Sunday, March 31, 2013

CMMB: Your Weekly Reflection in Prayer 3/31/2013


Weekly Prayer Reflection for Summer
 
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Colossians 3:1-3
March 31, 2013
Easter Sunday 
Dear Friends
“Alleluia, the Lord is Risen. He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!” This declaration and response should be on our lips on this most holy of days. The light has overcome the darkness and life has overcome the power of death. Even nature (here in the northern hemisphere at least) celebrates renewed life. 
What happened to Jesus Christ on the first Easter Sunday also occurs in us. The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins put it this way, “Let Him Easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-cresseted east.” The new light and spirit of Easter should pervade our lives. The bishops of England wrote some years ago that the whole Christian community rises with Christ. Indeed, as they said, “We are an Easter people!”

Almighty God, Who for our redemption gave Your only begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by His glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy, grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may rise and evermore live with Jesus Christ in the joy of the resurrection. We ask this through Christ our Risen Lord.
Amen
Rev. Peter Schineller, S.J., CMMB Board of Directors

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Heroic News: “"I'm gay, and I oppose gay 'marriage'"” plus 3 more




Posted: 30 Mar 2013 03:57 AM PDT
"In our sometimes misguided efforts to expand our freedom, selfish adults have systematically dismantled that which is most precious to children as they grow and develop. That’s why I am now speaking out against same-sex 'marriage.' By the way, I am gay."

Posted: 30 Mar 2013 03:48 AM PDT
"How will the Supreme Court rule in this week's gay marriage cases? I have no idea. What I do know is that the outcome almost doesn't matter. One way or another, gay marriage will be legal throughout the country before long."

Posted: 30 Mar 2013 03:40 AM PDT
The country strongly prefers boys at every stage of life. Here's how some mothers are trying to change that.

Posted: 30 Mar 2013 03:32 AM PDT
Planned Parenthood lobbyist testifies against born-alive infants protection act.

[Video] Pro-Life Leader in Argentina: Bergoglio focused on helping children and single mothers




Pro-Life Leader in Argentina: Bergoglio focused on helping children and single mothers
http://en.romereports.com Olga Muñoz is from Argentina. She's a journalist and also the president of an association called FAMPAZ, which defends life. Years ago, she met Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, soon after they started collaborating.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Homosexual Marriage: We Have Sown The Wind, And Now Reap The Whirlwind.



Posted: 29 Mar 2013 08:01 AM PDT

Homosexual Marriage Is The Logical Conclusion For A Culture That Celebrates Sterility!  Widespread Acceptance Of The Homosexual Lifestyle Is God’s Punishment For Sin!

archangel-michael
Msgr. Charles Pope - There is, among faithful Catholics, a dismay, and even an understandable anger at the events unfolding at the Supreme Court these past days related to gay unions. And even if the court were to uphold traditional marriage (which does not seem likely), or merely return the matter to the States,  it seems quite clear where our culture is going regarding this matter, approving things once, not so long ago, considered unthinkable.

What then to do with our dismay and anger? It is too easy to vent anger, which is not only unproductive, but in the current state of “hyper-tolerance” for all things gay, angry denunciations are counter-productive.
Rather our anger should be directed to a wholehearted embrace and living out of the biblical vision of human sexuality and marriage. Our anger should be like an energy that fuels our zeal to live purity, and speak of its glory to a confused and out-of-control culture.
The fact is, traditional marriage has been in a disgraceful state for over 50 years, and heterosexual misbehavior has been off the hook in the same period. And, if we are honest, heterosexual misbehavior and confusion has been largely responsible for bringing forth the even deeper confusion and disorder of homosexual activity, and particularly the widespread approval of it.
We have sown the wind, and now reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7).
Our anger, dismay and sorrow are better directed inward toward our own conversion to greater purity as a individuals, families and parishes, than outward toward people who will only interpret it as “hate” and bigotry” anyway.
A few thoughts to frame our own reflections in how we have gotten to this place of darkness in our culture.
1.  The fundamental flaw in modern thinking about human sexuality, the “Ur” (root) problem, is the (sinful) declaration that there is “no necessary connection” between human sexual activity and procreation. Here is the real taproot of modern confusion about human sexuality and all the disorders that flow from it. Such notions began as early as 1930 in the Lambeth Conference where the Church of England was the first Christian Denomination to serious brook this sinful notion. The thinking gained steam through the 1950s, via Margaret Sanger et al. and came to full (and ugly) flower in 1960s with the pill and the sexual revolution.
2. Any 8th grade biology student ought to be able to see the flaw in the “no necessary connection” argument. For if sex has no necessary connection to procreation but can be only for fun or pleasure, then what are the sperm and ova doing there? Did not nature and nature’s God intend some connection. Alas, what even an 8th grader can see, was set aside and/or became unintelligible to a generation obsessed with its passions. Claiming to be wise they became fools and their senseless minds were darkened (Rom 1:22-23)
3. Once the necessary connection between sex and procreation was set aside, contraceptives moved from being something related to prostitution to being a downright “noble” thing to use and promote. Sex became a frivolous plaything and promiscuity became widespread, since the most obvious consequences of sinful, frivolous and out of control behavior, now seemed to be to largely preventable. Promiscuity exploded on the scene and was celebrated in popular culture, in the music, on T.V. and so forth. Enter the further explosion of sexually transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancy, single motherhood and exploding divorce rates. Because guess what? Contraceptives were not full-proof (or should we say “foolproof”). Its not nice to fool Mother Nature and our “no-necessary connection” insistence cannot thus ushers in all these disorders.
4. But never mind all that, we didn’t learn we just doubled-down. Next we put marriage in the shredder by further declaring that there is no necessary connection between marriage and procreation. More pills and condoms please. Divorces continued to skyrocket, as birthrates plummeted.
5. In a parallel trend single parent families entered the scene in a big way. For if it is true that marriage does not have any necessary connection to children, then apparently having children has no necessary connection to marriage. As single parent families rise, so do juvenile delinquency rates, and teen suicides. SAT scores and graduation rates, however, went down.
6. But never mind all that. What was needed is more condoms! Never mind that contraceptives and the underlying “no necessary connection” distortion ushered all this pain and distortion in. No! what we need is some more hair of the dog that bit us. More contraceptives! The government should promote and provide them free.  In fact, start giving them to children and teens. After all, with decades of sexual misbehavior, who is really able to control themselves? And any one who suggests we ought to try is called puritanical, judgmental, unrealistic and a likely Christian. Let’s add free abortion to the mix and pass laws that permit parents to be kept in the dark when their daughters are taken to abortionists.
OK, you get the point, we heterosexuals have been involved in a down spiraling series of distortions and sexual misbehavior for over fifty years now. And this misbehavior is widespread and even celebrated in our culture.
Add to this terrible picture, the scandalous silence of pulpits, the shrugging over flagrant fornication, cohabitation and high divorce rates by Church leaders, parents, and other community leaders.
Yes, we have sown the wind. And now comes the whirlwind. Enter the “gay” community who have in effect called our bluff and illustrate the absurdity of our “no-necessary connection” philosophy. For, if sex has “no necessary connection” to procreation, and can just be about what pleasures you, or is just your way to show “care” for another, if this is the case, what’s wrong with homosexual behavior? And if marriage is just about two adults being happy and there is “no necessary connection” to procreation, why can’t homosexuals “marry”?
Welcome to the whirlwind. Yes, we heterosexuals have misbehaved for over fifty years now, and, in process dispensed widespread confusion about sex and distorted its purpose. We have loved the darkness, and now the darkness deepens with the obvious absurdity of homosexual “marriage” a misnomer before it is even uttered. But so is contraceptive marriage.
Is Homosexual activity disordered? You better believe it. But so is contraceptive heterosexual activity since it is no longer ordered per se to procreation. In fact, it is rightly argued that contraceptive sex is really just mutual masturbation, it is not true or ordered human sexual activity at all. It is disordered, for it is not ordered to its proper end.
The grave disorder of homosexual acts and the equally grave celebration on them in our culture is a very deep darkness. Scripture calls homosexual activity παρὰ φύσιν “para physin” (contrary to nature – cf Rom 1:26). Any cursory examination of the structure and design of the human body (which is revelation) makes it clear that the man is not for the man, the man is for the woman. The woman is for the man, not another woman. Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? (Mk 8:18)
In Romans 1:17ff St. Paul and the Holy Spirit describe a culture that has gone very dark. For the men of St. Paul’s day “suppressed the truth by their wickedness” (v. 18). And this suppression of the truth led to an ever deepening darkness wherein their thinking became futile and their senseless minds were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (vv 21-22). And darkness led to depravity wherein: God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie…Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in their bodies the due penalty for their error. (v 24-27).
Some Protestant preachers have warned over the years that God would punish this nation for celebrating homosexual activity. But St. Paul’s point is even more poignant: The widespread acceptance of homosexual activity IS God’s punishment. It is a punishment that does not single out homosexuals, it is a punishment on us all. We are collectively very confused, and the darkness grows ever deeper. We have sown the wind, we are now reaping the whirlwind.
The faithful Catholic is right to be dismayed and angry. But allow this anger to fuel commitment to living and speaking the truth. Do not direct it merely to wrath or scapegoating. Let this anger fuel your commitment to speak the truth about human sexuality to your children and grandchildren, to be silent no more, embarrassed no more. Speak plainly and boldly, clearly and with charity. But let your anger fuel commitment to the truth, by what you say and how you live. Be angry, but do not sin (Eph 4:26).
Most of us have contributed to the darkness of these times and need to repent. Perhaps we have bought into the lie of contraception and spread it. Perhaps some have been promiscuous. Other too may have been pure, but were too silent to the impurity around them. And having sown the wind, we reap now the whirlwind. It’s time to repent. It’s time to be angry but sin not.
Originally posted at:  http://blog.adw.org/

Heroic News: “Scientists criticize Italy for allowing unproven stem cell therapy” plus 7 more



Posted: 29 Mar 2013 05:15 AM PDT
Scientists have criticized an Italian government decree allowing a group of terminally-ill patients to continue using an unproven adult stem cell treatment, saying such therapies may cause harm and risk exploiting desperate people.
Posted: 29 Mar 2013 05:04 AM PDT
Perhaps no issue is more nerve-wracking today than same-sex 'marriage.' It’s a magnet for controversy, evoking strong reactions from those on either side of the debate. But beneath all the fiery passion and rhetoric, there are real arguments to evaluate.
Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:43 AM PDT
The Christian Voice reports that thousands attended a pro-traditional marriage rally in Trafalgar Square on Sunday, March 24th.
Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:38 AM PDT
A pro-life judge once said: “Once or twice in a century an issue arises... so far-reaching in its consequences, and so deep in its foundations, that it calls every person to take a stand.” High school freshman James Vignola, 15, decided to make such a stand two weeks ago.
Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:37 AM PDT
A pro-abortion group was forced to post a message on its Facebook page begging followers not to become violent after North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple reportedly received death threats after signing three new laws restricting abortion.
Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:35 AM PDT
A 42-year-old Chinese woman took her own life earlier this month, after years of suffering following two botched forced sterilizations, according to Chinese media.
Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:34 AM PDT
A group of nearly two dozen Republican lawmakers is threatening to pull state funding from an Iowa community college unless they defund an anti-bullying program that the lawmakers say bullies Christians and conservatives.
Posted: 29 Mar 2013 12:08 AM PDT
For-profit businesses should be exempt from contraception mandate requirements that they provide abortifacient drugs, Democrats for Life of America argued in briefs recently filed in federal court.

LifeSiteNews Updates -


LifeSiteNews.com

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Click here to View Full Text, With Photos, of all Today's Stories On One Page
Today's blog post:

Millennials the only generation whose majority supports same-sex ‘marriage’

Ben JohnsonThu Mar 28 14:26 ESTHomosexuality
A majority of neither whites nor blacks supports redefining marriage in a poll.
                       

Obama administration does end run around Texas law defunding Planned Parenthood

Kirsten AndersenThu Mar 28 13:08 ESTAbortion
The Obama administration is giving $13 million in Title X money that would normally go to the state to a coalition of pro-abortion groups, including Planned Parenthood.
                       

Judge who overturned Prop 8 may have had a close relationship with lawyer who argued the case

Kirsten AndersenThu Mar 28 20:51 ESTHomosexuality
A legal expert said newly discovered e-mails “suggest a cozy relationship between Walker and Olson that some observers may find revealing.”
Retired Judge Vaughn Walker struck down Proposition 8.                       

13 states sign letter urging broader religious exemptions to HHS mandate

Kirsten AndersenThu Mar 28 20:36 ESTAbortion
“The proposed amendments violate the religious freedoms on which this country was built," said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey.

North Dakota governor gets death threats after signing new pro-life laws

Kirsten AndersenThu Mar 28 16:51 ESTAbortion
A pro-abortion group verified the threat to Gov. Jack Dalrymple was "credible and remains so."
Gov. Jack Dalrymple.                       

Massachusetts pro-life group asks Democrats to leave the party – for now

Ben JohnsonThu Mar 28 15:39 ESTAbortion
The best pro-life candidate for U.S. Senate, Michael Sullivan, is running as a Republican.
Michael Sullivan, GOP Senate hopeful.                       

What harm would it do to legalize gay “marriage”?

Peter Sprigg                                  Thu Mar 28 12:50 ESTFamily
Officially denying the unique importance of reproduction and of mothers and fathers would inevitably have an impact on the behavior of people in society.
                       

Victoria’s Secret outrages parents by launching sexy new campaign aimed at tweens and teens

Kirsten AndersenThu Mar 28 10:10 ESTFamily
"Our children are not sex objects; not things," reads one petition launched by a mother of four.
                       

Christie spokesman says Gov. believes ‘people’s sexual orientation is determined at birth’

Kirsten AndersenThu Mar 28 09:37 ESTFreedom
New Jersey is the latest state to legislatively attack the right of people with unwanted same-sex attraction to choose reparative therapy.
                       

Slavery did not destroy black families. Welfare did.

Anthony Bradley                                  Thu Mar 28 09:28 ESTFamily
According to one researcher, blacks married at higher rates than whites between 1890 and 1950. So, what changed?
                       

Must-see video: A marriage expert's masterful handling of Piers Morgan

Rob Bluey                                  Thu Mar 28 09:09 ESTFamily
"Why do you assume that I’m ignorant?" he asked. "I don’t assume anything badly about you. I just think we disagree."
                       

Appeal dismissed: Gendercide motion’s fate now up to historic appeal to House of Commons

Patrick B. CraineThu Mar 28 12:08 ESTAbortion
Tory MP Mark Warawa will now be forced to make an historic appeal to the House of Commons.
                       

U of Quebec professor teams with Planned Parenthood to root out Quebec's pregnancy help centers

Peter BaklinskiThu Mar 28 11:27 ESTAbortion
Together, they are asking pregnant women who visit one of the 30 pregnancy centers that exist in Quebec to contact them with evidence of "biased" counseling
                       

Mexican pro-life leader denounces funding of pro-abortion groups by Catholic Relief Services

Matthew Hoffman, Latin America CorrespondentThu Mar 28 20:56 ESTAbortion
"Abortion is an unspeakable crime, and it isn't possible that the bishops could be financing this kind of group," Serrano Limon, who heads Mexico's National Pro-Life Committee, told LifeSiteNews.com.
                       

More revelations of pre-meditated Paris police brutality and provocations against peaceful families

Jeanne Smits, Paris correspondent                                  Thu Mar 28 19:21 ESTFamily
Police forces grossly underestimated the turn-out – even though they probably had better advance knowledge of the mobilization than the “Manif’s” organizers themselves – and allegedly deliberately created the conditions for dangerous over-crowding and panic scenes.

I ran from the abortion facility; God saved us

HLI Staff                                  Thu Mar 28 15:30 ESTAbortion
A Latvian woman's firsthand account of her close brush with abortion.
                       

Chinese mother commits suicide after botched forced sterilizations: report

John JalsevacThu Mar 28 14:26 ESTAbortion
Family members say that Mrs. Yang’s body was covered with bruises, and that several thousand Chinese yuan on her person were missing.

What I saw at the March for Marriage

Robert Morrison                                  Thu Mar 28 12:58 ESTFamily
Some 400 members of a Korean church in Queens came -- and the GOP bigwigs ignored them.
                       

Video: Breaking news: First Australian federal pro-life bill in 23 years

Andrew Smith, LifeSiteNews Australian correspondentThu Mar 28 12:11 ESTAbortion
The bill would end state funding for sex-selective abortions.
                       

Defence of family transcends left-right political divide: Vatican family chief

Hilary White, Rome CorrespondentThu Mar 28 11:18 ESTFaith
The “primary danger” facing the world, said Archbishop Paglia, is the “emptying [of] the meaning of the words ‘marriage and ‘family,’ and thus their substance
                       

Reducing population reduces tax revenues, prosperity

Stefano Gennarini, J.D.                                  Thu Mar 28 09:34 ESTOpinion
An average adult who was born into poverty will pay federal, state, and local governments about $430,000 over a working lifetime of forty-five years.
                       

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