Saturday, January 21, 2012

Obama Did It Again


---------- Forwarded Message ----------From: INRI <zealous12@verizon.net>To: Undisclosed recipients: ;Subject: Direct attack on CatholicsDate: Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:22:02 -0500
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Dear CV Friend,


Get ready to pay.

This morning President Obama called New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan to break the news.

Secretary of Health and Human Services and pro-abortion Catholic Kathleen Sebelius just announced that the proposed mandate requiring all insurance plans to pay for contraception, sterilization and some abortion drugs is official -- and Catholics cannot escape.

...and the fig-leaf exemption for religious groups will not be modified, apart from allowing some groups an additional year to comply.

Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan responded minutes ago, saying:
In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.

Beginning August 1, 2012 (less than eight months from today), the insurance premiums we pay, including the insurance premiums paid by Catholics for employees of churches and schools -- will be used to cover drugs and procedures that are in direct conflict with the teachings of our Church.

That's right. Our government will now force us to pay for insurance coverage for birth control, sterilization and even some abortion drugs.

President Obama ignored the organized efforts of Catholics across the country, including bold statements from the Bishops, university presidents (including Notre Dame's Rev. Jenkins), and even his Catholic allies like Sr. Carol Keehan.

Instead, President Obama stood with his real friends -- Planned Parenthood.

Make no mistake, this decision is a direct attack on you, our Church, and the religious liberty of all Americans.

Just yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the bishops from the United States who were completing their "Ad Limina" visit in Rome. The Holy Father specifically cited the "grave threats" to the freedom of the Church in America, and urged the Catholic community to respond, especially with "an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity."

He's talking to you and me. The Holy Father's brief address is a must read (link below).

Finally, today marks exactly one year from Inauguration Day. In exactly 12 months, America will welcome a new president, or usher in four more years of Barack Obama and his assault on our liberties. This irony is not lost on us.

We built CatholicVote into a movement to advance the cause of life, family, and freedom. Today's decision is an assault on all three. And it MUST be defeated.

You have our pledge that we will do everything possible to educate and mobilize the Catholic vote in 2012.

For on a day such as this, we realize that elections indeed have consequences.

The Catholic vote must rise up like never before. 

Sincerely,

Brian Burch, President
CatholicVote.org


U.S. Bishops Vow to Fight HHS Edict
http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-012.cfm

Read the Holy Father's Address to the US Bishops:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/january/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20120119_bishops-usa_en.html

Read the text of the HHS Announcement:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/01/20120120a.html
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Thursday, January 5, 2012

Right or Wrong


Murder, stealing, cheating are wrong and most people accept these as wrong. But, how do you know if things are right or wrong? Is it because someone told you or you have deduced your conclusion from the dictates of your conscience?

Our Catholic Faith teaches us that in order to determine if things or an action is right or wrong, we must appeal to an authority. This authority is the ‘natural law.’ Natural law is as strong and binding as physical laws such as gravity and energy. They do not depend on our interpretation or feelings, they exist independently.  As the law of gravity was true and it is still true today. We change but truth does not.

Hence, when we define murder as wrong, it is wrong regardless how angry we are, how much higher our status than the victim and it makes no difference if the person “deserves” it or not. Reality is we choose or judge most of the times based on our emotions and feelings. We look at the person and not the issues he/she is saying. We choose one over the other in consideration of our future. We say yes even we know it is wrong because majority says yes and we don’t want to go opposite the tide.

We would even hear from our own ranks words such as: ‘What is true for you is not true for me’ -- ‘Don’t impose your values on me’ -- ‘You have no right to tell me what to do’? These words are very popular. Unfortunately, they have been taught in schools. How many teachers have you heard say, “Come on guys, don’t be scared. There is no right or wrong opinions.”

Pope Benedict XVI said: the belief that ‘the intention’ is the main criterion for judging the goodness of a person’s behaviour is ‘dangerous subjectivism’, present in the culture of moral relativism of our time.

Abortion may be legal but it does not make it morally right. Accepting money from evil sources does not justify your intention of helping and giving to the poor. Stealing office supplies from your places of work is still wrong regardless that all others are doing it too.

It takes courage to stand apart from what is merely current or popular. More than ever as our world turns very secular we need strength to distinguish ourselves and to summon the world to God’s truth.

We may be lacking in terms of knowledge about morality, Catholic apologetics and theology. But we have a God who is committed to help us. He left us a Church whom He commissioned to be the guardian of all truth. If we learn to subject ourselves to Him and His Church in prayer and ask guidance on our everyday life, we will always find ourselves in God’s favor.