Gospel for Friday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time

Optional Memorial: Our Lady of Lourdes

From: Mark 7:31-37

The Curing of a Deaf Man
[31] Then He (Jesus) returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. [32]And they brought Him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought Him to lay His hand upon him. [33] And taking him aside from the multitude privately, He put His fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue; [34] and looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." [35] And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. [36] And He charged them to tell no one; but the more He charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. [37] And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well; He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."
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Commentary:
32-33. Sacred Scripture quite often shows the laying on of hands as a gesture indicating the transfer of power or blessing (cf. Genesis 48:14ff; 2 Kings 5:11; Luke 13:13). Everyone knows that saliva can help heal minor cuts. In the language of Revelation fingers symbolized powerful Divine action (cf. Exodus 8:19; Psalm 8:4; Luke 11:20). So Jesus uses signs which suit in some way the effect He wants to achieve, though we can see from the text that the effect--the instantaneous cure of the deaf and dumb man--far exceeds the sign used.

In the miracle of the deaf and dumb man we can see a symbol of the way God acts on souls: for us to believe, God must first open our heart so we can listen to His word. Then, like the Apostles, we too can proclaim the "magnalia Dei", the mighty works of God (cf. Acts 2:11). In the Church's liturgy (cf. the hymn "Veni Creator") the Holy Spirit is compared to the finger of the right hand of God the Father ("Digitus paternae dexterae"). The Consoler produces in our souls, in the supernatural order, effects comparable to those which Christ produces in the body of the deaf and dumb man.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Gospel for Thursday, 4th Week of Advent

From: Luke 1:57-66

The Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist
[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. [58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, [60] but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." [61] And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." [62] And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. [63] And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marvelled. [64] And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; [66] and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
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Commentary:
59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to institute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his descendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the eighth day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue, and, in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the naming of the child.

With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles definitely declared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised.

St. Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff; and Colossians 2:11ff.

60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the instructions God sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).

64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made to Zechariah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20). St. Ambrose observes: `With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith untied what had been tied by disbelief" ("Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.").

Zechariah's is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant to believe in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when Jesus gave him clear proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God worked a miracle and won their belief; but normally He requires us to have faith and to obey Him without His working any new miracles. This was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished him, and why He reproached Thomas: "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Scientists to Congress: Pass the stem cell law...while you still can

"Scientists"??? Hardly. Rather, they are special interest prostitutes, acting under the guise of ‘science,’ demanding millions in grants, in order to use murdered babies for "research."

In a letter sent Friday to the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the deans of American medical schools, chief executives of U.S. hospitals and heads of organizations with names like the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the American Society of Human Genetics said that federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research “is essential” if scientists are to succeed in turning the cells into usable treatments...

The sought for "cures" & "treatments" would be worth billions. If embryonic stem cells are as promising as these death peddlers suggest, then there wouldn't need to be ANY federal funding for this gruesome research. Where are the private investors for this scheme?

What these “scientists” desire is that the 'Culture of Death' be funded from the public treasury and accepted by the citizenry.

FDA Allows Frankestein Experiments to Proceed

FDA OKs First Embryonic Stem Cell Research Trial on Humans, Despite Concerns
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration has approved the bid by cloning company Geron to undertake the first trial involving the use of embryonic stem cells in humans. They have never been used before in people because the cells cause tumors and have immune system rejection issues when tried in animals.

Scientists and pro-life advocates say human embryonic stem cells are not ready for trial because problems associated with the cells in animals haven't been solved. The embryonic stem cells still cause tumors and have issues with the immune system rejecting the injection of the cells.

The Food and Drug Administration has initially placed the trial on hold but Geron indicated today that the agency is now allowing it to proceed with an early stage trial on an stem cell therapy for acute spinal cord injury...

More here at LifeNews.com

Gospel for the 1st Sunday of Lent

From: Luke 4:1-13

Jesus Fasts and Is Tempted in the Wilderness
[1] And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit [2] for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, He was hungry. [3] The devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." [4] And Jesus answered him, "It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone.'" [5] And the devil took Him up, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, [6] and said to Him, "To You I will give all this authority and glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. [7] If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours." [8] And Jesus answered, "It is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.'"

[9] And he took Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; [10] for it is written, `He will give His angels charge of you, to guard you,' [11] and `On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

[12] And Jesus answered him, "It is said, `You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'" [13] And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
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Commentary:
1-13. Here we see the devil interfere with Jesus' life for the first time. He does
so very brazenly. Our Lord is about to begin His public ministry, so it is a particularly important point in His work of salvation.

"The whole episode is a mystery which man cannot hope to understand--God submitting to temptation, letting the Evil One have his way. But we can meditate upon it, asking our Lord to help us understand the teaching it contains" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 61).

Christ, true God and true man, made Himself like us in everything except sin (cf. Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2:7; 4:15) and voluntarily underwent temptation. "How fortunate we are," exclaims the Cure of Ars, "how lucky to have a God as a model. Are we poor? We have a God who is born in a stable, who lies in a manger. Are we despised? We have a God who led the way, who was crowned with thorns, dressed in a filthy red cloak and treated as a madman. Are we tormented by pain and suffering? Before our eyes we have a God covered with wounds, dying in unimaginable pain. Are we being persecuted? How can we dare complain when we have a God who is being put to death by executioners? Finally, are we being tempted by the demon? We have our Lovable Redeemer; He was also tempted by the demon and was twice taken up by that hellish spirit: therefore, no matter what sufferings, pains or temptations we are experiencing, we always have, everywhere, our God leading the way for us and assuring us of victory as long as we genuinely desire it" ("Selected Sermons", First Sunday of Lent).

Jesus teaches us therefore that no one should regard himself as incorruptible and proof against temptation; He shows us how we should deal with temptation and exhorts us to have confidence in His mercy, since He Himself experienced temptation (cf. Hebrews 2:18).

For further explanation of this passage, see the notes on Matthew 4:3-11.

13. Our Lord's temptations sum up every kind of temptation man can experience: "Scripture would not have said", St. Thomas comments, "that once all the temptation ended the devil departed from Him, unless the matter of all sins were included in the three temptations already related. For the causes of temptation are the causes of desires--namely, lust of the flesh, desire for glory, eagerness for power" ("Summa Theologiae", III, q. 41, a. 4 ad 4).

By conquering every kind of temptation, Jesus shows us how to deal with the snares of the devil. It was as a man that He was tempted and as a man that He resisted: "He did not act as God, bringing His power into play; if He had done so, how could we have availed of His example? Rather, as a man He made use of the resources which He has in common with us" (St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").

He wanted to show us the methods to use to defeat the devil--prayer, fasting, watchfulness, not dialoguing with temptation, having the words of God's Scripture on our lips and putting our trust in the Lord.

"Until an opportune time", that is, until it is time for Jesus to undergo His passion. The devil often appears in the course of our Lord's public life (cf., for example, Mark 12:28), but it will be at the Passion--"this is your hour, and the power of darkness" (Luke 22:53)--that he will be most clearly seen in his role as tempter. Jesus will forewarn His disciples about this and once more assure them of victory (cf. John 12:31; 14:30). Through the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, thedevil will be overpowered once and for all. And by virtue of Christ's victory we are enabled to overcome all temptations.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

After wasting taxpayer money, playing "god" yields zilch

Embryonic Stem Cell Flop in California

Without so much as a press release, Embryonic Stem Cell research is being slowly defunded by the State of California. Remember Proposition 71, the California initiative that pledged $3 billion dollars of public funds to this dubious research? Back in 2004 voters in that state bet that embryonic stem cells held the key to untold cures and therapies.

Six years later, after destroying innumerable embryos and devaluing human life, they have nothing to show for their investment. Only adult stem cell research has shown any promise. By reprogramming adult stem cells, researchers have produced astounding results; curing everything from type 1 diabetes to spinal cord injuries....

Read more here.

'Change and Hope’ Turned Out to Mean 'Culture of Death,’ Says Archbishop Burke

The pro-abortion policies of the Obama Administration are part of the “culture of death” in America, said Archbishop Raymond L. Burke at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Friday.

Burke, who serves in the Vatican as the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, warned of a moral crisis in America specifically calling Pres__ent Barack Obama to task along with pro-abortion Catholic politicians and Catholic voters that support pro-abortion, pro-homosexual positions.

“What those who were so enthused about the strong message of change and hope in the United States, delivered during the last election campaign, are now discovering is a consistent implementation of policies and programs which confirm and advance the culture of death, which can only finally leave our world without the great hope,” said Burke.

Continued here

Archbishop Burke Slams Obama's Appearance at Notre Dame

One of the Vatican's highest ranked clerics and a frequent critic of President Obama said Friday that Notre Dame is causing a "scandal" by giving the president an honorary degree and a platform to address graduates at its commencement next weekend.

'The proposed granting of an honorary doctorate at Notre Dame University to our president, who is so aggressively advancing an anti-life and anti-family agenda, is rightly the source of the greatest scandal," said Archbishop Raymond Burke, who is the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest court.

Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis and vocal opponent of giving communion to politicians who support abortion rights, told Catholics at a national prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C., that "with unparalleled arrogance, our nation is choosing to renounce its foundation on the faithful."

He pointed to several Obama administration decisions that he said have damaged "the fundamental society that is the family," citing the repeal of the conscience clause, which prohibits health care workers from refusing to participate in abortion-related services; repeal of the Mexico City policy, which allows federal funding to be used abroad to provide abortions; presidential support of the Freedom of Choice Act, which prevents government from in any way denying or interfering with a woman's right to choose; and support of the U.S. Population Fund, which he noted supports China's one-child policy.

Source.

Chairman Maobama [Public Enemy #1] and his treasonous thug criminal friends are taking this country down the path toward hell, the abode of his mentors and heroes. America would do well to awake from its complacent slumber before its citizens find themselves enslaved even more...

The fact that Notre Dame surrenders to Satan and his earthly minions like Obama is, after the genocide of unborn innocents, one of the greatest scandals of our time...

The ND Petition Has Been Delivered!

From Patrick J. Reilly, President, The Cardinal Newman Society:

First 300,000 Petition Signatures Delivered to Notre Dame Board Members, Fr. Jenkins

Copies Are Being Rushed to Rome, Papal Nuncio, USCCB and ND Bishop John D’Arcy

Manassas, Va. – Today, April 29, 2009, the first 300,000 names of individuals who signed the petition at NotreDameScandal.com — opposing the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Barack Obama at commencement — are being delivered to Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the Board of Trustees and the Board of Fellows as they prepare for scheduled meetings on Friday, May 1, at Notre Dame.

As of this morning, more than 344,000 people have signed the petition, but because of the overwhelming numbers it took The Cardinal Newman Society more than 24 hours to prepare the data and print more than 64,000 sheets of paper, double sided, which were then bound in notebooks and sent via FedEx to Father Jenkins and individual members of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees and Board of Fellows.

Copies of the petitions are also being rushed by The Cardinal Newman Society, which sponsored the petition, to Archbishop Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education; Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican ambassador) to the United States; Francis Cardinal George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); Bishop John D’Arcy, of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who presides over Notre Dame; and Bishop Robert McManus, Chairman of the USCCB Education Committee.

“Only the Notre Dame Trustees and Fellows have direct authority over Father Jenkins, so their meetings on Friday are our best hope for an end to this scandal,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society.

“It is critical for all of us to pray that the Trustees and Fellows charged with safeguarding Notre Dame’s Catholic identity will heed the 50 bishops and hundreds of thousands of faithful Catholics urging Notre Dame to withdraw its invitation to President Obama.”

The University of Notre Dame is governed by a 12-member Board of Fellows, including six Holy Cross priests, who are charged with ensuring “that the University maintains its essential character as a Catholic institution of higher learning.” The Fellows delegate most of their governing authority to the 38-member Board of Trustees, comprised mostly of lay people.

The university’s charter states: "The essential character of the University as a Catholic institution of higher learning shall at all times be maintained, it being the stated intention and desire of the present Fellows of the University that the University shall retain in perpetuity its identity as such an institution."

# # #

Gospel for Friday, 4th Week of Lent

John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Jesus Goes Up to Jerusalem During the Feast of Tabernacles

[1] After this Jesus went about in Galilee; He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. [2] Now the Jews' feast of Tabernacles was at hand. [10] But after His brethren had gone up to the feast, then He also went up, not publicly but in private.

[25] Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? [26] And here He is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to Him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? [27 Yet we know where this man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from. [28] So Jesus proclaimed, as He taught in the temple, "You know where I come from? But I have not come of My own accord; He who sent Me is true, and Him you do not know. [29] I know Him, for I come from Him, and He sent Me." [30] So they sought to arrest Him; but no one laid hands on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
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Commentary:
1-2. The Jewish custom was for closer relatives to be called "brothers", brethren (cf. notes on Matthew 12:46-47 and Mark 6:1-3). These relatives of Jesus followed Him without understanding His teaching or His mission (cf. Matthew 3:31); but because He worked such obvious miracles in Galilee (cf. Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-10, 22-26) they suggest to Him that He show Himself publicly in Jerusalem and throughout Judea. Perhaps they wanted Him to be a big success, which would have indulged their family pride.

2. The name of the feast recalls the time the Israelites spent living under canvas in the wilderness (cf. Leviticus 23:34-36). During the eight days the feast lasted (cf. Nehemiah 8:13-18), around the beginning of autumn, the Jews commemorated the protection God had given the Israelites over the forty years of the Exodus. Because it coincided with the end of the harvest, it was also called the feast of ingathering (cf. Exodus 23:16).

10. Because He had not arrived in advance of the feast (which was what people normally did), the first caravans would have reported that Jesus was not coming up, and therefore the members of the Sanhedrin would have stopped planning anything against Him (cf. 7:1). By going up later, the religious authorities would not dare make any move against Him for fear of hostile public reaction (cf. Matthew 26:5). Jesus, possibly accompanied by His disciples, arrives unnoticed at Jerusalem, "in private", almost in a hidden way. Half-way through the feast, on the fourth or fifth day, He begins to preach in the temple (cf. 7:14).

27. In this chapter we often see the Jews disconcerted, in two minds. They argue with one another over whether Jesus is the Messiah, or a prophet, or an impostor (verse 12); they do not know where He gets His wisdom from (verse 15); they are short-tempered (verses 19-20); and they are surprised by the attitudes of the Sanhedrin (verse 26). Despite the signs they have seen (miracles, teaching) they do not want to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Perhaps some, thinking that He came from Nazareth and was the son of Joseph and Mary, cannot see how this fits in with the notion usually taken from Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 53:1-8) about the Messiah's origin being unknown--except for His coming from the line of David and being born in Bethlehem (cf. Matthew 2:5 which quotes Micah 5:2; cf. John 7:42). In fact Jesus did fulfill those prophetic predictions, though most Jews did not know it because they knew nothing about His virginal birth in Bethlehem or His descent from David. Others must have known that He was of the house of David and had been born in Bethlehem, but even so they did not want to accept His teaching because it demanded a mental and moral conversion which they were not ready to make.

28-29. Not without a certain irony, Jesus refers to the superficial knowledge these Jews had of Him: however, He asserts that He comes from the Father who has sent Him, whom only He knows, precisely because He is the Son of God (cf. John 1:18).

30. The Jews realized that Jesus was making Himself God's equal, which was regarded as blasphemy and, according to the Law, was something punishable by death by stoning (cf. Leviticus 24:15-16, 23).

This is not the first time St. John refers to the Jews' hostility (cf. John 5:10), nor will it be the last (8:59; 10:31-33). He stresses this hostility because it was a fact and perhaps also to show that Jesus acts freely when, to fulfill the Father's will He gives Himself over to His enemies when His "hour" arrives (cf. John 18:4-8). "He did not therefore mean an hour when He would be forced to die, but one when He would allow Himself to be put to death. For He was waiting for the time in which He should die, even as He waited for the time in which He should be born" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang., 31, 5).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Obama Bans Embryonic Stem Cell Research???

On Wednesday, only two days after he lifted President Bush’s executive order banning federal funding of stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos, President Barack Obama signed a law that explicilty bans federal funding of any "research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death."

The provision was buried in the 465-page omnibus appropriations bill that Obama signed Wednesday. Known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, it has been included in the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services every fiscal year since 1996.

The amendment says, in part: "None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for—(1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death."...

Unless Congress passes and President Obama signs new legislation to repeal Dickey-Wicker, it will now be the law of the land at least through September 30, when this fiscal year ends....

HA! - Hoisted on his own petard!

Missouri Right to Life Denounces Obama's Actions

...As do most human beings who are capable of rational thought!

Missouri Right to Life Released the Following Press Release today, March 9, 2009

Missouri Right to Life denounces President Obama's Executive Order mandating taxpayer funding of research that will destroy living human embryos. Obama's reversal of the Bush administration's policy limiting taxpayer funding to research that did not promote the further destruction of human embryos will result in the wide-scale destruction of human life.

"President Obama's action today illustrates a profound disregard for the unalienable right to life acknowledged by our founding fathers and mandates that taxpayers will be forced to subsidize life-destroying research," said Pam Fichter, President of Missouri Right to Life.

"Missouri Right to Life supports ethical research using adult stem cells, which have produced treatments for many diseases and ailments, including Parkinson's Disease, heart disease, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. Obama's action comes at a time when scientists now possess the ability to produce embryo-like stem cells that do not involve the destruction of human embryos. President Obama is advancing an extreme anti-life agenda that sacrifices human lives in complete disregard for scientific reality."

All citizens who oppose the use of their taxpayer money to support life-destroying and unproven research are urged to contact their elected representatives and President Obama and express their outrage at this Executive Order.

Some will continue to call this fraud "President" but I will not do it. This half white/half black creature (he's not African-American!) is an evil man engaged in treason and treachery. He is an arrogant, narcissistic, self-absorbed reprobate who will not be satisfied until he has destroyed the last vestiges of a once Christian nation.

This tyrant foments the culture war like no one before him - save Satan, himself!

Mark my words well!

Contact your so-called representatives in that devil's den called Washington DC and see if anyone lends any assistance

News Updates, 11/13

US bishops approve Revised Grail Psalter, ICEL Mass translation
The US bishops on Tuesday approved by a 203-5 vote the Revised Grail Psalter for use at Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours in the United States. By a 189-30 vote, the bishops also approved, with modifications, the International Committee for English in the Liturgy’s 2007 translation of the liturgical prayers for Masses in Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter....

God Is Not Catholic, Cardinal's Word of Honor
Carlo Maria Martini publishes a book "on the risk of faith," and calls for distrust of doctrinal definitions, because God "is beyond." But this brings the risk of emptying the articles of the Creed, object Professor Pietro De Marco. And he explains why....
[The good cardinal has is no longer Catholic...He's bitter and feels justified in spreading his heresy ]

Without The Coming of Christ, the World Will Not be Just or Renewed, Pope Teaches
"Every Christian discourse on the last things, called eschatology, always begins with the resurrection,” Pope Benedict began as he turned to Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians...

Bishops warn Obama about abortion issue
Official statement: we vow to oppose 'culture of coercion'
[A statement with no teeth to a marxist dictator supported by a majority of professed Catholics who suffer no consequences in this life for their actions. Nothing new here...]

Bishops conference cuts funding for ACORN
In wake of embezzlement scandal, voter registration fraud
[Until new methods of funding are found, no doubt. This is too little, too late. The warnings came years ago, but were ignored.]

Obama has first phone conversation with Pope
Neither leader made any reference to stem cell issue

Contrary to Campaign Claim, Obama Told Paper He Attended Trinity Church ‘Every Week’
President-elect Barack Obama said in 2004 – while he was a state legislator running for a U.S. Senate seat – that he attended services at Trinity United Church of Christ every week. This is in contrast to what Obama, as a presidential candidate, said this year after controversial anti-American remarks by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright surfaced. Obama then told news outlets that he did not attend the church frequently and was not aware of Wright’s comments.
[There is no truth in this man - he is a liar and a fraud]

Same-sex "marriage" begins in Connecticut [Sure it does]
First ceremony punctuated with tears, roses, balloons
[with Satan watching over with glee]

Former Milwaukee archbishop admits shuffling abusive priests
In a deposition made public yesterday, Archbishop Rembert Weakland, the former head of the Milwaukee archdiocese, conceded that he had knowingly assigned abusive priests to pastoral work and kept parishioners uninformed about the clerics' past offenses....

Group Confirms Obama Would Fund Forced Abortions if UNFPA Money Restored
Incoming president Barack Obama is considered very likely to restore funding to the UNFPA soon after he takes office in January. However, a group that has been the top monitor of the UN agency says Obama would be forcing taxpayers to fund a group involved in forced abortions if he does. As LifeNews.com has reported, the Obama campaign confirmed to a pro-abortion web site that he would restore funding for the UNFPA...

Somali Islamic courts deny kidnapping nuns in Kenya
Group says they're 'against taking hostages for ransom'

Vatican clamps down on slackers at Curia
Timekeeping reintroduced after being scrapped in 1960

'Why Believe in a God?' ad campaign launches
American Humanist Association prepares for Christmas
{Satan's minions on the attack from another of several fronts]

Gay activists storm pulpit during Sunday worship
'Queers and trannies' target 'anti-queer establishment'
[Hose 'em down - with holy water!]

EXCLUSIVE: Did Next Commander-in-Chief Falsify Selective Service Registration? Never Actually Register? Obama's Draft Registration Raises Serious Questions

To accept abortion is to challenge God, Lord of all things...
Abortion violates the universal order created by God, Who established the right to life as a fundamental right of man. No convenience of economics or politics, social consideration, question of health or other problem can justify an attempt against that universal order....

Us Supreme Court Clerk Danny Bickell Continues Sabotage Of NJ Citizen Law Suit Challenging 08 Election
As of 9:53 AM, November 13, 2008, the Docket for US Supreme Court case # 08A407 has still not been updated to reflect the fact that the case...

Lobbyists Swarm the Treasury for Piece of Bailout Pie
Many new supplicants are lining up for an infusion of capital as billions of dollars are channeled to other beneficiaries like the American International Group, and possibly soon American Express....

House Republican leader John Boehner Demands Fed Identify Recipients of Loans
Called for the Federal Reserve to disclose the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers and the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral....

Democratic Senator Unveils Mandatory Health Insurance Plan
The New York Times reports that Democratic senator Max Baucus will unveil his nationalized health care proposal today, and (surprise!) it would require all Americans to purchase health insurance...
{The people should ensure that Congress-criminals submit to mandatory intelligence and morality checks]

Democrats’ Auto Industry Bailout Is A UAW Bailout, Group Says
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is writing a bill that would allow the auto industry to get some of the $700 billion intended to restore liquidity in the nation’s financial markets. But a union watchdog group says Frank’s plan really is intended to bail out the United Auto Workers union. Under Frank’s legislation, car companies receiving bailout money would face tougher restrictions on executive pay and dividends to their shareholders.
[Bawnee Fwank and buddies need to keep buying votes]


Mysterious glowing aurora over Saturn confounds scientists
A stunning light display over Saturn has stumped scientists who say it behaves unlike any other planetary aurora known in our solar system.


Barbara Walters Exclusive: Pregnant "Man "Expecting Second Child
In First Interview Since Giving Birth, Thomas Beatie Tells Barbara Walters About Life With Daughter Susan

New McCain Statement on Stem Cell Research Shows More Pro-Life Movement

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The campaign of presidential candidate John McCain has released a new statement on his position on stem cell research funding that has some observers saying it shows the senator continues to move in a pro-life direction on key bioethics issues.

The campaign sent comments on Monday to the ScienceDebate2008 web site on the issue of stem cell research and federal funding....

Deal Hudson a leading pro-life Catholic writer, writes approvingly of the McCain statement.

"There has been some evidence during the campaign that McCain's position on embryonic stem cell research was softening. I was skeptical of drawing any conclusions having discussed it with McCain several times. But now the more optimistic prediction has come to pass,' he explained.

Hudson interprets the McCain statement as saying he will continue the current policy of President Bush, which limits any federal funds for new embryonic stem cell research involving the destruction of human life....

National Right To Life Committee Lawyer Works Against Protection For The Preborn

Washington, DC (29 August 2008) – American Life League Vice President Jim Sedlak denounced comments made by National Right to Life Committee lawyer James Bopp. Bopp's comments opposed an amendment to the Republican Party platform that would protect preborn persons against the threat of embryonic experimentation.

"It is incredible that Mr. Bopp, while clearly identifying himself as speaking for the National Right to Life Committee, would state that embryonic experimentation is acceptable," said Sedlak.

Bopp spoke against a platform amendment to work toward a ban on embryonic stem cell research and cloning Aug. 27. He told the committee:

"It may very well be in our future that there is therapeutic research that can be done on human embryos, and there is nothing unethical immoral, improper or ... that disregards the sanctity of life if we are involved in therapeutic research."

Sedlak remarked, "Mr. Bopp clearly said he opposed creating human embryos for experimentation, but said it could be OK to experiment on human embryos that already existed. The thought that any representative of a national pro-life group would endorse experimentation on the tiniest humans is outrageous...."

It's not only outrageous - it's everything Bopp said it was not: unethical, immoral, improper - and worse! Since life begins at conception, how can anyone claiming to be "pro-life" envision a case where experimentation which results in the deliberate killing of human life ever concluude that it is permissible?

NRLC needs to correct this flawed and immoral position immediately!



HT to DM for the link!

Human Cloning Proponents Attempt Political Maneuver of Missouri Supreme Court

From Missourians Against Human Cloning:

(St. Louis, Missouri) This week both the individual Intervenor-Defendants and the Secretary of State submitted requests to the Missouri Supreme Court asking the court to “remand the case with orders to vacate the summary statement portion of the judgment.” It is interesting to note that the Secretary of State has now completely reversed the legal position she has consistently taken for the past several months., The Secretary previously filed not one but two requests for transfer to the Missouri Supreme Court (one to the Court of Appeals and one directly to the Supreme Court) following the Court of Appeals decision on May 2, 2008. Apparently, the Secretary’s legal advisors have changed their minds and now believe the case is moot—even though the purported “mooting” event occurred long before the Secretary filed either one of her requests for transfer. More likely, the Secretary has now decided it is politically expedient to vacate two decisions that set a precedent of courts actually holding her to her constitutional duties and correcting a ballot summary where she has plainly violated the law.

It is also interesting that the Secretary’s political allies, the Intervenors, joined the Secretary in claiming the lower court opinions should be vacated, but took off the gloves by feeding the Supreme Court overtly political arguments to support their legal “mootness” argument. Plaintiffs’ attorney Edward Greim made the following statements in a response submitted to the Missouri Supreme Court yesterday. “The Missouri Supreme Court should explicitly and unequivocally reject such an outcome-based, politically-driven application of the mootness doctrine. The political arguments raised by the Intervenors have nothing to do with whether a controversy is moot.”

“Missouri citizens must have judicial recourse when an elected public official violates the public trust for his or her political agenda. The law allows citizens this recourse for ballot initiatives and the courts have responded. We urge the Missouri Supreme Court to decide the issue on law and not politics,” stated Lori Buffa, MD, chairwoman of CWC.

Missouri Cures Without Cloning (CWC) is leading a broad-based, statewide coalition of grassroots organizations committed to prohibiting the cloning of human beings in Missouri. Interested citizens are invited to visit www.MOcureswithoutcloning.com for more information.

Researchers tweak stem cell creation

Researchers from California say they have improved a groundbreaking technique that reprograms skin cells back to the embryonic state, making the procedure safer by relying less on the use of viruses and genetic modification....

The reprogramming work by Thomson and Yamanaka was hailed in November as a major breakthrough, producing cells that mimic embryonic stem cells without the ethically controversial destruction of human embryos....

Promising developments? Perhaps, but since it avoids the destruction of human life, some will not be happy.

Speaking of Pigs Flying...

....How's this?

Archbishop Chaput Calls on "Catholic" Obama Supporters to Ask Him to Oppose Abortion

Sure, stranger things have happened - but....

Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) -- In the latest development of the saga over a group of Catholics who are supporting Barack Obama for president despite his pro-abortion position, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput is weighing in. Chaput says the Catholics should following the church's pro-life teaching and get Obama to do so as well....

As the the title says, when pigs fly - which may not be that far off now that the UK has embarked on its freakish experiments.

... Chaput said he can't support candidates who are pro-abortion and he urged Catholics not to do so either.

"So can a Catholic in good conscience vote for a pro-choice candidate? The answer is: I can't, and I won't," he wrote. "But I do know some serious Catholics -- people whom I admire -- who may. I think their reasoning is mistaken."

Some Catholics who back Obama say they do so because he takes stands on other issues such as war, poverty or the death penalty that impact people's lives. But Chaput doesn't buy it, especially given the enormous loss of live and injuries to people like women and unborn children victimized by abortion....

Looks to be another interesting election season, especially with professed Catholics who reject the Church's perennial teachings.

More at LifeNews.com.

British Government OK's Creation of Human-animal Embryos

British scientists will be allowed to research devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using human-animal embryos, after the House of Commons tonight rejected a ban...

They pretend to be God and engage in monstrous acts.

Edward Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough, moving the amendment to ban all admixed embryos, said mingling animal and human DNA crossed an “ultimate boundary”. He said that exaggerated claims were giving patients false hope and that the dangers of the research were unknown.

Mad scientists care not a whit about boundaries, moral or otherwise.

He said: "In many ways we are like children playing with landmines without any concept of the dangers of the technology that we are handling.”

Where will the creation of chimeras lead us? Will some crackpot in the future unwittingly unleash some devastating plague upon civilization?

It seems as if those pushing for such grotesque experimentation and research are like little children playing with dangerous tools or weapons. What absurdity!

It seems that the more we think we learn, the more stupid we become. When we act absent basic norms of morality, we hurt not only ourselves, but others as well.

Yes, children, welcome to the isles of Dr Moreau or the worldly laboratory of Dr Frankenstein. Enter! You will be safe here. We're here to help the human race!

Genetically modified human embryo stirs criticism

NEW YORK (AP) - News that scientists have for the first time genetically altered a human embryo is drawing fire from some watchdog groups that say it's a step toward creating "designer babies."

But an author of the study says the work was focused on stem cells. He notes that the researchers used an abnormal embryo that could never have developed into a baby anyway.

The "work was focused on stem cells." And this defective rationalization is supposed to excuse his ghoulish work? And then he sinks even further into his cesspool of warped reasoning by claiming that he used "an abnormal embryo that could never have developed into a baby anyway."

What naturally flows from his excuse? Let me re-phrase it for future use:

"It was embryo with brown eye genes that could never have developed into the baby we desired," or

"It was an embryo that would have developed into a baby who could have been born blind," or

"It was a embryo that was destined to suffer [name your disease] if it had been born anyway."

"None of us wants to make designer babies," said Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

I'd be curious to know where the emphasis was in this quote. Could it be:

"None of us wants to make designer babies," [we have to] or

"None of us wants to make designer babies," [only better babies] or

"None of us wants to make designer babies" [only new types of creatures].

Marcy Darnovsky, associate executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, said the Cornell scientists were developing techniques that others might use to make genetically modified people, "and they're doing it without any kind of public debate."

And why is there no debate?

What a frightening phrase - "genetically modified people." Images of both Frankenstein and "Soylent Green" come to mind. And human life is deliberately destroyed in the process.