psalm123

Work and school has me pressed for time, so here is an important post from Thomas Peters  http://americanpapist.com/blog.html

"A second and related cause is the protection of Childhood Innocence in our nation's schools. Homosexual activists are attempting to teach school kids inappropriate material about the homosexual "lifestyle" starting as early as kindergarden (this really is happening already - and almost always its the parents who are the last to know) One of the leaders of this "queering" movement, Kevin Jennings, was appointed by President Obama to the Deparment of Education.

Now through the efforts of American Principles in Action, we're trying to get him expelled:


I've written extensively on Jennings here, and will write on the situation in Maine soon.

Here are five effective ways you can help:

1. Link to this post from your blog, website, facebook profile, or through sending emails
2. Watch, favorite, rate, comment on and/or embed each of these YouTube videos
3. Join the Facebook groups Expel Kevin Jennings, and Stand For Marriage Maine, and invite your friends. Re-tweet this message for Jennings and this message for traditional marriage.
4. Visit http://www.expeljennings.com/ to sign the petition requesting Jenning's removal, and visit http://standformarriagemaine.com/ to find a variety of ways you can help them save marriage in Maine
5. Pray for the protection of children, and for the preservation of traditional marriage

I know there are many causes that are worthy of our attention these days, but these are two critical issues close to my heart, where small, organized actions taken by us can have a great and beneficial effect. Together, we can win this."

 

Work plus school has me pressed for time, so here is an important post from Thomas Peters at  http://americanpapist.com/blog.html

Video: Traditional Marriage and Preserving Childhood Innocence

Two videos this morning about two important causes....

First, the battleground to preserve traditional marriage in the United States is currently in the state of Maine. The victory won in California through the passage of Proposition 8 last November in California is threatened if the referendum for traditional marriage in Maine is defeated (30 out of 30 of the previous state referendums have all preserved traditional marriage, but this vote in the liberal state of Maine is down to the wire - and it will take place on November 4th).

Here is the latest video from Stand For Marriage Maine:

This excellent speech is definitely worth posting.  I agree with Thomas Peters(americanpapist.com) when he says "I think Abp. Burke has provided Catholics in America with a comprehensive manifesto for action in the coming year. I think his speech will have wide, beneficial consequences, or at least I pray that it does." I think it's required reading for Catholics in America".

WASHINGTON, D.C.
MAY 8, 2009
KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Introduction

1. I am deeply honored to give the Keynote Address at this annual gathering of Catholics to pray for our nation. I express my heartfelt esteem and gratitude to those who, each year, organize and support the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

2. The theme of this year's Breakfast is most fitting to the difficult time through which our nation is now passing. Before the fundamental and great challenges which we as a nation are facing, how better to express our patriotism than by celebrating the teachings of our Catholic faith. The most treasured gift which we as citizens of the United States of America can offer to our country is a faithful Catholic life. It is the gift which, even though it has often been misunderstood, has brought great strength to our nation, from the time of its founding. Today more than ever, our nation is in need of Catholics who know their faith deeply and express their faith, with integrity, by their daily living.

3. Although I no longer have my residence in our beloved nation, I am no less bound to practice the virtue of patriotism, taught and exemplified by Our Lord during His public ministry. It is Our Lord Who gives us, in the Church, the grace to practice patriotism as a fundamental expression of the bond of charity which we have, in Him, with our fellow citizens. From my earliest formation in the life of the faith, received at home from my parents and in the Catholic schools, it was clear to me that duty to one's nation, to one's fellow citizens, is integral to our life in Christ in the Church. In the Baltimore Catechism, the virtue of patriotism is joined with filial piety. These essentially connected virtues, in the words of the Catechism, dispose us to honor, love and respect our parents and our country (Revised Baltimore Catechism and Mass, No. 3, New York: Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1949, 1952, no. 135). Surely, the most fundamental expression of patriotism is daily prayer for our homeland, the United States of America, her citizens and her leaders. Our participation in the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast is, I trust, an extraordinary expression of the daily prayer which we all offer for our country, as good Catholics and, therefore, good citizens.

4. It pleases me that today's celebration included a presentation by Mother Shaun Vergauwen, Superior General of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. I have known Mother Shaun's religious congregation for all the years of my priestly life. The consecrated life of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist is an inspired witness to the truths of our Catholic faith, especially what pertains to the Gospel of Life, and, therefore, also makes a strong contribution to the good of all citizens in our nation.

Growing Crisis in Our Nation

5. I come to you, this morning, with the deepest concern for our nation. I come to you, not as someone who stands outside of our nation but as a citizen who, with you as fellow citizens, takes responsibility for the state of our nation and, therefore, cannot remain indifferent and inactive about what most concerns the good of us all, especially those among us who are small, weak and defenseless.

6. Over the past several months, our nation has chosen a path which more completely denies any legal guarantee of the most fundamental human right, the right to life, to the innocent and defenseless unborn. Our nation, which had its beginning in the commitment to safeguard and promote the inalienable right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" for all, without boundary, is more and more setting arbitrary limits to her commitment (cf. The Declaration of Independence: Action of Second Continental Congress, 4 July 1776, in The Constitution of the United States with the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2002, p. 81). Those in power now determine who will or will not be accorded the legal protection of the most fundamental right to life. First the legal protection of the right to life is denied to the unborn and, then, to those whose lives have become burdened by advanced years, special needs or serious illness, or whose lives are somehow judged to be unprofitable or unworthy.

( Read more... )

Another good response from the bishops.

Los Angeles, Dec 6, 2008 / 01:37 pm (CNA).- The bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, led by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, issued a letter to homosexual Catholics on Friday seeking to ensure them that the Church’s support for Proposition 8 was not meant to diminish their dignity or their membership in the Church. The true aim of the Church’s support, the bishops write, was to “preserve the ordered relationship between man and woman created by God.”

The pastoral letter, which was printed in the archdiocesan paper The Tidings, is written to all homosexual members of the Church as well as the rest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. According to the bishops, its purpose is to offer reassurance to gays amidst the fallout surrounding Prop. 8’s success that they are “cherished members of the Catholic Church, and that we value you as equal and active members of the Body of Christ.”

The letter then states the reason that the Church supported Prop. 8 was to “resist a legal redefinition of marriage.” “Our support for Proposition 8,” the bishops say, “was in defense of the longstanding institution of marriage understood as the life-long relationship of a man and a woman ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of their children."

( Read more... )

 

Taken from
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=1313

When discussing "gay marriage" with people who immediately pull the "hate card" in regards to Church teaching , I always issue the challenge to argue against the reason and content of the arguments the Church proposes rather than simply name calling.  The arguments presented by the Catholic Church (and others) against so called gay marriage are based in reason, logic, anthropology, psychology, public policy and jurisprudence. There is no hate involved.  I am concerned for the good and decent people who stand to be hurt by unjust accusations of "hate" when standing up for traditional marriage. Respect and "tolerance" is a two way street.

San Francisco archbishop defends marriage-amendment supporters
December 04, 2008

In a column that appears in tomorrow’s edition of the San Francisco archdiocesan newspaper, Archbishop George Niederauer defends supporters of Proposition 8 against the charge that “hatred, prejudice and bigotry against gays, along with a determination to discriminate against them and deny them their civil rights” motivated their support for the amendment that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

“The churches that worked in favor of Proposition 8,” the archbishop writes, “did so because of their belief that the traditional understanding and definition of marriage is in need of defense and support, and not in need of being re-designed or re-configured … Members of churches who supported Proposition 8 sincerely believe that defining marriage as only between a man and a woman is one such issue. They see marriage and the family as the basic building blocks of human society, existing before government and not created by it. Marriage is for us the ideal relationship between a man and woman, in which, through their unique sexual complementarity, the spouses offer themselves to God as co-creators of new human persons, a father and mother giving them life and enabling them to thrive in the family setting.”

( Read more... )

Full article here.  http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/?i=1505

I mention statistics because of the friendly back and forth with Josh. This post is pretty much unrelated.  This is taken from http://www.drlaura.com   Here I think we can establish more of a causal relationship with some of the stats than we saw with the pro-atheist video. Anyway.........

  C'mon now, isn't it just better all the way around to marry for the right reasons, have kids within the bounds of a committed and stable marital relationship, and not shack up? (especially after a divorce with kids).  We can do this. Society can begin to change its self- centered views on dating, marriage, morality, children and family.  This can be done. I have faith! 

No time to write much today. Here is a random article I took from   http://www.catholicnewsagency.com   

Off to class. 


Take care.

I have been extremely busy lately thus my time online has been minimal. I am currently carrying a pretty heavy patient load at work and the school semester is beginning to wind down towards finals.

Here is a random letter from Dr Laura's website. http://www.drlaura.com  

This is yet one more example of the negative effects that modern day feminism has had on marriages.  What we have been seeing more and more the past 20 years is women who become selfishly absorbed in everything in their lives but their spouses. I do think that the mistakes of my generation in this area have caused many a broken home. Hopefully, people who have lived through this situation once or have witnessed it in other peoples lives will reconsider the motivations that drove their behavior so that the same mistake will not be made again. 

take care

 I think I posted about this 'dating' service before. Considering how society downgrades marriage these days a site like this doesn't surprise me. Considering the constant lowering moral standards of 'dating' relationships these days, a site like this doesn't surprise me.  Anyway, I realize that many of these letters are posted on Dr Laura's website in order to stir up sales for her books "Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" and "Proper Care and feeding of marriage" as well as her other works.

 Having said that, many of the letters she posts describe situations that many of us have either experienced personally or witnessed with others. The books I previously mentioned were written to address the reality that is of the "good" guy who is married to an angry feminazi type. They weren't written for women who chose to marry  jerks. I am not into self help books and consider the majority of the ' pop-psych' material out there to be a complete waste ...if not dispensers of harmful so-called advice. I do however recommend Dr Laura's books highly. She just makes sense...and tends to do so  well beyond the superficial fluff and odd psychology that fills multiple shelves of the 'self help' section of your local book store. If I was ever to marry again, my personal precondition would be..... The woman MUST read The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. :)  Sounds silly but it's true. 

Taken from 
http://www.drlaura.com/main/



 

This is how things are done. 

 

A letter taken from  http://www.drlaura.com/main/

Sometimes it takes something as extreme as a life threatening illness to open our eyes to reality.  In my line of work, I am very much outnumbered by women. One thing that I have experienced is that women just love to openly discuss every aspect of their relationships with husbands/ boyfriends.  Single coworkers especially seem to lack a certain personal information filter when discussing their boyfriends.  Oh man, the stories I have heard.   From "dating" a married man to shaking up after 3 months of dating, to all the predictable fallout from the aforementioned stupidity....I have heard it all.  

Anyway, I thought this letter was insightful.  This woman finally saw the light. Sadly, it took a brush with death in order for her to look past the false messages of society and realize just how blessed she had been all along.


 

Taken from http://www.drlaura.com 

This Wife Didn't Read "The Proper Care & Feeding of Marriage"

 

Interesting letter.  There is a lot of social commentary that could be done with this one but .....I'm too tired. There are many other things that I have been meaning to write about but I keep letting myself get too busy.  Must work on that. 

	Subject:	Mr. Mom & The Super Nanny
	Date:	2007-08-20
Mr. Mom & The Super Nanny Dr. Laura, I recently watched an episode of Super Nanny and what struck me was how it was politically correct to a fault. The father had quit his satisfying, successful job to stay home so that the mother could buy and own her own daycare business. Throughout the episode we saw the father despondent, barely interacting with his family, feeling no sense of accomplishment anymore. The mother was exhausted, guilty for leaving her kids, listless, and just generally miserable. The kids were talking back, using foul language, violent to their parents and bullying other kids at their own mother's daycare. The Super Nanny, in true liberal fashion, told the father he needed to feel pride in his role as homemaker, and proceeded to deal with the symptoms instead of the underlying problem. I'm not saying that mothers should never work and men should never stay at home, there are certainly situations where this is appropriate. That being said, pretending that men don't feel emasculated when they're no longer providing for their families and women don't feel emotionally disconnected when they are away from their kids doesn't change the truth of who we are as mothers and fathers. To make this switch for pure monetary reasons seems to me to be true folly. During one commercial break the Super Nanny even took the time to record a special parents tip where she admonished fathers that if they don't feel satisfied playing Mr. Mom it must be their own fault. My wife, my three boys and I live in a small 2 bedroom house in the country. It's sometimes a bit cramped but my wife is able to stay at home, she is our children's mother, and we both receive great satisfaction from the roles that we try every day to magnify. Jonathan

I am back from a very nice vacation. I hope to post something on here soon. In the meantime, here is the latest entry from Dr. Laura on her blog.  I've been talking about how the family unit in America has been under attack by various forces for a long time now. This is just one more small proof that the lies our society has embraced in the past decades have done much to decay the family.  The me first attitudes, the decrease of moral standards to shameful lows,  the acceptance of just about any "alternative" lifestyle, the devaluing of life through abortion, and the overall lack of the ability to use common sense in the realm of dating relationships and married family life have all contributed towards weakening the family. 

As a sidenote, I think Dr. Lauras Books  "The Proper Care & Feeding of Husbands" and  "The Proper Care & Feeding of Marriage"  should be required reading of all potential married couples!


Is Marriage Becoming Just Independent Roommates With Sex?
August 9, 2007 on 12:00 am | In Marriage EMail This Post

I’ve written several times now about how the responsibility for children is moving lower on the priority scale to minimal status in our society.  You can see this in the flippancy with which unmarried women have children, exposing them to a life with no father and the jarring repetition of Mommy’s newest love fling.  Or the way children are thrown into institutionalized day-care from birth, or are shuttled between casually divorced parents busy with new romances and career opportunities.  You even see it with the increasing number of children left to die in the back seat of cars, because their parents forgot all about having a child in the first place!

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, having children has fallen to eighth on a list of nine keys to happiness in marriage, way behind what is now considered more important, such as sharing household chores and being faithful:

1. Fidelity 2. Good sex 3. Sharing household chores 4. Adequate income 5. Good housing 6. Shared religious beliefs 7. Shared tastes and interests 8. Children 9. Agreement on politics

93% 70% 62% 53% 51% 49% 46% 41% 12%

I see these results as ominous.  If this self-centered “it’s all about what I wanna have and do, with little inconvenience or stress” attitude continues, future generations of children will suffer increasing neglect.  This neglect will cause deep emotional pain and social chaos as their “acting out of control” behaviors negatively impact American society.

Of the nine qualities these folks mention as important for a successful marriage, only one had anything to do with giving, and that is children. The rest have to do with getting.  Thoughts of division of labor and responsibilities are clearly out the window as the issue of which person might be doing more in the house than the other is more important.   That sounds more like roommates than loving spouses.

When 50% more folks think that not taking one more bag of garbage to the curb than their spouse is more important to a marriage than combining love and energies into making a family, America is in trouble.

Much of Europe is already in trouble with this mentality, with the birthrates not replacing or growing their populations.  Italy is most impacted, with most of its population considered “elderly.”

Taken from one of many Catholic web sites I visit frequently.  A little commentary on this letter coming soon.

Some Advice from a Parishioner

For the last few years I (Fr. Bugarin) have published an anonymous letter I
received from a parishioner during Lent in 2005. Usually I toss anonymous letters right away but this one escaped that fatal ending.

“Fr. Bugarin, I was very moved by your homily on Sunday, February 13, 2005, regarding Hell, Satan, and the response of faithful people to temptation. I am the father of an adult son and daughter, and it pains me to think of the mistakes my wife and I made in raising our children. We thought we had a clever, well thought out solution to the dangers and evils of the world, but instead we were victims of our over estimation of our own perceived abilities and power. In so doing we neglected the saving power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the intercessory power of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Knowing the evils and temptations of our world, my wife and I sought to shield our children through endless activity. Like many other parents, we got our son involved in hockey and our daughter in dance; our goal was to keep our children busy and thus not give them a chance to get in trouble. However, I now realize that in engaging in a futile attempt to shield our children from battle with the Devil we were instead merely failing to equip our children for their inevitable battles with Satan. We attempted a human solution
to a spiritual problem, and our human limitations and inadequacies resulted in failure. We failed to fill our children with Christ, and instead left a vacuum too easily exploited by Satan.

“In focusing our children on endless activity we created selfish, self-centered children. By failing to involve them in Catholic charitable works we taught them to believe they were the centers of their own universes. We replaced rosaries, adoration and bible study with ice time, games and recitals. We missed Sunday masses for tournaments and catechism for performances, and we rationalized it by asserting that it was ‘for the best.’ How wrong we were.

“Today, both of our children have left the Church. Our daughter is living with a man and has had an abortion; our son has experimented with drugs and regards the Church with contempt and cynicism. Our first priority should have been to pass on the faith and to teach trust in the Lord; instead, we relied on our human intellect and put our faith in schemes of this world.

“If I could only go back in time I’d make every Sunday mass as a family, lead my family in a weekly rosary, take my children to pray in front of an abortion clinic, lead them in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and help them volunteer at a soup kitchen. For despite our best efforts and intentions there still were times my children were alone and lonely, tired and weak, hungry and desirous. I failed to anticipate and prepare my children for those inevitable times of temptation, and the Devil had been patiently waiting.

“Father, please print my letter in the church paper. If it will serve as a warning to at least one family it may help them to avoid the pain and regret my wife and I have experienced.

An Anonymous St. Joan of Arc Parishioner.”