Catholics, Orthodox Must Pursue New Evangelization Together, Pope Tells Patriarch

From Catholic World News

In a message of greeting to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Pope Benedict XVI said that Catholics and Orthodox must work together to bear witness to the Gospel in increasingly secularized societies.

New Canadian Society to Honor Sir Winston Churchill

Canadian Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Ottawa, 1937.

"The growth of population, petty as it is compared with what the future will bring, is already sufficient to sustain the social and political conceptions of what will one day be a mighty nation rich in grain and cattle, with minerals and oil in her bosom and with a climate to breed a sturdy race."

Winston Churchill, writing in the Daily Telegraph, 1930.

Winston Churchill wrote warmly and with admiration about Canada.

The late British prime minister, who inspired his nation in its seemingly doomed effort to rebuff and ultimately defeat Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany, visited this country on nine occasions, passing through Ottawa on six of them.

That is good enough reason for Ottawa Churchill scholar Ronald Cohen and a group of like-minded Churchillians to form the Ottawa Winston Churchill Society to honour the great wartime leader 46 years after his death.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Evangelicals Wrongly Accused of Not Defending Religious Liberty

From The Christian Post

By Napp Nazworth

The National Association of Evangelicals, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and evangelical publications were criticized for being silent on the lack of conscience protections in new health care regulations and federal grants in an article on the First Things “On the Square” blog.

Contrary to what the article states, NAE and CCCU did submit comments on, and strongly opposed, the lack of adequate religious conscience protections in the proposed regulations, and evangelical publications have brought attention to the issue.

In Memory of Sir Winston Churchill on His Birthday

"So when a great man dies,

  For years beyond our ken,

The light he leaves behind him lies

  Upon the paths of men."

 -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Remarks of President John F. Kennedy Conferring American Citizenship on Sir Winston Churchill at the White House, April 9, 1963

We meet to honor a man whose honor requires no meeting -- for he is the most honored and honorable man to walk the stage of human history in the time in which we live.

Whenever and wherever tyranny threatened, he has always championed liberty.

Facing firmly toward the future, he has never forgotten the past.

Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity.

In the dark days and darker nights when Britain stood alone -- and most men save Englishmen despaired of England's life -- he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle. The incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen.

Given unlimited powers by his citizens, he was ever vigilant to protect their rights.

Indifferent himself to danger, he wept over the sorrows of others.

A child of the House of Commons, he became in time its father.

Accustomed to the hardships of battle, he has no distaste for pleasure.

Now his stately Ship of Life, having weathered the severest storms of a troubled century, is anchored in tranquil waters, proof that courage and faith and the zest for freedom are truly indestructible. The record of his triumphant passage will inspire free hearts for all time.

By adding his name to our rolls, we mean to honor him -- but his acceptance honors us far more. For no statement or proclamation can enrich his name -- the name Sir Winston Churchill is already legend.

Obama's Job Approval Drops Below Carter's

Today's Gallup presidential job approval index reveals that Obama has dropped below Jimmy Carter and now has the lowest presidential job approval in modern history.  But what concerns us is the fact that 43% of the American public, no doubt processed, not educated in government schools, still approve of this illegitimate president who has succeeded in his goal to wreak division and destruction upon the institutions and economy of the United States of America.

President Obama's slow ride down Gallup's daily presidential job approval index has finally passed below Jimmy Carter, earning Obama the worst job approval rating of any president at this stage of his term in modern political history.

Since March, Obama's job approval rating has hovered above Carter's, considered among the 20th century's worst presidents, but today Obama's punctured Carter's dismal job approval line. On their comparison chart, Gallup put Obama's job approval rating at 43 percent compared to Carter's 51 percent.

Read the rest of this entry >>

USCCB Criticizes Pew Report on $26.7M Advocacy Effort; Pew Responds

The good news in the following story is that whether they spent 27 cents or $27 billion in advocacy efforts, this corrupt, staff-run, leftist organization has no influence on Capitol Hill or anywhere else in Washington.  Policy makers know this ACORN-supporting bureaucracy represents at best, a portiont of 300 old men, and certainly not the views of the vast majority of church-going Catholics.

The bad news is that there are many Catholic apostolates that are faithful to the Church's Magisterium, do promote Catholic doctrine and social teaching, are making a difference, live the Beatitudes, are changing the culture and building the Kingdom, and they could do a lot with the millions being wasted by the USCCB.

From Catholic World News

The director of media relations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has criticized a report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life that found that the USCCB devoted nearly $27 million to advocacy efforts. But the main researcher for the Pew effort defended the report.

Gary Glenn for US Senator from Michigan

Gary Glenn

In every Congressional election cycle a few key races become the focus of national attention because of the power of the personalities involved, the contrast in policy positions, or because of what is at stake in the control of the House or Senate. I am convinced that Michigan is going to be a critical battleground next year for those reasons and more.

In the Michigan Republican primary for the nomination to challenge Senator Debbie Stabenow, Gary Glenn is facing a former Republican Congressman who supported TARP, the Brady Gun Control Bill, opposes Right to Work legislation and has the strong support of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. The other Republican establishment retreads challenging Gary are not much better.

Stabenow is considered the most vulnerable Democrat Senator running in 2012, and her defeat or reelection could determine which party controls the Senate in the years ahead.

I have been privileged to know Gary for the past 14 years. He is an extraordinarily good and gifted leader with a spark of greatness our country desperately needs right now. In his twenties, Gary led the successful statewide initiative that made Idaho a Right to Work state. No less than Charlton Heston was so impressed with Gary's leadership of that effort, he agreed to make TV spots for the campaign and was a friend and supporter of Gary for the rest of his life. Gary also led a School Choice ballot initiative campaign in Michigan and for the past 13 years has transformed the state affiliate of the American Family Association into one of the most formidable advocacy groups in that state. Gary and the American Family Association of Michigan have faced down the American Library Association and ensured Internet filtering in libraries; they have taken on major hotel chains over in-room pornography and won; and they have been a bulwark against efforts to impose the radical homosexual agenda through city ordinances and in the state legislature. Gary is also a founding member of the Michigan Freedom to Work Coalition, which is pushing for passage of a Right to Work law in that state. Incredibly, support for Right to Work is booming in the very home of forced, big unionism.

In several debates involving all the Republican candidates, Gary has won by wide margins the straw polls that followed. The TEA Party movement in Michigan has agreed to unite behind a single candidate in this race, and Lord willing, Gary will be the TEA Party candidate.

Gary's enormous political skills are exceeded only by his profound love for his country and a deep Christian faith that anchors and permeates all that he does.

This race, Gary's campaign to repair the damage that has been done to this country and restore American greatness is not merely a Michigan matter. It has implications for every American. For that reason, I am writing to ask that you please give whatever you can to ensure that a true Right to Life, Reagan conservative replaces Debbie Stabenow in the United States Senate. Campaign contributions before the end of this quarter are especially needed and helpful and can be made at Gary's website. I am confident that the more you know about this good patriot and freedom fighter, the more you will want to help.

I could not recommend anyone more highly than Gary. Please join this effort "to restore the greatness of our republic." Thanks for anything you can do to help.

Gary Glenn: "Decline is a Choice"

A great message. A great new leader!

Gary Glenn's campaign website is here.

The First Sunday of Advent

Robert Shaw Chamber Singers  -  "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

Today's Gospel Reading (Mk 13:33-37)

Take ye heed, watch and pray. For ye know not when the time is.  Even as a man who going into a far country, left his house; and gave authority to his servants over every work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, (for you know not when the lord of the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning,)  Lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping.  And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch. 

From the Pastor - "Advent Counter-Culturalism"

A weekly column by Father George Rutler.

Our Lord is astonishingly patient with our culture, given that He has made the world so wonderful and yet those who live in it can be so banal in what satisfies them. The season of Advent explores life's wonders, but it is widely ignored by people rushing to celebrate a Christmas they do not comprehend. If culture is satisfied with banality, those who would know deep joy must be counter- cultural.

In many places there will be no meditating on the four Advent mysteries: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.  But these are the very things that save us from the insufferable boredom of life lived only on the surface of reality.

A good patron saint for counter-culturalism would be Pope St. Leo I. Although he lived in the fifth century, he is just what we need today, and Pope Benedict XVI often strikes me as his double. Pope Leo lived in a culture of political and moral decay. He confronted powerful barbarians threatening what remained of classical civilization. Attila the Hun and Gaiseric the Vandal were not the sorts you'd want to meet in a dark alley, and yet this pope faced them down in 452 and 455 and saved Rome. He was no less strong against various  Christian heretics whose pessimism about life had created a “culture of death,” denied that Mary was the mother of her own true God, thought that Christ could not be truly human and divine, and assumed that they were morally fine without God's help. Today we do not call them Manicheans, Nestorians, Monophysites and Pelagians, but they are alive in the schools and on television.

On the First Sunday of Advent, the new translation of the Creed renews the ancient formula for Christ as “consubstantial with the Father.” When this was defined at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the assembled bishops declared: “Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo.” The Successor of Peter as center of the Church's unity knew that this inspiration was more important for civilization than defeating Vandals and Huns.

On this Sunday we also say in the General Confession an accurate translation of the Latin: “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault,” striking the breast in an outward sign that our souls and bodies have fallen short of the God-given dignity that a superficial world tries daily to take away. In a sermon on how to prepare for Christmas, counter-cultural Leo preached:

“And hence we warn you, beloved, in fatherly affection, to make this winter fast fruitful to yourselves by bounteous alms, rejoicing that by you the Lord feeds and clothes His poor, to whom assuredly He could have given the possessions which He has bestowed on you, had He not in His unspeakable mercy wished to justify them for their patient labor, and you for your works of love.”

A Guide to the New English Translation of the Roman Liturgy

Dr. Edward Sri explains the "whats" and the "whys" behind the New Translation of the Mass coming tomorrow, the First Sunday of Advent.

Steven Hayward on "The Education of Ronald Reagan"

Low-Class Grifters Occupy the SC Governor's Mansion

Let's face it, South Carolina, we have a pair of low-class grifters occupying the Governor's Mansion.  They appear to have no scruples whatsoever and need to be watched closely by SLED, state employees, the South Carolina House of Representatives (which has "power of impeachment in cases of serious crimes or serious misconduct in office by officials elected on a statewide basis"), the media and the general public.  The question has become whether their arrogant and outlandish behavior will require the House to act before a disgusted public can clear out this trash themselves. 

Emails reveal Haley's wine cellar plans

Michael Haley

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's husband contemplated using taxpayer money to chill wine, some of which was donated by a business that later was given a private reception at the governor's mansion, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The email exchanges show Haley campaign donors that spent at least $12,043 on her 2010 election were sending first gentleman Michael Haley lists of wine that his company would donate. The wine donations were followed by the reception, where the company's brass rubbed elbows with the governor. Donor Mike Sisk of Ridgeway-based Ben Arnold Co. was appointed in April to the State Ports Authority as a non-voting member, giving him a voice in the state's import and export dealings.

Read the rest of this entry here >>

A Humble Friar and Proud Potentates

I have loved the Capuchin Franciscan Friars of Detroit since discovering the life of Detroit's and America's great saint, Father Solanus Casey.  I only wish there were more like Father Solanus and this good Brother, Al Mascia, to embarrass the gold cufflinked hierarchy who are too often focused on managing the decline of the local Church -- a decline resulting from their own failure to "launch out into the deep, and let down [their] nets."  Here is a friar, in the tradition of his founder, who can't even get use of one of the scores of vacant buildings maintained by his and most Archdiocesan bureaucracies; it might have a deleterious effect on property values.

Archbishop John J. Myers

The gold cufflink crowd of the Church's middle management find it more seemly to issue statements on "the problem of poverty" than to roll up their sleeves and prepare a sandwich for someone who is hungry, or find  a place for them to sleep.  They operate huge realty companies that market the closed and shuttered properties earlier generations of the faithful sacrificed to build.  They might think about the poverty of those in the rear view mirror as they drive to their country homes, but these days they are more likely to rub shoulders with real estate investors paying $5000 to attend one of their golf outings.  When they have to visit a parish or walk through an airport they request armed police protection to insulate them from the riffraff.  And for good reason too, the victims of criminal priests they shielded might turn up anywhere.

In the end, the brown robed monk hauling hot food and drink through the snowy streets of Detroit will do far more for the building of the Kingdom than will the pompous potentates of America's episcopacy.

Detroit's Brother Al Mascia puts soup kitchen on wheels

From The Detroit News

By Louis Aguilar

Brother Al Mascia has much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and so does his flock. 

After losing the brick-and-mortar headquarters for his Detroit-based charitable operations earlier this month, the brown-robed Franciscan friar has kept serving the homeless, the elderly and others in Detroit.

Mascia anticipated the closing of the building more than a year ago and raised $4,000 to buy two specially designed tricycles with vendor carts in front and storage trailers in the back so he wouldn't miss a beat in serving his clientele. 

"St. Francis went beyond the walls of the medieval city to serve the exiled," said Mascia, referring to St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Catholic religious order to which Mascia belongs. "Now, I have no walls between me and the people I serve." 

Mascia's Canticle Café and St. Al's Community Center used to be housed in a large aging building on Washington Boulevard that cost $200,000 a year in utilities and maintenance. The building's owner, the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, sold it to a private firm that now owns the entire side of the street.

An archdiocese official said it cannot find an affordable new space for the community center because many building owners in a rebounding downtown don't want a tenant that serves the poor and homeless.

But the development didn't stop Mascia. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, in sun, sleet and snow, he pedals into the outdoor waiting area of the Rosa Parks Transit Center on the tricycle — a practice he started last year. 

'Working for the people'

On Tuesday last week, dozens quickly lined up — the homeless Army veteran with two children, the recovering crack addict, the elderly woman who said she comes mainly to stave off loneliness. Mascia and three volunteers gave away all they had within 45 minutes. 

"Brother Al is always working for the people," said Leona Palazzolo of Detroit, who says she has relied on the friar's services for seven years. "He's always got time to listen to you, and he doesn't ever talk down to you. He's just real nice to be around." 

The change in operations might be a blessing in disguise, Mascia said.

"There is more opportunity here than the brick-and-mortar center," he said. "I see more families here on the streets, more of the mentally ill. We are about serving people."

The tricycle-based Canticle Café provides service six times a week at the public bus terminal on Cass Avenue just north of Michigan Avenue. Father Tod Laverty from St. Aloysius Catholic Church on Washington Boulevard and other volunteers operate the mobile help center on the days when Mascia is out raising money. He has already found a benefactor to buy another tricycle.

Can-do spirit

The brick-and-mortar Canticle Café would not have lasted as long as it did without Mascia's fundraising and venture into retailing. In 2008, the recession led to a decline of more than a third in corporate donations, and donations kept shrinking, the friar said. The community center served about 300 daily. It offered breakfast, groceries and clothing, Internet access and general education diploma and literacy classes, as well as medical help from a nurse practitioner. 

"Even someone like me knew that this wasn't a temporary setback. We had to act," Mascia said.

First, he began to sell shade-grown, fair-trade coffee from Chiapas, Mexico, by partnering with a local coffee vendor. The Canticle Cafe blend helps the Detroit poor and the indigenous growers in Mexico.

The venture raised thousands of dollars for the Detroit center. The cafe expanded into selling candles called Friar Lights, T-shirts and dog biscuits. The retail line still survives despite the shutting of the shelter.

Mascia is also a musician who writes songs inspired by the seniors and homeless people he meets on the job.

About two years ago, he decided to take his guitar and amplifier on the road — along with a specially made pushcart full of coffee, Friar Lights, T-shirts and CDs — mainly to suburban parishes, where he hopes his concerts will move people to help the downtown friars continue their good works.

Concert planned

Mascia has a concert scheduled for 3 p.m. Dec. 18 at Prince of Peace Church in West Bloomfield Township.

Mascia says he's eager to expand the services. He is forging more partnerships with private businesses, such as the one with Ypsilanti-based Perk and Brew Inc.'s Brenda Moore, as well as churches of other denominations and other Catholic churches, to keep growing. What he now mainly lacks, he said, is more volunteers to help him in the winter months.

"When we get the new vehicle, I hope to go into the alleys and other areas where people with no home may be seeking shelter," Mascia said. "We want them to know that someone is thinking about them."

A Very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

Today, we remember with thanks all our family members, friends and visitors to this site. May the blessings of almighty God be upon you and all those you love, in this world and the next, through Jesus, the Christ, our Lord.

The First Thanksgiving Proclamation - Read here

Continental Congress 1782 Thanksgiving Proclamation - Read here

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation - Read here

Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation - Read here

Pelosi: Catholics ‘Have This Conscience Thing’

Obviously the "conscience thing" was lacking in Mrs. Pelosi's  "Catholic" formation.

From Catholic World News

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic renowned for her support of legalized abortion, has criticized efforts by the US bishops and others in support of conscience-protection legislation for health care workers.

 The Washington Post reports:

Catholic health-care providers in particular have long said they’d have to go out of business without the conscience protections that Pelosi says amount to letting hospitals “say to a woman, ‘I’m sorry you could die’ if you don’t get an abortion.” Those who dispute that characterization “may not like the language,’’ she said, “but the truth is what I said. I’m a devout Catholic and I honor my faith and love it...but they have this conscience thing’’ that she insists put women at physical risk, although Catholic providers strongly disagree.

On one occasion, she said, laughing, one of her critics on the topic of abortion, speaking on the House floor, said, “Nancy Pelosi thinks she knows more about having babies than the Pope. They think like this. And of course I do — I think the Pope would agree — and I know more than you, too, mister.’’

Never Underestimate the Self-Giving of the Catholic Priesthood

We easily forget those good priests whose reputations can be permanently tarnished by false accusations

From the Catholic Herald (UK)

By Francis Phillips

Polish martyr Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko

There were two items in The Catholic Herald of last Friday which caught my attention. The first was a Letter to the Editor by Mrs Maureen Findlay-Wilson (mother of Fr Chris Findlay-Wilson), commenting on Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury’s address to the British Confraternity of Catholic Clergy in October. Quoting John Vianney, the Curé d’Ars, Bishop Davies had told his listeners, “The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.”She writes, “How long have we waited to hear those uplifting but pious sentiments uttered about our wonderful priests by a bishop, their spiritual father? Never underestimate the prayer, humility, work and self-giving that go with the Catholic priesthood. Remember their whole life is one of service to God and us. Where would we be without them? May God bless them always.”

Amen to all that. As one priest commentator said of Bishop Davies speech, “He took us to the essentials of the priesthood, to what really matters, not projects or plans, politics or strategies, but holiness…”

Haley Trades South Carolina's Economic Interests for Campaign Contributions

FITSNews has been doing an excellent job chronicling the corruption of the Haley Administration that many of us feared and expected.  Character counts in such offices, and South Carolina had plenty of reason to be wary of Mrs. Haley.  

She has attempted to make the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division her personal militia.  She has given high paying jobs to unqualified friends and supporters.  She has used her security detail as cocktail waiters. She has talked about transparency while omitting from her official schedule a national shakedown tour for campaign contributions. She has deleted E-mails that are state property and, under law, should be preserved and turned over to the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.  She vindictively removed the largest contributor to the University of South Carolina from its Board of Trustees.  And now, according to FITSNews, her "Savannah River sellout" for campaign contributions may result in "a net loss of billions of dollars for the Palmetto State’s economy."

Mrs. Haley says she supports legislation allowing for the recall of state officials, which is good because over 300 South Carolina citizens have already signed an online petition for the recall of Nikki Haley.  It's unfortunate that other officers of our state government, including the Lieutenant Governor, appear to be as ethically and morally compromised as the Governor.  We encourage our readers to send a message that bartering our economic interests for campaign contributions and whoring for dollars from California to New Jersey is not in the tradition of her office and will not be tolerated by the voters of our state.

RedState Interviews Gary Glenn

Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan and one of the primary candidates in next year’s Senate race in Michigan was recently interviewed by RedState.  Gary is actively seeking the Tea Party vote and has been endorsed by Mike Huckabee.

Gary's campaign website is here.

A Little Rebellion

From Chronicles Magazine
By Clyde N. Wilson

Scandalously, Thomas Jefferson once wrote to James Madison, “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and is as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.”

In the same year, 1787, in regard to what is known as Shays’ Rebellion, he wrote another friend, “God forbid that we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion.” A lack of rebelliousness among the people would demonstrate “a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. . . . And what country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance?”

The “rebellion” in Massachusetts had alarmed many, especially the masters of that commonwealth, who were imbued with a Puritan longing for regulated behavior and saw the tax revolt of Capt. Daniel Shays and his farmers as a threat to their control. In Jefferson’s perspective, the “rebels” were merely adhering to good American practice. What, indeed, had the recent War of Independence amounted to but resistance to heavy-handed government? And such rebellions against unsatisfactory government officials and policies had been a regular occurrence during the long colonial history of the Americans, especially in the Southern colonies.

New Vatican Commission Cracks Down on Church Architecture

The new commission will be established shortly, as part of the Congregation for Divine Worship. It will also be in charge of music and singing in the liturgy

From Vatican Insider

By Andrea Tornielli

Diocese of Orange's new Crystal Cathedral

A team has been set up, to put a stop to garage style churches, boldly shaped structures that risk denaturing modern places for Catholic worship. Its task is also to promote singing that really helps the celebration of mass. The “Liturgical art and sacred music commission” will be established by the Congregation for Divine Worship over the coming weeks. This will not be just any office, but a true and proper team, whose task will be to collaborate with the commissions in charge of evaluating construction projects for churches of various dioceses. The team will also be responsible for the further study of music and singing that accompany the celebration of mass.

Socialists Out in Spain

Supporters of the conservative Popular Party celebrated their victory in Spanish elections on Sunday.  The "Z" on the sign refers to Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the current prime minister.

Spaniards struggling with high unemployment and a credit squeeze delivered a punishing verdict on almost eight years of Socialist government at the ballot box on Sunday, turning to the conservative Popular Party in the hopes of alleviating the pain of Europe’s debt crisis. 

With 99.8 percent of the vote counted Sunday night, the Popular Party, led by Mariano Rajoy, had won 186 seats and a governing majority in the 350-seat lower house of Parliament, while the governing Socialists plummeted to 110 seats from 169. It was the Popular Party’s best showing, and the Socialists’ worst, since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s. 

Read the rest of this entry >>

Reagan Statue Unveiled in Warsaw

From The Telegraph

A statue to former US president Ronald Reagan, who is highly respected in Poland for having helped hasten the fall of the Iron Curtain, was unveiled by Communist-era opposition icon Lech Walesa in Warsaw yesterday. 

A statue of former US president Ronald Reagan has been unveiled in Poland

He did not mention ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in power from 1985 to 1991, and far less well-regarded in Moscow's former stamping ground than in Western Europe.

S.C. Episcopal Diocese Releases Property Claim

The distance between The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina widened last week when the diocese relinquished its legal oversight of all church property, sending what’s called a quitclaim deed to each parish.

The move merely formalizes an arrangement already in place, according to Bishop Mark Lawrence. “A quitclaim deed isn’t giving someone something they don’t have if they already own the deed,” he said.

Read the rest of this entry here >>

Matthews' "Thrill" is Gone; Turns on Obama

The rats are disembarking.

Gary Glenn Addresses 9-12 Group

Things are getting exciting in Michigan for supporters of Tea Party patriot Gary Glenn.  A few days after the above address to the Lenawee 9-12 group, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gary Glennn won the straw poll following Saturday night's Tea Party-sponsored debate in Gull Lake by double digits.  He did even better in a separate poll taken of students in attendance who are still too young to vote in next years election:  Glenn 68 percent, Randy Hekman 23, and Clark Durant 9.  No other candidate received student votes.

This is going to be a great victory for all those who care about freedom, states' rights, fiscal responsibility, the right-to-work, family values and the restoration of our republic on the Constitution of the United States.

Spring and Fall

. . . to a Young Child

 Margaret, are you gríeving

  Over Goldengrove unleaving?

  Leaves like the things of man, you

  With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

  Ah! as the heart grows older

  It will come to such sights colder

  By and by, nor spare a sigh

  Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;

  And yet you wíll weep and know why.

  Now no matter, child, the name:

  Sorrow’s spríngs are the same.

  Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed

  What heart heard of, ghost guessed:

  It ís the blight man was born for,

  It is Margaret you mourn for.

From the Pastor - Christ the King

A weekly column by Father George Rutler.

As autumnal days grow darker, the feast of Christ the King bursts like a flame, presaging the new year. Here at work is the motto that Mary Queen of Scots embroidered not long before her execution: En ma Fin gît mon Commencement — “In my end is my beginning.”  Most likely she had in mind the salamander, which was the symbol of her grandfather-in-law, François I of France. Legend had the salamander self-igniting at death to be reborn from the ashes. It was similar to the image of the phoenix, common to myths Greek and Oriental, that ends in flame to burst forth new and stronger.

Christ is King of the universe because “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). He rose to life from death, not in myth but in fact: “And he that sat on the throne, said: Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me: Write, for these words are most faithful and true” (Revelation 21:5).

Even the most elegant human words are inadequate to be any more than echoes of the Living Word, who uttered all things into existence; but they are true as they are inspired by the Love between the Father and the Son, which is the Holy Spirit. Fitting it is, then, that at this end of the Church's cycle of worship, she prepares to begin a new translation of the English form of the Latin Rite of the Eucharist. The new altar Missals are embellished with beautiful art from various centuries to accompany this new beginning.

The changes are relatively minor, compared with the big changes of some forty years ago. There still are some people who promoted those changes back then, probably too quickly, who now grumble that people will not be able to adjust to this innovation. That certainly underestimates the people. In my experience, young people are far more adept at adjusting to a recovery of old graciousness than some older people who can be graceless about admitting that some of the changes they made were inadequate. The new translation is rather like the “gentrification” of decaying neighborhoods, using the best modern skills to restore what iconoclasts damaged because it was not “up to date.” The new translation, which is more faithful to the authentic Latin texts, is a bit like Grand Central Terminal restored: a lesson learned after the old Pennsylvania Station was replaced by the current building, which is an affliction to commuters.

T.S. Eliot began his poem East Coker with modern pessimism: “In my beginning is my end. In succession / Houses rise and fall.” But the last line bursts into the same hope that the Queen of Scots embroidered in her cold castle, and which ends the violence between things old and new: “In my end is my beginning.”

The Solemnity of Christ the King

Harry Secombe  -  'The Holy City'

Organizations Funded by George Soros

Here's an interesting list, a virtual Who's Who of subversive, left-wing organizations all funded by Barack Hussein Obama's Edgar Bergen, George Soros.

Upstate South Carolina Leader Endorses Rick Santorum

Richard Cash is a small business owner from Powdersville, South Carolina and edits the blog, Clear Notes.  In 2010, Richard ran for Congress in the 3rd district of South Carolina, finishing first in a field of six in the initial Republican primary. In a run-off for the Republican nomination, Richard was narrowly defeated by Jeff Duncan.

Richard and his wife of 25 years, Marcia, are blessed with 8 children. Richard graduated with honors from Furman University with a degree in Economics/Business Administration. He also holds a Master’s in Theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Richard Cash with wife Marcia and family

 Why I’m Supporting Rick Santorum

By Richard Cash

Like many of you, I have been following the Republican presidential primary race. I watched the first SC debate, the last SC debate, and portions of many debates in between. I am not a political junkie, but having run for Congress in 2010, I am more committed than ever to the future of our nation, and the role that politics and political leaders play in that.

And so, like many of you, I have been asking myself, “Which candidate should I support?” I find admirable qualities in all the candidates, so how do I decide among them? Well, there is an old adage that goes something like this; “In order to get the right answer, you must ask the right question.” I would like to share with you a few questions and answers that have greatly influenced my decision to support Rick Santorum.

About a month ago, I came out of a political meeting involving a different candidate, and as we were heading to our cars I remarked to a friend, “It’s too bad Jim DeMint is not in this race; I could easily support him and I believe he could win the nomination.” If you are a conservative in SC, you know what I’m talking about. It’s not that other candidates are bad, it’s just that we know and trust Sen. DeMint, and supporting him would be easy.

By the next day, I had begun thinking, “Since Sen. DeMint is not in the race, which candidate is the closest to him by comparison?” The answer seemed immediate and unequivocal, Sen. Santorum. Here is a person who has been a consistent conservative leader for many years, including 12 in the US Senate. Here is a person who understands how Washington works and how to get things done, but he has not been co-opted by Washington. Here is a person who is trustworthy, both in his personal and public life.

A second question also came to me along these lines; “If I had been elected and was serving in the US Congress, which candidate would I most like to have as my President, who could I see myself working well with?” Again, the answer was obvious, Rick Santorum. He is a clear thinker, he is articulate, he has good judgment, and he understands that the foundation of faith and family is essential to maintaining freedom. If I was serving in Congress, Rick Santorum is the candidate that I would have the highest level of comfort and confidence in.

Asking and answering those two questions influenced my decision a lot, but there was one other question to deal with, which you might be considering as well; “Can he win?” After a little research, I discovered that Rick Santorum has held events in all 99 counties in Iowa and is building a strong grass roots organization there. With six weeks to go until the Iowa vote, Santorum is ready for the stretch run, and if he does well in Iowa, the campaign dynamic will change overnight.

Many people will say, “All well and good, but Rick Santorum is very low in the national polls.” In reply I say that first, polls are a snap shot, not a predictor. Four years ago at this time, the polls had Romney leading Iowa, but Huckabee ended up winning it. Secondly, polls can change quickly. This year, several candidates have risen and fallen in the polls already, proving that most people have not yet locked in their commitment.

With six weeks to go until the Iowa vote, a lot can happen with the current poll leaders, meaning the race is still very much up in air. For those who are looking for a trustworthy consistent conservative, Rick Santorum is looking better all the time. I invite you to join us in the laying the groundwork for a successful SC campaign.

Gary Glenn Addresses Michigan Tea Party Group

Here's a man who has been standing in the gap all of his life and is seeking to rescue his country as a United States Senator from Michigan.  In the video below, Gary addresses the Western Thumb Tea Party group in Vassar, Michigan.  All Americans have a stake in this Michigan battle for the future of our country.  To learn more and to support Gary's campaign, see his website here.

Senator Rick Santorum on Morning Joe

Senator Santorum on Morning Joe November 14th, 2011.

Family Research Council Issues Second Annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection

Family Research Council's Marriage & Religion Research Institute (MARRI) released its second annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection today. This year's Index delved into the issues of poverty, educational attainment and teenage out of wedlock births in relation to state Index scores.

Study highlights include:

Only 45.8 percent of American children reach the age of 17 with both their biological parents married (since before or around the time of their birth).

The Index of Family Belonging is highest in the Northeast (49.6 percent) and lowest in the South (41.8 percent).

Minnesota (57 percent) and Utah (56.5 percent) have the highest Index of Family Belonging values of all the states; Mississippi (34 percent) has the lowest.

Family belonging is, as in 2008, strongest among Asians (65.8 percent) and weakest among Blacks (16.7 percent).

While the effects of government spending on high school graduation rates are curvilinear and offer diminishing returns, family belonging is positively and significantly associated with high school graduation rates.

Family belonging and child poverty are significantly, inversely related: States with high Index values have relatively low child poverty rates, and vice versa.

There is also a significant, inverse relationship between family belonging and the incidence of births to unmarried teenagers.

MARRI Director Dr. Pat Fagan made the following comments:

"This year's Index of Family Belonging and Rejection shows that the family is hugely important in determining a child's future success or failure. The report shows that states with higher rates of strong families have higher rates of high school graduation as well as higher average scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Family structure is actually more closely linked to educational outcomes than government spending.

"States with higher scores on the Index have lower child poverty rates, and states that score low have high child poverty rates. A father is motivated to work harder to support a child when he is the biological parent of the child and lives with the child and mother. Conversely, many non-residential parents do not pay child support, and those that do, do not pay much.

"Research at the individual family level has shown that adolescents who live in single-parent families or stepfamilies are more likely to have out-of-wedlock births. This continues the endless cycle of broken families and childhood poverty.

"Government can do two things to help alter this trend. The first is to help in creating, compiling and publicizing sound research evidence on the links between family living arrangements and youth development, as well as those between family characteristics and community functioning and well-being. The second is in ensuring that governmental policies intended to help those in need do not have unintended consequences that create moral hazard and encourage the formation of more high-risk families," concluded Fagan.

To read the Index of Family Belonging and Rejection, click here: http://marri.frc.org/index-2011 

US Ordinariate to be Created on January 1, Says Cardinal

From the Catholic Herald (UK)

By Patricia Zapor

A new ordinariate will be created on January 1 to bring Anglicans into the US Catholic Church, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington has announced at an annual meeting of the country’s bishops’ conference.

Cardinal Wuerl also said 67 Anglican priests had submitted their dossiers seeking ordination in the Catholic Church, and 35 of those had received initial approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Obama's Catholic Strategy in Shambles

Obama's Brownshirts

Father Jay Scott Newman, Pastor of St. Mary's Church in Greenville, South Carolina, had the following important pastoral advice for those Catholics who were foolish enough to vote for their own persecution three years ago.  Now they have no excuse but invincible ignorance.

"Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation."

From Real Clear Politics

By Michael Gerson

In 2009, Notre Dame University set off months of intra-Catholic controversy by inviting a champion of abortion rights to deliver its commencement address. When the day arrived, President Obama skillfully deflated the tension. He extended a "presumption of good faith" to his pro-life opponents. Then he promised Catholics that their pro-life convictions would be respected by his administration. "Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion," he said, "and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women."

Europe's Crisis: Beyond Finance

From Stratfor

By George Friedman

Everyone is wondering about the next disaster to befall Europe. Italy is one focus; Spain is also a possibility. But these crises are already under way. Instead, the next crisis will be political, not in the sense of what conventional politician is going to become prime minister, but in the deeper sense of whether Europe’s political elite can retain power, or whether new political forces are going to emerge that will completely reshape the European political landscape. If this happens, it will be by far the most important consequence of the European financial crisis.