Tuesday, March 28, 2006
A Letter to Michael Schiavo

This Friday we remember the one-year anniversary of Terri Schiavo's death. Let us, during this Lenten season of penance, remember her life. She is another statistic caused by the culture of death.

The ABC News poll, conducted on March 5 asked Americans whether "the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube was the right thing or the wrong thing to do." Some 64 percent said yes, with 44 percent strongly agreeing and 20 percent somewhat agreeing. The poll found 27 percent said no with 19 percent strongly opposing the euthanasia and 8 percent somewhat opposing it. The results are largely unchanged from a March 2005 ABC News poll that found Americans supporting removing Terri's feeding tube on a 63-28 percent margin. (Source)

Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life released a letter to Michael Schiavo. It is very powerful. Here it is:

An Open Letter to Michael Schiavo

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, and an eyewitness to Terri Schiavo’s final hours, released the following open letter to Michael Schiavo tonight. Fr. Pavone read it to a worldwide audience on an internationally broadcast religious service on Sunday morning, March 26.

Dear Michael,

A year ago this week, I stood by the bedside of the woman you married and promised to love in good times and bad, in sickness and health. She was enduring a very bad time, because she hadn't been given food or drink in nearly two weeks. And you were the one insisting that she continue to be deprived of food and water, right up to her death. I watched her face for hours on end, right up to moments before her last breath. Her death was not peaceful, nor was it beautiful. If you saw her too, and noticed what her eyes were doing, you know that to describe her last agony as peaceful is a lie.

This week, tens of millions of Americans will remember those agonizing days last year, and will scratch their heads trying to figure out why you didn't simply let Terri's mom, dad, and siblings take care of her, as they were willing to do. They offered you, again and again, the option to simply let them care for Terri, without asking anything of you. But you refused and continued to insist that Terri's feeding be stopped. She had no terminal illness. She was simply a disabled woman who needed extra care that you weren't willing to give.

I speak to you today on behalf of the tens of millions of Americans who still wonder why. I speak to you today to express their anger, their dismay, their outraged astonishment at your behavior in the midst of this tragedy. Most people will wonder about these questions in silence, but as one of only a few people who were eyewitnesses to Terri's dehydration, I have to speak.

I have spoken to you before. Before Terri's feeding tube was removed for the last time, I appealed to you with respect, asking you not to continue on the road you were pursuing, urging you to reconsider your decisions, in the light of the damage you were doing. I invited you to talk. But you did not respond.

Then, after Terri died, I called her death a killing, and I called you a murderer because you knew - as we all did - that ceasing to feed Terri would kill her. We watched, but you had the power to save her. Her life was in your hands, but you threw it away, with the willing cooperation of attorneys and judges who were as heartless as you were. Some have demanded that I apologize to you for calling you a murderer. Not only will I not apologize, I will repeat it again.

Your decision to have Terri dehydrated to death was a decision to kill her. It doesn't matter if Judge Greer said it was legal. No judge, no court, no power on earth can legitimize what you did. It makes no difference if what you did was legal in the eyes of men; it was murder in the eyes of God and of millions of your fellow Americans and countless more around the world. You are the one who owes all of us an apology.

Your actions offend us. Not only have you killed Terri and deeply wounded her family, but you have disgraced our nation, betrayed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and undermined the principles that hold us together as a civilized society. You have offended those who struggle on a daily basis to care for loved ones who are dying, and who sometimes have to make the very legitimate decision to discontinue futile treatment. You have offended them by trying to confuse Terri's circumstances with theirs. Terri's case was not one of judging treatment to be worthless - which is sometimes the case; rather, it was about judging a life to be worthless, which is never the case.

You have made your mark on history, but sadly, it is an ugly stain. In the name of millions around the world, I call on you today to embrace a life of repentance, and to ask forgiveness from the Lord, who holds the lives of each of us in His hands.

Fr. Frank Pavone
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Stational Church for Tuesday in the 4th Week of Lent

Today's Stational Church is at the Church of St. Lawrence in Damaso

We celebrate the holy mysteries in spirit in the church of St. Lawrence in Damaso, built by the "poet-Pope" and "lover of the catacombs," St. Damasus, whose remains rest in this venerable edifice.

Mother Church points today to two leaders: Moses and Christ—figure and fulfillment. Both of them were unappreciated by their flock. Both of them were unmoved in their consecration to God and their holy calling. Their people were superficial, proud and selfish, while they, the leaders, were filled with the spirit of prayer, humility and the love of God.

In the spirit of our prayerful, humble and God-loving leader, St. Lawrence, let us make a sincere oblation of ourselves. Then the Divine Victim, through the prayers of this holy deacon, will increase in our souls what is so strikingly expressed in today's Mass:1. Humility—"With expectation I have waited for the Lord and he was attentive to me."2. Prayerfulness—"And He heard my prayer."3. Love—"And He put a new canticle in my mouth, a song to our God."

Let us pray: Hear, O God, my prayer and despise not my supplication. Be attentive to me and hear me. Through Christ, Our Lord.Amen.

(Source: St. John Cantius Parish)
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Monday, March 27, 2006
New Features

I've just started a new poll at my blog (available near the bottom of my right hand sidebar). Please vote and in two weeks I will take the end results into consideration for my daily posting. Above all, I want this place to be a "daily dose" of the Catholic faith. Our life must be built on Jesus Christ and I try to get this across each day here.

Thanks everyone!
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Mother Teresa Wisdom for the Day

Mother Teresa -

A day alone with Jesus is apt to spur us on in the vigorous pursuit of holiness through personal love for Jesus. Jesus desires our perfection with unspeakable ardor. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification." We are but instruments that God deigns to use; these instruments bring forth fruit in the measure that they are united to God......

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Prayer by St. Gregory of Nazasazus


Jesus began His ministry by being hungry,
Yet He is the Bread of Life.

Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty,
Yet He is the Living Water.

Jesus was weary,
Yet He is our rest.

Jesus paid tribute,
Yet He is the King.

Jesus was accused of having a demon,
Yet He cast out demons.

Jesus wept,
Yet He wipes away our tears.

Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver,
Yet He redeemed the world.

Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
Yet He is the Good Shepherd.

Jesus died,
Yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.

------------ Written by St. Gregory of Nazasazus A.D. 38

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain, Image of Christ the King
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Beware of "Conversations with God"

 
I received this warning in an email and wanted to share it to my readers. After reading this review, I urge my readers to neither buy nor read this book.

Beware of the book, Conversations with God...Two particular books, "Conversations with God" and "Conversations with God for Teens," written by Neale D. Walsch, sound harmless enough by their titles alone. These books have been on the New York Times best sellers list for a number of weeks, and! these publications make truth of the statement, "Don't judge a book by its cover/title." The author purports to answer various questions from kids using the "voice of God". However, the "answers" that he gives are not Bible-based and go against the very infallible word of God... [One girl] poses the question "I am living with my boyfriend. My parents say that I should marry him because I am living in sin. Should I marry him?" His reply is, "Who are you sinning against? Not me, because you have done nothing wrong." Another question asks about God's forgiveness of sin[s]. His reply "I do not forgive anyone because there is nothing to forgive. There is no such thing as right or wrong and that is what I have been trying to tell everyone, do not judge people. People have chosen to judge one another and this is wrong, because the rule is "'judge not lest ye be judged.'" And the list goes on. Not only are these books the false doctrine of devils, but in some instances even quote (in error) the Word of God. These books (and others like it) are being sold to school children (The Scholastic Book Club), and we need to be aware of what is being fed to our children. Our children are under attack. So I pray that you be sober and vigilant about teaching your children the Word of God, and guarding their exposure to worldly mediums, because our adversary, the Devil, roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). And how many of us know that lions usually hunt for the slowest, and weakest and YOUNGEST of its prey. Pass this on to every Believer you know. God bless! And, if in doubt, look at the books yourself.

I wanted to pass this warning along. The sad truth is that there are numerous "spiritual" books that go completely against the Word of God. Please be cautious and vigilant in all you read. Trust God and the Church for anything spoken against either of them is a lie.
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Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent

Today's Stational Church is dedicated to the Four Crowned Martyrs:
The Station is on Mount Caelius, in a church erected in the seventh century in honor of four officers of the Roman army, who having refused to adore a statue of Aesculapius, received the crown of martyrdom. These were the "Four Crowned Ones," whose relics are venerated in this sanctuary together with the head of St. Sebastian, an officer of the army of Diocletian. Under the leadership of the Four Crowned Martyrs let us celebrate the divine Sacrifice.

May the Eucharistic Action "refresh us and defend us," as it refreshed these great athletes and filled them with heavenly fortitude to go forth to make the supreme sacrifice for a true ideal, for their faith, for Christ, the King of Martyrs.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that as we keep with devotion year by year this holy fast, we may please Thee both in body and soul. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

(Source: St. John Cantius Parish)
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Sunday, March 26, 2006
Pray for the Repose of Tom's Father's Soul

I am a member of the Catholic Community Forum and have prayed for Tom's father before. Tom has posted about his father's ailing condition for a few months, and today I read the sad news that his father has left this world for the next.

Please pray for my dad who passed away earlier this evening. As many of you regular visitors know, he had been sick with pulmonary problems for some time, and had a problem back in December. We are thankful dad had a good day today, and are quite naturally devastated by his loss. Thank you all for all your prayers and thoughts for my dad and our family. Please keep us in your thoughts over the next few days and weeks.

Love in Christ, Tom

Please offer your prayers and indulgences for this soul. Mary, in your arms, carry him to your Son, our savior.
In paradisum deducant te Angeli:
in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres,
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.
Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem.
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Mary's Way of the Cross

I am a member of the Holy Souls Prayer Group online, where I pray each day for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. A few weeks ago a poster there emailed me this excellent link to Mary's Way of the Cross. It is basically the traditional Stations of the Cross but from Mary's point of view. I wanted to share it with everyone here though I do most commonly pray the Traditional Stations of the Cross.  The Traditional Stations of the Church are the ones that have the indulgences attached to them.

The Stations of the Cross is a beautiful devotion during lent especially on Fridays.
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Saturday, March 25, 2006
A Catholic Priest was Murdered in India

Exactly two weeks ago I posted about Catholics murdered in 2005 for their faith - they are examples that the Age of Martyrs Continues. Today, however, I came upon another story of a Catholic priest that was murdered - this one in 2006.

Father Eusebio Ferrao was a parish priest in Macasana, India. When he did not show up for Mass on March 18th, several parishioners went to his home to check on him. He was found in his room on the ground with a pillow on his head and a towel in his mouth. He was smothered and strangled to death. There were also 27 stab wounds in his back and chest.

This 61 yr-old priest died of asphyxiation according to forensic reports, and how painful it must have been. Again, we have another example of a man forced to die for serving Christ. Fr. Ferrao's funeral was March 21st, last Tuesday; 8,000 people attended the Mass.

Please say a prayer for his soul.

Update: I just learned through Zenit that Fr. Ferrao's killers were found. There were two men, Amit Shukla and Manish Dubey, that killed the priest. Amit Shukla had visited the priest several times looking for a job, and Fr. Ferrao was trying to help him find employment.

This particular evening, Fr. Ferrao invited them over for dinner and let them sleep in an adjoining room because they had no way home. When Fr. Ferrao went to check on them, the two men jumped on the priest and murdered him. They quickly locked the room and boarded a train and were later caught.

How could a man murder the very priest who was helping him. How horrible and tragic. Again, please pray for the soul of his priest.
In paradisum deducant te Angeli:
in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres,
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.
Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem.
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