something as beautiful and holy as the face of Our Mother and desecrate it? What demons these poor, battered souls must be fighting. In the midst of all our troubles, to be deprived of the Eucharist is both a serious imposition on our rights as Americans and a serious spiritual deprivation.” He went on to say, “I’m not sure the governing authorities here in San Francisco really realize the pain they are imposing on people.” The Archbishop is much kinder than I am, for I believe they know exactly what they’re doing and the effect it has on the Catholic faithful. Yes, indeed, there is evil at work here. 

As for the Catholic faithful, Archbishop Cordileone tells them to “Pray, fast, say the rosary. Focus on living your Catholic faith in the home, with your family, praying the rosary as a family, reflecting together on the Scripture readings for Sunday Mass, watching good Catholic programming together. Reach out to help your neighbors. Let your priests know you care about them. And if you must attend Mass via livestream, don’t just ‘watch’ the Mass: worship.”  

Personally, and I am speaking here only as an American and a Catholic, I honestly believe all the restrictions placed on religious activity by government authorities are unconstitutional. Nowhere in the U. S. Constitution does the government have the power to restrict the religious activity of the people. Indeed, exactly the opposite is true. The primary right of the people, the first God-given right mentioned in the Constitution, is the right of the people to worship freely, as specified in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”

Can anyone not see that those who wield governmental power are preventing American citizens of the right to freely exercise their faith? While I certainly respect Archbishop Cordileone for what he is doing, or attempting to do, as he battles the power of evil that confronts the Church today, I believe it's time for our bishops to resist this evil strongly and openly. We are a Eucharistic Church and, as the fathers of the Second Vatican Council declared, the Eucharist is the "source and summit of the Christian life." Because of the interference of secular government, most Catholics today are deprived of the Eucharistic Bread of Life, as well as the graces that flow from the other sacraments.

It’s time for our bishops to stand tall for religious freedom. "Blessed are the meek," Jesus promised, but the meek are not the indifferent. We don’t need the government to dictate how we may worship, and should resist their attempts to do so. The Church can care for its own people and devise safe conditions to ensure the health of the faithful. Our bishops should demand the freedom to exercise the Church's First Amendment rights and do so safely. They should also be willing to suffer the consequences, even if it means imprisonment and fines. Over the past 2,000 years, beginning with the Apostles themselves, many bishops, in a spirit of courageous meekness, have paid a far greater price for such courageous acts of faith.

Remember, too, how Jesus completed the Beatitudes, this time speaking personally to His disciples:

"Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me..." [Mt 5:11]

Years ago I used to conduct a course on negotiating for businesspeople, and one of the more effective strategies was that used by those who were perceived as powerless: the power of no power. If you are willing to accept whatever consequences your opponent can inflict, you have just given yourself significant power, especially in the court of public opinion. Here's a wonderful example...

Perhaps our bishops and all Christian churches should look to Evangelical Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles County (photo at left). Pastor MacArthur has been threatened with jail time and fines because he refuses to accept Governor Newsome's restrictions that prevent his church from conducting in-person services. 

According to the pastor, "We believe the governor, the county, the city, and the health department are going against the Constitution. And just to remove one obvious question, the rate of COVID in California is 1/100 of 1% of 40 million people...and that eliminates freedom of worship from the entire state?"

The pastor went on to explain that his church has "been meeting together now for weeks and weeks and weeks, and...nobody in our congregation has ever been to the hospital with this...There's another virus loose in the world and its the virus of deception, and the one who is behind the virus of deception is the arch-deceiver, Satan himself. And it's not a surprise to me that, in the midst of all this deception, the great effort that is going on is to shut down churches that preach the Gospel." How did Archbishop Cordileone put it? "The Evil One is at work here."

Pastor MacArthur then added, "We received a letter with a threat that we could be fined or I could go to jail for a maximum of six months. Of course, my Biblical hero, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, is the apostle Paul...so I don't mind being a little apostolic if they want to tuck me in jail. I'm open for a jail ministry. I've done a lot of other ministries and haven't had the opportunity to do that one, so bring it on."

You have to love the man. And as Catholics we should join hands and minds and hearts with other Christians, with men and women like Pastor MacArthur, as we fight the battle against the powers of the world. I really believe that it will be through our common suffering and persecution that the unity Jesus Christ longs for will come about.