Liberal Priests & Theologians Have Lied To Us . . .

~ In Their Attempts to Justify the Killing of the Innocent.

Fr. Daniel E. Doctor M. Div, M.A. , Michigan

No other Pope wrote more on the issue of Life than Blessed Pope John Paul II. In his encyclical, “The Gospel of Life,” which he dedicated to the whole subject of Life, outlined for us that “human life – all human life is a gift from God and therefore sacred” which means all human life is good and has been given the opportunity to become holy.
Because Life is the “supreme gift of marriage” and a holy gift from God – there are things which can attack this precious gift and seek to destroy it – to which we, as those having life and a rational mind, must defend and protect. This is not matter of a religious belief, but as a rational human being, with a mind, and a conscience, we can simply understand how killing the innocent is immoral, unethical and should be illegal in any civilized society.
These direct attacks against life, things like; procured abortion, euthanasia, the willful killing of the poor, embryonic stem cell research, and any and all forms of birth control, as well as any other action that confuses the Truth about the very Sanctity of Life, according to BJPII, is “an absolutely unacceptable and a morally evil act.” This is the philosophical error of so many in our nation and our Church – and is the basis of the culture of death we find ourselves living in – we believe and therefore acted as if everything is moral, everything is acceptable.

Whatever is opposed to life . . .

at any stage of development must be opposed by Catholics, such things like; murder, genocide, and suicide.
The Church clearly teaches that whatever violates the integrity of the human person such as mutilation and torture; whatever insults the human dignity such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, slavery, prostitution, human trafficking, as well as disgraceful working conditions – where people are treated as things rather than as free and responsible persons – all these things and others like them must be condemned by us in our thoughts, words, and action, most especially in the way we vote as American Catholics.

They Have Lied To Us

As St. Augustine, “the sole purpose of Life is to gain merit for everlasting Life – for a man not to live as God created him is to live a lie.” Our culture, our politicians, our water down liberal Priests and Theologians of the last 50 years have lied to us in their attempts to justify the killing of the innocent.
They have promised us a better life – a healthier life at the price of our own children. They called their actions moral and liberating to women because some of us may benefit from what is clearly the exploitation of our own human children.
We can see both in the culture, the society, and even on a political level a tendency to interpret this attack on life as a legitimate expression of individual freedom. The problem with this is the tendency to grossly distort what we call civil rights by violating the basis God-given right of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness of every conceived American citizen!

To Attack Life is to Attack God

God is the one who has given us these rights, not the Constitution, or Congress or any man, or even nature – but we get these rights from God – and to attack life at any stage of development is to attack God Himself as the Creator – and then to call this a right or a freedom – is the most absurd of lies.
The right to Life is questioned or flat out denied on the basis of a majority vote; or the so called rights of a women to choose to kill her own child; this is the direct result of a culture of relativism when there is no consequence for bad behavior. These beliefs that we can do whatever we want without any negative consequence is what fuels every revolt against God.

This so-called freedom, is NOT real freedom because it is no longer firmly founded on the dignity of each and every human person – but is made subject to the will of the strong over the weak, namely the mother’s rights and choices over the right’s of her own child to life, liberty, and happiness as a human being.

We Become a Form of Totalitarian Socialist Government

In this way, we contradict our own democratic principles and become a form of totalitarian socialist government where only the strong, or the powerful, or the rich have God-given rights – everyone else is at their mercy.
St. Francis deSales warned us: “we in this life are walking on ice.” and the truth is – the ice is broken and we are drowning in our own desires, passions, selfishness and sin – we are suffocating in our own evil.
By living as if God does not exist, we have lost sight of the mystery of who God is and therefore, we, have lost any understanding of the mystery of what life is and what it means to be truly human.
People are no longer considered for what they are – namely a precious gift of God’s created beauty – but for what they “have, do, or produce” – can’t we see this is the supremacy of the strong over the weak.
This general acceptance of this fact, that the strong are better or superior to those who are poor and weak reigns in the popular mind – to the point – that it is now even reflected in our new HHS health care law – this should be a telling sign for us how far down the road to destruction we have slipped as a nation – because after living in a culture of relativism and death for so long – most of us can no longer distinguish good from evil or discern a evil inclination from a good one.

The deliberate decision to deprive an innocent person – life –

or to treat others without respecting their dignity to religious liberty is always a moral evil. In fact, it is a grave act (therefore a mortal sin) to deny any person their basic rights guarantee by our Creator.
At the very heart of this evil, is the denial of the fundamental Christian virtues of justice and charity.
Blessed Pope John Paul II said authoritatively; “nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying.
Furthermore, no one is permitted to ask for this act of killing, either for himself or another person entrusted to their care, nor can any authority recommend or permit such an action” without committing a grave and serious moral evil.
The Holy Father continues; “the human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; and therefore from the same moment their rights as a person must be recognized, among which is the right to Life.” More and more, we find ourselves in the midst of a conflict with evil forces that cannot be rationalized with because they truly do not understand our Catholic position, which the Holy Father explained in this way; “we have the inescapable responsibility to be unconditionally pro-life.”
In the proclamation of the Gospel, in this New Evangelization that 2 Popes have called for, we, Catholics, are required to teach the values that Christ Himself promoted. We must not fear being unpopular or even fear hostility and persecution when it comes – even when it comes from within our own Catholic Church – we must not fear failure either – we know we are working out our own salvation and we must refuse any compromise or any ambiguity with the forces of evil which might try to conform us to the world or its way of thinking.
“We must be in the world but not of the world” – remembering always to draw strength from Christ, who by His Cross and Resurrection has overcome the world and ransomed many – but not all – as the Gospel today reminds us.

Here is What We Must Do

Therefore, it is urgently necessary for the future of our country and the development of a sound democracy to rediscover those essential and innate human and moral principals which flow from the very truth of who we are as human person. We need to once again like the American Catholics of old – to get down on our knees and pray the Rosary – asking Mary, the Mother of God to guide us in this dark hour. And we must remember that these core values that we have as Americans – no individual, no majority, no president or government agency can ever create, modify, or delete but must only acknowledge, respect, and protect these rights.
Christians, like all people of good will, are not to cooperate in any practices, even if permitted by civil law, which is contrary to God’s law. Each individual in fact has a moral responsibility to inform their own individual moral conscience to what is evil and how to fight against it.
The very purpose of the Gospel we profess is to transform humanity from within and to make it ever new. Like yeast which leavens the whole dough, or a light that enlightens the whole room, the Gospel is meant to permeate all cultures and give them life from within, so that they may express the full truth about the human person and the sacredness of Life.

America is No Longer a Christian Culture

This American culture of today has lost this Christian leaven, has lost the light of Christ, and is no longer a Christian culture, so it is our duty, as Catholics to once again be that leaven, that light which changes the world.
As G. K Chesterton so wisely observed, “a dead thing can go with the stream – but only a living thing can go against it.” 

So go against this culture because you are the ones who are truly free and alive with the power of your Savior, Jesus Christ.

Pope's surprise appointment of six new cardinals

Please keep the Holy Father in your daily prayers ... I believe with all my heart that he knows more than he can say and is carrying an extremely heavy burden. There's a REASON for the YEAR OF FAITH and the PLENARY INDULGENCE that goes with it ... His Pontificate was even begun with: "Please pray for me that I might not flee for fear of the wolves."

Pope Benedict XVI waves to pilgrims as he arrives for his weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square on October 24. Six non-European Catholic prelates will join the Vatican's College of Cardinals in a move which may influence the election of the future pope, amid uncertainty over Pope Benedict XVI's health.

Six non-European Roman Catholic prelates will join the Vatican's College of Cardinals in November, Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday, in a move which may affect the election of the future pope.

Benedict said he would be appointing cardinals from the United States, Lebanon, India, Nigeria, Colombia and the Philippines in a surprise consistory, the second to be held this year, on November 24.

The college, the elite body that advises the pontiff and elects his successor upon his death, is currently heavily weighted in favour of Europe.
Vatican watchers had not expected there to be another consistory until next year and the surprise announcement sparked concern that the 85-year-old pontiff's health may be worse than thought.

The consistory follows the death of several cardinals in recent months and will bring the number of those eligible to vote back up to the maximum of 120.
Cardinals must be under 80 years old to take part in a papal election.
The new cardinals will be the American James Michael Harvey, Lebanon's Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, India's Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, Nigeria's John Onaiyekan, Colombia's Ruben Salazar Gomez and Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle.
Harvey, 63, prefect of the papal household since 1998, was the direct supervisor of the pope's disgraced former butler Paolo Gabriele, who was sentenced this month to 18 months in prison for stealing secret Vatican memos.

He will be named archpriest of one of the four principal basilicas in Rome.
Gabriele was Harvey's butler before the later recommended him to the pope, and observers questioned whether the posting to St. Paul's Outside the Walls was a way of removing Harvey from his position in the wake of the theft scandal.
Bechara, 72, is the head of the Christian Maronite Church in Lebanon.
Thottunkal, the youngest cardinal to be appointed, at age 53, became archbishop of Trivandrum in 2007.
Onaiyekan, 68, has fought to stop revenge attacks against Muslims and promoted peace after attacks on Christians by the Islamist sect Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Salazar Gomez, 70, has been the archbishop of the enormous Bogota diocese since 2010.
Tagle, 55, is noted for his young, modern approach. In February, he openly urged the Church to tackle child-sex-abuse offenders rather than covering cases up, and has called on bishops to report rather than protect paedophile suspects.

In February, 22 new cardinals were created amid criticism of the number of Europeans and poor representation from elsewhere.
While nearly half of the world's Catholics are in Latin America, there was only one new cardinal appointed from "the Catholic continent".
The nomination of seven Italians in Benedict's fourth consistory also brought to 30 the elector cardinals from Italy -- almost a quarter of the total, far outweighing any other country.

The nominations sparked rumours of a power struggle at the heart of the Vatican, with some observers saying that Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone was behind the promotion of Italians up the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy.
After the new consistory, there will be 62 European cardinals eligible to vote (compared to 67 in February), 14 North Americans, 21 South Americans, 11 Africans and 11 Asians.
The news of a second consistory this year has raised concerns that the elderly pope has been hit particularly hard by his demanding schedule, by the child abuse scandals rocking the Church and by Gabriele's betrayal.

As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the pope suffered a stroke while vacationing in the Alps which briefly affected his eyesight and weakened his heart. The Vatican said he suffered another mild stroke in May 2005 after being elected pope.

Do We Believe the Bible ... or OURSELVES?

If we do not believe EVERYTHING in the Bible and ALL our Faith teaches ... We have no faith and don't believe in anything BUT OURSELVES ~ regardless of what we THINK and say to others!

And that puts us in a very sad state of affairs my friends! In many cases, it makes life not only empty, but also meaningless. Our hearts/souls (although we sometimes search whole lifetimes for "happiness" -which is temporary at best-) are made for JOY & LOVE which, from God, fills us to overflowing and can't be shaken or taken no matter what circumstances come our way.  How else could the martyrs have ended their lives counting it all good with peace and joy regardless of the horrors they were forced to endure for His Name Sake, walking calmly to their deaths singing and praising Jesus?? 

Today's Gospel reading makes me shudder when I think of those that have been brought into the Fullness of Faith through Catholicism (either at birth or adult conversion) and have left or are "Catholic" in name only. The Fullness of Faith gives us every Sacrament and opens the way to all graces if we but act on what's available to us through Holy Mother Church. We certainly have been given MUCH . Which is why MUCH will be EXPECTED of us!

Who of us says "I'm going on vacation .. just send me ANYWHERE; what ever happens, happens." No. We take time to select a destination and learn of the culture perhaps and buy clothing appropriate to the locale ... we plan, anticipate, speak of it to OTHERS and take it seriously. We do this and much more for a (generally) 2 week block of time, yet do NOTHING, many of us, for our ETERNITY. Instead we say, oh well, I'm a good person .. God will take me into heaven (Those Christians that even still BELIEVE there IS a heaven that is!). 

Yet, God says nothing imperfect will enter into heaven. Do we all have the audacity to actually believe that we are PERFECT? God is Love, yes ... but His Love demands TRUTH & JUSTICE, otherwise why did Jesus have to suffer such cruelty for our sakes and give His earthly Life to reconcile us to the Father?

Not enough Churches talk about the reality of SIN, HELL and SATAN these days; so folks kinda get the idea that either they've gone away somewhere or worse yet, never existed to begin with. Well nothing could be further from the truth. Just look around the world today and you can easily see the ole boy's hand in many things leading folks away from God as he invents devious ways to cause hate, confusion, discontent and malice among us all, just to keep himself entertained as he furthers his purpose to steal souls and suck them into perdition. I guess he didn't read the end of THE BOOK where again, prophecy WILL BE FULFILLED and Jesus will reign eternal and SUPREME.

The devil's pride is such that he cannot help himself in trying to gain as many as he can to snatch them away from God. He knows he can't hurt God, so the next best thing is to hurt His children and abduct them to hell. Now is the time when we MUST draw nearer to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts .. when we must pray for ALL SOULS alive and dead. We ARE *one* in the Body of Christ by virtue of our Baptism .. ALL CHRISTIANS!!

Pray that our brothers and sisters who stand apart from Catholicism are given the GIFT (and it IS a Gift) of Faith and brought into the Fullness of Faith in Christ Jesus! Pray too that those lost lambs and sheep will find their way back home by the light of the Holy Spirit, through His Counsel and Love to lead them back to the One, True, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that Jesus Himself founded with 12 Handpicked men which He told to "teach all nations, in season and out of season". 

That being said ... please consider with a prayerful heart, today's Gospel: 

Luke 12: 39 - 48
39     But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.
40     You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour."
41     Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?"
42     And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?
43     Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing.
44     Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
45     But if that servant says to himself, `My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,
46     the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful.
47     And that servant who knew his master's will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating.
48     But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.

'Extremely rare' magnitude 4.6 earthquake shakes New Hampshire, region

DOVER -- The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred in southwestern Maine early Tuesday evening, rumbling residents in New Hampshire and as far away as Massachusetts and Vermont.

The earthquake was recorded at 7:12 p.m., according to a posting on the USGS website. The epicenter was about 13 miles northwest of Biddeford, Maine. The earthquake was felt at least 48 miles away in Concord, N.H.

Mike Kistner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said Tuesday's earthquake occurred 17 miles underground. He said a "moderate" earthquake like Tuesday night's event only takes place in New England once every few decades.

"They're extremely rare for this region, but they can happen," he said.

Reports were streaming into Foster's Tuesday from residents around the Seacoast of New Hampshire and Maine.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some folks online said it was felt as far south as Boston, Massachusetts. I was at the computer, actually posting a reply to a thread regarding end times things and felt it. At first I thought a big logging truck was speeding past the house, but the shaking was SO strong and lasted much longer than it would take a truck to pass the house! My monitor and everything on my desk was shaking and this was only a 4.6!!! I can't imagine what a more severe quake would feel like ... but I tell ya, makes me know that when the Warning/Illumination comes, it will be just as sudden. I was SO shocked by it, that when it was happening, it was hard to process it ... 

HEAVEN OPENED BY THE PRACTICE OF THE THREE HAIL MARYs

One of the greatest means of salvation, and one of the surest signs of predestination, is unquestionably, the devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. All the holy doctors of the Church are unanimous in saying with St. Alphonsus Liguori: "A devout servant of Mary shall never perish." 
 

The chief thing is to persevere faithfully until death in this devotion.

Can there be an easier or more adaptable practice for all than the recitation each day of three Ave Marias in honor of the privileges conferred by the Adorable Trinity on the Blessed Virgin? 

One of the first to say the three Hail Marys and to recommend them to others was the illustrious St. Anthony of Padua. His special aim in this practice was to honor the spotless Virginity of Mary and to preserve a perfect purity of mind, heart and body in the midst of the dangers of the world. Many, like him, have felt its salutary effects. 

Later on, St. Leonard of Port-Maurice, the celebrated missionary, had the three Ave Marias recited morning and evening in honor of Mary Immaculate, to obtain the grace of avoiding all mortal sins during the day or and night; moreover, he promised in a special manner eternal salvation to all those who proved constantly faithful to this practice.

After the example of these two great Franciscan Saints, St. Alphonsus Liguori adopted this pious practice and gave it his most ardent and powerful support. He counseled its use and even imposed it as a penance on those who had not adopted this good habit. The holy Doctor exhorts, in particular, parents, and confessors to watch carefully that children be faithful in reciting each day their three Hail Marys, morning and evening and recommended it to all the devout young or old. 

It is this Saint who suggested adding the aspiration after each Hail Mary: "By thy Immaculate Conception, O Mary, make my body pure and my soul holy."

This practice has been revealed to St. Melchtilde with the promise of a good death, if she was faithful to it every day.

It is also written in St. Gertrude's revelations:

"While this Saint sang the Hail Mary, at the matins of the Annunciation, she suddenly saw spring out from the Heart of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, three bright flames which penetrated the Heart of the Holy Virgin." Then she heard the following words: "After the Power of the Father, the Wisdom of the Son, and the merciful Tenderness of the Holy Spirit, nothing approaches the Power, the Wisdom and the merciful Tenderness of Mary." 

His Holiness, Benedict XV raised the Confraternity of the Three Hail Marys to an Archconfraternity and accorded it indulgences. 

Our Lady requested the daily recitation of three Hail Marys, revealing the following to St. Melchtilde:  

"The first Hail Mary will be in honor of God the Father, Whose omnipotence raised my soul so high above every other creature that, after God, I have the greatest power in Heaven and on earth. In the hour of your death I will use that power of God the Father to keep any hostile power from you.

"The second Hail Mary will be in honor of God the Son, Who communicated His inscrutable wisdom to me . . . In the hour of your death I will fill your soul with the light of that wisdom so that all the darkness of ignorance and error will be dispelled.

"The third Hail Mary will be in honor of God the Holy Ghost, Who filled my soul with the sweetness of His love and tenderness and mercy . . . In your last hour I will then change the bitterness of death into Divine sweetness and delight." 

PROMISE:
During an apparition to St. Gertrude, the Blessed Mother promised, "To any soul who faithfully prays the Three Hail Marys I will appear at the hour of death in a splendor of beauty so extraordinary that it will fill the soul with Heavenly consolation." 

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE BLESSED TRINITY

With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin
above all Angels and Saints in Paradise, Daughter of
the Eternal Father, and I consecrate to Thee
my soul with all its faculties.

THE HAIL MARY

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee!
Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of
Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin
above all Angels and Saints in Paradise, beloved Mother
of the Son of God, and I consecrate to Thee my body
with all its senses.

Hail Mary, etc. 

With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin
above all Angels and Saints in Paradise, beloved Spouse
of the Holy Ghost, and I consecrate to Thee my heart
with all its affections, and beseech Thee to obtain for me from the Most Holy Trinity all the graces necessary for salvation. Hail Mary, etc. 

PRACTICE: Recite morning and evening the Consecration and Three Hail Marys in honor of the three great privileges of Mary, together with this invocation at the end of each Hail Mary: By thy holy and Immaculate Conception, O Mary,
make my body pure and my soul holy; preserve me this day [this night] from mortal sin. 

Imprimatur: Feb. 7, 1963
Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York

Pope St. Pius X gave his Apostolic Blessing to this practice.

The devotion was raised to an Archconfraternity by Pope Benedict XV.

This devotion in its present form is from St. Leonard of Port Maurice.

The REAL War on Women

Courageous Sr Anne Marie Walsh: Women “Take Heart”

An open and candid letter to women calling on women to unleash their feminine genius . . .

Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT
General Sister Servant

PBS recently aired a documentary on women in 6 different countries called, “Half the Sky,” based on the book of the same name, by Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn. Countries featured in the documentary were Sierra Leon, where rape as a weapon of choice during the civil war there has now become mainstream; Cambodia, where sex-trafficking brothels are filled with younger and younger girls who are locked up and even caged, made to take “clients” non-stop; Viet Nam where girls, especially from the countryside, are discriminated out of educations and left with little hope for much of a future; Somaliland where genital mutilation still goes on, causing chronic pain and complications, and where a huge percentage of women die in child birth because of these complications and the lack of medical care; India, where the caste system and dire poverty still creates a conducive environment for parents to sell their young girls into brothels, traumatizing them for life and where generational prostitution is an entrenched way of life for many women; Kenya where violence against women is so prevalent that women have begun initiatives of education and microfinance to begin to bring change to their situations. And then there’s China, which wasn’t mentioned, with its one-child policy that has resulted in forced abortions, sterilizations, infanticide (of girls) and a huge gender imbalance which creates fertile ground for human trafficking.

There’s another country where women have been victimized by a powerful propaganda that has brought them to be ashamed of their bodies and the meaning of their bodies. Because of this propaganda, they have sterilized themselves in great numbers and had 50 million of their babies killed in the last 40 years. All this has been done under a euphemism called “women’s reproductive health.” How it is exactly that women’s healthcare becomes synonymous with ending newly conceived life and mutilating reproductive capacity, is the unasked question. But the underlying falsehood is that women can’t be equal to men unless they are able to kill their offspring and sterilize themselves.

This country of course is the United States of America; and many countries in the West now promote this propaganda. The hidden lie is that women cannot have control of their destiny unless they can get rid of actually what makes them women. So they must have free access.
People say this is a non-issue in this election, that there is no real war against women in this country. Yet, if we don’t get this fundamental question right, everything else is skewed. The question of how we understand woman is a question of primary importance because it affects one half of our population and how that population participates in bringing this country to true greatness.

Make no mistake about this ...  The current propaganda has been just as lethal to women and children in the US as anything that goes on in any country in Asia or Africa or Latin America. Any man (or woman) who encourages a woman to think that access to sterilization and abortion will make her equal to men, has rejected her womanhood, and therefore has rejected her as a real person. Are there injustices against women? Of course. Are there things that need to change? Of course. Do women need support in times of crisis and difficulty? Without question. But is this the best answer we are able to come up with?

We have the responsibility to ... vote for the men (and women) who truly support us as women and who do not encourage us to sterilize ourselves and deny who we are as women, expecting us to believe that only this will allow us to participate on an equal footing with men. Let’s vote for those who respect the feminine genius as it was given to us by God and who gladly and gratefully receive our gifts first in family, and then in every other area of human activity. We cannot vote for any man, woman or party that rejects us in the very gift of our womanhood. In the countries mentioned above, incredible, selfless people, many of them victims themselves, are doing tremendous outreach and helping to change things. They are women (and men) of real courage. They are fighting to bring about real change, raising the standard of women’s lives to what they should be. Some of the answers will need to be rethought. But the positive movement is there. As the documentary says: “women and girls are part of the solution, not the problem.”

Let us say, “No more” ...
In this country, let us shake off the propaganda daze and stand up. Let us say, “No more” to the lies that drive so much of the political machine! We are a gift precisely as women. Let’s take back control over our own destinies and rid ourselves of these deceptions so we can stand in the light of the Truth about our dignity and the greatness of our calling, precisely as women, to the whole of humanity. And let’s embrace the men who understand this and respect it and move with us, not against us, in the great crisis of this hour!

For women who have been used and deceived by this present culture, take heart! We all have participated in this lie in one way or another. But the good thing is that repentance and change is a movement of the heart, and women are creatures of the heart. And once we realize the deception that has been foisted upon us, the lies that have been used for our own destruction can be stripped of their power, and the feminine genius can then be unleashed for the building up of a true civilization of life and love.

Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT
General Sister Servant

Vatican Announces Plenary Indulgence for Year of Faith

Pope Benedict XVI is to grant the faithful a Plenary Indulgence for the occasion of the Year of Faith, the Vatican announced today.

The decree states that the indulgence will come into effect on the 50th anniversary of the solemn opening of Vatican Council II, which marks the beginning of the Year of Faith. It says it is “especially dedicated to the profession of the true faith and its correct interpretation, through the reading of - or better still the pious meditation upon - the Acts of the Council and the articles of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”
The decree was signed by Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro and Bishop Krzysztof Nykiel, respectively penitentiary major and regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

The indulgence, valid from the opening of the Year on 11 October 2012 until its end on 24 November 2013, is for the “temporal punishment of sins, imparted by the mercy of God and applicable also to the souls of deceased faithful.” As with every Plenary Indulgence, it may be obtained “by all faithful who, truly penitent, take Sacramental Confession and the Eucharist and pray in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.”
The decree added: “Since the primary objective is to develop sanctity of life to the highest degree possible on this earth, and thus to attain the most sublime level of pureness of soul, immense benefit may be derived from the great gift of Indulgences which, by virtue of the power conferred upon her by Christ, the Church offers to everyone who, following the due norms, undertakes the special prescripts to obtain them".

These prescriptions are:
“Each time they [the faithful] attend at least three sermons during the Holy Missions, or at least three lessons on the Acts of the Council or the articles of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in church or any other suitable location.
Each time they visit, in the course of a pilgrimage, a papal basilica, a Christian catacomb, a cathedral church or a holy site designated by the local ordinary for the Year of Faith (for example, minor basilicas and shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Apostles or patron saints), and there participate in a sacred celebration, or at least remain for a congruous period of time in prayer and pious meditation, concluding with the recitation of the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary and, depending on the circumstances, to the Holy Apostles and patron saints.

Each time that, on the days designated by the local ordinary for the Year of Faith, ... in any sacred place, they participate in a solemn celebration of the Eucharist or the Liturgy of the Hours, adding thereto the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form.
On any day they choose, during the Year of Faith, if they make a pious visit to the baptistery, or other place in which they received the Sacrament of Baptism, and there renew their baptismal promises in any legitimate form.”

The statement added that diocesan or eparchial bishops, and those who enjoy the same status in law, on the most appropriate day during that period or on the occasion of the main celebrations, "may impart the papal blessing with the Plenary Indulgence".
The document concludes by recalling that those unable to leave their place of abode because of illness or other legitimate reason may still obtain Plenary Indulgence "if, united in spirit and thought with other faithful, and especially at the times when the words of the Supreme Pontiff and diocesan bishops are transmitted by television or radio, they recite ... the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and other prayers that concord with the objectives of the Year of Faith, offering up the suffering and discomfort of their lives".

According to the New Advent Catholic Encyclopaedia, a plenary indulgence is meant for "the remission of the entire temporal punishment due to sin so that no further expiation is required in Purgatory." A partial indulgence, meanwhile, "commutes only a certain portion of the penalty; and this portion is determined in accordance with the penitential discipline of the early Church."

by Edward Pentin: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/vatican-announces-plenary-indulgence-for-year-of-faith#ixzz28fAERMCX

Feast of our Guardian Angels

According to the teaching of the Roman catechism, we must remember how admirable was the intention of divine Providence in entrusting to the angels the mission of watching over all mankind, and over individual human beings, lest they should fall victims to the grave dangers which they encounter. In this earthly life, when children have to make their way along a path beset with obstacles and snares, their fathers take care to call upon the help of those who can look after them and come to their aid in adversity. In the same way our Father in heaven has charged his angels to come to our assistance during our earthly journey which leads us to our blessed fatherland, so that, protected by the angels' help and care, we may avoid the snares upon our path, subdue our passions and, under this angelic guidance, follow always the straight and sure road which leads to Paradise...

Everyone of us is entrusted to the care of an angel.

May we never fail in this devotion to the angels! During our earthly pilgrimage we may often run the risk of having to face the natural elements in turmoil, or the wrath of men who may seek to do us harm. But our Guardian Angel is always present. Let us never forget him and always remember to pray to him. That is why we must have a lively and profound devotion to our own Guardian Angel, and why we should often and trustfully repeat the dear prayer we were taught in the days of our childhood:

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day/night, be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen. 

Each person on earth has a guardian angel who watches over him and helps him to attain his salvation. Angelical guardianship begins at the moment of birth; prior to this, the child is protected by the mother's guardian angel. This protection continues throughout our whole life and ceases only when our probation on earth ends, namely, at the moment of death. Our guardian angel accompanies our soul to purgatory or heaven, and becomes our coheir in the heavenly kingdom.

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Guardian Angels
 
Angels are servants and messengers from God. "Angel" in Greek means messenger. In unseen ways the angels help us on our earthly pilgrimage by assisting us in work and study, helping us in temptation and protecting us from physical danger.
The idea that each soul has assigned to it a personal guardian angel has been long accepted by the Church and is a truth of our faith. From the Gospel of today's liturgy we read: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father" (Matthew 18:10).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith (328)." From our birth until our death, man is surrounded by the protection and intercession of angels, particularly our guardian angel: "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life (336)." The Church thanks God for our helpers, the angels, particularly on this feast day and September 29 which is the feast of Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels. Today's feast appeared in Spain during the sixteenth century. It was extended to the universal Church and made obligatory in 1670.