Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Kathy Ireland - Not Just a Supermodel, A Super-Pro-Lifer

A beautiful woman no doubt, but Kathy now reveals her stance against abortion. One that's not very popular in her line of work.

Kathy Ireland Slams Abortion

...
"My entire life I was pro-choice — who was I to tell another woman what she could or couldn’t do with her body? But when I was 18, I became a Christian and I dove into the medical books, I dove into science," Ireland told Fox while promoting her insightful new book "Real Solutions for Busy Mom: Your Guide to Success and Sanity."

"What I read was astounding and I learned that at the moment of conception a new life comes into being,” Ireland told Fox. “The complete genetic blueprint is there, the DNA is determined, the blood type is determined, the sex is determined, the unique set of fingerprints that nobody has had or ever will have is already there."

MORE

Swine Flu - Do you know what it is?

While I'm hearing the news reports on TV and radio, I still don't know that much about it.

What are the symptoms,

how does one catch it,

how to avoid it.

Here's some good information:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Swine Flu

Catholic Universities

The state of Catholic Universities today.

Let's see you pay, what $20,000 per semester with room and board. You get the presteige of attending one of the top education facilities in the country.

And oh yes, the solid Catholic teachings upheld in the college life of that university.

Well, maybe not.

Georgetown to Honor V.P. Biden

Catholic University - Catholic's for Obama, Biden, The Catholic Majority

Georgetown University Hid Religious Symbols at White House Request

St. Thomas University...Maybe

Notre Dame...definitely

So why the attention to Catholic Universities by Obama? One thought comes to mind 'Divide and Conquer'.

If you're looking for a REAL Catholic University try some of these choices:

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Ave Maria University

Christendom College

Thomas Aquinas College

John Paul the Great Catholic University

Belmont Abbey College


















Monday, April 27, 2009

Angels & Demons - Here we go again

Science and Religion seems to be at the core of this hallucination. Dan Brown and Ron Howard's new movie Angels and Demons is soon to hit the local theaters on May 15th.

Already the bookstores are dedicating major displays (shrines) to the Brown classics.

Anyway, Carl Olsen of InsightScoop did a marvelous job of debunking the Da Vinci Code. He has a new post on the upcoming Angels and Demons release, which he does an equally fabulous job.

Where Angels (& Demons) Fear to Tread

The astounding success of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown’s fourth novel, first published in the spring of 2003, is well known. The numbers are incredible: Over 60 million copies of the controversial novel have sold worldwide, in over 40 languages, with millions of copies of Brown’s previous three novels following fast in the wake of its success. A major motion picture was released in May 2006, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard. It grossed over $240 million in the United States and nearly $760 million worldwide, making it the 26th most profitable movie of all time, ahead of such films as Forrest Gump, The Sixth Sense, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Brown, Howard, and Hanks are now back, this time with the sequel (actually a prequel) to The Da Vinci Code. Angels & Demons, based on Brown’s second novel, which was published in 2000, opens in theaters on May 15 and is expected to be one of the top-grossing films of the year. It also figures to be controversial. The film features the return of Robert Langdon, the Harvard “symbologist” who revealed the alleged fact that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had descendents. It focuses on the Catholic Church and the election of a (fictional) pope, and pontificates—so to speak—on the relationship between science and religion.Despite The Da Vinci Code movie’s worldwide commercial success, it was generally panned by critics, who complained that the movie was clumsy, plodding, and confusing. Some understood this was because the movie followed the book so faithfully. Apparently the producers came to the same realization. “I think we may have been too reverential toward it,” producer Brian Grazer told USA Today in October 2008. “We got all the facts of the book right, but the movie was a little long and stagey.” He promised that Angels & Demons will be different. “Langdon doesn’t stop and give a speech,” Grazer said, “When he speaks, he’s in motion.”
MORE

Friday, April 24, 2009

Fr. Mitch Pacwa: Words of Wisdom

Please visit Fr. Pacwa's website: HERE

April 2009 - Words of Wisdom: Denials & Assertions

Denials

During President Obama's visit to Turkey he denied that the United States of America is a Christian or Jewish or Muslim country; it is a country of citizens. This is a rather odd proclamation in a secular Muslim country where conversions away from Islam are not illegal, but they can definitely be punished outside the rigors of national law. That is why the Catholic converts there have to keep a very low profile and the Church keeps quiet about the new Catholics there.

Another denial came from the White House after President Obama, the elected citizen leader of a nation of citizens, bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: they denied the obvious fact before the eyes of millions of viewers and told us that the citizen president did not bow to a Muslim king.

A third denial from the White House after President Obama had requested to address the economy at Georgetown University. The prominent displays of IHS - the first three letters of Jesus in Greek, which form the center of the seal of the Society of Jesus - were all covered up for his speech. While Georgetown officials say the White House requested this cover up, the White House denies that it made the request. However, hiding the Name of Jesus during a presidential speech would help promote Obama's agenda to deny that the nation is Christian.

I strongly disagree with the university's compliance with the request. If the White House wants an environment free of Jesus, there are plenty of government buildings available. Perhaps the administration would feel more comfortable in a mosque, unless they make the mistake of asking the mullah or sheikh to cover the words of the Quran which form the typical decoration of a mosque. I doubt that the Muslims would cave to such a rude request as asking the hosts - to whom you had requested the use of their facilities - to hide their identity.

Assertions

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other government officials now assert that human made tragedies or problems will be the term of choice instead of calling the perpetrators of terror on innocent victims "terrorism." Such convoluted redefinitions usually have an ideological agenda hidden within them. We will watch and see how that agenda gets spun by the government as time passes.

A far more ominous redefinition comes from the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. While the pro-life people of Arizona are rejoicing that she has departed their state to serve in the present administration, the rest of us have reason to be concerned. An April unclassified document which was not meant for public viewing has recommended U.S. Security forces to examine terror threats from right wing extremists. Napolitano has apologized for including armed forces veterans as terror threats, though her apology did mention the example of Timothy McVeigh, a veteran of the first Gulf War, as a dangerous terror threat that supported her original contention of fear (McVeigh was convicted of bombing a Federal office building in Oklahoma City, a skill he acquired in the military, according to Napolitano's apology). However, note that the staunchly pro-abortion Napolitano has included pro-life activists among the domestic terror threats, along with people who strongly favor states' rights over against the federal government.

Due to her assertions, I now sympathize with Al Qaeda - I, too, have become a terror threat because of my religious convictions. I want to flaunt my convictions all the more and let any federal official know that my desire to save the lives of unborn children, desperately sick and dying people, and the mentally or physically handicapped is a terror threat to Napolitano and her department.

However, the real terror threat comes at the end of life for those who promoted friendship with death as a solution to the world's problems. Such people will find the army of those innocents they have killed or helped kill standing before them. More terrifying still will be the Judge of our souls, who will take sides with the innocents who were killed to promote a political or economic or pseudo-religious agenda. His name may have been covered up at Georgetown, but it will be proclaimed with fierce boldness at the judgment. The best preparation for avoiding the terror of displeasing Him is to proclaim His holy Name more boldly in this life and live His Gospel with absolute conviction that reward comes from Jesus and His Saints and Angels, not from Obama and his cohorts.

Morning Read - Cup of Joe Apr 24

A cup of Peet's and a few articles:

Parents! We Don't Need No Stiking Parents - Creative Minority Report

Ron Howard Is No Angel - NCRegister

Reproductive Health = Abortion - NCRegister

There's Plenty of Enerty at the Bottom - American Spectator

Against Insect Plague, Nevadans Wield Ultimate Weapon: Hard Rock - WSJ

Special Preview: I.F. Stone, Soviet Agent, Case Closed - Commentary Magazine

Thursday, April 23, 2009

One baby for World Peace...

A very scary thought.

With so much talk about 'Torture' lately, this article shows the unspoken side.

Water boarding is Torture, sleep deprivation is torture, a bath of bugs is torture.

The cry, "Prosecute the Torturers!"

Abortion is not torture?

Obama's Torture Policy or the Unborn.

If achieving world peace required torturing a single baby, asks a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, would it be worth it?

"Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature -- that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance -- and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth."

The liberalism that Barack Obama seeks to complete answers Dostoyevsky's question with an emphatic yes. What is Obama's abortion-on-demand-forever policy but the building of a modern American way of life upon the graves of tortured babies? And not just the unavenged tears of one baby but millions of them.
MORE
Interesting video at RealCatholicTV





I believe we should all prayer for our leaders and especially President Obama. We all should be praying for a successful administration.

But, a successful administration at what price. At the price of our moral stability? At the sacrifice of our Catholic beliefs?

Peace

17Year-Olds Set To Use 'Morning-After-Pill'

Another sign that this administration is on track to becoming the most Pro-Abortion in U.S. history.

The FDA is set to make the decision to okay the use of Plan B or as it's more appropriately called the 'Morning-After-Pill', available over the pharmacy counter with I.D. .

Supporters of this contraception say it will prevent abortions which to me is like saying suicides prevent heart attacks.

Makes no sense.

Judge Korman is ruling on this with a little help from his friends...

In his ruling, Judge Korman said that FDA staffers were told the White House had been involved in the decision on Plan B. The government said in court
papers that politics played no role.

And still we have those that insist that Mr. Obama and his administration are pro-life oriented.

FDA Set to OK 'Morning-After-Pill' for 17 Year-Olds.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the agency will announce that it is complying with a federal judge's order that overturns a Bush administration policy. The official was not authorized to speak publicly before the FDA announcement, expected later Wednesday.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled in a New York lawsuit that Bush administration appointees let politics, not science, drive their decision to allow over-the-counter access to these pills only for women 18 and older. Korman ordered the agency to let 17-year-olds get the medication, and separately to evaluate whether all age restrictions should be lifted.
MORE

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Ridiculous - Weight Challenged Cause Global Warming

Is this ridiculous or what?

Scientist's warn that the Carbon footprint of over weight people are warming the planet, and thus causing global warming.

Here's the article:


Scientists warned that the increase in big-eaters means more food production — a major cause of CO2 gas emissions warming the planet.

Overweight people are also more likely to drive, adding to environmental damage.



I found this book helpful.




Monday, April 20, 2009

Miss California is #1 in my book.

My thanks and support of Miss California for answering a question posed to her on national TV.

Judge Perez Hilton asked the contestant "... whether she believed in gay marriage..."

Carrie Prejean, Miss California answered ""We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

This was not the politically correct answer for the Pageant's co-director Keith Lewis.
"As co-director of the Miss California USA, I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss California believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman," said Lewis in a statement. "I believe all religions should be able to ordain what unions they see fit. I do not believe our government should be able to discriminate against anyone and religious beliefs have no politics in the Miss California family."

I didn't watch the event but I would like to say that Miss Prejean is tops in my book. She spoke the truth and it may have cost her the title. She could have given the answer they would have like to have heard. But she didn't.

Why did they ask this question in the first place? Could it have been judge Perez Hilton's personal openly gay gossip blog or Mr. Lewis' position?

Maybe the pageant wanted to press the contestants to choose sides (...their side obviously) in front of thousands of viewers.

As it happened, Miss California was not chosen as the winner, she won runner up. There apparently was outrage with this as well.

Thanks Miss California!

Miss California Sparks Furor With Gay Marriage Comments onMiss USA Telecast

...
When asked by judge Perez Hilton, an openly gay gossip blogger, whether she believed in gay marriage, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, said "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."
MORE

New 'Hip-Slang'.... "Barack You"

Seems it's a growing trend in the realm of being cool and hip ... well like our President Obama.

The story refers to ‘Baracking' - a supposed new form of slang popular everywhere even though nobody has ever heard it used. The piece (surprise surprise!) highlights the coolness of Barack.

The Albany Union found that "What up, my Obama?" and "Barack's in the White House now" (which means "cool it.") are pervasive now in the culture. And just in case those weren't stupid enough, they say the new slang response to someone sneezing is... "Barack you."
MORE

I'm Baracking tonight...

The Church's Civil War

George Neumayr as a good post on InsideScoop entitled 'A New Front in the Church's Civil War'.

It's about the the views of Ms. Kathleen Sebelius and the support of prominant Catholics for her.

Modern liberal Catholics chuckle at the history of casuistry in the Church even as they contribute grimly absurd new examples to it. They use tortured reasoning not to discuss the properties of angels but to cloud the records of abortion proponents.

How many dissenting, not very angelic Catholic politicians can dance with modernists’ approval at the head of a pro-abortion administration? An astonishing number, it turns out, and the list is growing. Kathleen Sebelius is the latest Catholic appointment to seize upon their strained sophistries.

No sooner had President Barack Obama nominated the governor of Kansas to head up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) than “26 Catholic leaders, scholars, and theologians” started up a petition and website to support her.
MORE

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

I'm Pro-Life - NOT A TERRORIST!


Let me repeat that...


I'm Pro-life, Not A Terrorist!


It appears that the Department of Homeland Security is concerned with domestic terrorist.... of the Pro-life persuasion, the family value persuasion, the Veteran home from the war persuasion.


And we all get labeled 'Right-wing Extremist'


Has this administration lost it's marbles? This sounds like a tactic from a totalitarian nation that wants to silence the opposition.


I find this report out by the DHS highly suspicious (and I'm not one easily convinced of conspiracy theories) considering that this came out, what maybe a week a or so before the 'Tea Party' protest.


As far as pro-life terrorist are concerned, I can't remember a terrorist act in the name of pro-life happening in years. Let's see, the only one that comes to mind is the bombing of the abortion clinic and I don't remember what year that was.


I will be participating in a pro-live walk this weekend in my area. Maybe I'll spot some van with dark windows parked along the way.


sheeeessss.


Get this... this is what the report says (via article)




What's that Bruce Springsteen song say.." Like a river that don't know where its flowing, I [we]took a wong turn and I [we] just kept going."


Here's an article on this pathetic report and the links to the document:




The report, titled "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," dated April 7, states that "threats from white supremacist and violent anti-government groups during 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry out violent acts."

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Okay...Someone Tell Me How This Is Done

You've got to give this a try...

... and let me know how this works please.

Bizarre - Regiftable

Satan..just a Metaphor

I think this article on 'Creative Minority Report hits the nail on the head.

Help! I'm Possessed by a Metaphor!

It seems that about 60 percent of "Christians" at least somewhat agree that Satan is not a real entity but simply a metaphor for evil. But while holding that view, 65% also believe that people can be influenced by demons or evil spirits.

I'm not sure how these two things are possible. If they're a symbol how can they affect you?

And get this, about 40% of Christians believe that Jesus might have sinned while on Earth. Uh...So let me get this straight. According to polled Christians, a very real Jesus might have been influenced by pretend demons and committed very real sins?

All I can say to many Christians, is get thee to Catechism.
MORE

Everyone.... let's open up our Catechisms and do a little reading tonight. In fact let's all make a Pentecost resolution this Spring and re-educate ourselves in in faith.

A paragraph a night is all we are asking.....

Fr. Corapi has some excellent DVD's and CD's to select from. Father John Corapi

Vatican ambasador...not Kennedy..or Kmiec

Looks like the Obama administration is not getting the message.

So, let's spell it out one more time...

“The Holy See has always set a very simple standard: the person should not be in opposition to fundamental teachings of the Church that belong to our common shared humanity. He or she may not believe in Catholic dogma if he or she is not a Catholic, but we could not accept someone who is in favor of abortion, or (human) cloning or same-sex unions equated to marriage,” the official said.(CNA)

With the forth coming honorary Notre Dame law degree and numerous accolades praising the extraordinary brilliance of President Obama, I'm kind of baffled at the selection process for this position of ambassador to the Vatican.

Is Mr. Obama trying to make a statement? Maybe that he is against the Catholic teachings of abortion and embryonic stem cell research to name a couple?

Mr. Obama, no need to make such a statement. We are well aware where you stand on these issues.

I can't imagine that he just doesn't get it. So just what is the point of 3 strikes in a row, the latest being Caroline Kennedy (Pro-Choice advocate)?

Hmm... any thoughts?

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Holy Shroud - More Evidence

This time from one who analyzed threads of the Shroud back in 1988. Part of the Shroud of Turin Research Project.



Turin Shroud 'could be genuine as carbon-dating was flawed'

...

But in a video made shortly before his death three years ago, he said facts had come to light that indicated the shroud could be genuine.


Rogers, a chemist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, said: "I don't believe in miracles that defy the laws of nature. After the 1988 investigation I'd given up on the shroud.


"But now I am coming to the conclusion that it has a very good chance of being the piece of cloth that was used to bury the historic Jesus."

MORE



I for one believe this is authentic, although my faith doesn't hinge on this.

Happy Easter - WCC

Happy Easter fellow bloggers. The Celebration ain't over yet.



The Church's birthday is fast appoaching with the gift of the Holy Spirit- Pentecost

Friday, April 10, 2009

Good Friday - the Lord's Passion

Readings: Good Friday

No postings until Easter...

WCC +<><

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Dr. Oz, Michael J. Fox, Opra - Embryonic Stem Cell Research Dead

Dr. Oz delivered some shocking news to Opra's audience as well as Mr. Fox. Everyone knows about Michael's struggles with Parkinson's and his goals of promoting research to cure this debilitating disease. Those efforts are quite noble, however promotion of the use of Embryonic Stem Cell research is not.

The killing of babies for such research is morally wrong. Its also scientifically ineffective.

Recently the Pentagon announced the use of pigs in their study of IED affects. The same with the auto industry with their use of pigs in crash test.

The outrage shut down the auto industry's test and the outrage is still rising in the case of the Pentagon.

There is no such outrage about killing babies (Embryonic Stem Cell Research).

While there are no positive results from such studies there has been a call to advance the studies even further. President Obama is leading the charge.

Thank God Dr. Oz was given an opportunity on TV to set the record straight.

We need more voices in the public arena to tell the truth.

I hope to see, hear from Dr. Oz more.... if he is given the chance.


Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Knights Templar - Shroud Guardians

The Shroud of Turin is said to have disappeared after the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and remained missing until 1353.

So where was it? Who had possession of it?
Recently a researcher in the Vatican Secret (not so secret) Archives claims he has the answer:

(CNA) A researcher in the Vatican Secret Archives claims to have filled a gap in the known history of the Shroud of Turin, saying that rediscovered records of the Knights Templar trials show the Shroud had been in the possession of the order before it was suppressed.

The Shroud had disappeared in the sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade and reports of it do not surface again until 1353, Researcher Barbara Frale said in L’Osservatore Romano. The Shroud was then displayed in a church at Lirey in France by descendants of Geoffroy de Charney, a Templar Knight burned at the stake with the last head of the order, Jacques de Molay. According to L'Osservatore, Frale has uncovered new evidence concerning the Shroud in the testimony surrounding the Knights Templar, a crusading order.

Founded at the time of the First Crusade in the eleventh century, the Knights Templar protected Christians making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They took their name from the Temple of Jerusalem, near which they were first stationed.
MORE

And who where the Knights Templar? What were their beginnings, the true beginnings that is, not Dan Brown's version.

Here's a good history source for The Knights Templars

... and The Holy Shroud (of Turin)

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Pres. Obama - Faith -Based Initiative

Much as been touted about Presidents Obama ability to cross partisan lines and gather together those that would never get together if it's wasn't for his gift of partnership.

Well, the Pres. has done just that with his appointment to the faith-based initiative of Harry Knox to the Obama Advisory Council.

Unfortunately, I don't think this decision is going to work considering who Harry Knox is and not so much that but more so, what he thinks and says about those parties involved with the faith-based initiative.

I first saw the story on Newsbusters, but here's the actual CNN article and what Mr. Knox has to say: Obama Names Pope-Basher to Faith-Based Initiative Board

President Barack Obama has named to the federal government’s faith-based initiative a gay-rights activist who, last month, described Pope Benedict XVI and certain Catholic bishops as “discredited leaders” because of their opposition to same-sex marriage...

...In addition to his remarks about the Pope, Knox also criticized the Catholic Knights of Columbus as being “foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression” because of the Knights’ support of Proposition 8. The latter was a ballot initiative that amended California’s state constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, and passed in November 2008. Knox told CNSNews.com that he “absolutely” stands by his criticism of the pope. "The Pope needs to start telling the truth about condom use," Knox said on Monday, Apr. 6. "We are eager to help him do that. Until he is willing to do that and able, he's doing a great deal more harm than good -- not just in Africa but around the world. It is endangering people's lives.”

Newsweek: Decline & Fall of Christianity



Here we are in Holy Week and what does Newsweek come up with for this weeks edition?

Yep, is it any wonder?












This is the article: The end of Christian America

The percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 points in the past two decades. How that statistic explains who we are now—and what, as a nation, we are about to become.

We already know how this story ends... Have a blessed Holy Week.

Easter is almost here!

JPII - Miracles

JPII is getting closer to beatification. At least two miracles are needed to continue the process.
This story will add momentum to that process.



JPII, JPII, JPII.... !

Obama: A Secular Nation

"NOT a Christian nation, NOT a Jewish nation, NOT a Muslim nation".

Those are Mr. Obama's words. If not a religious nation what are we then? A secular nation?



Now why doesn't that surprise me. After his visit to Europe where religion is a thing of the past, and with Mr. Obama's ideas of a Global nation, it makes sense why he would say something like this.

Mr. Obama needs a history lesson on the founding of our nation by Christians. Maybe if he were to recite the Pledge of Allegiance he might rethink his ideology.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."


Interesting fact: The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, in New York City felt that the pledge was incomplete without any reference to a deity.[4] Appealing to the authority of Abraham Lincoln, the Knights felt that the words "under God" which were from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address were most appropriate to add to the Pledge. (Wikipedia)

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

ROTC - ' Those students graduate not prepared to follow the nonviolent Jesus but to kill for the empire. '

I pulled that statement (and copied the entire paragraph to give full context) from an article in the National Catholic Reporter by John Dear SJ.

The article points out the recent announcement to bring the ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps to St. Frances University in Pennsylvania.

Fr. John does his best San Francisco imitation by writing about the "militarization" of the Catholic University.

While Fr. John has the right to show and voice his opposition to not wanting this ROTC program at the school, he is out of line in describing those young men of this program and insulting to all Armed Forces personel as "well-educated warmakers".

This is some of what he wrote:

This roiling of the placid waters has, of course, two sides to it. One administrator gave me the official view of things. Some students train with the army already, off campus, he said. Bringing the army to the campus will let officials influence and supervise.

I heard him out, but I'm still convinced his position is naïve. It smacks of moral compromise; it comes off as a pretext to justify financial gain. My own order, the Jesuits, have employed the same argument for some 50 years, and in all that time they've done nothing to mollify military ways. All Jesuit ROTC programs manage to do is churn out well-educated warmakers -- and bring in millions for our institutions. Those students graduate not prepared to follow the nonviolent Jesus but to kill for the empire.

Fr. John that is most insulting. These fine men and women are sacrificing their time and lives not only for your protection, for your safe keeping, for you rights to voice your opinion, but for the freedom of those oppressed in other countries. To describe them as killers for the empire is beyond my comprehension, especially coming from a Catholic Priest!

Fr John you owe these fine young men a woman an apology!

No one with a well informed conscience likes war or pursues war just for the sake of killing and bombing. In your article you describe your experiences in El Salvador back in 1985. A time when that country was battling a very vicious internal war. I realize your experiences are true, however you seem to insinuate the blame to be from suppliers of the war...the United States.

Kind of one sided don't you think. I don't think for a moment that things were honky-dory with the communist oppression there. I'm sure that religion wasn't persecuted down there at all.

Ya right.

Yes, our Catholic Faith is one focused on peace and justice, love of neighbor and prayers for our enemies.

But it is also one of "no greater love than the giving of ones life for another" and sometimes in order to bring justice and peace this greater love is necessary. We ask for God's guidance in these matters that we do His will not our own.

I'm deeply disappointed in your rhetoric. Labeling our men and women of the armed forces in this light is no more true than those that would label all Catholic priest as pedophile. The few that bad apples don't spoil the whole batch.

I pray that you will rethink your thoughts and maybe offer up an update to this insulting article.

In God's peace.

WCC +<><

Read the whole article Here: ROTC comes to St. Francis.

Newt a New Convert?

I missed this on the Internet, but it appears we maybe welcoming a new convert to the fold.

Conservative author and former House speaker Newt Gingrich will celebrate the Easter season this year in a very special way – by converting to Roman Catholicism.

“I have become increasingly drawn to Catholicism over the past several years while attending Mass with my wife, Callista,” Gingrich tells Newsmax. “ After prayer and reflection, I believe this is where God has led me. I’m looking forward with great joy to being received into full communion with the Catholic Church.”

While I don't subscribe to all of Mr. Gingrich views on politics, I do pray that his conversion to the Catholic Faith is a strong one. I am happy knowing that he will be able to partake in the graces of our sacraments, specifically Holy Communion and I welcome him with open arms.

... I would have loved to sit in on a few of his CCD classes, just to hear what questions he asked.

Maybe he'll write about his conversion.

Gingrich to Become Catholic During Easter Season

...Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington, told AOL Political Machine blogger Patricia Murphy that she couldn’t comment about the specifics of any one person's conversion, adding that Gingrich is "in proper standing with the Catholic Church," and, "any obstacles to joining the church have been resolved."