The outspoken Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson Tells Hannity about "radical Islam"

Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson had one clear message when asked why the administration has trouble labeling radical Islam for what it is.

The Holy Cause of Liberty :

If You Snooze You Lose

By Pearl Leona Sturgis

Bill of Rights Commemorative Day


On March 23, 1775 Patrick Henry spoke of the Holy Cause of Liberty. The Federal constitution was...as stated in the preamble...to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. From the determined barons who 899 years ago forced King John to place his seal on the Magna Carta to the courageous Patrick Henry whose bold assertions in 1765 against tyranny and in defense of inherited and God given rights the "Holy Cause of Liberty" has had its defenders-even unto death!

What of the Holy Cause of Liberty today? What of our posterity? What of ourselves? A panel discussion at this year's banquet will consider the question. Each panelist will consider their own observations, concerns and recommendations, followed by an opportunity to comment on the remarks of others, time permitting. Those attending will have opportunity to question the panelists.Nominations are still being accepted for the recipients of the 2015 Bill of Rights Award.which will be announced that evening.Come for an enjoyable and informative evening. Meet a diverse group of folks concerned for Liberty's future. Commemorate Bill of Rights Day with us.In Liberty's Cause.Carris Kocher

* What an honor that I have been invited to that banquet. Even if I don't get to go I consider it a great honor. I met her over a TV show called "Voice of Freedom." She took my Pilgrims Path to Freedom history compilations and made copies for home school in the year 2000. She stated there was not another history book she had found as informative as what I had compiled of Pilgrims before reaching America in God's Providence. They fled from persecution to this Free Country

Perry Stone Ministries


MAJOR ALERT:

 I have just been informed of a major plan by the extreme left, that has the support over 100 House members and numerous Senators, that if passed would make it a crime for churches and ministers to publicly say the gay lifestyle is a sin, or not allow them to use your church for their own meetings. It would become a crime and the Justice Department would investigate the allegations of "discrimination", and if the church or minister is "guilty" leveling fines, or if need be incarcerating the leaders. The majority of the politicians among these church haters that are intolerant to traditional religious beliefs happen to be with linked with the "donkey party," and most have no liking for conservative Christians and will use the law to "Silence the religious right," as they call it. We will soon find out within the "church" who is on the Lord's side of the Scriptures and who is "halting between two opinions." It is the days of Elijah all over again, where the Spirit of Jezebel is after the heads (voices) of the men of God. There is serious government persecution coming to all who stand for truth, and when the "left" becomes violent, as did the men of Sodom against Lot, threatening to rape him for his rebuke of their iniquity, God will change the game and the United States hedge will be removed and catastrophic natural disasters will be unleashed. Please mark this day, this post and repost to as many as possible. We must pray for God's Word to always prevail. Also, a UK report from scientists stated that in the future the earth in in danger of a catastrophic meteor shower! Hummm - I recall Jesus predicting the "stars falling from heaven and the powers of heaven being shaken." Sounds like the last days! - more to come on periscope

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LOSING MY RELIGION

As a writer and commentator, Lydia Goodman is passionate about speaking out against progressive policies that threaten to erode our personal rights, freedoms, and traditions. Lydia has also written numerous articles on world human rights issues, in an effort to focus attention on the atrocities perpetuated against people of faith.

Where is the Garden of Eden?

AS IT WAS TOLD IN THE BIBLE, GO TO THE GREEN THEN THE BIBLE

What Science Really Says about Religion

In the March 25 issue of The Weekly Standard, the lead article entitled "The Heretic" deals with philosopher Thomas Nagel, who has abandoned his long-held perspective on philosophy and religion. This has caused consternation and alarm among contemporary philosophy professors, the great majority of whom are strongly committed to an atheistic world-view.  A recurring assertion by members of that profession is that they are being very scientific, because science disproves religion. 

White House vs. Little Sisters of the Poor

From coast to coast, the lawyers of religious groups and charities can almost quote the following legal language by heart. This is, of course, linked to the strange — from a church-state separation perspective — Health and Human Services mandate that attempts to create two different levels of religious liberty in the United States.

Group health plans sponsored by certain religious employers, and group health insurance coverage in connection with such plans, are exempt from the requirement to cover contraceptive services. A religious employer is one that: (1) has the inculcation of religious values as its purpose; (2) primarily employs persons who share its religious tenets; (3) primarily serves persons who share its religious tenets; and (4) is a non-profit organization under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(a)(1) and section 6033(a)(3)(A)(i) or (iii). …CONT. READING

Submitted by : Claire Golaszewski

Obama Won’t Allow Americans to Practice Catholicism

By Terence P. Jeffrey

"Catholicism teaches that it is a sin to use, provide, or otherwise support contraception."
These words are not from the Catholic Catechism or a sermon by a Catholic bishop. They are excerpted from the preliminary injunction U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland issued last month temporarily stopping the Obama administration from forcing a family-owned outdoor-power-equipment company to comply with an Obamacare regulation that requires virtually all health care plans to provide women (but not men) with co-pay-free coverage for sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.

Read More

When was Jesus born?

 

 

The History of Christmas

 

 

Obama v. Church: Who Will Win?

Now that Barack Obama has won re-election and the Republicans failed to gain control of the Senate, Obamacare is here to stay. And it may usher in one of the greatest and costliest battles in our nation’s history – Barack Obama v. Church.

Story of possible miracle !

Story of possible miracle for Venerable Sheen

Boy’s mother thought ‘Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen’ over newborn’s lifeless body

By Maryann Gogniat Eidemiller

James Fulton Engstrom and his family were among more than 1,200 people attending the Mass of Thanksgiving in September at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Ill., which celebrated that in June, the Church declared Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen “venerable.”

James Fulton Engstrom, far right, poses with siblings Bennet, Lydia and Teresa (baby). Photo courtesy of Bonnie Engstrom

James, 2, is too young to understand that his life — and his near death at birth — may play a role in advancing the cause for Archbishop Sheen’s canonization.
“I believe that Jesus Christ healed my son, but that Fulton Sheen’s prayers were an integral part of that happening,” his mother, Bonnie Engstrom, told Our Sunday Visitor.
The alleged miracle of Sheen’s intervention in James’ life was investigated by a tribunal in the Diocese of Peoria. The sealed documentation was sent to Rome last December for consideration by the Congregation for Saints’ Causes and could become the miracle needed for Archbishop Sheen’s beatification.
Engstrom, 31, never expected her family to become involved in the cause and did not approach the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation in Peoria until James was nearly six months old.
“My friends and family told me that it’s a fantastic story and it glorifies God,” she told OSV in a phone interview from her home in Goodfield, Ill.

Sixty-one minutes

Who Was Archbishop Sheen?

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was born Peter John Sheen on May 8, 1895, in El Paso, Ill., and grew up in Peoria, Ill., where he was ordained in the diocese in 1919. He served in teaching positions and parish assignments, was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951, bishop of Rochester in 1966 and archbishop of the titular see of Newport, Wales, in 1969. Archbishop Sheen also was national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Sheen was a prolific writer and speaker and was famously known for hosting the evening radio program “The Catholic Hour” (1930-1950) , then “Life Is Worth Living” on television (1951-1957) and “The Fulton Sheen Program” (1961-1968). He was considered the first televangelist. At its peak, his program drew 30 million viewers and generated 8,500 fan letters a week — even while competing in time slots against entertainment giants Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra. Berle joked that Sheen used “old materials,” but conceded that if he was going to beaten off the top by anyone, “It’s better that I lose to the One for whom Bishop Sheen is speaking.” Sheen preached in front of live audiences without cue cards or script, often using a chalkboard that he joked was erased by an angel. When he won an Emmy Award in 1952, he acknowledged his writers as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. One of his most famous broadcasts was in February 1953 when he denounced the Soviet regime of Joseph Stalin and said, “Stalin must one day meet his judgment.” The dictator suffered a stroke on March 1 and died four days later. Sheen died of heart disease on Dec. 9, 1979, and is buried in the crypt of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. His books continue to sell and his programs are rebroadcast on EWTN, Trinity Broadcasting Network and Relevant Radio. The cause for his canonization was opened in 2002, designating him as Servant of God. In 2008, his archives were sealed in the Diocese of Peoria, which is sponsoring his canonization and which ended their phase of the investigation in 2009. On June 28, the Vatican officially recognized Archbishop Sheen for his life of heroic virtue, declaring him venerable.

Engstrom, who has a background in English literature, and her husband, Travis, 30, a physics teacher, had their first two children (Lydia, 4, and Bennet, 3) delivered at home and planned the same for their third. (Their fourth child, Teresa, was born in a hospital in May.)
But something went wrong with James’ birth. There was a knot in the umbilical cord and the baby, weighing 9 pounds 12 ounces, was stillborn. He was blue and limp when the midwife placed him briefly in his mother’s arms then took him back to start CPR. There was no pulse or breathing, and while they waited for an ambulance, Travis took water and baptized his son James Fulton.
They had already chosen that name because of their love for Sheen’s life and teachings. Engstrom had grown up near Sheen’s birth place in El Paso, Ill., they live not far from the foundation, and Engstrom, while pregnant, had watched videos of Sheen’s TV programs.
She remembers sitting on the floor after the delivery, thinking over and over, “Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen.” In her despair, it was as close as she could come to a prayer.
The paramedics rushed James to the hospital and tried to start his heart on the way. They administered two doses of epinephrine through lines inserted in his shin bone, and one leaked and turned his entire leg purple. The doctors and nurses in the emergency room worked on him for another 18 minutes, and one told Engstrom that she wanted James to live long enough for her to hold him and say goodbye.
He was intubated with oxygen and doctors compressed his chest, but a sonogram showed that his heart was only fluttering. Sixty-one minutes after James was stillborn, a neonatologist declared that they stop working on him and call the time of death. They stopped and, Engstrom said, “Then his heart started.”
He was admitted to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit where they lowered his body temperature to lessen further damage to his brain and other organs. He was sedated, shivering and covered with wires and tubes.
The doctors did not expect him to live beyond a week, Engstrom said. They cautioned that if he did, he would likely lose his leg and could spend his life strapped in a wheel chair, blind, severely cognitively impaired, with a ventilator keeping him breathing and a feeding tube nourishing him.

Transformative love

All they had left was prayer and their trust in God, and they asked people to pray with them. Two days after James’ birth, 100 people, some strangers, came to be part of a special Holy Hour and liturgy at the cathedral where Archbishop Sheen had been ordained and served Mass. They prayed for his intercession.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen preaching. CNS file photo

James Fulton recovered and is now a healthy 2-year-old.
“He has a speech delay, but he meets all the standards for his growth and fine motor skills, his receptive language is spot on and he uses sign language,” Engstrom said.
On Sept. 7, 2011, a diocesan tribunal was sworn in to investigate James’ alleged miraculous healing. Among others, there was Bishop Daniel R. Jenky; Dr. Andrea Ambrosi (postulator for his cause) and Dr. Louis Varela, medical expert for the Sheen tribunal.
The Engstroms were interviewed. “They wanted to establish that we had a devotion to Fulton Sheen and that it was his intercession, no other saints, that we called on,” Engstrom said.
In his homily at the Mass of celebration, Msgr. Stanley Deptula, executive director of the Sheen Foundation, noted that there was great interest in the “amazing, incredible stories” about miracles attributed to Sheen, including the alleged miracle of James Fulton Engstrom. But, he pointed out, he preferred to talk about the “miracle of transformative love” in the life of Sheen and in all who love Jesus Christ.
“Fulton Sheen could roar like a lion from the pulpit because he listened to the small, still voice of the merciful and just king of the universe,” Msgr. Deptula said. “He really loved Jesus. And he knew that Jesus loved him. And he wanted to share that love with the world. This is what we celebrate today. This is what the world needs.”

 

Georgetown’s Crisis of Faith

 

 

Exorcist’s Blatty Horrified by Georgetown’s Crisis of Faith

It’s no Halloween tale. Sadly, The Exorcist author William Peter Blatty’s account of Georgetown University’s failings—published in today’s Georgetown campus newspaper, The Hoya—is all too true.
But now the master of suspense has Georgetown officials wondering what’s lurking around the next corner. Blatty reminds them that he and other Georgetown patriots are about to file their promised canon law petition, urging Church and University officials to attend to Georgetown’s substantial decline in Catholic identity.
Blatty also asks the Georgetown community to join his Father King Society “to unite students, faculty, parents and alumni to make Georgetown honest, Catholic and better.”

Our new society is named for Fr. Tom King, S.J., who, in 1991, assisted a first canonical petition to stop Georgetown’s slow separation from the Church. That petition asked the Church to strip the university of its Catholic label if it did not stop funding abortion advocacy. Georgetown reversed itself. Soon, we will ask the Church to do something quite different. Our excitement is palpable. Like Jesuit Father Karras, we do it for “love.”

Father Karras, of course, was one of the focal characters in Blatty’s The Exorcist. His doubts about good and evil are at the heart of Blatty’s novel, which is more an exploration of faith than a typical horror story.
Blatty’s tale of Georgetown is both: a rueful story of faith abandoned and trust betrayed, and a horrific scenario for the Catholic Church, whose Faithful sacrificed for more than two centuries to build Georgetown’s reputation.

Of course, the decimation of “Catholic” began long ago when we first looked with envy toward Harvard and reduced the Jesuit curriculum. The dissidents came later, some in Roman collars and others who found personal gain in the movement against Church authority. Georgetown galloped toward secularism; even crucifixes disappeared from classrooms.

Then, in the early 1980s, a top New York public relations firm counseled the university that it was misguided to diminish its Catholic identity. Their report showed how Catholic identity was a valuable “brand” to be exploited in fundraising and recruitment. Georgetown got the memo but pursued a cynical path. In the prose, Latin quotes and other cosmetics, Georgetown would tell the world that it was “Catholic and Jesuit.” At black-tie alumni dinners, a Jesuit would be placed at every table like a flower centerpiece. The march toward secularism and moral relativism continued.

Debate is the servant of truth. In this case, debating whether Georgetown is Catholic has itself become a deception. Some say yes, some say no. But it does not matter what we think. There is only one accrediting agency that gets the last word. In 1990, Pope John Paul II, a former university professor, finally issued a normative constitution for Catholic universities, Ex corde Ecclesiae. Georgetown has a metric, but its leaders have chosen willfully to ignore it.

Blatty has great love for Georgetown. The 1950 graduate attended the University on scholarship. He was a Hoya editor, and his son was a Hoya editor. He thanked Georgetown in The Exorcist for “teaching me how to think.”
As for Georgetown’s Catholic identity, Blatty states flatly, “It is not too late.” His canon law petition will ask whether Church officials agree.

 

241 reasons not to vote for Obama

 

 

Matt C. Abbott
October 24, 2012

Yes, there are at least 241 reasons not to vote for President Obama next month. I'm sure there are many more, but I'll leave the task of coming up with the additional 425 reasons — so we have a grand total of 666 — to my fellow conservative columnists and bloggers . . . [Click for more]

Pro-life vs. social justice

Pro-life vs. social justice: a false dichotomy

October 22, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The gruesome reality of abortion first struck me when I was 17. After going through the motions for years, I had finally recommitted to my Catholic faith. As I devoured the Catechism and other great works of the faith, I remember feeling as though I had been living in the cold, shadowy depths of a cave for years only to discover that a path to the warm, sunlit outside world was just around the bend.

The wall of silence around abortion got me particularly ? how could I have gone so long with nary a hint of the genocide raging right under my nose? I knew I needed to learn more. So one afternoon, sitting in my parents? basement, I decided to take the plunge and Google: abortion pictures. After beholding those tiny, bloody limbs, my life was never the same. Suddenly struck by the conviction that abortion is the gravest of affronts to justice, I vowed that I would not rest until the injustice ended.

So you can see why I get rather rankled over talk about some Great Division in the Church between ?pro-life? Catholics and ?social justice? Catholics. In the last few days some respectable Catholic pundits have warned of a grave split on these lines in the lead-up to America?s Nov. 6th election. But as far as I?m concerned we might as well be juxtaposing male and human, dog and animal, or chair and furniture. If the pro-life battle is not a part of ?social justice,? then I don?t know what is.

The false division baffles me all the more because at the time that I was diving head-long into the pro-life cause at the age of 17, I was also falling in love with the witness of St. Francis of Assisi and the Church?s truly radical teachings on Gospel poverty. Consider this Patristic aphorism, quoted in Vatican II?s Gaudium et Spes: ?Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you have not fed him, you have killed him.? Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia puts it just as bluntly: ?Jesus tells us very clearly that if we don?t help the poor, we?re going to go to hell.? The Church teaches that to follow Christ we must not only renounce worldly values but worldly things. For me, being both unshakably pro-life and ready to sacrifice for the sake of the less fortunate were basic demands of the faith, so it took me aback when I began to see them juxtaposed.

This supposed dichotomy arises from a fundamentally sociological theory of the Church that divides the faithful into ?tribes?: ?pro-life? vs. ?social justice?; ?traditional? vs. ?progressive.? That theory in turn is based on the ?seamless garment? doctrine of Chicago?s late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, which claims that the Church?s pro-life position should be applied as part of a ?consistent life ethic? to a range of issues, including poverty, war, capital punishment, health care, and immigration. Whether stated or not, the takeaway is that the positions held by these various ?tribes? are equally valid. And the result is that it is deemed acceptable for a Catholic to vote for a candidate like Barack Obama ? despite his extreme support for intrinsic evils like abortion and same-sex ?marriage? ? because he is supposedly more focused on promoting the dignity of the poor.

But as the Vatican?s Cardinal Raymond Burke tells us, while the various public policy issues may be related, ?they are not all of the same cloth.? Discussions around war, capital punishment and government programs for the poor involve prudential judgments in which people of good faith can legitimately disagree. But abortion, same-sex ?marriage?, embryonic stem cell research, and euthanasia are intrinsically evil. Both poverty and abortion are ?social justice? issues, but that doesn?t mean they are equally grave. Poverty is an extremely important issue, but it won?t be on a level with abortion until we have politicians and activists parading the country claiming a legal right to kill the poor.

This move to divide Catholics into ?pro-life? and ?social justice? tribes, whether intentionally or not, actually undermines the pro-life movement: if the fight for unborn rights is not part of the Church?s call to pursue justice, then the movement has no grounding in the Gospels. Obviously, Christ never mentions abortion. In the Beatitudes, He doesn?t say those who ?hunger and thirst? after rights for the unborn will be ?satisfied?; it?s those who ?hunger and thirst after justice.? So if we cut off the pro-life cause from the work of justice, then we cut it off from the work of the Gospel. I don?t know if this is the explicit aim of any of the tribal theorists, but I dare say it?s part of the diabolic plan.

Along with this tribalist theory is the dichotomy that?s been imposed between the Church?s moral and social teachings, leading to the myth that the Church?s pro-life efforts are guided by Catholic moral teachings and the ?social justice? efforts are guided by the social teachings. The truth is that all of the Church?s work in the social sphere is rooted in her moral outlook. The Church seeks the common good precisely because she deems it good. So when the Church labours to alleviate the plight of the poor, that mission stems from her moral conviction that it is wrong to leave others in destitution. Likewise, the Church teaches that abortion is morally wrong but then she urges the faithful to bring that truth into society and enshrine it in law. The sad consequence of reducing abortion to a strictly moral question, divorced from the Church?s social teachings, is that we downplay the need for social action to protect the unborn.

The modern Church?s most celebrated advocate for the poor knew better. Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, who dedicated her whole life to the destitute of India, declared in her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize that the ?greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion.? Mother Teresa recognized that service to the poor is deeply pro-life ? and not in some vague, seamless-garment sense. At the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994, she revealed that her Missionaries of Charity had saved over 3,000 babies from abortion at their children?s home in Calcutta. ?Please don?t kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child,? she urged.

Embracing Catholic teaching necessitates a deep concern for all men and women who are vulnerable. But it also leads us to recognize that some are more vulnerable than others, and that if we cannot secure the most fundamental right to life, then there is no basis for the right to food or health care. Sadly, those so-called ?social justice? Catholics who are stumping for Obama have had to twist the faith to make their case ? by imposing a false equivalency on the issues, or claiming that the ?truly pro-life? candidate is the rabidly pro-abortion incumbent whose policies on poverty will supposedly, somehow, reduce abortions. The fact is that President Obama has defined himself as a public figure by the promotion of abortion and other intrinsic evils; the same could not be said of his challenger, whatever problems we have with him. In this election, there can be no ?Catholic argument? for Obama.

The division facing the Church heading into the election is not ?pro-life? vs. ?social justice?, or unborn rights vs. the dignity of the poor. In the end, it comes down to a much deeper division cutting right through the heart of the identity as Catholics in the modern world and pointing to the grave need for this Year of Faith: It?s a division between those Catholics who embrace the Magisterium and those who do not, between those who would have the world conform to Christ and those who would have Christ conform to the world, between those who would cling to the Cross amidst the blistering storm of the age and those who prefer to go along for the ride.

By Patrick Craine

5 Tips That Will Change the Way You Think About Confession

Ryan Eggenberger

There are endless resources online about confession that you can find with a simple search. So because of this, I don’t need to write about the doctrine.

What I want to do, however, is to encourage you to go if you haven’t been in the last year.

October is a great month to go back to confession. School has started, the colors are changing, and the crazy rush of the Holidays are only weeks away. If there’s ever a great time to go, it’s now.

The benefits, though, FAR outweigh the moments of nervousness. On top of just feeling better after confessing, your soul is wiped as clean as it was on the day of baptism. Not only is that a really cool thing, it means you’re properly prepared for death which can come at any moment. After all, the gate is narrow and you need to be ready at all times.

If you’re still worried about confession, keep these things in mind as you prepare to go. (If you want more moral support, connect with me on twitter and I’ll pray for you!)

1. Nobody ever regrets going to confession, no matter how tough it was.

Ask any practicing Catholic, and they will tell you that confession is one of the highlights of being a Catholic. The peace from letting it all go, confessing the guilt, and hearing that your forgiven even for these sins is indescribable.

Remember that your sins do not define you. But they will continue to eat at you until you let Christ destroy them in confession.

2. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since the last time you went.

The Bible, actually Jesus, says,

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15.7).

I can assure you that no matter how long it has been, the priest is not going to accuse you and say, “Well, where have you been? Get out of here!” On the contrary, the longer it’s been since your last confession, the happier he will be to see you back.

If you’re worried about how to confess, or what exactly to confess, you can do two things:

• Read, download, print resources that will help you prepare, like this one
• Go to confession, and tell the priest that you have no idea what you’re doing. He will gladly and joyfully help you through. Believe me, I did this for the first two years as a Catholic because I was too lazy to study how to actually do it right. I was never reprimanded ever. Also, the prayers are usually taped to the kneeler or the wall to guide you through.

3. You can confess anonymously.

The Church requires the ability for anybody to confess anonymously. That means that when you go into most confessionals, you will have an option to kneel down behind the screen so the priest can’t see you, or to sit in the chair in front of him if you are comfortable talking to him face to face.

If you’re still afraid that he will recognize your voice, you can always go to confession at a different parish, although in reality, the priest really won’t care or judge you.

4. There’s nothing you can say that the priest has not heard before.

Continuing from point 3, after years and years of confessions, you can confess just about anything and you’re not going to shock the priest with your sins. He’s heard worse.

5. The priest is not allowed to discuss your confession, EVER, even to you.

It’s true. It’s called the “Seal of Confession”, meaning that what is said in the confessional stays in the confessional. It’s like Vegas but better. The 1983 Code of Canon law 983 §1 says,

“The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.”

I want to bring this one home, because it’s important. One time I was in confession with my spiritual director. During the confession, he asked me to bring up this sin next time in spiritual direction. I said, “Father, remind me if I don’t.” He then quickly reminded me that it wasn’t an option, because he didn’t have the right to bring up anything that was discussed inside confession, even if it was to me.

The Church has this requirement for a few reasons. The best part is so that you can feel comfortable and be 100% honest in confession, with no worries that anything will be revealed outside of the box. It’s a generous gift that the Church has given, and it should be heeded. MORE

 

Additional reading: Father Z. has a post about this.

 

 

Feast Day of St. Pio

On Sunday September 23, the Church celebrated the Feast Day of



St. Pio of Pietrelcina (May 25, 1887 - Sept. 23, 1968). As we



meditate on St. Pio's holy life and holy death, we would



like to share with you these beautiful words of Father Bernardino



of Siena:







"Padre Pio has not really passed away. In San Giovanni Rotondo, we feel



Padre Pio still present and operating. The pilgrims by now are too many



to number. And they come, not as tourists, but only to pray and to



reconcile themselves with God. In this way, Padre Pio carries on the



fulfillment of his mission as a minister of Divine Mercy.







He lives on in the Prayer Groups, already present in so many parts of



the world, carrying on his mission as a man of prayer. He lives on in the



Home for the Relief of Suffering, by giving consolation and strength,



serenity and courage, to the sick. He lives on in the memory of millions



of faithful, spread all over the world."




We also want to take this time to let you know that Issue #53 of our



"Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry" Padre Pio newsletter is now available



online.This issue is the story of Elide Bellomo. Elide, of Sestri



Levante, Italy, visited Padre Pio for the first time in February 1947.



The experience proved to be very meaningful to her. A few months




later, she visited Padre Pio once again. You can follow this link to read



the story in full:

http://www.padrepiodevotions.org/2012October.asp

Does God answer prayer's?

 

 

 

 

 "Is there evidence that God answers prayer?"

Answer: Countless stories could be cited of diseases cured, exams passed, repentance and forgiveness granted, relationships restored, hungry children fed, bills paid and lives and souls saved through the efficacy of prayer. So, yes, there is plenty of evidence that God answers prayer. Most of the evidence is anecdotal and personal, however, and that bothers many who think of “evidence” only as that which is observable, measureable, and reproducible.

Scripture clearly teaches that prayers are answered. James 5:16 states that “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Jesus taught His disciples that “if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). First John 3:22 echoes this truth, saying that we “receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.”

Scripture, moreover, is replete with stories of answered prayer. Elijah’s prayer for fire from heaven (2 Kings 1:12), Hezekiah’s prayer for deliverance (2 Kings 19:19), and the apostles’ prayer for boldness (Acts 4:29) are just three examples. Since these accounts were written by eyewitnesses to the events, they constitute clear evidence of answered prayer. One might, of course, counter that Scripture does not present observable evidence in the “scientific” sense. However, no statement of Scripture has ever been conclusively disproved, so there is no reason to doubt its testimony. In fact, labeling some kinds of evidence as “scientific” and other kinds as “non-scientific” is a fuzzy and artificial distinction at best. Such a distinction can only be made a priori, i.e., prior to the evaluation of the data. In other words, the choice to evaluate the efficacy of prayer only in light of observable evidence is not a choice motivated by the data but by prior philosophical commitments. When this arbitrary restriction is relaxed, the biblical data speaks clearly for itself.

Occasionally, a group of researchers will conduct a scientific study on the efficacy of prayer. Their findings are usually that prayer has no effect (or possibly even a negative effect) on, for instance, the average recovery time of people in medical care. How are we to understand the results of studies such as these? Are there any biblical reasons for unanswered prayer?

Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (NASB). Likewise, 1 John 5:15 qualifies our receiving “anything we ask” with our obedience to God’s commands. James notes that “when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives” (4:3). So, a couple reasons for unanswered prayer are unconfessed sin and wrong motivations.

Another reason for unanswered prayer is lack of faith: “When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7). Hebrews 11:6 also identifies faith as a necessary condition for a relationship with God, something always mediated by prayer in the name of Christ: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Faith, then, is necessary for answered prayer.

Finally, some critics of Christianity make the case that, since Jesus instructs His disciples to “ask whatever you wish,” all prayers should be answered. However, such criticisms completely ignore the conditions to the promise in the first part of the verse: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you.” This is clearly a prescription for praying within the will of God; in other words, genuine prayer which God always answers is, in fact, that sort which requests, explicitly or implicitly, that God’s will be accomplished. The will of the petitioner is secondary. Jesus Himself prayed this way in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). The humble prayer of faith allows that the prayer may be answered with a “no”; anyone not offering such a prayer—anyone who demands to be answered—has no right to expect an answer.

Another reason why so many studies report the inefficacy of prayer is that it is impossible to eliminate the variables associated with the spiritual condition of those praying (is the petitioner even a believer?), the motivation for which they offer the prayer (is it to provide evidence or because the Holy Spirit has moved them to pray?), the way in which they offer their prayer (are they praying a formulaic expression or intentionally bringing requests to God?), and so on.

Even if all such lurking variables could be eliminated, one overarching problem would remain: if prayer could be tested empirically and forced to yield conclusive results, it would obviate the need for faith. We cannot “discover” God through empirical observations; we come to Him by faith. God is not so clumsy that He should reveal Himself in ways He did not intend. “He who comes to God must believe that He is” (that is, that He exists). Faith is the prerequisite and the priority.

Does God answer prayer? Ask any believer, and you will know the answer. Every changed life of every believer is proof positive that God answers prayer.

Recommended Resource: Prayer, The Great Adventure by David Jeremiah.

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Test of Fire

A powerful video launched by a group called Catholics Called 2 Witness has launched, in the name of freedom, an all out assault on the social policies put forth by President Obama.
When a non-Catholic, churchgoing friend sent me this video the message said: You don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate this ad, peaking my interest.
As a person of faith here is my interpretation of the “ad” and its underlying message.
The use of fire — a biblical symbol of God’s awesome power – is a demonstration by the Almighty of His intent to destroy or conversely to show His approval of man’s behavior.
In this video God’s people, i.e. the Catholic Church (but really all believers), must triumph over the anti-biblical social policies of the Obama administration (that are ultimately more important to fix than our nation’s economic problems in the eyes of God). But this important victory will only occur if HIS people rise up and vote Obama out of office. Otherwise our nation will be consumed by the fires of hell.
The video with over 1.3 million views is starting to go viral which means its strong message and imaging will be up for much political, social and religious interpretation.
As usual, I expect the comments of PJ Media readers to be among the most insightful.


Will you vote the values that will stand the test of fire?  Some things are more important than high gas prices or a faltering economy. They are life, marriage and freedom. This November, All Americans must stand up and protect their sacred rights and duties.

A Divine Miracle For Skeptics Who Do Not Believe In Miracles

Next to the Pope my authority on all things Catholic is my devout 89-year-old father-in-law, a long retired “government worker” from an agency that shall go unnamed. He possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of physics, history, politics and religion with a special interest in “supernatural” miracles of the Bible and Divine miracles in general.

So recently, after my husband and I had watched an interesting documentary on the making of the atomic bomb known as “The Manhattan Project,” we both agreed that Dad would also enjoy the program and the next time he came over we would replay it for him.

Today was that day.

So after he watched it, I asked my father-in-law if he had enjoyed the documentary. He said he did, but already knew much of the story. (Of course!)

However, he expressed disappointment that the documentary did not mention a group of Jesuit priests who survived the Hiroshima bomb blast without any major injuries at ground zero.

I told him this oversight was not surprising since it was, after all, a History Channel documentary but I still doubted the truth of this miraculous Hiroshima tale.

As Dad began to describe what he said was surely a Divine miracle, I hopped on Google and entered “Jesuit priests survived Hiroshima”. To my surprise, instantly there appeared numerous links to this amazing, true story now almost lost in the sands of time.

Here are the basic facts of this historical occurrence.

Photo shows the church and up the road the house where the priests lived and survived.

In Hiroshima, a group of eight Jesuit priests lived in a presbytery near the parish church less than a mile away from where the first atomic bomb ever dropped on a city exploded well within the total death and devastation radius. Keep in mind this was a blast that killed 80,000 people almost instantly and up to a total of 140,000 eventually.

At Hiroshima “Little Boy” destroyed over two-thirds of the buildings.

All eight priests in their home building sat in the direct kill zone while for miles around nothing but ashes remained. They were not only “virtually unscathed from the effects of the bomb” but none of the group suffered either the ill-effects of radiation or major injuries from the bomb blast. Furthermore, while their building received some damaged, unlike others it still stood.

While it is true that small numbers of other civilians in the blast area survived, all presumably suffered, and most if not all eventually died from radiation sickness.

What is truly miraculous is that radiation sickness did not affect ANY of the Jesuits at that time or decades later.

Why were these eight priests spared in an area of total death and destruction?



In 1976, when all the eight Jesuit priests still lived, one of the survivors, a German named Father Hubert Schiffer, represented the group with this answer:

We survived because we were living the message of Fatima. We lived and prayed the Rosary daily in that home.

What is the message of Fatima, you ask?

If my father-in-law happens not to be around to address that question, here is the answer from a 2010 Catholic Herald article that goes into much detail about this event.

The essence of the Fatima message concerns conversion from sin and a return to God, and involves reparation for one’s own sins and the sins of others, as well as the offering up of one’s daily sufferings and trials.

There is much theology wrapped up in that answer and even more in the Catholic Herald article offering layers of theological explanations as to why those eight priests miraculously survived and even lived into advanced age.

But here is the quickie 30 second version.

August 6^th, the day the bomb fell on Hiroshima, also happens to be when the Catholic Church annually celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration.

The New Testament tells how Jesus went up to a high mountain and was “transfigured” before his apostles Peter, James and John. The Book of Matthew reads in 17:2 “his face shone like the sun, and his garments became a white as light”. (First hint, similar to what the residents of Hiroshima would have seen seconds after the bomb was dropped.)

Now, fast forward ahead to the 1917 Miracle of Fatima in Portugal, commonly known as the Miracle of the Sun.


Here, the Virgin Mary appeared to three children on six different occasions and gave them prophetic messages. To then confirm that her messages were from God, in front of 70,000 people the sun appeared to spin in the sky, change colors and begin to fall to earth, but then stabilized.

(Second hint, the atomic bomb blast was as bright as the sun and fell to earth.)

Finally, there are the eight priests, who by their own account “survived because we were living the message of Fatima.”

These priests prayed the daily Rosary in the name of Jesus and Mary and while the man-made explosion of bright white sun light devastated the world around them they were somehow “transfigured” on the anniversary of that Feast Day, protected and shielded by God from the horrific white blast less than a mile away.

Now, you don’t have to be Catholic to acknowledge something of a miraculous and powerful nature kept those eight priests and their building from being reduced to ashes and shielded them from the effects of deadly radiation.

The good news, I believe, is that this awesome power is still available to you today.

If you want to learn more about this miracle just Google like I initially did, “Jesuit priests survive Hiroshima” and you will discover unlimited historical and religious material.

To get you started here is an eyewitness account from one of the priests as reported in a historical document on Hiroshima produced by Yale Law School.

For me, the real moral of this story is to never doubt my father-in-law who is almost 90 years of age, in good mental and physical health, and engages in daily praying of the Rosary. And just like those Hiroshima priests, he experienced what he believes were Divine miracles that spared his own life while he was serving his country in war zones and other dangerous circumstances throughout the world.


Categories: History, Religion, Science

Tags: atomic bomb, Fatima, Feast of the Transfiguration, Hiroshima, Jesuit priests, miracles, Myra Adams writer, radiation sickness

Stand Up for Religious Freedom

Rally Locations and Info « Stand Up for Religious Freedom

standupforreligiousfreedom.com

The Nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom is being held Friday, March 23 at noon, local time, outside federal buildings, Congressional offices and historic sites across the country. The theme for the Rally is “Stand Up for Religious Freedom—Stop the HHS Mandate!”

Muslims destroy christian-jewish cemetery from WWII

Why in Gods Name would people do this to the dead ?