Thursday, June 10, 2010

Some only hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest

Our Lord is so rich in mercy that He told Saint Faustina, "Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy.." (Divine Mercy in My Soul, Notebook III, 1146). This is one of the reasons I began this Blog. To promote the whole idea of reconciliation. The La Salette message is one of reconciliation. This is a message of hope. But also one of warning.

But many Americans - and this includes Catholics - have a tendency to hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest. Such people will read passages from Sacred Scripture (or other holy books) which they find comforting while glossing over others which they find troubling. By way of example, I've read many commentaries which cite the passage from Divine Mercy in My Soul which I just cited but which conveniently omit the last portion of the paragraph: "Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice..."

Some prefer to believe in a Jesus who is a sort of moronic hippy who walked around preaching peace and love. But when the Son of Man began His public ministry, He did so with the word "repent" (Matthew 4:17). And He advised the woman caught in adultery to "sin no more" (John 8:11). Likewise, in the case of the man cured at the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus advised him to "sin no more lest something worse befall thee" (John 5:14). When queried on the subject of how many would be saved, Jesus replied "few" because the "gate" to Heaven is "narrow" (Matthew 7:13-14). And while no one can pinpoint the precise meaning of the word "few," still, it is sobering that Jesus chose the image of a narrow gate.

Jesus is likened in the gospel to a stern master who has lazy servants flogged and murderous ones put to death (Matthew 21:41; Luke 12:47). And while it is true that Jesus is Mercy, He is also Justice. And for every parable illustrative of His mercy, there are three or four threatening divine retribution. Someone just accused me of being "too negative" for reminding others of this fact. But I didn't start a Blog to be popular. I prefer the friendship of Christ to that of the world.

The Judgment Day is always described as a day of wrath and never as a day of rejoicing (Proverbs 11:4; Zephaniah 1:15; Sirach 5:10; Romans 2:5; Revelation 6:17). Why is this? If everyone (or even a large segment of mankind) is headed for Heaven, why does Sacred Scripture refer to the Judgment Day as a day of wrath?

The smug, self-satisfied "we-are-all-saved-already" attitude found in so many Catholic parishes is the result of the sin of presumption. Because there are priests who are betraying Jesus by refusing to preach on the reality of sin and the reality of Hell, a spiritual dry-rot has infected much of the Church. This is why nearly everyone receives Holy Communion at Mass but nearly no one goes to Confession.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about presumption: "There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit)." (CCC, 2092).

The words of Sacred Scripture remind us that such an attitude is very, very wrong: "Of forgiveness be not overconfident, adding sin upon sin. Say not:' Great is his mercy; my many sins he will forgive.' For mercy and anger alike are with him; upon the wicked alights his wrath." (Sirach 5:5-7).

A chastisement is coming. Why? Father Albert Hebert, S.M., explains: "Sin and evil is the one enemy of mankind. It spearheads the columns of all the other evils it brings with it. It brings destruction and death, and a terrible eternal death for the unrepentant, those who flaunt their pride and their resistance in the face of a Loving and Merciful God, those who are a continuous scandal to others. They forget that God's Justice must be infinite too, and that sooner or later it must be exercised to preserve His honor and integrity, to save the innocent, to confirm the good and to justify the martyrs."

Make no mistake about it: God will not be mocked. Unless we as a people repent from our sins and make atonement, the chastisement we face will be indescribable. How many innocent babies have been murdered every year? Do you suppose that the blood of Abel cried out to God after his murder but that the blood of these babies does not? Sins of homosexuality, contraception, fornication, adultery and so on. Do you suppose God will continue to allow Himself to be mocked?

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Extinguish not the spirit...

In 1 Thessalonians 5: 19-21, Saint Paul tells us, "Extinguish not the spirit. Despise not prophecies. But prove all things; hold fast that which is good." In that light, and considering the Gulf oil spill, let's reflect very carefully on a prophecy of Johannes Friede, an Austrian monk who died in 1257 AD:

"When the great time will come, in which mankind will face its last, hard trial, it will be foreshadowed by striking changes in nature; the alteration between cold and heat will become more intensive, storms will have more catastrophic effects, earthquakes will destroy greater regions and the seas will overflow many lowlands. Not all of it will be the result of natural causes, but man will penetrate into the bowels of the earth and will reach into the clouds, gambling with its own existence."


It was Father Albert J. Hebert who said, "Today, Jonah stands at the gates of Nineveh. Today, the angels leave Abraham and are on their way to destroy Sodom, Gomorrah and the other three cities of the plains, in the present Dead Sea area. Today, Noah and his sons patiently near the end of their building of the Ark, while the onlookers ridicule and mock them. But the clouds with the rains of the Deluge are on the way." Today, as in the days of Noah, there are scoffers who are anxious to ridicule the faithful remnant who issue the warning call: repent for a great chastisement is at hand. Jesus said it would be so. In Matthew 24: 37-41, Our Lord tells us, "As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left."

In the comments section of a previous post, one such scoffer wrote, "This website is a little negative for my taste. St Augustine also said: 'Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.' I feel for you Paul. It seems through your writing that you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. I'll pray for you so that you might write about something joyful soon, and that the thought illuminates the Christ within." To which I responded, "The truth is too negative for you Terry. I'm sorry to hear that. Let me assure you that I'm not carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. I live a sacramental life and a joy-filled one in Christ Jesus. The only people who carry an unnecessary weight are those who refuse to repent of their sins. Perhaps you are simply living in denial?

Father Thomas Euteneuer, the President of Human Life International, has said, 'We’ve got a serious crisis on the horizon. I’m not a prophet of doom but I don’t see this going any other way but a serious political crisis that’s going to affect the globe. The only way we can avert a global collapse is by a moral conversion. Once again, we have to reverse the process. Just to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, is not a way to stop the collapse, the sinking of the Titanic. We have to turn back to God. And if people get fed up and just elect another political party that is just as bad as the previous political party, it does nothing to stem the global crisis that’s going to come upon us. What we need is a conversion of heart.'

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jan/10010605.html


No need to feel for me Terry. Your time would be better spent praying for this sin-sick nation and for its conversion. In his time, Noah was considered 'too negative.' How did those people outside the Ark fare Terry?"

This is something we all need to reflect on. How did those outside the Ark fare? The Ark today is Holy Mother Church. The Ark today is the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our refuge. America is in turmoil because it has turned away from God. We need conversion of heart. A Tea Party will not save us. Neither will the Republican or Democratic parties.

Meditation: Acts 4:12.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Memos Show Elena Kagan's Views on Abortion and Assisted Suicide

The Psalmist tells us that, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Psalm 126). This scriptural truth holds for the building of families, societies, nations, international communities and, most of all, Churches. Ignoring this immutable truth, the culture-of-death advocates are determined to create a Moloch state where the God of love is replaced by "the god of technocracy who experiments and flouts the law of love in the laboratory" (Fr. Miceli).

Having abandoned the God of love, the Supreme Creator, 21st-century man is now ready to worship himself and to usurp the divine powers of creation and destruction. In the words of Dr. Edmund Leach of King's College at Cambridge: "The scientist can now play God in his role as wonder-worker, but can he - and should he - also play God as moral arbiter?...There can be no source for these moral judgments except the scientist himself. In traditional religion, morality was held to derive from God, but God was only credited with the authority to establish and enforce moral laws because He was also credited with supernatural powers of creation and destruction. Those powers have now been usurped by man, and he must take on the moral responsibility that goes with them" (Edmund Leach, "We Scientists Have the Right to Play God," The Saturday Evening Post, November 16, 1968, p. 16).

God is withdrawing His Blessings from America as our nation continues to condone immoral acts such as abortion and homosexuality. When the State condones such acts by codifying them into positive law, it separates itself from Divine and Natural Law. In so doing, as Saint Thomas Aquinas explains, positive law perverts itself: As Augustine says (De Lib. Arb. i, 5) 'That which is not just seems to be no law at all': wherefore the force of a law depends on the extent of its justice. Now in human affairs a thing is said to be just, from being right, according to the rule of reason. But the first rule of reason is the law of nature, as is clear from what has been stated above (Q. 91, Art. 2 ad 2). Consequently every human law has just so much of the nature of law, as it is derived from the law of nature. But if in any point it deflects from the law of nature, it is no longer a law but a perversion of law." (Summa Theologica, II-I, Q. 95, Art. 2).

Witness the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Will this have even unforeseen consequences? Will this man-made disaster contribute to widespread crop damage? Read here.

America in turmoil

There's no way around it, Catholics United is wrong...

In a previous post I noted that, "Shortly after Father James Rafferty, pastor of St. Paul's parish in Hingham, Massachusetts, denied admission to a student whose parents are lesbian, the dissent group Catholics United launched a petition accusing St. Paul's of engaging in discrimination."

In a similar case in Colorado earlier this year, Archbishop Charles Chaput was quoted as having said that, "Our schools are meant to be 'partners in faith' with parents. If parents don't respect the beliefs of the Church, or live in a manner that openly rejects those beliefs, then partnering with those parents becomes very difficult, if not impossible. It also places unfair stress on the children, who find themselves caught in the middle, and on their teachers, who have an obligation to teach the authentic faith of the Church."

Which view is more consistent with the Magisterial teaching of the Church? The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, in a document entitled simply "The Catholic School," had this to say:


"Either implicit or explicit reference to a determined attitude to life (Weltanschauung) is unavoidable in education because it comes into every decision that is made. It is, therefore, essential, if for no other reason than for a unity in teaching, that each member of the school community, albeit with differing degrees of awareness, adopts a common vision, a common outlook on life, based on adherence to a scale of values in which he believes. This is what gives teachers and adults authority to educate. It must never be forgotten that the purpose of instruction at school is education, that is, the development of man from within, freeing him from that conditioning which would prevent him from becoming a, fully integrated human being. The school must begin from the principle that its educational programme is intentionally directed to the growth of the whole person." (The Catholic School, No. 29).

It is essential that each member of the school community (and this includes parents) adopts a common vision and a common outlook on life.

Which is precisely what Archbishop Chaput was saying.

Catholics United is wrong. There is no way around this.

Monday, June 07, 2010

More and more Americans, including Catholics, are coming to accept homosexuality




On December 31, 1994, Our Lady told Father Gobbi, "I am a sorrowful Mother, as I see this poor humanity, so far away from its Lord, a humanity which, with great irresponsibility and indifference, is walking along the road of sin and evil, of impurity and godlessness, of hatred and war. How great is the danger of humanity reaching the point of destroying itself by its own hands! I see your roads bathed with blood, while violence and hatred hurl themselves like a terrible hurricane upon the life of families and nations.


I am a sorrowful Mother, as I see the Church, my dearly beloved Daughter, prostrate beneath the cross of a most painful agony. How many deny and betray her! How many abandon and condemn her! How many revile and crucify her!


Among these are even some of my beloved sons: bishops and priests who repeat and renew the deed of Judas who betrays, or that of Peter who denies, or of the Apostles who flee out of cowardice....I am a concerned Mother because the time of the final events has now come. Until now, I have been able to put off the beginning of the great trial, through the response which I have received in every part of the world from my littlest children. But now you must enter into, and live out, the final time of the great tribulation.." (December, 1994).


It was Pope Paul VI, in an address given on the sixtieth anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, who warned that, "The tail of the devil is functioning in the disintegration of the Catholic world. The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church."

The faithful are becoming a true remnant.

Related reading: Pope Benedict XVI has warned of a growing aversion to Christianity.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

"So lonely are they that they spend all their time feverishly pursuing one pleasure after another..."


"Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in Thee." - St. Augustine, Confessions.


"Notice who those are that spend most of their time rushing from one distraction to another; they are those who have felt the torment of loneliness so fiercely that they cannot endure to be by themselves. So lonely are they that they spend all their time feverishly pursuing one pleasure after another or one work after another - anything or anybody that will take their minds off the torment of themselves. The oppression that sin effects in them makes them anxious to live to the utmost their lives in the full stream of human existence. Pleasure is heaped up in crowded hours to make them forget the aching void of their hearts. Indeed, it is their greatest punishment that they finally succeed, until they lose at last all perception of their pain, whereas the saints are so full in themselves of love that they must draw off alone to be away from all others; so accompanied are they by the clear presence of their Friend that they cannot stay and waste (as, to them, it seems) the precious hours with any other thought than of Him. Thus sat Mary at the feet of Jesus, while Martha, busied over many things that were unnecessary, hurried to and fro, sometimes in His presence and sometimes out of it. This does not mean that we can show our love only by retiring out of the world to the cloister; but it does imply that only those can stand the loneliness of life who have their hearts aflame with the love of another; while the effect of sin is to produce a feeling of loneliness that irks humanity...Man..was made for love, the diviner part of him for divine love. By sin is all this love dried up.."





-Father Bede Jarrett, O.P.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

The Fallout from the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

From Father Euteneuer's Spirit & Life newsletter:

We Don't Believe You, Mr. President...

Dear President Obama,

Every citizen with a modicum of insight into public affairs would say that America is now at a crossroads of decision about what kind of future we want for our nation - and, by extension, for the rest of the world. Whether we like it or not, you are the one who is designated by a vote of the electorate to lead us in that decision-making process. You have asked for the job, and you have proposed yourself as being competent for it. History will judge your Administration on its own merits when your term is complete, but we, the citizens of this country, must judge it for what we see happening before our very eyes. Quite frankly, the picture isn't pretty, and you haven't earned our respect as a leader.

The reason for this, Mr. President, is that we can't believe what you say, and frankly, what you do is utterly unbelievable at times.

The recent Gulf Coast oil spill disaster is indicative of your utter carelessness with the onerous burden of governance. Not only did you dis the families of the 11 workers killed in the disaster, but you also attended fundraisers in CA, a trip to the golf course and several state parties in the White House during the whole time the Governor of Louisiana has been screaming frantically for your attention. How can you expect us to believe that you were actually "in charge" of handling the disaster? In six weeks we have seen hardly a shred of evidence to convince us of that. A leader who says he is in charge of something and then conducts a systematic campaign of blaming, dodging, obfuscating, ignoring and even now prosecuting the others involved - instead of fixing the problem - will hardly go down in the record books as the savior he proposed himself to be when he was elected. You are the Commander-in-Chief who has gone AWOL on a truly national crisis.

On top of all that, you basically blew off a sacred national holiday, Memorial Day, for the sake of a vacation to gangsterland. That slap in the face to our military men and women was not lost on anyone, nor was the narcissistic disregard for American history or anything other than what fits your extreme political agenda. These are appalling traits for the one who holds the highest political office in our land, and only a fawning and dishonest media allows you to get away with this negligence in office.

Speaking of which, what are we to make of your pathetic excuse for the crime of attempting to bribe Congressman Sestak to bow out of the Senate race against Arlen Specter? Do you really think Americans believe the utterly implausible story about offering him a "non-paying" position on some presidential panel? Your Administration's explanation, issued on the afternoon of a holiday weekend, rings hollow, and everyone knows it. "Hollow" is an adequate word to describe your Administration, your political theatre and your rhetoric. Even some of your staunchest ideological supporters admit that it is getting increasingly hard to believe that you mean anything you say.

In the midst of all this domestic incompetence and dishonesty, we have seen no realistic response to North Korean, Iranian or Turkish aggression on the world scene. Foreign politicians know you are a leftist lightweight, and so we can expect more of the same from the rogue nations of the world, further destabilizing the security of our nation and the world. We have, however, seen you and your inept band of political marauders pander to foreign dictators and exploit the Mexican President to abuse us and our national deliberations on serious issues. We have seen your ideological hacks take over whole industries, plunder the private sector, abuse the good will of states and consume sound American institutions as if they were your enemies and with a ferocity that would befit only those who we would call our true national enemies.

Like the Gulf oil spill, your Administration is out of control, and every day is another step closer to disaster. As the oil continues to pollute, kill and damage the external beauty and economy of a whole region, you and your team are doing the same with the trust of the people who built this great country.

We deserve better, Mr. President, and it's time you start doing your job.

Sincerely,

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International


Related reading: BP Chief Tony Hayward, a Bilderberg member, cashed in about a third of his holding in the company one month before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. See here.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio Warns of Immoral Consequences of 'Dont Ask' Repeal


"There are areas in which it is not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account, for example, in the placement of children for adoption or foster care, in employment of teachers or athletic coaches, and in military recruitment." (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Some Considerations Concerning the Response to Legislative Proposals on the Non-Discrimination of Homosexual Persons, No. 11).

The Archbishop expressed his concern that troop morale and unit cohesion would suffer if homosexuals were allowed to serve openly in the military. Additionally, His Excellency said that a firm effort must be made to avoid injustices that develop because people are put "in living situations that are an affront to good common sense." (See here).

The repeal of DADT also represents an act of violence toward Christian soldiers (and others). How so? Because "Christian purity requires a purification of the social climate" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2525) and "purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person....It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2521). But the sexual liberation movement undermines the sense of modesty, which protects chastity.

A repeal of DADT represents an act of violence against chastity, modesty and temperance. Openly homosexual men and women will share the same barracks, showers and restrooms with heterosexual men and women with whom they wish to have sexual relations. And that is unjust because people are thereby put in living situations which make them uncomfortable. This should be common sense. The early Church apologist Tertullian, in his treatise On Modesty which is an apology of Christian chastity, wrote, "But all the other frenzies of passions - impious both toward the bodies and toward the sexes - beyond the laws of nature [homosexual], we banish not only from the threshold, but from all shelter of the Church, because they are not sins, but monstrosities." (See here).

They should likewise be banished from the military.

Friday, June 04, 2010

The Big Picture on Catholic Education for Children of Homosexual Parents

Joe Sacerdo of Bryan Hehir Exposed has written a comprehensive overview of an unfortunate controversy which has erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston. One which has far-reaching implications for the Church It may be found here.

Some background on the controversy here.

Related reading here.

Signs...


On November 5, 1977, Our Lady told Father Gobbi, "Do not stop to consider the ever thickening darkness, the sin which has been set up as the norm of human action, the suffering which is mounting to its peak and the chastisement which this humanity is preparing with its own hands." Today we are witnessing the collapse of economies* across the world. The U.S. economy is in grave crisis. Despite the mainstream media propaganda to the contrary.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to worsen and could threaten the East Coast of the United States and the world's oceans.

But rather than imitating the people of Nineveh and embracing repentance and conversion, our sin-sick culture continues down the road of rebellion and separation from God. Indeed, the President has just declared the month of June GLBT Pride Month. Our Lady told Mother Elena Leonardi that, "The earth will tremble in a most frightful way and all humanity will stagger. The malicious will perish in the awful rigours of Divine Justice. My daughter, I want everybody to know that the first blow is drawing near. An unforeseen fire will descend over the whole earth, and a great part of humanity will be destroyed. This will be a time of despair for the impious: with shouts and satanic blasphemy, they will beg to be covered by the mountains, and they will try to seek refuge in caverns, but to no avail. Those who remain will find God's mercy in my power and protection, while all who refuse to repent of their sins will perish in a sea of fire...Blessed are those who at this time may be called truly devoted to Mary.."

This warning of fire descending from above and destroying much of humanity was also issued at the Church-approved apparition of Akita. And we must also recall the warning of Our Lord to Saint Faustina: "Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity. Secretary of My mercy, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near." (Notebook II, 965, Divine Mercy in My Soul). And again, "Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice..." (Notebook III, 1146).

This includes even presidents Mr. Obama.


* Warnings of global unrest.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

President Obama wants homosexual persons to take pride in, to glory in their shame

In his Summa Theologica, Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us that, "Shame, being praiseworthy, is either itself a virtue or contributes to virtue....Shame is in fact a recoiling from what is dishonourable and disgraceful.." And what is more disgraceful than homosexual acts? St. Peter Damian, Doctor of the Church, Cardinal, and great reformer of the clergy, says that: "Truly, this vice is never to be compared with any other vice because it surpasses the enormity of all vices...It defiles everything, stains everything, pollutes everything. And as for itself, it permits nothing pure, nothing clean, nothing other than filth....This plague undermines the foundation of faith, weakens the strength of hope, destroys the bond of charity; it takes away justice, subverts fortitude, banishes temperance, blunts the keenness of prudence. And what more should I say since it expels the whole host of the virtues from the chamber of the human heart and introduces every barbarous vice as if the bolts of the doors were pulled out." (Book of Gomorrah).

Saint Thomas himself teaches that, "If all the sins of the flesh are worthy of condemnation because by them man allows himself to be dominated by that which he has of the animal nature, much more deserving of condemnation are the sins against nature by which man degrades his own animal nature...

But President Obama sees things differently. This master of the spiritual life and expert in theological matters believes that moral opposition toward homosexuality is based upon "worn-out arguments" and that homosexual persons should take pride in their illicit unions. But the words of Saint Paul continue to echo throughout the centuries and to our present time, "For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. Their minds are occupied with earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3: 18-20).

Pray for President Obama. For he is not serving the citizens of this country well.


Related reading here.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funding vaccine nanotechnology



"I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers."
- Viktor E. Frankl, 1905-1997.


"Having abandoned the God of love, the Supreme Creator, 21st-century man is now ready to worship himself and to usurp the divine powers of creation and destruction. In the words of Dr. Edmund Leach of King's College at Cambridge: 'The scientist can now play God in his role as wonder-worker, but can he - and should he - also play God as moral arbiter?...There can be no source for these moral judgments except the scientist himself. In traditional religion, morality was held to derive from God, but God was only credited with the authority to establish and enforce moral laws because He was also credited with supernatural powers of creation and destruction. Those powers have now been usurped by man, and he must take on the moral responsibility that goes with them' (Edmund Leach, "We Scientists Have the Right to Play God," The Saturday Evening Post, November 16, 1968, p. 16).

But make no mistake about it, when man becomes God society becomes, in the words of the French philosopher Gabriel Marcel, 'a termite colony.' We are still in the twilight. But unless we take a stand now, we will have the Moloch state. As at Auschwitz, men will determine who has quality of life and who should be "mercifully terminated."

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

President Obama declares June "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month"

In his Farewell Address, which was given on September 19, 1796, George Washington said that, "Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."


In his Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, No. 32, Pope John Paul II explains that, "Certain currents of modern thought have gone so far as to exalt freedom to such an extent that it becomes an absolute, which would then be the source of values. This is the direction taken by doctrines which have lost the sense of the transcendent or which are explicitly atheist. The individual conscience is accorded the status of a supreme tribunal of moral judgment which hands down categorical and infallible decisions about good and evil. To the affirmation that one has a duty to follow one's conscience is unduly added the affirmation that one's moral judgment is true merely by the fact that it has its origin in the conscience. But in this way the inescapable claims of truth disappear, yielding their place to a criterion of sincerity, authenticity and "being at peace with oneself", so much so that some have come to adopt a radically subjectivistic conception of moral judgment.

As is immediately evident, the crisis of truth is not unconnected with this development. Once the idea of a universal truth about the good, knowable by human reason, is lost, inevitably the notion of conscience also changes. Conscience is no longer considered in its primordial reality as an act of a person's intelligence, the function of which is to apply the universal knowledge of the good in a specific situation and thus to express a judgment about the right conduct to be chosen here and now. Instead, there is a tendency to grant to the individual conscience the prerogative of independently determining the criteria of good and evil and then acting accordingly. Such an outlook is quite congenial to an individualist ethic, wherein each individual is faced with his own truth, different from the truth of others. Taken to its extreme consequences, this individualism leads to a denial of the very idea of human nature." (Veritatis Splendor, No. 32).

The new humanitarian religion of Antichrist will embrace homosexuality even as it seeks to eradicate Christianity. Indeed, this celebration of perversity is a sign that the Antichrist is near. Pope Saint Pius X, in his 1903 encyclical, E Supremi, "On the Restoration of All Things in Christ," had this to say, "When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the “Son of Perdition” of whom the Apostle speaks (2 Thess 2: 3). Such, in truth, is the audacity and the wrath employed everywhere in persecuting religion, in combating the dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all relations between man and the Divinity! While, on the other hand, and this according to the same apostle is the distinguishing mark of Antichrist, man has with infinite temerity put himself in the place of God, raising himself above all that is called God; in such a way that although he cannot utterly extinguish in himself all knowledge of God, he has despised God’s majesty and, as it were, made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored. “He seats himself in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God” (2 Thess 2:4).

Monday, May 31, 2010

"There are evils of a physical order..."




On June 7, 1986, Our Lady told Father Gobbi of the Marian Movement of Priests, "In these times, you all need to hasten to take shelter in the refuge of my Immaculate Heart, because grave threats of evil are hanging over you. There are first of all evils of a spiritual order, which can harm the supernatural life of your souls. Sin is spreading as the worst and most pernicious of epidemics, which is bringing sickness and death everywhere to many souls. If you live habitually in mortal sin, you are spiritually dead, and if you come to the end of life in this state, eternal death in hell awaits you. Hell exists; it is eternal, and today many are running the danger of going there, because they are being contaminated by this mortal disease. There are evils of a physical order, such as infirmity, disasters, accidents, droughts, earthquakes, and incurable diseases which are spreading about. Even in that which happens to you in the natural order, see a warning sign for yourselves. You should see a sign of divine justice, which cannot allow the innumerable crimes which are committed every day to go unpunished. There are evils of a social order, such as divisions and hatred, famine and poverty, exploitation and slavery, violence, terrorism and war. To be protected from all these evils, I invite you to place yourselves under shelter in the safe refuge of my Immaculate Heart...


But, in these times, you have need above all of being defended from the terrible snares of my Adversary, who has succeeded in establishing his reign in the world. It is the reign which is opposed to Christ; it is the reign of Antichrist....The hour is in preparation when the man of iniquity, who wants to put himself in the place of God to have himself adored as God, is about to manifest himself in all his power. Under the bloody scourge of this terrible trial, how are you to avoid being scattered and discouraged and to remain strong in the faith and faithful only to Jesus and to his Gospel? My Immaculate Heart will become your strongest defense, the shield of protection which will safeguard you from every attack of my Adversary."
And this is precisely what St. Louis de Montfort prophesied in True Devotion to Mary, "..Mary must become as terrible as an army in battle array to the devil and his followers, especially in these latter times. For Satan, knowing that he has little time - even less now than ever - to destroy souls, intensifies his efforts and his onslaughts every day. He will not hesitate to stir up savage persecutions and set treacherous snares for Mary's faithful servants and children whom he finds more difficult to overcome than others. It is chiefly in reference to these last wicked persecutions of the devil, daily increasing until the advent of the reign of anti-Christ, that we should understand that first and well-known prophesy and curse of God uttered against the serpent in the garden of paradise..." (True Devotion to Mary, 50, 51).
As the world economy continues to spiral out of control, as disasters multiply in the natural order, and as the darkness continues to advance, we - the faithful remnant - must take refuge in the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
There are all too many people today - including Catholics - who have become puffed up with pride and who seek to justify their sins. Such people scoff at the notion of the natural order manifesting as a "sign of divine justice." But such people are really arguing with God Himself. For we read in Leviticus 18: 26-28: "You, however, whether natives or resident aliens, must keep my statutes and decrees forbidding all such abominations by which the previous inhabitants defiled the land; otherwise the land will vomit you out also for having defiled it, just as it vomited out the nations before you."
Related reading here.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

"It is a diabolical disorientation..."




"Let people say the Rosary every day, Our Lady has repeated that in all of Her apparitions, as if to fortify us in these times of diabolical disorientation, in order that we not let ourselves be deceived by false doctrines...Unfortunately, in religious matters, the people for the most part are ignorant and allow themselves to be led wherever they are taken. Hence, the great responsibility of the one who has the duty of leading them..."




- Sister Lucia of Fatima
Related reading here and here.

The Culture of Death displays its hatred...

The message of the Culture of Death is one of hatred and despair. Contrast that message with these words from Pope John Paul II given during a homily on Boston Common: "I want to meet you and tell you all - men and women of all creeds and ethnic origins, children and youth, fathers and mothers, the sick and the elderly - that God loves you, that he has given you a dignity as human beings that is beyond compare.."

The Moloch State is founded on an ideology which is rooted in hatred and violence. But wherever we find the presence of evil, we always find the presence of good by grace. Saint Paul tells us that, "The free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many." (Romans 5: 15). Redemption is ongoing. And where evil grows, there the hope for good also grows.

We will, with the help of God's grace, overcome evil with good and hatred with love. The message which the Culture of Death offers is not attractive to people of good will. And it never will be. For it offers no hope. Look at the picture posted by an abortion clinic and meditate on Matthew 12:34.

Related reading here and here.

"Top kill" fails

Our Lady to Fr. Stephano Gobbi,
November 15, 1990,
Malvern PA


"I announce to you that the hour of the great trial is on the point of arriving. The great trial has arrived for your country. How many times, as a concerned and sorrowing mother, have I endeavored to urge my children to follow the path of conversion and of return to the Lord. I have not been listened to. You have continued to walk along the way of rejection of God, and of His law of love. Sins of impurity have become ever more widespread, and immorality has spread like a sea which has submerged all things.

Homosexuality, a sin of impurity which is against nature, has been justified; recourse to the means of preventing life have become commonplace, while abortions - these killings of innocent children, that cry for vengeance before the face of God - have spread and are performed in every part of your homeland.The moment of divine justice and of great mercy has now arrived.

You will know the hour of weakness and of poverty; the hour of suffering and defeat; the purifying hour of the great chastisement. The great trial has arrived for your Church. How great is your responsibility, O Pastors of the Holy Church of God! You continue along the path of division from the Pope and of the rejection of his Magisterium; indeed, in a hidden way, there is in preparation a true schism which could soon become open and proclaimed...And then, there will remain only a small faithful remnant, over which I will keep watch in the garden of my Immaculate Heart.The great trial has arrived for all humanity. The chastisement, predicted by me at Fatima and contained in that part of the secret which has not yet been revealed, is about to take place. The great moment of divine justice and of mercy has come upon the world."

Related reading: Father Hebert and chastisement

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Cardinal Marc Ouellet: Equating Marriage and Homosexuality in Schools is "Harmful to Children."


Speaking at the May 15 Congress of Campaign Life Quebec, His Eminence raised concern over the positive presentation of homosexuality and same-sex "marriage" in schools. With such questionable education, the Cardinal said, "You are deforming conscience. You are warping the processes of psycho-sexual and psycho-social identification processes of youth."
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its document entitled Considerations Regarding Proposals To Give Legal Recognition To Unions Between Homosexual Persons, said that, "Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full development." (No. 7).
Homosexual indoctrination is just another form of child abuse. Why is it that the media isn't sounding the alarm? What do you think?
Related reading here.

Friday, May 28, 2010

A Three Hour Tour...




Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port

Aboard this tiny ship


The mate was a mighty sailing man,

The President lame and unsure

Five passengers set sail that day

For a three hour tour, a three hour tour


The weather started getting rough,

The tiny ship was tossed,

If not for the weight of the toxic sludge

The President would be lost, the President would be lost


The ship set ground on the shore of this unchartered lethal ruin

With Obama

The Skipper too

The BP Billionaire and his wife,

The professor and Janet N

Here on Obama's Isle


So this is the tale of the throwaways,

They're here for a long, long time

They'll have to fill that gaping hole,

It's an uphill climb


The first mate and the President too,

Will do their very best,

To make the others all forget

Who's responsible for this mess


So join us here each week my friend

You're sure to see a mile

Of poisonous slime and scorched wildlife

Here on Obama's Isle.

The Homosexual Hate Movement: Another form of totalitarianism

Pope John Paul II, in "Memory and Identity: Conversations at the Dawn of a Millennium," notes how, "If, on the one hand, the West continues to provide evidence of zealous evangelization, on the other hand anti-evangelical currents are equally strong. They strike at the very foundation of human morality, influencing the family and promoting a morally permissive outlook: divorce, free love, abortion, contraconception, the fight against life in its initial phases and in its final phase, the manipulation of life. This program is supported by enormous financial resources, not only in individual countries, but also on a worldwide scale. It has great centers of economic power at its disposal, through which it attempts to impose its own conditions on developing countries. Faced with this, one may legitimately ask whether this is not another form of totalitarianism, subtly concealed under the appearances of democracy." (p. 48).

The Homosexual Hate Movement is indeed totalitarian. It seeks to impose its agenda and to punish those who refuse to accept or condone illicit same-sex relationships. For example, British and Canadian homosexual activists want to punish the African State of Malawi because it will not recognize same-sex liaisons. See here.

Radical homosexual activists are engaged in a psychological attack in the form of propaganda aimed at those who are opposed to homosexuality. Their goal is to convert the mind and the will. As homosexual activists Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen explain in their book "After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear & Hatred of Gays in the 90s," "Desensitization aims at lowering the intensity of antigay emotional reactions to a level approximating sheer indifference; Jamming attempts to blockade pr counteract the rewarding 'pride in prejudice'..by attaching to homohatred a pre-existing, and punishing, sense of shame in being a bigot....Both Desensitization and Jamming...are mere preludes to our highest - though necessarily very long-range - goal, which is Conversion. It isn't enough that antigay bigots should become confused about us, or even indifferent to us - we are safest, in the long run, if we can actually make them like us. Conversion aims at just this...By Conversion we actually mean something far more profoundly threatening to the American Way of Life, without which no truly sweeping social change can occur. We mean conversion of the average American's emotions, mind, and will, through a planned psychological attack , in the form of propaganda fed to the nation via the media." (p. 153).

The Homosexual Hate Movement is, by its own admission, engaged in psychological warfare through the use of propaganda to convert people to its agenda. And even that this conversion is "profoundly threatening to the American way of life." And when these radical activists fail to get their way, as we've witnessed in California and in other parts of the country, they can become violent. Indeed, this hate movement will use and all means - including economic sanctions - to impose its ideology. And that is totalitarianism.

Related reading here.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Persecution Watch: Catholic priest and homosexual activist calls for a Super-Treaty Monitoring Body at UN




Professor (and Father) Michael O'Flaherty, a radical homosexual activist from Ireland, is calling for a Super-Treaty Monitoring Body at the United Nations. Fr. Flaherty promotes what is known as the Yogyakarta Principles. Read about this demonic plan to usurp parental rights and to indoctrinate children in gender-bending ideology here.
I've said this before. The new humanitarian religion of Antichrist will fully embrace homosexuality. Vices must be turned into gods in preparation for the Man of Sin who will regard Christianity as a "barbaric religion" which must be emptied of its supernatural content while its dogmas are reinterpreted to render them "more fit" for modern-man.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Persecution Watch: Catholic Church compared to Mafia

The European Parliament Platform for Secularism is accusing the Catholic Church of protecting criminals and is comparing the Mystical Body of Christ with the Sicilian Mafia. During a meeting on child abuse, the Platform for Secularism suggested that the European Union should establish an inquiry committee to monitor the Church.

What is the ultimate agenda of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism? To discredit the one institution - the Roman Catholic Church - which stands in the way of the Culture of Death. The EPPS has been engaged in a propaganda campaign against the Church, accusing her of hindering the "sexual and reproductive health rights" of women. See here.

Related reading here.

Do we honor veterans or do we simply forget about them?




There is an old saying: "Nobody loves a soldier until the enemy is at the gate." I have often reflected on that phrase and how at times it rings true. WBZ is reporting that the town of Hardwick has cancelled its Memorial Day Parade. Local veterans (and I'm one of them) are understandably upset. But then, the veteran has often been treated as something akin to a disposable razor: when he has served his purpose, he is promptly discarded. After returning home from Vietnam, Mr. Joe Szczepanek says, "people spit on me. I got hit in the head with a sign. I got called a baby killer." Many other veterans were treated with contempt or simply ignored altogether.
My own father served in Korea and during Vietnam. As a career military veteran, he was denied a hearing aid (he had become tone deaf after serving as a Tank Commander in Korea). And when he died, I had to fight just to obtain a flag marker for his grave. You cannot begin to imagine how that made me feel. In order to understand my hurt, you would have to know the depth of my love for a great man who consecrated his entire life to the United States military - both in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force.


The Church had a policy years ago which was discriminatory toward military families. I addressed this in my previous Blog post entitled Cardinal Sean's rationale which may be found here. A woman named Colleen took exception to my post in a comment left at this Blog. She wrote: "Mr. Melanson, may I ask how old you are? The reason I ask is that the Church USED to, MANY years ago have a policy that families needed to be residents of the Parish associated with the Catholic school where they chose to send their children...simply because the parishioners in those days funded the majority of the happenings in the school. This ruling has been changed for YEARS now and any/all students are welcome to attend. Please get your facts straight before you falsely leading people astray. There is already enough of that going on without your help."
To which I responded: "Colleen, I submit that it is you who are engaging in dishonesty. Either that or your English comprehension skills are sorely deficient.

Cardinal O'Malley, in his feeble attempt to justify his decision to find a Catholic school for the ward of lesbian parents who are engaged in an illicit relationship, wrote, "Catholic schools exist for the good of the children and our admission standards must reflect that. We have never had categories of people who were excluded." The key word in this passage is "never." The Cardinal's statement constitutes [by your own admission in the comment you left] a falsehood.
Which is why I responded, "But His Eminence is mistaken, As my parents can testify, I was denied admission into Catholic schools because my father was career military. My parents were told that five years of residency was required before I could be enrolled. But because my father would receive new orders every three or four years, I was denied admission. Many other children of military families were similarly denied admission into Catholic schools for this reason."

Military dependents were in fact denied admission. You admit this writing that, "..the Church USED to, MANY years ago have a policy that families needed to be residents of the Parish associated with the Catholic school where they chose to send their children...simply because the parishioners in those days funded the majority of the happenings in the school. This ruling has been changed for YEARS now.."

Children of military parents who were serving this great nation were excluded. This is all the more outrageous since their parents were making great sacrifices to serve this great nation.

As for the child of lesbian parents, as Archbishop Chaput so eloquently put it, 'Our schools are meant to be 'partners in faith' with parents. If parents don't respect the beliefs of the Church, or live in a manner that openly rejects those beliefs, then partnering with those parents becomes very difficult, if not impossible. It also places unfair stress on the children, who find themselves caught in the middle, and on their teachers, who have an obligation to teach the authentic faith of the Church.' If anyone needs to get their facts straight to avoid 'falsely leading people astray,' it is yourself. At any rate, I stand by my statement. The Cardinal's statement was incorrect."
I doubt my response will produce the slightest crack in Colleen's wall of conviction. Some people are anxious to accommodate those who "don't respect the beliefs of the Church" or who "live in a manner that openly rejects those beliefs." What a shame that my parents [cradle Catholics who remained faithful to the Church's Magisterium and who served this nation so honorably] couldn't receive at least the same level of respect as those who view the teachings of Christ's Church with contempt and or indifference.
Nobody loves a soldier until the enemy is at the gate.
Related reading here.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

"...God is sending them a deceiving power so that they may believe the lie..."


"And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. But the one who restrains is to do so only for the present, until he is removed from the scene. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord (Jesus) will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming, the one whose coming springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie, and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they may be saved. Therefore, God is sending them a deceiving power so that they may believe the lie, that all who have not believed the truth but have approved wrongdoing may be condemned." (2 Thessalonians 2: 6-12).


This scriptural passage is most important. For here Paul emphasizes that the power of the Antichrist is one of seduction. Antichrist is a seducer who seeks to draw people away from the truth. He will work from within religion to seduce people to abandon traditional Christianity and to worship him. How effective will he be? Father Livio Fanzaga, commenting on The Antichrist by Vladimir Soloviev, writes, "So great is the Antichrist's power of seduction over believers - and they never realize it - that he will openly pose as the savior and restorer of religion and universal peace. He will deceive many."


But a tiny remnant will remain faithful. As Pope Paul VI said, "It is enough if only a tiny flock, no matter how small, survives." These words are sobering and should speak loudly to us. Father Fanzaga continues, "In Soloviev, the remnant is defined by recognition of Jesus Christ, 'Himself and all that comes from Him. This is their total horizon and the inexhaustible meaning of life. The tiny flock is not made up of the avant guard intelligentsia - the intellectuals and the theologians have joined the emperor. Neither are they defined in terms of a moral code. Rather they are those who refuse to serve two masters.' I tend to regard them as ordinary people, the humble and those who remain faithful." (The Wrath of God, p. 33).


Pope Benedict XVI, as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in an essay entitled, "A Final Reflection: Soloviev's vision of eschatological unity," reminds us that: "..the Antichrist has his followers, and always even among those occupying the highest spiritual offices.....Therefore, we should already, and always, be motivated by concern lest, with big Christian words and wrapped in a cloak of Christianity, we become servants of the Antichrist, who wants to set up his kingdom in this world and to render the future kingdom of Christ redundant."



Happy Birthday Padre Pio


"I have often raised my hand in the silence of the night and in my solitary cell, blessing you all and presenting you to Jesus and to our father, St. Francis of Assisi." - Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
I am blessed to share a birthday with Padre Pio. And I pray to him often. Pio used to say, "Pray, hope and don't worry." We all need to heed his advice. Especially in our troubled times.
Meditation: Matthew 6: 25-34.

Monday, May 24, 2010

MacArthur: Appeasement but begets new and bloodier war


Update.

"...I now turn to the Korean conflict. While I was not consulted prior to the President's decision to intervene in support of the Republic of Korea, that decision from a military standpoint, proved a sound one, as we -- as I said, proved a sound one, as we hurled back the invader and decimated his forces. Our victory was complete, and our objectives within reach, when Red China intervened with numerically superior ground forces.

This created a new war and an entirely new situation, a situation not contemplated when our forces were committed against the North Korean invaders; a situation which called for new decisions in the diplomatic sphere to permit the realistic adjustment of military strategy.
Such decisions have not been forthcoming.

While no man in his right mind would advocate sending our ground forces into continental China, and such was never given a thought, the new situation did urgently demand a drastic revision of strategic planning if our political aim was to defeat this new enemy as we had defeated the old.
Apart from the military need, as I saw It, to neutralize the sanctuary protection given the enemy north of the Yalu, I felt that military necessity in the conduct of the war made necessary: first the intensification of our economic blockade against China; two the imposition of a naval blockade against the China coast; three removal of restrictions on air reconnaissance of China's coastal areas and of Manchuria; four removal of restrictions on the forces of the Republic of China on Formosa, with logistical support to contribute to their effective operations against the common enemy.

For entertaining these views, all professionally designed to support our forces committed to Korea and bring hostilities to an end with the least possible delay and at a saving of countless American and allied lives, I have been severely criticized in lay circles, principally abroad, despite my understanding that from a military standpoint the above views have been fully shared in the past by practically every military leader concerned with the Korean campaign, including our own Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available. I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy built-up bases north of the Yalu, if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese Force of some 600,000 men on Formosa, if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without, and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements, the position of the command from the military standpoint forbade victory.

We could hold in Korea by constant maneuver and in an approximate area where our supply line advantages were in balance with the supply line disadvantages of the enemy, but we could hope at best for only an indecisive campaign with its terrible and constant attrition upon our forces if the enemy utilized its full military potential. I have constantly called for the new political decisions essential to a solution.

Efforts have been made to distort my position. It has been said, in effect, that I was a warmonger. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes. Indeed, on the second day of September, nineteen hundred and forty-five, just following the surrender of the Japanese nation on the Battleship Missouri, I formally cautioned as follows:

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methods through the ages have been attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations. From the very start workable methods were found in so far as individual citizens were concerned, but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, Leagues of Nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past 2000 years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.
But once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end.

War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory. There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China. They are blind to history's clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war. It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace." (General Douglas MacArthur, Farewell Address to Congress, April 19, 1951).

General MacArthur was warning that unless we achieved decisive victory against North Korea, we would face a "new and bloodier war" with that nation in the future. Was he wrong? I don't believe so. Time will tell.
Joe Melanson (my father) believed that we would return to Korea. Here.

Small wonder that Catholics United has been critical of Father James Rafferty's decision...

Shortly after Father James Rafferty, pastor of St. Paul's parish in Hingham, Massachusetts, denied admission to a student whose parents are lesbian, the dissent group Catholic United, which is highly partisan and supports President Obama, launched a petition accusing St. Paul's of engaging in discrimination. See here. Catholics United, at its website, describes itself as, "a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic social tradition."

But the fact that Catholics United is anything but non-partisan is obvious to anyone who takes the time to visit the organization's website. For Catholics United promotes the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), an organization which was inspired by radical agitator Saul Alinsky, a Marxist who dedicated his Rules for Radicals to Lucifer, whom he called "the first radical."

According to American Life League's Michael Hichborn, "..no less than fifty organizations (one-fifth of all CCHD grantees from 2009) are, in some capacity, engaged in pro-abortion or pro-homosexual causes." See here. And James Salt, Director of Organizing for Catholics United, has worked for Pax Christi USA, another prominent dissent group which is rooted in New Age spirtuality.


Related reading on CCHD here.

Homosexual adoption subjects children to violence. See here.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

"I am not a number, I am a free man.."


"I am not a number, I am a free man."

A Crisis Made To Order...


There are dark forces preparing the world for the Man of Sin and his Reign. An economic crisis has been made to order. And this crisis will be used to advance the New World Order and to set the stage for the Secular Messiah who will offer men "an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 675). Already the crisis made to order is being felt by millions of Americans.


The Man of Sin wants to make all men, great and small, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, bear a sign on their right arm and forehead as a sign of their worship (Revelation 13:16). No one will be able to buy or sell without this mark (Revelation 13:17). Only those who adore the new god will be able to enjoy riches or honors. In fact, the new god* will seduce many** through such riches: "For he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and all the preciousthings of Egypt." (Daniel 11:43).


* John 5:43.
** 1 Timothy 6:10
Related reading: Obama calls for New Order.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Does Cardinal O'Malley condone such violence toward children?

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its document entitled Considerations Regarding Proposals To Give Legal Recognition To Unions Between Homosexual Persons, had this to say, "As experience has shown, the absence of sexual complementarity in these unions creates obstacles in the normal development of children who would be placed in the care of such persons. They would be deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood. Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development. This is gravely immoral and in open contradiction to the principle, recognized also in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that the best interests of the child, as the weaker and more vulnerable party, are to be the paramount consideration in every case." (No. 7).

But in the controversy which has erupted in the wake of Cardinal O'Malley's decision to help find a Catholic school for the ward of the lesbian parents who was initially denied admission on the basis of their illicit relationship, Cardinal O'Malley has not only advanced a false notion of compassion, but he has failed to address the violence which is done to children when they are placed in "an environment that is not conducive to their full human development." Why is this? Does Cardinal O'Malley condone this violence to children? If not, should he be finding a Catholic school for the ward of lesbian parents? Is this not tacit approval of an illicit relationship and the environment to which an innocent child is being exposed?

Is Cardinal O'Malley crippled by lukewarmness? Last year, when many faithful Catholics were scandalized over Senator Ted Kennedy's very public funeral liturgy, His Eminence responded by asserting that, "At times, even in the Church, zeal can lead people to issue harsh judgments and impute the worst motives to one another." How true. But, as Father Bede Jarrett, O.P., has reminded us, "Not only may I sin by being angry when I should not, but I may sin by not being angry when I should be. If my reason tells me that it is right to be angry, then I disobey God when I refuse to give place to wrath; for, as the New Testament teaches, it is possible to 'be angry and sin not.' (Eph 4:26). Our Lord Himself, when need arose, roped together a bundle of cords and drove from the Temple those who trafficked in the House of Prayer, and down the front steps He flung the tables of the money-changers. Perhaps for most of us, the fault is not that we are too angry, but that we are not angry enough. Think of all the evils that are in the world, that are known to all, admitted to exist by public press and on public platform. Would they have survived thus far, had folk all shown the indignant anger of Christ? Hypocrisy, cant, and the whole blatant injustice that stalks naked and unashamed in national life - may not our own weakness and silence have helped to render impotent all efforts to reduce these terrible things?" (Classic Catholic Meditations, p. 168, Sophia Institute Press).

Yes, zeal can sometimes lead to excess. But when James and John displayed an excess of zeal, asking our Lord to rain down destruction on those who wouldn't accept Him, He gave them evidence of his admiration for their zeal as he gave them the name Boanerges: Sons of Thunder. But, as Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer reminded us, we must "Fight against that weakness which makes you lazy and careless in your spiritual life. Remember that it might well be the beginning of lukewarmness...and, in the words of the Scripture*, God will vomit the lukewarm out of his mouth."

Lukewarmness in the Church has brought us nothing but disaster. Can we not see it? Yes, zeal must be tempered by the Cardinal Virtues of prudence and temperance. But God hates the lukewarm. It is a lukewarm Church which fails to deliver the Gospel with courage, with fortitude. The faithful are looking for shepherds, not for leaders who are crippled by lukewarmness and moral cowardice.


* Rev 3:16.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Cardinal O'Malley: False compassion supplies the sinner with the means to remain attached to sin


A further reminder to His Eminence Sean Cardinal O'Malley


At his Blog, Cardinal Sean wrote, "We need to present the Church's teachings courageously and yet in a way that is compassionate and persuasive." This sounds attractive on the surface. Until you dig a little deeper.

As I said in a previous post dealing with the Rainbow Sash Movement, "..while it is true that everything must be done to help sinners, this cannot include helping them to sin or to remain in sin. Because of human frailty, every sinner deserves both pity and compassion. However, vice and sin must be excluded from this compassion. This because sin can never be the proper object of compassion. (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 30, a.1, ad 1).

It is a false compassion which supplies the sinner with the means to remain attached to sin. Such 'compassion' provides an assistance (whether material or moral) which actually enables the sinner to remain firmly attached to his evil ways. By contrast, true compassion leads the sinner away from vice and back to virtue. As Thomas Aquinas explains:

"We love sinners out of charity, not so as to will what they will, or to rejoice in what gives them joy, but so as to make them will what we will, and rejoice in what rejoices us. Hence it is written: 'They shall be turned to thee, and thou shalt not be turned to them.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 25, a.6, ad 4, citing Jeremiah 15:19).

St. Thomas Aquinas teaches us that the sentiment of compassion only becomes a virtue when it is guided by reason, since "it is essential to human virtue that the movements of the soul should be regulated by reason." (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 30, c.3). Without such regulation, compassion is merely a passion. A false compassion is a compassion not regulated and tempered by reason and is, therefore, a potentially dangerous inclination. This because it is subject to favoring not only that which is good but also that which is evil (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 30, a.1, ad 3).

An authentic compassion always stems from charity. True compassion is an effect of charity (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 30, a.3, ad 3). But it must be remembered that the object of this virtue is God, whose love extends to His creatures. (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 25, a.3). Therefore, the virtue of compassion seeks to bring God to the one who suffers so that he may thereby participate in the infinite love of God. As St. Augustine explains:

"'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' Now, you love yourself suitably when you love God better than yourself. What, then, you aim at in yourself you must aim at in your neighbor, namely, that he may love God with a perfect affection." (St. Augustine, Of the Morals of the Catholic Church, No. 49,

And by the way, His Eminence is implying that Archbishop Chaput failed to be "compassionate" in his response to a similar situation earlier this year.

Your Eminence, is it your contention that Thomas Aquinas is wrong in his teaching regarding authentic compassion? Is it your contention that Archbishop Chaput was failing to be "compassionate and persuasive" when he wrote, "Our schools are meant to be 'partners in faith' with parents. If parents don't respect the beliefs of the Church, or live in a manner that openly rejects those beliefs, then partnering with those parents becomes very difficult, if not impossible. It also places unfair stress on the children, who find themselves caught in the middle, and on their teachers, who have an obligation to teach the authentic faith of the Church"?

Your Eminence, when Pope John Paul II taught (inVeritatis Splendor, No. 113) that the faithful have a "right to receive Catholic teaching in its purity and integrity," was he joking?

Your Eminence?

Cardinal Sean's rationale

In a previous post which may be found here, I noted how the Archdiocese of Boston has decided to help find a Catholic school for the ward of the lesbian parents who was denied admission on the basis of their illicit relationship. Cardinal Sean O'Malley, at his Blog, has justified this decision writing that, "Catholic schools exist for the good of the children and our admission standards must reflect that. We have never had categories of people who were excluded."

But His Eminence is mistaken, As my parents can testify, I was denied admission into Catholic schools because my father was career military. My parents were told that five years of residency was required before I could be enrolled. But because my father would receive new orders every three or four years, I was denied admission. Many other children of military families were similarly denied admission into Catholic schools for this reason. Perhaps we would have been treated differently if our parents had been homosexual or lesbian.

In a similar case which took place earlier this year in Denver, Colorado, Archbishop Charles Chaput explained that, "The policies of our Catholic school system exist to protect all parties involved, including the children of homosexual couples and the couples themselves,” he writes. “Our schools are meant to be ‘partners in faith’ with parents. If parents don’t respect the beliefs of the Church, or live in a manner that openly rejects those beliefs, then partnering with those parents becomes very difficult, if not impossible. It also places unfair stress on the children, who find themselves caught in the middle, and on their teachers, who have an obligation to teach the authentic faith of the Church."

Apparently Cardinal O'Malley isn't concerned about "all parties involved" in this matter. And His Eminence has forgotten the teaching of the Congregation for Catholic Education: "The implementation of a real educational community, built on the foundation of shared projected values, represents a serious task that must be carried out by the Catholic school. In this setting, the presence both of students and of teachers from different cultural and religious backgrounds requires an increased commitment of discernment and accompaniment. The preparation of a shared project acts as a stimulus that should force the Catholic school to be a place of ecclesial experience. Its binding force and potential for relationships derive from a set of values and a communion of life that is rooted in our common belonging to Christ. Derived from the recognition of evangelical values are educational norms, motivational drives and also the final goals of the school. Certainly the degree of participation can differ in relation to one's personal history, but this requires that educators be willing to offer a permanent commitment to formation and self-formation regarding a choice of cultural and life values to be made present in the educational community." (Congregation for Catholic Education, Educating Together in Catholic Schools: A Shared Mission Between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful, No. 5).

Joe LeVangie may fly his American flag


Mr. LeVangie, thank you for showing our young people how important the American flag really is. You are one of its loyal defenders sir.



God Save the Flag
by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

Washed in the blood of the brave and the blooming,
Snatched from the altars of insolent foes,
Burning with star-fires, but never consuming,
Flash its broad ribbons of lily and rose.

Vainly the prophets of Baal would rend it,
Vainly his worshippers pray for its fall;
Thousands have died for it, millions defend it,
Emblem of Justice and Mercy to all:

Justice that reddens the sky with her terrors,
Mercy that comes with her white-handed train,
Soothing all passions, redeeming all errors,
Sheathing the sabre and breaking the chain.

Borne on the deluge of old usurpations,
Drifted our Ark o'er the desolate seas,
Bearing the rainbow of hope to the nations,
Torn from the storm-cloud and flung to the breeze !

GOD BLESS the FLAG and its loyal defenders,
While its broad folds o'er the battle-field wave,
Till the dim star-wreath rekindle its splendors,
Washed from its stains in the Blood of the Brave

Thursday, May 20, 2010

New Hampshire Residents: Stand With Joe LeVangie




88 year-old Joe LeVangie, a World War II Navy veteran living in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, is "madder than hell." Why? Because the management company at his apartment complex ordered him to take down his American flag. EJL Management informed LeVangie that flag displays at the Maple Leaf complex violate the same rules that prohibit lawn ornaments and grills.


Lawn ornaments and grills? Is this what EJL Management thinks of the American flag? Our nation's greatest symbol is lumped with lawn ornaments and barbecue grills?


Now I'm madder than hell. Sometimes we are called to "be angry and sin not" (Ephesians 4: 26).


Mr. LeVangie said that he used to fly his flag, "In respect for all the troops serving overseas now and for those who never came back." One of those who never came back was my uncle Arthur Melanson. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. For him, the flag was something more than a lawn ornament or a barbecue grill. And he gave his life in service to country and flag.
Everyone who loves the American flag and the country it represents should be "madder than hell."
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