"Tradition in Action" trashes Mother Teresa of Calcutta

On October 19, 2003, Pope John Paul II, having waived the customary five-year waiting period which leads to beatification, declared Mother Teresa to be Blessed and allowed the immediate opening of her canonization cause.  What exactly does Beatification mean in the Church?  EWTN has an excellent article which explains its significance here.

On October 20, 2003, Pope John Paul II delivered an Address on the occasion of Mother Teresa's Beatification.  His Holiness said (in part):

"Missionary of Charity: this is what Mother Teresa was in name and in fact". Today with deep feeling I repeat these words that I spoke the day after her death (Angelus, 7 September 1997; L'Osservatore Romano English Edition, 10 September, n. 1).


First and foremost a missionary: there is no doubt that the new Blessed was one of the greatest missionaries of the 20th century. The Lord made this simple woman who came from one of Europe's poorest regions a chosen instrument (cf. Acts 9: 15) to proclaim the Gospel to the entire world, not by preaching but by daily acts of love towards the poorest of the poor. A missionary with the most universal language: the language of love that knows no bounds or exclusion and has no preferences other than for the most forsaken.

A Missionary of Charity. A missionary of God who is love, who has a special preference for the least and the humble, who bends over the human being wounded in body and spirit and pours "the oil of consolation and the wine of hope" upon the wounds. God did this in the person of his Son made man, Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan of humanity. He continues to do this in the Church, especially through the saints of charity in whose ranks Mother Teresa shines in a special way.

Where did Mother Teresa find the strength to place herself completely at the service of others? She found it in prayer and in the silent contemplation of Jesus Christ, his Holy Face, his Sacred Heart. She herself said as much: "The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace". Peace, even at the side of the dying, even in nations at war, even in the face of attacks and hostile criticism. It was prayer that filled her heart with Christ's own peace and enabled her to radiate that peace to others.

A missionary of charity, a missionary of peace, a missionary of life. Mother Teresa was all these. She always spoke out in defence of human life, even when her message was unwelcome. Mother Teresa's whole existence was a hymn to life. Her daily encounters with death, leprosy, AIDS and every kind of human suffering made her a forceful witness to the Gospel of life. Her very smile was a "yes" to life, a joyful "yes", born of profound faith and love, a "yes" purified in the crucible of suffering. She renewed that "yes" each morning, in union with Mary, at the foot of Christ's Cross. The "thirst" of the crucified Jesus became Mother Teresa's own thirst and the inspiration of her path of holiness.

Teresa of Calcutta was truly a Mother. A mother to the poor and a mother to children. A mother to so many girls and young people who had her as their spiritual guide and shared in her mission. The Lord brought forth from a tiny seed, a great tree, laden with fruit (cf. Mt 13: 31-32). And precisely you, sons and daughters of Mother Teresa, are the most eloquent signs of this prophetic fruitfulness. Keep her charism unaltered and follow her example, and from Heaven she will not fail to sustain you in your daily journey."

But the Devil hates humble souls consecrated to God.  Which is why he raises others up to attack such souls.  The Devil knows the Sacred Scriptures better than you and me.  Recall how he tempted the Lord Jesus in the desert by quoting from the Scriptures.  And the Adversary knows full well that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5).  Such an attack on Blessed Mother Teresa has been issued by Marian Horvat, in an article published by "Tradition in Action," an anti-Semitic organization which also has problems with Pope John Paul II and the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Needless to say (for those who are sane), an attack on the good name of Blessed Mother Teresa is very troubling.  For it would seem to indicate a level of pride which is nothing less than demonic.  It is the Church, through her Supreme Pontiff, which has declared Mother Teresa to be "Blessed."

More on "Tradition in Action" here.

Pro-Life Tsunami At The Polls?

Mother Teresa on abortion:

"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts -- a child -- as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters"


And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign." (Mother Theresa -- "Notable and Quotable," Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94, p. A14)

"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.

"Please don't kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted, and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child, and be loved by the child. From our children's home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 children from abortions. These children have brought such love and joy to their adopting parents, and have grown up so full of love and joy!"

February 1997 - National Prayer Breakfast in Washington attended by the President and the First Lady. "What is taking place in America," she said, "is a war against the child. And if we accept that the mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another."

"Any country that accepts abortion, is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what it wants."

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

Archdiocese of Boston: Caritas Christi and Cerberus Capital

As I noted in a previous post, "It is only through fidelity to its proper mission that a Catholic hospital or health care system maintains its identity. Let us heed the U.S. Bishops:

'On the one hand, new partnerships can be viewed as opportunities for Catholic health care institutions and services to witness to their religious and ethical commitments and so influence the healing profession. For example, new partnerships can help to implement the Church's social teaching. New partnerships can be opportunities to realign the local delivery system in order to provide a continuum of health care to the community; they can witness to a responsible stewardship of limited health care resources; and they can be opportunities to provide to poor and vulnerable persons a more equitable access to basic care.

On the other hand, new partnerships can pose serious challenges to the viability of the identity of Catholic health care institutions and services, and their ability to implement these Directives in a consistent way, especially when partnerships are formed with those who do not share Catholic moral principles. The risk of scandal cannot be underestimated when partnerships are not built upon common values and moral principles. Partnership opportunities for some Catholic health care providers may even threaten the continued existence of other Catholic institutions and services, particularly when partnerships are driven by financial considerations alone. Because of the potential dangers involved in the new partnerships that are emerging, an increased collaboration among Catholic-sponsored health care institutions is essential and should be sought before other forms of partnerships.' (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services)."

Most of you are well-aware of the ongoing controversy surrounding the sale of Caritas Christi in the Archdiocese of Boston. As the good folks over at Boston Catholic Insider have noted, Father Bryan Hehir made a "rather emphatic statement" in the October 27th, 2007 edition of The Boston Globe. Father Hehir said, "The idea that the archdiocese would sell Caritas to a for-profit system - it's not going to happen..the position of the archdiocese is that we do not intend to sell either the Caritas system as a whole or any of its parts to a for-profit entity.' BCI then explains how, "Two years later, in November 2009, after Caritas had new management and had just announced turning a $30 million profit, the CEO of Caritas met with Cerberus Capital to set in
motion the deal to sell Caritas and make it for-profit.." (See here).

Cerberus Capital has a reputation which is, to say the very least, rather disturbing. As Mark Ames writes, "Cerberus Capital, one of Wall Street's most notoriously leveraged buyout firms (or 'private equity firms' in PC speak), recently made a $1.8 billion killing on its human plasma investment, a company called Talecris. Talecris was purchased for a mere $82.5 million just four years earlier, meaning Cerberus made 23 times its investment on human plasma. This was accomplished by the most savage, heartless means possible: by paying peanuts to impoverished human plasma donors, who increasingly come from Mexican border towns to blood-pumping stations set up on the American side, jacking up the price of plasma restricting supply (a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission accused Cerberus Plasma Holdings of 'operating as an oligopoly'), and then selling the refined products to the most desperately ill patients suffering from hemophilia, severe burns, multiple sclerosis and autoimmune deficiencies.." ("Cerberus Capital: Literally Blood-Sucking the Poor to Make Their Billions," Full article here).


Cardinal Sean O'Malley notes on his Blog how, "This past Thursday was Mother Teresa's 100th birthday. In 1995, we were honored to have her visit us in Massachusetts. So many people here got to meet her personally. These encounters were a special encouragement to all of us to be better Catholics and to be better witnesses of the Gospel and servants of the poor."

I wonder if Mother Teresa would view the practices of Cerberus Capital as consistent with being "better witnesses of the Gospel and servants of the poor"?

Related reading here.

Juda Myers: A Hatred for the Catholic Church

Rev. James J. LeBar, an authority on cults, sects and the New Age Movement, describes fundamentalism for us: "Fundamentalism is not a religion of itself. It is a philosophy of a religious way of life that has been assumed by preachers of many denominations...Fundamentalists have developed the notion that they, and they alone, have the only way to eternal salvation.." (Cults, Sects, and the New Age, pp. 51, 54).

Many if not most fundamentalists engage in anti-Catholicism on some level. For example, the fundamentalist group "Mission to Catholics International" has stated that its purpose is "to expose the deceptive teaching and practice of Roman Catholicism in the light of Scripture, to discourage conversions to Roman Catholicism, and to bring Catholics into Biblical Christianity." One of their brochures entitled "The Church of Rome in Perspective," begins with these words, "Pope Paul VI, archpriest of Satan, a deceiver, and an antichrist, has, like Judas, gone to his own place." On July 29, 1984, fundamentalist Jimmy Swaggart suggested that Mother Teresa would go to hell if she were not born again.

A couple of days ago Juda Myers, a pro-life activist whose website may be found here, and who has been promoted by New Hampshire Right To Life while contributing comments to Human Life International's Facebook page, wrote the following to me within a Facebook message:

"Time is running out. We as humans only have a short period to seek and know God here on earth. (Again Catholics talk about a false pergatory (the word is actually Purgatory) - the bible says 1. there death and the judgement 2. to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord) I do not hate you for believing differently as you seem to have issues with those that disagree with you....Jesus said you will know those who love Him by their love for others. That's a great place to start. He loved us all the way to the cross and we owe it to Him to love others. He even commanded we love our enemies. Not too much of that going on in any of the churches."

I did not solicit this comment and had no desire to engage in an exchange with Ms. Myers. She initiated the discussion thread. In a previous comment, Ms. Myers demonstrated her version of "Christian love" by writing, "I am sorry that you have been deceived to think that the CATHOLIC church killing, stealing, overpowering, ostentatious, and filled with the greed for supremacy has any resemblance of Jesus our humble Savior who DIED for His followers. He NEVER sat on a throne on earth and NEVER even suggested for anyone to sit on a throne and be kissed and bowed to...There is a way that seems right unto a man but the end leads to destruction. Their mouths honor me but their hearts are far from me (Jesus' words) Many will say in that day, 'Lord Lord didn't I do this in your name.' and He will say 'Depart from me. I never knew you!' You'd better be absolutely sure the god you serve will save you. Pope of any kind will answer to God almighty. I will go straight to the throne for my headship..." Feel the love. Ms. Myers is actually implying that Catholics are damned and that we serve a false "god." This is why she writes, "You'd better be absolutely sure the god you serve will save you." For Ms. Myers, Catholics are following "deceiving spirits."

Ms. Myers actually wrote me several comments. The last assured me that my "hatred" would destroy me. This after referring to the Church founded by Jesus Christ, His Mystical Body on earth, as an institution which "kills, steals and overpowers" and which is filled with greed and ostentation. Yes, it's obvious that love plays an important role in Ms. Myers brand of Christianity. This charitable soul assured me that even my Rosary devotion is suspect since "the rosary hails Mary more than Jesus."

I suggest that sincere Catholics have nothing to do with Juda Myers.

Is there room for Jesus in our hearts? In our culture?

Sacred Scripture tells us that there was no room for Jesus at the Inn. Is there room for Jesus in our hearts? In our culture which is advancing along the way of death and destruction? Whatsoever we do to the least of His brethren we do unto Him. What about the unborn? Will we take a stand to protect innocent human life or will we say (as Mr. Scrooge in Dicken's A Christmas Carol) that these innocents should go ahead and die and decrease the surplus population?

Mother Teresa on abortion:

"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts -- a child -- as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters"
And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign." (Mother Theresa -- "Notable and Quotable," Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94, p. A14)

"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.
"Please don't kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted, and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child, and be loved by the child. From our children's home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 children from abortions. These children have brought such love and joy to their adopting parents, and have grown up so full of love and joy!"

February 1997 - National Prayer Breakfast in Washington attended by the President and the First Lady. "What is taking place in America," she said, "is a war against the child. And if we accept that the mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another."

"Any country that accepts abortion, is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what it wants."

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

There are two ways...

"There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, your neighbour as yourself; and all things whatsoever you would should not occur to you, do not also do to another." - The Didache.




Mother Teresa on abortion:


"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts -- a child -- as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign." (Mother Theresa -- "Notable and Quotable," Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94, p. A14)

"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. "

"Please don't kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted, and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child, and be loved by the child. From our children's home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 children from abortions. These children have brought such love and joy to their adopting parents, and have grown up so full of love and joy!"

February 1997 - National Prayer Breakfast in Washington attended by the President and the First Lady: "What is taking place in America is a war against the child. And if we accept that the mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another."

"Any country that accepts abortion, is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what it wants."

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

Senator Obama on abortion:

"..look, I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old...I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby." (Senator Barack Obama). For more read here.

There are two ways. One of life and one of death. Which do we choose for ourselves? Which do we choose for America? - "The fruit of abortion is nuclear war." - Mother Teresa.