I love reading about history, especially church history,
I'm reading a book by James Reston entitled 'Defenders of the the Faith'. It's centered around the time period between 1520-1536.
The battle of Vienna between The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Muslim leader Suleyman the Magnificent. This battle is a pivotal battle that would determine if Europe would become Muslim or remain Christian.
During this time France battled the Holy Roman Empire and there was a little event lead by the infamous monk by the name of Martin Luther.
The book is written with a very anti-Catholic stance. Using such words and phases like "barbarian pope Adrian" , "fanatic monks of St. John". All long describing the Muslim leader in all his glory with just a passing mentions of his Christian slaves and murderous ways.
This is not history at all, especially when the author promises to be objective. Far from it.
How does a Catholic counter these charges?
What are we to say when baseless accusations are quoted at gatherings to state Martin Luther's inaccurate positions of the Catholic Church?
Well, Father Mitch Pacwa has a new project that will shed some 'truth' on the false rewriting of history today.
LINK: The Reformation Project
Showing posts with label Fr. Mictch Pacwa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fr. Mictch Pacwa. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Trojan Horse 'Stimulus Package' - Fr. Mitch Pacwa
(Stimulus Package)
"The sky is falling!"
So Chicken Little proclaimed to her companions, Lucy Goosey, Cocky Locky and the rest...
Fr. Mitch Pacwa makes the comparison with his thoughts on the today's situation.
This month the House and Senate have approved an economic stimulus package in response to the great difficulties in the job market and economy. The political pundits continue to argue about its probable success or failure, disagreeing strongly and certainly not knowing for sure how it will affect the economy in fact. The results remain to be seen, and we all hope that the results help not only our whole nation but the rest of the world that depends on us.
However, as a priest I have some comments to make on the stimulus bill because it contains elements which have nothing to do with stimulating the economy. First, so many of our nation's leaders have taken the Chicken Little approach, claiming that the economic sky is falling. They frighten the press, who help spread the fear by taking on the roles of Lucky Ducky, Goosey Lucy, and Cocky Locky. The reason for fear of complete economic catastrophe may well be real - I do not know enough about the actual state of the economy to make such a claim. However, the fear engendered by our national leaders cries of "Crisis! Crisis!" have energized such a speedy passage of the bill that one begins to fear that haste makes waste.
Of far greater concern is the enormous length of this bill - hundreds and hundreds of pages, with many elements crossed out and new ones printed by hand as compromises and arguments were made in the House and the Senate. However, the senators were not given enough time to read it, even though the Chicken Littles and Lucy Goosies were demanding haste to pass it. They could not know everything that was included, and some of these elements were made known to the legislators only after it had passed.
Among these components is a requirement to computerize the medical records of all our citizens. This would be online with the Federal government, who would then require all doctors to agree to Federal regulations on health care treatment. Any doctor who did not go along with this program would be penalized - though the penalties have not been spelled out.
I am amazed that politicians who demand privacy when it comes to the right to an abortion which had been created by the Supreme Court are now willing to terminate our rights to privacy in regard to our medical records. They will penalize a doctor who does not go along with applying medical procedures legislated by the Federal government, but not penalize a doctor who cuts an infant in the womb to pieces in order to abort it. They have twisted their authority from the protection of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness into a control of lives and the ability to prevent medication and, thereby, terminate some person's lives. This is triage legislation.
Of course, if the politicians promise total medical care, but they cannot supply it, they need to perform triage - choosing who will get medicine and who will die without it. They usurped this power without a public debate on the subject. Inserting it into an urgent and hastily passed economic stimulation bill became a trick worthy of Odysseus - the king who devised the Trojan Horse that destroyed Troy. I do not know what we can do to stop this, but we all need to stand guard against it. We must defend our true right to medical privacy. We must stand up not only for the lives of the unborn but now for our own lives and health. This task is extra difficult because Congress has already rolled the Trojan horse into our law.
Our source of strength this Lent will be our praying, fasting and abstaining to return our laws to a proper relationship with the God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The government did not ever give us those rights; they cannot take them away. Therefore, let us turn to God their Author for the strength, wisdom and courage to prevent our government from taking them away.
Fr. Mitch Pacwa
Subsribe to his newsletter HERE
So Chicken Little proclaimed to her companions, Lucy Goosey, Cocky Locky and the rest...
Fr. Mitch Pacwa makes the comparison with his thoughts on the today's situation.
This month the House and Senate have approved an economic stimulus package in response to the great difficulties in the job market and economy. The political pundits continue to argue about its probable success or failure, disagreeing strongly and certainly not knowing for sure how it will affect the economy in fact. The results remain to be seen, and we all hope that the results help not only our whole nation but the rest of the world that depends on us.
However, as a priest I have some comments to make on the stimulus bill because it contains elements which have nothing to do with stimulating the economy. First, so many of our nation's leaders have taken the Chicken Little approach, claiming that the economic sky is falling. They frighten the press, who help spread the fear by taking on the roles of Lucky Ducky, Goosey Lucy, and Cocky Locky. The reason for fear of complete economic catastrophe may well be real - I do not know enough about the actual state of the economy to make such a claim. However, the fear engendered by our national leaders cries of "Crisis! Crisis!" have energized such a speedy passage of the bill that one begins to fear that haste makes waste.
Of far greater concern is the enormous length of this bill - hundreds and hundreds of pages, with many elements crossed out and new ones printed by hand as compromises and arguments were made in the House and the Senate. However, the senators were not given enough time to read it, even though the Chicken Littles and Lucy Goosies were demanding haste to pass it. They could not know everything that was included, and some of these elements were made known to the legislators only after it had passed.
Among these components is a requirement to computerize the medical records of all our citizens. This would be online with the Federal government, who would then require all doctors to agree to Federal regulations on health care treatment. Any doctor who did not go along with this program would be penalized - though the penalties have not been spelled out.
I am amazed that politicians who demand privacy when it comes to the right to an abortion which had been created by the Supreme Court are now willing to terminate our rights to privacy in regard to our medical records. They will penalize a doctor who does not go along with applying medical procedures legislated by the Federal government, but not penalize a doctor who cuts an infant in the womb to pieces in order to abort it. They have twisted their authority from the protection of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness into a control of lives and the ability to prevent medication and, thereby, terminate some person's lives. This is triage legislation.
Of course, if the politicians promise total medical care, but they cannot supply it, they need to perform triage - choosing who will get medicine and who will die without it. They usurped this power without a public debate on the subject. Inserting it into an urgent and hastily passed economic stimulation bill became a trick worthy of Odysseus - the king who devised the Trojan Horse that destroyed Troy. I do not know what we can do to stop this, but we all need to stand guard against it. We must defend our true right to medical privacy. We must stand up not only for the lives of the unborn but now for our own lives and health. This task is extra difficult because Congress has already rolled the Trojan horse into our law.
Our source of strength this Lent will be our praying, fasting and abstaining to return our laws to a proper relationship with the God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The government did not ever give us those rights; they cannot take them away. Therefore, let us turn to God their Author for the strength, wisdom and courage to prevent our government from taking them away.
Fr. Mitch Pacwa
Subsribe to his newsletter HERE
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