The Beauty of our Mother Mary

On Sunday, October 13, 2013, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I found this article on New Advent about the beautiful event.  He had lovely homily for Sunday's Mass as well, and this little paragraph struck me as something I need to ask myself every day, maybe every hour!

"And I ask myself: am I a Christian by fits and starts, or am I a Christian full-time? Our culture of the ephemeral, the relative, also takes its toll on the way we live our faith. God asks us to be faithful to him, daily, in our everyday life. He goes on to say that, even if we are sometimes unfaithful to him, he remains faithful. In his mercy, he never tires of stretching out his hand to lift us up, to encourage us to continue our journey, to come back and tell him of our weakness, so that he can grant us his strength. This is the real journey: to walk with the Lord always, even at moments of weakness, even in our sins. Never to prefer a makeshift path of our own. That kills us. Faith is ultimate fidelity, like that of Mary."

I encourage you to read the whole article and consider consecrating yourself to Mary. She is waiting to help you find your way to her Son.


 

What does it mean to live the Culture of Life?

Living the Culture of Life is to remember and promote a very simple, and at the same time complex, truth: “Our origin and our destiny is God, our Father, who loves each of us with an infinitely tender and merciful love.  The mystery of human life is that we – every one of us – are precious to God even as we are weak and sinful.” (USCCB) The cultural values of today lead people to make choices to maximize gratification and pleasure while limiting or even avoiding completely any pain or inconvenience. Many times this choice ends in someone else’s pain or inconvenience being even greater. On the minor end of the spectrum is the anonymous fellow driver on the road who we cut off or who cuts us off, and on the critical end, the mortal end, one might say, is euthanasia, abortion, human trafficking and slavery. And these are only examples.
So, now you’ve taken a moment to read this and you are thinking, “I’m just one person. I can’t stop other people from doing _____.” And this little note is here to say, “Yes, you can.”

What can I do?                                                    
St. Michael’s Church is a Church that supports the Culture of Life. We do that by supporting a variety of organizations, groups, prayer campaigns and the Respect Life Committee. The Respect Life Committee continues to look for ways to inform parishioners about opportunities to support LIFE.
You, who are the sons and daughters of the King of Life, are meant to stand against the culture of death. You can do this by one or more of the following ways:
 Prayer, the first and best defense we have!
 link to St. Michael’s Proudly Pro-Life on Facebook for information and links about a wide variety of issues that support the Culture of Life.
 find out more about the Respect Life Committee here at St. Michael’s.
 donating funds, volunteer time or needed items to one of many groups in the area:
 In Heaven’s Eyes (New Albany)
 St. Elizabeth’s Home/Catholic Charities (New Albany/International)
 Hosparus (Kentuckiana Region)
 Little Way Pregnancy Resource Center (Louisville)
 visiting the elderly and ill in a nursing home or hospital
 volunteering with the Service Ministry at the Soup Kitchen feeding the poor and hungry
 by supporting a group that is working to promote a Respect for Life on a larger scale:
 Southern Indiana Right to Life
 joining in the prayer during the “40 Days for Life” prayer campaign that runs through November 3rd
 fighting suppression of religious freedoms
 donations to bring food and medicine to the poor, sick and hungry (such as Little Sisters of the Poor)
 and many more!!
What can YOU do to support life?
                                                 

Respecting Life

October is "Respect Life" month, and October 6, 2013 was "Respect Life" Sunday. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have set this date for the US and Cardinal Sean O'Malley wrote this statement for October 6.

In preparation for this important date, the Parish of St. Michael's (Bradford, Indiana) distributed brochures in it's bulletins and began a program of weekly bulletin comments and information, regular updates on our Facebook page and a weekly pro-life intention during our Sunday Masses. Next week (October 13,2013), there will be another bulletin insert to outline some opportunities to support or participate in pro-life activities. 

But, what does it mean to RESPECT life?

At it's core, respecting life is acknowledging the dignity of EACH person (human, unique and alive) from conception to natural death without exception. Respecting life, supports and empowers others to fulfill their particular purpose during their mortal life, in preparation for their eternal life.

Our new and beloved Holy Father, Pope Francis, has already begun to stir our consciences with his reminders of the need to care for the poor and to "make a mess" in our parishes. He has told us, "We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods," although most people miss the 'only' in his quote.  After reading through most of his interviews to date, it becomes so clear that he is asking us, all of us,  to help those less fortunate;  to help those who are weaker; to stand against injustice; to seek justice; to preach Jesus in word and action. 

Truly respecting life means that one understands and STANDS for the right of the preborn to live, recognizing humanity begins with conception. Truly respecting life means that one understands there is no reason in civil society to end someone's life. Truly respecting life means that one STANDS up for the rights of others to live to the end of a natural death.

Life is Good!!

Blessed Mother Teresa said, “Any country that accepts abortion is the poorest of the poor.”

Here in the U.S., so many more people suffer from Spiritual poverty than Material poverty.  Consider the mother who enters an abortion mill ignoring her heart’s knowledge of the child in her womb who will die as a result of the procedure about to be performed. Consider the isolation in her soul, even if the father of her child is with her. Consider the crushing poverty they suffer in their hearts with No Faith, No Hope, and No Love (Charity). Consider the hopelessness that doesn’t let the light of the Gospel shine in them.

Our commission, as Catholic Christians, is to be that light for those who cannot find their way. We must shine for the poor souls who can see no other way except to kill their own baby.  For them, we must speak of the sacred beauty of all life and defend it in the “public square.”  We must pray for those who consider or have decided to end the life of their unborn child. Pray that you may be the light in the life of someone who is lost and hopeless. Act to build the Culture of Life by praying, fasting and showing a merciful attitude toward all.

 “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God”. Deut. 30:19b

Response to Open Letter from Fr. Pavone

Nancy Pelosi responds to Fr. Frank Pavone:


HAHAHAHA!


God help us all.

The Supreme Court Ruling and the Church.

An explanation regarding why homosexuality is part of the Culture of Death, and not the Culture of Life.

This link came from On This Rock  a blog by Fr. John Hollowell, a diocesan priest for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Follow the links to sign up for your own email updatess from On This Rock .

The content of the blog follows:


The Church and Today's Supreme Court Decision

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 09:22 AM PDT

10 years ago, the Church wrote a document warning about decisions like the one we have today from our Supreme Court.  The document is entitled

CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION TO UNIONS BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS

Click here to read it.  I wonder how often it has been preached on?  I wonder how many Catholics (priests or otherwise) have ever bothered to read it?  It isn't nearly as entertaining as all of the entertainment options that we have out there (computer games, tv shows, movies, Netflix, etc.) but if you want to do something positive to try to save the Republic then do the following

1) read the thing by clicking here

2) then read it again (click here) figuring out "how can I succinctly help someone else understand what is in this document?"

3) then go succinctly help someone else understand what is in this document

Fr. Pavone asks a favor!

Ms. Pelosi says abortion is "sacred ground" as a Catholic. This is an insult and a defamation of Catholic beliefs and teachings. 

Priests for Life is asking for people to sign a letter (it is editable, if you would like to make changes) and send it to Congresswoman Pelosi, reminding her of her duty as a public servant and her obligation to follow Church teaching as long as she continues to call herself a Catholic.

Below is the body of the letter, and this is the link to the landing page to sign it at Priests for Life. Will we change Ms. Pelosi? Probably not, but by making ourselves heard, we will be able to answer "yes" when Our Lord asks if we spoke up for life.

Last Thursday, June 13, you were asked a question in a press briefing that you declined to answer. The question was, 'What is the moral difference between what Dr. Gosnell did to a baby born alive at 23 weeks and aborting her moments before birth?'
Given the fact that the Gosnell case has been national news for months now, and that Congress, where you serve as House Democratic Leader, was about to have a vote on banning abortion after 20 weeks fetal age, this was a legitimate question.
Instead of even attempting to answer the question, you resorted to judgmental ad hominem attacks on the reporter who asked it, saying, 'You obviously have an agenda. You're not interested in having an answer.'
Mrs. Pelosi, the problem is that you're not interested in giving an answer.
Your refusal to answer this question is consistent with your failure to provide an answer to a similar question from members of the Priests for Life staff. Several years ago, they visited your office with the diagrams of dismemberment abortion at 23 weeks, and asked the simple question, 'When you say the word 'abortion,' is this what you mean?' In response, nothing but silence has emanated from your office.
In what way is this refusal to address an issue of such national importance consistent with the leadership role you are supposed to be exercising? Public servants are supposed to be able to tell the difference between serving the public and killing the public. Apparently, you can't. Otherwise, you would have been able to explain the difference between a legal medical procedure that kills a baby inside the womb and an act of murder -- for which Dr. Gosnell is now serving life sentences -- for killing the same baby outside the womb.
Moreover, you stated at the press briefing on June 13, 'As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground to me when we talk about this. I don't think it should have anything to do with politics.'
With this statement, you make a mockery of the Catholic faith and of the tens of millions of Americans who consider themselves "practicing and respectful Catholics" and who find the killing of children -- whether inside or outside the womb -- reprehensible.
You speak here of Catholic faith as if it is supposed to hide us from reality instead of lead us to face reality, as if it is supposed to confuse basic moral truths instead of clarify them, and as if it is supposed to help us escape the hard moral questions of life rather than help us confront them.
Whatever Catholic faith you claim to respect and practice, it is not the faith that the Catholic Church teaches. And I speak for countless Catholics when I say that it's time for you to stop speaking as if it were.
Abortion is not sacred ground; it is sacrilegious ground. To imagine God giving the slightest approval to an act that dismembers a child he created is offensive to both faith and reason.
And to say that a question about the difference between a legal medical procedure and murder should not "have anything to do with politics" reveals a profound failure to understand your own political responsibilities, which start with the duty to secure the God-given right to life of every citizen.
Mrs. Pelosi, for decades you have gotten away with betraying and misrepresenting the Catholic faith as well as the responsibilities of public office. We have had enough of it. Either exercise your duties as a public servant and a Catholic, or have the honesty to formally renounce them.
Sincerely,