Please pray for my father

I posted last week that my father was admitted to the hospital. Well, he's home now, but he is still not feeling well. Doctors found out that one of his veins in his head is rather narrow, so he can easily get a blood clot. Plus, he's been feeling dizzy and sick with headaches this past week.

Please pray for his recovery.

Thank you

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The Cost of Abortion

The South Dakota House just approved a bill February 14, 2006, that would outlaw abortions in the state. The Governor is expected to sign the bill into law, though it will certainly be fought in court. With changes in the makeup of the Supreme Court, we can only pray that the court upholds this and overturns Roe v. Wade.

In light of this, we must discuss the cost of abortion since it's legilization on Jan. 23, 1973:

1. Over 46 million surgical abortion have been performed. An entire generation has been murdered and the government allows this. 46 million human lives were murdered! This is more than the casualties of the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Iraq War combined. Abortion is the greatest holocaust in our history.
2. Abortion is the leading cause of death for African Americans. 13 million black lives in the last 30 year years has been murdered. 33% of all abortions are performed on African Americans.
3. 24% of pregnancies end in abortions. 1 in 4 of us human beings are murdered by abortion
4. So how many abortions are because of rape...1%! Incent...0.5%! Don't let the lies of the world confuse you. Abortion on demand accounts for nearly 98% of all abortions. These children were murdered because they were unwanted. That could have been any of us.
5. 80% of unborn diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted. But, I'm sure you realize how wrong doctors are on these diagnosis half of the time. People are being murdered so that their families won't be burdened by a less than "ideal" person.

(All stats are from the Human Life Alliance)

Abortion should be illegal! I'll say it until it's illegal. It's 21 days after conception that a baby's heart begins to beat. An unborn child is one of us - a creation of God simply in another part of development. An adult is no more human than a 7 yr old even though the child is not completely developed. The same things applies to an unborn child - just because it can't function outside of the womb doesn't mean it's not a live human being.

Prayer to End Abortion
Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life, And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion. Today I commit myself Never to be silent, Never to be passive, Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, And never to stop defending life Until all my brothers and sisters are protected, And our nation once again becomes A nation with liberty and justice Not just for some, but for all.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

(Source: Priests for Life)

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Family Planning Funds Slashed

Some good news with the Federal Budget...

President Bush's has severely slashed funding for family planning (contraceptives). In 2001 President Bush initiated the Mexico City Policy to stop taxpaying funds from being used to perform or support abortions in other countries. At that time, President Bush froze family planning at $425 million each year. This year, the budget calls for $357 million, a 18% slash in funds.

Let us pray for an end to the use of contraceptives. Since the earliest days of the Catholic Church, our fathers have condemned artificial contraception as an offense against God and the natural law. This was the case with all Christians until the early 1900s when other denominations began to allow them. Thank be to God for guiding the Church and keeping it in the Truth, a promise recorded in scripture (Matthew 16:18).

For more information on why contraception is sinful, see "Weekly Discussion Topic One."

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A Prayer Request for a Departed Seminarian

Here is a prayer request sent to me today:

My cousin who was missing for 3 days was found dead early this morning of foul play. He was a seminarian for a long time but was not ordained. Please pray for his eternal repose. The whole family is in shock by this news of his unpleasant death. His name is Jojo. Thank you so much. Suzette

What he truly needs are Masses said in his name. Please, if you can, have a Mass said for him. The value of a Mass is nearly of infinite value. For, at the Mass, the Sacrifice of Calvary is recalled. For the Eucharist is Jesus Christ; He is truly present at each Mass.

Q: When a Mass is said for the soul of a deceased loved one, does this help lessen the soul's time in purgatory?

A: Just as we pray for others here on earth, we are encouraged by the Church to pray for souls who may be in purgatory. Why? We are all in need of grace to come into the perfection of charity. We cannot enter heaven if we have not been completely cleansed of sin and all punishment due to sin. See Catechism of the Catholic Church #1031 and 1472

Since the Mass is the "source and summit" of the Christian Life, we naturally look to that Holy Sacrifice of Christ, containing the perfect prayer, to offer for our deceased relatives and friends who may still need the help of our prayers. Priests are under a strict obligation to remember in a special way the person for whom the Mass is being offered. Often you wil hear the priests say the name of the person in the part of the Mass which specifically remembers those who have gone before us. Sometimes the intention for the Mass is listed in the bulletin or announced before the Mass.

We can't really speak of "time" since the deceased person has entered eternity, but we can speak in terms of "final purification" before entrance into heaven. We believe that a Mass offered for a departed relative or friend may help hasten that final purification which he/she may still be undergoing in purgatory.

For more information on the Mass, see "The Holy Mass."

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Write to St. Padre Pio

St. Padre Pio - "I will never tire of praying to Jesus. It is true that my prayers deserve punishment rather than reward, for I have offended Jesus only too often by my innumerable sins; but in the end, He will be moved to pity."

Would you like to have your prayers requests remembered by the friars, who pray next to his tomb?

You can email your requests for the friars to bring next to his tomb in prayer, or you can mail them. I received this information in my comment box by Mare54n:

"Every evening, at 8:30 pm, the Frati Cappuccini will be gathered to the grave of the blessed Padre Pio to recite the S. Rosario according to the intentions of all those people that ask to be remembered in the prayer. To that time, your prayers and intentions will be deposed on the grave. If you find it possible, anywhere you find yourself, spiritually unite to us with the recitation of the S. Rosario."

Contact Information

Letters can be sent here:

Convento Frati Minori Cappuccini
"Santa Maria Dell Grazie"
71013 S. Giovanni Rotondo (FG)Italy
c/c postale n 189712

Telephone 0882.4171
Fax 0882.417252

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Reversal Decision on Illinois Advertisements

Many blogs have reported that a northern IL newspaper (The Herald News) had refused to publish ultrasound pictures calling them "too graphic". One of them is posted to the left.

I'm pleased to announce the paper has reversed its decision and the paper will allow the ads run. I have even read some of those papers before since I'm from Illinois. I'm glad this paper has reversed its decision though.

For more information and how to write to the paper in order to thank them, please see this link.

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Let God's Light Shine Forth

Tonight I spent time reading "The Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI: Let God's Light Shine Forth" by Robert Moynihan. The book included many statements and works by Our Holy Father. I wanted to share some segments of the book that I've read so far that I have found intriguing.

"His recollection of his childhood Easters reveal the extent to which Benedict's faith sprang out of a rich fabric of Christian symbolism, still almost 'baroque' in comparison with post-Vatican II liturgy introduced in the 1960s: 'For all of Holy Week, the windows of the church were covered by black coverings. Even in daytime, the church was shrouded in a darkness dense with mystery. But the instant the parish priest sang out the verse that announced "He is Risen!" the coverings were suddenly pulled back from the windows and a radiant light flooded the entire church: it was the most impressive representation of the resurrection of Christ I can imagine" (9).

"Benedict has long argued that the 'absence of God' in the modern world, the 'secularization' of the modern 'globalized' society, has created a society in which the human person no longer has a sure protection against the depredations of power or, more importantly, any clear understanding of the meaning and ultimate destination of his life" (4).

Benedict's words: "I would say the word 'conversion' is the key word, one of the key words, of St. Augustine, and our culture also has a need for conversion. Without conversion one does not arrive at the Lord. This is true of the individual and this is true of the culture as well..." (36).

(Moynihan, Robert, ed. "The Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI: Let God's Light Shine Forth". New York: DoubleDay, 2005.)

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An Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart

What is Consecration to the Sacred Heart? Fr. Peter Scott explains:

Consecration to the Sacred Heart is consequently an act of individuals, of families, of parishes, of nations, and will bring all the more graces as it is clearly understood as an act of re- turning love for love, and is accom- plished fervently by an entire com- munity. What, then, is consecra- tion? It is much more than a formu- la, a passing pious act to be repeated from time to time. It is a complete gift of oneself, in this case to divine love. It is an interior belonging to Christ, that might be accomplished the words of the Apostle: “it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives within me” (Gal 2:20). It is a dona- tion of our whole being and life, as of a victim, to be immolated to di- vine love. It is the living of our bap- tismal vows, by which we re- nounced entirely Satan and his al- lurements to serve Christ our King and Him alone. 

There is no one act of consecration to the Sacred Heart. St. Margaret Mary in fact requested that her novices write their own, as she herself did. How- ever, in a letter of 1684 to one of her superiors, she describes what it must contain: “If you desire to live for Him alone and to attain to the perfection that He desires from you, you must offer to his Sacred Heart the entire sac- rifice of yourself and all that belongs to you, without any reserve, so that you may no longer like anything but what he likes; may act only according to his inspirations, undertaking nothing without first asking his counsel and his aid, giving unto him the glory of all-glorifying Him for every- thing...” (Cf J.B. Bainvel SJ).

Reparation to the Sacred Heart (Miserentissimus Redemptor) by Pope Pius XI in 1928:

“But assuredly among those things which properly pertain to the worship of the Most Sacred Heart, a special place must be given to that Consecration, whereby we devote ourselves and all things that are ours to the Divine Heart of Jesus, acknowledging that we have received all things from the everlasting love of God. When Our Saviour had taught Margaret Mary, the most innocent disciple of His Heart, how much He desired that this duty of devotion should be rendered to him by men, moved in this not so much by His own right as by His immense charity for us; she herself, with her spiritual father, Claude de la Colombiere, rendered it the first of all. Thereafter followed, in the course of time, individual men, then private families and associations, and lastly civil magistrates, cities and kingdoms. But since in the last century, and in this present century, things have come to such a pass, that by the machinations of wicked men the sovereignty of Christ Our Lord has been denied and war is publicly waged against the Church, by passing laws and promoting plebiscites repugnant to Divine and natural law, nay more by holding assemblies of them that cry out, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke xix, 14): from the aforesaid Consecration there burst forth over against them in keenest opposition the voice of all the clients of the Most Sacred Heart, as it were one voice, to vindicate His glory and to assert His rights: "Christ must reign" (1 Corinthians xv, 25); "Thy kingdom come" (Matt. vi, 10). From this at length it happily came to pass that at the beginning of this century the whole human race which Christ, in whom all things are re-established (Ephes. i, 10), possesses by native right as His own, was dedicated to the same Most Sacred Heart, with the applause of the whole Christian world, by Our Predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII.”

An Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart from the Raccolta:

I, ______________, give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being, save to honor, love and glorify the Sacred Heart. This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him. I therefore take Thee, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death. 

Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God Thy Father, and turn away from me the strokes of His righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in Thee, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty, but I hope for all things from Thy goodness and bounty. Do Thou consume in me all that can displease Thee or resist Thy holy will; let Thy pure love imprint Thee so deeply upon my heart, that I shall nevermore be able to forget Thee or to be separated from Thee; may I obtain from all Thy loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Thee, for in Thee I desire to place all my happiness and all my glory, living and dying in very bondage to Thee.

Written by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

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St. Valentine's Day

Simple (1954 Calendar): February 14

Happy St. Valentines Day to all!

On the Traditional Catholic Calendars, today is a day to remember St. Valentine, priest and martyr.

February 14th, St. Valentine's Day, is based on the life of St. Valentine, a Roman martyr who was beheaded in c. 269-273 AD. Emperor Claudius II declared that unmarried men were potential soldiers, so he outlawed marriage. However, St. Valentine refused to accept this pernicious error, and the saintly priest continued to marry young couples.

Claudius attempted to convert St. Valentine to paganism, but St. Valentine resisted and attempted to bring Claudius to the Church and Jesus Christ. For this, the Emperor had St. Valentine beheaded.

In prison, he helped imprisoned, soon-to-be martyrs. The jailer saw that Valentine was a man of learning, so he brought his daughter, Julia, to Valentine for lessons. Julia was a young girl, who had been blind since her birth. During the lessons, St. Valentine would read to her about the history of Rome. And he taught her about God. The following is an account of St. Valentine:

"Valentinus, does God really hear our prayers?" Julia asked one day.
"Yes, my child, He hears each one." 

"Do you know what I pray for every morning and every night? I pray that I might see. I want so much to see everything you've told me about!"

"God does what is best for us if we will only believe in Him," Valentinus said.
"Oh, Valentinus, I do believe! I do!" She knelt and grasped his hand. 

They sat quietly together, each praying. Suddenly there was a brilliant light in the prison cell. Radiant, Julia screamed, "Valentinus, I can see! I can see!" 

"Praise be to God!" Valentinus exclaimed, and he knelt in prayer. 

On the eve of his death Valentinus wrote a last note to Julia, urging her to stay close to God. He signed it, "From your Valentine." His sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 A.D., near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory. 

He was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome. It is said that Julia planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship. On each February 14, Saint Valentine's Day, messages of affection, love, and devotion are exchanged around the world."

After her healing, the jailer, too, was converted to the Catholic Faith.

As part of today’s feast day of St. Valentine, consider ordering a copy of "Marriage in the Heart and Mind of the Church" to further your knowledge of the Sacrament of Marriage or consider it as a gift to those you know who are about to receive Holy Matrimony this upcoming year. It is a must-read for all couples and a great resource for parishes to use with couples!

Prayer:

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God: that we, who celebrate the heavenly birthday of blessed Valentine, Thy Martyr, may, through his intercession, be strengthened in the love of Thy name. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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The Eucharist and the Priesthood

I wanted to pass along some articles that are worthily from the Real Presence Association. These are articles on the priesthood by Fr. John A. Hardon. My favorite is "The Eucharist and the Priesthood."

Part of that article:

"A priest makes the Real Presence possible and no one, no king, no genius, not even the will of a thousand people, or the combined efforts of a whole nation, can substitute for the power of a priest’s consecrated words: “This is My Body...This is the chalice of My Blood.”"

An ordained priest, bishop, cardinal, or Pope are the only people that can perform such a miraculously act. Consequently the Eucharist of other Christian denominations is not the Body and Blood of Christ as is the case in the Catholic Church.

More: "No less than the Real Presence, so the Mass is impossible without the priest. In fact, it is only at the Mass that the Consecration takes place, changing bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Yet, we know that the Mass is not merely the Eucharistic Consecration. The Mass is not only a means to give us Christ's Presence, it is also Christ's Sacrifice."

This divine power comes only from Christ. He gave his disciples this power: "Do this in remembrance of Me," which has passed from them (the first bishops) to our priests today throuhg apostolic succession. This is truly miraculous. Christ is there at every Mass. He is there as truly present as He was in Jerusalem on the Cross or in Bethlehem in the manger. Yet, how sad that still so many don't understand and know him. The pharisses are not gone; today they are none other than false teachers claiming to know Christ. But if one does not know Christ in the Eucharist, he does not know Christ at all.

Pray for our priests!

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