Comments from Cardinal George

Here is yet another voice on the HHS mandate and the significance of the fight that we are in with the government and the secular society.  Chilling thoughts, but on the horizon none the less.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan back in St. Patrick's Cathedral

Here is link to Cardinal Timothy Dolan giving what Deacon Kandra calls "a stemwinder" of a homily after his return from Rome.  Please have a look at it....a great reflection on temptation and good for early on in the season of Lent.  It gives a wonderful little window in to what happens when one is made a Cardinal and how this man deals with the temptations that go with it.  For those of you who do not have time to watch the whole 20 minutes I would suggest letting it load, fast forward with the slider to the 5.00 mark and let it go from there.  The first 5 minutes or so is dedicated to thanking all of those gathered at St. Patrick's, quite a large group so it takes awhile.  Enjoy!

The Scale of the Universe!

I saw this The Scale of the Universe on New Advent.  Steve Ray posted it on his blog.
Truly amazing.

Another sobering article on Conscience

Please have a look at this post by Matthew Hanley in The Catholic Thing.

"“A clear conscience is more precious than liberty or life.” So said Lithuanian factory worker Nijole Sadunaite to a KGB judge in 1970 when she refused to testify against a priest accused of teaching religion......."


This is near the end of the article.  Read it to find out the rest of what she had to say and her fate for doing so.

Class on Sunday March 11

Cancelled.

The times just keep getting more and more interesting.

Here is a new word, at least for me.
Atheocracy
We are rapidly seeing what it is like to live in one.
Have a look and see the fallout from a conversation in a Denver Sports Bar.

First Sunday of Lent

Now that we have completed the Catholicism Series we will focus on the season of Lent.

This week we will discuss our Mass readings for the first Sunday of Lent:
Genesis 9: 8-15
Mark 1: 12-15

Listen to Fr. Barron's reflections on Sunday's readings.

Duties of Lent:
Prayer
Fasting
Alms giving

How will you apply these duties in your Lenten journey?  Give this some thought and come prepared to share!

Here is the final paragraph...

"I am not a Catholic, nor do I believe in the Church’s opposition to contraception. But I pray that the leadership of the Catholic Church will have the faith and courage to stand for its core beliefs and use all of its moral power and political influence to defeat the President’s edict. I pray they will reach out across the political spectrum to people of all faiths, agnostics and atheists in the name of religious freedom and individual liberty. By so doing, they, and the institution of the Catholic Church, will have my love and respect for the rest of my life."


Please go here to Forbes Magazine and an article by Charles Kadlec for the rest of the article entitled "The Audacity of Power:  President Obama Vs. The Catholic Church. A great piece that lays it open, on the line, for those who have ears to listen.....

Sunday Feb 19

After the fact post, but we completed the Catholicism Series by Fr. Robert Barron today.  Attendance was light and I am sorry that so many of you missed the final DVD.  It was wonderful.

We will need to decide on a direction and topics for the rest of the year, so please leave a comment or send me an email with your thoughts.

Dolan in Rome on the eve of his elevation to Cardinal.....

Please have a look at this post on the eve of the elevation of Archbishop Timothy Dolan to Cardinal.  There are some news clip videos at the end.  Be sure to at least watch a couple of those! This is a truly significant event for the US Catholic Church, and for all of us as individuals.  Barbara and I had the unique opportunity to meet with him personally about 2 weeks ago, and we can say from first hand knowledge that all that is being said about him is true and on point.  We will post a little blog soon about our experience, but I had to put this up tonight as it is his last night as an Archbishop!  We are so excited and happy about this!

The History of the Church on Contraception

For those of you curious about the roots of the Bishop's stand on the issue of contraception, please take the time to read Fr. Pacwa's article in the National Catholic Register.

The Bishops Respond

As you are most likely aware, the President's "accomodation" is a non-starter.  Please go here to the USCCB web site for full details including how you can help in this important fight.  In addition to letters sent via mail I would hope that everyone is sending out emails with links to those on their contact list to spread the word about this.  Post it on Facebook!  Get creative!

Here are six things that everyone should know about the mandate, from the USCCB.

And here are six more, again from the USCCB.

And finally for this post, here is our own Archbishop Gregory on TV with CBS in Atlanta.  He is very clear on the video what the position of the Church is, and what is will remain.

Two for one.....Fr. Barron and Mark Shea on the Obama HHS Mandate

As usual we can rely on Fr. Barron for excellent commentary.  I this like we also have Mark Shea, who is a wonderful Catholic writer and his piece starts with the most video from Fr. Barron.
Please have a look.

Pewspective link and letter to the Editor

Please have a look at this link to Barbara's Pewspective blog on the HHS Mandate situation.  It is a sobering reflection for all of us to consider.

Additionally, she did get a letter published in today's  Chattanooga Times Free Press.  Here is the text of that letter:

Health mandate violates rights

Your headline (Feb. 8) poses the HHS Mandate as "Catholics clash with President." You imply by the ink given to statistics that, if enough people approve this mandate, it ought to be done.

This is a matter of free exercise of religion. Constitutional rights are not subject to popular opinion. The exercise of religious faith is necessarily corporate. Modern secularists want to make religion entirely personal. It is unconscionable that the federal government is mandating that Catholics in Catholic institutions "sin" to comply with this mandate.

The free exercise of religion already has been compromised. Institutions and individuals have been sued for refusing to provide services to same sex "marriages." Catholic adoption services have had to close shop because they declined to place children in same-sex households, and the children they served languish.

This is not an issue of women's health, a "Catholic" issue, or an issue to be decided by majority opinion. Everyone of good conscience, religious or not, Catholic or not, approving of contraception or not, should see this as an unprecedented infringement on our constitutional rights and stand visibly, constantly, vocally and persistently against it. If not, the next group attacked may very well be your own.

BARBARA HARTY GOLDER, Lookout Mountain

Monday Morning

Here are a few links for you to check out:

See the video at the end and leave no doubt about our President's view of the role of religion in public policy.  Michelle Malkin


Then there is Charles Krauthammer


One last one from The Gregorian Institute at Benedictine College in Kansas entitled Do You Believe Us Now, America.  Very short but to the point.

Awaiting official word from our good Bishops as they work to respond.

Sunday morning Feb 11

As we can now clearly see, the Obama Administration has no further cultural objective than to divide the Catholic Church and to capitalize politically on such a split for his own re-election.  Read this for the latest information this morning.  At war there will always be defectors, and we need to let them know that we stand behind our Bishops in this fight!

Some other comments about the revised mandate

Here is a piece by Fr. Barron in the National Catholic Register.

Here is Archbishop Chaput in The Catholic News Agency.

Jimmy Akin in the National Catholic Register

And finally George Weigel in The National Review

And for fun, 10 Pictures In Defense of the Church

The Saga Continues....Bishops still do not see Eye to Eye with Obama

Here is a Link to the soon to be released letter from the Bishops on the mandate issue.  As expected by many, this does not properly address the issues of concern relative to religious freedom and the Constitution of the United States.

Fr. Barron comments on Evangelization

We were in NYC last weekend and had the wonderful pleasure of meeting with and photographing Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, and I can say from first hand knowledge of the man that Fr. Barron is spot on in this video, not only about Dolan but about how we are to move forward in faith with spreading the Gospel to an unbelieving and often uncaring world.  As we listened to him preach and celebrate the Mass his joy was indeed infectious!

Here is the link to Fr. Barron on Effective Evangelization.

Sunday, Feb 12

We will go ahead with class this coming Sunday.  We will either finish up the Catholicism Series by Fr. Barron or we will spend some time discussing the current crisis of freedom that we are facing in this country.  Either way it should be interesting!

A small collection of links on the HHS Mandate

Here we have a small grouping of links to videos about the current crisis.

First we shall see Nancy Pelosi struggle in vain to avoid answering a really good question.

And here we have none other than Fr. Z asking the question that most of us have been keeping to ourselves or asking only of our most intimate of friends.  See the video and her own statement of direct support of Obama and his mandate.  Learn about Canon Law 915!

Need a really good overview of just what is involved in our struggle with Obama and the HHS Mandate?  Have a look at The Vortex.  This is why every thinking citizen in this country should be outraged at this, unless of course that citizen is a Socialist and wants to live under a secular dictatorship.

Here is a link to a blog with a video clip from, of all places, MSNBC in which Eric Metaxis compares what is happening in the US now to the early developments in Nazi Germany in the 1930's.  Watch and be afraid.  It is happening here and now.

Here is an interesting secular business article (no video) on how the Catholic Church just might be right about birth control.

A short video on the power of using the right words.

Please have a look at this short clip.  I hope that you find it as moving as I did.
Comments?

Sunday Feb 5

Thanks to John Nash for substituting leadership of the Adult Enrichment this past week and for this coming weekend.  The topic will be lesson 9:  The Fire of His Love-Prayer and the Life of the Spirit.  This should be a great look in to that most difficult and personal topic, prayer.  Come and learn from Fr. Barron as he explores what prayer is, how it relates to Catholicism, and the different types of prayer...there are 4 of them!  Be thinking of how your own prayer life is evolving.