BIG C CATHOLICS

Kirsten Powers is a pro-life Democrat commentator who writes weekly for USA TODAY and is author of the upcoming The Silencing : How the Left is Killing Free Speech. Her latest column " Crush Planned Parenthood " is a must read for anyone who cares about human dignity and the pro-life cause. Powers writes: Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards apologized last week for the uncompassionate tone her senior director of medical research, Deborah Nucatola, used to explain the process by which she harvests aborted body parts to be provided for medical research. Nucatola had been caught on an undercover video talking to anti-abortion activists posing as representatives of a biological tissue procurement company. The abortion doctor said , “I’d say a lot of people want liver,” and “a lot of people want intact hearts these days.” Explaining how she could perform later-term abortions to aid the harvesting of such intact organs, she said , “We’ve been very good at getting heart, ...

(For more on the question of a second Jesus should intelligent life be found elsewhere see video at end of post.)  The bible is not a scientific book. If we look for scientific responses to our questions in the bible, we are making a mistake. — Fr. José Funes, S.J. According to an article by Agence France-Presse out this morning, the Director of the Vatican Observatory, Fr. José Funes, is skeptical about the existence of rational alien beings and insists in any case, there is no "second Messiah". Via AFP: The recent discovery of an Earth twin has boosted chances there is intelligent life on other planets. But while Pope Francis's telescope scans the starlit skies, the Vatican is skeptical of ever meeting Mr. Spock. On a leafy hilltop near the papal summer home of Castel Gandolfo sits the Vatican's Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world, where planetary scientists mix the study of meteorites and the Big Bang theory ...

Many of the Church’s detractors criticize her in light of adherents who don’t “walk the walk.” When encountering such comments, we should remember this quote by G.K. Chesterton: Most Christians fail to fulfill the Christian ideal. This bitter and bracing fact cannot be too much insisted upon in this and every other moral question. But, perhaps, it might be suggested that this failure is not so much the failure of Christians in connection with the Christian ideal as the failure of any men in connection with any ideal. That Christians are not always Christian is obvious; neither are Liberals always liberal, nor Socialists always social, nor Humanitarians always kind, nor Rationalists always rational, nor are gentlemen always gentle, nor do working men always work. If people are especially horrified at the failure of Christian practice, it must be an indirect compliment to the Christian creed.  — G.K. Chesterton

July’s blog of note is Convert Journal . Described as “One guy's journey in the Catholic Church”, since January 2010, George Sipe has chronicled his conversion to and exploration of Catholicism — providing insightful, informative observations along the way. A life-long, single denomination Protestant, Sipe was surprised to find himself becoming a Catholic. From the blog: There are many wonderful Catholic convert stories in print and on the web. This is mine and maybe some part of it will resonate with you. You may have a nagging feeling something is missing in your life. Your church might be changing along a path that does not feel right. Perhaps you wonder what Catholics really believe. I am glad you are here and happy, even if it is just the two of us reading it. … Convert Journal is a treasure trove of information for the curious and the convert. Even lifelong Catholics, well versed in their faith will gain valuable new understanding from the essays and achieved informati...

The following videos from the secular media are forceful, articulate presentations of the pro-life position. In a July 20 Fox News Special Report, Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume “laid bare the essentially brutal nature of abortion.” His denouncement of the abortion industry followed the July 14 release of videos showing Planned Parenthood officials coldly discussing the selling of fetal body parts while eating lunch . A compelling debate between GOP candidate Carly Fiorina and Jess McIntosh from Emily's List, on Fox News Sunday (7-26-2015), hosted by Chris Wallace. The discussion on abortion begins at 2:55.

(Article continues below) God's  words of wisdom are found in Sacred Scripture. He tells us that; In the face of this...  Statue of demon idol We should remember this. Driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, Christ triumphs over Satan... CCC §566 Hundreds of people attended Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Detroit on Saturday to protest the debut of an 8 1/2-foot-tall bronze satanic goat statue which depicts the demon idol Baphomet. According to the associated press, the group behind the display, Satanic Temple, installed the statue Saturday at a Detroit location known only to ticket holders. The unveiling was driven underground due to a large public backlash. Hundreds had lined up earlier to get the tickets as Christian protesters rallied nearby. The initial plan for the statue was to publicly erect it next to a Ten Commandments monument located at the Oklahoma state capitol before Oklahoma’s Supreme Court banned religious displays ...

This Sunday's gospel story from John, the feeding of the 5,000, is the only miracle (besides the Resurrection) recounted in all four gospels. As such, its significance cannot be overstated. It portrays Jesus as the new Moses who will lead fallen humanity to salvation. When the miracle of the multiplication of loaves is told in the Gospel of John, it is related to the manna in the wilderness. The connection between Moses and Jesus, the manna and the miraculous bread is undeniable. Given the absence of a Last Supper narrative in John’s Gospel, the feeding of the 5,000, is a kind of corporate Eucharist. Upon hearing of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew privately by boat somewhere near Bethsaida. Christ’s healing ministry and preaching had made him renowned. Consequently, large crowds followed him. When Jesus landed and saw them, he was filled with compassion and healed their sick. As evening fell, the disciples came to Jesus saying, "This is a remote place, and ...

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH  Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them... John 6:11 ( Click here for today’s readings ) How much food can you buy for $11,600.00? Maybe 1,365 small pepperoni pizzas. Not enough. Or about 2,900 hamburgers. Not enough. Or about 1,900 rotisserie chickens. Still not enough. Not enough, according to the Apostle Philip, to feed the large crowd that was following Jesus. "Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little," he says. Assuming today’s federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, times 8 hours a day, times 5 days a week, times 40 weeks, you get $11,600.00.  Not enough to feed this crowd. This feeding of the multitude is one of the few events that is recorded in all four Gospels. In each case the text specifies five thousand men, and Matthew even notes that this number does not include women and children. The point in each Gospel is t...

I want to draw your attention to the recent pastoral letter by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington D. C., Being Catholic Today: Catholic Identity in an Age of Challenge . There is a strong animus today against what we believe and our right to follow our faith convictions as Catholics. Cardinal Wuerl's letter is an excellent reflection on our freedom to be followers of Christ and some of the challenges of our age as we live and share our faith.

George Weigel discusses the way forward for the Catholic Church in light of the Supreme Court's perilous  Obergefell v. Hodges  decision. In " The Church and the 'New Normal' " (The Catholic Difference,  June 26, 2015) he outlines seven thoughts: (1) The Supreme Court of the United States [SCOTUS] has rendered a decision that puts the Court at odds with the Constitution, with reason, and with biblical religion. (2) SCOTUS has gotten it wrong before. It got it wrong on race in Dred Scott and it repeated the mistake in   Plessy vs. Ferguson (which upheld segregated public facilities). It got it wrong by concocting a constitutional “right” to abortion-on-demand in Roe vs. Wade and doubled-down on that mistake by getting it wrong on abortion again in Casey vs. Planned Parenthood . Now SCOTUS has gotten it wrong on marriage. ... (3) The marriage battle was lost in the culture long before it was lost in the courts. The foundations of our culture have eroded; ...

The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops has published a PDF explaining the First Amendment Defense Act . It answers questions about the act and its necessity, such as: What would the First Amendment Defense Act do? The First Amendment Defense Act (H.R. 2802, S. 1598) would bar the federal government from discriminating against individuals and organizations based upon their religious beliefs or moral convictions that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. The Act provides broad protections against adverse federal actions directed toward individuals and organizations that act on such beliefs. What are some examples of how such individuals and organizations would be protected? The Act would prohibit the federal government from denying or revoking a nonprofit entity’s tax-exempt status. It would also prohibit the federal government from denying or excluding an individual or organizatio...

Last Sunday's New York Times Magazine includes the article " Is This the End of Christianity in the Middle East ?" by Eliza Griswold. It is worth your time albeit, prepare to be heartbroken. ISIS and other extremist movements across the region are enslaving, killing and uprooting Christians, with no relief in sight. It is nothing short of a holocaust. According to Pope Francis, "There are more Christian martyrs today than ever."   You can help Christians suffering under the persecution of militant Islam in the Middle East and throughout the world. Nasarean.org  was founded by Father Benedict Kiely, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Stowe, Vermont in the Diocese of Burlington, and supported by the people and businesses there to help, in some small way, Christians suffering under the persecution of militant Islam throughout the world. This is a conflict that has been going on for centuries - and it will not end until the final victory of Christ. F...

Elizabeth exclaimed unto Mary: "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Luke 1:42 Amid Planned Parenthood's summer of shame comes this from  Brietbart : Father Frank Pavone of Priest for Life told a Washington D.C. radio show that America and Planned Parenthood should brace for a video a week for the next five or six weeks exposing the ongoing trafficking in fetal body parts. This is the first time that anyone from the inside of the investigation has hinted at what is to come, and that is an all-summer-long mirror showing America to itself and how many have become complacent with the underlying issue of abortion on demand. Please recite this prayer to defund Planned Parenthood and for our nation to experience the renewal of human dignity, from conception until natural death, based on The Gospel of Life. Prayer to Defund Planned Parenthood Lord of Life and Truth, Your Providence guides the course of history. Yo...

Human beings are moral actors because, as persons, we have the capacity to make choices.  A person has an intellect with which to know and a will with which to choose.  As a result, a person is always a "someone," never a "something." Animals are incapable of sin. Their intellects are governed by instinct and they do not have free will. Only persons can freely choose and act out their choices . We must weigh three criteria when judging a moral act good or bad: The act itself The person’s subjective motive The circumstances under which the act occurs Every moral act consists of three criteria: the objective act (what we do), the subjective intention (why we act), and the situation or circumstances in which we act (where, when, how, etc.). For an act to be morally good, what we do (the act itself), must be objectively good. Some acts are always wrong because they are intrinsically evil (i.e. the killing of innocents, torture, and rape). The goa...

This is evil personified! ( via  The Center for Medical Progress) A second undercover video shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Medical Directors’ Council President, Dr. Mary Gatter, haggling over payments for intact fetal specimens and offering to use a “less crunchy technique” to get more intact body parts. It is similar to last week’s viral video showing PPFA Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola admitting to using partial-birth abortions to get intact parts and suggesting a price range of $30 to $100 per specimen. Gatter is a senior official within Planned Parenthood and is President of the Medical Directors’ Council, the central committee of all Planned Parenthood affiliate medical directors.

It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this (gay marriage) is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man. — Pope Saint John Paul II 

Fr. Barron on the SCOTUS Same-Sex Marriage Ruling  Ryan Anderson: The Marriage Debate Fr. Barron on Gay Marriage and the Breakdown of Moral Argument How Can Catholics Approach the Topic of Same-Sex "Marriage"? Made for Each Other

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings ) The heart of Jesus, we are told, was moved with pity for the crowd, “for they were like sheep without a shepherd.” There are various ways for such a situation to occur. Nowadays, the obvious and literal case described in the Gospel is found when there are simply no shepherds to tend to the sheep. One thinks immediately of mission lands where one or two missionaries travel almost constantly in hopes of visiting each community two or three times a year. We can forget that in many parts of our own country, less than 150 years ago, that was the reality as well, with many rural areas served by “circuit priests.” Many dioceses seem to be reverting to that condition. In the Archdiocese of Boston, for example, there were so many priests 50 years ago that none of them could reasonably expect to be named a pastor before his 25th anniversary of ordination, if ever. Today, even after ha...

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is the author of several books including Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics . Below are excerpts from his article " Roe v. Wade: Four Decades of Tragedy ," ( The American Spectator , 15 January 2013). Roe v. Wade, perhaps the most ostentatiously unconstitutional of many dubious Supreme Court decisions purporting to interpret the Constitution, was issued 40 years ago. Rather than settle the abortion issue, the justices triggered a bitter political conflict which continues unabated.  Roe represents tragedy. An unwanted pregnancy can cause serious, sometimes overwhelming, problems. Moreover, there are few more personal decisions than to terminate a pregnancy. Liberty and life seemingly come into sharp conflict. But abortion is not a just another "choice." Rather, it is a flight from responsibility. Abortion is a response to choice, that is, the decision to have sex. Other than rape, sex is ...

I draw your attention to a noble, informative contribution to the cultural debate surrounding gay "marriage" from Fr. John Hollowell and Blackstone films. The short documentary " The Third Way ", was released last year. It presents the Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality which rejects both anti-gay bigotry and the unqualified endorsement of homosexual activity. Featured in the film are first-hand testimonies from faithful Catholics who struggle with same sex attraction. Take 30 minutes to watch this documentary. It is well worth your time.  

Lauded by some as a woman of valor, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, made numerous disreputable statements about race, birth control and abortion. An avowed eugenicist, Sanger was strident and contemptuous in promoting her racist ideals . Planned Parenthood continues to lionize Sanger despite the historical record and Ms. Sanger's prejudiced worldview as illustrated by her own words. (Video below) The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it. From Sanger's Woman and the New Race , ch. 6: "The Wickedness of Creating Large Families."  (We should) apply a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is tainted, or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring. "Plan for Peace" from Birth Control Review (April 1932, pp. 107-108)  (The most penetrating thinkers) are coming to see that a qual...

The following quote by Michelle Malkin from her article " The wine-sipping butchers of Planned Parenthood ," says it all: What kind of country do we live in where law-abiding businesses are fined, threatened and demonized for refusing to bake gay wedding cakes, but barbaric baby butchers are hailed by feminists, Hollywood and a president who asked God to “bless” them?  God help us.

The Meaning of Marriage & Sexual Difference 1. Marriage: What’s a good starting point?  To understand what marriage is, the best place to start is with the human person. After all, marriage is a unique relationship between two specific persons, one man and one woman. We must ask, “What does it mean to be a human person, as a man or as a woman?” First, men and women are created in the image of God (see Gen 1:27 ). This means that they have great dignity and worth. Also, since “God is love,” ( 1 Jn 4:8 ) each person – created in God’s image – finds his or her fulfillment by loving others. Second, men and women are body-persons. The body – male or female – is an essential part of being human. Gender is not an afterthought or a mere social construct. The body shapes what it means to love as a human person. To sum up, when we think about marriage, we must think about who the human person is – created with great dignity, and called to love as a body-person, male or female. ...

In his treatise De bono coniugali (Of the Good of Marriage) St. Augustine answers two competing views of matrimony. The Manicheans, to whom his treatise was largely addressed, saw the created material world as debased and corrupt. Human souls were spirits trapped within the created order (i.e. the body). The enlightened must free the soul and thus achieve beatitude by rejecting the material order and its sins of the flesh. Marriage and reproduction were manifestly evil. The legal statutes of pagan Rome viewed marriage differently. According to such laws, the institution of marriage was primarily for protecting the assets and interests of the elites. Through matrimony, upper class citizens united their interests, reproduced, and bequeathed their wealth to the next generation. Marriage existed for the creation of households that served the economic, political, and dynastic concerns of the state. It was not for any other purpose and could, following the proper formalities, be dissol...

A Conversation on Same Sex "Marriage" with Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco Orthodox priest, Father Josiah Trenham, interviews His Excellency, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, one of America's most articulate champions of marriage and most persuasive opponent of so-called "Same-Sex Marriage." In this 30+ minute interview Archbishop Cordileone thoroughly goes on the record to explain the genesis of the movement for "Same-Sex Marriage" and exposes why the quest for redefining marriage is so destructive to the health and well-being of marriage and American society. Patristic Nectar Publications (PNP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing spiritual edification and formal Orthodox Christian catechesis. It publishes the teachings of the Church as expressed by the Holy Fathers through a vast array of patristic audio books and lecture series, spreading the wealth of Sacred Tradition to the mode...