A singular football moment memorialized because it signaled the rebirth of New Orleans and pays tribute to a courageous Saint

Gleason's punt block memorialized outside Superdome

wwltv.com

Posted on July 27, 2012 at 6:21 PM

Updated today at 6:50 PM

Meg Farris / Eyewitness News
It's called the "Rebirth" statue; it's a replica of the moment when Steve Gleason blocked a punt in 2006, and re-energized the city after Hurricane Katrina.
Friday, Saints players honored their former team mate at the statue unveiling, as he battles ALS, known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
The thunderstorm couldn't dampen the spirits of hundred's who came to see the new statue outside of the Dome. The Saints team in their 'No White Flags' t-shirts, along with family and friends, were there to honor former team mate Steve Gleason for his famous play.
"This statue, as I told the people at the NFL this morning, symbolizes the rebirth of our city," said Saints team owner Tom Benson.
"When they talk about New Orleans, they talk about resilience. They talk about resurrection. They talk about redemption," said Mayor Mitch Landrieu about the city being rated by Forbes as a top place to do business.
They remembered how the blocked Falcon punt resuscitated our post Katrina broken hearts, but they also honored Gleason's heroic actions off of the field.
"This statue is going to be great, but this statue doesn't even compare to the man right here," said Saints interim coach Joe Vitt to a cheering audience.
"The things that you do for yourself, only stay with you. But the things that you do for others, live forever," said Saint quarterback Drew Brees about his friend Gleason.
Steve Gleason opened up with a little humor saying, 'The last time somebody unveiled a 9-foot-statue of me was never.' But the he quickly got serious and said this statue is really about the entire New Orleans community.
"That statue is not about football. That statue is a symbol, is a symbol, of the commitment and perseverance that this community took on before that game," said Gleason.
He invited others with ALS to be there, because Team Gleason's mission now is about changing the world through research, scientific discoveries, and technology, so his voice can still be heard.
"When ALS is more known to the common person, I think it will be a great thing," said his wife Michel
When asked what is keeping the family busy she said, "Mostly the Team Gleason stuff. We're doing, we're sending patients on these awesome adventures and raising awareness. And getting up after the morning is always a little bit rough, but after we kind of get into our mission, we're always doing great." 　
Michel said the world is watching and wants to know what Steve has been doing since his famous play. She said that while his voice is fading and getting weak, she is happy that technology has recorded his voice so he can "speak."
"It feels really good to know that we'll always hear from him. We actually just, we did a rap song 'Baby Got Back' and it's hilarious and we're going to have a lot of fun with it."
The sculptor, Brian Hanlon, said he has never seen a sculpture in another stadium that represents a moment in time, as the one of Steve Gleason does.
Click here for a story on how technology is helping save, and use Steve Gleason's voice before he can no longer talk.

Breaking News: Federal Court halts Obama's abortion pill mandate

First Plaintiff Beats Obama HHS-Abortion Mandate in Court

by Steven Ertelt | Denver, CO | LifeNews.com | 7/27/12

A federal court issued an order Friday that halts enforcement of the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate against a Colorado family-owned business while an Alliance Defending Freedom lawsuit challenging the mandate continues in court.
The mandate has generated massive opposition from pro-life groups because it forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys obtained the first-ever order against the mandate on behalf of Hercules Industries and the Catholic family that owns it. The administration opposed the order, arguing, contrary to the U.S. Constitution, that people of faith forfeit their religious liberty once they engage in business.
The decision only applies to the company, and the court emphasized the ruling did not apply nationwide.
Since Hercules Industries would be required to begin offering the new coverage when its self-insured plan renews on November 1, Alliance Defending Freedom has requested a preliminary injunction that could prevent the government from enforcing the mandate against the company by August 1, the date when the company would need to begin the process of making changes to its plan.
As is the case with many religious groups or employers, the mandate could subject the Newlands to millions of dollars in fines per year if they don’t abide by its requirements.
“Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith. For the time being, Hercules Industries will be able to do just that,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman after the decision.
Bowman added, “The cost of freedom for this family could be millions of dollars per year in fines that will cripple their business if the Obama administration ultimately has its way. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that Washington bureaucrats cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living. Americans don’t want politicians and bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”
The pro-abortion ACLU has criticized the ruling, saying, “This is not religious freedom, this is discrimination. Real religious liberty gives everyone the right to make their own decisions about their own health, including whether and when to use birth control. It doesn’t give anyone the right to impose their beliefs on others.”
But the The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, also a pro-life legal group involved in the case, says the decision could spell the eventual overturning of the mandate itself.
“Judge Kane’s ruling today in favor of a religious for-profit plaintiff challenging the coercive HHS mandate got the law right. Religious liberty rights don’t stop at the store-front door,” said Hannah Smith, Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “This decision portends the demise of the current Administration’s attempts to drive religious activity from the public square and confine it within the four walls of a church.”
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty led the charge filing the first lawsuits against the HHS mandate representing five clients: Belmont Abbey College, Colorado Christian University, Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), Ave Maria University, and Wheaton College. There are currently over 20 lawsuits pending around the country against the HHS mandate.
In his order, Senior Judge John L. Kane of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado said that the government’s arguments “are countered, and indeed outweighed, by the public interest in the free exercise of religion. As the Tenth Circuit has noted, ‘there is a strong public interest in the free exercise of religion even where that interest may conflict with [another statutory scheme]….’ Accordingly, the public interest favors entry of an injunction in this case.”
Bowman said Judge Kane explained that the government’s “harm pales in comparison to the possible infringement upon Plaintiffs’ constitutional and statutory rights.”
According to the brief Alliance Defending Freedom filed along with the motion requesting the injunction, “the mandate disregards religious conscience rights that are enshrined in federal statutory and constitutional law.” It also violates the First Amendment “due to its massive inapplicability and its discrimination among religions,” the brief explains.
Federal judges have dismissed two other lawsuits filed against the mandate.

In the second case, Judge James E. Boasberg of the D.C. Federal Court threw out the lawsuit Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, the first plaintiff to file suit against the mandate, filed earlier this year. Judge Boasberg said he dismissed the lawsuit because the Obama administration is revising the initial rule it release forcing religious groups to pay for the drugs that violate their conscience and beliefs.
He wrote that he favored “deferring review until the agency’s position on exemptions to the contraceptive-coverage requirement is settled.”
After the first case was dismissed, Kyle Duncan, general counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, attorneys for plaintiffs, said the decision turns on technicalities and doesn’t decide the merits of the dispute.
Luke Goodrich, Deputy General Counsel of the Becket Fund, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic university, said before the decision he thought the Obama administrations argument will not stand up in court.
“It doesn’t argue that the mandate is legal; it doesn’t argue that the mandate is constitutional,” Goodrich said. “Instead, it begs the court to ignore the lawsuit because the government plans to change the mandate at some unspecified date in the future.”
“Apparently, the administration has decided that the mandate, as written and finalized, is constitutionally indefensible,” said Hannah Smith, senior counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty “Its only hope is to ask the court to look the other way based on an empty promise to possibly change the rules in the future.”
In its legal papers, the Obama administration did not defend the constitutionality of the mandate, but said the lawsuit should be thrown out because the administration plans to revise the mandate to make it on insurance companies to pay for coverage rather than employers, who will still have to make referrals.
Obama’s February 10 “accommodation” came under increasing fire on numerous fronts. A diverse coalition of over 300 scholars and religious leaders have called the maneuver “unacceptable,” because it still forces many religious organizations to violate their core religious beliefs. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has also denounced it.
The panel that put together the mandate has been condemned for only having pro-abortion members even though polling shows Americans are opposed to the mandate.

Executed by the Nazis; Beatified by Blessed JPII

Bl. Titus Brandsma

Bl. Titus Brandsma

Feastday: July 27
Patron of Catholic journalists, tobacconists, Friesland
1881 - 1942
Beatified By: Pope John Paul II

Carmelite martyr who died at the hands of the Nazis. He was born in Bolsward in the Netherlands. Becoming a Carmelite as a young man, he displayed a dazzling intellect and scholarship, receiving ordination as a priest in 1905 and earning a doctorate in philosophy at Rome. Titus then taught in Dutch universities and lectured in many countries on Carmelite spirituality and mysticism. lie also served as rector magnificus at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. In 1935 he became an ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists. His academic and spiritual studies were also printed and widely read. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands,Titus was singled out as an enemy because he fought against the spread of Nazism in Europe. Arrested, Titus was sent to various concentration camps where he demonstrated charity and concern. In 1942, he was martyred in Dachau. Titus was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 3, 1985.

Eucharistic Adoration at the London Olympics

Perpetual Adoration planned for Olympic Games

By David V Barrett on Wednesday, 27 July 2012

The Olympic Park in Stratford, east London (Photo: Sean Dempsey/PA Wire)

Twenty-four hour exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will be held in St Francis of Assisi’s church, Stratford, east London, throughout the Olympic Games, it has been announced.
Not just in London but throughout the country the Church is gearing up for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Priests and religious will be on hand in the Olympic Village for athletes, coaches and officials, with chaplains available for visitors to the Games. Spiritual and pastoral hospitality centres at St Francis’s church and at Westminster Cathedral will offer Masses in different languages, talks by priests, and will also provide a place for volunteers at the Games to “chill out”, according to Frank van Velzen, assistant Catholic coordinator of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Church is a leading participant in More Than Gold, an ecumenical venture to involve Christians in the Olympics, supporting competitors and visitors with “outreach”, hospitality and service. Every parish is being encouraged to become involved, providing a Gold Champion who will be a link between More Than Gold and the local Christian community.
There will be festivals both in London and around Britain, and Christian witness on the streets, with “street pastors” at stations around London. In just one of many activities being planned, four Christian theatre groups will put on plays related to the Olympics.
The Church will also be promoting Christian activity at sports fields around the country. Mr van Velzen said: “Sports mission is about taking the Church outside the building in the hope of getting people back into it. It’s meeting the people where they’re at.”
Major sporting events often lead to an increase in prostitution, and with the Olympics thousands of athletes, journalists and spectators will converge on London – as will people traffickers. More than Gold will raise awareness of this issue and provide safe havens.

Pre-ordination retreat underway at Rosaryville

The cycle continues!  I went back into my blog archive to November of 2010 as I wrote several posts about watching the pre-ordination retreat activities of the formation class ordained later that year.  I read how I recalled with great fondness and joy those days of my own pre-ordination retreat in the autumn of 2008.  Tonight, after leaving the office for the day, I drove the extra 35 miles or so past my interstate exit to arrive at Rosaryville, the retreat center located in Ponchatoula, La.  The event: the pre-ordination retreat for our 2012 formation class.  The 20 candidates, and their wives, began the mandated 5 day pre-ordination retreat last night and will remain together until Sunday afternoon.  The purpose of the pre-ordination retreat is to reflect and pray, in a special way, on the call to Holy Orders, and to affirm that it is God's will being followed.  These retreats are always led by a Bishop.  Like my pre-ordination retreat 4 years ago, the one being held this weekend is being led by our Bishop Shelton Fabre, the Vicar-General for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

In 2010, I was specially blessed to be with the class for the entirety of their retreat.  A new job and new responsibilities prevents me from being part of the team except when work is not calling.  But located so close to home with easy interstate access, I simply drove to Rosaryville tonight, greeted the candidates and wives, shared a meal, listened in on their evening sharing session and prayed evening prayer with the group.  A quick "see you later" and I was back on I-12, headed east to rest and reflect back at home before Friday calls me back to work.  In work, and in all things, I and hopefully many others, will be lifting these men and their wives in prayer.  The prayer, reflection and renewal of the pre-ordination retreat can be a powerful moment in that final decision still to come; that final yes to God's call to the diaconate.

Immediately after this retreat, the candidates will return to the classroom for 4 additional months of spirituality, homiletics and other courses, including many practice sessions on the Deacon at Mass and the Sacraments.  They are currently instituted acolytes assigned to a church parish so they will also return to those liturgical duties next Sunday.  And then, for those who persevere to the end(which is really a new beginning) the 20 men will be ordained to serve as Permanent Deacons for the Archdiocese of New Orleans on December 1, 2012.

Can we all join together in prayer for these men and their wives and families for continued spiritual discernment in the months ahead?

Their Catholic faith helps them endure an 11 year nightmare

Shooting victim's case goes cold, but family hasn't lost hope

wwltv.com

Posted on July 25, 2012 at 10:31 PM

Updated today at 10:42 PM

Mike Perlstein / Eyewitness News
Email: mperlstein@wwltv.com | Twitter: @mperlstein
NEW ORLEANS -- Malord Gales celebrated his 42nd birthday on Tuesday. There was food. Some cake. And prayer. Lots of prayer.
To what extent Gales could appreciate the loving attention is unknown. And it may never be known.
Ever since the robbery, the shooting and the unspeakable catastrophe from his injuries, Gales has been in a semi-vegetative state. The once-strapping athlete has spent the past decade locked into his own body, unresponsive to the outside world.
“They rendered him helpless,” said his mother, D’Marie Gales, holding back tears. “If you look at him now, he can’t function. And that’s what hurts so bad.”
Gales was 31 years old when the bullets tore through his body. He was a graduate of St. Augustine High School, where he was a popular student and wide receiver on the football team. Gales went on to work for eight years at Whole Foods Market, moving up the ladder to assistant manager.
The crime unfolded on November 15, 2001 at the former Whole Foods on Esplanade Avenue. Three gunmen burst into the store after closing and stole about $300 that had been collected for the victims of 9-11. Then they ordered Gales and another employee to open the store’s safe.
But the employees didn’t have access to the safe. So the gunmen opened fire, critically wounding both men. One employee lost a kidney, but recovered from his wounds.
Malord Gales did not.
Gales was rushed to Charity Hospital, where he underwent emergency for wounds to the upper thigh and abdomen. For three days afterward, he was in the intensive care unit and looked like he was on the way to recovery. He was alert. Talking. Joking with family and friends.
At the end of one nightly visit, his mother left to catch some sleep. She said she will never forget his last words to her: “Mom, I’m lucky to be alive.””
But then tragedy was heaped upon tragedy. At some point during the night, Gales’ ventilator tube became dislodged, starving his brain of oxygen for precious minutes.
“We went that next morning,” D’Marie Gales recalled. “When we arrived at Charity Hospital, that’s when we discovered Malord’s condition. Nobody called us. Nobody summoned us one way or the other. We were all in shock.”
At the time, Gales was engaged to be married. He and his fiancée bought a house and had just started adding furniture. He had a large, loving circle of friends.
But his devastating injuries ended all that.
“They furnished the house,” his mother said. “And they were getting ready to furnish the house with kids, too. But that didn’t happen. That was the unfortunate thing.”
There was a police investigation, but detectives were stymied. The robbery and shooting matched a pattern of similar crimes in the Mid-City area, but no solid leads emerged.
Almost as suddenly as the lives of Gales and his family were turned upside down, all trails seemed to go cold.
For a few months, D’Marie Gales called the lead detective for updates. During one especially downbeat conversation, the detective was apologetic. It would be the last such call, she said.
“And when he said he’s sorry, he didn’t have anything. I said to him, “Thank you sir. I won’t be calling you anymore.”
Because nobody died, the case didn’t get the attention of a murder. Media coverage last less than 24 hours. No Crimestoppers reward was announced. And there has been no cold case squad to revive the investigation, as there is with homicides.
Crimestoppers Director Darlene Cusanza said it might not be widely known, but tips in non-fatal shootings are eligible for the same cash rewards as homicides. That’s especially important in a city where non-fatal shootings historically outnumber murders by about ratio of 7-to-1, according to crime statistics.
At the time Gales was left in his limbo between life and death, the reward stood at $1,000. Today, the going rate is $2,500 and the offer still stands, Cusanza said.
“Shootings should be taken just as seriously as we look at other things, such as homicides. We need to encourage people to know that. We need them to come forward,” Cusanza said. “It’s never too late. People need to know that no matter how long a case stays open, if you give us that information, someone’s going to pay attention. Someone’s going to look into that.”
Despite the passage of time, the family believes the case can be solved.
“The night has eyes. Somebody saw. Somebody knows. Somebody can tell us something,” Gales said.
But family members are no longer bitter, no longer fixated on the crime. A devout Catholic, D’Marie Gales said she has forgiven the people who shot her son. These days, most of her energy is focused on Malord’s 24-hour-a-day nursing care. And prayer for a miracle.
Helen Hampton, a cousin by marriage, arranged a rosary for Gales’ birthday. So on Monday, the day before Gales’ birthday, 25 people packed inside the family’s small shotgun house in the 7th Ward to pray. Nobody knows how much Malord Gales see or hears, but the group’s voices were as strong and resounding as their faith.
“I’ve seen tears in his eyes,” Hampton said. “I believe down deep inside that he can hear us. That he knows that we’re there for him. For the prayers.”
So the family carries on, even when it hurts beyond words.
“You just felt so secure when he put his arms around you to hold you. I miss that. Many Mother’s Days have come and gone, and I don’t have that hug anymore,” his mother said. “He looks deep into your eyes. And I just ask God every day to give him back. Heal him.”
And so, too, Malord Gales lives on. Trapped inside a still body. Surrounded by love and prayer, prayers that someday, somehow, justice will prevail and life will return to where it was once so full.
Anyone with information about this crime is urged to call Crimestoppers at 822-1111.

Novena to Saint Ann

DAILY PRAYER TO SAINT ANN O glorious St. Ann, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care. Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen. Our Father, . . . Hail Mary . . . O Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Ann, help me now and at the hour of my death. Good St. Ann, intercede for me. First Day Second Day Third Day Fourth Day Fifth Day Sixth Day Seventh Day Eighth Day Ninth Day Blessed Sacrament Fathers ST. ANN’S SHRINE Cleveland, Ohio

The parents of our Blessed Mother Mary

Sts. Joachim and Anne
Parents of Our Lady

Sts. Joachim and Anne
Parents of Our Lady

Feastday: July 26

By tradition Joachim and Anne are considered to be the names of the parents of Mary, the Mother of God. We have no historical evidence, however, of any elements of their lives, including their names. Any stories about Mary's father and mother come to us through legend and tradition.

We get the oldest story from a document called the Gospel of James, though in no way should this document be trusted to be factual, historical, or the Word of God. The legend told in this document says that after years of childlessness, an angel appeared to tell Anne and Joachim that they would have a child. Anne promised to dedicate this child to God (much the way that Samuel was dedicated by his mother Hannah -- Anne -- in 1 Kings).

For those who wonder what we can learn from people we know nothing about and how we can honor them, we must focus on why they are honored by the church. Whatever their names or the facts of their lives, the truth is that it was the parents of Mary who nurtured Mary, taught her, brought her up to be a worthy Mother of God. It was their teaching that led her to respond to God's request with faith, "Let it be done to me as you will." It was their example of parenting that Mary must have followed as she brought up her own son, Jesus. It was their faith that laid the foundation of courage and strength that allowed her to stand by the cross as her son was crucified and still believe.

Such parents can be examples and models for all parents.

Anne (or Ann) is the patron saint of Christian mothers and of women in labor.

Prayer:

Parents of Mary, pray for all parents that they may provide the loving home and faithful teaching that you provided your daughter. Amen

The Pelican as a symbol of our faith

I don't normally copy and paste the exact postings of other bloggers but Deacon Greg Kendra at Deacon's Bench nailed this.  He saw this ridiculous story from Joanne McPortland and reminds us of the state flag of Louisiana and what it really stands for.  I love his sarcasm and use of the word "picayune" near the end of this post. 

If you follow this blog I have both written and preached about the pelican as a symbol of our Eucharist.  In fact, unaware of this article or story, I did so tonight while preaching at the state prison.

Enjoy and don't be afraid to check out the links.


My blogging colleague Joanne McPortland has this story up over at her place, and my palm instantly went to my forehead:

STEUBENVILLE – City officials agreed Tuesday night to change the city logo after a Madison, Wis., organization threatened legal action.
Law Director S. Gary Repella announced the decision following a 15-minute closed-door meeting with City Council members.
“We will be approaching Mark Nelson of Nelson Fine Art and Gifts and asking him to redesign the city logo to remove the cross and silhouette of the Christ the King Chapel on the Franciscan University of Steubenville campus.,” said Repella.
“We were contacted in May by the Freedom from Religion Foundation Inc. in Madison, Wis., who said one of our citizens had complained about the city logo. During the past several months the foundation sent me their research and past case law regarding religious symbols. I researched current case law and found a lot of case laws that do not allow religious symbols in government symbols,” continued Repella.
We have discussed the issue with City Council and we will ask Mark Nelson to design a silhouette of another building such as the library or a dormitory for the city logo. The council realizes the potential cost to our city taxpayers may be very expensive to try to win the case,” added Repella.

You can see the offending logo for yourself over at Egregious Twaddle, if your delicate sensibilities can bear it. But after posting that eye-rolling news item, Joanne then decides to just let ‘er rip:

Forget that the silhouette of the Franciscan University chapel with its hideously offensive cross, one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, makes up only about a quarter of the city’s logo, or that the University is one of the city’s biggest employers and contributors to the local economy. Budgets are tight, and it’s cheaper, they think, to knuckle under to bullies than to defend the lawsuits the bullies are using instead of brass knuckles these days.
I’m a lot less polite than my friend, and my dudgeon is considerably higher. I think the Steubenville City Council didn’t take time to do their due diligence. If they had done the five minutes of Googling I did, they might have found that cities like Salt Lake City, Utah have no problem at all incorporating recognizably religious architecture into their official seals: Salt Lake City’s seal is entirely taken up by a representation of the Mormon Tabernacle. The seal of the city of San Antonio, TX is crowned by a representation of the Alamo—or Mission San Antonio de Valero, to give it its baptismal name.
Other cities don’t hesitate to incorporate religious images. Las Cruces, New Mexico’s city logo features, not surprisingly, obviously Christian crosses. Salem, Massachusetts recently spent a boatload of bucks retooling its city signage—including police cars and police badges—to include a witch on a broomstick, and proudly calls itself The Witch City. Yoohoo, Freedom from Religion Foundation! Wicca is a religion.

All of which reminded me of an image that must surely appall atheists and non-believers of any stripe: a pious bit of iconography that inflicts itself on innocent people every day around the great state of Louisiana.
That would be the state flag, below:
An explanation:

According to legend, in a time of famine a mother pelican would draw blood from her own chest and give the blood to her chicks.
Thus the pelican symbol in Christianity, also called pelican-in-her-piety, symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (because he gave his blood for others) as well as the Eucharist (because it represents Christ’s blood and provides spiritual nourishment).

And from Wikipedia:

The flag of Louisiana consists of a heraldic charge called a “pelican in her piety,” representing a mother pelican wounding her breast to feed her young from the blood. This symbol, emblematic of Christian charity, is also found on the state seal. On the flag it is depicted above a ribbon with the state motto: “Union, Justice, and Confidence”. The current flag was adopted in 2006, revising the original pelican design of 1912.
During the 19th century it was traditional in Louisiana flags and the state seal for the “pelican in her piety” to have three drops of blood on her chest.^[1] However, in later years the tradition (on both the state flag and seal) had been haphazardly followed, which was noticed by an eighth-grader at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma who brought this to the attention of his state legislator.^[1] The issue was resolved in April 2006, when the Louisiana State Legislature passed a bill (House Bill 833/Act 92^[2]) which requires three drops of blood to be depicted on the pelican used in both the state’s flag and seal. The new state flag, featuring a new design, was recently unveiled during swearing-in ceremonies of new state officials.

Not only does the Louisiana state flag depict a symbol with deep Christian roots; it is also (shockingly!) Catholic. It shows both the Passion of the Christ and the Most Precious Blood.
And PEOPLE LET THIS SORT OF THING FLY OVER PUBLIC BUILDINGS EVERY DAY!!??
Somebody get me my smelling salts. I think I’m having an attack of the vapors.
Meantime, when all is said and done, the nation seems to be surviving Louisiana’s blatant display of religious piety just fine.
As for the hand-wringers in Ohio: grow up. This sort of foolishness only goes to show that politically correct yahoos on the left have at last become what they most despised among people on the right: intolerant, judgmental, petty and — to use a term every Louisianan will know — picayune.
For a big country, we have a disturbing propensity at times to behave very small.