abitadeacon

Devoted to prayer and friend of Popes

2012-02-12T22:03:00.000-06:00

St. Catherine de Ricci

Feastday: February 13

St. Catherine was born in Florence in 1522. Her baptismal name was Alexandrina, but she took the name of Catherine upon entering religion. From her earliest infancy she manifested a great love of prayer, and in her sixth year, her father placed her in the convent of Monticelli in Florence, where her aunt, Louisa de Ricci, was a nun. After a brief return home, she entered the convent of the Dominican nuns at Prat in Tuscany, in her fourteenth year. While very young, she was chosen Mistress of Novices, then subprioress, and at twenty-five years of age she became perpetual prioress. The reputation of her sanctity drew to her side many illustrious personages, among whom three later sat in the chair of Peter, namely Cerveni, Alexander de Medicis, and Aldo Brandini, and afterward Marcellus II, Clement VIII, and Leo XI respectively. She corresponded with St. Philip Neri and, while still living, she appeared to him in Rome in a miraculous manner.She is famous for the "Ecstacy of the Passion" which she experienced every Thursday from noon until Friday at 4:00 p.m. for twelve years. After a long illness she passed away in 1589. Her feast day is February 13.

It was the talk of the Sunday morning talk shows and it's going to get even more political

2012-02-12T17:58:00.000-06:00

Top Republican wants vote on birth control mandate

By ANNE FLAHERTY | Associated Press – 1 hr 47 mins ago

While a senior White House official shrugged off such remarks, declaring the issue resolved and new legislation unlikely, the heated rhetoric from Republicans suggested the GOP would try to keep the debate alive in an election year to rally conservatives and seize upon voter frustration with big government.

"It's riddled with constitutional problems," McConnell said of Obama's broader health-care plan. "And this is what happens when the government tries to take over health care and tries to interfere with your religious beliefs."

Last week, Obama backed down on a mandate that religious-affiliated employers such as Catholic hospitals and colleges cover birth control in their health insurance plans. In a tweak of the rule, those employees would be offered free coverage directly from their health insurer. But employers would not provide or pay for it.
The White House says the plan won't drive up costs because birth control, similar to other preventative care measures, is less expensive than pregnancy. But opponents say that unless drug makers stop charging for contraception, the cost is likely to get passed on to employers regardless.

While some Catholic groups applauded the move, including the Catholic Health Association, the nation's Catholic bishops said it continued the attack religious freedoms — a theme quickly picked up by Republicans trying to wrest control of the White House this November.

"There's no compromise here," said GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, a Catholic and favorite among religious conservatives. "They are forcing religious organizations, either directly or indirectly, to pay for something that they find is a deeply, morally, you know, wrong thing. And this is not what the government should be doing."

In several televised interviews, White House chief of staff Jacob Lew defended the latest plan as the best possible compromise to provide women access to contraceptives and respect the religious freedoms of employers. Churches had always been exempt under Obama's original plan, although religious-affiliated organizations were not.

"We didn't expect to get universal support of the bishops or all Catholics," he said. "I think that what we have here is a policy that reflects bringing together two very important principles in a way that's true to the American tradition."
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has called Obama's revised plan an "accounting gimmick." He introduced legislation last week that would exempt any organization with moral objections from providing birth control. McConnell said he expects such a bill would be vetoed by the president but that he still wanted a vote "as soon as possible."

House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan said there were enough votes in the Republican-controlled House to pass similar legislation.

"If this is what the president's willing to do in a tough election year, imagine what he will do in implementing the rest of his health care law after an election," Ryan, R-Wis., told ABC News "This Week."

Lew shrugged off questions about Senate legislation, predicting that they would not "come to pass" and that the president planned to move ahead with implementing the current plan.

"We're going to go ahead and implement it," Lew said. "And women are going to have access (to contraception) and institutions like Catholic universities and Catholic hospitals will not be in the position that they had feared. I think that's a good resolution."

Santorum and Lew spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press." McConnell and Lew spoke on CBS "Face the Nation." Lew also spoke on Fox News Sunday, CNN's "State of the Union" and ABC News "This Week."

What the Church teaches about life, pro-life and contraception

2012-02-12T16:14:00.000-06:00

In light of all the recent discussion about contraception, the teachings of the Catholic Church and the dustup over the federal governments attack on religious liberty I believe we need some context. What the Catholic Church believes and teaches about life, married sexual relations, procreation and contraception has been improperly reported, attacked and mischaracterized for quite some time; most especially in recent weeks. The definitive teaching can be found in what has proven to be the most prophetic Papal encyclical Humanae Vitae by Pope Paul VI. I am providing a link here to that famous encyclical and a well researched, well articulated article about Humanae Vitae. Please take the time necessary to read and if engaged in debates and discussions about what the church teaches, know full well what she really, truly teaches:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

and

http://www.goodmorals.org/smith6.htm

And continue to pray for the church and her leaders during these difficult and challenging times and pray for those who attack the church, particularly those in public office who are so misguided.

Whitney Houston dead at 48

2012-02-11T22:00:00.000-06:00

Whitney Houston's finest moment ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupsPg5H6aE&feature=related

Born in 1963, died today at 3:55 p.m. PST at the age of 48.

May she rest in peace and may God give comfort and peace to her family; especially her mom and her daughter.

The Catholic roots of Mardi Gras

2012-02-11T15:58:00.003-06:00

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the last hurrah before the Catholic season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. It also has links to the Christmas season through the period known as Carnival.

Catholic Roots of Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras, literally "Fat Tuesday," has grown in popularity in recent years as a raucous, sometimes hedonistic event. But its roots lie in the Christian calendar, as the "last hurrah" before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. That's why the enormous party in New Orleans, for example, ends abruptly at midnight on Tuesday, with battalions of streetsweepers pushing the crowds out of the French Quarter towards home.

What is less known about Mardi Gras is its relation to the Christmas season, through the ordinary-time interlude known in many Catholic cultures as Carnival. (Ordinary time, in the Christian calendar, refers to the normal "ordering" of time outside of the Advent/Christmas or Lent/Easter seasons. There is a fine Scripture From Scratch article on that topic if you want to learn more.)

Carnival comes from the Latin words carne vale, meaning "farewell to the flesh." Like many Catholic holidays and seasonal celebrations, it likely has its roots in pre-Christian traditions based on the seasons. Some believe the festival represented the few days added to the lunar calendar to make it coincide with the solar calendar; since these days were outside the calendar, rules and customs were not obeyed. Others see it as a late-winter celebration designed to welcome the coming spring. As early as the middle of the second century, the Romans observed a Fast of 40 Days, which was preceded by a brief season of feasting, costumes and merrymaking.

The Carnival season kicks off with the Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, Three Kings' Day and, in the Eastern churches, Theophany. Epiphany, which falls on January 6, 12 days after Christmas, celebrates the visit of the Wise Men bearing gifts for the infant Jesus. In cultures that celebrate Carnival, Epiphany kicks off a series of parties leading up to Mardi Gras.

Epiphany is also traditionally when celebrants serve King's Cake, a custom that began in France in the 12th century. Legend has it that the cakes were made in a circle to represent the circular routes that the Wise Men took to find Jesus, in order to confuse King Herod and foil his plans of killing the Christ Child. In the early days, a coin or bean was hidden inside the cake, and whoever found the item was said to have good luck in the coming year. In Louisiana, bakers now put a small baby, representing the Christ Child, in the cake; the recipient is then expected to host the next King Cake party.

There are well-known season-long Carnival celebrations in Europe and Latin America, including Nice, France; Cologne, Germany; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The best-known celebration in the U.S. is in New Orleans and the French-Catholic communities of the Gulf Coast. Mardi Gras came to the New World in 1699, when a French explorer arrived at the Mississippi River, about 60 miles south of present day New Orleans. He named the spot Point du Mardi Gras because he knew the holiday was being celebrated in his native country that day.

Eventually the French in New Orleans celebrated Mardi Gras with masked balls and parties, until the Spanish government took over in the mid-1700s and banned the celebrations. The ban continued even after the U.S. government acquired the land but the celebrations resumed in 1827. The official colors of Mardi Gras, with their roots in Catholicism, were chosen 10 years later: purple, a symbol of justice; green, representing faith; and gold, to signify power.

Mardi Gras literally means "Fat Tuesday" in French. The name comes from the tradition of slaughtering and feasting upon a fattened calf on the last day of Carnival. The day is also known as Shrove Tuesday (from "to shrive," or hear confessions), Pancake Tuesday and fetter Dienstag. The custom of making pancakes comes from the need to use up fat, eggs and dairy before the fasting and abstinence of Lent begins.

Powerful support of the Catholic Church by a powerful Southern Baptist and former Presidential Candidate

2012-02-11T13:52:00.000-06:00

Huckabee: 'We're all Catholics' in contraception fight

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee expressed solidarity with a growing movement by the U.S. Catholic bishops to fight President Obama's new mandate that religious institutions pay for their workers' birth control, telling a gathering of conservative activists Friday that "we're all Catholics now."
Echoing a theme that has dominated the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this week Washington, the 2008 Republican presidential hopeful told the gathering that Mr. Obama has "trampled all over the Constitution" with the mandate.
"I remember very vividly when John F. Kennedy said that we are all Berliners, but in many ways, thanks to President Obama, we are all Catholics now, we are all standing together," said Mr. Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister.
"You know, growing up a Baptist in the South I never thought I'd see the day when I would stand in front of several thousand people and say 'We're all Catholic.'"
Amid speculation that the Obama White House was preparing a new compromise proposal designed to tamp down the political fury, Mr. Huckabee added the president has done more to rally the Republican Party base than any of the current crop of GOP presidential hopefuls.
"I want to say a great big thank you to President Obama. … You have done more than any person in the entire GOP field, [than] any candidate has done, to bring this party to unity and energize this party as a result of your attack on religious liberty," he said.
Mr. Huckabee was the opening speaker on the second day of the three-day CPAC event at the Washington Marrott Wardman Park hotel — one of the premier annual gatherings of conservatives in the country.

How my ministry helped me deal with disappointment and alas, even anger.

2012-02-11T13:12:00.000-06:00

Developments this week in my professional career have left me highly disappointed and yes, even angry. Some who know me best, at a personal level, may even say the Deacon is mad as hell. A couple of points before I move on from here: yes, even a Permanent Deacon, ordained and called to holiness, can experience all the same emotions and feelings as the next guy. Fortunately, my faith and the grace of ordination has rallied me through this disappointing time. And let me state here, these developments are not that which I cannot overcome, especially with the help of prayer, the prayers of other and the grace of God.

In an earlier post I alluded to the difficulty of life by day(due to some unexpected professional challenges) and joy at night(surrounded by those who rejoice in faith, hope and charity). These varied events of the last few evenings were hard to get up for because I was allowing the professional challenges to keep me down. You could even say that addressing this again is proof that it is always on my mind. And I would agree!

But the point that I want to make here with this post is to assure you that in difficult times, God draws close; he gravitates closer. Please understand that all of us, when impacted by disappointment and even anger, are still called to model Christ. In my case, as an ordained minister of service, I am still challenged to be the icon of Christ the Servant.

I am aware of my own failures in dealing with this professional challenges. Anger is an issue, temporarily withdrawing is an issue, not being as prayer-full as I should be, especially now, is an issue, failure to pray specifically for those who are coming against me is an issue, and not falling backwards with total abandonment to God's loving mercy is an issue.

So today I ask myself; why are you not doing for Mike what needs to be done for Mike. Since this professional dust up why have you avoided a church, why not sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament? I don't know. But Thursday night when I met with the parents and children being prepared for 1st Holy Communion, my negative emotions were gone. When I met with parents getting ready for the Baptism of their first child, my negative emotions were gone. And here I am today, immersed in diaconate formation classes for our 2012 class and my negative emotions are gone. These are good moments of ministry. But I am just as aware that I must also spend time in prayer, petitioning God for his peace and understanding while asking Him to give me a spirit of forgiveness. I am just as aware that I must make the time to be with God, through Jesus; in front of the taberbacle, at Mass, in my coming in and going out, in all times; while He draws close to me; I must draw closer to Him!

Whatever these professional challenges are right now, whatever the reason I find myself with this cross to bear, with Him I know He will help me to overcome them all. With God all things are indeed possible. With Jesus the victory is His!

This hockey goalie gets it; stands with the Catholic Church

2012-02-11T11:47:00.000-06:00

Stanley Cup winning goaltender: ‘I stand with Catholics’ against birth control mandate

by Thaddeus Baklinski

Thu Feb 09, 2012 14:33 EST

BOSTON, February 9, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Boston Bruins star goalie Tim Thomas sent waves through the sports world Wednesday when he announced through his Facebook page that he supports Catholics in their fight against the Obama administration’s mandate that forces coverage of contraception, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs.

“I Stand with the Catholics in the fight for Religious Freedom,” wrote Thomas, who won last year’s Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup MVP.

Tim Thomas

To date over 170 Catholic bishops heading U.S. dioceses have spoken up against the mandate after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last month that religious groups objecting to the mandate would be given one year to comply.

In his post Wednesday, Thomas quotes from a poem called “First They Came….” by prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller, which deals with the failure to speak up during the rise of Nazism in Germany.

“In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up,” Thomas wrote.

The goaltender made headlines in January when he refused to visit the White House with his teammates as part of a celebration of their Stanley Cup win.

He explained on his Facebook page at the time that he believes “the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberty, and Property of the People.”

“Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country,” he continued.

Though the controversy over Obama’s mandate has centered on Catholics, leaders from numerous Christian denominations and religions have spoken out strongly against it, even pledging to go to jail if needed.

“We want the law changed, or else we’re going to write our letters from the Nashville jail, just like Dr. King wrote his from the Birmingham jail,” Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told LifeSiteNews on Wednesday.

Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart has dubbed Thomas a “true Tea Party patriot” due to his use of political symbolism on his goalie mask, including the phrase “In God We Trust” and the Gadsden Flag (a Tea party symbol), according to the International Business Times.

Celebrating Our Lady of Lourdes

2012-02-11T11:23:00.002-06:00

February 11
Our Lady of Lourdes

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on February 11, 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Bernadette was a sickly child of poor parents. Their practice of the Catholic faith was scarcely more than lukewarm. Bernadette could pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. She also knew the prayer of the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary conceived without sin.”

During interrogations Bernadette gave an account of what she saw. It was “something white in the shape of a girl.” She used the word aquero, a dialect term meaning “this thing.” It was “a pretty young girl with a rosary over her arm.” Her white robe was encircled by a blue girdle. She wore a white veil. There was a yellow rose on each foot. A rosary was in her hand. Bernadette was also impressed by the fact that the lady did not use the informal form of address (tu), but the polite form (vous). The humble virgin appeared to a humble girl and treated her with dignity.

Through that humble girl, Mary revitalized and continues to revitalize the faith of millions of people. People began to flock to Lourdes from other parts of France and from all over the world. In 1862 Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions and authorized the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes for the diocese. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became worldwide in 1907.

Comment:

Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage and healing, but even more of faith. Church authorities have recognized over 60 miraculous cures, although there have probably been many more. To people of faith this is not surprising. It is a continuation of Jesus’ healing miracles—now performed at the intercession of his mother. Some would say that the greater miracles are hidden. Many who visit Lourdes return home with renewed faith and a readiness to serve God in their needy brothers and sisters. There still may be people who doubt the apparitions of Lourdes. Perhaps the best that can be said to them are the words that introduce the film Song of Bernadette: “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”

Quote:

“Lo! Mary is exempt from stain of sin, Proclaims the Pontiff high; And earth applauding celebrates with joy Her triumph, far and high. Unto a lowly timid maid she shows Her form in beauty fair, And the Immaculate Conception truth Her sacred lips declare.” (Unattributed hymn from the Roman Breviary)

Patron Saint of:

Bodily ills

Saturday, February 11, 2012
Saint of the Day for 2/10/2012 Saint of the Day for 2/12/2012

Latest from USCCB

2012-02-10T21:26:00.000-06:00

USCCB strong statement about Pres. Obama’s imposed “Plan B” pill

The USCCB have issued their statement.
“The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services.”

Bishops Renew Call To Legislative Action On Religious Liberty
February 10, 2012
Regulatory changes limited and unclear
Rescission of mandate only complete solution
Continue urging passage of Respect for Rights of Conscience Act
WASHINGTON – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued the following statement:
The Catholic bishops have long supported access to life-affirming healthcare for all, and the conscience rights of everyone involved in the complex process of providing that healthcare. That is why we raised two serious objections to the “preventive services” regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August 2011.
First, we objected to the rule forcing private health plans — nationwide, by the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen—to cover sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion. All the other mandated “preventive services” prevent disease, and pregnancy is not a disease. Moreover, forcing plans to cover abortifacients violates existing federal conscience laws. Therefore, we called for the rescission of the mandate altogether.
Second, we explained that the mandate would impose a burden of unprecedented reach and severity on the consciences of those who consider such “services” immoral: insurers forced to write policies including this coverage; employers and schools forced to sponsor and subsidize the coverage; and individual employees and students forced to pay premiums for the coverage. We therefore urged HHS, if it insisted on keeping the mandate, to provide a conscience exemption for all of these stakeholders—not just the extremely small subset of “religious employers” that HHS proposed to exempt initially.
Today, the President has done two things.
First, he has decided to retain HHS’s nationwide mandate of insurance coverage of sterilization and contraception, including some abortifacients. This is both unsupported in the law and remains a grave moral concern. We cannot fail to reiterate this, even as so many would focus exclusively on the question of religious liberty.
Second, the President has announced some changes in how that mandate will be administered, which is still unclear in its details. As far as we can tell at this point, the change appears to have the following basic contours:
·It would still mandate that all insurers must include coverage for the objectionable services in all the policies they would write. At this point, it would appear that self-insuring religious employers, and religious insurance companies, are not exempt from this mandate.
·It would allow non-profit, religious employers to declare that they do not offer such coverage. But the employee and insurer may separately agree to add that coverage. The employee would not have to pay any additional amount to obtain this coverage, and the coverage would be provided as a part of the employer’s policy, not as a separate rider.
·Finally, we are told that the one-year extension on the effective date (from August 1, 2012 to August 1, 2013) is available to any non-profit religious employer who desires it, without any government application or approval process.
These changes require careful moral analysis, and moreover, appear subject to some measure of change. But we note at the outset that the lack of clear protection for key stakeholders—for self-insured religious employers; for religious and secular for-profit employers; for secular non-profit employers; for religious insurers; and for individuals—is unacceptable and must be corrected. And in the case where the employee and insurer agree to add the objectionable coverage, that coverage is still provided as a part of the objecting employer’s plan, financed in the same way as the rest of the coverage offered by the objecting employer. This, too, raises serious moral concerns.
We just received information about this proposal for the first time this morning; we were not consulted in advance. Some information we have is in writing and some is oral. We will, of course, continue to press for the greatest conscience protection we can secure from the Executive Branch. But stepping away from the particulars, we note that today’s proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions. In a nation dedicated to religious liberty as its first and founding principle, we should not be limited to negotiating within these parameters. The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services.
We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government. For example, we renew our call on Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. And we renew our call to the Catholic faithful, and to all our fellow Americans, to join together in this effort to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all.

Celebrating our 3rd anniversary

2012-02-10T18:37:00.000-06:00

Well, I missed it again. On February 6th this humble blog celebrated anniversary #3. I am more amazed with each passing year how this experiment in blogging has grown from a few posts monthly, mostly homilies and my own thoughts, to a blog that now posts over 100 articles a month and is receiving over 4,000 visitors a month. I have had visitors from over 15 countries in addition to every state in the nation. I am most grateful.

My blog indeed is a Catholic blog, with some deviations into sports, and I use more articles from other sources to supplement my own offerings.

If you are a frequent, or not so frequent visitor, please recommend the site to a friend and come back often.

This is a labor of love and I enjoy doing this and I hope, in some small way, helps to serve God by service to others.

Archbishop Aymond issues statement on Obama's proposed "compromise"

2012-02-10T16:45:00.002-06:00

Aymond: Obama move on birth control 'step in the right direction' .wwltv.com
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 4:14 PM

A statement from New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond on President Obama's announcement today regarding birth control services and religious organizations.

"As many of you are aware, Catholic bishops and Catholic laity as well as others of many Christian denominations and faiths expressed great disappointed in the January 20 announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services that would have required Catholic institutions and organizations provide abortion inducing drugs, sterilization procedures and birth control through their employee health plans. We believe this to be a direct violation of our religious liberty.

I remain cautiously optimistic, but President Obama’s proposed compromise announced today is at least a step in the right direction. This is a new opportunity to dialogue with the executive branch and to obtain details as it may be too soon to tell whether it provides any real improvement on core concerns. The US Catholic Bishops still believe that Congressional action is necessary to ensure commitment to religious liberty.

I ask all of you to join me as I continue to offer this issue up in prayer. Our country was founded on the principle of religious liberty, the right of people to practice and live out their faith in the public square. We as Catholics and all people of faith must not take that for granted and always work to ensure our First Amendment Right – freedom of religion – is protected."

USCCB reaction to today's "compromise"

2012-02-10T14:29:00.002-06:00

Bishops Studying Initial White House Movement on Religious Liberty

February 10, 2012

New opportunity to dialogue with executive branch
Too soon to tell whether and how much improvement on core concerns
Commitment to religious liberty for all means legislation still necessary

WASHINGTON— The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sees initial opportunities in preserving the principle of religious freedom after President Obama’s announcement today. But the Conference continues to express concerns. “While there may be an openness to respond to some of our concerns, we reserve judgment on the details until we have them,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, president of USCCB.
“The past three weeks have witnessed a remarkable unity of Americans from all religions or none at all worried about the erosion of religious freedom and governmental intrusion into issues of faith and morals,” he said.
“Today’s decision to revise how individuals obtain services that are morally objectionable to religious entities and people of faith is a first step in the right direction,” Cardinal-designate Dolan said. “We hope to work with the Administration to guarantee that Americans’ consciences and our religious freedom are not harmed by these regulations.”

Here is the AP story on today's development being touted as a compromise by the Obama administration

2012-02-10T12:29:00.000-06:00

Birth control policy meets everyone's needs, Obama says

Published: Friday, February 10, 2012

By The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama declared Friday he's found a solution to a birth-control uproar that will protect religious liberty but also ensure that women have access to free contraception, as he rushed to defuse an election-year issue that threatened to overtake his administration.

Susan Walsh, The Associated PressPresident Barack Obama, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, announces the revamp of his contraception policy requiring religious institutions to fully pay for birth control, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington.

Capping weeks of growing controversy, Obama announced he was backing off a newly announced requirement for religious employers to provide free birth control coverage even if it runs counter to their religious beliefs. Instead, workers at such institutions will be able to get free contraception directly from health insurance companies.
"Religious liberty will be protected and a law that requires free preventative care will not discriminate against women," Obama said in an appearance in the White House briefing room.
"I understand some folks in Washington want to treat this as another political wedge issue. But it shouldn't be. I certainly never saw it that way," Obama said. "This is an issue where people of good will on both sides of the debate have been sorting through some very complicated questions."
Obama's abrupt shift was an attempt to satisfy both sides of a deeply sensitive debate, and most urgently, to end a mounting political nightmare for the White House.
Although the administration had originally given itself more than year to work out the details of the new birth control coverage requirement for religious employers, the president acknowledged that the situation had become untenable and demanded a swift solution.
Congressional Republicans as well as GOP presidential hopefuls were beating up on Obama relentlessly over the issue, and even Democrats and liberal groups allied with the Roman Catholic church were defecting.
"After the many genuine concerns that have been raised over the last few weeks, as well as frankly the more cynical desire on the part of some to make this into a political football, it became clear that spending months hammering out a solution was not going to be an option. That we needed to move this faster," Obama said. He said that he directed the Department of Health and Human Services last week to speed up the process from a matter of months to days.
Women will still get guaranteed access to birth control without co-pays or premiums no matter where they work, a provision of Obama's health care law that he insisted must remain. But religious universities and hospitals that see contraception as an unconscionable violation of their faith can refuse to cover it, and insurance companies will then have to step in to do so.
The leader of a Catholic organization and a prominent women's group both expressed initial support for the changes.
"The framework developed has responded to the issues we identified that needed to be fixed," Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, a trade group representing Catholic hospitals that had fought against the birth control requirement, said in a statement.
Planned Parenthood also backed the revisions, saying the Obama administration was still committed to ensuring all women have access to birth control coverage, no matter where they work.
"We believe the compliance mechanism does not compromise a woman's ability to access these critical birth control benefits," Cecile Richards, the women's group president, said.
By keeping free contraception for employers at religious workplaces -- but providing a different way to do it -- Obama was able to assert he gave no ground on the basic principle of full preventative care that matters most to Obama.
Yet, it also was clear that the president felt he had no choice but to retreat on a three-week-old policy in the face of a fierce political furor that showed no signs of cooling.
Officials said Obama has the legal authority to order insurance companies to provide free contraception coverage directly to workers. He will demand it in a new rule.
Following an intense White House debate that led to the original policy, officials said Obama seriously weighed the concerns over religious liberty, leading to the revamped decision.
Before announcing the revamped policy at the White House, Obama called Keehan, Richards and Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
But the change just led to more criticism from some of Obama's opponents. Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady said the revamped rule marked a "full scale retreat by a disconnected president who now knows that Washington shouldn't force American to abandon their religious convictions."
It was just on Jan. 20 that the Obama administration announced that religious-affiliated employers -- outside of churches and houses of worships -- had to cover birth control free of charge as preventative care for women. These hospitals, schools and charities were given an extra year to comply, until August 2013, but that concession failed to satisfy opponents, who responded with outrage.
Catholic cardinals and bishops across the country assailed the policy in Sunday Masses. Republican leaders in Congress promised emergency legislation to overturn Obama's move. The president's rivals in the race for the White House accused him of attacking religion. Prominent lawmakers from Obama's own party began openly deriding the policy.
The sentiment on the other side, though, was also fierce. Women's groups, liberal religious leaders and health advocates pressed Obama not to cave in on the issue.
The furor has consumed media attention and threatened to undermine Obama's re-election bid just as he was in stride with improving economic news. Political reality forced the White House to come up with a solution to a complex matter must faster than anticipated.
Under the new policy, religious employers will not be required to offer contraception and will not have to refer their employees to places that provide it. Instead, the employer's insurance company must provide birth control for free in a separate arrangement with workers who want it.
The change will still take affect with an extra year built in, in August 2013.
Already, 28 states had required health insurance plans to cover birth control before the federal regulations were issued.
However, they appear to have differing exemptions for religious employers.
Obama's health care law requires most insurance plans to cover women's preventative services, without a co-pay, starting on Aug. 1, 2012. Those services include well-women visits, domestic violence screening and contraception, all designed to encourage health care that many women may otherwise find unaffordable.
The White House says covering contraception saves insurance companies money by keeping women healthy. But the plan is likely to meet resistance from insurers. Although administration officials are right that contraception is cost effective, insurers may well argue that it's not free, either. And the industry might balk at what amounts to a coverage mandate on it.
Without adjusting his stand, Obama has risked alienated Catholics who have become courted swing voters in such pivotal political states as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. In 2008, Obama won 54 percent of the total Catholic vote, compared to 45 percent for Republican John McCain.
As the week wore on, the White House increasingly signaled that a change was coming.
Vice President Joe Biden, a Catholic, said in a radio interview Thursday that "there is going to be a significant attempt to work this out and there is time to do that."
Outside advocates were urging a quick resolution.
"As a Catholic I don't want to hear about this in Mass every week until the election," said Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats For Life of America. "I don't think it's good for the party and I don't think it's good for Obama's re-election chances."
Associated Press writers Erica Werner and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this story.
-Ben Feller, Associated Press White House Correspondent

>>>Did you catch the paragraph with the quote by the Catholic nun. Before this is released, before the Bishops weigh-in, here she goes again. This is the same nun that has been defiant and disobedient before. Pray for her and pray for the church. This compromise is not much of a compromise indeed.

Developing story: Government announces compromise on their attack on religious freedom; looks pretty shallow to me.

2012-02-10T11:24:00.000-06:00

White House: religious employers won’t have to cover birth control, but insurance companies will

by Kathleen Gilbert

Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:32 EST

WASHINGTON, February 10, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The White House announced today that, instead of forcing religious employers to pay for birth control, it will force insurance companies to offer the drugs free of charge to all women, no matter where they work.

The plan, touted as a concession to freedom of religion and conscience, was immediately denounced by pro-life Rep. Chris Smith. “The so-called new policy is the discredited old policy, dressed up to look like something else,” said Smith. “It remains a serious violation of religious freedom. Only the most naïve or gullible would accept this as a change in policy.”

“The White House Fact Sheet is riddled with doublespeak and contradiction,” Smith continued. “It states, for example, that religious employers ‘will not’ have to pay for abortion pills, sterilization and contraception, but their ‘insurance companies’ will. Who pays for the insurance policy? The religious employer.”

In a statement released today, the White House said, “Under the new policy announced today, women will have free preventive care that includes contraceptive services no matter where she works.”

“If a woman works for religious employers with objections to providing contraceptive services as part of its health plan, the religious employer will not be required to provide contraception coverage but her insurance company will be required to offer contraceptive care free of charge.”

The birth control rule announced last summer was intended to force virtually all employers to cover sterilizations and contraception, including abortifacient drugs such as ella, a sister drug to RU-486. The religious employer exemption essentially applied only to houses of worship, creating an uproar in the Catholic community as hospitals, schools, and charities would have been forced to pay for the drugs. The furor only grew stronger when the administration announced last month that the concerned religious organizations would be given an extra year to comply.

President Obama is due to make further remarks on the mandate sometime after 12 noon EST on Friday.

The new rule is reportedly similar to coverage laws in Hawaii that allow employers with religious objections not to directly pay for contraception, but instead to direct employees on how to conveniently access all such drugs and procedures.

In an email to the Weekly Standard, Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said this week that such an “adjustment” would be not only inadequate, but even worse than the current mandate.

“It would be no improvement to say: ‘Sure, you don’t have to include the coverage, you just have to send all your lay employees and women religious to the local Planned Parenthood clinic,’ he wrote.

Eric Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League also told LifeSiteNews.com that the new rule amounted to a “shell game.” “At the end of the day, religious employers are still required to provide insurance plans that offer free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortifacients in violation of their moral tenets,” he said.

The country’s Catholic bishops and other leading opponents of the mandate have not yet responded to the White House’s statement. However, both Planned Parenthood and the Catholic Health Association (CHA) have expressed satisfaction with the new plan.

“The framework developed has responded to the issues we identified that needed to be fixed,” said Sr. Carol Keehan of CHA. Keehan and her organization are perhaps best known for flouting the position of the Catholic bishops during the fight over Obama’s health care reform, throwing their weight behind the bill despite the opposition of the U.S. bishops over concerns the bill would increase abortion funding. Keehan was personally singled out by former USCCB President Cardinal Francis George for condemnation for her role in helping pass the health reform law.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards issued a statement, saying: “In the face of a misleading and outrageous assault on women’s health, the Obama administration has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring all women will have access to birth control coverage, with no costly co-pays, no additional hurdles, and no matter where they work.

“We believe the compliance mechanism does not compromise a woman’s ability to access these critical birth control benefits. However we will be vigilant in holding the administration and the institutions accountable for a rigorous, fair and consistent implementation of the policy, which does not compromise the essential principles of access to care.”

The pro-abortion news source, RH Reality Check, lauded the news, noting that the rule is convenient because women would not have to purchase a separate rider for the contraception coverage.

Developing…

Sister of Benedict; a Saint in her own right

2012-02-09T22:13:00.000-06:00

St. Scholastica

Feastday: February 10
Died: 543

St. Scholastica, sister of St. Benedict, consecrated her life to God from her earliest youth. After her brother went to Monte Cassino, where he established his famous monastery, she took up her abode in the neighborhood at Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about five miles from that of St. Benedict, who, it appears, also directed his sister and her nuns. She visited her brother once a year, and as she was not allowed to enter his monastery, he went in company with some of his brethren to meet her at a house some distance away. These visits were spent in conferring together on spiritual matters. On one occasion they had passed the time as usual in prayer and pious conversation and in the evening they sat down to take their reflection. St. Scholastica begged her brother to remain until the next day. St. Benedict refused to spend the night outside his monastery. She had recourse to prayer and a furious thunderstorm burst so that neither St. Benedict nor any of his companions could return home. They spent the night in spiritual conferences. The next morning they parted to meet no more on earth. Three days later St. Scholastica died, and her holy brother beheld her soul in a vision as it ascended into heaven. He sent his brethren to bring her body to his monastery and laid it in the tomb he had prepared for himself. She died about the year 543, and St. Benedict followed her soon after. Her feast day is February 10th.

The week that was: joy by night and toil by day; God still wins!

2012-02-09T20:54:00.000-06:00

I'm glad that we read from the Book of Job last week. Man did he pay the price. Job summed it up beautifully: the Lord gives and the Lord takes away; and then the payoff: blessed be the name of the Lord. I have not had a free moment this week, no opportunity to leave work and go home and spend a quiet evening doing something quiet. It has been a busy ministry week. By night I have attended parish meetings, conducted a baptismal seminar, met brother Deacons to pray for one of our own experiencing great medical challenges within his family, attended a Deacons meeting, ministered to the men of Rayburn prison and met with the 1st communion class to do a teaching lesson on the discipline/season of Lent. Please understand, these varied opportunities, all at the end of the day, are for me a source of great joy and a beautiful reminder that I am an icon of Christ the Servant, who came to serve and not be served. With these and many other ministry opportunities I feel like I am squarely in the "Lord gives column".

By day, I have obligations like many of you. It's off to work, do whatever my tasks are, run some errands, pay some bills, attend to daily, weekly or monthly functions. As a Deacon I am keenly aware that I am not to seperate "being a Deacon" even when I'm not formally engaged in ministry. In reality, for the ordained, it's about "being" so I am still a Deacon while doing the duties of the day. As a Deacon I am also keenly aware of those times when social justice violations occur. When they collide with your duties and your "being", and worse, when they are perpetrated against you, or those we love, oh man, it feels like your stuck in the "Lord takes away" part of Job's pronouncement.

Maybe when you are oblivious, you are better off. I don't really believe that. I know what is wrong by day and what needs to change. If everything we are, if everything we do is for His greater glory, you know for all my Jesuit friends, A.M.D.G., then sometimes we need to take action to make the days equal the nights, the work and toil of our hands be more ministry and less job, and to stand up and call tyranny what it is; evven at the workplace, or school or the public square.

For now, I pray and contemplate what is God that ask of me in this my greatest professional challenge. Speak Lord, your servant is listening.

So I rejoice in my "being" I rejoice in ministry and I rejoice in victory that is mine in Christ Jesus. And whoever disagrees; you will not steal my joy and you will not take my peace and you don't win; unless it too is victory in Jesus.

Pastor who wrote Purpose Driven Life, Baptist leaders, Orthodox Bishops standing with their Catholic brothers and sisters against the federal government

2012-02-09T17:36:00.000-06:00

Pastor Rick Warren: I’d Rather Go to Jail Than Obey Mandate

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren sent a message on Twitter today that is resonating with pro-life advocates opposed to the new Obama mandate forcing religious employers to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs.
Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church who delivered the invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration, put his pro-life views against the mandate front and center.
“I’m not a Catholic but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers & sisters to practice their belief against govt pressure,” Warren said. “I’d go to jail rather than cave in to a govement mandate that violates what God commands us to do. Would you? Acts 5:29.”
Richard Land, a pro-life leader who is a top official with the South Baptist Church, said the same thing the day prior.
“When it comes to abortifacients, and many birth-control methods are abortifacients,” Land said, this mandate is “reprehensible in its demands for people to violate their conscience.” “We are not going to do this. We have a First Amendment right to freedom of conscience, and we’re going to defend it. If we have to defend it by going to jail, so be it.”
Rev. Matthew Harrison is another Protestant leader who is opposed to the mandate.
“We have a full-tilt assault on religion, especially full creedal Christians, right now,” he said. “This is a fundamental attack on the Roman Catholic Church’s ability to be in the public square, being in partnership with the government providing for the needy.”
He says the “ultimate goal is to drive religious people out of public life in this nation and out of the reception of any kind of funding or partnership with government for good in society.”
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America had 65 Orthodox Christian bishops uniting against the mandate as well.
“We … call upon HHS Secretary Sebelius and the Obama administration to rescind this unjust ruling and to respect the religious freedom guaranteed all Americans by the First Amendment,” they said. “The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion.”
The Obama administration is reportedly considering a compromise on its new mandate that has caused national outrage because it forces religious employers to cover birth control and drugs that may cause abortions. However, the leading pro-life spokesman for the Catholic bishops says the compromise may be worse.
Congressman Steve Scalise has led a bipartisan letter with 154 co-signers calling on the Obama Administration to reverse its unconstitutional mandate forcing religious organizations to include drugs that can cause abortion and birth control in the health care plans of their employees.
Bishops across the country have spoken out against the mandate and are considering a lawsuit against it — with bishops in more than 164 locations across the United States issuing public statements against it or having letters opposing it printed in diocesan newspaper or read from the pulpit.
“We cannot — we will not comply with this unjust law,” said the letter from Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix. “People of faith cannot be made second-class citizens.”
Responding to the announcement, Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated: “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.”
“To force Americans to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable. . . It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom,” he added.
The mandate is so egregious that even the normally reliably liberal and pro-abortion USA Today condemned it in an editorial titled, “Contraception mandate violates religious freedom.”
The administration initially approved a recommendation from the Institute of Medicine suggesting that it force insurance companies to pay for birth control and drugs that can cause abortions under the Obamacare government-run health care program.
The IOM recommendation, opposed by pro-life groups, called for the Obama administration to require insurance programs to include birth control — such as the morning after pill or the ella drug that causes an abortion days after conception — in the section of drugs and services insurance plans must cover under “preventative care.” The companies will likely pass the added costs on to consumers, requiring them to pay for birth control and, in some instances, drug-induced abortions of unborn children in their earliest days.
The HHS accepted the IOM guidelines that “require new health insurance plans to cover women’s preventive services” and those services include “FDA-approved contraception methods and contraceptive counseling” — which include birth control drugs like Plan B and ella that can cause abortions. The Health and Human Services Department commissioned the report from the Institute, which advises the federal government and shut out pro-life groups in meetings leading up to the recommendations.

Priests for Life sues federal government too

2012-02-09T17:23:00.000-06:00

International Catholic Organization to File Lawsuit against Obama Administration for Conscience Violation Regarding Forced Coverage of Abortion and Contraception

	Priests for Life Thursday, February 09, 2012

	Additional comments from Fr. Frank Staten Island, NY - Priests for Life, a New York based international pro-life organization of Catholic clergy and laity, today announced that it will be filing a lawsuit against the Obama Administration in an effort to seek injunctive relief from impending regulations that would require the organization to pay for employee health insurance that covers abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization. The Obama Administration’s rules – recently brought forth by a decree from the Department of Health and Human Services – are part of the controversial “ObamaCare” health insurance law (the so-called “Affordable Care Act”) that was passed by Congress in 2010 amidst endless ambiguities, confusion, and false assurances by President Obama himself that it would never be used to violate any organization’s or individual’s conscience on moral issues. Now that the new HHS rules have been formally issued, however, Americans of all faiths are stunned that the Obama Administration is going to require employers to provide health insurance coverage for certain acts that go directly against their consciences or religious beliefs. The lawsuit will seek injunctive relief from the HHS rules – first on behalf of Priests for Life, and hopefully extending universally since all organizations and companies will be affected by the tyrannical HHS decree. Priests for Life is particularly well placed to pursue this litigation because its primary purposes are to promote and protect life whereas the primary purposes of the contraceptive mandate are to prevent and destroy life. According to Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, “It’s unthinkable that President Obama would force Americans of any faith to violate their consciences. Yet here he is, arrogantly imposing these regulations that clearly discriminate against Catholics and all Christians, as well as people of any faith who believe in the sanctity of innocent human life. This has clearly become a human rights case – and is no longer just a partisan political football.” Priests for Life has retained noted civil rights attorney Charles LiMandri of San Diego to represent them in their lawsuit against Obama. LiMandri achieved national distinction by saving the famous “Mt. Soledad Cross” – a historic war memorial that had been erected on public property many decades ago, which local atheists sought to have torn down. He has also fought for the rights of San Diego firefighters who were forced to participate in a vulgar “gay pride” parade against their will or else face termination. He was also the General Counsel for the National Organization for Marriage--California during the successful Proposition 8 Campaign to save traditional marriage. LiMandri remarks, “This is the first time in history any administration has used brute force to compel someone to violate his conscience or moral convictions. It’s unheard of. It’s also antithetical to the core American principles of religious liberty and freedom from invasions of privacy. We intend to fight the ill-conceived HHS edict and challenge it on constitutional grounds. This case could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And we’ll be happy to take it there if need be.” Priests for Life is the largest Catholic pro-life organization in the United States. It is a private association of the faithful and an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit educational corporation. Under the Obama Administration’s new HHS rules, it is treated like any other corporation and therefore must comply with these conscience-violating mandates, decrees, and punitive measures. Priests for Life applauds the members of Congress who have introduced legislation to address the HHS policy, and will also support the efforts of the Church, and many other groups, to pass such legislation. Further details of the lawsuit will be forthcoming. Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

International Catholic Organization to File Lawsuit against Obama Administration for Conscience Violation Regarding Forced Coverage of Abortion and Contraception

	Priests for Life Thursday, February 09, 2012

	Additional comments from Fr. Frank Staten Island, NY - Priests for Life, a New York based international pro-life organization of Catholic clergy and laity, today announced that it will be filing a lawsuit against the Obama Administration in an effort to seek injunctive relief from impending regulations that would require the organization to pay for employee health insurance that covers abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization. The Obama Administration’s rules – recently brought forth by a decree from the Department of Health and Human Services – are part of the controversial “ObamaCare” health insurance law (the so-called “Affordable Care Act”) that was passed by Congress in 2010 amidst endless ambiguities, confusion, and false assurances by President Obama himself that it would never be used to violate any organization’s or individual’s conscience on moral issues. Now that the new HHS rules have been formally issued, however, Americans of all faiths are stunned that the Obama Administration is going to require employers to provide health insurance coverage for certain acts that go directly against their consciences or religious beliefs. The lawsuit will seek injunctive relief from the HHS rules – first on behalf of Priests for Life, and hopefully extending universally since all organizations and companies will be affected by the tyrannical HHS decree. Priests for Life is particularly well placed to pursue this litigation because its primary purposes are to promote and protect life whereas the primary purposes of the contraceptive mandate are to prevent and destroy life. According to Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, “It’s unthinkable that President Obama would force Americans of any faith to violate their consciences. Yet here he is, arrogantly imposing these regulations that clearly discriminate against Catholics and all Christians, as well as people of any faith who believe in the sanctity of innocent human life. This has clearly become a human rights case – and is no longer just a partisan political football.” Priests for Life has retained noted civil rights attorney Charles LiMandri of San Diego to represent them in their lawsuit against Obama. LiMandri achieved national distinction by saving the famous “Mt. Soledad Cross” – a historic war memorial that had been erected on public property many decades ago, which local atheists sought to have torn down. He has also fought for the rights of San Diego firefighters who were forced to participate in a vulgar “gay pride” parade against their will or else face termination. He was also the General Counsel for the National Organization for Marriage--California during the successful Proposition 8 Campaign to save traditional marriage. LiMandri remarks, “This is the first time in history any administration has used brute force to compel someone to violate his conscience or moral convictions. It’s unheard of. It’s also antithetical to the core American principles of religious liberty and freedom from invasions of privacy. We intend to fight the ill-conceived HHS edict and challenge it on constitutional grounds. This case could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And we’ll be happy to take it there if need be.” Priests for Life is the largest Catholic pro-life organization in the United States. It is a private association of the faithful and an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit educational corporation. Under the Obama Administration’s new HHS rules, it is treated like any other corporation and therefore must comply with these conscience-violating mandates, decrees, and punitive measures. Priests for Life applauds the members of Congress who have introduced legislation to address the HHS policy, and will also support the efforts of the Church, and many other groups, to pass such legislation. Further details of the lawsuit will be forthcoming. Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

EWTN sues over HHS mandate

2012-02-09T16:58:00.000-06:00

9-February-2012 -- EWTNews Feature

EWTN sues US government over contraception mandate

Catholic media network EWTN sued the federal government Feb. 9, challenging the Obama administration's rule requiring many religious ministries to subsidize contraception and sterilization in their health plans.
"We had no other option but to take this to the courts," EWTN President and CEO Michael Warsaw said in an announcement about the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. "There is no question that this mandate violates our First Amendment rights."
"Under the HHS mandate, EWTN is being forced by the government to make a choice," Warsaw explained. "Either we provide employees coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and violate our conscience or offer our employees and their families no health insurance coverage at all. Neither of those choices is acceptable."
Senior attorneys at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed the suit on behalf of the media network, against the Department of Health and Human Services, department secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and other government agencies involved with the federal contraception mandate.
Finalized Jan. 20, 2012 as part of federal health care reform, the mandate forces all employers - except those that primarily hire and serve members of one religious faith and exist for the sake of promoting religious values - to buy insurance coverage that will offer sterilization and contraception without a co-pay.
Because EWTN serves not only Catholics but the public at large, the network would not qualify for the religious exemption offered by Secretary Sebelius.
At least one of the mandate's required drugs, the emergency contraceptive "Ella," has the potential to cause an early-stage abortion.
The U.S. Catholic bishops have denounced the rule that "forces religious employers and schools to sponsor and subsidize coverage that violates their beliefs, and forces religious employees and students to purchase coverage that violates their beliefs."
In his announcement of the lawsuit, Warsaw said the federal contraception mandate was "particularly hard on Catholics, because Catholic organizations, such as hospitals, schools, social service agencies, media outlets and others, serve people regardless of their religious beliefs."
But he made it clear that the federal rule should concern people of all beliefs.
"We are taking this action to defend not only ourselves but also to protect other institutions - Catholic and non-Catholic, religious and secular - from having this mandate imposed upon them."
Along with the public opposition from over 160 U.S. Catholic bishops, the rule has also drawn opposition from the Eastern Orthodox churches as well as Protestant and Orthodox Jewish leaders.
Meanwhile, Secretary Sebelius has given non-exempt religious institutions an extra year to comply with the "preventive services" mandate. During this time, however, these religious employers must refer their staff to providers of the same drugs and devices.
Warsaw pointed out that this alternative, proposed as a temporary accommodation, also trampled EWTN's conscience rights.
"The government is forcing EWTN, first, to inform its employees about how to get contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs, a concept known as forced speech."
"To make the matter worse, the government then will force EWTN to use its donors' funds to pay for these same morally objectionable procedures or to pay for the huge fines it will levy against us if we fail to provide health care insurance."
If the administration's rule remains in place, the media network could eventually face fines of over $600,000 for refusing to underwrite policies contradicting its beliefs.
"This is a moment when EWTN, as a Catholic organization, has to step up and say that enough is enough," the network's president and CEO declared.
Health and Human Services' rule is also facing legal challenges from Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic institution, and from the interdenominational Colorado Christian University.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is representing all three ministries in their lawsuits. Lawyers from the fund recently won a 9-0 victory against the federal government in a Supreme Court case regarding the self-governance of a Lutheran church and school.
EWTN is providing further information about the mandate and its lawsuit at www.ewtn.com/hhsmandate.

Read more: http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=4839#ixzz1lu1eIUuM

A life devoted to prayer

2012-02-08T23:12:00.000-06:00

Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerick

Feastday: February 9
1774 - 1824
Beatified By: October 3, 2004, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II

As a young lay woman in Coesfeld, Germany, Anne Catherine Emmerick, employed as a seamstress, daily attended Mass, visited the Blessed Sacrament, and in the late evening spent hour upon hour praying on her knees. Around midnight, she would leave her home to make the Stations of the Cross by candlelight at a series of wayside shrines outside her village, along a lengthy path that wound through the pine woods, taking over two hours to complete. She offered her devotions especially for the souls in purgatory, who in turn assisted her, as she explained: “Whenever I do something for them, they pray for me.” In her interior life, she drew much inspiration from the liturgical ceremonies of the Church, especially those of Holy Week. At the age of twenty-eight, Anne Catherine entered an Augustinian convent. But in 1811, after nine years of religious life, she was forced to leave when her convent was suppressed by Napoleon, who controlled the region. Soon afterward, she fell ill, and spent her remaining years bedridden. In this state of suffering, she received numerous visions, private revelations, and the mystical gift of the stigmata.

Speaker of the House will fight the HHS mandate against the Church

2012-02-08T22:13:00.000-06:00

Boehner vows to overturn Obama’s birth control coverage rule

By Chris Moody | The Ticket

House Speaker John Boehner (Evan Vucci/AP)

From the Republican presidential candidates to top GOP lawmakers in Washington, party leaders are engaging in a full-court press against the Obama Administration's decision to force employers affiliated with religious groups to offer health care insurance plans to workers that cover birth control free of charge, even if the action contradicts the employer's religious beliefs.
In a rare move for someone in his office, House Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, took to the floor of the chamber on Wednesday to discuss a legislative plan to overturn the decision. Calling the rule "an unambiguous attack" on faith-based groups, Boehner said the House would begin work on a bill immediately.
"If the president does not reverse the department's attack on religious freedom, then the Congress, acting on behalf of the American people, and the Constitution that we're sworn to uphold and defend, must," Boehner, a Catholic, said. "The House will approach this matter fairly and deliberately through regular order and appropriate legislative channels."
Boehner said that the chamber's Energy and Commerce committee will take the lead in drafting the legislation to overturn the decision.
Last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that certain faith-based groups would have one year to comply with the requirement, enacted when Congress passed a federal health care overhaul in 2010. "Nonprofit employers who, based on religious beliefs, do not currently provide contraceptive coverage in their insurance plan, will be provided an additional year, until August 1, 2013, to comply with the new law," Sebelius said in the statement.

The rule still exempts houses of worship from having to provide insurance that offers free contraceptives, but it applies to non-profit organizations funded by churches, including universities, hospitals and charities. The decision not to exempt those groups has resulted in an uproar from religious groups--particularly the Catholic Church--who say the federal mandate to pay for birth control infringes on their religious beliefs.

Archbishop Dolan fighting hard against government intrusion of the Church

2012-02-08T21:59:00.000-06:00

Cardinal-Designate Dolan: President Obama Needs To Stop ‘Intruding Into Internal Life Of A Church’
Contraception Issue Just Won't Die Down, Much To White House's Chagrin

February 8, 2012

Political Sex ScandalsNEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — There was a sharp rebuke Wednesday from Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan that put even more pressure on the president to calm a widening election year uproar. The issue at hand was the president’s insistence that Catholic institutions provide free birth control to their employees.

Dolan came to the South Bronx to bless a library, but he had no blessings — just harsh words — for President Barack Obama, who wants Catholic institutions to pay for birth control, the morning after pill and other services for people who work for them.

“The federal government should do what it’s traditionally done since July 4, 1776, namely back out of intruding into the internal life of a church,” Dolan told CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer.

The leader of the New York Archdiocese picked up support from Speaker John Boehner, who said either Obama reverses the policy or the House will.

“The federal government has drifted dangerously beyond its constitutional boundaries. This attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand,” Boehner said.

The attacks left the White House foundering. It wants to find some way to calm Catholic opposition, but will not back down on the policy, itself.

“I want to be clear today that the commitment to insuring the women have access to these important health care services remains very strong,” Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

And there are many others who are falling into line behind the president, including New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, reports CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez.

“The power to decide whether or not to use contraception lies with a woman, not her boss,” Sen. Gillibrand said.

“It’s time to tell those Republicans mind you’re own business,” Sen. Lautenberg said.

It has been suggested that one avenue of compromise could include granting leeway for a church-related organization not to cover birth control, but refer employees to another insurer that will provide the coverage.

Dolan would not comment on that proposal but said, “I would welcome the fact that officials of the government are saying we need to rethink that.”

The Catholic Church is still developing its strategy on how to deal with the issue. Dolan met Wednesday with members of the Catholic League and other organizations. Sources told Kramer a massive march on Washington is one of the possibilities.

The issue has also exploded on the campaign trail and in Washington. Carney made the unusual move of calling Mitt Romney by name, charging it is “ironic” for him to be against the policy, since as Massachusetts governor he presided over a similar one.

From slave to Saint

2012-02-07T23:22:00.002-06:00

St. Josephine Bakhita
(c. 1868-1947)

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For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave but her spirit was always free and eventually that spirit prevailed.
Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was re-sold several times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan.
Two years later he took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice's Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine.
When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court case, the Canossian sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on Josephine's behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885.
Josephine entered the Institute of St. Magdalene of Canossa in 1893 and made her profession three years later. In 1902, she was transferred to the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her religious community through cooking, sewing, embroidery and welcoming visitors at the door. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters' school and the local citizens. She once said, "Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!"
The first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later.

Military commander, mayor, priest and Saint

2012-02-07T23:16:00.000-06:00

St. Jerome Emiliani

Feastday: February 8
1481 - 1537

Jerome Emiliani lay chained in the dark dirty dungeon. Only a short time before he had been a military commander for Venice in charge of a fortress. He didn't care much about God because he didn't need him -- he had his own strength and the strength of his soldiers and weapons. When Venice's enemies, the League of Cambrai, captured the fortress, he was dragged off and imprisoned. There in the dungeon, Jerome decided to get rid of the chains that bound him. He let go of his worldly attachments and embraced God.

When he finally was able to escape, he hung his metal chains in the nearby church of Treviso -- in gratitude not only for being freed from physical prison but from his spiritual dungeon as well.

After a short time as mayor of Treviso he returned his home in Venice where he studied for the priesthood. The war may have been over but it was followed by the famine and plague war's devastation often brought. Thousands suffered in his beloved city. Jerome devoted himself to service again -- this time, not to the military but the poor and suffering around him. He felt a special call to help the orphans who had no one to care for them. All the loved ones who would have protected them and comforted them had been taken by sickness or starvation. He would become their parent, their family.

Using his own money, he rented a house for the orphans, fed them, clothed them, and educated them. Part of his education was to give them the first known catechetical teaching by question and answer. But his constant devotion to the suffering put him in danger too and he fell ill from the plague himself. When he recovered, he had the ideal excuse to back away, but instead his illness seemed to take the last links of the chain from his soul. Once again he interpreted his suffering to be a sign of how little the ambitions of the world mattered.

He committed his whole life and all he owned to helping others. He founded orphanages in other cities, a hospital, and a shelter for prostitutes. This grew into a congregation of priests and brothers that was named after the place where they had a house: the Clerks Regular of Somascha. Although they spent time educating other young people, their primary work was always Jerome's first love -- helping orphans.

His final chains fell away when he again fell ill while taking care of the sick. He died in 1537 at the age of 56.

He is the patron saint of abandoned children and orphans.

Big night for candidate Rick Santorum; Republican race reshaping?

2012-02-07T23:06:00.000-06:00

Santorum wins Minnesota caucuses & delegate-less primary in Missouri; votes being counted in Colorado

By Chris Moody | The Ticket

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (Chris Carlson/AP)

No delegates were at stake on Tuesday night, but Rick Santorum scored two big victories nonetheless by winning Minnesota's Republican caucuses and Missouri's Republican primary.
"Conservatism is alive and well in Missouri and Minnesota," Santorum said when he took the stage at his victory party in St. Charles, Mo., calling his wins "a victory for the voices of our party, conservatives and tea party people, who are out there every day in the vineyards."
"I don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney," Santorum went on to say. "I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama."
Romney, who was talked about as the Republican Party's inevitable nominee after his wins in Florida and Nevada last week, had his worst night of the 2012 presidential campaign. For the first time, he did not finish in first or second place in a Republican primary or caucus. In Minnesota, ABC News projects that Ron Paul will take second place, with Romney in third place and Newt Gingrich in fourth.
In a swipe at Romney's remarks last week about his concern for the middle class over the rich and the poor, Santorum said in his victory speech, "I care about the very rich and the very poor. I care about 100 percent of America."
Later, in Denver, Romney congratulated Santorum on his success, and predicted he would at least come in the top two in the Centennial State.
"I'm pretty confident we'll come in number one or number two," Romney said. "This is a good night for Rick Santorum. I wish him the best."
It was the first multi-state election night of the 2012 campaign, as voters in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri cast ballots in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Colorado and Minnesota, which held caucuses, selected delegates to attend state conventions in the spring--the same process used in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.
Missouri, where Newt Gingrich was not able to secure a spot on the ballot, was an entirely different story, and a messier one. By state law, Missouri must hold its primary on a particular date in February. But this year, the national Republican Party mandated that--with the exception of four states that were allowed to vote in February--all others must hold their election in March or later. Yet the Missouri legislature was not able to pass a law changing the primary date, so the state held the election anyway. But the primary is non-binding--meaningless in terms of delegate selection. There will be a Missouri caucus in April to determine who gets the state's delegates to the Republican national convention in August.

With 72 percent of the precincts reporting in Minnesota, Santorum leads with 45 percent of the vote, followed by Ron Paul with 27 percent, Mitt Romney with 17 percent and Newt Gingrich with 11 percent.
With 25 percent of the precincts reporting in Colorado, Santorum leads with 43 percent of the vote, followed by Mitt Romney with 28 percent, Newt Gingrich with 15 percent and Ron Paul with 13 percent.
Despite the zero delegates that will be awarded, the winner--or winners--on Tuesday will still be able to glean something from their victories. When Mitt Romney ran for president in 2008, he won in both Colorado and Minnesota, so his performance in 2012 is certain to be compared to how well he did four years ago.
Yet even with two losses on Tuesday, Romney is having a much better year in 2012 than he had in 2008: It was four years ago Tuesday that Romney dropped his bid for the presidency.
Santorum is likely to be able to use his upset victories to raise money and get media attention to help him make it through the doldrums of February. After Saturday's caucuses in Maine, there won't be another Republican election until Arizona and Michigan hold primaries on Feb. 28.
The Romney campaign seemed to suspect that Santorum would have a big night. Starting on Sunday, Romney hammered Santorum with opposition research, sending reporters a lengthy "research briefing" about Santorum's earmark spending during his time in Congress, and dispatching Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor and Republican presidential candidate, to raise questions about Santorum's conservative credentials.
You can follow the unofficial returns from Missouri at the website of the state's secretary of state. With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Santorum received 55 percent of the vote, followed by Romney with 25 percent and Ron Paul with 12 percent.

Great article on the Permanent Diaconate; 45 years old in 2012

2012-02-07T22:30:00.000-06:00

45 Years After Restoration, Permanent Diaconate Soldiers On (1292)

Ministry has grown exponentially since 1967. 'As long as we have poor to feed, we will need deacons,' says Chicago official.

by JIM GRAVES 02/06/2012 Comment

A permanent deacon, at left, assists at a Mass in the Diocese of Shreveport, La.

– Diocese of Shreveport

The Church is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council this year — and the 45th anniversary of the restoration of the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church.
Pope Paul VI released an apostolic letter, Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem in 1967, after a recommendation made by the bishops of the Council. The permanent diaconate has since had a major impact on the Church in dioceses around the world, as the number of deacons has steadily grown. Also, as time passes, Church leadership is able to reflect on the proper role of the deacon and help the laity come to a proper understanding of it.
The diaconate has its roots in the very early Church. The Book of Acts relates that the first seven deacons, “filled with the Spirit and wisdom,” were ordained by the apostles to assist them in performing corporal works of mercy (Acts 6:1-6). One of them, Stephen, would soon become the Church’s first martyr. Deacons preached, baptized and served the Church community (Acts 7; 8:4-13). St. Paul discussed the particular qualifications a man should have to be selected as a deacon (1 Timothy 3:8-13). The early Fathers of the Church, such as Sts. Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyons, made references to the work of deacons.
But the diaconate declined after the year 400, and, by 800, it became in the Latin Church merely a transitional step toward the priesthood. (In the Eastern churches, conversely, the permanent diaconate was retained.) In the 20th century, a desire to restore the permanent diaconate arose, leading the bishops of the Second Vatican Council to declare, “It will be possible in the future to restore the diaconate as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy” (Lumen Gentium, 29).

Confusion
The deacon receives the first of three degrees or levels of the sacrament of holy orders — deacon, priest, bishop — and is hence a member of the clergy. He cannot celebrate Mass or hear sacramental confessions, however. His traditional roles include baptizing, officiating at weddings and funerals, distributing Communion during Mass or bringing Communion to the sick and dying, reading from the sacred Scriptures at Mass and devoting himself to apostolic works. Those served by deacons include the poor, sick, imprisoned, lonely and abandoned and others otherwise in need.
The number of permanent deacons in the U.S. has grown steadily since 1967. In 1975, 898 men were permanent deacons. In 1985, the number had risen to 7,204. A 2010 study released by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) reported that there are 17,000 permanent deacons in the U.S., or about half of all the permanent deacons in the world. Most deacons are married, and wives are invited to participate in the work of their deacon husbands, such as through praying with them or joining in their efforts to help those in need.
Yet, as with any new initiative in the Church, confusion can arise among the rank-and-file as to the proper role of the permanent deacon. With the deacon preaching the homily at Sunday Mass, for example, he can appear to supersede or eclipse the priest as celebrant of the Mass, with the priest viewed as merely there to consecrate the Host and Precious Blood.
In an effort to clarify the role of the permanent diaconate in his Diocese of Marquette, Mich., Bishop Alexander Sample released a 19-page letter, “The Deacon: Icon of Jesus Christ the Servant,” in 2011. Media coverage of the letter focused on one piece of the document: The deacon should not preach the homily at Mass “on a routine or scheduled basis.”
Bishop Sample was disappointed that this was the focus of so many news stories.
“That was a small piece in a lengthy document,” he said. “The focus of my letter is that the deacon is called to service. He is to configure himself to Christ as Christ the Servant.”

Into the World
The bishop noted that the deacon does receive the sacrament of holy orders but is not ordained to the priesthood. Rather, he is called to service as “a humble aid to the ministry of priests and the bishop.” Although the deacon can assist in the liturgy, “this is not his essential identity and role.”
Bishop Sample said his letter was “fruit” of a study conducted by a committee, which included deacons.
Deacon Thomas Dubois, executive director of the National Association of Diaconate Directors, believes that the rapid growth of the permanent diaconate in the U.S. is a “work of the Holy Spirit.” He remarked, “The irony is that the Second Vatican Council fathers thought the diaconate would grow the fastest in third-world countries.”
A strength of the diaconate, he said, is that the deacon leaves Sunday Mass “to go into the world and the workplace as an active person of faith.”
Dubois noted that his neighbors in Lexington, Ohio, know him as “Deacon Tom” and view him as a representative of the Church. Ordained in 2002, he has devoted much of his diaconate work to prison ministry at Ohio’s Mansfield Correctional Institution. Inside the prison, Dubois counsels inmates, prays with them, instructs them in the tenets of the faith and otherwise is a friend to them. He remarked, “They’re appreciative of my efforts and say it makes a difference in their lives. In an environment where they’re cut off from their families and possibly an embarrassment to them, we treat them like human beings.”
Dubois believes being a deacon has given him the education and formation he needs to better minister to prisoners. Additionally, as a deacon, he is more closely identified with the work of the Church.
Many view deacons as “mini priests,” he said, with priests having the ability to do many more things. That’s not an accurate view, he said. The “fullness of holy orders” comes through the bishop, and he “disseminates his ministry through the priests and deacons.” Dubois continued, “We’re not competing. Deacons are not trying to be priests. We’re working in a complementary way with them.”
Deacon Gerald DuPont, director of the diaconate for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, believes the restored diaconate to be a “tremendous value” to the nation’s Catholic parishes and institutions. The formation of deacons has “evolved and been refined” since 1967, he said, particularly with the release of instructions on the diaconate from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1983 and 2004, and from the Vatican in 1998.
Since being ordained a deacon in 1990, DuPont has worked in prison ministry, visited nursing homes, assisted at parishes and, today, teaches classes at St. Mary’s, the archdiocesan seminary in Houston. With nearly 400 active deacons, the third most in the country (Chicago is first, with 600), DuPont says there is still a need for more. In fact, the archdiocese recently did a survey of its priests, he said, and there were 183 requests for additional deacons.
He’s always ready to interview prospective candidates who would find the ministry of deacon as satisfying as he does: “I have found great happiness as a deacon. I have also found peace. God wants me to be here.”
Deacon Bob Puhala is director of the Institute for Diaconal Studies for the Archdiocese of Chicago. He was ordained by Cardinal Francis George in 1998 and has devoted much of his ministry to formation of prospective deacons.
“The permanent diaconate was an unexpected blessing of the Second Vatican Council,” he said. “No one anticipated that it would make such a big impact on ministry in the U.S.”
When discussing the diaconate, Puhala said he tries to avoid defining a deacon in terms of what he can do and instead focuses on who he is: “A deacon is ordained to serve the bishop to undertake a ministry that the bishop deems most important to his diocese.”
He says the ministry of the deacon “stands on its own” and should not be viewed in competition with or subordinate to the role of the priest.
He, too, believes there is a need for more deacons. “Until the day when all the hungry are fed, the homeless given shelter and the marginalized brought back into the body of Christ, we’re going to need more deacons.”
His own ministry has been “the most incredible blessing of my life. It’s a privilege and honor to have served.”

>>>Saw this first at Deacon's Bench.

Komen VP quits and details bullying they endured from Planned Parenthood; a bad situation that is sad

2012-02-07T22:20:00.000-06:00

Pro-life Komen VP who quit blasts Planned Parenthood’s ‘vicious attacks and coercion’

by Ben Johnson

ATLANTA, GA, February 7, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – After a week of bruising rhetoric and intense pressure from Planned Parenthood, Karen Handel resigned from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation this morning.

Pro-abortion organizations pressured the private charity to fire Handel as vice president for public policy and publicly said she instigated the decision to defund the abortion provider.

Karen Handel

This afternoon, she broke her silence.

Speaking to Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly, Handel said the Komen foundation was subjected to an unprecedented attack by the nation’s leading provider of abortion. “What was unleashed over this past week was a vicious attack against a great organization and…individual attacks against [Komen founder] Nancy Brinker, an individual whom I admire greatly – and I would think all of us should be saddened that an outside org should put this kind of pressure on another organization.”

“The last time I checked, private non-profit organizations have a right and a responsibility to be able to set the highest standards and criteria on their own without interference, let alone the level of vicious attacks and coercion that has occurred by Planned Parenthood. It’s simply outrageous,” she said.

The intimidation campaign led Handel to resign from the foundation and decline a severance package. “I was too much of a focal point,” she said. “I really felt I had a responsibility to just step aside so they could refocus on their mission.”

Handel ran for governor of Georgia in 2010 on a pro-life platform and publicly described herself as a Christian. Pro-abortion forces highlighted her candidacy, claiming Komen was bowing to political pressure – an allegation Handel strongly rejected. “Absolutely not,” she said. “For Komen, for myself the mission was always foremost on our mind.”

“The only group here that has made this issue political has been Planned Parenthood,” she said.

Click “like” if you want to end abortion!

Some are finding discrepancies between her interview and statements made last week by Nancy Brinker.

“I clearly acknowledge that I was involved in the process, but to say I had the sole authority is simply absurd,” Handel told Fox News.

But Laura Bassett of The Huffington Post wrote, “Handel’s statement directly contradicts what Komen executives have been telling the public since the decision was announced last week.”

Komen founder and CEO Nancy Brinker had told MSNBC’s Andrea Mtichell on Thursday that “Karen did not have anything to do with this decision.”

““This was decided at the board level and also by our mission.”

In her resignation letter Handel wrote “the decision to update our granting model was made before I joined Komen.” She told Megyn Kelly she “was asked to look at options” to distance Komen from an organization that was mired in controversy “long before my time” and had since come under Congressional investigation.

Clarifying the explanations Komen gave last week, Handel said the investigation was not the only reason Komen had reduced its grants to the abortion provider. “I think the Congressional investigation, along with the various state investigations, were a factor in the decision,” she said. “But make no mistake about it, it was a bigger picture than that. There was the granting criteria, as well as the controversies that were surrounding Planned Parenthood.”

Despite her resignation, Handel had only positive words for the Komen foundation, its mission, and its personnel. She repeatedly declined to provide internal details about how the Planned Parenthood decision had been made, saying she hopes her decision to step down will aid the foundation’s efforts to combat breast cancer.

“I wanted to do the right thing on my own terms, and that’s what I tried to do.”

Blessed Pius IX; he convened Vatican I and declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception

2012-02-06T22:00:00.000-06:00

Bl. Pius IX

Feastday: February 7
1792 - 1878
Beatified By: Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope Pius IX (13 May 1792, Senigallia – 7 February 1878), born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal infallibility. The Pope defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, meaning that Mary was conceived without original sin. Pius IX also granted the Marian title of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, a famous Byzantine icon from Crete entrusted to the Redemptorist priests. In addition to this, Pius IX was also the last Pope to rule as the Sovereign of the Papal States, which fell completely to Italian nationalist armies by 1870 and were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. He was beatified in 2000.

HHS Secretary(a Catholic)defends the attack on the Catholic Church

2012-02-06T21:34:00.000-06:00

Kathleen Sebelius defends contraception rule

The rule doesn't affect a 'woman’s freedom to decide not to use birth control,' Sebelius said. | AP Photo

By TIM MAK | 2/6/12 6:33 AM EST

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius argued Monday that a new rule that requires many religious employers to cover birth control in employee health plans respects those with “deeply held beliefs opposing the use of birth control.”
“We specifically carved out from the policy religious organizations that primarily employ people of their own faith. This exemption includes churches and other houses of worship and could also include other church-affiliated organizations,” wrote Sebelius in an op-ed in USA Today

The policy put forward by the Obama administration exempts Catholic churches but doesn’t carve out other religious institutions such as Catholic hospitals and universities.

Sebelius stressed that 28 states already require contraception to be covered by insurance, a point that Obama administration has been making in recent days to defend their policy.
Sebelius also noted that the rule continues to protect “conscience protections” that allow doctors to decline to provide prescriptions for contraception.
“It’s important to note that our rule has no effect on the longstanding conscience clause protections for providers, which allow a Catholic doctor, for example, to refuse to write a prescription for contraception. Nor does it affect an individual woman’s freedom to decide not to use birth control. And the president and this administration continue to support existing conscience protections,” the HHS secretary wrote.
The Obama administration has been taking fire on this issue during the past two-and-a-half weeks.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida introduced legislation in late January that would greatly expand the ability of religious and faith-based organizations to opt out of the requirement to provide employees with insurance coverage that includes birth control.
“This is a common-sense bill that simply says the government can’t force religious organizations to abandon the fundamental tenets of their faith because the government says so,” Rubio said in a statement at the time.

New Orleans native Eli Manning leads Giants past Patriots, again

2012-02-05T22:15:00.000-06:00

Giants beat Patriots in the Super Bowl behind another fourth-quarter comeback by Eli Manning

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports

Manning delivered a 78-yard touchdown drive, capped by an uncontested 6-yard touchdown run by Ahmad Bradshaw with 1:04 to play. New England tried to give Tom Brady as much time for a comeback as possible, but the Giants defense stopped them to seal the victory.

It was Manning’s seventh fourth-quarter winning drive of the season for the Giants, who seemed to court disaster and play their best with everything hanging in the balance. It also signaled another late-game, Super Bowl outdueling of Brady, considered among the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Manning previously won a duel between the two in Super Bowl XLII.

“Some of these guys are getting their first one [Super Bowl victory],” Manning said. “I feel great for everybody.”

The Giants took over at their own 12-yard line, trailing 17-15 with just 3:46 remaining. Manning started with a pass to Mario Manningham , who made a circus 38-yard grab down the sideline. The Giants moved methodically the rest of the way, both killing the clock, burning New England timeouts and eventually forcing the Patriots to concede the winning points rather than allow a field goal with no time left.

It was just the last in a season full of improbable comebacks.

In mid-December the Giants stumbled to 7-7, leaving their playoff hopes in severe doubt. The New York newspapers were filled with speculation that veteran coach Tim Coughlin would be replaced.

Instead the team rallied for a six-game win streak capped by Manning holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy aloft as championship confetti fell all around him.
“Let everybody say what they want to say,” guard David Diehl said. “The Giants are world champs, baby.”

This was a tight, tense Super Bowl highlighted by massive swings in momentum.

It couldn’t have started much better for the Giants – or worse for the Patriots. Brady was called a safety after intentional grounding from his own end zone in the first quarter, giving New York a 2-0 lead.

On the ensuing drive Eli Manning torched a Patriots defense that looked overmatched and unprepared. That included getting caught in late substitutions and a critical 12-men on the field penalty that negated a fumble and extended the Giants’ first touchdown drive, a Manning-to-Cruz 2-yard touchdown pass.

Manning started the game on a Super Bowl record 9-for-9 passing tear.

The momentum swung back on a debatable holding call by Giants offensive lineman Kevin Boothe , which stalled a second-quarter drive. The New York offense had been rolling all half and appeared poised to run the clock down and put more points on the board.

Instead New England took over on their own 4-yard line, with 4:03 remaining in the half. Brady promptly put together a brilliant, 14-play, 96-yard touchdown drive. Brady was 10 for 10 on the drive, including a final 4-yard scoring pass to Danny Woodhead that gave New England 10-9 lead at the break that seemed improbable for most of the first half.

The Patriots took the first drive of the third quarter and went 79 yards, Brady tearing apart the Giants defense with an array of passes. It was capped with a 12-yard touchdown to tight end Aaron Hernandez to make it 17-9 New England. Brady completed a Super Bowl record 16 consecutive passes during that stretch.

The Giants however chipped away with two Lawrence Tynes field goals and a defense that stiffened and forced Brady into a number of forced passes, a bad interception and, most critically, no more points.
“New England is a great team,” Diehl said. “The last time we played them, there were five lead changes in the fourth quarter, so we knew we’d just have to keep fighting, keep scratching, and when the big opportunity came, we capitalized on it.”
That eventually set up Manning and the last-chance Giants with their opportunity to win another Super Bowl.

Manning finished 30 for 40 with 296 yards, one touchdown and one more late-game bit of magic.

Feast of the Japanese martyrs

2012-02-05T20:41:00.000-06:00

St. Paul Miki

Feastday: February 6

Paul was the son of a Japanese military leader. He was born at Tounucumada, Japan, was educated at the Jesuit college of Anziquiama, joined the Jesuits in 1580, and became known for his eloquent preaching. He was crucified on Februay 5 with twenty-five other Catholics during the persecution of Christians under the Taiko, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, ruler of Japan in the name of the emperor. Among the Japanese layment who suffered the same fate were: Francis, a carpenter who was arrested while watching the executions and then crucified; Gabriel, the nineteen year old son of the Franciscan's porter; Leo Kinuya, a twenty-eight year old carpenter from Miyako; Diego Kisai (or Kizayemon), temporal coadjutor of the Jesuits; Joachim Sakakibara, cook for the Franciscans at Osaka; Peter Sukejiro, sent by a Jesuit priest to help the prisoners, who was then arrested; Cosmas Takeya from Owari, who had preached in Osaka; and Ventura from Miyako, who had been baptized by the Jesuits, gave up his Catholicism on the death of his father, became a bonze, and was brought back to the Church by the Franciscans. They were all canonized as the Martyrs of Japan in 1862. Their feast day is February 6th.

Greatest few minutes of any SuperBowl in my lifetime

2012-02-05T16:02:00.000-06:00

On this Super Bowl Sunday I needed to replay this today; over and over again! Please watch and enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqvonQ5hlms&feature=related

Let's get back to the Super Bowl New Orleans Saints, in 2013, in the Superdome!

Could you imagine?

My Archbishops letter read to every parishioner in New Orleans

2012-02-05T15:54:00.000-06:00

Text of Archbishop Aymond's letter to the Catholics of New Orleans

Author: ANO

Monday, January 30th 2012

Below is the text of Archbishop Aymond's letter read at all Masses the weekend of January 28-29 in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. In the letter, the archbishop calls on Catholics to pray and take action against the latest HHS mandate that would require employers offer coverage of sterilization procedures and birth control - two practices that the US Catholic Bishops believe violate the First Amendment.

My sisters and brothers in Christ:

As you may be aware, I am currently in Rome for our regular Ad Limina visit to meet with Vatican officials and Pope Benedict XVI. However, an issue has arisen at home that I believe requires our immediate attention and action.

On Friday, January 21, the US Department of Health and Human Services issued a ruling that mandates that employers, even Catholic employers ad organizations, provide health care coverage for birth control, sterilizations and even abortifacients. This is an unprecedented attack on our religious liberty, which is a founding principle of our nation. This ruling is an example of government violating our rights to make choices based on our morals and Church teaching. As I visit with church officials and the Holy Father here in Rome, they too are asking about this issue and expressing grave concern.

I join my brother bishops in expressing our disappointment and call on you as the Catholic faithful to take action. I have already sent a letter to members of Congress expressing my concern and disappointment. This is a critical time and one that will call for us to engage in public dialogue. We cannot stand by and allow this to more forward without speaking out.

I ask for your continued prayers for our nation and that the dignity of human life and religious freedom may be protected. I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Administration’s decision.

I will keep you informed. We must be able to live the message of Christ in the US and follow our conscience. We are not demanding that others live our Christian values but we should have the right to do so.

Wishing you God’s blessings, I am
Sincerely in Christ,

Most Reverend Gregory M. Aymond
Archbishop of New Orleans

A victory in Nevada for Romney

2012-02-05T13:43:00.000-06:00

Mitt Romney Captures Victory in Nevada Republican Caucus

by Steven Ertelt | Carson City, NV | LifeNews.com

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won another victory Saturday night by capturing a win in the Nevada caucuses by a substantial double-digit margin over three other GOP candidates.
With votes from 71 percent of the precinct caucuses tallied, Romney had 48 percent, Newt Gingrich 23 percent, Ron Paul 19 percent and Rick Santorum 11 percent. Romney won a majority of “very conservative” voters (51%). He defeated Newt Gingrich (40-31%) among strong Tea Party voters. He won 48% of the vote among evangelicals (48 – 27%) over Newt Gingrich.
Like Florida, Mitt Romney won handily among voters who said electability was the most important quality in a candidate and he won handily among voters who said the economy is the top issue.
Now the candidates head to Colorado, Minnesota and Maine as the race for the Republican nomination and the right to face pro-abortion President Barack Obama continues. With back-to-back victories following a win in Florida, Romney has put himself in the position to become the frontrunner. Colorado and Minnesota both hold caucuses Tuesday and Maine follows on Saturday.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finished in second place and now says his goal is to “find a series of victories which by the end of the Texas primary will leave us at parity” with Romney by early April — but that will be a tough task following his South Carolina victory.
Meanwhile, Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, told Fox News Sunday the other candidates had a “natural advantage” in the first five primary states after campaigning there in 2008 and the next states will help him get back on track.
“The first five states were sort of cast in stone,” Santorum said. “Now we’re getting to the states where people don’t have the natural advantage… We’ve got three states coming up on Tuesday (where) I think we’re going to show that this race is moving again in a very different direction. This race is a long, long way from being over.
Looking ahead to Colorado, Romney has a lead as a PPP survey finds Romney leads with 40%, followed by Rick Santorum at 26%, Newt Gingrich at 18% and Ron Paul at 12%. In Minnesota, Santorum holds a small edge over Mitt Romney, 29% to 27%, with Newt Gingrich at 22% and Ron Paul at 19%.
Romney now has a total of 97 Republican National Convention delegates Gingrich has 30, Santorum 16 and Paul seven — and the candidates need 1,144 delegates to win the Republican nomination.

Totally for Jesus; virgin martyr and Saint

2012-02-04T22:23:00.000-06:00

St. Agatha

Feastday: February 5

Although we have evidence that Agatha was venerated at least as far back as the sixth century, the only facts we have about her are that she was born in Sicily and died there a martyr.

In the legend of her life, we are told that she belonged to a rich, important family. When she was young, she dedicated her life to God and resisted any men who wanted to marry her or have sex with her. One of these men, Quintian, was of a high enough rank that he felt he could force her to acquiesce. Knowing she was a Christian in a time of persecution, he had her arrested and brought before the judge - - himself. He expected her to give in to when faced with torture and possible death, but she simply affirmed her belief in God by praying: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil."

Legend tells us that Quintian imprisoned her in a brothel in order to get her to change her mind. Quintian brought her back before him after she had suffered a month of assault and humiliation in the brothel, but Agatha had never wavered, proclaiming that her freedom came from Jesus. Quintian sent her to prison, instead of back to the brothel -- a move intended to make her more afraid, but which probably was a great relief to her. When she continued to profess her faith in Jesus, Quintian had her tortured. He refused her any medical care but God gave her all the care she needed in the form of a vision of St. Peter. When she was tortured again, she died after saying a final prayer: "Lord, my Creator, you have always protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Receive my soul."

Because one of the tortures she supposedly suffered was to have her breasts cut off, she was often depicted carrying her breasts on a plate. It is thought that blessing of the bread that takes place on her feast may have come from the mistaken notion that she was carrying loaves of bread.

Because she was asked for help during the eruption of Mount Etna she is considered a protector against the outbreak of fire. She is also considered the patroness of bellmakers for an unknown reason -- though some speculate it may have something to do with the fact that bells were used as fire alarms.

Prayer:

Saint Agatha, you suffered sexual assault and indignity because of your faith. Help heal all those who are survivors of sexual assault and protect those women who are in danger. Amen

Drew Brees named Offensive Player of the Year in NFL; should have been MVP too

2012-02-04T22:17:00.000-06:00

Administrator Administrator

Drew Brees is named NFL Offensive Player of the Year

The Associated Press

Drew Brees' record-setting season has earned the New Orleans Saints quarterback the 2011 Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.

Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was named NFL offensive player of the year.

Brees shattered Dan Marino's 27-year-old mark by passing for 5,476 yards, and his 468 completions broke Peyton Manning's 2010 record of 450. Brees finished the season completing 71.6 percent of his passes, breaking his own 2009 NFL record (70.6). He also surpassed 300 yards passing for seven straight games and 13 times during the season, both beating league marks he already held.
Brees, the 2008 top offensive player, received 43 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers got the other seven votes.
The Saints set several single-season records, including offensive yards with 7,474 and first downs with 416.

2nd New Orleans Saint player to Pro Football Hall of Fame: Willie Roaf

2012-02-04T20:35:00.001-06:00

Former Saint Roaf Elected To NFL Hall Of Fame

Joins Rickey Jackson In Canton

POSTED: 5:09 pm CST February 4, 2012
UPDATED: 7:23 pm CST February 4, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS -- Willie Roaf, one of the NFL's most dominant offensive linemen for more than a decade, has been elected to the Hall of Fame -- the second New Orleans Saint who will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
The announcement came Saturday, one day before the New England Patriots and New York Giants meet in the Super Bowl. The selection committee can choose up to five honorees each year (a sixth player may be selected by the senior committee). Roaf was nominated in 2011, but passed over.
Roaf spent nine years in New Orleans, concluding his playing career as a Kansas City Chief. He played 13 NFL seasons after being drafted eighth out of Louisiana Tech in 1993. Roaf spent his rookie year at right tackle, but made his mark after switching to the left side in his second season.
He was selected to take part in 11 Pro Bowls in total, and was on the roster of the first Saints team to win a playoff game.
Roaf, 41, joins linebacker Rickey Jackson as the only Saints players in the NFL Hall of Fame. He will be enshrined in a ceremony on Aug. 4.
"We're glad to congratulate William Roaf in his selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame," Saints owner Tom Benson said in a statement. "He meant a great deal to our team during his career with us."
Roaf played 131 of his 189 regular season NFL games with New Orleans. He also took part in three playoff contests.
Running back Curtis Martin, linemen Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy and Dermontti Dawson, and senior selection Jack Butler, a cornerback, fill out the 2012 inductee class.

Amazingly "pro-life" speech by a United States Senator

2012-02-04T12:20:00.000-06:00

Marco Rubio Gives Amazingly Powerful Pro-Life Speech

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com

Lost in the massive debate over Komen and Planned Parenthood, pro-life Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has given what many attendees of the Wednesday night Susan B. Anthony List dinner call the best pro-life speech of the year.
Rubio rallied pro-life supporters at the SBA List’s fifth annual Campaign for Life Gala in Washington, D.C., saying that the country “can never truly become what it fully was intended to be unless it deals with [abortion] squarely…it’s that important.”
Rubio also noted that America can do nothing more important than show the world that “all life is worthy of protection.”
“Sen. Rubio spoke earnestly and eloquently about the evil of abortion, and encouraged the pro-life movement to stay the course,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. “He understands the reality that the rights of women cannot be built on the broken rights of unborn children. We need more pro-life leaders like Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, and will continue working to add to their ranks.”
The event took place at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and was emceed by Mistress of Ceremonies Mary Katharine Ham, co-host of WMAL radio’s “The Morning Majority” and commentator for The Daily Caller.
Video of the speech and excerpts from it follow:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

* “The Right to Life is a fundamental one that trumps virtually any other right that I can imagine — Because without it, none of the other rights matter. There can be no Liberty without Life. There can be no Constitution without Life. There can be no nation without Life. And there can’t be other lives without Life.”
* “The issue of life is not a political issue, nor is it a policy issue, it is a definitional issue. It is a basic core issue that every society needs to answer. The answer that you give to that issue ends up defining which kind of society you have.”
* “This is an issue that, especially for those that enter the public arena and refuse to leave our faith behind, speaks to more than just our politics,” Rubio said. “It speaks to what we want to do with the opportunity we have been given in our life, to serve and to glorify our Creator.”
* “They say, ‘Well, they are not viable without the support of the mother.’ That also cannot be a good argument, because a newborn isn’t viable without the mother either. A 1-year-old child, a 2-year-old child — leave a 2-year-old child by himself, leave a 6-month-old child by himself, they are not viable either.”
Here is the link to download the audio of Sen. Rubio’s SBA List Gala keynote address: http://www.box.com/s/hml25paii4oimnxnt8ff

Beautifully written essay by former Saint Steve Gleason, battling ALS still loving football and his New Orleans Saints

2012-02-04T09:56:00.000-06:00

Football is just a game, but it's powerful: Steve Gleason

Published: Friday, February 03, 2012, 5:00 AM

By Contributing Op-Ed columnist I know football is just a game -- but when I was 7, I remember crying after the Seahawks lost a playoff game. As I grew older, I became more focused on my development as an individual player. In this way, I naturally became less attached to any specific pro team or the outcome of their games. I became less of a fan.

Eliot Kamenitz, The Times-PicayuneSteve Gleason leads the Who Dat faithful in the chant at the start of the game against Houston last fall.

On the field, if I lost a game, I was able to at least find some satisfaction in my effort and level of exhaustion. "Hey, we lost, but I played my heart out and gave it everything I had." That psychology may be misguided, but it was often useful.
This year, more than any year of my life, I have been able to consider the psychology of "the fan."
Players rarely maintain any ties to the teams they play for because more often than not, they leave for free agency, get cut or traded. In the business of football, relationships tend to sour, leaving all sides with a bad taste in their mouths -- especially the fans.
I was able to play for the same organization for eight years. I retired on my own terms, and the same coaches and staff are still in place. That's pretty fortunate.
Over the past 12 months while I have been tested, diagnosed and treated for ALS, key players and coaches with the Saints have been incredibly supportive. I have spoken to the team, attended weekly meetings, practices and sat on the sideline during games.
As I took my situation public and the team kept winning, it was as if we were inspiring each other. Surely, I am giving myself too much credit.
The point is, as the season progressed, and I became more invested emotionally, I turned into a full-fledged fan. The connection between a team and fans can be very dynamic.
Our season in 2006 was an example of a very positive dynamic: a city rebuilding while a team rebuilds. A city beginning to thrive as a team begins winning.
So, somewhere along the way during this 2011 season, I unconsciously began to correlate my physical health with the Saints' record. If my awful, no good, dastardly, terrible disease could be stalled or defeated with a Saints win, wouldn't that be cool? Considering how the Saints were tearing teams apart and exploding NFL records, it was an effective coping mechanism. Right?
Despite how my body progressed, it felt good high-fiving coaches and players in the locker room after games. Why not allow myself to be distracted on Sunday? I have to wake up every Monday morning scouring the earth for a solution to a problem that, supposedly, has no solution. It felt good to devote myself to the team.
Midway through the season the coaches asked if I wanted to join the team for a road trip. It has become more and more difficult to travel, so I took a rain check.
With the playoff game in San Francisco approaching, it seemed like an ideal situation for me to travel. My brother, Kyle, lived near the city, and I could catch up with my buddies Scott Fujita and Eric Johnson.
Better now than never, right?
In the hours before the game I found myself nervous. As we fell behind in the first quarter, the nerves increased. Players' nerves dissolve as the first whistle blows and physical contact is made. Fans' nervousness only crescendoes as a tight game wears on.
As the team pulled within striking distance, I sat hopefully with Kyle and my film partner Sean Pamphilon on the sideline. We were beggars, bowl in hand, AKA fans. Giving the only gift we could to the team: our hope to see them triumph.
Could we overcome five turnovers? Could we defy the angry 49ers fans? Momentum was building.
In the final two minutes as Jimmy Graham fell into the endzone, our sideline (including me) erupted. It was a simultaneous release of frustration and joy.
And just as quickly we were crushed. Saints lose.
Not until that final moment did I consciously recognize the association I had made as the season progressed. I told Kyle and Sean, "I actually thought that if the Saints won the Super Bowl it meant I would get better." Lame-O.
Flights home after away games can be very therapeutic, especially after a loss. I spent those few hours recalibrating my mentality.
Was I wrong to associate my health, to some degree, with the wins or losses of a sports team? Is this what fans do? Would it have been easier if the Saints were terrible, and I could just not care?
Joseph Campbell writes that, as humans, we are all looking for experiences that make us feel alive. I think that as we seek these experiences, the more fully committed we become, the more enriching is the experience. So we must put our emotions at risk, but the losses can be downright crushing. I think that's OK.
Clearly, whether the Saints won or not had little or no effect on my physical health. It's just a game. I still have to wake up Monday morning scouring the earth for a solution to a problem that, supposedly, has no solution.
But it's a game that gave me brothers like Scott Fujita, Drew Brees, Sean Payton and many others, men who are taking this extraordinary journey with me. We plan to find a solution regardless of who wins the Super Bowl.
Steve Gleason is a former special teams star for the Saints and a recent MBA graduate from Tulane University. He can be contacted through Team Gleason at www.team-gleason.com, facebook.com/teamgleason.org, on Twitter at @team_gleason and email, teamgleason37@gmail.com

It's not bad enough that the government attacks the Church; then they deny it. The USCCB refutes the government point by point.

2012-02-04T09:31:00.000-06:00

White House Misrepresents Its Own Contraceptive Mandate

February 3, 2012

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued the following response to the February 2 post on the White House blog.
Full text follows:
The Obama administration, to justify its widely criticized mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage in private health plans, has posted a set of false and misleading claims on the White House blog (“Health Reform, Preventive Services, and Religious Institutions,” February 1).In what follows, each White House claim is quoted with a response.
Claim: “Churches are exempt from the new rules: Churches and other houses of worship will be exempt from the requirement to offer insurance that covers contraception.”
Response: This is not entirely true.To be eligible, even churches and houses of worship must show the government that they hire and serve primarily people of their own faith and have the inculcation of religious values as their purpose.Some churches may have service to the broader community as a major focus, for example, by providing direct service to the poor regardless of faith.Such churches would be denied an exemption precisely because their service to the common good is so great.More importantly,the vast array of other religious organizations – schools, hospitals, universities, charitable institutions – will clearly not be exempt.
Claim: “No individual health care provider will be forced to prescribe contraception: The President and this Administration have previously and continue to express strong support for existing conscience protections.For example, no Catholic doctor is forced to write a prescription for contraception.”
Response: It is true that these rules directly apply to employers and insurers, not providers, but this is beside the point:The Administration is forcing individuals and institutions, including religious employers, to sponsor and subsidize what they consider immoral.Less directly, the classification of these drugs and procedures as basic “preventive services” will increase pressures on doctors, nurses and pharmacists to provide them in order to participate in private health plans – and no current federal conscience law prevents that from happening.Finally, because the mandate includes abortifacient drugs, it violates one of the “existing conscience protections” (the Weldon amendment) for which the Administration expresses “strong support.”
Claim: “No individual will be forced to buy or use contraception: This rule only applies to what insurance companies cover.Under this policy, women who want contraception will have access to it through their insurance without paying a co-pay or deductible.But no one will be forced to buy or use contraception.”
Response: The statement that no one will be forced to buy it is false.Women who want contraception will be able to obtain it without co-pay or deductible precisely because women who do not want contraception will be forced to help pay for it through their premiums.This mandate passes costs from those who want the service, to those who object to it.
Claim: “Drugs that cause abortion are not covered by this policy: Drugs like RU486 are not covered by this policy, and nothing about this policy changes the President’s firm commitment to maintaining strict limitations on Federal funding for abortions. No Federal tax dollars are used for elective abortions.”
Response: False.The policy already requires coverage of Ulipristal (HRP 2000 or “Ella”), a drug that is a close analogue to RU-486 (mifepristone) and has the same effects.[i] RU-486 itself is also being tested for possible use as an “emergency contraceptive” – and if the FDA approves it for that purpose, it will automatically be mandated as well.
Claim:“Over half of Americans already live in the 28 States that require insurance companies cover contraception: Several of these States like North Carolina, New York, and California have identical religious employer exemptions.Some States like Colorado, Georgia and Wisconsin have no exemption at all.”
Response: This misleads by ignoring important facts, and some of it is simply false.All the state mandates, even those without religious exemptions, may be avoided by self-insuring prescription drug coverage, by dropping that particular coverage altogether, or by taking refuge in a federal law that pre-empts any state mandates (ERISA).None of these havens is available under the federal mandate.It is also false to claim that North Carolina has an identical exemption.It is broader:It does not require a religious organization to serve primarily people of its own faith, or to fulfill the federal rule’s narrow tax code criterion.Moreover, the North Carolina law, unlike the federal mandate, completely excludes abortifacient drugs like Ella and RU-486 as well as “emergency contraceptives” like Preven.
Claim: “Contraception is used by most women: According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, most women, including 98 percent of Catholic women, have used contraception.”
Response: This is irrelevant, and it is presented in a misleading way. If a survey found that 98% of people had lied, cheated on their taxes, or had sex outside of marriage, would the government claim it can force everyone to do so? But this claim also mangles the data to create a false impression.The study actually says this is true of 98% of “sexually experienced” women.The more relevant statistic is that the drugs and devices subject to this mandate (sterilization, hormonal prescription contraceptives and IUDs) are used by 69% of those women who are “sexually active” and “do not want to become pregnant.”Surely that is a minority of the general public, yet every man and woman who needs health insurance will have to pay for this coverage.The drugs that the mandate’s supporters say will be most advanced by the new rule, because they have the highest co-pays and deductibles now, are powerful but risky injectable and implantable hormonal contraceptives, now used by perhaps 5% of women.The mandate is intended to change women’s reproductive behavior, not only reflect it.
Claim: “Contraception coverage reduces costs: While the monthly cost of contraception for women ranges from $30 to $50, insurers and experts agree that savings more than offset the cost.The National Business Group on Health estimated that it would cost employers 15 to 17 percent more not to provide contraceptive coverage than to provide such coverage, after accounting for both the direct medical costs of potentially unintended and unhealthy pregnancy and indirect costs such as employee absence and reduced productivity.”
Response: The government is violating our religious freedom to save money?If the claim is true it is hard to say there is a need for a mandate: Secular insurers and employers who don’t object will want to purchase the coverage to save money, and those who object can leave it alone.But this claim also seems to rest on some assumptions: That prescription contraceptives are the only way to avoid “unintended and unhealthy pregnancy,” for example, or that increasing access to contraceptives necessarily produces significant reductions in unintended pregnancies.The latter assumption has been cast into doubt by numerous studies (see http://old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/contraception/contraception-fact-sheet-3-17-11.pdf).
Claim: “The Obama Administration is committed to both respecting religious beliefs and increasing access to important preventive services. And as we move forward, our strong partnerships with religious organizations will continue.”
Response: False.There is no “balance” in the final HHS rule—one side has prevailed entirely, as the mandate and exemption remain entirely unchanged from August 2011, despite many thousands of comments filed since then indicating intense opposition.Indeed, the White House Press Secretary declared on January 31, “I don’t believe there are any constitutional rights issues here,” so little was placed on that side of the scale.The Administration’s stance on religious liberty has also been shown in other ways.Recently it argued before the Supreme Court that religious organizations have no greater right under the First amendment to hire or fire their own ministers than secular organizations have over their leaders– a claim that was unanimously rejected by the Supreme Court as “extreme” and “untenable.”The Administration recently denied a human trafficking grant to a Catholic service provider with high objective scores, and gave part of that grant instead to a provider with not just lower, but failing, objective scores, all because the Catholic provider refused in conscience to compromise the same moral and religious beliefs at issue here.Such action violates not only federal conscience laws, but President Obama’s executive order assuring “faith-based” organizations that they will be able to serve the public in federal programs without compromising their faith.

[i] See A. Tarantal, et al., 54 Contraception 107-115 (1996), at 114 (“studies with mifepristone and HRP 2000 have shown both antiprogestins to have roughly comparable activity in terminating pregnancy when administered during the early stages of gestation”); G. Bernagiano & H. von Hertzen, 375 The Lancet 527-28 (Feb. 13, 2010), at 527 (“Ulipristal has similar biological effects to mifepristone, the antiprogestin used in medical abortion”).

Friday Night Reflection

2012-02-03T21:28:00.000-06:00

With all the reading and blogging and posting going on all week about the HHS mandate, President Obama vs the Catholic Church, Komen and Planned Parenthood on again/off again/who knows the truth not to mention all the foolishness about this years Presidential election; I want to reflect on the week that was for the Deacon and explore some spirituality.

As Deacon my hectic pace did not slow down at all and that's ok. At my local parish we are conducting a wonderful adult faith formation program based on the videos of Fr. Robert Barron's award winning documentary called the Catholicism Project. Every week, we view a 45-50 minute video, then break into small groups and discuss the topics covered in the video. We have been blessed to have a healthy turnout of parishioners and an occasional visitor.

Another important event this week was an opportunity to meet with and train altar servers. We had a great turnout with 25 of the 32 servers present. We simply wanted to make sure all the servers are comfortable with the new missal, the proper movements and postures and always knowing what to expect at Mass. The strong turnout, along with many parents, is very encouraging.

Tonight was an important night as I have been championing 1st Friday Adoration and Benediction. It was exactly a year ago that I began the evening Benediction and have been so happy with the progress being made; until recently. The last few months have brought an unexpected drop off in turnout with January having only 4 adorers present for Benediction. Tonight, however, we turned a corner with 30 adorers present. And reports of the Adoration turnout throughout the day showed good numbers for each hour of the day. We easily had well in excess of 100 adorers stop by MHT and worship the Eucharstic Lord!

And tonight, I'm relaxing as I gear up for another important weekend with several Masses, our PSR events and oh yea, there is some kind of big football game to watch.

For the many ways to serve one another; thanks be to God!

Army chaplains told not to read letter from their Archbishop protesting HHS last Sunday

2012-02-03T20:58:00.002-06:00

The Corner

Army Silenced Chaplains Last Sunday

By Kathryn Jean Lopez

February 3, 2012

In Catholic churches across the country, parishioners were read letters from the pulpit this weekend from bishops in their diocese about the mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services giving Catholics a year before they’ll be required to start violating their consciences on insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs. But not in the Army.

A statement released this afternoon — which happens to be the 67th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Dorchester, on which four chaplains lost their lives – from the Archdiocese for Military Services explains:

On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels. The letter calls on Catholics to resist the policy initiative, recently affirmed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, for federally mandated health insurance covering sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, because it represents a violation of the freedom of religion recognized by the U.S. Constitution.

The Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains subsequently sent an email to senior chaplains advising them that the Archbishop’s letter was not coordinated with that office and asked that it not be read from the pulpit. The Chief’s office directed that the letter was to be mentioned in the Mass announcements and distributed in printed form in the back of the chapel.

Archbishop Broglio and the Archdiocese stand firm in the belief, based on legal precedent, that such a directive from the Army constituted a violation of his Constitutionally-protected right of free speech and the free exercise of religion, as well as those same rights of all military chaplains and their congregants.

Following a discussion between Archbishop Broglio and the Secretary of the Army, The Honorable John McHugh, it was agreed that it was a mistake to stop the reading of the Archbishop’s letter. Additionally, the line: “We cannot — we will not — comply with this unjust law” was removed by Archbishop Broglio at the suggestion of Secretary McHugh over the concern that it could potentially be misunderstood as a call to civil disobedience.

The AMS did not receive any objections to the reading of Archbishop Broglio’s statement from the other branches of service.

So not only were chaplains told not to read the letter, but an Obama administration official edited a pastoral letter . . . with church buy-in?

Didn’t people flee across an ocean-sized pond to be free of this kind of thing?

UPDATE: Army spokesman confirms “the Army asked that the letter not be read from the pulpit.”

New poll shows Obama still the favorite among Catholic voters

2012-02-03T20:51:00.000-06:00

Catholics still favor Obama over GOP candidates

At the start of 2012, American Catholics prefer Obama to GOP picks. (AP)

With many American Catholic leaders blaming the current administration for a new requirement that Catholic employers provide birth control coverage, you’d think that President Barack Obama wouldn’t exactly be their favorite person right now.
Still, a survey conducted this week has the president beating Republican hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich among Catholic voters in the 2012 race.
According to the Public Religion Research Institute, Obama gets 48 percent of the Catholic votes to Romney’s 40 percent and 56 percent of the Catholic vote to Gingrich’s 32 percent.
PRRI also noted that about half of Catholic voters also voice concern about the wealth gap in America and the state of the country’s poor, an issue that was the subject of a Romney gaffe Wednesday, when he told CNN he was “not concerned about the very poor.”
A majority of American Catholics went Democrat and voted for Obama in 2008 , the Pew Forum found, but had sided with Republican candidates and split down the middle in previous presidential elections.

>>> abitadeacon says: as a Deacon posting this so all can read the story and form their own opinions.

Another perspective on Komen/Planned Parenthood

2012-02-03T20:44:00.000-06:00

Top Pro-Lifers Following Komen Story: Stop Supporting Komen

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com |
Austin Ruse is a leading pro-life Catholic who has been working in Washington, D.C. following the Komen-Planned Parenthood funding story more closely than anyone else.
Ruse’s relationships with Komen and Komen officials were such that he became the leading pro-life advocate helping the majority of Americans who oppose abortion to understand what the breast cancer charity was thinking and doing. He helped LifeNews and the leading pro-life organizations sort out Komen’s decisions earlier in the week and helped lead the fight to rally pro-life advocates around Komen’s apparent decision to cut Planned Parenthood funding.
Now he has a message for the pro-life movement: stop supporting Komen.
“Today the Susan G. Komen Foundation made an announcement that appears that they have reversed themselves on funding of Planned Parenthood. While I do not believe they have reversed themselves, it may turn out to be the case. We do not know,” Ruse told LifeNews Friday afternoon in response to Komen’s latest statement.
“At this point, pro-lifers should cease their support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. We should wait and see what happens. We know there are five more Komen grants to Planned Parenthood in the pipeline. If any more come up, we will know we have lost and Planned Parenthood has won,” Ruse says.
Ruse blames Planned Parenthood for sabotaging what should have been a reason to celebrate Komen and its anti-breast cancer work.
“Planned Parenthood told the Komen Foundation ‘either give us money or we will destroy you.’ They were aided and abetted in this hostage taking by the mainstream media,” he said. “What happened this week was nothing short of a Mafia shakedown campaign by Planned Parenthood against the Susan G. Komen Foundation.”
“I do not regret the work I did over the past days on this issue, neither should any pro-lifer. I only regret we could not have done more to make Komen strong and able to fight off the thuggish abortion giant, Planned Parenthood,” Ruse told LifeNews. “What the week has shown is that Planned Parenthood, an organization that is under criminal investigation all over this country, will stop at nothing to maintain their stranglehold on organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation. We should continue to pray for Nancy Brinker and all of her colleagues at the Susan G. Komen Foundation.”
Most pro-life groups are now taking the wait and see approach, though Eric Scheidler of Pro-Life Action League is hopeful.

Related Links

Tell Komen: Don't Cave on Cutting Planned Parenthood Funding

“Having grown up in the pro-life movement, I know better than to take ANYTHING the mainstream media says at face value, especially when it comes to abortion,” he said. “So when I saw this morning’s Associated Press headline declaring “Komen drops plan to cut Planned Parenthood grants,” I knew I had to see for myself what Komen was really saying. It turns out the reality is rather far from what that AP headline says. Here’s what I’ve learned, in a nutshell.”
“This morning Susan G. Komen for the Cure issued a statement “apologizing” for the their recent decision not to give any more grants to Planned Parenthood. BUT — and this is a big “but” — they didn’t actually say they will resume giving Planned Parenthood grants. What they DID say is that Planned Parenthood can apply for grants in the future. But that’s no guarantee they’ll get them. And given the fact that Planned Parenthood doesn’t actually DO mammograms — which is what those grants are for — it seems unlikely they will. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
But the pro-life activists agrees with Ruse.
“So what does this mean for us pro-lifers?” he asked. “First, it means that we cannot support Komen with financial gifts — not before we see they’ve actually stopped giving to Planned Parenthood for good,” he said. “Second , it means that we all need to draw attention to the REAL foe in this story, Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has basically executed a mafia-style shakedown on Susan G. Komen for the Cure.”
“They were willing to TOTALLY DESTROY the nation’s largest breast cancer research and education organization, rather than lose the $600,000 in grants — a pittance to them — they got from Komen.”
Human Life International president Fr. Shenan J. Boquet is on the same page.
“The evolving situation regarding the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood is still very murky. The media have been actively spinning this story since it began, and many ambiguous statements have been released. We hope our supporters will calmly discern the facts of the situation before reacting,” he said. “At this moment it is unclear whether today’s statement issued by Susan G. Komen indicates that they will continue long-term funding of Planned Parenthood, or whether it indicates that they are trying to calm the waters so that they can move forward and make funding decisions in a less turbulent sea.”
“It is important to note, as many have, that both the original and the updated statement by Komen indicated that they will honor their five existing grants to Planned Parenthood. This is not “news,” as these grants were never going to be canceled. While we do not condone these grants, it does not change the story for pro-lifers. It is also true that Planned Parenthood may continue to apply for grants from Komen, regardless of the new policy. It is unclear, however, whether Planned Parenthood will qualify and ultimately receive grants under the new guidelines initiated by Susan G. Komen,” he continued.
Boquet called for stopping support of Komen.
“We encourage pro-lifers to refrain for the time being from giving financial support to Susan G. Komen. At the same time we ask that you not attack, as some have already begun to do, Susan G. Komen in the midst of this process. Such an attack is likely to push Komen back to funding Planned Parenthood,” he said. “We want to encourage our supporters to continue positive encouragement of Susan G. Komen to take a stand for women’s health by not supporting Planned Parenthood with future grants. Write letters and send emails. Ask them to take a truly life-affirming and pro-woman stand by no longer funding the nation’s largest provider of abortions. Our immediate goal is to encourage them to defund Planned Parenthood.”

>>>from the abitadeacon: read this story and read the one posted below. compare and contrast. do you know what we should do? what is the right response from a good, faithful Catholic?

What is the truth of Komen and Planned Parenthood?

2012-02-03T20:34:00.000-06:00

Updates: Want to Know What is Happening with Komen vs. Planned Parenthood?

by Thomas Peters

First of all, everyone needs to take a deep breath.
About an hour ago my twitter feed exploded with headlines of “KOMEN CAVED!!!”, etc, etc.
No, they didn’t.
They released a very carefully scripted statement today which echoes what their President Nancy G. Brinker said yesterday on MSNBC.
They didn’t cave. They apologized for how their previous statements were misconstrued, but that’s different. In terms of their actual operating procedure, they are saying the same thing they’ve always been saying in terms of implementing a new award protocol, just in a more nuanced way that appeases some of their most vitriolic critics, all in an effort to beg for space and a break from the incessant threat by liberal elites and attacks by the mainstream media (GetReligion has good commentary) and left-wing activists.
Make no mistake, Susan G. Komen is in a fight for its life. WSJ columnist James Taranto describes what is happening to Komen as a mafia shakedown:

Planned Parenthood’s bitter campaign against Komen–aided by left-liberal activists and media–is analogous to a protection racket: Nice charity you’ve got there. It’d be a shame if anything happened to it. The message to other Planned Parenthood donors is that if they don’t play nice and keep coughing up the cash, they’ll get the Komen treatment.
There’s one crucial difference, however. In a real-life protection racket, the victim never pays voluntarily. The threat is present from the get-go. By contrast, Komen presumably was not under any duress when it made its grants–and it could have avoided all this nasty publicity by never dealing with Planned Parenthood in the first place.
Thus smart prospective donors–especially ones that are apolitical, like Komen–are getting the message that supporting Planned Parenthood is a trap. Give once, and you will give again–or else you will pay.

This is more than a pro-life, pro-abortion debate. It’s a culture war between the powerful liberal elite and grassroots pro-life conservatism. It’s also a battle of identity for the pro-life movement. Will we listen to our own, trust our instincts and remain focused? Or will we allow the pro-abortion forces to knock us off our game and play by their rules?
As I’ve been saying since this story broke, we need to be doing two essential things: 1) support Komen in their bid to cut Planned Parenthood out of their funding streams and 2) keep the focus on Planned Parenthood‘s hypocrisy and lies.
If we do these two things, we win. If we get distracted and cease supporting Komen or stop focusing on Planned Parenthood, we lose. It’s as simple as that.
As for what is happening at Komen: I’ve received a crash-course education in the foundation over the past couple days and I can say without doubt that one thing motivates their President Nancy Brinker: ending breast cancer. That’s why she decided to cease funding Planned Parenthood, because they are about the lousiest group to help if you are serious about ending breast cancer. Second, that’s why their President is worried about the damage to the Komen brand being done by Planned Parenthood and its pro-abortion allies. President Brinker knows if Komen is weakened it will be less able to pursue its objective of ending breast cancer. She’s not throwing pro-lifers under the bus, she’s trying to save an organization she built to honor the memory of her sister (who died from breast cancer) and prevent it happening to others.
That’s why we need to make common cause with Komen and support their pro-woman goals. That’s why we need to expose Planned Parenthood’s scurrilous move to destroy Komen.
I mean, just pause for a moment: if Planned Parenthood is so serious about protecting women’s health, how does it justify leading a crusade to destroy the world’s leading breast cancer research foundation over these past days?? It’s simply incredible, and we need to make sure it’s never forgotten!
One last thing: we need to remember the big picture. Over the past 48 hours, not only did Planned Parenthood reveal itself as willing to seriously damage and attempt to destroy the pro-woman Komen foundation, but also, thousands and millions of people potentially learned for the first time that Komen doesn’t believe Planned Parenthood is an ideal provider of health care for women. So even if Planned Parenthood wins this battle (an outcome very much in doubt), I would argue they have seriously weakened themselves for the wars ahead. This will be a long fight, so take the long view.
Here’s what you can do to continue to support Komen in the short term:
1) email news@komen.org and say “Thank You for Defunding Planned Parenthood” and promise to buy products bearing the pink ribbon. Encourage them directly in other ways.
2) sign the petition at http://www.istandwithkomen.com/ (this is not an effort to harvest emails, you only have to supply your name and location) and invite your family and friends to do the same.
3) blog/facebook/tweet/email/write op-eds about this. Get the word out any way you know how.
More from me later this afternoon. Please keep checking this post. Thank you!
UPDATE — This interview with a Komen Foundation board member may be helpful:

I asked Komen board member John Raffaelli to respond to those who are now saying that the announcement doesn’t necessarily constitute a reversal until Planned Parenthood actually sees more funding. He insisted it would be unfair to expect the group to commit to future grants.
“It would be highly unfair to ask us to commit to any organization that doesn’t go through a grant process that shows that the money we raise is used to carry out our mission,” Raffaelli told me. “We’re a humaniatrian organization. We have a mission. Tell me you can help carry out our mission and we will sit down at the table.”
Pushed on whether this means the new announcement wasn’t really a reversal, Raffaelli pushed back, arguing that Komen, in response to all the criticism, had removed politics from the grant-making process. “Is it really unclear that we’re changing the policy to address criticism?” he said. [WaPo's Plum Line Blog]

UPDATE 2 — Erick Erickson of RedState has an excellent update that I think gets the story right:

The major outrage against Komen funding Planned Parenthood came after an undercover sting of Planned Parenthood proving conclusively that Planned Parenthood does not offer mammogram services. Komen claimed it funded Planned Parenthood because of its mammogram services. Planned Parenthood’s dodge is that they referred women to places to get discounted or free mammograms, which itself is not true.
In walking back its denial of funds to Planned Parenthood, my understanding is that Komen will not cancel already approved grants to Planned Parenthood, but in the future will only fund organizations that provide mammograms themselves. That, in effect, still shuts out Planned Parenthood unless they actually invest in in-house infrastructures to give mammograms instead of just killing kids in-house.

>>>From the abitadeacon: The above was lifeted right off the website Catholicvote.org a/k/a American Papist. Mr. Peters is well respected in Catholic circles and spends much more time than I ever could in developing his articles. The Komen/Planned Parenthood deal has been categorized as almost anything but the full story in the media, including today's annoincement that Komen caved and reversed. You can see the word reversed on almost every major news outlet website. Take care to read this post thoroughly and weigh all the information. And continue to stay diligent in following these developments.

Fighting back; from the pulpit(well technically, it's an ambo)

2012-02-03T08:19:00.000-06:00

Catholic clergymen come out swinging against HHS regulation

By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

Washington (CNN) – Catholics around the country got an earful on Sunday from the pulpit over a new health insurance policy by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that forces employers to cover contraception and abortion as part of preventative care regardless of religious beliefs. The use of abortion and contraceptives violates Catholic teachings.
In Green Bay, Wisconsin, Bishop David Ricken denounced the policy at Mass in St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Sunday and received a standing ovation, CNN affiliate WLUK reported.
"If we pay for those services for people who work for us, we are in effect saying don't do it, but then giving the money to pay for it," said Ricken.
In a letter read to congregants in the Atlanta Archdiocese, Archbishop Wilton Gregory called the policy "a matter of grave moral concern."
"In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty," the letter continued and was read at all English and Spanish language Masses, the diocese said in a statement.
The policy goes into effect on August 1, but U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced in a statement January 20 that religious organizations that do not provide contraceptive coverage based on religious belief will have until August 1, 2013, to comply.
"This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty. I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services," Sebelius said in the statement.
“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan in a statement.
“To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their health care is literally unconscionable. It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty," said Dolan who is also the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the public policy arm of the church in the United States.
Just before the release of Sebelius' statement, President Barack Obama called Dolan to discuss the change in policy, Dolan's spokesman told CNN. Dolan expressed his disappointment to the president and asked if the measure could be changed to include more religious exemptions, to which the president said no. Dolan's spokesman said the two had discussed the measure earlier in November before the HHS policy was set.
A White House official told CNN's Dan Lothian late on Monday that "there are Catholics who support the administration's decision." The official also noted support from other religious groups for the policy.
A spokesperson for the conference said there was no way to tell how many parishes addressed the issue this weekend, but said after receiving multiple queries from dioceses around the country, they posted a draft letter on an internal website for churches to adapt and read to congregants.
The Conference of Bishops is also urging congregates to reach out to the White House and members of Congress to express their disagreement with the measure.
The Food and Drug Administration first approved the birth control pill in 1960. When oral contraceptives first entered the market, theologians across the religious spectrum wrestled with how to the deal with new medication. Many Protestant denominations said the use of contraceptives was OK for married couples.
The Catholic Church came out against the use of any type of contraceptives in 1968. In an encyclical letter to Catholics entitled Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI outlined the church's teaching on the matter.
"Therefore We base Our words on the first principles of a human and Christian doctrine of marriage when We are obliged once more to declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children," the letter reads.
The encyclical also reiterated the church's ban on sterilization for men and women, either temporary or permanent, and left no room for interpretation on the new birth control medications.
"Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means," it reads.
Birth control is the most common type of medication taken by young and middle-aged women. Women’s health advocates said the new rules would affect millions of women. Currently, 32 states require insurance plans to cover contraceptives, but 16 of them provide a “conscience exception” for religious employers, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Contraceptive coverage is one of several services that must be covered without co-pays or deductibles in the new Affordable Care Act, which critics have dubbed "Obamacare." Other such services are annual checkups, mammograms, testing for HIV and breastfeeding support.
The Sebelius statement also said the rule won’t affect existing conscience laws, which allow doctors and hospitals to avoid providing services, such as birth control, that violate their religious beliefs.

CNN's Caleb Hellerman and Dan Gilgoff contributed to this article.

Patron Saint of throat ailments

2012-02-03T08:10:00.000-06:00

St. Blaise

Feastday: February 3
Patron of Throat Illnesses

Many Catholics might remember Saint Blaise's feast day because of the Blessing of the Throats that took place on this day. Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and pressed against the throat as the blessing is said. Saint Blaise's protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to die when Saint Blaise healed him.

Very few facts are known about Saint Blaise. We believe he was a bishop of Sebastea in Armenia who was martyred under the reign of Licinius in the early fourth century.

The legend of his life that sprang up in the eighth century tell us that he was born in to a rich and noble family who raised him as a Christian. After becoming a bishop, a new persecution of Christians began. He received a message from God to go into the hills to escape persecution. Men hunting in the mountains discovered a cave surrounded by wild animals who were sick. Among them Blaise walked unafraid, curing them of their illnesses. Recognizing Blaise as a bishop, they captured him to take him back for trial. On the way back, he talked a wolf into releasing a pig that belonged to a poor woman. When Blaise was sentenced to be starved to death, the woman, in gratitude, sneaked into the prison with food and candles. Finally Blaise was killed by the governor.

Blaise is the patron saint of wild animals because of his care for them and of those with throat maladies.

Apostle of the North

2012-02-03T08:08:00.000-06:00

St. Ansgar

Feastday: February 3
Patron of Scandinavia
801 - 865

Ansgar was born of a noble family near Amiens. He became a monk at Old Corbie monastery in Picardy and later at New Corbie in Westphalia. He accompanied King Harold to Denmark when the exiled King returned to his native land and engaged in missionary work there. Ansgar's success caused King Bjorn of Sweden to invite him to that country, and he built the first Christian Church in Sweden. He became Abbot of New Corbie and first Archbishop of Hamburg about 831, and Pope Gregory IV appointed him Legate to the Scandinavian countries. He labored at his missionary works for the next fourteen years but saw all he had accomplished destroyed when invading pagan Northmen in 845 destroyed Hamburg and overran the Scandinavian countries, which lapsed into paganism. He was appointed first Archbishop of Bremen about 848, and the See was united with that of Hamburg by Pope Nicholas I. Ansgar again returned to Denmark and Sweden in 854 and resumed his missionary activities, converting Erik, King of Jutland. Ansgar's success was due to his great preaching ability, the austerity and holiness of his life, and the miracles he is reputed to have performed. Though called "the Apostle of the North" and the first Christian missionary in Scandinavia, the whole area lapsed into paganism again after his death at Bremen on February 3rd. His name is also spelled Anskar.

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

2012-02-01T21:05:00.000-06:00

Candlemas (Presentation of the Lord)

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, commonly called Candlemas, commemorates the presentation of Christ in the temple and the ritual purification of the Virgin Mary. The feast falls on February 2nd. Prayers: Candlemas Prayers

Basic Facts About Candlemas

Liturgical Color(s): White
Type of Holiday: Feast
Time of Year: February 2
Duration: One Day
Celebrates/Symbolizes: The presentation of Jesus in the temple and the ritual purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Alternate Names: Candlemas, Feast of the presentation of Christ in the Temple, Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, Hypapante tou kyriou ("meeting of the Lord").
Scriptural References: Leviticus 12:1-4; Luke 2:22-39

Introduction

The Feast of the Presentation, often called Candlemas, commemorates the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ in the temple, which took place 40 days after his birth as Jewish law required. According to Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a boy was considered unclean for seven days. Also, she was to remain 33 days "in the blood of her purification." Luke tells us, quoting Exodus 13:2,12, that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem because every firstborn child was to be dedicated to the Lord. They also went to sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons, showing that Mary and Joseph were poor. Once in the temple, Jesus was purified by the prayer of Simeon, in the presence of Anna the prophetess. Simeon, upon seeing the Messiah, gave thanks to the Lord, singing a hymn now called the Nunc Dimittis:

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace,
your word has been fulfilled:
My own eyes have seen the salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Simeon told Mary, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed." Simeon thus foreshadowed the crucifixion and the sorrows of Mary at seeing the death of her Son.
The name Candlemas comes from the activities associated with the feast. It came to be known as the Candle Mass. In the Western Church, a procession with lighted candles is the distinctive rite. According to post Vatican-II discipline, (if possible) the beeswax candles are to be blessed somewhere other than where the Mass is held. Often your local parish will hand out candles, or you may bring your own, to be blessed before the procession. These may be saved for later use in your home. After an antiphon, during which the candles held by the people are lighted, there is a procession into the church. During the procession to the church, the Nunc Dimittis is sung, with the antiphon "Lumen ad revelationem" (Luke 2:32). This procession into the church for Mass commemorates Christ's entrance into the temple. Since Vatican II, the feast is reckoned a feast of the Lord (as opposed to a feast of Mary), and officially designated "The presentation of the Lord."

History

Egeria, writing around AD 380, attests to a feast of the Presentation in the Jerusalem Church. It was kept on February 14th. The day was kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection, with a homily on Luke 2:22-39. However, the feast had no proper name at this point; it was simply called the 40th day after Epiphany. This shows that the Jerusalem church celebrated Jesus' birth on the Epiphany Feast (as is common in some Eastern Churches today).
In regions where Christ's birth was celebrated on December 25th, the feast began to be celebrated on February 2nd, where it is kept in the West today. In 542, the Emperor Justinian introduced the feast to the entire Eastern Roman empire in thanksgiving for the end to a great pestilence afflicting the city of Constantinople. Perhaps this is when Pope Gregory I brought the feast to Rome. Either way, by the 7th century, it is contained in the Gelasianum Sacramentary. Pope Sergius (687-701) introduced the procession to the Candlemas service. The blessing of candles did not come into common use until the 11th century.
While some scholars have asserted that the Candlemas feast was developed in the Middle Ages to counteract the pagan feasts of Imbolc and Lupercalia, many scholars reject this, based on Medieval documents. While the feast does coincide with these two pagan holidays, the origins of the feast are based in Scriptural chronology. Some superstitions developed about Candlemas, including the belief that if one does not take down Christmas decorations by Candlemas, traces of the holly and berries will bring about the death of the person involved. In past times, Candlemas was seen as the end of the Christmas season.
Candlemas Day was also the day when some cultures predicted weather patterns. Farmers believed that the remainder of winter would be the opposite of whatever the weather was like on Candlemas Day. An old English song goes:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.

Thus if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be ending soon. This practice led to the folklore behind "Groundhog's Day," which falls on Candlemas Day.
Today, the feast is still celebrated on February 14th in some Eastern Churches, including the Armenian Church, where the feast is called, "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple." Most churches celebrate it on February 2nd.

Summary of Archbishop Aymond and other Bishops visit with the Pope

2012-02-01T20:41:00.000-06:00

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Religious freedom and environmental disaster were on the agenda in late January for U.S. Catholic bishops from five southern states making their periodic "ad limina" visits to Rome.

In meetings with Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials, bishops from Region V -- which includes parts of Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee -- discussed a wide range of pastoral matters, both local and national.

One topic that arose in practically every meeting was the pope's speech to another group of visiting American bishops earlier in the month.

"Radical secularism" threatens the core values of American culture, the pope warned at that time, as he called on the church in the U.S., including politicians and other laypeople, to render "public moral witness" on crucial social issues.

"The Holy Father's message, as always, is very clear and also very strong," said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "We have not only a right, but we have a responsibility to be in the public square."

One day after the pope warned of threats to freedom of religion, and specifically the "right of conscientious objection ... to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices," the Obama administration announced that it would require all private health insurance plans to cover surgical sterilization procedures and artificial birth control.

The U.S. bishops have forcefully denounced the administration's move, and during their visit to Rome, Region V bishops personally expressed their objections to officials of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, said Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans.

At the Vatican, the bishops also raised more local concerns, including the continuing impact of natural and man-made environmental disasters.

"We specifically mentioned to the Holy Father the continued rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill," said Archbishop Aymond, who added that Pope Benedict "asked us to express his concern and his solidarity with the people of Louisiana" in their struggle.

The bishops' periodic visits are formally called "ad limina apostolorum," which means "to the thresholds of the apostles" Peter and Paul, who were martyred in Rome. Traditionally, the visits serve as an occasion for leaders of local churches to draw inspiration as well as guidance from the center of Catholicism.

Coming as they did less than a year before this October's Vatican Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization, the bishops naturally discussed Pope Benedict's call to present Catholicism in ways and terms compelling to contemporary society.

"I want to bring that back to the people of the Archdiocese of New Orleans," Archbishop Aymond said. "What can we do in our local church in order to be in solidarity with the Holy Father as he says this is a year of re-evangelization, of new evangelization? What can we do in a city and a culture as Catholic as New Orleans and much of Louisiana is, (where) sometimes the church can be taken for granted?"

Archbishop Aymond said that he and other Louisiana bishops urged the Vatican's Congregation for Saints' Causes to move forward on two local causes, that of Venerable Henriette Delille and Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos.

The beatification of Mother Delille, in particular, "would be a wonderful celebration, not just for the United States and for our area, but for the African-American community," Archbishop Aymond said.

Other bishops in the region face markedly different challenges.

"In the diocese of Memphis we Catholics are about 4.4 percent of the population," said Bishop J. Terry Steib. "We're in, as I always say, the buckle of the Bible Belt."

Yet Memphis Catholics have learned much about effective evangelization from their evangelical Protestant neighbors, Bishop Steib said.

"We have learned from them, and we are learning from them, particularly as we move into the whole social ministry component," the bishop said. "We are helping others, to make them better people, better Catholics, better Christians."

A post-season honor for Drew Brees

2012-02-01T20:29:00.000-06:00

Drew Brees named FedEx Air NFL Player of the Year

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees (AP)

The death of an American Cardinal

2012-02-01T19:26:00.000-06:00

Church leaders mourn death of Cardinal Bevilacqua

Posted: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 6:34 pm | Updated: 8:04 pm, Wed Feb 1, 2012.

Associated Press | 0 comments

Church leaders called on parishioners Wednesday to pray for the soul of retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led them for more than 15 years but was also an uncharged central figure in a child sex-abuse case that involves the alleged shuffling of predator priests.
Bevilacqua, who was 88, died in his sleep at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood after battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer, according to archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Farrell. He had been the spiritual leader of the 1.5 million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 until his retirement in 2003.
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput encouraged all Catholics to "join me in praying for the repose of his soul."
"Cardinal Bevilacqua has been called home by God; a servant of the Lord who loved Jesus Christ and His people," Chaput said in a statement.
Chaput will receive the body at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Monday, according to the archdiocese. A public viewing will then take place Tuesday, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and a funeral Mass will begin at 2:00 p.m.
"Cardinal Bevilacqua's death comes at a time when the Archdiocese is facing extraordinary challenges," Chaput said. "During this difficult period, I invite all of our people to come together in prayer for a renewal of our Church and Her mission."
Bevilacqua, trained in both civil and canon law, was sharply criticized but never charged by two Philadelphia grand juries investigating child sex abuse complaints lodged against dozens of priests in the archdiocese. His death comes just days after lawyers battled in court over his competency as a potential witness in the upcoming trial of a longtime aide.
Bevilacqua, a native of Brooklyn, was ordained a priest in 1949. He had also led the Pittsburgh archdiocese and served as auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn.
As a church leader, Bevilacqua campaigned for a moratorium on the death penalty and often spoke out against homosexuality, birth control and abortion. He headed the influential bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
In 2002, when the church came under fire for clerical sexual abuse, he called homosexuality an "aberration, a moral evil" and suggested gays were more likely to commit abuse. Under Bevilacqua, the Philadelphia archdiocese tried to weed out gay candidates to the priesthood and expelled any seminarian found to be an active homosexual _ a zero-tolerance policy experts called relatively rare.
He was not averse to new methods of outreach. Heeding the pope's call for a "New Evangelization," Bevilacqua used then-novel methods, such a toll-free confession line, a live weekly radio call-in program and an online forum for people to pose questions to priests.
"We are carrying out the wishes of the Holy Father for a new evangelization, reaching out to people like never before," Bevilacqua said after a telephone hotline began in 1998.
At the same time, attendance at weekly Mass and Catholic school enrollment was falling in some parts of the archdiocese, leading him to close inner-city schools and parishes. The decline continues. The five-county archdiocese just this month announced plans to close 48 schools, displacing nearly 24,000 students.
Bevilacqua, as required, had submitted his retirement to Pope John Paul II when he turned 75 in 1998. But the pope did not accept it at that time, and the cardinal kept up 16-hour days into his late 70s.
"I exercise regularly and my whole work is constant activity of the mind. A lot of reading, meetings, analyses and discussions," he said at age 77. "My life as an archbishop is delightfully hectic."
He made a habit of rising daily at 5 a.m. to pray, lift weights and run several miles on a treadmill at home. "Come 8 o'clock, my day is not my own," he said.
But he settled into retirement after turning 80 in 2003. The first grand jury began its work that year. Bevilacqua's successor, Cardinal Justin Rigali, retired last year after the second grand jury report led to the charges against Monsignor William Lynn and four others, including three priests charged with rape.
Prosecutors said last year that not much had changed since the first investigation, when the "abuse was known, tolerated, and hidden by high church officials, up to and including the Cardinal (Bevilacqua) himself."
Lynn was the first U.S. church official ever charged in the priest-abuse scandal for his administrative actions. His lawyers argue that he took orders from Bevilacqua.
Bevilacqua had been deposed in late November to preserve his testimony, given his age and illnesses. But defense lawyers said he no longer recognized Lynn and could not remember much about his own 10 grueling appearances before the grand jury in 2003 and 2004.
"With the passing of Cardinal Bevilacqua, we will never learn the full truth about clergy sex crimes and cover ups," said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Pope Benedict XVI expressed "sadness" and sent condolences to the archdiocese in a telegram to Chaput.
"I offer my heartfelt condolences to you and to all the faithful of the archdiocese," the pope wrote. "I join you in commending the late cardinal's soul to God, the Father of mercies, with gratitude for his years of episcopal ministry among Christ's flock in Philadelphia, his longstanding commitment to social justice and the pastoral care of immigrants, and his expert contribution to the revision of the Church's law in the years following Vatican Council II."
Parishioners mourned the loss at services Wednesday, but acknowledged that his legacy would be complicated.
Julia Curcio, 27, who was attending church services at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, said she mourned his death, but struggled with the way he dealt with the church abuse case and his stance on homosexuality.
"It's hard for me to reconcile the way people like him act," Curcio said. "It's hard not to hold him responsible. You get the sense that he knew what was going on and could have stopped it."
"You can't think of the good things without the bad," she said.
Chris Stoddard, 69, of Wallingford, remembered Bevilacqua as "a great man" who was visible out in the parishes.
"The poor man is gone now and can't really defend himself," Stoddard said, noting that she would say a prayer for him in church. "It's very unfortunate that this may be what he's remembered for."
Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua was born in 1923, in Brooklyn, the ninth of 11 children of Italian immigrants.
He graduated from Cathedral College in 1943, then attended Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, N.Y.
He earned a doctoral degree in canon law from Gregorian University, Rome, in 1956, a master's degree in political science from Columbia University in 1962 and a law degree from St. John's University Law School in 1975. While he was admitted to practice law in New York and Pennsylvania, he never argued in a court.
In 1976, he was named chancellor of the Brooklyn Diocese. He was ordained as a bishop in 1980 and made auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn.
He remained chancellor of the diocese and director of its Migration and Refugee Office until 1983, when Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik, who worked closely with Bevilacqua during his time in Pittsburgh in the 1980s, remembered him as the "bishop from Brooklyn" who quickly became "one of our own."
"What many did not realize was that he was a man of deep compassion, dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor," Zubik said in a statement. "There are many today who are remembering his personal kindness and faithful service - the twin pillars of his priesthood."

First Saint of the Day for February

2012-01-31T22:13:00.000-06:00

St. Brigid of Ireland

Feastday: February 1

Brigid was probably born at Faughart near Dundalk, Louth, Ireland. Her parents were baptized by St. Patrick, with whom she developed a close friendship. According to legend, her father was Dubhthach, an Irish chieftain of Lienster, and her mother, Brocca, was a slave at his court. Even as a young girl she evinced an interest for a religious life and took the veil in her youth from St. Macaille at Croghan and probably was professed by St. Mel of Armagh, who is believed to have conferred abbatial authority on her. She settled with seven of her virgins at the foot of Croghan Hill for a time and about the year 468, followed Mel to Meath. About the year 470 she founded a double monastery at Cill-Dara (Kildare) and was Abbess of the convent, the first in Ireland. The foundation developed into a center of learning and spirituality, and around it grew up the Cathedral city of Kildare. She founded a school of art at Kildare and its illuminated manuscripts became famous, notably the Book of Kildare, which was praised as one of the finest of all illuminated Irish manuscripts before its disappearance three centuries ago. Brigid was one of the most remarkable women of her times, and despite the numerous legendary, extravagant, and even fantastic miracles attributed to her, there is no doubt that her extraordinary spirituality, boundless charity, and compassion for those in distress were real. She died at Kildare on February 1. The Mary of the Gael, she is buried at Downpatrick with St. Columba and St. Patrick, with whom she is the patron of Ireland. Her name is sometimes Bridget and Bride. Her feast day is February 1.

Pope sets prayer intentions for February

2012-01-31T21:45:00.000-06:00

Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for February

News - V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, 31 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for February is: "That all peoples may have access to water and other resources needed for daily life".

His mission intention is: "That the Lord may sustain the efforts of health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world's poorest regions".

BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/ VIS 20120131 (70

Legislation to fight back against HHS anti-Catholic rhetoric

2012-01-31T21:23:00.000-06:00

Daily News

Rubio Introduces Bill to Protect Church Organizations Against Obama's Mandate (2177)

HHS contraceptive requirement, with narrow exemption, 'tells us a lot about the administration's overreach in all parts of our lives,' Florida senator says.

by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND 01/31/2012 Comment

Sen. Marco Rubio

– Courtesy of the Office of Sen. Marco Rubio

WASHINGTON — Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 today, marking the GOP’s first legislative response to the Obama administration’s regulation requiring coverage of contraception and sterilization for all private employer health plans.
The bill is designed to repeal the narrow religious exemption included in the federal rule. Approved on Jan. 20, it has since been denounced by Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and more than 100 bishops throughout the nation.
In a statement released Jan. 31 marking his sponsorship of the legislation, the freshman senator described the contraception mandate issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a violation of “the conscience rights and religious liberties of our people.”
“Under this president, we have a government that has grown too big, too costly and now even more overbearing by forcing religious entities to abandon their beliefs. This is a commonsense bill that simply says the government can’t force religious organizations to abandon the fundamental tenets of their faith because the government says so,” Rubio said.
Richard Doerflinger, the associate director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities for the USCCB, said that the conference was still “studying” the new bill.
“We first saw the bill introduced by Senator Rubio today,” said Doerflinger, the USCCB’s chief lobbyist on life issues. “Our present focus regarding the HHS ‘preventive services’ mandate is the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179, S. 1467), which has over 135 co-sponsors in Congress [including Rubio] and would ensure that no coverage mandate in the new health-care reform act is used to violate conscience.”
“The Rubio bill relates only to religious objections to contraception and sterilization, and so would not address other problematic mandates issued under this act or any objection based solely on moral grounds. At present, our efforts to advance the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act are continuing and growing,” said Doerflinger.

Today, the National Catholic Bioethics Center “welcomed” the bill’s introduction in the Senate.
“Requiring others to provide and pay for insurance for these contraceptive and abortifacient medications and procedures, while charging no co-pay for them, is an unprecedented violation of religious liberty and conscience and must be vigorously opposed. The National Catholic Bioethics Center joins with all persons committed to the principle of liberty, upon which this country was founded, in welcoming the introduction of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012,” said Marie Hilliard, director of bioethics and public policy for the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing Belmont Abbey College in its legal challenge to the HHS rule, also applauded the bill, noting that it “establishes a firm religious exemption in the insurance requirements imposed by the Affordable Care Act, rather than leaving it to the discretion of government bureaucrats.”

‘Fickle’ Courts a Problem
Ed Whelan, a legal scholar who blogs for Bench Memos at National Review Online contended that the HHS rule already “violates the existing Religious Freedom Restoration Act, so I don’t see any need for a new law. But perhaps Senator Rubio’s bill will help focus attention on how remarkably hostile the Obama administration is to basic principles of religious liberty.”
Thomas Farr, the director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, acknowledged that a number of legal scholars share Whelan’s judgment that the contraception mandate is already in violation of the “existing Religious Freedom Restoration Act. If these views are correct, the Obama administration’s assault on Catholicism and the religious consciences of millions of Americans will ultimately fail in the courts.”
That said, Farr added, “The courts have been notoriously fickle on religious-liberty issues. While there have been some encouraging decisions recently, such as Hosanna Tabor, those decisions tend to support internal church autonomy, not matters of public policy.”
“It is the fickleness of the courts, as well as the anti-Catholic hostility of the Obama administration, that makes Senator Rubio’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 so important. It deserves the support of Catholics and other religious groups who share their concerns,” stated Farr.
Rubio has been on the short list of possible GOP vice-presidential candidates for the 2012 election. Thus, his leadership role in introducing this legislation signals that it will likely emerge as a critical issue, drawing more swing voters to the Republican ticket.
Asked whether his bill signals that the HHS rule will become an issue for voters, Rubio told the Register, “I think it will emerge as an issue for those who believe in religious freedom.”
He linked the issue to the larger theme of government overreach that has surfaced in recent GOP debates.
“It tells us a lot about the administration’s overreach in all parts of our lives,” he said during a telephone interview, noting his concerns about the new health bill, among other issues.
“I am in favor of repealing the entire health bill,” he added. But he suggested that his “pragmatic” approach was “narrowly tailored” to address the religious-exemption issue and thus might “have a better chance” of passage by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
The senator expressed the hope that his bill would draw additional co-sponsors and bipartisan support by the end of the day.
The 2010 health-care law mandates a host of services in private health plans, including co-pay-free contraception and sterilization. In his statement today, Rubio attacked the “Obama administration’s obsession with forcing mandates on the American people.”

‘Edict With a Sneer’
The USCCB has yet to publicly confirm its legal response to the federal rule. Experts have raised the possibility that various dioceses may turn to the courts for redress, and litigation options were noted in letters from U.S. bishops released on Jan. 29. But scholars who share the bishops’ outrage suggest that the outcome of a legal challenge is far from certain.
“Given the power of the abortion license in our jurisprudence, and among so many judges, I am not confident that enough Supreme Court justices would in the end allow religious liberty to trump their own policy preferences — i.e., not only to protect and expand the asserted rights of contraception and abortion, but to force dissenters into line,” said Georgetown’s Farr.
The unprecedented nature of the HHS regulation has left some insiders and commentators puzzled by the administration’s motives — given that it already faces an uphill battle to secure another four years in the White House.
“[T]he astounding ambition of this federal precedent will soon be apparent to every religious institution. Obama is claiming the executive authority to determine which missions of believers are religious and which are not — and then to aggressively regulate institutions the government declares to be secular,” said Michael Gerson in a column today for The Washington Post, which has already attacked the federal rule in an editorial.
“The administration’s ultimate motivation is uncertain. Has it adopted a radical secularism out of conviction, or is it cynically appealing to radical secularists? In either case, the war on religion is now formally declared,” Gerson observed, noting that the administration could have accommodated the church request and still have imposed a contraception mandate with little controversy.
“Both radicalism and maliciousness are at work in Obama’s decision — an edict delivered with a sneer. It is the most transparently anti-Catholic maneuver by the federal government since the Blaine Amendment was proposed in 1875 — a measure designed to diminish public tolerance of Romanism, then regarded as foreign, authoritarian and illiberal. Modern liberalism has progressed to the point of adopting the attitudes and methods of 19th-century Republican nativists.”
Rubio, the only Hispanic American presently serving in the Senate, has not endorsed any GOP presidential contender. During an appearance on Fox News this morning, Rubio said he would “let Florida voters decide. When it comes to president, you can’t tell people how to vote anyway.”
In a reference to ongoing speculation regarding his prospects as a choice for vice president on the Republic ticket, he added, “I’m going to do everything I can to help the nominee, and whatever that is that will be; but it is not going to be vice president.”
UPDATE: During a telephone interview at the close of the day, Bishop William Lori, chairman of the USCCB Ad hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, said he “welcomed” Sen. Rubio’s bill. “It would address the immediate threat caused by the HHS ruling. I do hope it will find broad bipartisan support and make its way to President Obama’s desk.”
Bishop Lori added that he also supported the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, introduced by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE). He noted that last week “Cardinal-designate Dolan and myself sent a sample letter to bishops that could be read by pastors in their dioceses. We gave them an opportunity to contact their representatives for remedies. The Fortenberry bill and the Rubio bill are the kinds of legislation that should be broadly supported by many Americans.”
Reflecting on the scope of the challenge posed by the HHS contraception mandate, Bishop Lori reported that “two types of remedies—litigation and legislation—are being studied intensely at this time” by the bishops’ conference.

Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond writes from Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Florida is all Romney; after 4 primaries Romney is frontrunner

2012-01-31T21:17:00.000-06:00

Romney wins big in Florida presidential primary

By Steve Holland | Reuters

TAMPA (Reuters) - Mitt Romney cruised to a blowout victory in Florida's Republican presidential primary on Tuesday that put him back in front in the fight for his party's nomination to face President Barack Obama and left chief rival Newt Gingrich reeling but vowing to fight on.

With 70 percent of the vote counted, Romney had 47 percent of the vote to Gingrich's 32 percent in the largest of the four Republican presidential nominating contests so far this year.
Television networks projected Romney as the winner just as the last polls closed in Florida.
The victory enabled Romney, the wealthy former Massachusetts governor and private equity firm executive, to rebound from his decisive loss to Gingrich in the January 21 South Carolina primary.
The well-funded and well-organized Romney surged in opinion polls in Florida after aggressively pressing Gingrich in two debates and pounding him with negative advertising.
The campaign for the Republican nomination to challenge Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 election now tilts in Romney's favor with seven contests in February in which he could win or do well, starting with Nevada on Saturday.
The Florida victory also may widen a rift between establishment Republicans who back Romney and conservative voters who favor Gingrich, a dynamic that could complicate the party's effort to oust Obama in November.
"As this primary unfolds, our opponents in the other party have been watching, and they like to comfort themselves with the thought that a competitive campaign will leave us divided and weak," Romney told a jubilant crowd in his victory speech in which he focused on Obama after two weeks of clobbering Gingrich.
"But I've got news for them. A competitive primary does not divide us. It prepares us, and we will win," Romney added.
The Florida primary was the fourth in the series of state-by-state contests to pick the Republican nominee. Romney has triumphed in two of the first four contests, having also won in New Hampshire and coming in second in Iowa and South Carolina.
Romney was helped by the millions of dollars in negative television ads against Gingrich that undermined the argument advanced by the former speaker of the House of Representatives that he is the conservative heir to Republican President Ronald Reagan.
Gingrich fought back with ads of his own, castigating Romney as a party insider and elite friend of Wall Street - and called him "for all practical purposes a liberal." But Gingrich did not have the same amount of money as Romney, who had used a similar advertising spree to cut Gingrich down to size in Iowa.
"It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader Newt Gingrich and the Massachusetts moderate," Gingrich told his supporters after the primary.
The next contest is the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, followed next Tuesday by caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota and a primary in Missouri.
'THIS DOGFIGHT IN FLORIDA'
"I think both of them are damaged by this dogfight in Florida," veteran Republican strategist Ed Rollins said of Romney and Gingrich. "I've never seen anything quite like it in a presidential campaign."
Winning Florida demonstrated Romney's ability to compete strongly in a major political battleground state with a broad voter base that includes a diverse electorate including Tea Party conservatives, evangelical Christians and Cuban-Americans.
He kept his focus on the U.S. economy and Florida's 9.9 percent unemployment rate, insisting his background as a private equity executive gives him the economic acumen to help the country create jobs.
"I voted for Romney. I think he'll create jobs," said Dino De Cicco, 38, of Melbourne Beach.
But the Florida campaign revealed that Republicans still hold doubts about Romney. Conservatives feel he has flip-flopped on some major issues and lacks a spine.
"Romney is not a conservative," said Richard Jeske, 66, an Orlando security guard who voted for Gingrich.
These are concerns that Gingrich hopes to take advantage of as he tries to hang on until March when a number of Southern states vote.
The defeat was a dispiriting one for Gingrich, who was unable to recreate in Florida the late surge of support in South Carolina from undecided voters that carried him to a shock victory.
Gingrich is vowing to fight on until Republicans hold their convention to nominate their candidate in late August, a battle he pledges will be for the heart and soul of the conservative movement.
Gingrich supporters hoisted banners at his Florida party that read "46 states to go."

Romney still narrowly trails Gingrich in some national polls. But many analysts believe a double-digit victory in the "Sunshine State" cements his status as front-runner as the national Republican nomination contest continues.

According to exit polls by CBS, 62 percent of the Republican voters said the economy was the most important issue to them. Romney has campaigned hard saying he is best placed to fix the economy based on his experience as a businessman.

"(Romney's) a businessman. He knows how to make money. If he makes promises, he'll keep them," said Frank Lobue, a retired utility company employee, who voted in St. Petersburg.

Voters also said in exit polls that they very concerned about picking a candidate who could beat Obama.

(Additional reporting by Ros Krasny, Sam Youngman, Jane Sutton and David Adams; editing by Mary Milliken)

Pro-life efforts win a big battle here; Komen says see ya' later Planned Parenthood

2012-01-31T21:05:00.000-06:00

BREAKING: Komen for the Cure abandons Planned Parenthood funding

by John-Henry Westen

NEW YORK, January 31, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The largest funder of breast cancer research in the nation has ended its controversial ties with Planned Parenthood. Susan G. Komen for the Cure has announced that it is shutting the door on funding the abortion giant after seven years of pressure from pro-life Americans.

Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun explained that “the cutoff results from the charity’s newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities,” according to Fox News. Last year a U.S. House committee announced that it was investigating Planned Parenthood to determine whether the abortion organization handles criminal conduct properly, or has mishandled federal funding to pay for abortions.

Komen has removed a document on their website defending their funding of Planned Parenthood. As well, a new statement on the site dated November 11, 2011 describes their policy not to fund research involving human embryonic stem cells. The statement notes that Komen funds stem cell research only where the stem cells are “derived without creating a human embryo or destroying a human embryo.”

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards expressed shock, describing a phone call she received from Komen about their decision to AP.

“It was incredibly surprising. It wasn’t even a conversation — it was an announcement,” said Richards.

Pro-life leaders have pointed to the relationship between Komen and Planned Parenthood for years, including several U.S. bishops who have encouraged boycotts of Komen. In December, publishers behind a Bible edition intended to benefit Komen pulled the book from shelves in response to a backlash over the Planned Parenthood connection.

Stop Planned Parenthood (STOPP), a project of the American Life League dedicated to shutting down Planned Parenthood, released a report on August 24 of last year detailing the $629,159 in funding various Komen affiliates contributed directly to Planned Parenthood affiliates across the US in 2009-2010, according to the 990 Forms Komen submitted to the IRS for those years.

“The continued, collective efforts of the pro-life movement have paid off,” said Bradley Mattes, Executive Director of the Life Issues Institute. “Our work to educate Komen donors to the reality that the organization has financially supported the nation’s largest chain of abortion mills has caused Komen to halt the financial hemorrhaging. Evidently, Komen had to choose between political ideology and financial viability. They made a good choice.”

Pro-life activist had long highlighted the irony that Komen was funding the United States number one abortion provider, when numerous studies have pointed to a strong link between abortion and increased risk of breast cancer.

Click “like” if you want to end abortion!

To let Komen know your thoughts:

http://ww5.komen.org/Contact.aspx

Founder of the Salesians; devoted to Mary help of Christians

2012-01-30T21:28:00.001-06:00

St. John Bosco
(1815-1888)

John Bosco’s theory of education could well be used in today’s schools. It was a preventive system, rejecting corporal punishment and placing students in surroundings removed from the likelihood of committing sin. He advocated frequent reception of the sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion. He combined catechetical training and fatherly guidance, seeking to unite the spiritual life with one’s work, study and play.

Encouraged during his youth to become a priest so he could work with young boys, John was ordained in 1841. His service to young people started when he met a poor orphan and instructed him in preparation for receiving Holy Communion. He then gathered young apprentices and taught them catechism.
After serving as chaplain in a hospice for working girls, John opened the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales for boys. Several wealthy and powerful patrons contributed money, enabling him to provide two workshops for the boys, shoemaking and tailoring.
By 1856, the institution had grown to 150 boys and had added a printing press for publication of religious and catechetical pamphlets. His interest in vocational education and publishing justify him as patron of young apprentices and Catholic publishers.
John’s preaching fame spread and by 1850 he had trained his own helpers because of difficulties in retaining young priests. In 1854 he and his followers informally banded together, inspired by St. Francis de Sales [January 24].
With Pope Pius IX’s encouragement, John gathered 17 men and founded the Salesians in 1859. Their activity concentrated on education and mission work. Later, he organized a group of Salesian Sisters to assist girls.

Comment:

John Bosco educated the whole person—body and soul united. He believed that Christ’s love and our faith in that love should pervade everything we do—work, study, play. For John Bosco, being a Christian was a full-time effort, not a once-a-week, Mass-on-Sunday experience. It is searching and finding God and Jesus in everything we do, letting their love lead us. Yet, because John realized the importance of job-training and the self-worth and pride that come with talent and ability, he trained his students in the trade crafts, too.

Feast day: January 31st

Wonderful story of young lawyer living in New Orleans and becoming a nun

2012-01-30T19:36:00.000-06:00

Young lawyer fights for social justice on her way to becoming a nun

Published: Sunday, January 29, 2012

By Sheila Stroup, The Times-Picayune

Alison McCrary starts her mornings with prayer and meditation. Sometimes she writes in her journal. Other times she draws geometric mandalas. It’s a way of silencing her mind. She thinks about what grace she wants to ask for that day. Should it be patience? Gratitude? Understanding?

The Times-Picayune John McCusker / The Times-PicayuneAlison McCrary works with Safe Streets/Strong Communities as legal observer at the city's Sunday brass band parades. She watches out for abuse of participants at the hands of police Sunday January 22, 2012 Alison McCrary: Seeking grace in troubled times gallery (12 photos)

“Humility is a big one,” she says. “I ask, ‘How can I increase God and decrease me?’”
McCrary graduated from Loyola Law School in May and is in formation to become a nun in the Congregation of St. Joseph. She lives with a group of sisters in a house near Bayou St. John, and every night at 6.p. m. they sit down to eat together and share after-dinner prayers. Often, Sister Helen Prejean and other nuns who live in New Orleans join them.
“All of us have different ministries,” McCrary says. “I feel very blessed that we have each other.”
On Jan. 21, Sister Lory Schaff, a co-founder of Hope House in the former St. Thomas housing development and a tireless advocate for the poor, died at home, surrounded by the other sisters as they prayed the rosary.
“I was looking through some old photographs and I found pictures of her with A. L. Davis, Martin Luther King and Avery Alexander,” McCrary says. “She had an amazing life, and she was a huge role model for me.”
McCrary tries to strike a balance between prayer and ministry. The young lawyer, who will be 30 in February, has a Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship and spends her days as an advocate and organizer, working with Safe Streets/Strong Communities, a grassroots group that operates out of an office on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.
“People are always asking me, ‘Why don’t you get burned out?’ But I feel like the more you give, the more you get back,’” she says.
For her legal services, she has received payment in satsumas, a photo of a Mardi Gras Indian Spy Boy she helped get out of jail, a sack of oysters.
“I tried for days to get them open with a butter knife,” she says.
Often, her ministry takes her to the streets of the city. Most Sundays, you’ll find her at a second-line parade, wearing a bright lime-green hat and parading with the social aid and pleasure clubs, serving as a legal observer and documenting any police misconduct she sees.
Sometimes, you’ll find her at a neighborhood bar, talking to Mardi Gras Indians, a second-line group or a brass band about noise ordinances, the new curfew, unfair parade fees.
“People want to know, ‘Why is a nun going to bars?’” she says, laughing.
McCrary aims to protect the cultural rights of centuries-old African-American groups and their traditions.
“I think those forms of cultural expression are important to the healing of our city,” she says. “The paraders should be respected and protected, not harassed and arrested.”
She sees her role as a lawyer fighting for social justice meshing perfectly with becoming a nun.
“People have such a misconception of what nuns are,” she says. “We’re supposed to run into the world, not out of it. Our eyes are wide open, and our sleeves are rolled up.”
McCrary grew up poor in rural Georgia with her parents and two sisters, and she gradually began to understand what social justice means.
“My mother is Cherokee,” she says. “She wasn’t welcome at the white school or the black school when she was a girl. She just recently learned to read and write.”
Where McCrary lived as a little girl, Confederate flags flew on many buildings, and the Ku Klux Klan marched in the square on weekends.
“You grow up with something, you think it’s normal,” she says. “But that isn’t normal.”
Her family was Southern Baptist, and even as a young girl, she was full of questions.
“I was always seeking, always asking, ‘Where is God?’” she says.
Nobody in her family had ever gone to college, but after the McCrarys moved to Conyers, Ga., she had teachers who saw something in her, who encouraged her and gave her books to read. After high school she went to a nearby community college and then commuted to Atlanta to attend Georgia State University. By the time she graduated with a degree in English in December 2004, she knew she wanted to be involved with justice and human rights.
“There are so many struggles of the poor and oppressed,” she says. “If I’m not engaged in some kind of social change, then something is wrong.”
During an internship with the PeaceWomen Project at the United Nations in 2005, she met impressive women doing the kind of work she wanted to do.
“I found out they were lawyers,” she says. “I was inspired by what they were doing, and that planted the seed for going to law school.”
After living in New York, McCrary didn’t want to go back to the country, and she decided to move to New Orleans. She filled out job applications with The Innocence Project and other justice groups and arrived in the city in August 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina struck. She never considered leaving after the storm.
“There was so much need here. There was too much to do,” she says. “And I was sure New Orleans was going to come back.”
Instead of going to job interviews, she ended up working at a food pantry at St. Augustine Church with some Tulane students.
“There were no grocery stores open. We were feeding 200 families a week,” she says.
While she was at St. Augustine, the Rev. Jerome LeDoux, who was pastor of the historic church in Treme, invited her to come to Mass. She explained that she wasn’t Catholic and didn’t understand “all that kneeling and standing up,” but he assured her that didn’t matter. She was welcome there.
That Sunday, in the old Catholic church built by free people of color in 1842, she found an answer to the question she’d been asking since childhood.
“I could really feel the spirit in that church, back to the time of the slaves, back to the time of Homer Plessy and A. P. Tureaud,” she says. “The spirit lives in that space, and I felt closer to God than I had ever felt in my life.”
She spent a year studying scripture and Catholic doctrine and then joined the Catholic church.
“It took some work with my family when I became a Catholic,” she says, smiling.
In 2006, McCrary became a paralegal with the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana, where she worked with indigent defendants and began visiting people on Death Row.
“They kept telling me, ‘You should go to law school. We need people like you to be lawyers,’” she says.
She entered the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in August 2007. During her work as a paralegal and volunteer activities as a law student, she met several Sisters of St. Joseph and saw the important work they were doing, and she felt called to become a nun.
“I met Sister Helen Prejean and Sister Lory Schaff and all these incredible women who were living the gospel values, and I thought, ‘I want that,’” she says.
She started meeting with a spiritual advisor, and after finishing law school and passing the bar in May, 2010, she took the first step to becoming a Sister of St. Joseph on Aug. 15, 2010.
“I knew I had to find the beauty in the middle of all the struggle,” she says. “My decision is something I feel at peace with.”
In a world that values money, power and sex, she is ready to live the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
“I believe our vows have a lot of meaning,” she says. “I feel like I’m called to that commitment.”
When her fellowship is over in April, McCrary will begin the second step in becoming a nun. She will go from her busy ministry in criminal justice reform and cultural rights advocacy to a two-year novitiate.
“You can’t work or volunteer,” she says. “It’s a time of contemplation, a time to explore your relationship with God.”
She will live in Chicago with the other Sister of St. Joseph novices in a house owned by the congregation.
“I think it will be really rewarding,” she says.
She looks forward to finishing her novitiate and making her first vows in April 2014. She doesn’t know what her ministry will be yet. That will be determined by where God leads her and what the community needs. She just knows it will be in New Orleans.
“I don’t see myself going anyplace else,” she says. “I love New Orleans. It’s a place of struggle, but it’s also a place of love and beauty and hope.”

Sheila Stroup's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday in Living. Contact her at sstroup@timespicayune.com or 985.898.4831.

What happened to January

2012-01-30T19:21:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow we say goodbye to January and what should be the coldest month of the year in the deep south. January ranks right up there as one of my favorite months because I embrace the winter and the coldest days we get because we sure get a ton of hot days for an extended period of time. For us near the city of New Orleans we get maybe a month or so of winter while we struggle with about six months of summer.

This January did see a few of those classic cold mornings; but only a few. Unlike past winters when we roll out the extra heat lamps for the plastic pipes and faucet covers as early as November, this year that task was delayed to about 3 weeks ago. And temperatures did not get into the 20's more than 3 or 4 mornings. In this very January we have had a few 82 degree afternoon highs and several mornings with lows above 60. This produces plenty of fog and that creates some driving hazzards with Lake Pontchartrain seperating New Orleans from the Northshore.

January brought us much excitement in our area as we prepared for Saints postseason and LSU's attempt to win a 2nd national championship in 4 years. But alas, the Saints managed but one victory in the playoffs before being dispatched by the SF 49'ers and LSU suffered epic failure in being blown out by Alabama. Disappointment abounding, it only took a little while to recover recognizing the joy of having both a great NFL and college football program in these neck of the woods, year in/year out.

January is always a time for new beginnings; resolutions, return to work and school, getting organized, starting fresh, and, for me, a robust schedule of many ministry opportunities. This last week of January was one such example as I survived a funeral, a wedding, a baptism, a prison prayer service, preaching, adult faith formation and more. It is kind of nice to have a quiet, peaceful evening on this cool Monday night before the week turns hectic again and we transition to February.

So at least February remains among one of my happier months as it is both a winter month and the beginning of Mardi Gras. We certainly do have quite a celebration in these parts as we continue the many Mardi Gras balls and customs and soon the street parades begin too.

I look forward as a Permanent Deacon to the continued opportunities for assisting at Masses, prison ministry, continued formation activities for our Deacon candidates, along with the beginning of Lent and the Confirmation celebration of our young adults in a few weeks.

So we simply say so-long to January and prepare for February; may God bless our new month abundantly.

Presidential candidate says daughters recovery is a miracle

2012-01-30T18:39:00.001-06:00

Santorum Says Disabled Daughter Bella’s Condition Improving

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said late Sunday that the medical condition that forced the Santorum family to hospitalize the little girl over the weekend has dramatically improved.
Santorum had canceled some of his Florida campaign events to be with his sick daughter, Bella, who has Edwards Syndrome or Trisomy 18, a chromosomal condition which results in stillbirth 50 percent of the time. Bella was admitted to the hospital Saturday night because she has pneumonia in both of her lungs, according to campaign aides. The little girl is not on a ventilator. The family has medical equipment they use for their daughter and normally try to keep her out of the hospital if possible due to potential infections.
Although Bella was frequently hospitalized during the first year of her life, her family has been able to care for her at home apart from needed surgeries and she has not spent any significant time in the hospital until now.
“A simple cold can kill her, and it almost did this weekend. She ended up with pneumonia and a cold,” Santorum told Glenn Beck on his radio show Monday. “But she was able to get great care and yesterday really made a great turn around and she will be out of the ICU today and so we are getting back to normal here.”
“She had a very tough go of it, but yesterday afternoon she rallied, and she’s on the mend,” he said. “We are feeling very, very blessed, I just want to thank everybody for their prayers.”
On Sunday night, Santorum told Florida voters on a tele town hall that Bella is doing better and that his family expects her to be released in a matter of days.
“Life for the Santorum family has improved dramatically since this afternoon,” he said. “We’ve still got a long way to go, but she’s without a doubt turned a corner.”
“She’s got a mask on because she needs help breathing, but she’s smiling through it,” Santorum said, adding that it was a blessing his daughter got sick at home rather than while she was with him on the campaign trail. “It’s a miracle in some respects.”
“She’s had a miraculous turnaround,” Santorum said. “We have a long way to go, but she turned the corner and we are very, very grateful.”
“It was a very, very tough night last night,” he said of the ordeal, adding that the family took Bella to a District of Columbia area hospital instead of Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia where she normally receives care.
“She has been on some great treatment here,” he added. “She’s just doing great.”
He told callers the campaign is resuming, saying, “We’re going to get back on the campaign trail probably later tomorrow” and his campaign released to LifeNews an itinerary showing he will indeed campaign in the coming battleground states of Minnesota and Missouri. “I feel very, very good about where we are and where this campaign is going.”
Jim Geraghty of National Review, a conservative publication, wonders if some Florida voters heading to the polls Tuesday will support Santorum because of Bella.
“With Bella Santorum on the mend, and her father Rick returning to the campaign trail (although not to Florida, but to Missouri and Minnesota), perhaps it is safe to wonder whether the drama of the Santorum family’s sudden scare will have any late impact on Tuesday’s results,” he wrote. “Santorum has been a distant third or fourth in the recent Florida polls, finishing with 11 to 16 percent. But I have yet to encounter anyone who thinks worse of a man who suspends his campaign and rushes to his home state to be with his hospitalized daughter. Quite a few folks across the spectrum are saluting Santorum for demonstrating that he’s a man who knows what matters most to him.”
“irst Santorum had an above-the-fray, winning performance in Thursday’s debate, and this weekend he demonstrates he’s a man who puts his family first. He needed a way to break through the back-and-forth between Romney and Gingrich in the final days, and this event, tragic and terrifying as it was, probably did that,” Geraghty writes.
Karen Santorum, wife of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, recently talked with voters about the eugenic push for abortions on babies who are diagnosed with certain disabilities before birth.
“But it is interesting how they categorize certain diagnosis. And what we got alot — which it sounds like you did – was ‘lethal diagnosis incompatible with life.’ They really have to stop using those words. Because when they do it leads to lethal outcomes. And we have found that,” she told the voter. “I’m really on a mission now to really help change the wording and how they present the diagnoses to parents.”
Santorum talks about her daughter Bella, who has Edwards Syndrome, later in the video.
“We got the diagnosis on our little girl Bella four days after her birth. It was a really hard time. You know, we weren’t expecting it and so it was really hard,” she says. “We had lost a baby so that’s all I can think about was ‘I can’t go through this again.’ i was very angry and went into a deep dark hole for 10 days when she was the in the NICU, I must admit,” Santorum continues. “I was never going to leave my faith, I love the Lord, I was praying and I kept asking why. I couldn’t understand.”
Eventually she said she came to realize that “God is in child and this beautiful child is here for a purpose.”
“We said right from the get go that Bella was a part of her family and we would love her and care for her” in the same way she and Rick care for their other children. “You know the pain and what a challenge it can be, but we’re a very close family and we came together.”
Rick Santorum previously talked about his daughter in a campaign commercial released before the Iowa caucus vote.
“During the last debate I mentioned how I was looking forward to taking the red-eye home to see my three year old daughter Bella, who had surgery earlier that day,” the Republican presidential candidate said. “Following that debate, Karen and I got numerous emails and calls from supporters asking how she was doing. We were so touched by the tremendous outpouring of support, the thoughts and the prayers we received for our sweet Bella.”
“She is doing great and back to her joyful, smiley self. But since so many people were concerned, we wanted to share a little bit more about Bella and the great blessing she is for our entire family,” he said. “We hope you’ll enjoy this video.”
Santorum recently talked about Bella in a speech at a Pennsylvania pro-life event. Santorum recalled the crisis of faith he experienced when his wife Karen went to get an ultrasound of their unborn baby Gabriel.
The doctor told the couple, “Your son has a fatal defect and is going to die.” But Gabriel was born alive. As Santorum recalls, “For two hours he lived a life that knew only love.”
The couple’s heartbreaking experience with infant loss became the subject of Karen’s book, Letters to Gabriel, which has helped countless mothers deal with the deaths of their newborn babies.
Santorum faced another crisis when his daughter, Bella, was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a chromosomal condition which results in stillbirth 50 percent of the time. At first, Santorum was emotionally detached from his disabled daughter but, when she faced her own battle for life, he suddenly realized, “This child…can do nothing but love me.”
Santorum observed, “That’s me with the (Heavenly) Father—I am so profoundly disabled in His eyes.”
Against all odds, little Bella recently celebrated her 182^nd week of life. According to Santorum, the one-year survival rate for Trisomy 18 is 1 percent.
As Santorum told the Pennsylvania crowd of 500 pro-lifers, “These children have so much to teach us.”