Transubstantiation

This term came about during the middle ages to represent the change that takes place at the Consecration of the Bread and Wine.

The earliest Christians believed that the Bread and Wine became the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ - we know this from the New Testament and the writings of the first Christians.

St. Paul in the New Testament says:

1 Corinthians 10:16
"The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?"

A letter by Saint Ignatitius of Antioch of about the same date as the Didache which refers to the Mass as a Sacrifice, is an early apologetic defense of the belief in the Eucharist as the same body and blood in which Christ died and was raised again. Ignatius's teaching was directed against the Gnostics. Writing to the Christians of Smyrna, in about 106, he warned them to "stand aloof from such heretics", because, among other reasons, "they abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again."

The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Faith says:

"In early writings, the elements of the Eucharist were sometimes spoken of as "symbols" or "antitypes". However, it seems that there was likely no intention of denying the belief in a transformation of the elements. Later, as the earlier conception of a "symbol" as that which conveys and is what it represents gave way to the understanding of it as being other than what it represents, the description of the bread and wine as symbols dropped out or was denied."

so from these simple quotes - we KNOW that the first Christians believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist - what we do not KNOW is exactly how they explained it - or even if they did at all - more than likely - most just took it on Faith and did not care about the "details" so to speak.

But over the centuries as different heresies kept arising - the Church began to define in more detail what takes place at the moment of Consecration.

From my very limited understating of this very sublime and deep subject I have come to understand Transubstantiation as the following:

At the moment of Consecration the substance - that is the thing that makes bread - bread - changes into the substance of Christ's Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

From what I can understand - the substance of a thing is a complete mystery to us - for all we can perceive with our senses are the accidents of the substance - for example...

Bread is white - but white is not bread - the color of the bread is an accident of the substance.

Bread has a certain taste - but this taste is not bread - the taste is an accident of the substance.

Even if we were to chemically analyze and break down bread into its molecular components - we still do not arrive at what "bread" is - we can only see the accidents of the bread - the substance that is bread - we cannot see, touch, taste, smell, etc...

In the doctrine of Transubstantiation - the Substance of the bread and wine changes to the substance of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but the accidents of the bread and wine remain - that is why the Consecrated species still look, smell, taste, feel, etc... like bread and wine - even after Consecration.

This is where true Faith comes in - not just some statement or claim of belief in Jesus - but a real Faith and believe in what Jesus said: "This IS My Body" - even though it looks, tastes, smells, feels, etc. like bread - because Jesus said it is His Body - We believe - PERIOD!

I am not qualified to speak on this issue in great detail - I have merely shared what I believe regarding this - If I am in error on any point - I submit to the authority of the Church and will quickly correct the error.

Priest blames consecrated wine for drunk driving
Published: June 29, 2009


An Italian priest caught driving over the alcohol limit blamed the reading measured by police on the consecrated wine he consumed at Mass.


He said it wasn't voluntary because it was a necessary part of the four masses he had celebrated during the day, but the officers rejected the excuse and revoked his driving licence, ABC reported quoting the ANSA news agency.


The 41 year old priest, who was caught coming off the Milan-Turin motorway with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 grams per litre which is above the authorised limit in Italy of 0.05 grams, reportedly plans to appeal against the ruling.
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=14769



This is such baloney - I hope the Italian authorities can see through this bogus claim! The amount of wine that is consumed at Holy Mass is so tiny that even if you said 4 Masses in a day you wouldn't consume more than a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of wine! This also brings up another issue - if this wine was really consecrated, would he even be able to "get drunk" seeing as it would be Our Lord Precious Blood??

Bishop Giles, OFM audio sermon for the

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost:

http://friarsminor.org/audio/09pen4.wma

Audio Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost by Reverend Deacon Bonaventure, OFM

http://songweetrains.com/sermons/09pen4.mp3

Michael Jackson Pictured with His

Second Wife, Whom He Divorced

Benedict-Ratzinger's Papal Newspaper

Praised Jackson

The Spouse of Two Women and the

Father of an Illegitimate Child

This Is the Standard of Morality

Set by Benedict-Ratzinger

The "Holy Father" Who Himself

Has Charged with Suborning the

Rape and Assault

Of Tens of Thousands of His Spiritual Children

On June 26, 2009, Benedict-Ratzinger's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, praised Michael Jackson, who died on June 25, 2009. Jackson was an immoral rock star, who had two wives and an illegitimate child, and was charged by several individuals with paedophilia. As we know well by now, the moral standard of Benedict-Ratzinger's Newvatican is about as low as it is possible for any institution to get. [Some information for this Commentary was contributed by Agence France-Press.]

I'm sorry to even bring this up but for this entire week you have not been able to find a station that is reporting any actual news or weather. Everything is "Michael Jackson" and "Farrah Fawcett" who is by the way having a "mass" in a cathedral in California!! A "soft" porn star! We are truly circling the drain now!

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Her Doctrine and Morals
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
28 June 2009

Dear Friend,

The Apostles' efforts in fishing were useless throughout the night, but when they acted with the intention of obeying Jesus their efforts are over abundant. In the spiritual realm we must always act with a good intention _ doing the will of God _ if we are to have any good effects.

In all that we do we must have the purpose or intention to serve and honor God. St. Paul tells us this when he says: "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever else you do, do all to the glory of God." (I. Cor. 10:31).

Likewise the maxim of St. Ignatius, All for the greater glory of God, teaches us how we must act. We should also reflect seriously upon the words of the Lord's Prayer. We pray in the beginning of this prayer: hallowed be Thy Name to remind us that we were created for the honor and glory of God. Our entire lives have been given us to make holy the name of God.

A most fundamental question that we find in the first few pages of almost every catechism, teaches us why we were created. "God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him. . ." This is our first and only duty. Everything else is secondary. Once we truly realize this, the forming of a good intention becomes habitual. And in this habitual state of living, breathing and working for God we find spiritual and oftentimes material success in our efforts.

On the other hand if we are filled with pride and vanity and forget God we find that we make no progress in the spiritual life and are often frustrated even in the material aspects of our lives. The key to our success is in having a good and pure intention.

The intention (or will) is the most important aspect of all that we do. A thing that is done well, if it lack a good intention is vitiated. And a thing that may not be perfectly done becomes eternally meritorious if it has been done with a pure intention. The most insignificant of actions become the most meritorious just by a simple act of the will _ a good intention.

That which separates a good act from an evil one is the intention. If we dress ourselves to flatter our pride and vanity we commit evil, whereas if we dress ourselves for the honor and glory of God we merit grace. And the same can be said of everything that we think, say, do, or omit.

It has been said that, "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions", but this is not exactly true. What is often meant here might be better expressed as: "the road to Hell is paved with false intentions." Many claim to have good intentions of doing something even though they do not truly have the will to do it or follow through with it. This is not a good intention — this is a lie — and this is what paves the way to Hell. To have a good intention necessitates also having the will to follow through with it. If this will is there, then God accepts the desire for the deed, even when we are impeded from doing that which we desire. These desires and pure intentions far from paving the way to Hell, pave the way to Heaven.

The saints were often inspired to desire much more than they physically could do for the honor and glory of God. They were often eaten up with the desire to do more and more for the love of God. And as far as their minds and hearts could reach in pure intentions and desires, God rewarded them with blessings and wonderful graces beyond measure. Because they loved beyond measure they were rewarded beyond measure. Thus the finite creatures that we are have been made capable of pleasing the infinite majesty of God, all with a simple act of the will; a simple act of love; a simple pure intention.

But, it bears repeating, the pure intention automatically implies the will and desire to accomplish. The man who says that he has the intention to make a pilgrimage to Rome, but has no will to get up and go; does not have a real intention but rather a false one. These are the types of intentions that pave the way to Hell. On the other hand the man who intends to make a pilgrimage to Rome but dies before he can accomplish his goal has a true pure intention and will receive the reward from God just as if he accomplished the goal. So we see that God accepts the desire for the deed with this pure intention.

Now hopefully, we can see the necessity of making a good morning offering, and consecrating all our thoughts, words, and deeds of the day for the honor and glory of God. Thus we form a pure and good intention for all that we do for that day. Once we truly incorporate this pure intention into our day and all that we do, we will see a true progress in our spiritual lives. We will draw closer to God in love, and merit more benefits for ourselves in eternity.

Chicago school to march in Pride Parade
Nettelhorst Elementary School to show solidarity with surrounding gay community

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-gay-pride-parade-25-jun25,0,3925455.story


The black metal fence in front of Nettelhorst Elementary School is obscured by thousands of strips of dyed fabric -- yellows giving way to greens, then blues, purples and reds -- each one tied on by the small hands of a student.

The ruffled, waist-high rainbow is a symbol of the school's solidarity with its east Lakeview community, and a sign hanging by the gate trumpets that Nettelhorst this year "will be the first Chicago public school to march in the city's gay pride parade."

"We believe family means everybody," the sign reads.

Amy Goodman agrees with that. She'll be in the parade at noon Sunday with her husband, towing their 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter in a wagon bedecked in rainbows.

Brad Rossi agrees as well. He'll be there with his partner and their 7-year-old daughter, along with more than 50 other families from Nettelhorst whose presence marks the latest expansion of a parade that began in the 1970s with drag queens and gay activists and has grown to reveal the full spectrum of the city's diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

In this, the 40th annual Pride Parade, there will be gay Democrats and gay Republicans, gay business people and gay artists, seniors and teens and Christians and veterans -- and, as always, drag queens and activists.

"We've never had a grammar school, or a school for that matter," said Richard Pfeiffer, who has coordinated the parade since 1974. "The remarkable thing about the gay pride parade is that it's the one day that you get that full cross-section of the GLBT community. We're young, we're old and a growing portion of our community now has children. And I think that has often gone unnoticed.

"That's why the Nettelhorst contingent will be near the front.

"I love that my kids will understand that there are all different kinds of families," Goodman said. "When it comes to any kind of differences, I think the only way to really realize how much we have in common is to celebrate and acknowledge our differences."

Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Bond stressed that Nettelhorst was not "officially involved" with the decision to enter the parade. Parents, both gay and straight, organized the school's entry, viewing it as an important statement to make in a community with a large GLBT population...

Pray for these poor little children - I cringe to think what these poor little children are going to be exposed to in this parade of sin!

This is just amazng!

watch and listen to this carefully

I don't agree with the Ron Paul plug at the end of this

Ron Paul is no better

And they wonder why so many people are chosing to homeschool

Student Strip Search Illegal
School Violated Teen Girl's Rights, Supreme Court Rules

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR2009062501690_pf.html

By Robert BarnesWashington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 26, 2009

Arizona school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old girl when they strip-s
earched her on the suspicion she might be hiding ibuprofen in her underwear, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The decision put school districts on notice that such searches are "categorically distinct" from other efforts to combat illegal drugs.

In a case that had drawn attention from educators, parents and civil libertarians across the country, the court ruled 8 to 1 that such an intrusive search without the threat of a clear danger to other students violated the Constitution's protections against unreasonable search or seizure.

Justice David H. Souter, writing perhaps his final opinion for the court, said that in the search of Savana Redding, now a 19-year-old college student, school officials overreacted to vague accusations that Redding was violating school policy by possessing the ibuprofen, equivalent to two tablets of Advil.

What was missing, Souter wrote, "was any indication of danger to the students from the power of the drugs or their quantity, and any reason to suppose that Savana was carrying pills in her underwear."

It was reasonable to search the girl's backpack and outer clothes, but Safford Middle School administrators made a "quantum leap" in taking the next step, the opinion said. "The meaning of such a search, and the degradation its subject may reasonably feel, place a search that intrusive in a category of its own demanding its own specific suspicions," Souter wrote.

Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter. "Judges are not qualified to second-guess the best manner for maintaining quiet and order in the school environment," he wrote.

He said administrators were only being logical in searching the girl. "Redding would not have been the first person to conceal pills in her undergarments," he wrote. "Nor will she be the last after today's decision, which announces the safest place to secrete contraband in school."

The court's virtual unanimity was in contrast to the intense oral argument that seemed to exasperate the court's only female member, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She later said her male colleagues seemed not to appreciate the trauma such a search would have on a developing adolescent....

Funny - they claim that Clarence Thomas is such a conservative - and how about Ginsburg - she says her male colleagues did ont appreciate the trauma - YET THE ALMOST ALL RULED IN THE GIRLS FAVOR - hard to believe this moron sits on the Supreme Court!

...The case, Safford Unified School District #1 v. Redding, began when another student was found with prescription-strength ibuprofen and said she received it from Redding.

Safford Middle School assistant principal Kerry Wilson pulled the quiet honors student out of class, and she consented in his office to a search of her backpack and outer clothes. When that turned up no pills, he had a school nurse take Redding to her office, where she was told to remove her clothes, shake out her bra and pull her underwear away from her body, exposing her breasts and pelvic area.

No drugs were found, and Redding said she was so humiliated by the incident that she never returned to the school. Her mother filed suit against the school district, as well as Wilson.

After years of legal proceedings, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit eventually ruled in her favor.

Justices based their view on the court's warning in a 1985 case that, although school officials have leeway in deciding when searches of students are reasonable, the officials may not employ searches "excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction."...

While it is certainly good news that the court ruled as it did - it still amazes me that any reasonable person in authority would ever believe that they had the right to do this to a child over Advil!

Had that been my daughter - I would likely be posting this from my prison cell for having stripped searched the school administrators in the town square!

I just cannot resist - her is one last quotation from Cardinal Gibbons:

Now the Catholic is the only Church whose children, generation after generation, from the first to the present century, have pronounced her blessed; of all Christians in this land, they alone contribute to the fulfilment of the prophecy.

Therefore, it is only Catholics that earn the approval of Heaven by fulfilling the prediction of the Holy Ghost.

Protestants not only concede that we bless the name of Mary, but they even reproach us with being too lavish in our praises of her.

On the other hand, they are careful to exclude themselves from the "generations" that were destined to call her blessed, for, in speaking of her, they almost invariably withhold from her the title of blessed preferring to call her the Virgin, or Mary the Virgin, or the Mother of Jesus.

And while Protestant churches will resound with the praises of Sarah and Rebecca and Rachel, of Miriam and Ruth, of Esther and Judith of the Old Testament, and of Elizabeth and Anna, of Magdalen and Martha of the New, the name of Mary the Mother of Jesus is uttered with bated breath, lest the sound of her name should make the preacher liable to the charge of superstition.

The piety of a mother usually sheds additional lustre on the son, and the halo that encircles her brow is reflected upon his. The more the mother is extolled, the greater honor redounds to the son. And if this is true of all men who do not choose their mothers, how much more strictly may it be affirmed of Him who chose His own Mother, and made her Himself such as He would have her, so that all the glories of His Mother are essentially His own.

And yet daily we see ministers of the Gospel ignoring Mary's exalted virtues and unexampled privileges and parading her alleged imperfections; nay, sinfulness, as if her Son were dishonored by the piety, and took delight in the defamation of His Mother.

Since AW (who represents the fundamentalist church) has a problem with the Blessed Virgin being called "Mother of God", here is what Cardinal Gibbons has to say on that subject. It may be a little bit too deep for him or maybe because of his hatred for her, he will just close his mind:

"When we call the Blessed Virgin the Mother of God, we assert our belief in two things: First - That her Son, Jesus Christ, is true man, else she were not a mother. Second - That He is true God, else she were not the Mother of God.

In other words, we affirm that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, who in His divine nature is from all eternity begotten of the Father, consubstantial with Him, was in the fulness of time again begotten, by being born of the Virgin, thus taking to Himself, from her maternal womb, a human nature of the same substance with hers.

But it may be said the Blessed Virgin is not the Mother of the Divinity. She had not, and she could not have, any part in the generation of the Word of God, for that generation is eternal; her maternity is temporal. He is her Creator; she is His creature. Style her, if you will, the Mother of the man Jesus or even of the human nature of the Son of God, but not the Mother of God.

I shall answer this objection by putting a question. Did the mother who bore us have any part in the production of our soul? Was not this nobler part of our being the work of God alone? and yet who would for a moment dream of saying "the mother of my body," and not "my mother"?

The comparison teaches us that the terms parent and child, mother and son, refer to the persons and not to the parts or elements of which the persons are composed. Hence no one says: "The mother of my body", the "mother of my soul;" but in all propriety "my mother", the mother of me who live and breathe, think and act, one in my personality, though uniting in it a soul directly created by God and a material body directly derived from the maternal womb.

In like manner, as far as the sublime mystery of the Incarnation can be reflected in the natural order, the Blessed Virgin, under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, by communicating to the Second Person of the Adorable Trinity, as mothers do, a true human nature of the same substance with her own, is thereby really and truly His Mother.

(p. 137-138: Faith of Our Fathers)

'Everyone's a pagan now'

"All you have to believe to be a pagan, according to the federation, is that each of us has the right to follow our own path (as long as it harms no-one else); that the higher power (or powers) exists; and that nature is to be venerated. If you asked everyone in Britain if they agreed with those three statements, millions would put their hands up. At its loosest, paganism is beginning to look like our new national faith."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/22/paganism-stonehenge-environmentalism-witchcraft

Sounds to me like 99% of the world! God help us!

God "Rejoices" over Abortions Says Episcopal Priestess
By Peter J. Smith

DENVER, Colorado, June 24, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Episcopal Church has to clarify God's official position on abortion - at least so says a priestess of the church, who claims that a proposed rite for post-abortive women conflicts with church theology and that the Deity "rejoices" when women elect to abort their children.

Rev. Nina Churchman wrote a letter to Episcopal Life Online expressing her outrage upon learning that her church has developed a healing rite for post-abortion women sorrowful over their abortion that seems to have language alluding to "sin" and "guilt."

Churchman said she "was sickened to discover that the rite for abortion is couched wholly in terms of sin and transgression."

The priestess also took particular umbrage with the words, "I seek God's forgiveness" and the words "God rejoices that you have come seeking God's merciful forgiveness."

"The Episcopal Church, by resolution, has long held that women have the freedom to choose an abortion," asserted Churchman. "It is not considered a sin."

The Episcopal Church's "long held" position permitting abortion dates back to 1967, when the church began to lobby for abortion in limited cases (i.e. rape, incest, fetal deformity, health of the mother), which by 1994 had become a full-blown defense of a right to an abortion. The church's previous position on abortion, had lasted much longer. As late as 1958 the church had expressed an unequivocal defense of over 1900 years of Christian tradition against abortion, stating, "Abortion and infanticide are to be condemned."

"Women should be able to mourn the loss of an aborted fetus without having to confess anything," declared Churchman.

"God, unlike what the liturgy states, also rejoices that women facing unplanned pregnancies have the freedom to carefully choose the best option - birth, adoption or abortion - for themselves and their families."

"The wording of this liturgy focuses solely on guilt and sin instead of the grief and healing that may accompany a very difficult but appropriate decision to terminate a pregnancy," said Churchman.

Instead Churchman expressed her determination that the church should reject the rite at the next General Convention and do away with the references to "sin" and "guilt."
The proposed post-abortion healing service had been the idea of Georgette Forney, president of Anglicans for Life, who had obtained an abortion when she was 16. Forney had asked the church to create a healing service for women like herself seeking healing, and the Episcopal General Convention had approved the development of the project.

The result was a rite addressing "the pastoral needs of women and men and who have experienced miscarriage, abortion or other trauma in the childbearing or childbirth process" in a book called, "Rachel's Tears, Hannah's Hopes: Liturgies and Prayers for Healing from Loss Related to Childbearing and Childbirth."

The 2009 General Convention of the Episcopal Church will consider and vote on the rite when it convenes July 8-17 in Anaheim, California.

See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
"Abortion is a Blessing": US Episcopalian Lesbian Minister Appointed to Head Prestigious Seminary

Here is an excerpt from a book entitled "The Faith of Our Fathers " written by James Cardinal Gibbons who was the Archbishop of Baltimore in the 1880's. This book is being used in the adult religion class in Kentucky. With the Fourth of July just around the corner, I thought this was so appropriate:

"When a nation wishes to celebrate the memory of its distinguished men its admiration is not confined to words, but vents itself in a thousand different shapes. See in how many ways we honor the memory of Washington.

Monuments on which his good deeds are recorded are erected to his name. The grounds in which his remains repose on the banks of the Potomac are kept in order by a volunteer band of devoted ladies, who adorn the place with flowers. And this cherished spot is annually visited by thousands of pilgrims from the most remote sections of the country. These visitors will eagerly snatch a flower or a leaf from a shrub growing near Washington's tomb, or will strive even to clip off a little shred from one of his garments, still preserved in the old mansion, to bear home with them as precious relics........

The 22nd of February, Washington's birthday, is kept as a national holiday, at least in certain portions of the country....As the citizens of the United States manifest in divers ways their admiration for Washington, so do the citizens of the republic of the Church love to exhibit in corresponding forms their veneration for the Mother of Jesus.

Monuments and statues are erected to her. Thrice each day - at morn, noon and even - the Angelus bells are rung, to recall to our mind the Incarnation of Our Lord, and the participation of Mary in this great mystery of love.

Her shrines are tastefully adorned by pious hands and visited by devoted children, who wear her relics or any object which bears her image, or which is associated with her name.....

As no one was ever suspected of loving his country and her institutions less because of his revering Washington, so no one can reasonably suppose that our homage to God is diminished by our fostering reverence for Mary. As our object in eulogizing Washington is not so much to honor the man as to vindicate those principles of which he was the champion and exponent, and to express our gratitude to God for the blessings bestowed on our country through him, even so our motive in commemorating Mary's name is not merely to praise her, but still more to keep us in perpetual remembrance of Our Lord's Incarnation, and to show our thankfulness to Him for the blessings wrought through that great mystery in which she was so prominent a figure.

U.S. births reveal gender-specific abortions occurring; girls targeted

On May 21, Oklahoma Governor Brad Smith signed into law a bill making gender-specific abortions illegal in that state. A report by researchers at Columbia University and the National Bureau of Economic Research published in 2008 revealed a strong "son bias" in American births in 2000, and showed “clear evidence of sex selection, most likely at the prenatal stage.”

On June 14, the New York Times published a news article about the very same issue. The article seems to sympathize with parents who do not view having multiple girls as a blessing. Aborting a child based on gender is referred to as “family balancing.” We are now 36 years into our nation’s very own holocaust.

In the article is this disturbing quote, “If the third one was going to be a girl, then I would say probably I would have terminated [the baby],” Angie said.

Where are the feminists?

Click here to read the article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/nyregion/15babies.html?pagewanted=2&emc=eta1

Click here to read an article from LifeSiteNews about Oklahoma ’s law:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09052708.html

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Her Doctrine and Morals
Third Sunday after Pentecost
21 June 2009

Dear Friend,
This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. (Luke 15:2)

God willingly and readily forgives sinners. We see in the gospel today how affectionate and merciful our Divine Savior is.

God first forgives. To forgive means to set aside all ill-will and aversion towards those who offend us and to wish them well from the heart. We hardly ever forgive perfectly. Though we say I forgive him who offended me, yet, there often remains in us a certain coldness; we do not love him as before. Try as hard as we may to wish him well a certain bitterness is aroused and it costs a good deal of violence always to suppress these emotions and entirely to destroy them. God on the other hand forgives perfectly. Once God has forgiven us He treats us as affectionately as if we had always been His most obedient children; His heart even expands, so to speak, and He loves us in a higher degree than many of those who have never grievously offended Him. Mary Magdalen and St. Peter offer us examples of this forgiveness and expanded love.

God forgives willingly while we must be reminded of our duty and the truths of the Faith, Heaven and Hell, etc. He is ever ready to receive a repentant sinner. He even waits with desire for the moment when they return to Him. "I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good." (Is. 65: 2) "Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened and I will refresh you." (Matt. 11:28) St. Augustine says: "God is more ready to impart forgiveness to the sinner than the sinner is to receive it."

The parables in today's gospel coupled with these examples and many others throughout the scriptures should encourage us like the prodigal son to return to Him full of humility, contrition, and confidence. How can we continue to offend God, who means so well with us, who is daily and hourly prepared to forgive us and to treat us as His beloved children?

Another mark of His mercy is that He forgives all sinners. There is no sinner, no matter how guilty, that can not be forgiven. Murderers, robbers, highwaymen, thieves, blasphemers, perjurers, adulterers, in a word all sinners can find mercy with God. There is no number of sins that could consume the fountain of His mercy. If a man had the sins of the entire world upon his conscience, he need not despair of his salvation, but can hope for pardon. "If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow, and if they be red as crimson, they shallbe white as wool." (Is. 1:18) St. Cyprian says: "Neither the greatness of the crimes, nor the shortness of life yet remaining, nor the extreme necessity of the last hour excludes from the friendship of God. His infinite love and mercy embrace all that return to Him." The Samaritan woman, the adulteress, the thief on the cross had grievously sinned, but they also found grace. We just need open the lives of the saints and read of terrible sinners who became saints like, Margaret of Cortona, or Mary of Egypt.

But, to receive this mercy of God upon ourselves we must truly repent, and we must repent in time. If the sinner repents, God will be merciful to him and forgive him his sins, but if, on the contrary, the sinner perseveres in sin, he will perish. "Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish" The mercy of God then does not cinsist in this, that He forgives all sinners indiscriminately, but only those who truly repent. Think of Cain, of the people in the time of Noe, of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha, of the traitor Judas, of the obstinate Jews at Jerusalem; they all perished because they did no penance. We must avoid the damnable vice of presumption, believing that we do not need to repent and that God will forgive us anyway.

None of us knows how much time we have left on this earth, but it is certain that we must repent before we leave this world. Once we pass from time into eternity repentance will be in vain. Our lot will be eternally sealed. God who has promised pardon to the repentant sinner has not promised him tomorrow. We must take advantage of the present moment because this is all that we have. Let us repent truly and without delay. Let us make good use of the time of grace and work out our salvation without delay, that we may escape the threatening perdition and be saved.

Will be out of town for the weekend - guess what I will be doing?

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"So long as the new moon returns in the heaven a bent, beautiful bow, so long will the fascination of archery keep hold in the hearts of men."

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Maurice Thompson

The Witchery of Archery, 1879

Making criminals of everyone!

Jury rules against Minn. woman in download case

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tec_music_downloading

MINNEAPOLIS – A replay of the nation's only file-sharing case to go to trial has ended with the same result — a Minnesota woman was found to have violated music copyrights and must pay huge damages to the recording industry.

A federal jury ruled Thursday that Jammie Thomas-Rasset willfully violated the copyrights on 24 songs, and awarded recording companies $1.92 million, or $80,000 per song.

Outside the courtroom, she called the $1.92 million figure "kind of ridiculous" but expressed resignation over the decision.

"There's no way they're ever going to get that," said Thomas-Rasset, a 32-year-old mother of four from the central Minnesota city of Brainerd. "I'm a mom, limited means, so I'm not going to worry about it now."...

This is ridiculous - who has not made an illegal recording of a song? Who has not taped a movie or copied a movie?

I remember as a kid we used to call into radio stations to play our favorite songs so that we would know when they would be played and we could then record them.

If they are so worried about this - why don't they sue the file sharing websites?

BBC Caught In Mass Public Deception With Iran Propaganda

The BBC has again been caught engaging in mass public deception by using photographs of pro-Ahmadinejad rallies in Iran and claiming they represent anti-government protests in favor of Hossein Mousavi.

(click on the above link)

See to it that you're not suddenly saddened by the adversities of this world, for you don't know the good they bring, being ordained in the judgments of God for the everlasting joy of the elect.

St. John of the Cross (1542-1591AD) on Afflictions

I want to thank everyone for the many prayers and sacrifices that were made to make this day possible. You cannot even imagine the joy in this mother's heart as we watched this beautiful ceremony and heard that wonderful sermon. God is really good to we wretched, unworthy sinners.

Please continue and in fact increase your prayers during the next year. The ordination of Reverend Deacon Bonaventure, OFM will take place on July 14, 2010 at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Waubeka, Wisconsin.

Truly, the angels, saints and all of heaven will be rejoicing on that day!

Al-Quaida - the reality of this bogus group

Al-Qaida spokesman describes Jewish roots
California-born extremist says his grandfather was Zionist

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31371452/ns/world_news-terrorism

AP
CAIRO - Al-Qaida's American spokesman said in a message released over the weekend that his grandfather was Jewish and encouraged him to visit Israel and meet relatives there.

Adam Gadahn, who was raised in California, spent much of the 34-minute speech discussing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip late last year and calling on Palestinians to continue fighting.

"My grandfather was a Zionist and a zealous supporter of the usurper entity and a prominent member of a number of Zionist hate organizations. He used to repeat to me what he claimed are the virtues of this entity and encourage me to visit ... where relatives of ours live," Gadahn said in fluent Arabic in the recording produced by al-Qaida's media arm and posted Saturday on an Islamic Web site...

This information about this Jew has been out for years on the "conspiracy websites" - it appears that the mainstream media was forced to report this in some fashion.

The reality is that Al Quida does not exist - it is a Jewish Mossad organization - a false flag organization that engages in acts of terrorism and then blames it on Arabs - much like the Jews attempted when they bombed the King David Hotel and murdered dozens of people and when the Jews attacked and attempted to sink the USS Liberty - killing over 30 US sailors and wounding nearly 200 - even shooting at the lifeboats!

First Sermon given by :

Reverend Deacon Bonaventure, OFM

http://songweetrains.com/sermons/09pen2bba.mp3

Holocaust Museum Shooter hated Christians!

Holocaust Museum Shooter a Socialist who Hated Christianity, Conservatives, Jews

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The online ravings of the man who shot and killed a security guard in Washington’s Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10th show that he does not fit the description of the “right wing” or “conservative Christian” extremist that has been portrayed in the liberal mainstream media since the shooting.

In one of many online tirades, the shooter, 88 year-old James von Brunn wrote, “Christianity and the Holocaust are hoaxes. ‘Christianity’ destroyed Roman Civilization. The ‘Holocaust’ Religion is destroying Western Civilization.” Between them, he said, they destroyed the “Aryan gene pool.”

He wrote, “socialism represents the future of the West.”...

I would not be surprized if this was a patsy job all along - funny how it comes up right on the verge of Hate Crime Legislation that just passed the House and is now before the Senate and sure to be signed by Obama.

We are on the verge of losing our freedom of speech completely. If this "hate crime" nonsense passes - it will be illegal for Christians to vocally or manifestly oppose homosexuality, it will be illegal for historians or anyone else to question the validty of the Holocaust story or any other supposed historical event, and the list could go on and on - it will certainly be illegal to oppose the illegal and satanic state of Israel!

If there were true scientists - they would have thrown out this stupid theory decades ago - the evidence against evolution is CONCLUSIVE - but they just keep clinging to this nonsense and reinventing it!

Discovery raises new doubts about dinosaur-bird links

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/06/09/discovery.raises.new.doubts.about.dinosaur.bird.links

Researchers at Oregon State University have made a fundamental new discovery about how birds breathe and have a lung capacity that allows for flight – and the finding means it's unlikely that birds descended from any known theropod dinosaurs. The conclusions add to other evolving evidence that may finally force many paleontologists to reconsider their long-held belief that modern birds are the direct descendants of ancient, meat-eating dinosaurs, OSU researchers say...

...The implication, the researchers said, is that birds almost certainly did not descend from theropod dinosaurs, such as tyrannosaurus or allosaurus. The findings add to a growing body of evidence in the past two decades that challenge some of the most widely-held beliefs about animal evolution.

"For one thing, birds are found earlier in the fossil record than the dinosaurs they are supposed to have descended from," Ruben said. "That's a pretty serious problem, and there are other inconsistencies with the bird-from-dinosaur theories. (gee - they just realized that is a serious problem with their stupid theory)

"But one of the primary reasons many scientists kept pointing to birds as having descended from dinosaurs was similarities in their lungs," Ruben said. "However, theropod dinosaurs had a moving femur and therefore could not have had a lung that worked like that in birds. Their abdominal air sac, if they had one, would have collapsed. That undercuts a critical piece of supporting evidence for the dinosaur-bird link.

"A velociraptor did not just sprout feathers at some point and fly off into the sunset," Ruben said... (oh, but when Christians point out how stupid this idea of cross species evolution is - we are ridiculed - yet they now make the same observation that every opponent to this stupid theory has made for decades and they are somehow brilliant scientists)

...Frankly, there's a lot of museum politics involved in this, a lot of careers committed to a particular point of view even if new scientific evidence raises questions," Ruben said. In some museum displays, he said, the birds-descended-from-dinosaurs evolutionary theory has been portrayed as a largely accepted fact, with an asterisk pointing out in small type that "some scientists disagree."... (the whole problem is that they have and continue to teach this nonsense as fact)

A generation obsessed with death, satanism, and the occult! The man who made this video clip does not even realize that he is inspired by it to some extent as well - consider the music he choose for the video.

Truly sad - these kids need our prayers more than any generation in history!

Gaza: No right to life


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jun/11/gaza-israel

With the lack of medical services in Gaza, critically ill patients must travel into Israel for treatment. Many are asked to collaborate with Israeli intelligence services before they receive aid. It has been alleged that if they refuse to become informers they are refused medical treatment...

And moron "evangelical fundamentalists" - keep supporting the illegal state of Israel and is horrible and satanic policies against the Christian and Muslim Arabs!

While I don't agree with everying in this video - it does give a pretty accurate account of what has become of our nation!

Bridget and I will both be out of town till Sunday evening - So if you post a comment it will likely not show up until Monday.

How will these novus ordo "catholics" stand before the Judgement seat of God when they knowingly belong to a Church that does such as this:

Tiller's death brings pro-life reaction and permanent clinic closing

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=16236

Wichita, Kan., Jun 9, 2009 / 01:26 pm (CNA).- Following the murder of Kansas abortionist Dr. George Tiller, his family’s attorneys have announced that his clinic will permanently close. Meanwhile, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City has urged pro-lifers to defend the unborn by praying for the conversion of abortionists and by realizing that they are not “evil people.”...

...Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph Naumann, writing in his column in “The Leaven” last week, said he responded to Tiller’s killing by offering Mass for the repose of his soul and for the consolation of his family....

St. George Tiller???

Abortion Business in Philadelphia Gives Away Free Abortions Honoring George Tiller
by Steven Ertelt

Philadelphia, PA (LifeNews.com) -- An abortion business in Pennsylvania is drawing criticism for giving away free abortions on Tuesday in honor of slain late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller. The Philadelphia Women's Center said the free abortions were meant to show appreciation for Tiller, who was allegedly killed by extremist gunman Scott Roeder.
Town Hall columnist Jillian Bandes said a staff member at the abortion center said an unspecified number of free abortions were done yesterday for Tiller's “memory and legacy.” (continue reading...http://www.lifenews.com/state4221.html

WOW - the Hungarians may be waking up!


'Proud Hungarians must prepare for war against the Jews'
By Yehuda Lahav

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089550.html

"Given our current situation, anti-Semitism is not just our right, but it is the duty of every Hungarian homeland lover, and we must prepare for armed battle against the Jews."

This quote appeared in a newsletter published by an organization calling itself "The trade union of Hungarian police officers prepared for action". Hungarian law allows police officers to organize in trade unions of their own. The union - by its own definition - aims to protect the professional interests of those unionized, and not to partake in political activity.

However, the law does not prevent the union from distributing a newsletter, the content of which is at the discretion of its editor, and its editor alone...

Faith without works is dead James 2:24


True religion consists of these two elements: pious doctrines and virtuous actions. God does not accept doctrines apart from good works, nor are works, when divorced from godly doctrines, accepted by God. What does it profit a man to be an expert theologian if he is a shameless fornicator; or to be nobly self-controled, but an impious blasphemer?
St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386AD) on Faith and Works


How can a man say he believes in Christ if he doesn't do what Christ commanded him to do?
St. Cyprian of Carthage (200-258AD) on Faith and Works

Tiller's Abortion Facility to Close Forever

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09060904.html

WICHITA, Kansas, June 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a statement released today, the attorneys of late-term abortionist George Tiller confirmed that his Wichita abortion facility would shut its doors permanently, following Tiller's murder last month.

"The family of Dr. George Tiller announces that effective immediately, Women's Health Care Services, Inc., will be permanently closed," stated attorneys Lee Thompson and Dan Monnat today. "Notice is being given today to all concerned that the Tiller family is ceasing operation of the clinic and any involvement by family members in any other similar clinic."...

Wasn't the media just telling us last week that there were butchers (doctors) waiting in line to take this clinic over. Guess they don't want people to figure out that the death of these evil sons of satan might actually reduce the number of babies murdered! This could actually cause sympathy for the guy who killed this creep. Remember a small majority of people are against abortion and the VAST majority are against late term abortion.

NOTE TO OUR READERS:

Tomorrow I will be leaving for New York for 4 days to witness a miracle. Brother Bonaventure will receive the sub-diaconate on Friday, June 12, 2009 at 9:00 (EST) and then the diaconate on Saturday , June 13, 2009 - the feast of our beloved St. Anthony at 9:00 (EST).

Most of you are aware of the many reasons why this is very close to my heart. But all of you should be rejoicing with the saints in heaven because this is a gift for all true Catholics and future Catholics!

Please pray for Brother Bonaventure and the entire First Order. The road ahead of him and all of the First Order is difficult at best. The enemy of souls makes sure of that! But with our continued, fervent, heartfelt prayer, we can lift them up and make their road a little easier.

I hope to share pictures with all of you when I return. Please say a little prayer for our safe travel as well!

Sister Bridget TOSF

This just came in my inbox from American Family Association.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
By Lou Pritchett

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett

Note: Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat. Mr. Pritchett confirmed that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated "open letter." “I did write the 'you scare me' letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits.

.American Family Association – Tupelo, MS 38803
www.afa.net

Mary adorns her clients with her merits, assists them with her power, enlightens them with her light, and kindles them with her love. She imparts her virtues to them and becomes their security, their intercessor, and their all with Jesus.
St. Louis Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716AD)

This from Traditio:

Newsweek editor Evan Thomas brought Obamolatry a whole new level on June 5, 2009, declaring on MSNBC:

"I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above –- above the world; he’s sort of God!"

If that is the case, the world's new god seems to be championing an anti-Christian, anti-Catholic historical revisionism to the extent of participating in what amounts to a taqiya, a deception to advance Islam. Obama's speech delivered at Cairo University in Egypt on June 4, 2009, contained a plethora of half-truths, distortions, or just plain lies, apparently intended to put down the contributions of Christianity and Catholicism and greatly exaggerate the contributions of Islam:

"As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam. It was Islam –- at places like Al-Azhar University –- that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. "

There is hardly even a single truthful statement in this entire paragraph. Remember that Mohammed flourished in the sixth century after Christ -- 1000 years after the height in the West of classical Greek civilization and 600 years after the height of classical Roman civilization, from which the Roman Catholic Church derived and advanced the spread of knowledge. It was not Islam that "paved the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment," but Greco-Roman civilization and the Roman Catholic Church.

Astronomy. Already in the sixth century before Christ, the Greek natural philosopher Thales developed geometry to predict an eclipse. In the second century after Christ, the Roman Claudius Ptolemy published his Syntaxis Mathematice, which developed celestial mechanics to compute past or future positions of the planets and an extensive star catalog. Ptolemy's work was the authority in astronomy for 1500 years.

Mathematics. What may have been contributed by Islamic scholars was substantially derived from the work of Greek mathematicians, who worked centuries earlier than Mohammed: Pythagoras in the sixth century before Christ (Pythagorean theorem), Euclid in the fourth century before Christ (geometry), and Archimedes in the third century before Christ (integral calculus and conic sections), to name just a few.

Printing Press. The printing press came not from Mohammedans, but from Johannes Gutenberg in the mid sixteenth century (although there were rudimentary forms in China). Many (including apparently Obama) are ignorant of the fact that the first book printed on Gutenberg's press was the Catholic Latin Vulgate Bible. The printing press was rejected by the Mohammedans for more than a thousand years because the only book Islam wanted to propagate was the Koran.

Medicine. The Greek Hippocrates developed the science of medicine in the sixth century before Christ, and his ethical oath is still taken by physicians today. The Greek Galen developed the science of anatomy in the second century before Christ, and his extensive works on medicine guided physicians for 1500 years.

Navigation. The Greek Hipparchus invented navigational tools in the second century before Christ. The astrolabe was used by Ptolemy for his astronomical treatises.

Music. It is an historical fact that no culture in the world, past or present, has developed music to the extent that the West has. There is nothing like Western polyphony in the East.

Pythagoras founded the science of music in the sixth century before Christ. The chant was codified by Pope St. Gregory in the sixth century after Christ. Polyphony was developed in the Catholic Church around the thirteenth century after Christ. Nothing compares the sublimity of Sacred Polyphony, whose quintessence is Palestrina in the sixteenth century after Christ, whence came Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Architecture. The Parthenon of the fifth century before Christ is acknowledged to be the most sublime architectural creation of man. The Roman Vitrivius in his treatise, De Architectura, written in the first century before Christ, propagated the Roman advances in architecture, including the invention of the dome, and fired the building frenzy of the Renaissance, including those "places of peaceful contemplation," the cathedrals of Europe. The Mohammedans' greatest achievement in architecture was the seizure of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, built in the sixth century by the Roman Emperor Justinian.

Come on, Obama! Not a single scholar of the stature of Aristotle, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, or Albert Einstein has been produced in the Islamic world. Are you the kind of ignorant "student of history" that Harvard College is now producing?!

I think I have made a major scientific breakthrough - I have discovered the origin of human laughter - just read this story and watch the stupid videos - and you too will discover that the stupidity of evolutionists will make you laugh too!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8083230.stm

this "research" is probably publicly funded in some manner too - which makes it even more funny - oh - wait - not funny - disgusting!

I found this commentary quite interesting and accurate:

"Many people heard about the death of the late-term abortionist, Dr. Tiller. Tiller claimed to be a Lutheran and actually attended a Lutheran church. Heretical and Protestant churches are not good, of course, but it surprised some that a murderer of children would approach anything that purported to be a church. In thinking about it more, it’s quite interesting that Tiller was a Lutheran; for it was Martin Luther who famously said:

“No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day.”

In Lutheranism Tiller obviously found the theology that suited him."

It's all about the almighty dollar -perversion rules the day!

'Gay Days' Expected To Bring In $100 Million
Posted: 12:37 pm EDT June 5, 2009Updated: 4:41 pm EDT June 5, 2009

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The annual Gay Days event is expected to bring 150,000 people into Orlando. The event caused a lot of controversy when it was first held in Orlando 19 years ago, but now organizers say Orlando's tourism industry is supporting it like never before.

An estimated $100 million is expected to be generated thanks to the Gay Days event. Gay Days has grown from a one day event to a week long event.

About 3,000 people showed up for the event it’s first year. Now, an estimated 150,000 people are expected to fill Central Florida, bars, theaters, malls, restaurants and theme parks.
In the past, finding sponsorship was a problem.

Are you having the problem any more?" asked WFTV reporter Q McCray.

"No we're not," replied Alexander-Manley.

As a result, a number of big-time attractions are looking to get a piece of the pie. Universal Studios Blue Man Group and Sea World's Discovery Cove are now sponsors of the event for the first time. Organizers say they know why.

"With the economy stalling, you go after the market that has disposable income. More disposable income for vacation,” said VP of Gay Days Inc. Chris Alexander-Manley.

Blue Man Group told Eyewitness News, "We recognize that Gay Days is a significant annual event in Central Florida and we appreciate the support that participants have shown Blue Man Group."

"I've been saving for this since last year. It's definitely an event where you spend a lot of money," said visitor Jason Boglio.

Boglio said he spent some of his cash at the Gay Days Expo at the Royal Plaza Hotel. The vendors solicited potential new customers. Brianne Davidowicz was one of them and says she recommends the event to everyone.

"You don't have to be gay or lesbian you can just come and have fun," she said.

Gay Days event goes on until Sunday, June 6.

http://www.wftv.com/news/19668799/detail.html

The "logic" of the pro-abortion crowd...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5792110

This may well be the most powerful letter to the editor I have ever seen in our local newspaper

ABORTION DOCTOR SLAIN
A personal story may give a little perspective

Regarding the murder of Dr. George Tiller, the antiabortion zealots would like everyone to think late-term abortions are never performed for a good reason. (The woman's life, health and wellbeing and severe fetal defects are not considered good reasons.)

Perhaps a real-life example will help everyone (at least the decent people) understand this issue.

When I was five-and-a-half months pregnant, I started filling up with huge amounts of fluid. The doctor said it indicated a severe fetal abnormality. Since I was a devout Catholic, abortion was not even considered.

I spent the next two and a half months in considerable physical and mental pain. At eight months, the doctor said there was no point in continuing the pregnancy and the suffering I was enduring, so he decided to induce labor. If the fetus was actually OK, the slightly premature birth would do no harm.

A cute red-haired baby girl, looking quite healthy, was born, although weighing only 4 pounds. An examination showed her esophagus was solid instead of hollow and her intestines were just a fibrous mass. She could not eat. It took her a few days to starve to death.

Late-term abortions are performed to prevent such needless tragedies.

MARIE ALENA CASTLE, MINNEAPOLIS

What bovine excrement. I love how these people are always "devout Catholics".

Gee - lets see - a late term abortion would have prevented this "needless tragedy" - how? Gee - instead of the baby being born alive with a chance to be baptized - it could have been ripped apart limb from limb in the womb and died without the Sacrament of Baptism.

A few days to starve to death or having a butcher (doctor) stab a hole in the back of your head and aspirate your brains out?

These people are unbelievable morons!