No real pro-life candidates, but one LOVES abortion

I never intended to go a whole week without blogging, but there were some family matters and other issues that were more important. For starters, Brandon was ill all last week, and even before. Poor boy missed his last football game. Even worse, he hates missing school, and had to miss 7 1/2 school days. He was really excited to get back yesterday. Additionally, last week my oldest daughter, Amanda, popped in for a surprise visit for a few days.

Honestly, I did not want my first returning post to be about politics, but it will be.

I saw this article on facebook this morning. Of course the intention is to shock me from thinking that Mitt Romney was pro-life and has changed his position, and so this somehow cancels out any pro-life-first voter discernment.

I won't bother to link to the numerous posts I have made about Romney not really being pro-life. But I am a bit disturbed that some make this a big deal, while not fairly pointing out that it is President Obama who seems to be "in love" with abortion. It is President Obama who has made very loud and clear his support of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest provider of abortions. It is President Obama who has supported late-term and even partial birth abortions. You know, the ones where the baby's head is delivered, and then a pair of scissors is jammed into the back of it's skull. It is President Obama who as a State Senator voted more than once to not protect babies who survive abortion, but to instead leave them in soiled linens to die.

Romney is not pro-life anywhere near to my liking. But you just can't be any more pro-abortion than Obama.


   

I Don't Love My Wife Enough

A couple of days ago I was following a discussion about husbands and wives "bickering". The discussion was started by a single woman, a Christian in no hurry to find just any old man, but living her life faithfully to God expecting that IF God has someone in His plan for her, that He is preparing both of them for marriage and not just a wedding. Her exact statement was;

"I don't want to hate my husband. When i marry him, I want us to face things and still love each other. I am thinking about this because I am listening to a couple bicker. I think years of endless bickering leads to hatred."

When I see statements like this, I generally stop to reflect on what God might be trying to tell me as well. I believe that He is always there in little "opportunities" to whisper into my heart the things that I need to hear.

This time it was the truth that I don't love my wife enough. Of course I love her. But, "enough"? No.

Disagreements will always happen but "bickering" is the result of one or both putting themselves before the other.

As a husband, the biggest challenge to me is always;

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her". - Ephesians 5: 25 

When I reflect on how Christ "loved" us and "handed Himself over for" us.....well, I realize how lacking my love for my wife really is.

But it is NOT a moment of despair. It is a clarifying moment, showing me just how much I have to rely on God's Grace moment by moment and especially in my marriage, where the enemy will always seek to destroy more than one.

In his Homily this past Sunday, our deacon pointed out that Jesus was always serving. He was always serving the Father, and He was always serving others (who would become "the Church")

Connecting these thought then, as a husband I am to serve God and to serve my wife. But this service to my wife is a specific type of service. St. Paul explains;

"to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." - Ephesians 5: 26,27

Of course this was all affirmed to me when I came across a picture with a caption that sums this all up very simply. The caption reads;

"The greatest thing a man can do to woman is to lead her closer to God than to himself"

When my actions as a husband fail to lead my wife closer to God, I am not loving her enough.

Realizing that a husband is to serve God and to serve his wife, doesn't keep me from falling, but it does help me to return to the waters of Grace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; to be refreshed and renewed and to continue to love just ever so slightly better than before.

facebook and "friends"

If you're like me, your list of friends on facebook is pretty diverse. Mine includes old friends from grammar and high school, some friends I have worked with in the past, some casual acquaintances from here or there, some people I have never met before but are interesting and interactive nonetheless, and of course some friends that I see often or at least a lot more often than the others. I have friends of varying faiths, ethnicity, financial stability, marital status, political thought and more. A very diverse group in deed.

I'm pretty sure that most of us post stuff that many of our "friends" disagree with. I am trying to do a better job of just scrolling along when I come to something that really "gets" to me. I can do better. I think you might be able to do better as well.

Just because you can "see" a post you disagree with does not mean you have to pick a fight. In fact, it's probably best to either continue scrolling, "hide" that "friend's" posts for a while (like until after the election as an example) or <gasp!> just unfriend them. It's not the end of the world to do so. Really. It's better than to argue and fight with them, and if it bothers you that much it's better that you not "have to look at that" anymore.

I've been unfriended a lot. I have done a little unfriending myself. In fact, I have unfriended more people that I "care" about. Why? Because I care too much about them to allow myself to continue getting mad over differences that I do not have to "witness".

My biggest weakness? Those who continuously blaspheme God, are always posting vulgarity, or are insinuating that I or my family or friends are (not nice things here).

As I said, I can still do a lot better.

Soul Wars; Let "The Force" Use You, Luke; A New Hope

Today is the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist.

In the epic movie "Star Wars; A New Hope" the hero, Luke Skywalker, hears the voice of friend and mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi telling him, "Use the Force Luke." Luke channels and thus controls the power of the Force to combat the Evil Empire and its agents. Among these is the feared Darth Vader.

In the following episode, "The Empire Strikes Back", in a very dark moment, Luke learns that Vader is actually his father. It is in this moment that Vader tells Luke, "Search your feelings Luke. You know it to be true." Luke thought he was ready for the confrontation with "the dark side", but Vader knows that Luke has not properly trained as a Jedi.

Who can forget Yoda's admonition, "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will."

Being a fan of the entire Star Wars series, I have become fond of many quotes (And aren't those light saber battles the best?). I admit, almost anytime I hear the name Luke, the "use the Force" quote pops into my head. So this morning as I prayed Morning Prayer on this feast, I could not overcome the "thoughts in my head".

Unlike the hero in Star Wars though, Saint Luke does not "use the Force" in an attempt to control it, thus bringing about his own will. No, Saint Luke allows himself to be used by the true Force, Almighty God.

As Christians, we are all called to allow God to use us to His desire, His plan for us and the world. There may be nothing new in what I have said here, but I think it deserves a true "search" of our hearts (not our feelings).

I think we can be guilty of trying to "use" God sometimes. You know, when we are praying in any manner other than "Thy Will be done". Guilty? I sure am.

The Holy Spirit, our friend and mentor, is speaking alright. But we are not being directed to manipulate God to fight our own battles. We are being directed to be used by God in the battle for souls. And it is not in "feelings" that He speaks to us. It is in our hearts.

Like the Jedi, we Christians must also train for the battle. It is important that we seek to properly form our consciences, lest we find ourselves unfit and not ready for the confrontations of life nor the ability to properly discern when "the dark side" is distorting the truth.

God wants us to know that He is our Father. But He wants us to choose Him freely, not manipulated by the feelings or emotions of a moment, but by life-long conversion. And He wants us to know that He is more powerful than "the dark side". He has the power to save us from being "forever consumed". It is God Who truly gives us a new Hope.

And as we cooperate with the Grace of God more and more in our lives, we are able to wield the real light saber, the light of Jesus Christ, not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, the powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, and the evil spirits in the heavens.

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This "episode" is dedicated to my son Joel.

Freedom from religion?

I am going to have lunch with my son Brandon today at school. Brandon is in second grade, and I will be attending the school book fair with him after lunch.

As I was putting on my shirt a while ago, my wife Kendra asked, "Are you wearing that shirt to school?" At first I thought she meant to Monica's Kids' Day Out program at our parish. Perplexed as to why she was asking, I gave her the "deer in the headlights" look. Kendra said, "I think he would get in trouble if he wore that to school."

Oh, oh. My "button" got pushed.

The "problem" was that I had picked out my 2012 "Hike for Life" shirt. There's no reference to anything religious, but on the back is a picture of a baby's hand reaching out, with the words, "Take my hand, not my life." There's also a phone number referenced for crisis pregnancy counseling.

Kendra meant no harm of course, but her response to my wearing this shirt to a public school underlines a couple of "beefs" I have.

Planned Parenthood is all over public school campuses in this country. They are "teaching" sex education (uggg), handing out contraceptives, and letting little girls know they can get an abortion without their parents finding out. Of course this lets the little boys know they can use the little girls for their own pleasure and not have to "worry" about any responsibility. Don't tell me I can't wear my shirt that promotes a respect for life to a public school campus.

Even if my shirt did promote a "religious" thought, so what? Here's another problem we have today. We have let atheists and others tell us that God is not allowed anywhere in the public square. They hide behind the public funding argument, and despite the government being the number one sponsor of Planned Parenthood, the largest baby-killer in America, the government backs them. Another uggg.

It's not freedom from religion, people. It's freedom of religion.

Woman leaves young girls alone; Is she really a "zero"?

It's not often that I post more than once in a day, but I saw this story about a woman whose 6-year-old twin children were left alone at home and nearly died in a fire. Does this make this woman a "zero"?

The girls were playing with matches when the fire broke out. They were found "unresponsive" by firefighters. Thank God the girls are alright now.

As a parent, my first reaction was one of outrage. I really have a problem with the thought of children being severely injured or worse due to neglect. "How in the world could a mother leave her young children alone like that?", was my initial thought.

Then, I read, "She said she had gone to work as a Harrah’s Casino security guard and left them alone." A neighbor also complained, "That's normal. She just do that all the time."

This made me think.

1. The woman is obviously a single mother.
2. She did not choose abortion for her girls, .
3. She obviously is not trying to" live off of the system", but is working to support herself and her girls.
4. The cost of day care for 2 girls is probably comparable to her full paycheck as a guard.

I'm not saying what she did was good. I am just saying that this made me think. It's easy to judge people. It's really easy to judge them quickly. I'm also saying that this woman just might not be as bad as she first sounded. 

I'm saying that she, like many of us, found herself in a situation where she had to make some tough choices. Only God knows what is truly in our hearts.

The New Battle of New Orleans

Although my exodus from Louisiana to Texas occurred more than 7 years ago, I still try to stay on top of what's going on "over there" and especially in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Really, New Orleans and the surrounding area is pretty unique. I've discovered that even more now that I live elsewhere.

Yesterday, I caught a story from WWLTV that just reinforced what I already knew. The Archdiocese of New Orleans gets involved in some ways that are pretty unique as well.

I'm guessing most people know that there has long been a crime problem in New Orleans. The Archdiocese has gotten involved many times in the past and is doing so again. This time, dubbing the action as "The New Battle of New Orleans", the Archdiocese will be distributing yard signs to parishioners. The yard signs read "Thou Shalt not kill - God". The Archdiocese says that if the signs are a hit (no pun intended), then it will print more.

Here's the story:

Archdiocese fights violence with 5,000 'Thou shalt not kill' yard signs

Why does the Catholic Church focus so much on sin?

This is my second year preparing second grade children to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I have been sending follow-up e-mails to their parents each week, explaining what we just learned.

This past lesson was on making good choices. We discussed contrition, the difference between mistakes and accidents and sin, the different kinds of sins, and making a good examination of conscience. These are very young children, but they have a pretty good grasp of this information believe it or not.

While composing the e-mail to the parents, I really felt compelled to say something to them about sin and the Catholic Church's motivation for helping us to think about our sins. Here it is, unmodified for this blog posting.

Many times we can wonder why the Catholic Church seems to want us to focus so much on sin. This may be the most important note I can ever pass on to you and to the children: The Church does not want us to beat ourselves up about sin. The Church does not want us to think about our sins so that we feel like we are bad people. The reason that we should think about our sins (examination of conscience) is to find the areas of our life we need to fix in order to heal our relationship with God and to be with Him for eternity; to learn to do better. A good examination of Conscience is a positive thing. It is looking at the way God wants me to live, to compare that to the way I have been living, so that I recognize where I have gotten off track and need to refocus on particular areas of my life, striving to do better with His Grace. And even more, going to God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is real healing; God's forgiveness and Mercy understood in this way is real power. Like a good parent, the Church wants only the very best for us, what is most important. There is nothing more important than the salvation of souls. This is the mission of the Church., and it is precisely out of love that we are called to this great Sacrament.

Biden, Ryan; Will a Catholic Ever REALLY Step Up for the Unborn?

Last night I watched the Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. Both men claim to be Catholic, but have extremely different ideas about not only how their Catholic Faith should or should not be an influence on their public lives, but also on just what the Catholic Faith teaches regarding various issues, especially abortion.

Now, with 2,000 years of our developing understanding of Christianity and an ever-changing world, there are many Catholic doctrines which may be misunderstood, misinterpreted, or worse, misrepresented. We have the Magisterium. We have the pope. We have our bishops. One should not be doing their "evolving" apart from these.

But on what should have been the clear defining moment of what the Catholic Faith holds true about the sanctity of life and especially the Church's defense of the unborn, both Biden and Ryan failed to step up. Worse, because they are high-profile public figures, they added to the scandal which has long existed because of the likes of such cowardly men (and women).

By the way, the first known Church statement in defense of the unborn is from about the year 100 AD.

Near the end of the debate, the candidates were asked about their Faith with regards to abortion.

Paul Ryan started off well by saying that you cannot separate Faith in your personal life from your public life. Check. He affirms that life begins at conception. Check. He identifies himself as "pro-life". Check. Moments later, however, he re-asserts that "the policy of a Romney Administration will be to oppose abortion with the exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother". No check. This is not what the Catholic Faith teaches Mr Ryan. Life does begin at conception. Placing these automatic "exceptions" for abortion weakens the pro-life argument and devalue lives. They devalue innocent human lives.

Of course Joe Biden is so far removed from an acceptable representation of what the Catholic Faith teaches that he would have done better to just say, "Pass." He starts by saying "My religion defines who I am." He then says that he is particularly informed by Catholic Social Doctrine. For my non-Catholic friends or my lesser-aware Catholic friends, this is often (not always, but more often than not) code language for "I am about to distort and misrepresent the Catholic Faith to be some quasi-liberal entity" which may even sound good and logical but is actually Satan in the works. There's that forbidden fruit reference again. Anyway, "Smokin' Joe" continues, saying that we need to take care of "those who can't take care of themselves." Wow Joe, like unborn babies? Nope, not Joe. He continues, "with regard to abortion"  saying that he "accepts" that life begins at conception (Of course he calls it "the Church's judgement"  which ignores the fact there is also scientific proof.) but that he refuses to impose that upon "equally devout Christians, Muslims, and Jews." But he has no problem imposing forced payment for abortions and abortificant drugs by all of us who oppose such evil. He continues to ignore scientific evidence against his position by referring to the baby in the womb as a woman's "own body". Hello Mr Biden, at conception, the baby's DNA is unique. It is NOT the "Mother's own body".

I've posted and had enough. You can see the entire debate below. The parts that I referenced begin at 1:12:30.

Romney Revelations

At this late stage of the presidential campaign, I suspect that voters who are most concerned about abortion issues were not moved one way or the other by the supposed "new" revelations about Mitt Romney's views regarding abortion. Yesterday, Romney said,

"There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda".

This should go without saying, but for those whose number one concern is the least-restricted, uninhibited, tax-funded availability of abortion, there is probably nothing that can be said or done that would change their minds about voting for Barack Obama.

For those whose number one concern is to "take what we can get" with regards to an even slightly more pro-life-friendly president than Obama, there is probably nothing that can be said or done that would change their minds about voting for Mitt Romney.

For those "hard-core" pro-life voters who are beyond merely disgusted with the current system and the political machines backing either of those candidates, there is probably nothing that can be said or done that would change their minds to vote for someone other than either Obama or Romney.

Lisa Graas posts "Romney and Abortion – Top Tweets" which shows the various positions taken regarding Romney's statement. I admit that I did not dig into the prior tweets of any of the tweeters in Lisa's blog post, but I'm pretty confident that their positions on Romney will be found to be consistent before and after the statement.

Kyle Cupp posts "Romney Just Doesn’t Care About Abortion Policy". I wish I could accuse Kyle of just creating an attractive title for his post, but in the end, I believe that Romney is foremost a politician and does not care about abortion policy; at least not anywhere near as much as I would like him to. About pro-lifers and regarding Romney, Kyle writes,

"His opponent’s a real believer in reproductive rights, so Romney can flip-flop and self-contradict and play the moderate here and still appear preferable to their eyes."

Kyle gets this dead on. (With my only objection being Kyle's use of the pro-abortion term "reproductive rights".) Obama is a real believer in abortion. He supports the most liberal and radical policies regarding abortion, and he believes that you and I should pay for them regardless of our own beliefs. It is hard to imagine any politician bold enough to rival Obama's position regarding abortion.

That is exactly why I will again hold my nose in November, check the Romney box, and then begin doing what I can to protect the unborn.

Dallas Welcomes National Youth Movement

 40 Days for Life-Dallas has kicked off to an inspiring start with 11 babies confirmed saved from abortion outside the Southwestern late-term abortion center, where the 24/7 40-day prayer vigil is taking place.

On Saturday, October 13, the campaign will mark its mid-point by welcoming the presence of youth to the campaign.  Like last year, we expect hundreds of young people to take to the sidewalk with yellow "LIFE" balloons, a symbol of the pro-life youth movement spreading across the country, interspersed with black balloons memorializing those lost to abortion.   

"Seeing our youth on the sidewalk prayerfully proclaiming the Gospel of Life with their brave witness was a truly compelling moment in the campaign last year.  We are thrilled to once again bring this positive and profound message to the front lines," said Dallas Campaign Director Joanne Underwood.

Youth Day will begin at 11:30 a.m. with disbursement of the balloons in Harry Moss Park (corner of Greenville and Royal) and a brief prayer service.  At noon, the youth will process across the street for a peaceful prayer demonstration on the sidewalk outside the abortion center.

At 1:00 p.m., all are welcome back to the park for the Midway Picnic, featuring music and the powerful testimony of local abortion survivor Angela Balderaz, one of thirty-nine women who participated in the historic, 21-day Back to Life Walk from the mega-Planned Parenthood in Houston to Downtown Dallas.

To learn more about 40 Days for Life-Dallas, please visit: www.40daysforlife.com/dallas.

For assistance or for more information, please contact Becky Visosky, 40 Days for Life-Dallas Communications Coordinator, at bvisosky@prolifedallas.org or 972-267-LIFE (5433).

The Mission of the Church; Salvation

I am finding more and more Catholics quoting Catholic Church doctrine. Great, right? Maybe, maybe not. The problem, or at least the potential problem is that many times, Catholic doctrine is used to support a "personal" position. This can be dangerous.

Now, I am not suggesting that one not quote Catholic doctrine. I do it all the time, and will do it again here in just a bit. But who knows, maybe I have been guilty in the past of doing exactly what I am going to point out as inappropriate  Writing this blog challenges me to be a better Catholic, so much of what I write is just that, God's challenge to me to do better. If someone else is helped along the way, then Glory to God!

What is dangerous, is to take a position, especially a secular one, and then try to "find" Catholic doctrine that meets your position. This is the reverse of what a Catholic should be doing. And since the satanic operates in a way that I will call a "mirror" image of God, that is to say in a way that may look like or be similar to but actually produces the inverted or reverse outcome willed by God, one should be on guard against such "traps and snares".

A Catholic should be availing his or herself of the teachings of the Church and strive to properly form his or her conscience, using those doctrines and the other necessary tools for proper discernment towards the mission of the Church.

Ah, the mission of the Church. The mission of the Church is the salvation of souls. Period. While there may be many means to this end, the "means" must not become the primary focus.

For instance, while we are all called to "feed the hungry", one may respond to this calling more fully through missionary work to the poor. While this can be of itself a good thing and certainly compassionate, if it is accomplished void of consideration for the souls of the poor, it is void of true "merit" and distinctly apart from the mission of the Church.

Even more dangerous today is to try to manipulate Church teaching around a political candidate or party. Ha! Folly indeed! I've got no beef with measuring a politician or party against Church doctrines in order to show the distinct differences between them or to persuade others to help in reforming candidates and parties, but don't try to tell me you've found the perfect politician or party out there that you feel so inclined to vehemently defend.

Also on that note, if you're engaging in conversations that are mean and nasty, that degrade to personal attacks and such and especially in the name of the Catholic Church or Church teaching, then perhaps you should consider stepping back and discerning whose agent you are being in all of this.

Apart from God, even something that looks good can bring about evil. It all started in a garden one day.

The missionary mandate. "Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be 'the universal sacrament of salvation,' the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men": "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age." - Catechism 849

Catechist: From the garden to the mountain; it’s important to do what God tells us to do

As I've previously mentioned, this is my tenth year as a Catechist, and second with Second Graders. Children learn at different paces and through different methods. This is true at all age groups, but it seems to be especially true with children at this young age.

As Catechists preparing young children to receive 2 Sacraments in the same school year, we face the challenge of making sure the children know the absolute basics, being as prepared as possible, and trying to keep everyone's interest regardless of their individual knowledge of what we're talking about. Sometimes, the teaching manuals and materials we have proceed with a presupposition that the children already have an understanding of certain details of our Faith or of Holy Scripture. As I began to prepare for this Sunday's lesson, I found this to be the case. The last time we read a Bible story to them, it was the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

I digress for just a moment to say that for that lesson, I added this story since we were discussing the need for Baptism, and were going to be discussing original sin, yet there was no context for the children to grasp this in the original lesson. It's tough to talk about original sin if the children are not familiar with the story associated with it's entrance into the world.

This week, our lesson begins with teaching the children about the Ten Commandments. The introduction for this was supposed to begin with:

God gave his chosen people some laws to help them. These laws are called the Ten Commandments. God wants you to follow these laws too. They help you make good choices about your friendship with God and others.

Then, the lesson continues with listing the Ten Commandments along with meanings the children will better understand. Who are "the chosen people" and how did they get chosen? Why did they need these laws? How did God give these laws to these people? Who says they are meant for us too?

I'm really not trying to gripe about this. The materials we have now are actually much better than what I have seen years ago, but what I'm getting at is these children already have more questions than I can answer. We need to take a few extra minutes to give them a foundation that will help them understand these things better.

So after searching for quite some time to fine a story or stories already available that would assist me in filling in some of the blanks for the children, I could find nothing that would suffice, at least not in a short period of time, allowing the rest of the lesson to be presented.  (We still had to discuss the Ten Commandments, the Great Commandment, the law of love, the Precepts of the Church, and introduce them to why we need to do an examination of conscience.) Are you beginning to see where I am going?

So, based on Scripture of course, I wrote my own. I am including it here in my post, hoping that it may help other Catechists or parents who are also looking for simple material to help teach children some very basic information about how we got from the Garden of Eden to Mount Sinai.

This story will bridge the gap between the Garden of Eden and the 10 Commandments. It will also lay the groundwork for saying yes to God, for doing what God tells us to do, obeying his rules.

From the garden to the mountain; it’s important to do what God tells us to do

After the original sin of Adam and Eve, people continued to make bad choices and sin against God. God already had a plan to forgive people and to bring them back to Him, but He knew that it would take a long time for people to understand how to say no to sin and to say yes to God.

So God made a promise to a man named Abraham that if Abraham would do what God told him to do, his family would become a great nation and one day all families of the earth would be blessed because Abraham said yes to God. 

Abraham did as God said, and the people of that great nation which came from Abraham’s family were called the Israelites.

Sometimes, people will only listen to God when they are in trouble or when their lives seem to be really hard. It was the same way with the Israelites. They were slaves or prisoners in another land, called Egypt. Their lives were very hard and they wondered if God had forgotten about them. But God did not forget about them. He chose a man named Moses to lead the Israelites. Moses said yes to God, and God sent many great signs to the land of Egypt until one day, the leader of Egypt, called Pharaoh, released the Israelites.

The Israelites were happy as they left Egypt and went out into the desert, but Pharaoh changed his mind and he and his army chased them. It looked like the Egyptian army had the Israelites trapped as they came to the Red Sea, but God told Moses to trust Him, and to raise his staff out facing the water. When Moses did what God told him to do, the water of the Red Sea parted, or split so that there was a path of dry land for the Israelites to cross. When the Israelites had all crossed to the other side, God told Moses to put the staff down.  When Moses did what God told him to do, the water returned and covered the Egyptian army.

God continued to do many great things for the Israelites.  He even fed them by raining down special bread called manna. But the Israelites did not think about the good things God gave them.  They only complained about how hard it was for them to live in the desert. The Israelites did a lot of arguing and fighting with each other. They kept going to Moses to tell them what to do. Moses did his best, but God saw that the Israelites needed better rules. God told Moses to tell the people that He would give them a wonderful land to live in and that they would be very special to Him if they would do what God told them to do.

The people all agreed to do what God told them to do, and Moses went up a mountain where God wrote some special rules on stone tablets for Moses to take to the Israelites. These special rules are called the Ten Commandments. God gave them to Moses and to the Israelites so they would be safe and learn how to be good to themselves, to each other, and to God.

These Ten Commandments are for us too. If we do what God tells us to do, we will be safe and learn how to be good to ourselves, to each other, and to God.

Just Do It!

I can be guilty of procrastination at times. I can be distracted for a moment or even for lengthy periods from something or things that I have set out to do. As I have stated many times before, I recognize that I have many faults and shortcomings, and it is always easy to see the faults and shortcomings in others first. I guess even that is a distraction of sorts.

So this will be short and to the point, and I will go think and pray about the things I need to do a better job with myself.

If one makes a commitment, whether for their child to play sports, to be trained in the arts, to receive religious education, or for themselves to participate in an organization or to serve the Church in some capacity, they should not only keep that commitment, but embrace it, engage wherever and whenever necessary, and treat it with the seriousness that it deserves.

And commitments made to the Church in any form of service should not be taken without the proper discernment, resolve to fulfill the obligation, and proper preparation and disposition toward the service itself, the people of God, and of course the Lord Himself.

Carry on.

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Can I Just Stay Home on Election Day?

Disclaimer: Not an endorsement of the website noted

Back in August, I entered several posts about the need to prayerfully weigh the choices we have in electing public officials and the need to enter the voting booth with a properly formed conscience. I also entered several posts indicating that we have some particularly poor choices this year for those of us who believe that it is important for our elected officials to promote Christian morals and principles.

While I stand firmly behind all that I have written, as we draw closer to the presidential election, I feel compelled to make a few things clear, and I'll tell you why.

When I entered those posts, I had three very close friends contact me offline, or rather, in the "real world". Each of them had different concerns, but I was actually very happy to think that my friends were challenged by what I wrote.

Well, can't I just avoid evil by not voting?

Two of the questions hinged on the actual choice of candidates, and I will lightly touch on that a bit later in this post. But the other question was about whether we should just stay home, not vote, and avoid voting for any less-than-desirable choices. Those of you who know me well, know that I try to avoid giving absolute advice unless I am absolute in my understanding and conviction.

Quick disclaimer: Opinion and absolute voice are far from the same.

So here, you go, and I say this with love: No, you cannot avoid evil by staying home.

"Responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation." -- Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (USCCB)

Ugggg!!! So what now?

Well, you will still need to do your own homework. Whether you are Catholic or not, I believe that the resources provided by the Catholic bishops are quite good and should aid in responsible discerning.

Here is a link to the full version of the bishops' Forming Consciences For Faithful Citizenship.

Here is a link to their flyer The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.

So what's a donkey to do?

Even though I did not intend to ever publicly state how I am going to vote, I will do so if for no other reason than to avoid confusion. We had enough of that in 2008. However, as I said earlier, I will only lightly touch on this. I've done my homework and discernment, you should too.

I am going to cast my vote for Romney. Although I do not believe that he is a Christian in the sense of what I believe to be a Christian, I do believe that he espouses to the values and morality that are much more in line with Christianity than does President Obama. Romney is the only viable choice of candidates with a legitimate chance of defeating Obama.
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And Then There Were NUN

Sr. Paschal OLAM

As a young boy, I attended Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic School in Chalmette, Louisiana. Back then, the school was run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND). Our principal was a nun, and I had the privilege of being taught by several nuns, although I may not have acknowledged that as a "privilege" at the time.

It sure seemed to me that there were nuns everywhere! Not only were they around to instruct us, but once or twice a week we would go to the on-campus convent to watch educational videos (no tv in every room, can you imagine?) or visit the chapel. I saw many nuns at Mass every week, and we would even "bump into" a nun at the grocery store from time to time.

Today OLPS is no longer run by the SSND, and there is not a single nun on the faculty list. Last I heard, the convent was a daycare center, and I can find no "history" link on the school website, so I wonder if the current students are even aware of the school's past.

For many years, priestly vocations suffered a decline. While such decline was very evident because of the nature of the vocation itself, the decline in female religious vocations just was not as apparent to me...until I just didn't see nuns anymore.

That doesn't mean that they disappeared altogether, but they just were not as visible to me as they once were.

I'm going to use just a few statistics here. They are not comprehensive nor even completely comparable, but they will have to suffice for my little blog post. I will use my former archdiocese (New Orleans) and my current (Dallas) to make the point.

In 1970, in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, there were 1,706 nuns (636,242 Catholics). The number of Catholics per nun was about 373. In 2009, there were 458 nuns (387,101 Catholics). The number of Catholics per nun was about 845. +

But wait! That's nothing compared to the Diocese of Dallas. In 1970, in the Diocese of Dallas, there were 481 nuns (108,986 Catholics). The number of Catholics per nun was about 227. In 2006, with a very substantial increase in the number of Catholics (955,298) there was still a significant decrease in the number of nuns (127). The number of Catholics per nun was about 7,522. +

Archdiocese of New Orleans
YEAR	CATHOLICS	NUNS	CATHOLICS PER NUN
1970	636242	1706	373
2009	387101	458	845

Diocese of Dallas
YEAR	CATHOLICS	NUNS	CATHOLICS PER NUN
1970	108986	481	227
2006	955298	127	7522

We're not doing a very good job at fostering religious vocations. We're doing a terrible job at fostering female religious vocations!

But not all is lost. There are still young women answering the call. Over at The Anchoress, Elizabeth Scalia has a wonderful post titled Nun News for Autumn 2012 which lists many female religious communities along with short summaries of vows taken, professions made, and other nun fun stuff.

Why not spend some extra time praying for our nuns, praying that more young women answer the call, and perhaps share Elizabeth's article with a young lady who may just need a little water on a seed that God has planted.

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+ Statistics from Catholic-Hierarchy

Lisa Graas on the Rebecca Diserio Show, Monday Night!

Lisa Graas on the Rebecca Diserio Show, Monday Night!

If Thy (insert here) Causes Thee to Sin........

Whenever my wife thinks I'm spending too much time in Catholic forums, or answering facebook posts or engaging others on twitter about an array of topics regarding faith and morals, she simply says, "George Vogt, you can't save the world."

I know this to be true. Souls are saved only by Jesus, and although He does use us to cooperate with His Grace in saving others, what Kendra is really saying is, "You can't get through to everyone. Don't take it so personal."

In the Gospel from yesterdays readings at Mass, we hear Jesus say, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." In his homily, our priest talked about removing the things from our lives that are hindering us from conforming our lives to Christ and entering into a deeper relationship with God. He mentioned that many of the things we do, while not in and of themselves are bad, if misused or abused could be part of those hindrances.

While this message was not a new one for me, I can always use a little reminder or two you know. In a way, his message to me was the same as Kendra's. I have learned that no matter what you say or do, some people are just too stubborn to even consider changing their minds about some things.

Whenever I find myself frustrated by what I perceive to be close-mindedness towards God from others, I try to remind myself of the rich man who walked away from Jesus because the message was too hard. Jesus never ran after him. He let him go.

It's not always easy for me to let a stranger go like that. I have to remind myself that it's God's message, my job to deliver it, and the other's choice to receive or reject it. This is multiplied for me with friends and family. My control issues are another story though.

But this leads me to another point made by our priest yesterday. Sometimes there are people in our lives who just have to be cut off. What!? His point, and he's right, is that sometimes we have the right intentions and think that we are helping certain people. We think that if we just keep at it, we will have an impact upon their lives that leads them to God, or to a deeper relationship with Him. All the while though, our relationships with certain people may actually be more damaging to us than rewarding to them.

Perhaps it is time to really consider what relationships bear fruit, and which relationships need to be cut off.

Disclaimer: This post is not directed towards any particular individual nor group of individuals. The reader assumes all risks associated when contemplating this message.