A Baptist Preaches The Sanctity Of Human Life

Have a listen. The preacher is Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church. (They have no affiliation with Westboro Baptist Church but nevertheless many people think of all "fundamentalists" as extremists.)

If you're not used to fundamental Baptist or Evangelical style of preaching, you may have to take a deep breath here and there. Try to get through the whole sermon and you'll be glad you did. Don't underestimate the preacher's zeal. (Think of it as a preparation for the New Evangelization.)

Personally I'd like to hear more fervent, biblically oriented (and Catechism oriented) homilies in the Catholic Church. There is a dearth of the Truth being delivered from Catholic pulpits.

[I don't necessarily endorse everything that is said in this message so if there is anything here contrary to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, the Magisterium is to be wholly respected.]

Your Life Is Over When You Have Kids: Now I Believe It

Interesting blogger. Interesting post.

No matter what anyone else says, THIS is why we’re experiencing historically low birth rates. It’s got nothing to do with an economic crisis, and everything to do with a selfishness crisis. This is why we dehumanize children, kill them, exterminate them. This is why we have less of them, and why we call birth control a “preventative medication.” It’s why couples who choose (note: I said CHOOSE) not to have kids will often refer to themselves as “child-free” — much like a recovering patient might call himself cancer-free.

I found this blog site via DUMB OLD HOUSEWIVES

The Reign Of Christ The King—In Both Public And Private Life

What follows is an excerpt from a talk given in November of 1991 in the Chicago area by Michael Davies, well known traditionalist apologist. The entire talk is available in booklet form from TAN Books & Publishers. It is an inspirational talk that every serious Catholic ought to study.

Sad to say, Michael Davies knew more than most Catholics how too many Bishops can—and often do—impede the faithful in their rightful worship of God and in their rightful practice of the holy Faith of Christ. This may sound like a rather strong criticism of Catholic Bishops, those ordained to be our shepherds, but I assure you that it can be well substantiated and continues to this day.

In his outstanding talk, The Reign of Christ the King, Mr. Davies made some observations about the leadership that laity must play in preserving the Faith, speaking from his long experience of fighting for traditional faith and practice in the Catholic Church. One paragraph in particular I have bolded for emphasis. It sounds almost too incredible to believe that, in seeking to exalt Christ to His rightful place in the Church and in this world, too often “the laity must take the lead and shame the hierarchy into following us.”

This statement is somewhat reminiscent of one by Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen: "Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops like bishops and your religious act like religious.”

------------------------------------------------------

TO RESTORE THE REIGN OF CHRIST

We must make the social reign of Christ the King possible today. If we do not do all that is in our power to restore the Social Kingship of Our Lord, we are not worthy of our Baptism, we are not worthy of our Confirmation, we are not worthy of the glorious name of Catholic.  There  is only one  solution  to the problems  of mankind,  and  that  is  to establish  the  peace of Christ  in the  Kingdom  of Christ—Pax Christi in regno Christi.  There is no other solution to what Professor von Hildebrand rightly termed the dehumanization of mankind.

Hilaire Belloc explained that the two alternatives for our civilization are Catholicism and chaos.  Anything less than Catholicism—even if it calls itself "Christianity"—will not stand up in the long run against the encroaching barbarism. So it is we Catholics who actually hold the key both to the social reign of Christ and to the saving of our civilization. We must therefore all  work  toward the day  when  the governments of our  nations  (as well as all individual men) publicly recognize Christ, His Catholic Church and His holy law—and regulate themselves accordingly.

How is this to be achieved?  If we wait for a lead from the hierarchy, it will not be given. The laity must take the lead and shame the hierarchy into following us.

Do not say that this cannot be done.  It has been done  with  the  fight  for  the  Tridentine Mass,  which is  now being  celebrated throughout the  world  to  an extent  that  few of  us  would  have deemed   possible  a few years ago. It has been done with the pro-life movement, above all with the Rescue Movement. We now have bishops participating in Rescues, God bless them for it.  But they are following the lead of the laity.

During the  Protestant Reformation, almost  all  the clergy in England accepted the new religion without protest  until, in the West of England, they were forced to  return  to  the  traditional Faith  and  the  traditional Mass by relatively  uneducated peasants.  The fact that one reluctant priest was cut to pieces with agricultural implements seems to have given his confreres considerable encouragement in returning to the Catholic Faith! Hamish Fraser insisted frequently and forcefully that society, the social kingdom of Our Lord, is our milieu as laymen, and that we must make our presence felt. Hamish Fraser was a convert from Communism, and the great legacy which he brought from his Communist background was his commitment to action.

We can fight for the Social Kingship of Our Lord without the need of approval or leadership from our bishops.  We can and must mobilize all citizens of good will, whether they are Catholic or not. There were Protestants and even Jews who fought the "Gay Rights Bill” in Connecticut, and they were undermined by our bishops.

If anyone reading this honestly believes that society cannot be changed, I can only reply: "Tell that to the homosexuals, tell that to the abortionists." They have changed society, they have corrupted it, de­ humanized it, but they knew what they wanted and they were prepared to fight for it, and they are still prepared to fight for it. Shall the children of light show less zeal than the children of darkness?

Russia Setting Another Example For The World In Respect For The Natural Law

The West seems to have lost all respect for the Natural Law (also known as Moral Law), thanks to the timidity of Catholic Bishops over the last number of decades, particularly since Vatican II.

Russia continues to surprise and set an example in its return to common sense.

“This is particularly evident in their aggressive promotion of the sexual minorities’ rights,” the report said. “Attempts have been made to enforce on other countries an alien view of homosexuality and same-sex marriages as a norm of life and some kind of a natural social phenomenon that deserves support at the state level.”

America Wake Up: Could There Be Something Eerily True About This Message?

I'm not a supporter of Westboro Baptist Church but some of the images they produce ought to get you thinking, not just reacting viscerally.

High Priest Obama And His Extraordinary Minister Reward Their Catholic Supporters

I thought this might be fitting for the occasion of the SOTU address this evening.

[image found on Lexington Libertarian]

A fitting reminder to all pro-Obama Catholics whose vote ensured his re-election.

No doubt you all will tune in shortly for the high priest's State of the Union.

Babies Are Murdered Here: New Controversial Pro-Life Documentary

Babies Are Murdered Here, a new controversial pro-life documentary that examines the truth about abortion and the single biggest failure of the pro-life movement, not calling abortion what it really is...Murder.

"This 'misguided, poor innocent pregnant girl' is a myth. This is a heartless woman who may indeed find herself in a difficult bind and whose solution is to murder the baby."

h/t Everyday For Life Canada

Contraception Versus Abortion; A Comparison and Some Implications

Must reading from Monsignor Vincent Foy. First published 2001 in Catholic Insight.

Some excerpts:

The two principal causes of the Culture of Death are abortion and contraception. Abortion means death to the unborn. Contraception has been described as "creeping death." It is of paramount importance to assess the relationship between these two killers of society and souls to formulate plans and strategies to promote the Culture of life. The evaluation of the comparative roles of abortion and contraception in attacking human life is not as simple as might be thought. They are often intertwined in their intent. Abortifacients are often called contraceptives. At first murder seems a more heinous crime than the prevention of life, but there are hidden factors. Despite difficulties, some comparisons can be made which indicate how the whole pro-life movement should move. We consider some of these comparisons.

…

In the matter of contraception, even "abortifacient contraception", although there is no specific ecclesiastical penalty, there remains the supreme penalty of the loss of God's grace. In some places and times there have been particular ecclesiastical penalties for contraception. In Spain in 1936, absolution from the sin of contraception was reserved to the bishop in eight dioceses (cf. Catholic Priests' Association Newsletter, Vol. III and IV, 1972, p.60). That there is an excommunication attached to abortion and not to contraception does not mean that the former is a greater crime. It means that the good order of the Church as a visible society is more obviously disturbed.

…

Comparing contraception and abortion enables us to see that they are linked in a death chain. Contraception is at the top of the chain. Contraception gives birth to abortion deaths and to the acceptance of sterile sodomy. Abortion gives birth to euthanasia. All of these give birth to the acceptance of a pervasive pornography. When these are widespread we have the Culture of Death. This Culture of Death gives birth to the death of the family, to the death of society, to the death of the Church, and to the perpetual death of immortal souls.

…

Not to recognize the evil of contraception while fighting abortion is like working to kill the termites on the roof of a house, while the whole structure is being eaten away from within. It is like leaning over a deck to chip away at an iceberg, while the ship is being gutted beneath the waterline. It is not permissible to soft-pedal contraception in the interests of a so-called pro-life ecumenism. This is not a denominational issue, pertaining to Catholics alone. The prohibition of contraception is founded on divine natural law. Only groups which in their underlying philosophy are anti-contraception, anti-sterilization, and anti-abortion have the right to full endorsement.

…

As we know, Catholic bishops, chiefly responsible for teaching Humanae Vitae, have been the primary factors in its rejection. Following dissenting theologians rather that Christ, about twelve national hierarchies so distorted the teaching of the encyclical as to virtually destroy it. Among the worst offenders were the Canadian bishops by their Winnipeg Statement of Sept 1968. As night follows the day, Canadian Catholics now live in the dark Culture of Death.

…

The situation in many countries is desperate. Extrapolating from the statistics, the typical parish in Canada is dying. Its birth rate is suicidal. Most of the parents of childbearing age are either sterilized or contracepting. The majority of those contracepting who go to Mass receive Holy Communion, an objective sacrilege. The children going to a Catholic school are educated in contraception in grade eight. Few go to Sunday Mass. Vocations to the priesthood and religious life are insufficient to sustain a flourishing, evangelizing Church. It is impossible for the Church to survive where Humanae Vitae is not taught and lived.

h/t Milites Veritatis

Normal Cannot Apply To A World In Which The Murder Of The Unborn Is Protected By Law

In today’s Canada, are you living a quiet ordinary life?

“I opened the door to the refrigerator to retrieve a carton of milk,” she wrote, “In the midst of reaching into the refrigerator my hand stopped. I was gripped by a realization. I thought, I’m not living in a normal world anymore. Standing there, suspended in time with one arm in the fridge, I realized that ‘normal’ could not apply to a world in which the murder of the unborn was protected by law, and that I could no longer consider myself a normal person. I knew that I could not live my life in the expected way: get an education, get a job, get married, buy a house. I felt I could not deal with those things. No, I had to be seized by a radical act. I had to drop everything—forget about milk and lunch. Babies are being murdered. They are being murdered down the street, in my own town. I know about it and I have to give up my life and do something about it.”

I relate to the “refrigerator” moment described above.

What about you? Will you allow a moment such as that to grip you? 

Huckabee Tries To Explain Contraception To America: If Only Bishops Would Try

Source AllHatNoCattle.net

I know Catholic Bishops won't ever take the partisan perspective of a politician on important social issues. Nor do I expect them to. I just think it's so tragic that in all this talk in America of contraception and the "contraceptive mandate," Catholic Bishops are missing a magnificent opportunity to teach the nation about the real significance of the moral evil of sterile sex.

But then again, they have been negligent for nearly 50 years on this subject, since at least 1968, and the publication of Humanae Vitae. That puts them in a huge rut. So much so that now they feel forced to frame the HHS Mandate in terms of "Religious Freedom." In my opinion this is more than a little disingenuous.

By default, politicians have been forced to try and make sense of contraception for the American public. And they're still doing a really awful job.

One of my daily prayers is: O Lord, raise up prophets, in the order of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, throughout our land, especially Bishops, who, in sackcloth and ashes, will warn and call back to God His people, that the judgment of God on this nation be averted.

So here is Archbishop Fulton Sheen to the rescue. Here he is at a retreat speaking for Christ on contraception:

Listen To The Beat. Who Am I? I Am Valuable.

From LiveAction; Incredible speech to the drumbeat of the 3,315 babies aborted daily in America. Add at least 300 more per day in Canada.

Would Jesus Watch TV And Hang Out With A Foul Mouthed Jewish Woman?

Maybe He would but not with this vile, depraved Jew who promoted abortion with a blasphemous portrayal of Him in a video.

Hey Sarah, why not just make your point with nails and a cross?

Or is it just the unbaptized souls you're after?

This woman needs some serious prayer.

Ottawa Archbishop Prendergast: Why Is Pseudo-Catholicism Flourishing In Your Archdiocese?

St. Basil's Parish, Ottawa, ON

I read a recent posting at SoCon or Bust with a good degree of dismay. Apparently a number of folks representing the heart and soul of St. Basil’s Parish in Ottawa have made available their thoughts and beliefs on the subject of the Catholic family.

Accordingly, this report presents findings from RESPONSES BY MORE THAN 60 PARISHIONERS of St. Basil’s Parish, Ottawa, gathered in three discussions after Masses on December 14-15, 2013, to SELECTED QUESTIONS in the Vatican’s Preparatory Document for the Family Synod. It was sent to the Archdiocese on December 18.

Their report is actually a bold and scathing denunciation of Catholic teaching on the family and other weighty matters of faith. The Church is portrayed as unloving, judgmental, outdated, unscientific, and unapproachable in her ways and teachings and the authors freely admit that

large numbers of the baptized walk away, being clear in their own conscience that they are justified.

The report condemns the Church’s teaching on homosexual disorders and unions claiming that

these matters are up to the individual’s conscience.

It is said

Homosexuality is a naturally occurring phenomenon, not a choice.

Apparently, as concerns this parish,

cohabitation before marriage is almost universal now.

 And, according to the authors, in all matters of “irregular” lifestyles, including “divorced” and “annulled”

the Church must practice acceptance (not just tolerance) and respect.  

Furthermore,

Catholic couples should be able to divorce and remain active members of the Church, including remarriage.

Regarding openness to life,

The magisterium is simply wrong about birth control.

And

The Church’s leaders cannot admit that they are wrong (e.g., their continued affirmation of Humanae Vitae). The consequent damage to the credibility of the magisterium is profound.

The Church is accused of having it backwards:

An” increase in births” is to be discouraged, not promoted.

Although the report does not indicate majority agreement, it nevertheless feels it important to record dissident views on women’s involvement in ministry:

As long as the ordained members of the Church and the magisterium persist in denying women equal status, the teaching on women within the family will be regarded with suspicion.

Other vague, incredible opinions are shared, including

Most of the Church’s problems are the result of man-made rules, coupled with rigidity.

It is difficult for me to imagine that these individuals can be considered in any way genuine Catholics. They have denied the faith in blatant fashion. No doubt they are among those pseudo-catholics who base their Catholic membership

not upon the mystery of the Eucharist but upon the "magic" of the Eucharist. Thanks to the negligence, or perhaps simply the spiritual darkness, of too many Canadian Bishops, regardless of the moral conduct or spiritual disposition of vast numbers of renegade "Catholics", attendance at Mass and mere reception of Holy Communion is assumed to magically confer absolution for even the gravest sins and satisfy all of God's significant imperatives for the Catholic. This grave misrepresentation of the Catholic faith not only dishonors faithful Catholics but scandalizes the entire Christian community in Canada, many of whom are forced to conclude that Catholicism is but another cultish enemy of the true Christian faith.

Blame the Bishop? I say, “But of course!” Who else has the responsibility for the Archdiocese? Who is the Shepherd and Teacher? Is it possible that Archbishop Prendergast doesn’t know about the heresies of this parish and other parishes in his Archdiocese? If he doesn’t then he is shockingly naïve and negligent. If he knows then he has allowed a series of dangerous evils to overtake this parish and his Archdiocese and the result is that many many souls are being lost to Satan. This condition did not happen overnight. It took many years to reach such a ripened, evil, state. Where has the Archbishop been since he took over the job from Archbishop Gervais?

Speaking of Archbishop Gervais, wasn’t he the Archbishop referred to in this letter?

Canada's Bishops failed to deal with the grave scandal caused by Paul Martin, Canada's most recent pro-abortion, pro-sodomy "Catholic" Prime Minister, defeated in the 2006 election, who spearheaded same sex "marriage" in Canada and vehemently proclaimed his government's commitment to "a woman's right to choose" without restrictions. His Bishop, the Bishop of Canada's capital city, Ottawa, dismissed any possibility of discipline for Martin, claiming that the Prime Minister was a "faithful member of my cathedral parish." (This same Bishop attends the Ottawa March for Life and at the 2004 March delivered a homily condemning the killing of human embryos for their stem cells.)

But wasn’t Archbishop Prendergast the subject of widespread controversy in 2008 when he indicated that Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians Should not “Publicly” Receive Holy Communion? I commented on this big story in my blog entry of March 9, 2008 entitled Archbishop Prendergast Must Go the Whole Nine Yards as well as in a short follow up post.

I give the Archbishop credit for even bringing up the subject, but unfortunately he has only muddied the waters with his confused equivocation.

…

So to summarize, Archbishop Prendergast must take this matter to the next level, i.e. the level of complete adherence to Catholic teaching, in order to win any respect for his recent statements or to accomplish any desperately needed change regarding the scandal of pro-abortion “Catholic” politicians in Canada.

Several days later, the Archbishop sounded off on “scandal,” a term rarely passing the lips of Catholic Bishops in Canada. As I wondered in another blog posting, was Archbishop Prendergast following in the footsteps of then Archbishop Raymond Burke [now Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke of the Apostolic Signatura in Rome]?

The Archbishop was sounding like the Archbishop of St. Louis, the Rgt. Rev. Raymond Burke, whose record I briefly reviewed in this posting. He even emphasized the crucial role that denial of Holy Communion played in the reformation of the sinner’s ways, a key component of A/B Burke’s education strategy in this controversial matter. Archbishop Prendergast described this as the “medicinal measure,” which indeed it is.

He also emphasized the importance of the Church’s role in this matter in coming “to the assistance of those who serve the public good.” And then finally, a truly unusual and distinguished conclusion to the interview: an Archbishop in Canada discussing the concept of scandal:

“ If one were to allow Catholic political (or other public) figures to freely espouse abortion without drawing to their attention that this is a grave evil," explained Archbishop Prendergast, "other believers might be tended to accept this, not knowing any better and be led on the wrong path: that is what 'scandal' is. One must do everything possible to prevent others from falling away from the path of Christ - i.e. from being scandalized.”

Before I closed that posting I made this prediction:

It will soon be time for the Archbishop of Canada’s capital city “to do or to die.” A showdown of sorts is coming. Will the Archbishop act, or will his words soon vanish into fresh Canadian air as he settles into the politically correct chair of his predecessor?

The fallout from the Archbishop’s comments provoked commentary from some of Canada’s Protestant Evangelical circles and was detailed in this posting, where I explained what I thought the Archbishop was up against:

I do think that Archbishop Prendergast has planted some rare and hopeful signs of change in his recent outline of Catholic teaching concerning pro-abortion politicians who call themselves “Catholic” but he will have to quite literally move some of the gates of hell which have been positioned in Canadian society over the last forty or fifty years. 

Is he up to it? I really don’t know but I have complete confidence that if he moves forward step by step, does not waver in his responsibilities as Bishop, and if he holds complete fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church, God Himself will move those gates.

Is this the same Archbishop who gave a speech in 2008 in Barrys Bay, ON that was heard round the world and led some to say No More Marshmellow Teaching. It’s Hard Candy Now ? Truly, some good people’s hopes zoomed skyward. [By the way, did the Archbishop ever release his pastoral document on Humanae Vitae? I can’t say I remember reading it and I don’t see it anywhere on his blog entries.]

It’s very sad indeed that after all the early huff and puff of this episcopate our hearts are now down in our boots. What appeared to be a zealous and courageous Bishop-teacher, even a fearless enforcer of Catholic orthodoxy (God knows how badly we need one), turns out to be powerless to stop the most basic kind of dissent and heresy in his own parishes. Is he so out of contact with his priests and his people? Not only that but clearly the pseudo-catholics in his Archdiocese have little or no fear of their Bishop; witness their boldness to broadcast their outrageous positions via the Internet for the whole world to see.

Is it possible that the Archbishop knows all about the corruption in the hearts of many of the “faithful” in his Archdiocese but that he lacks the courage and faith in God in order to see “the gates of Hell” moved?

Perhaps this also explains why we’ve never heard anything since about politicians being reprimanded or hopefully saved from their sinful ways via Canon 915. Perhaps that’s also why we’ve never heard more about Archbishop Prendergast leading the charge for the Catholic Bishops of Canada to relent on their Winnipeg Statement, which was their disastrous response to the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae. No doubt John Pacheco has seriously revised his expectations of the Archbishop since 2008.

The Archbishop actually mentions the word “contraception” and the term “Humanae Vitae” several times in his blog which comprises about 1500 postings. He always gives the distinct impression that it is incumbent upon all faithful Catholics to adhere to Humanae Vitae and that this is a key to effective marriages and witness for Christ in the culture.  How shocking and humiliating then that an official document from one of his parishes states:

The Church’s leaders cannot admit that they are wrong (e.g., their continued affirmation of Humanae Vitae)

Perhaps then this also explains why there continues to be an insurmountable crisis in the Ottawa District School Board. Apparently last October he lectured the schools in the Archdiocese “to choose teachers, guest speakers, and partners who are models of holiness and who fully embrace the culture of life” and “warning that if the schools are not ‘fully Catholic’ they risk descending into ‘demonic worldliness.’” I’m sure that scared all the bad people away.

Clearly, this Archbishop is all talk and no action, to the detriment of the souls under his charge. When will he rise up with God given courage and set his own house in order? Honestly, I’m heartsick over cowardly (or incompetent) Bishops who, when push comes to shove, fail to exercise their full God-given authority in defense of the Catholic faith. By their actions they show themselves ashamed of the Holy Faith and not worthy of their posts and will face the wrath of God for the loss of souls to Hell under their watch. I hope Archbishop Prendergast does not prove himself to be one of these. Let us pray that he picks up the pieces and recovers his Archdiocese from the clutches of the Devil while he still can.

God help and save him and his flock in Ottawa!

I fear that in our own Archdiocese of St. John’s, NL many of the same kinds of responses as those of St. Basil’s will be crafted and sent off  to Rome for the Extraordinary Synod in October 2014. We’ve already had some very blatant evidence of similar levels of contempt for Church teaching…and that originating from those closest to our Archbishop! Imagine what some of those in the pews must think!