The Blog

Many thanks to all of our veterans (especially you, Paul) for your service to our country. It is not easy fighting for life in a time of war, and my prayers are with all of our men and women who have served and are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. R.I.P. Darin Thomas Settle and all who never made it home alive.

Our Nation has a history of treating certain groups of people as second class citizens, or worse, considering them to be not human at all. Between slavery and segregation, this has been especially true of African Americans. And even after the abolition of slavery and the end of legal segregation many blacks in America still feel discriminated against and disadvantaged as a whole in society because of the color of their skin. That is one reason why the victory of Barack Obama in this year’s presidential election has been met with so much enthusiasm and celebration. It certainly is historic and I congratulate President-elect Obama on his victory and becoming the first African American president. But is it really the “civil rights” advancement that many think it is?

A priest friend of mine shared with me his frustration with the praise that is being heaped on Obama for being the first of his race elected president because “his stand for killing innocent babies is no honor to his race.” As one blogger put it the other day:

It is lamentable that for one group of people once considered non-human to move forward, another, the most innocent, had to be sacrificed

Indeed, given his record of supporting the murder of innocent human beings in the womb, in a petri dish and even shortly after birth in some circumstances, not to mention his admitting that, if he could, he would take back his decision to let Congress intervene and save Terri Schiavo from being starved to death, I would hesitate to call this a great advancement towards recognizing the equality of all human beings. This would be equally true, of course, if our new president happened to be a white man/woman sharing these same beliefs. But specifically regarding his own race, I would dare say that his election even less of an advancement for blacks considering that abortion is the leading cause of death within the black community and President-elect Obama wishes to expand its practice throughout the Nation by enshrining abortion-on-demand into American law through FOCA.

A black President is not the only milestone in this election. It seems congratulations to Joe Biden are also in order for, as AmP reminds us, becoming the first ever Catholic Vice President. Again, given his blatant disregard for basic Catholic teaching on the sanctity of all human life, I don’t think we can really call this much of a “victory” for Catholics either.

To me this presidential election is yet another reminder that we must always have in our hearts a zeal for souls and a genuine love for those we fundamentally disagree with. They are not exempt from the love and mercy of God and they should not be exempt from ours. Loving and caring about the salvation of our enemies is perhaps the most difficult aspect of our Christian calling (how do you love those who approve of, even advocate for, the murder of innocent human life?), but it is what sets us apart from the world.

Because of this I was very pleased to see that the initial response from dedicated pro-lifers to the election of such a radically anti-life President was to immediately offer prayers for our newly elected Commander-in-Chief – not just that the damage of his administration to our country be minimal, but for his own personal conversion.

“we cannot forget the power of Christian conversion, that radical decision to turn away from sin and back to God, which reaches to the depths of a person’s soul and can work extraordinary change.” (JPII)

The effort may at times seem futile, but time spent for souls is never wasted.

As for those of us in the pro-life movement, we will persevere. It is not in our nature to give up and, in fact, our resolve tends to strengthen when we are faced with adversity. Our earthly battles may not always succeed, but we remain faithful knowing that in the end we have the promise of not only the joy of eternal life, but the ultimate triumph of truth and justice which will reign for all eternity.

Congratulations, Barack Obama. You were not my choice, but you will be my President. My prayers are with you. Good luck and Godspeed.

May the most just, the most lovable, and the most high Will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and exalted in all things forever. Amen!

It is hard to believe that Election Day is finally upon us! I hope you all take the opportunity to practice your civic and moral duty to vote. May you and all voters today be guided by the will of the most Holy Spirit!

Let’s make some good Sacrifices for Life on this last day for an end to abortion and the intentional destruction of innocent human life and for leaders who will uphold and protect the dignity and rights of all human life from conception until natural death.

“Most merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession of Your dearest Mother who nurtured You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not on our sins, but on the tears of little children, on the hunger and cold they suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones, grant me the grace that I am asking of You for my country.” (Diary of St. Faustina, n. 286)

May the most just, the most lovable, and the most high Will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and exalted in all things forever. Amen!

See:
“The Vortex”
Barack Obama: Dangerous Values
Sacrifices for Life
Attention Roman Catholics for Obama
Gianna Jessen’s “Gift of Cerebral Palsy
Barack Obama and Infanticide: Indefensible
Barack Obama “Will Not Yield” on Abortion
Obama and Infanticide
Barack’s Disturbing Defense of Infanticide
Obama Facts

Bishop Hermann in St. Louis has another wonderful column this week in which he offers some advice on how we can learn to love our political enemies:

We live in hope. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. Our neighbors are not only those children who are destroyed by abortion, but also those who are destroying the children themselves. That means we need to find a way to love those who promote abortion yet adamantly oppose their evil actions. This can be a very trying time, or it can be a very redemptive time. I believe God is calling us to do everything we can to oppose the actions of those promoting abortions and yet love them and pray for them. There is a very simple and effective way to do this.

We live in hope. Once there was a politician whose moral values I detested. Every time he would make an appearance on TV, which was usually twice a day, I would discover feelings of anger and resentment arising within me. One day I made a very smart decision. I decided to watch TV news with the remote control in my right hand and my Rosary in my left hand. It worked! When this candidate appeared on TV, I would hit the remote control button, shutting off the TV and pray five mysteries of the Rosary. Therefore, every day this politician received 15 minutes of my reflecting on the mysteries of Christ’s birth, life, passion, death and resurrection, while I myself experienced an incredible peace. By praying the Rosary for him, my attitudes and my affections towards his person changed, and I ended up on God’s side of him. It taught me a lifelong lesson. It is far more fun to pray for someone’s salvation than to be angry with them. I still oppose his values, but I do will his salvation.

He ended by encouraging everyone to continue to pray the rosary for the election, with an emphasis on Our Lady of Guadalupe saying:

We live in hope. Remember that eight years ago the outcome of the national election was not made known until Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! We live in hope!

I did not know that…

Judgment Day is on the Way
Loving Our Enemies