My Apologies

A new Blogger on the Block!

2012-02-02T17:57:00.001-08:00

Hey All!

I just wanted to give a warm Blogospheric welcome to Father Nagle! An incredible man and an incredible Priest, he's decided to put some of his profound thoughts down on...nope not paper...nope not the pulpit...For all of us, dear Readers on the web! Woo hoo!!!

Check him out here.

The Great Scandal

2012-01-30T17:51:00.000-08:00

So I was sitting in Mass on Saturday night when the Priest where I work got up and told us to fast and pray that a relgious exemption will be upheld and that the Catholic Church will not have to provide access to sterilizations, abortions, and contraception as part of their federally mandated employee insurance package. Wow. Look how far it has come. And how fast.

I am fasting and praying on this. I can't believe how blatant the Obama administration is in pressing 1/4 of the American population into compliance to a federal mandate, and against their Catholic conscience. This is brutal totalitarianism that we sought to avoid when our forefathers made their way to America in the first place. It was religious liberty that was the reason why this country began in the first place. Escape from a nasty monarchy that was limiting the religious lives of every man, woman, and child who sought out and paid with their lives the very soil we stand upon today. If Obama realizes what a crime against the Constitution he is making, he is showing that he simply doesn't care.

But you know, there's another layer to this too. If I were sitting in any pew this past weekend as my Bishop's letter were read, and I were an average American Catholic, I would be beyond confused at what I was hearing. I'd be downright dismayed. It would sound to me like the Catholic Church is fine with any procedure that will, by worldly standards, enhance your marital life by artificially limiting the size of your family, but as a whole the Church will not be responsible for the bill. I wonder if any of the liberal priests or the bishop himself got yelled at by the 98% of contracepting couples in our national diocese? The same priests who either remained silent or spoke in support of every couple who struggled with the idea of being open to life and choosing to contracept, sterlize, or abort, rather than follow God's law or the Church's teaching. The same Bishops seem chagrined to speak out against the President, I would be too if I were in their shoes, as it has been estimated that 80% of the Bishops voted that man into office in the first place. And where was the Bishop, or at the very least, the Pastor of Kathleen Sibelius, she who claims to be Catholic on the teachings of the Church long before she penned a law blatantly against same said teaching? Where are the men of the Church? And if they are here now, where in the Hell were they UP TO NOW?!?

I'm looking back at those statistics. 98% of all Catholic women have at one time contracepted. One in 4 Catholic women have had an abortion. One in 2 Catholic men are sterilized. Those numbers alone are scandalizing. And yes, I choose my words carefully. You bet I do. The "great scandal" was not nearly of this proportion. Less than 4% of Priests are accused of pedophilia, and that great plague has traumatized the Catholic Church across this nation. It has single-handedly shut down Churches, ruined Dioceses, ruptured the relationship between a Bishop and his Priests, while withholding and manipulation the organic relationship between a pastor and his people. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Volunteers in the Church are no more, unless they want to give ALL of their personal information to some bureaucrat behind a desk. 4% of men ruined the Church by hurting children. 98% of laypeople contracept children out of existence and no one bats an eye. That is a great scandal my friend. And now, we must either turn into the biggest hypocrites of our time, and admit that we are no less than money changers in the Temple, or we must change. We must regard human life as precious and relegated only in the Sacrament of Marriage, or we must admit that we no longer hold the Truths of Catholic Church, and stop hiding in the shadows. Why proclaim in the light what we do not practice in the dark? President Obama, and more directly Kathleen Sibelius, are only trying to get the Catholic Church to make a choice. Either live the Faith that we profess or abandon it and embrace this law.

I fast and pray that we make the right decision. Our religious freedom is now in danger. And yet, what was being preached outside the field of view of the tabernacle has endangered the souls of almost every Catholic in America up until this point.

The best of both worlds...

2012-01-30T17:26:00.000-08:00

Can anyone else feel the heat of this race to primaries? I think the intensity and energy between the candidates far surpasses the primaries held before the 2008 presidential elections.

I like Newt Gingrich. Let me just put that out there. Newt is articulate, he has the backbone, he has presence, he speaks candidly and blithely about every issue that is at the heart of this election for me. He is forthright and honest about his past, and while it was shady, I believe he has changed. I hope for his Catholic soul that he has changed.

I also like Rick Santorum. I believe that Rick Santorum would make a great president...Someday. What I don't believe is that Rick has shown that he is consistently ready for the nod to lead out against Obama. He is a gentlemen and a scholar. I can't believe I'm saying this...He isn't the politician to go up against Obama. I would love to vote for him, but I don't feel that he could secure enough of the nation to do the same. And that is what scares me about Rick Santorum.

Ron Paul. Where do I begin? He is okay. His fan base is absolutely amazing! I wish we had that kind of love for any other candidate out there. Boy we could sure use it. He makes his way through every political point as the outsider. That's refreshing. That isn't going to work in Washington. He's a little too isolationist for our times, we can not become a sleeping giant again, not without the Muslim world taking note.

Mitt Romney. No way. No how. No sir. No thank you. He is a liberal in conservative clothing. Let's just ignore for a moment the FACT that Romneycare was the script Obama's team used when crafting the national mess we find ourselves fighting state by state. Not only does the Massachusetts mandate of health care for all state citizens strike at the heart of the civil liberties, it has ruined the Massachusetts' economy. He not only vowed to sign into law same sex marriage, but he pushed it through almost single handidly by allowing civil unions of same sex couples even before that was written into law. He has a long and gruelling pro death record. No. No. No.

So here's my point folks. We have some great conservative candidates out there. Let's do all we can to rally behind those candidates so that we don't have to plug our noses and vote for "the lesser of two evils". I'd like to point out that in 2008, a majority of voters claimed to have done just that. And we've had 4 years of 'Destructocon' to show for it. Let's not just look at this election as a chance to vote against Obama. Let's also build up the conservative voice, and get that man in office, so that we might have a chance to rebuild this great nation. Let's not only look for a way to get that dupe out of office, but let's then replace him with someone who has America at heart. Who is a true conservative. Who will not only recognize but ABIDE by the Constitution.

And I finish by saying. I still say that is Newt Gingrich.

A teen's take on homeschooling

2012-01-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

This was hilarious!

Here I Am! Send me!

2012-01-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I'm not dead! But I must say, we have come a long way baby!!!

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you my dear readers for your prayers and best...After almost 9 years of marriage...After 5 kids in 900 square feet...After selling off the home we had to live in a camper for almost 3 months...MIKE AND I BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOME!!!

God is good. Let me start (and I probably could just end) there. This house is perfect. I mean, not by any stretch of the imagination here. It's perfect. Every detail of this house is perfect. A quiet, dead end road for the kids to have a 1/2 mile on which to ride their bikes. Near the water to allow us gorgeous views. Five (you read that right FIVE!!!!!!!!!!!) bedrooms. A kitchen that even inspires this Spagetio chef. One of the bedrooms is just perfect for Mike's home office. The other is a perfect school room. Yes, ladies, I have a SCHOOLROOM!!!

Why did I worry? Why did I even give in to doubt? Why didn't I look forward and just know He would take care of us? This beautiful family He gave us in the first place...

I even got a new to me camera around Christmas so I promise my dear and very patient friends, that pictures are forthcoming...

But for now, thank you THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!! for all your prayers and for bearing with me these past 3 years now, as I've whined and moped, and pretended to be oh so courageous...;) Thanks for the many needed warm thoughts and prayers.

Life is good. God is better.

That's about all I can say about that.

Little House on the Horizon

2011-10-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

So, I'm sorry its been so long since I've last posted...

In the words of Inigo Montoya, "Let me recap..No wait...Let me sum up."

We sold our home A LOT quicker than we thought we would. So we've been scrambling to find a house so that we could close on this place and close on that place in the same day. Well, the margin within that would feasably happen has come and gone, so now we've gone on to plan B...And then plan C...And D...And E...Okay, its been a roller coaster ride!

I've officially decided that I don't like AND I don't understand short sales. Our hopes have been dashed on one, it looks like we're about to be taken down by another. The banks, the realtors, no one in this Union understands what a short sale, and all these cooks who don't know how to read the recipe are in the kitchen! *sigh* so glad I got that off my chest.

So much has happened this past summer. I wish I could catch everyone up on it now, but I think I'll just pick up and move on from here, and work the details into my future posts.

Know that I've been thinking and praying for you all! I can't wait to catch up on all the blog reading I've missed!!!

I'm Alive!!

2011-09-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've not written. There's a ton going on right now, but I will catch up with you guys soon! Promise!

This article makes me want to work harder today.

2011-07-29T03:35:00.001-07:00

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2011/moral-capital

Old MacDonald

2011-07-27T03:02:00.000-07:00

So this is part prayer request, part ponderance on my part.

Mike and I are looking at houses. It's time. I'm sure some of my longer followers remember my first posts about getting a house. Well, we're back baby! There's a children's book that my mother used to read me called "It Could Always be Worse". It's a Jewish proverb about a man who goes to see a rabbi because his house has become too crowded. One by one, the rabbi instructs the man to bring his farm animals into the house to live with his family. It gets worse and worse, until the man almost breaks. Then the rabbi has the man put the animals back in the barn and for the first time in weeks, the family has a peaceful and quiet evening.

I think this is the story that God has played out in my family life thus far. We don't have farm animals (we have a cat), but we have 5 children in 900 square feet with 2 bedrooms. It would be okay as we've given up our room to the girls so that the 3 boys and 2 girls can sleep in separate rooms. But now that Mike works from home, he has taken over my kitchen during the day (which also doubles as my school room when the fall comes) to conduct his business. Being confined to the living room (and quiet with my 5 children who are all under 7) during the day has made me want to go visit that rabbi myself!

So this insane idea has popped into my head. Very soon we will list this tiny gem on the market, and will venture forth into the great unknown. The market is poor right now. I understand that we might lose on the house a little bit. But we need space, and we stand the chance of grabbing that right now, more than ever before.

CT is an expensive state, the second highest for gas right now. It's an expensive state to live, much less raise a large family. But the nature of Mike's business is such that we can't uproot and find our family's means somewhere else. The economy is such that we recognize Mike's ability to support us with this new business for what it is: a miraculous blessing.

So I thought to myself, in my quest for a house, that I would take whatever God would send, we're not picky. I told my realtor up front that we'll trade space for upgrades. And that if the house is small but on a larger chunk of land, that might be okay too. If we ever wanted to do an addition, it would need the land to afford the zoning for that. And now is the time to make that kind of investment, if we're ever going to do it.

And then, I started to grow these ideas in my head...What if? What if I started a small farm on the property? I've had good luck in the past with a garden. I owned horses and did 4H when I was a kid. I've "worked the land" as any decent Connecticutan can claim to have done. And besides a farm offers so many benefits - ESPECIALLY with a large family. And as I look out over our national horizon, I'm thinking now is more the time than ever to try and become self-sufficient.

But that's where my encouragement ends. I have to will myself now to get outside and mow the lawn, and tend to our pool. I still have yet to weed my flower beds, and if it weren't for the showings, that project might not get done this year. I don't know if its because my heart has given up on this temporary dwelling, and I'm in a passive sit out on this place, or if its because...I'm not meant to be a farmer...

In theory, I know what it entails. But in theory, I know what it rewards. In one word: Independence.

Pray for me, and please if you have advice share? I'm seriously considering this next step and would love whatever light in the dark you may be able to shine my way?

My Hubby:)

2011-07-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

Wrote a great story of our clan...Just a vignette...Enjoy it here!

Catholic 'Mantras'

2011-07-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

I hate to mix it up here on theologies...But you all know what I'm meaning here. Those Catholic 'mantras'...Those faith 'action statements'...Those 'words to live by' that become the slogans of our Faith...

For example, when I was growing up there was the bracelet campaign of "WWJD"..."What would Jesus Do?" It was to compel us onward in our Christianity to do as Jesus would. It wasn't until I traveled further in my Faith that I realized there was no human way for me to do that. Jesus was God. I most definitely am not. And even though I can do things with the power of His name, I will never be able to completely do what Jesus did. That start my own campaign. Instead of "WWJD" I live by "WWJHMD" "What would Jesus have me do?" It's a subtle difference but its really helping my Messiah complex:)

Then there's the newer one in my life: Be like Mary. Mary, the one who bore Christ, and surrendered everything to her Son even unto the Cross. I can't even stand to watch my sons fall down, let alone be stretched out on a cross. I try and fail to be Mary in my home all the time, and its created a conflict in me. Mary was all humility, I'm constantly reminded in my struggles with pride. But I remind my more meek stay at home Mom friends - Mary was also known to crush snakes. She was humble, not a pushover. In this journey I'm finding it best to say, I am definitely not Mary. Mary was perfect. I am not. And that is the most humbling aspect of Mary that I've grown to love:)

The Story of Us...Cont'd

2011-07-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

This is Part 2 of my vocation story. Be sure to read "The Story of Us" first so that you can 'jump right in'!

There's a country song (why is it ALWAYS a country song??;) that says "God bless the broken road that led me straight to you." Well, this is the second half about my better half. And how God brought us back together.

I must back up about a year before I left off. It was a beautiful September day. I was standing outside the Student Center with my 'friends' smoking a cig. before class. Out of the blue, a young man walked up to me, a mutual friend of Mike and I, a blast from the past of our high school dating circle. I had never seen him on campus before that day. I would never see him on campus after that day either. We exchanged small talk and scanty catch ups on the last 3 years. Then he leveled with me.

"Patty, have you heard about Mike's mom?"

I shook my head in stunned silence.

"She's been battling cancer for a little while now, she doesn't have much time left. I just thought you'd want to know in case you wanted to get a hold of Mike." My heart ached as I knew that was out of the question.

I got home that evening. There was a voice on the machine. Another blast from the past in a mutual friend who had called to let me know that Mike's mom had passed that day. He left the times for the wake and the funeral. Wished me well. Hung up. Punched me in the stomach from 40 miles away. I was reeling. What could I do? "God, you made it clear to me...You wanted him...Not me...Why did you do this now? And what can you possibly want me to do in this mess? Now?" I knew what I had to do.

I missed the wake. My mom sat with me and had a coffee that evening and noticed that I seemed 'tired'. You know that's Mom code for "what's really bothering you, my child?" I poured out all of it, and told her I just had to go to that funeral. She said that yes, I needed to go to that funeral.

I snuck into the funeral just before it started. My mom had come with me, and another friend from my past, of course mutual friends with Mike, sat with me and consoled me. I glanced up in the Church I had abandoned as I slunk to a pew and noticed I was sitting under the stained glass of the weeping women. I looked across the aisle about 4 pews in front of me to see about 20 seminarians there for Mike. Great, God. That's just great. I had to be strong. For what, I couldn't possibly know. Then the procession began. There was Mike's Dad, escorted in by his loving family. His sisters in the comforting arms of their husbands. His brother with his wife and son surrounding him. And then, there was Mike. Alone. So completely alone. "This is JUST NOT FAIR!!!" What I thought was already broken in me that day broke even more, and I could hardly stand for his sorrow. For his pain.

The funeral flew by. I could not really pay attention. I was so confused by it all. I mustered the courage to stand in the receiving line. I was bolstered by the warm reception I got from both of Mike's sisters. I needed that courage to approach the honor guard of seminarians surrounding Mike. My blasted red hair. They zoned right in on me and knew who I was. The devil child. I cautiously entered their sanctuary to where Mike was. He saw me, and broke down. We rushed to each other, and I couldn't let go. We were both sobbing, and judging from the frustration on his classmate's expressions, we all knew why.

It was a pleasant afternoon, but sadly it remained just one more piece of the puzzle, as I did not attempt to re-connect with him. I let him go. He back to his world. Me back to mine.

Fast forward to the vortex that sucked me in and spat me out, homeless, friendless, and having to rush back to the refuge of my mother's home. Depleted of everything I just wanted to die, to crawl under a rock to avoid the world's taunts as it continued to turn. We stopped for dinner on the way home from my apartment eviction, I couldn't eat a bite. I was so upset. My Dad had come with us, as he was in town for my sister's wedding which would be that coming weekend. Great. Yet another: Great.

We got home and I noticed there were about 12 hang up calls on my Mom's answering machine. During dinner, my Mom had complained how some kids were having a great time prank calling her house. Wanting to be proactive in disturbing someone, I took this on as my mission. "Mom! Tomorrow I'm calling the phone company and having it out!! Who leaves 12 hang ups on a machine??? Those kids are going to GET IT!!" It would wait as we all retired to bed. Just in time for the phone to ring. I jumped out of bed and in my most menacing voice said, "Hello?!?"

"Uh, hi Patty. Uh. It's me Mike. I was just wondering if you'd go with me for a cup of coffee."

"Tonight? Like right now? It's like 10 at night, Mike."

"I know. Well, there's got to be a good coffee shop near you? I'll come up that way."
(Pause. Pause. Pause. My mind just could not comprehend what was going on.)
"There's some stuff I need to talk to you about and I'd like to see you in person."

"That should be okay. There's a Denny's that's open 24 hours down the road. I need to borrow my Mom's car, but I should be able to get there." (Yeah, in addition to my drama, my car, fully loaded with all my stuff from my old apartment, had died in the parking lot on my getaway from the ex boyfriend. Ugh.)

"Thanks Patty, I'll be there as soon as I can."

I ran in my Mom's room and gently woke her. "Mom, Mike asked me to meet him at Denny's for coffee, can I borrow the car?"

She sat straight up, with a cucumber/avocado mask on and bloodshot eyes, she looked at me pointedly. Her only answer, in her mentally clear, sleep-drunken stupor was "I cannot afford another wedding at this time."

I knew that wasn't the answer. Mike had been tapped by the Bishop to head over to Rome to continue his Priestly studies. I knew this was about my final farewell, and we were going to tie up loose ends before he left. I casually got ready to go. Mike lived 45 minutes from the Denny's and I lived a mile. I had time. About 20 minutes later I headed out the door. In the garage, I saw my moving boxes. On the top of the pile was a journal I had been keeping for Mike of all my journeys since we broke up that fateful summer following my senior year of high school. He was leaving. I was giving it to him as my parting gift. It was only appropriate.

I showed up at Denny's 5 minutes later. He was there, waiting for me. We exchanged awkward 'hellos' and grabbed a booth towards the back of the restaurant. We started small talk and I told him the basics of school, not wanting to offload the day from hell that I had just lived through. I asked him how school was going.

"Well. Uh. You see. There's this ceremony that I have to attend in front of the Bishop. The one where I give my consent to continue my program of study, and I have to do it before heading to Rome."

I wasn't really paying attention. "Wow, that's great Mike. If you want me there, I'll do my best to get there."

"Well, I can't do it." At this point, Mike just stopped and looked at me.

"Oh! Well, is it in Italian? Maybe I can help you with the pronunciation? Or in Latin? I'd be happy to help you memorize your responses. It can't be too hard Mike."

"No, its not that."

"Well, it is Rome. The farthest you've ever been from home. I can understand why you're nervous."

"No, its nothing like that either."

"Well, for goodness sake Mike! What in the world is going on with you?!?"

"I can't go through with it...Because...Because I'm still in love with you."

There it was, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, something right broke within me. I felt those walls which I had so fastidiously worked to create for years crumble down, and the healing touch of love and grace and mercy come flooding over me. I was overwhelmed. I reached for him. It was a moment of great truth. A moment that could not be ruined by pretense.

"Mike. I don't know what to say. There's so much. So much. That you don't know. I've changed. I may not be the person you remember. I've done so many things. You may not want me for all that I have done. For the ways in which I have changed."

The love in his eyes begged to differ, and 10 years later this August, it's still there whenever Mike looks at me. God brought us back together, and we haven't been the same since. Which is such a great thing! Alas, I have yet to tell you my engagement story! LOL! But that will have to be another day. For this is the beginning of "the Story of Us":)

The Story of Us...

2011-07-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

This is the story of us. It is in response to Melody's challenge here at Blossoming Joy to tell your engagement story. I felt the need to flesh it out a little. The prologue to our vocation is very rich, very deep, and as with all things of God very complex thanks to our humanness...

I must begin with the formative years of my Faith. I survived middle school as best I could. Before that time people disliked me. In fact, I was that fat, gross, quiet kid that everyone loved to hate. I'd find my confidence blown at every school past-time, only to be rebuilt tentatively that evening by self pep talks only to be destroyed again at recess the following day. I hated myself, and when I finally cried "suicide", my mom yanked me from school and placed me for my eighth grade year at the Cathedral school of our Diocese. I wasn't Catholic. I didn't know what I was. I wasn't anything in my opinion.

There was nothing really special about the school. The biggest gain for me was the uniforms. Finally I wasn't in that small town crowd where you had to dress exactly so or be disliked. Or be disliked anyway. The uniforms gave me camoflauge. I made friends quickly and easily. It did wonders for me as a young woman. But nothing gave me that faith like my first trip there. Walking through the heavy oak doors of the Cathedral. I couldn't breathe for the way He penetrated my heart. Everyone else seemed so nonchalant about it. Didn't they feel Him? No, He was there for me that day. I've never been the same since.

I got baptised and received my first communion in this final year of my elementary education. I became a big fan of the order of Sisters who worked at this school. My Mom, having come back to her Faith, did as well. She decided to continue this journey for me, and placed me in the all-girls' Catholic high school run by the same order. I knew my life was over.

I quickly made friends again, and began to bloom where God had planted me. I was involved in many things, but none I loved so much as youth ministry. This was my passion. To reach out and be upheld by my peers in the Faith. It was at one of these events I met him, I met Mike. I so desperately wanted to impress him. I knew I didn't stand a chance as all my girlfriends were in line to meet him, dangling on his arm. He was the only one to take pity on me and be on my team for beach volleyball that day. Doing my best up-serve, I slammed him squarely between the shoulder blades with the ball. Mortified, I couldn't bring myself to even talk to him on the bus ride home. I knew he was out of my league.

I began to date in his circle. Carefree dating, usually in a big crowd of friends at the bowling alley or the roller skating rink. I was a good girl, and I wasn't ashamed of it. In the meantime I got to know Mike better. He was considering a vocation to the Priesthood. I would soon discern God's calling me to join the order where I was at school. We bonded over these long late-night talks about our love for God. I even remember writing in my journal "It's too bad that Mike's going into Seminary and I'm going into the Convent, for if I were to marry, Mike would be exactly the man I'd want to be married to." We started going to Daily Mass in the summertime. Meanwhile we'd continue to date other people, casually. He dated my older sister. I dated his best friend. It was like we were in two opposing revolving doors, always seeing one another through the glass, and yet being whisked off in opposite directions. But late at night, when the rest of the world had given up caring, we were there for each other, on the phone, pouring our hearts out in our dreams for the future. I was able to talk to him, really talk to him. To share my thoughts and feelings, and he with me, in a way I could never with anyone else. Praying together, going to Mass together, sharing our Faith together, bonded us in a way that made our friendship 'stronger than death'. We both realized this, and were grateful to God for this unexpected gift.

Mike went onto college as I began my senior year of high school. This was a moment in time for me. A chance to give my education all I had. It was a great year of growth and educational success. Mike and I maintined our friendship. I typed him a letter and mailed it out every single day. And I'm talking typewriter old school typing:) As inevitable as Harry and Sally, as Westley and Buttercup, as Scarlet and Rhett even, we began to feel the stirrings of something more. We dated in my senior year. He was my date for my senior prom even! We both knew it was inevitable, that we'd have to break it off to pursue the plans God had made for us. But we both secretly hoped that our relationship wasn't pointless. I grew to love Mike in that year. To really love and respect him as a person. It was after my high school graduation that we both took that fateful step. We broke up. That summer began my great sadness. I had wanted to break up. I couldn't understand why I was so shaken up by it. I still had my friend. And now my friend was free to follow his dream as a Priest. I wanted that for him. My feelings betrayed me and terrified me. I wrestled with them and screamed reason at them. But they refused to be quieted or to be understood. I was alone that summer. Oh, so alone.

I went onto college. Mike went onto his second year of college. We kept in contact now through emails back and forth. Not quite as frequently, but still with as much camaraderie as before. I was glad for my friend during this tumultuous first year of a gigantic university. I did my best to stay afloat and he helped me to stay grounded. We continued on our friendship as best we could. We got together that following summer for Mass and coffee quite a few times. It was growth. Painful agonizing growth. For both of us.

He began seminary that fall. I went into the Honors Program at my university in that, my second year of school. I moved on campus, and we began slipping further and further away from each other. I couldn't help it. Well, of course I could help it. I still had feelings for him. I loved him more than I had loved any man. I hated that seminary (I used to call it the cemetery). I hated that he was there. And yet, I loved God. I loved His Church and knew the harvest was great and that Mike would be the best laborer in His fields. I begged God to let him go. To let him come back to me. I cried and agonized over it. I agonized over my own vocation realizing with that instinctual primordial cry every time He asked for my hand again and again. "Lord, I love you with all my heart...But...I want children..." It seemed so pathetic a response to Him at the time, but I could not shake it. I could not disown it or distance myself from it. Even with Mike gone, I saw children in my future and I could not let them go.

It got worse between us. I would tease him, lure him in ways only a woman who knew him too well could. We never got physical, but I knew what I was doing in his heart. I wanted to know that he suffered in his decision, because I would know that he still loved me. I wanted him to love me, to be tortured by me. And then one day, I was struck off that horse. I was kneeling at Mass, noon Mass, with my mother by my side. I heard the Lord speak, "You have to let him go." "Lord, you know I cannot do that." "If you love me, you will keep this commandment, you have to let Mike go. He has to come to me freely. And you have to let him be free to do that." I felt the very wind knocked out of me by this request of my most gracious Lord. I went home that evening and wrote the letter. The "dear John" letter I should have written years before. I delivered it that evening after a dinner at the Bishop's house. I cut off all ties of communication with him from that point on. It killed me.

I knew to turn to the Lord. He would console me in this time of my great sorrow. I went to Noon Mass the following day. I listened to every word He would share with me, and almost fainted during the first reading. It was there, the cry of Hannah for her son, the weeping, mad woman at the Temple. I cried out, much to the horror of my mother sitting next to me, and went completely pale. "O Lord, who am I that you must play with me this way? To play with my emotions in such a manner? O Lord, please spare me from these words that confuse me so!!" But they rang in my heart, and I was hurt by the Lord for the first time.

God's silence continued to confuse and hurt me. We had never been distant. I began to boomerang in my Faith. Zealously following it, only to throw it all away in hurt and rage. I didn't understand what the Lord was doing in His silence. I ran away. I embraced the world. I lost Him. I lost myself. I lost more than I care to remember in those the darkest days of my fall. And as a man took me, used me, and I used him back, I would see Mike's face. I hadn't talked to him for a year and a half. Why would he continue to cross my mind, here, at this the farthest reach of space from him? From God? That 'why' would continue to haunt me down this path to the bottom.

I eventually turned to God to get me out of the mess I had created for myself. I knew I could not go back to the Catholic Church, and continue to live the way I had been for the past year. I went instead to the Episcopal Church. I wanted to puke. It was the worst feeling of fake I've ever endured, and I had done a lot of fake in my life up to that point. I came home from that "service" and that evening my atheist boyfriend kicked me out. His dispenser was full. He wanted his dime, and his space back. I lost all my friends. I lost my apartment. I lost my freedom. And now I had to go home and face my mom. I had gone to the black.

**To be continued**

"I Stand with Indiana"

2011-06-29T18:03:00.001-07:00

My prayer for New York

2011-06-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

I saw this on my friend Melody's site "Blossoming Joy" and I feel that it is timely to see New York embraced by the Eucharist. May we continue to make reparations to our Lord for the blasphemy committed there this past weekend. Gay "marriage" could never be more flaunted in His face as a rupture of man, woman, and God. Please God heal our nation. Please God do not leave us orphaned in your wrath.

Women are hurt the most by feminism

2011-06-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

So there it is. Michelle Bachmann is all over the internet. And by most liberals, she's being trashed. Vehemently railed against by so called "women's rights groups" amongst others.

I focus on women's rights groups for the most obvious reasons. Isn't she a woman? And yet, feminists are accusing her of being "bashed over the head one too many times" or claiming that "she should be". Where's the outrage at this violence against a woman? Hypocrites.

You see, the real problem with feminists is that they don't really want to be women. The liberal mindset of the feminist movement means that most women should be men. That's why their mantra is "power to the pant suit", because they can dress as a man. (Bachmann looked stunning in her modest skirt at the GOP primary, btw, imho.) They chop their hair, again, to emulate a man. They have abortions so that, as a man, they don't have to bear children. They work as hard as they can at their employment, and spend as little time in the home, the same as their husbands. They support men like Bill Clinton and Anthony Weiner for their sexual prowess. No mention of the women these men exploited. The biggest problem with feminism today is that it teaches women not how to be better women. It teaches women how to become more like men.

And women who are just that, are the most hurt by these fakes.

Novena to St. Rita

2011-06-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

What a great Novena! I'm in the midst of praying for a friend of mine for the next nine days. If you're sitting around on the blogosphere for a while with nothing else to do (aside from reading this fantabulous blog) could you recite this prayer with me? Thanks!

NOVENA TO SAINT RITA,
PATRONESS OF IMPOSSIBLE CASES
O holy patroness of those in need, St. Rita,
whose pleadings before thy Divine Lord
are almost irresistible,
who for thy lavishness in granting favours
hast been called the Advocate of the hopeless
and even of the impossible;
St. Rita, so humble, so pure,
so mortified, so patient
and of such compassionate love
for thy Crucified Jesus
that thou couldst obtain from Him
whatsoever thou askest,
on account of which all confidently
have recourse to thee expecting,
if not always relief,
at least comfort;
be propitious to our petition,
showing thy power with God
on behalf of thy suppliant;
be lavish to us,
as thou hast been in so many wonderful cases,
for the greater glory of God,
for the spreading of thine own devotion,
and for the consolation of those
who trust in thee.

We promise, if our petition is granted,
to glorify thee by making known thy favour,
to bless and sing thy praises forever.
Relying then upon thy merits and power
before the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
we pray thee grant that...

(Make your request here...)

as soon as God deems fit.

Amen.

Homosexual "Marriage"

2011-06-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

"Male and female he created them...And God blessed them saying, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it..."

So this month, I am overwhelmed with the outpouring of support for this strange concept to me "Gay Pride". Pride? For what? One's sexuality? Isn't that a curious concept?

I'd love to sit here and tell you that I'm "one of the good guys". That gay "marriage" doesn't bother me, and I could get a lot of empathetic pats on the back, and the carryings on...But there will not and can not ever be a term known to man as "gay 'marriage'". Not because men have decided to take it upon themselves to recreate and redesign all of civilization. But because by our very human natures, such a union could never exist. And the fact that there is an overwhelming force in America this month trying to play God makes me downright uncomfortable.

Maybe its my history. I've been friends with all sorts of people. Really. Who in America hasn't? It's why we love Heinz Ketchup...57 varieties...Because we're all mutts. We all interact, and intermingle. And that's one of the social constructs that makes us a great nation. Our diversity.

But we also have rights in this nation. The right of the individual shall always be kept in mind. This is a very Christian concept, and it lies in our Constitution. Many of our nation's founding fathers enforced this right of the individual based on their experience of tyranny. I have the right as an individual to say that, according to my belief and custom, homosexuality (e.g. the act of homosexual intercourse) is immoral and can endanger the souls of all who support or take part in it. I have the right to say that, and to believe it, and to live by that belief.

Well now there's a group. A group of supposed victims. A group of supposed outcasts. Who say that I don't have the right to believe that. That in order to believe what I do, that I am nothing but a bigot. And they're going to enforce their right to "marry" so that I can no longer hold that belief. They're not only trying to take away the basis of civilization that is marriage. They're trying to overthrow the natural law for which my individual rights are based upon. And they're redefining the meanings of words, namely "marriage" and "bigot". I am not a bigot for believing what I believe. I have never hated a homosexual. I have never been intolerant of a homosexual. As a matter of fact, there is no legal way for any American to be a bigot to any homosexual. That's bunk. If homosexuals in this country think that Americans are unfair, prejudiced, bigots, maybe they should spend some time in a Muslim nation? Maybe they should re-read what happened to homosexuals in the Nazi era, under Hitler? It's propoganda. The first thing the "gay rights" crowd understood was that, in order to get their way, they have to make people understand that they are victims. That the people who don't understand them are intolerant. Bunk.

Homosexuality is a psychological disorder. It is a disordered sexuality. And the people that suffer from it, suffer from psychological issues. I know the A.P.A. was bought out a few years ago. But again, we can change the very Bible itself, but that will not change the truth. The Truth.

I'm jaded. I admit it. I had family members across the spectrum in this issue. I had a close family member who was molested and almost raped by a homosexual while he was serving in the military. It haunts me to this day that someone would violate a person whom I love so much. Would we say that a rapist has a healthy psychological grasp on their sexuality? No. And this person who was psychologically ill was a homosexual. I had another family member who "decided she was gay". When I confronted her in a letter on the relationship she was having with another woman, she betrayed me to her lover. This woman, after reading my letter, flew into a rage and threatened to kill me and my then newborn son. This family member that had betrayed me, had to call me and confess what she had done in order to protect me, for she had seen the handgun her lover had concealed from her up to this point in the relationship. Did this woman have a healthy grasp on her sexuality? No. And this woman was a homosexual.

Now, those are two isolated incidents. One would like to think that homosexuals in general are well adjusted members of society. Tell that to the supporters of Proposition 8 in California a few years ago. Those people whose names were found out as donors and received death threats every day from homosexual groups. Those people whose book of Mormon were burned on their temple steps. Those people who were held hostage at gunpoint during Church so that homosexuals could take over the homily and preach about "tolerance". What about the people who were rallying in support of marriage at NOM? They were bullied and harrassed, and gay rights activists threatened to abduct children from their mothers, terrifying both the women and children who were out to defend the family. These people sound like rational, well adjusted, members of society?

In the United States, it is not illegal for homosexuals to engage in whatever activities they feel they are compelled to do. No one can say boo about it, regardless on one's stance on it. But pushing homosexual "marriage" to the forefront of the "gay rights" issue forces all of us to stand for or to betray our religious beliefs. In pushing a group's "right to marry", it impinges upon my right to practice my religious beliefs. How? Because as soon as I say that marriage should be between one man and one woman, I'm silenced. It happened to Miss USA last year. It happened during Michelle Bachman's response at the GOP debate. And these are enormously powerful women. And they have been silenced. Does everyone have the right to health care? Absolutely. Does everyone have the right to enter into a relationship? Absolutely. But marriage is a public commitment to one man or one woman for life. And I, as a dissenting member of that public, can not and will not give my support to an illicit marriage. And its for people like me that the gay rights group is pushing for nothing more than "the right to 'marry'".

We all have a dignity. We all have a worth. We all have the opportunity for grace. Homosexuals have a very special call from the Lord. A terrible cross, and yet a most blessed one. God calls them to this cross to bear witness of the sacrificial love He intended for us all. Homosexuals, by their very persons, are not sinners. Another great weapon that the "gay rights" group uses specifically against the Church is the blurred line of distinction between homosexuals and their actions. Every person is loved into existence by God. That makes them of immense value, and not a sinner. Every person, through the gift of free will, has the potential to sin. Homosexuals, like every other person, have the choice before them always. To offer up their sexuality to the Lord to do with it as He wills. Or to engage in acts that are not pleasing to the Lord, not life giving, and sinful. If you sense a common theme there, you're right on. We all have that same choice within us, regardless of our sexual orientation. The gay rights movement, in their cunning, have seized upon a moment in history when sex has been so divorced from its proper context that it can be used by anyone, anytime. Lots of people have this concept wrong, and have abused themselves and one another mightily through the terrible, beautiful, and powerful tool that sex is. Sex is meant for marriage. It is the consummation of marriage. It is the sacramental of this great lay sacrament. This means that homosexuals can never engage in sex. This also means that Priests can never engage in sex. This also means that Religious can never engage in sex. This also means that people who are not married can never engage in sex. Homosexuals who embrace God's call and will for their lives can be a powerful testimony to the chaste love of God for the world. The Church is needed, now more than ever, to be a sign and source for these individuals through the witness of Holy Vocations in all walks of life. And that means that it is only through the Church that sex can be held in its proper place, within the context of Holy Marriages.

It is not a mistake on the part of Her enemies that the Church's view of sex and namely marriage is being battled against. It is not a mistake that many want to make the Church's view of marriage to be arcane and burdensome rather than the building block of society. It is not a mistake that our great society stands on the brink and we are being pulled ever closer to that edge...

"A man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home and they shall cleave to one another and become one spirit, one flesh..."

LGBT "Pride"

2011-06-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

I will be writing more on this later, however, I find no one more articulate and passionate on this issue then my fellow Catholic lay activist, Brian Brown from Connecticut. Please watch this video and I should have my thoughts put together in a couple of days.

And as Lucifer learned, if this is a month of Pride, then may it go before the fall.

A shout out to Melody!

2011-06-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

So my friend and fellow blogger, Melody from "Blossoming Joy" has been tackling the erroneous publication in Our Sunday Visitor "Homeschoolers sometimes at odds with dioceses" head on. She's been doing a fantastic job, and I recommend to all of you to read her insights, her responses, and her prayerful witness to homeschooling (and if you have enough time to waste you could read the article linked above as well;). Melody continues to be a source I wish to emulate.

On a lighter note, and in need of a little comedic relief, I realized that I've never posted this fantastic video. I give it as a shout out to Melody, to my homeschooling friends, and to those who have a sense of humor (you know who you are!) Keep up the great work, and finish up with school! It's summer for Pete's sake!!! LOL!!!

About 8 years ago this month...

2011-06-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

...I was asked to chaperone a youth conference (The Steubenville East Youth Conference, for anyone aware of those awesome experiences!) Mike and I had both attended these conferences during high school. It is one of the many vehicles God used to prepare us for our vocation, while bringing us closer together as spiritual friends and prayer partners.

Mike and I had been married for a little under three months at this point. I had been so excited to start a family with him that I took it for granted that our good Lord might call us to wait. I was so saddened when the month and then the next went by with no signs of pregnancy. Well meaning friends and family members encouraged us and prayed for us. I entered this youth weekend with a heavy heart.

As the weekend progressed I was able to pull outside of myself, my own fears and worries to help minister to the youth that were there. One girl in particular, a very rambunctious young woman was having trouble settling into the weekend's more reflective moments. The "big tent event", the Saturday night Eucharistic procession was leaving her jittery to say the least. I had left the group that night, "to go off and pray" with our Lord. I was kneeling there, in the dirt, waiting for our Lord to pass when out of the corner of my eye I saw her, this same girl, weeping in the back of the tent. I quietly slipped out of the side of the tent and went to console her and be with her. She fell apart and opened her heart to me, and to our Lord. It was such a moment of grace for us both. Our Lord was coming, the procession was nearing us. I helped the girl find a place in the dirt to kneel with me, we were right on the edge of the aisle. I began rethinking through my hurts, but I tried to lift them all up and out of the way for this dear soul trembling next to me. As the Lord passed me, I said to Him "I give it to you, I was so busy with this one you sent me that I didn't even get to see your face as you passed me, Lord. But I offer that too, as a great sacrifice for this young woman you've put here with me. O Lord, you know my heart. You know how badly I want a child. But I give it to you. As I didn't see your face tonight, Lord, I don't exactly see your will in this time. Give me Faith Lord. Give me Faith!"

At that moment, the Priest hesitated. Even though he was about 2 feet behind me, I saw him falter in his step, as if being held back. Then, in that moment, it was like the world stopped moving. I saw the priest turning, ever so slowly towards me, stopping right there in benediction over my head. My heart cried out its "fiat" followed by a rush of my human tears.

We came back that weekend a changed group. The young woman went on to be a leader in her youth group at Church. She had healed from a past of sin, and was looking for the means to continue on in Holy Innocence. I still pray for her as I think of that night.

And three days after coming home from that retreat, Mike and I found out we were pregnant. I sought a child from our Eucharistic Lord and my prayers were heard.

Please pray for our family as now this same child is seeking the means to receive our Eucharistic Lord for himself. What a blessing for my first blessing. And now, as a Mom, I must maintain that same confidence of Faith to say "I am a handmaiden of the Lord, let it be done to me as You will."

On Innocence

2011-06-03T16:47:00.001-07:00

"Every innocent human being contributes to the good of society."

Fr. Walsh, EWTN radio

Springtime FUN!!

2011-05-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

The first day of spring! Yay!

So here's my quarterly report in pictures:) I always mean to do this more often, but I just seem to run out of time in which to sit still and concentrate on one spot for any length of time...(heheheheheh...)

As warm wether approached, I tried to finish a blanket for my son. He outgrew the baby blanket I made him;)

Some turkeys came to visit us, or just pass through...

Sharing his love of outer space with his little sister.

Using a Dr. Guarendi 'blackout' writing 50 xs "I will listen to adults".

FIRST LOST TOOTH!!

Enjoying Grampa's "World Famous Recipe" ribs for Mother's Day

More enjoyment...And lots of fun!!

Yes, that is "Rib faced":)

Enjoying the sunshine!

And little sister too!

First adventures in self feeding...So proud!!


How to take care of teething and feeding at the same time?	FROZEN BLUEBERRIES!!

A well deserved nap:)

Sleepover!!

Honey I'm HOME!!!

2011-05-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

...So excited to finally be posting this!

I'm going to be staying home...FULL TIME!!!

Praise God!!!

Mike and I are worried about money, but...What else is new??

I'll post more on this later, but I just wanted to share the great news!

Adult stem cells cure A.I.D.S.!?!

2011-05-17T06:18:00.001-07:00

h/t Creative Minority Report

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) — A 45-year-old man now living in the Bay Area may be the first person ever cured of the deadly disease AIDS, the result of the discovery of an apparent HIV immunity gene.

Timothy Ray Brown tested positive for HIV back in 1995, but has now entered scientific journals as the first man in world history to have that HIV virus completely eliminated from his body in what doctors call a “functional cure.”

Brown was living in Berlin, Germany back in 2007, dealing with HIV and leukemia, when scientists there gave him a bone marrow stem cell transplant that had astounding results.

“I quit taking my HIV medication the day that I got the transplant and haven’t had to take any since,” said Brown, who has been dubbed “The Berlin Patient” by the medical community.

Brown’s amazing progress continues to be monitored by doctors at San Francisco General Hospital and at the University of California at San Francisco medical center.

“I’m cured of HIV. I had HIV but I don’t anymore,” he said, using words that many in the scientific community are cautiously clinging to.

Scientists said Brown received stem cells from a donor who was immune to HIV. In fact, about one percent of Caucasians are immune to HIV. Some researchers think the immunity gene goes back to the Great Plague: people who survived the plague passed their immunity down and their heirs have it today.

Black and White do not make Brown

2011-05-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

So that terrible excuse of an author, Dan Brown, is at it again. Now, that's not very fair of me, I've never read his books. They are a danger to my Catholic soul and I refuse to read them. I know he's a terrible excuse of an author because of his faithful following.

You know the kind...The ones that as soon as you say the name of their "Almighty" they get that possessed gleam in their eye, that strange smile, and they continue their mantra to you "It's just a story...It's just a story..."

Is it really? Not be cynical of a cynic, but if its just a story, then why bother with such filth? There are other fictitious works that are far more worth the time. Of course, this is all conjecture, but I know in my heart that is true.

I think its because people that find this novelist to "just make stories" want in some small way to believe more in what Dan Brown is saying. He slams the Church, and with the help of his secularist friends, is quite the bandleader in doing so. I think the deeper issue here is that those Catholics who try to convince me that what Dan Brown writes is just a story are putting themselves at risk. Either the Church is one giant scandal as trumpeted by this bafoon, or its real.

In other words, all that Dan Brown writes is either "just a story" or the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Faith that we profess to believe is just that...Its just a story.

The Meaning of Life

2011-05-14T18:02:00.001-07:00

Saint Osama bin Laden? Pope Saint John Paul II?

2011-05-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Of all the ironies, here is one: on the same day that the Christian West raised up a great Holy Leader of the Christian Church Universal, a martyred saint was raised up in the Middle East.

It's like a modern times version of Cain and Abel.

One offered the fruits of peace to the entire world, travelling to the ends of the earth to promote the good of humanity.

One sought world domination in the name of "Allah" through the brutalizing of innocent men, women, and children.

One decried violence to the unborn, to the elderly, to the infirmed, the suffering, the poor, the impoverished.

One promoted violence and suicide to aid his own Islamic Jihad.

One saw the devastation of communism, living and working in a labor camp in Poland.

One promoted the same type of religious commune, forcing others through his radical religious ideals to live, work, and die for Allah.

One condescended to constantly invite others to himself, reaching out to all religions in the name of peace, even acquisecing to kiss the Koran, much to the Christian West's dismay.

One loathed the Bible, cursed it, spit on it, and burned it, and then sought to destroy all who upheld the Biblical world view.

One sought out the man who attempted to take his life to offer him peace and reconcilliation in the name of his God.

One killed innocents, for a perceived threat, even though those people who were killed had no other weapons outside of their religion.

They are both considered Saints, and I hope that this puts to rest any conflict amongst my fellow Christian brothers and sisters that there is indeed a true religion, upon which we should labor to offer our gifts to God the Father. And of course there are those bastardized religions which can offer no such fruits, and are displeasing to God.

Cain and Abel, and yet both men were marked for the Lord's protection, and both were loved by Him. Was Cain protected? I do not know. But in the end, we should not rejoice at bin Laden's death, for we shall all be judged according to our thoughts words and deeds.

Celebrate the life of John Paul the Second. A great father of the Church who promoted so much peace and love amongst our human family.

Mourn the loss of life of Osama bin Laden. A father to many who brought death, destruction, and devastation. May God have mercy on his soul, and may he have had the chance to repent and convert to the God of Mercy. Maybe it was also a sign to the world that he was killed on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Blessed John Paul, pray for us.

Blessed John Paul, pray for us!

2011-05-02T19:46:00.001-07:00

Changing Heads:)

2011-05-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

So I updated my Header, but I loved this quote so much (thanks Tina!!!) that I have to share it in its entirety. G.K. Chesterton, you've got to love that guy:)

“As an apologist I am the reverse of apologetic. So far as a man may be proud of a religion rooted in humility, I am very proud of my religion; I am especially proud of those parts of it that are most commonly called superstition. I am proud of being fettered by antiquated dogmas and enslaved by dead creeds. (as my journalistic friends repeat with so much tenacity), for I know very well that it is the heretical creeds that are dead, and that it is only the reasonable dogma that lives long enough to be called antiquated.” ~GKC: ‘Autobiography.’

Homeschoolers Make History!!!

2011-05-01T13:58:00.001-07:00

What now?

2011-04-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

I was thinking today "I wonder what it was like on the Thursday after that first Easter"?

I randomly thought of the ending scene in Finding Nemo, where all the fish land in plastic bags in the ocean, having escaped from the tank back at the Dentist's office, only to have one ask "now what?"

I wonder if it were like that with the apostles. As more and more apparitions of the Risen Christ happen, what did they think? As their trepidatious fear was replaced with overwhelming joy, did it give them courage in this new-found Faith. As they sat together and began to recount Christ's walk among them, slowly piecing his life back together through their narrative, did they begin to recognize the Sacred?

I believe, and I trust that there was a rekindled excitement. A dance in the heart that thrilled the soul. A base recognition of an encounter with the Divine. There came a moment when the apostles just knew, without even a cognitive acceptance of that knowledge, that they had been in the presence of their Messiah.

This hope, this Faith, this joy, this same fire of love is lit and continues to burn in each of us.

For as He died, He rose from the dead.

And He goes even one more mile for us.

Travelling in the form of the simplest of bread. Bread made in a hurry, for there are Passover feasts to be seen to. Flat, wafer like bread. Simple, thoughtless almost in its construction. It becomes the most sacred, the most profound, the most weighted with the human presence. With Him.

Now are you thrilled? Good.

Leave the room, go into the streets, proclaim His name. Don't be scared by those Roman soldiers, by those cynics, by those who wish for political expediency or personal comfort to silence you. Your faith and your joy will overwhelm them. That is why He came. That is why He is here.

For we will know Him in the breaking of the bread.

And that is what is now.

Chinese Food for thought...

2011-04-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

Is the Age of America Coming to An End?

A dire prediction hit the news yesterday: A date has been set for the end of the "Age of America," — i.e., when China's economy will overtake the United States. The news comes by way of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that shows China's economy surpassing America's by 2016. Though there are reasons to question the IMF's conclusions, it is true that if the U.S. does not get its fiscal house in order, the era of American leadership will be over.

Columnist Brett Arends writes in MarketWatch that China's evolution into an economic superpower will spell the end of America's economic dominance on the global stage:

The actual date when China surpasses the U.S. might come even earlier than the IMF predicts, or somewhat later. If the great Chinese juggernaut blows a tire, as a growing number fear it might, it could even delay things by several years. But the outcome is scarcely in doubt.

This is more than a statistical story. It is the end of the Age of America. As a bond strategist in Europe told me two weeks ago, “We are witnessing the end of America’s economic hegemony.”

The Heritage Foundation's Derek Scissors, Ph.D., notes that the IMF's prediction that China will surpass the U.S. by 2016 might be a bit early, given that it is based on trends, whereas economic performance is all about a nation's resources and policies. China's economic growth could stall, or the U.S.'s could speed up. What's more, like many predictions about the growth of China's economy, the IMF uses "purchasing power parity" to try to compare the United States and China -- resulting in potentially misleading conclusions. However, Scissors says that there is an overarching lesson to be learned from the IMF forecast:

The IMF's assumption that our economy will be weak indefinitely is all too reasonable. China might run its economy into the ground, but we are running our economy into the ground. Reasonable people can sharply disagree over what to do, but what's killing U.S. leadership is obvious to the IMF and anyone looking at the global picture: our budget deficit.

The picture of America's economic house is a dismal one, with its escalating debt and out-of-control entitlement spending. There is a silver lining for America, though. Scissors points out that China has considerable economic weaknesses like low income levels, resource depletion and high unemployment, whereas the U.S. has comparable strengths and is poised to remain a global leader:

If we do get our act together, we will stay far ahead of China where it counts most: in wealth, in employment, in technology, and so on. The United States is richer, has far more productive workers, and far more in the way of natural resources than China. The only way we stop being the global economic leader is if we blow it.

And that's why the next few months are so vitally important. As Congress begins debate on whether to raise the debt limit and how to curb spending, Members must realize that their actions have serious implications for America on the global stage.

Christ Is Risen!

2011-04-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

Alleluia!

Good Friday Homily

2011-04-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

I heard the most interesting point made in a Good Friday homily ever, and I know you are all probably super saturated at this point in your journey towards Easter...So I'll leave you with this brief synopsis.

The Passion narrative begins with a scene in a garden. The scene of Christ's agony acted out in supplication to His Heavenly Father. The narrative ends with another scene in a garden. Christ's corpse being placed in the garden of the empty tomb.

It is in the revelation and wonder of God that we realize we have to travel from one garden to another. To come the road that goes full circle. And the only way to go from one garden to the other is through...The cross.

It restores us to that Garden we had lost so long ago.

I was greatly touched by that, and I just thought I'd share.

God Bless you all as we trudge on to Easter.

Prayer Before a Crucifix

2011-04-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight and with the most fervent desire of my soul I pray and beseech Thee that Thou wouldst impress upon my heart lively sentiments of Faith, Hope, and Charity, with true repentance for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment, whilst with deep affection and grief of soul I ponder within myself and mentally contemplate Thy five most precious Wounds; having before my eyes the words which David in prophecy spoke concerning Thyself, O good Jesus: "They have pierced my hands and feet; they have numbered all my bones."

Wishing all of you, my dear readers, a very Holy and meritorious Triduum.

Senator Blumenthal Responds...

2011-04-20T17:33:00.001-07:00

*Blah, blah, blah...*

Dear Mrs. (PattyinCT),

Thank you for your thoughtful message regarding funding for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, the House of Representatives recently considered legislation to fund the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. During the debate over the Continuing Resolution, the House approved an amendment to eliminate funding for Title X, the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with preventive health services and comprehensive family planning.

In addition, the House approved an amendment that would deny all federal funding to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates for the rest of this fiscal year, because some Planned Parenthood health centers provide abortion services. Although long-standing federal law already prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions and an estimated 90 percent of the services provided at Planned Parenthood clinics are preventive, the House-passed Continuing Resolution would eliminate all federal funding for important health care services used by millions of Americans.

It is through the support of these federal funds that Planned Parenthood health centers offer, on an annual basis, nearly one million lifesaving screenings for cervical cancer, 830,000 breast exams, contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients, nearly four million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and education programs for nearly 1.2 million individuals. If federal funding for Planned Parenthood were eliminated, in Connecticut alone nearly 63,000 women, many of whom are uninsured, would lose access to the sole health care provider they see with any regularity.

I have been a lifelong advocate for women's health. It is vitally important that Title X continue to be fully funded and that all health clinics, including Planned Parenthood, serving our nation’s most vulnerable women continue to have access to the funds they need to survive.

As your Senator, I will fight to make sure that women’s health is a top priority in Congress. Even on issues where we do not agree, I will keep your thoughts in mind while reviewing legislation and voting during the 112th Congress. Please do not hesitate to continue sharing your thoughts with me.

Sincerely,

Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator

Defund Planned Parenthood vote on Thursday

2011-04-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

I know...I know...We lost a battle on Friday...But my friends, we have not lost the war. Please contact your senators today and urge them to vote against funding Planned Parenthood. The vote is this coming Thursday. Time is of the essence!

Here is my letter to Senator Blumenthal:

Dear Senator Blumenthal,
I am writing to respectfully request that you vote to defund Planned Parenthood. Not only do they provide a majority of all abortions done here in the United States and throughout the world, they are a corrupt organization that is unfit to receive any funding. A woman's "right to choose" has been proven a gag order on the failure of Planned Parenthood and her affiliates to cover up racism, sex trafficking of minors, services they claim to provide that indeed they do not. Over 97% of all women who enter Planned Parenthood pregnant will have left only after having an abortion. Only 2% of pregnant women give their babies up for adoption through Planned Parenthood. They are only aided and abetted by our tax monies, and this laundering has to cease.
Thank you for your time in this matter. For more information on the corruptions I cited above, please visit:
http://www.liveaction.org/
Sincerely Yours,
(Me)

I am hoping that enough people write so that we can end the madness that is allowed to continue under the guise of "choice". Please write today. The link is here (and located above!)
http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

When the Going Gets Tough

2011-04-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

Praise God for His Amazing Love

Warning: This video show some of the more graphic moments of The Passion of the Christ. Not suitable for children.

More PP Deception Exposed...

2011-04-01T05:35:00.001-07:00

Stressers...

2011-03-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

I hate clutter. And I hate being a Mom who is always cleaning. Remember that scene in the "Incredibles" where Elasti-girl is vacuuming and Mr. Incredible picks up the couch for her. I feel like I'm constantly vacumming, but instead of couches, I'm picking up kids.

I wanted kids. I wanted lots of kids. I also wanted to be a super hero Mom who maintained an immaculate home while having fresh baked cookies every afternoon for spic and span children politely lining up with clean and manicured hands asking for a "treat".

My house is gross and I'm overweight. So much for "super Mom":)

I have a storage unit and we've constantly cycled through storing stuff. We've downsized and downsized. We've gotten rid of most everything save the children. And yet, it still seems to get in!

I know there are people who are going to give me the lame excuse that I have lots of kids, therefore its a foregone conclusion that I'm going to have a messy house. And then there's the other excuse that I work part time and otherwise I'd have a lovely home that was mess free. Well, I'm friends with a lot of women who have much larger families than mine, and when I visit them, regardless of the time of day, their homes are always tidy and in order. And my own mother, who worked incessantly to support her family also kept an immaculate house, althewhile attending to my brother who has intense medical needs. I know neat houses can be accomplished. I just have no clue how.

I feel like I walk around all day grumpy, snarking at the kids. That's not the person I want to be. I get guilt complexes when I feel like I'm turning into that housewife that the rest of the world part despises/part makes fun of. Again, most definitely not who I want to be. Generally speaking I'm a fun-loving, easy-going individual. But my kids tremble in fear when they start to hear the water boiling in my brain "WHO LEFT THE MARSHMALLOW CEREAL ON THE TABLE...OUTSIDE OF ITS BAG?!?!?!" "PICK UP THESE THOMAS TRACKS NOW!!!" "PICK UP THESE LEGOS NOW!!!" "COME AND HOLD YOUR SISTER I HAVE TO CLEAN UP PEE, (OR PUKE)!!!" "CAN YOU PLEASE LIFT THE LID AND AIM FOR ONCE!!!" The only times I don't scream are when the baby's sleeping or when I'm afraid to hurt my voice before a singing gig.

I want a routine. I want to know that I'm going to (at least strive to) get up at the same time every morning. Do schoolwork at the same time. Allow time for housework and cooking and other daily needs. I'd like to make time to spend with my children before they're grown up. I'd like to make it to Mass more than once a week (and even better...Before the Responsorial Psalm!!) And yet, when we go to bed early, something (or someone) always wakes us in the middle of the night. Be it a bad dream, a cat, or even a water heater...And the next day I'm functioning on lack of sleep and kids that are looking to take advantage of that fact.

So what's the first step? What's the next step? How do I get out of this cycle of ensuing chaos? If I'm striving for a healthier lifestyle, isn't it only right that I should include my mental health?

Well, I'll figure it out...Right after I blast through those 8 loads of laundry still waiting to be attended to, and that pile of dishes in the sink, and the rest of our school day is finished up, and the baby's next size up clothes are done being sorted through...

Sacred Vespers for Laetare Sunday

2011-03-29T05:12:00.000-07:00

Vespers for Laetare Sunday
St. Michael Church, Pawcatuck CT
On Sunday, April 3,
the Fourth Sunday of Lent,
all are invited to celebrate
Solemn Vespers at 5:00 pm.
Bishop Cote
will preside
and the Schola Cantorum of St. Michael Church will lead us in singing
the Church’s evening prayer of
thanksgiving.

Life Happenings...

2011-03-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Life is good! Praise God! Mike is doing incredibly well at his new company. He has a newborn on his hands though, and his lifestyle right now reflects that:) He's been working 18-20 hour days to get everything established, but what a blessing it is to have TOO much work to do. Especially in this economy.

My oldest and I are going through our third quarter tests right now. If he keeps going in this fashion, he'll be finished up with first grade by May. I'm so excited for him! He's done very well in this his first official year of homeschooling. My other two boys, both in school as well, are doing excellent! One finished his kindergarten curricula in January, and the other one will be done with Kindergarten by June. These early years fly by, and I love how excited they become with school.

The girls are both doing great. My little Mary is growing leaps and bounds. She went to the Doctor yesterday who was quite impressed with her. She is pigeon-toed, but after talking to the Doctor I'm comforted to know that some kids grow through this. She should naturally grow out of it, and doesn't need braces or anything. As this is a confirmation of her PCP's thoughts, I'm going to leave it at that.

My little Gabby is doing wonderfully as well. She was 4 months old on March 1st and already has two teeth and IS CRAWLING!! Not kidding! She's amazing, and the kids are all amazing with her.

There is so much to be thankful for, and I can't help but praise God in this Holy time for those most precious moments with my little ones. I have a beautiful family, and they are growing, thriving, healthy, and getting more wonderful everyday. Thank you God for these my most special gifts.

Please know, my dear readers that I continue to pray for you all during this Holy Lententide.

More P.P. Closings!!!

2011-03-18T09:34:00.001-07:00

Praise God in the Highest! This is just in from Elijah Ministries in Texas. May we live to see the day when all Planned Parenthoods and her affiliates are gone from our lives (and the lives of our unborn brothers and sisters.)

Wouldn't it be nice to see a crisis pregnancy center take the place of each of these safe havens for death and destruction? Like a lily on a tomb:)

Dear Champion of the Lord and the Preborn,

This is the breaking story that came forth today. We have known for awhile that our local death camp is on the ropes. We are pressing in. We are trusting God that soon we will see the salvation of the Lord manifest as this evil is defeated in our city and beyond. John Pisciotta, Director of Pro-life Waco, sent this report out a few minutes ago. It affirms that our Lord is on the move. To those of you that have eyes to see and ears to hear, come join us in this battle for the lives of children, the souls of men and the future of our nation. There are two down and one more to go!

Breaking News: Planned Parenthood in Texas closes clinics in Marlin & Groesbeck.

Friends who challenge Planned Parenthood at every turn, good news!

Planned Parenthood of Central Texas has closed its clinics in Marlin and Groesbeck-the affiliate's only clinics outside Waco.

I happened upon this news last evening while searching their web site for other information. The website indicates the closings are "temporary." With all the bad news facing PP locally and nationally, I suspect this will be a long temporary closure.

Within the last four years PP Central Texas opened these clinics with great publicity and fanfare. These facilities did not commit abortion. They did provide birth control, promoted promiscuity, and counseled for abortion.

We rejoice in the retraction of Planned Parenthood pernicious tentacles.

For Richer or Poorer

2011-03-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

Author: Trust in God to Find True Wealth

Book Exposes Spiritual Side of Money Management

By Traci Osuna
HYATTSVILLE, Maryland, March 17, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Gregory S. Jeffrey has spent the last 25 years working as a development consultant, helping Catholic schools, parishes and organizations around the country with their fund-raising campaigns. Throughout his career, Jeffrey has met people from all walks of life, from those struggling to make ends meet to others at the pinnacle of corporate success. And, he says, he sees a common thread -- everyone he's met has real concerns about their financial situation.
"One of the things I discovered early on, probably three or four years into my career," he said in a phone interview with ZENIT, "was that money alone didn't erase people's worries about money."
In his new book, "Why Enough is Never Enough: Overcoming Worries about Money -- A Catholic Perspective" (Our Sunday Visitor), Jeffrey explores why so many faithful Catholics struggle daily with concerns about their material well-being.
As a development consultant, Jeffrey has discussed tithing and donating to the Church with everyone from suburban mothers concerned with balancing their household budgets to business tycoons wrestling with just how much they can afford to donate to their parish. What he has found is that people from all backgrounds and from all tax brackets worry about their financial situation in one way or another. And while it would seem that simply having more money would help ease our worries, he says that this is often not the case.
Among the many incidents he shares in his book, Jeffery said that one in particular stands out to him: "I gave an example in the book of a gentleman who made a $100,000 pledge to his daughter's Catholic high school. Then he leaned forward, and with a very grave face, said to me, 'If my wife finds out, you guys aren't going to get a dime.'"
Taken aback, Jeffrey said he wasn't sure if the man was kidding or very serious: "He sat back in the chair [...] and he got very reflective. And he said, 'My wife doesn't understand that we've got enough money to last several lifetimes.' It just struck me: here was a woman married to a guy at the pinnacle of corporate success and no matter how he tried to reassure his wife, he couldn't." Jeffrey noted that, while it may be difficult to understand, this fear is actually very common.
A journey
"This experience got me thinking," the author continued, "that there's got to be something else at play here other than the amount of wealth. There are a lot of books on the market that try to address that issue of bringing our spending into line with our income […] and, in a way, that's good. But where [they] fail to go far enough is helping people realize that once they get their household budget balanced and once they get a little bit of money saved in the bank, don't immediately assume that that alone is going to solve this overwhelming anxiety that some people continually feel about money."
Compared to other books on the market, Jeffrey's book is different in that it leads the reader on a journey to reflect on one's financial situation, including one's overall trust in and relationship with God. "I actually wanted to title the book 'Why Enough is Never Enough: Making Peace with God and Money.' I thought that would have been a more accurate title but my editor didn't think so, that's why I ended up with the longest subtitle in the world," he said with a laugh.
Jeffrey acknowledges that one's financial situation can be a difficult subject to talk about, even with one's spouse. For that reason, each chapter in the book concludes with several reflection points that aim to help stimulate those important conversations. He said that he hopes these discussion points will allow true feelings, and possibly some fears, come to light.
"Once you start talking about money, part of your interior life [becomes exposed]," Jeffrey commented. "It's hard to discuss our financial situation because it opens the door to […] other areas of life. That's my premise; whether it's true or not, I'll leave that up to the reader to determine."
Jeffrey told ZENIT that even the strongest Catholics have trouble letting go of their money concerns: "It's one thing to sit in Mass and hear a sermon about trust in God; [but] when you really have to put that into practice […] that's where it becomes really hard."
He referred to the story found in Luke's Gospel (Luke 18:18-24) in which a young man asks Jesus what he needs to do to gain eternal life. When Jesus responds that the man should sell all his possessions, give his wealth to the poor and follow Jesus, the man goes away sad.
Walking the walk
He explains that in his visits to parishes all over the country, he continually encounters the same types of people: "It's like they've attained everything […] they're great members of the Church, they're spiritually on fire for the Lord; but they haven't been able to take that one final step of saying to the Lord, 'Ok, I know you'll take care of me if I give away even some small portion of my assets.' It's so sad to see; but it's hard and the thing is, I place no judgment on those people, whatsoever, because the hardest part about writing this book was having to take my own advice."
Jeffrey shared how he struggled with accepting God's providence at work in his own life.
He is very honest in sharing how it was his wife who led him down the path to having a greater trust in God when it came to his family's finances. In his book he shares several examples of how his trust in God was answered speedily once he finally took the steps toward giving of himself.
Another issue that Jeffrey takes on in his book is the commonly, but unjustly, held belief that wealth equates greed. "That attitude bothers me, because fundamentally it's an injustice rooted in prejudice against the wealthy. And all prejudice I find repugnant."
Jeffrey adds that, throughout his career, he has worked with a lot of wealthy people and feels he has a more well-rounded view of the wealthy: "This is not to say that there are not greedy people; there are greedy people […] I've worked for plenty of them. But to take this broad brushstroke to say anybody who has attained success in business must have gotten there because they're greedy is just hogwash.
"But here's the thing," he adds, "as long as there is a common belief that only the rich have to deal with greed, 95% of us have excused ourselves from self-reflection. That's why it's so dangerous."

Defund PP

2011-03-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

The Seven Last Words of Christ

2011-03-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
St. Joseph's Church, Willimantic (CT)

Renaissance Revival

Artistic Director Michael McCarthy presents

The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross

Early Choral and Organ Music of Cesar Franck (1822-1890)

"The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross" refers to the seven short phrases uttered by Christ during his hours on the cross, as gathered from the four Christian gospels and set by Franck. Soloists include soprano Annete Pavone, mezzo-soprano Patricia Johnson, and baritone Dan Pavone, with organist Angela Salcedo. Other works on the program include two organ compositions by Franck, and his magnificent setting of Psalm 150 for organ and chorus.

Voluntary donations welcome.

I thought this was amazing!

2011-03-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not a huge Ukulele fan, but this guy was fantastic!

Onwards and Upwards

2011-03-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

I know we've all heard the horror stories wrought by this economy. Whether they are friends, family, or our very selves, all around us people are losing jobs, homes, security and comfort. How long O Lord?

Well, its happened to Mike and I. He came home last week after 10 years at his current position to tell me the sad news. As of this week, he's officially unemployed. And the company he worked for? Closing.

We had been praying. Novena after Novena to both Sts. Therese of Liseux and Joseph for an answer. Any answer. We received sightings of roses, but nothing concrete. It seemed as if the Lord was leading us just a little bit farther into the dark to both trust Him and to cling to Him just a little more. I finally laid it all down at his feet, my breaking point being this last weekend. Lord, you gave me this family, these beautiful children, this home. But if you're asking for it all back, every blessing that I took for granted would continue to be mine, then...with a heavy but trusting heart, I give it all back to you.

Then the money started coming in. The speculations and ponderings of Mike kept coming back more concrete and more positive. A tax return here, a gift from friends there, a little cash from family here. Farther and farther he lead us on. Then there was the Gospel passage this last weekend..."Trust all of your needs to God. He will not forsake you. He cares for all that you need. Leave the future to him." (Yes, I'm paraphrasing.)

Mike is starting his own company tomorrow. An answer to a prayer that began over a year ago. We've moved slowly, cautiously at such a monumental concept. But I believe that God is not only calling us to this next venture in our marriage, but that He has prepared a place for us. I'm not going to ask for more than that He prospers the work of our hands, that we can be generous as He has been generous to us. I do not know the end of the road, or where we will turn up. I can say honestly that we've been praying to St. Joseph for 5 years this coming October for a better job and for a house. It's beginning to dawn on me that this could be a combined answer to both of those prayers. I have to wonder if when I get to Heaven I'll hear that same raspy voice that was featured in "It's a Wonderful Life" preparing Clarence for his wings job, say something to the effect of, "I had to grant both, so that you'd give me a little peace and quiet up here!" Time will tell...

If I can ask your prayers. We're cautious but no longer afraid. The road is long, but at least we know there's a desination. And that if we continue along it, we have the ability to work towards a common goal, a common future. I am married to the most amazing man. And I've needed 8 years of growth to recommit to him every single day. We've been yoked to work through our family, I trust him with my life and the lives of our children. And now we've been called to mutually trust one another and the Lord that "the plans He has for us will give us hope and a future" in this endeavor.

St. Joseph and St. Therese (and all the rest of you my dear readers;), pray for us.

What a Great Day for America's Unborn!!!

2011-02-16T10:27:00.001-08:00

From the Family Research Council:

Richards Nixin' the Budget?

Planned Parenthood must have felt particularly jilted by House Republicans on Valentine's Day, because President Cecile Richards launched an angry video about the budget feud. Apparently, she doesn't take too kindly to Republicans meddling in Planned Parenthood's illicit relationship with Uncle Sam. But the time to clean, argue conservatives, is long overdue. Conveniently, Cecile never mentions abortion in the video--or her seven clinics caught on tape covering up child prostitution in the last two weeks. No, she resorts to the Left's familiar strategy: name-calling. "Unlike our opponents," she declares, "we care about women and families." Obviously, she and the House leadership have different ideas about what "caring" means. Most Americans would agree that caring about women means not misleading them, aborting them, or exploiting them for profit.
Contrary to what she and others are implying, this "horrifying agenda" does absolutely nothing to restrict abortion. It simply puts Planned Parenthood on an even playing field with all other nonprofits. Yet Richards actually believes that the "most devastating assault on women's health in American history," is pushing Planned Parenthood away from the public trough. Let me put Cecile's complaint in perspective. Family Research Council is a nonprofit just like Planned Parenthood. If you don't like what I'm saying, you don't have to contribute to FRC. But if you don't like what she's saying (let alone what her organization is doing), you still have to pay for it.
At least for now. Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) is doing his best to pull out Planned Parenthood's federal funding by the roots. As part of the continuing resolution (CR) that Republicans have offered, Mike is working on an amendment that goes beyond even his Title X bill and asks that not one cent be made available "for any purpose"--not only to Planned Parenthood Federation, but to its 100-plus affiliates. Meanwhile, his colleague Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fl.) is attacking the issue from another angle: putting the administration on the stand. Now that he chairs the House Energy & Commerce oversight committee, he plans to haul HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius before Congress in a hearing. In light of the Lila Rose tapes, he wants to know why taxpayers are funding an organization that repeatedly covers up child prostitution and sexual abuse. "We're going to bring Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, put her under oath... and ask her to explain what she is doing about these videos," he said. "We're not going to wait for Attorney General [Eric] Holder to do anything. And if she lies, then we're going to ask the attorney general to investigate her."
America's biggest abortion factory is on the run. Contact your congressmen and tell them to defund Planned Parenthood! Click here to encourage your member to back the GOP's pro-life, pro-pocketbook budget!

Beautiful Women Get a Life!!!

2011-02-16T10:19:00.001-08:00

Woo hoo! This is thrilling news! The power of God manifests Himself in these two powerful women joining together to protect lives; both of women and the unborn babies they carry:)

Abby Johnson Brings Insider Knowledge of Corruption within Planned Parenthood

“Planned Parenthood often turns a blind eye to sexual abuse and trafficking.”

Media contact: Colleen O’Boyle,media@liveaction.org, (703) 683-5004 ext. 122

February 16, 2011 – Today Live Action announced the addition of Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood director and employee of eight years, to the Live Action team as Chief Research Strategist.

“Abby Johnson has seen the abuses inside Planned Parenthood with her own eyes and confirms the danger its clinics pose to women and young girls,” stated Live Action President Lila Rose. “She is a courageous trailblazer despite Planned Parenthood’s desperate attempts to attack her and silence the truth. We are thrilled and very thankful to have Abby join our team and are confident that her first-hand experience, conviction and guidance will provide invaluable counsel to Live Action as we advance our common goal of protecting women and children from the abuses of Planned Parenthood.”

Author of the new book “Unplanned,” Johnson worked and volunteered for Planned Parenthood for eight years until October of 2009 when she witnessed a 13-week old baby in an ultrasound-guided abortion lose the fight for its life in the womb. She is now a pro-life advocate. Since her conversion of heart, Johnson has also confirmed that the alarming incidents revealed by Live Action’s undercover investigations are not isolated incidents.

“I can tell you from experience that Planned Parenthood often turns a blind eye to sexual abuse and trafficking – what you see in Live Action’s videos is not a rare occurrence. But ignorance is no defense, especially when it has turned their clinics into a safe haven for those who sexually exploit women and girls. This is not a training problem so much as it is an ideology problem. I am humbled and eager to begin this partnership with Live Action so that together we can expose the serious harm Planned Parenthood poses to the most vulnerable among us.”

Live Action has previously released more than a dozen hidden camera videos from ten states. This body of visual evidence shows several alarming patterns of illegal Planned Parenthood activities including the willingness to aid and abet the sex trafficking of young girls, the cover-up of sexual abuse of minors, the skirting of parental consent laws, citing unscientific and fabricated medical information to manipulate women to have abortions, and Planned Parenthood’s willingness to accept donations earmarked to abort African-American babies.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2011-02-14T13:14:00.001-08:00

Saxon Math? Apologia Science?

2011-02-11T08:19:00.001-08:00

Okay, so here it is, decision time...

Does anyone amongst my followers use either of these programs? What do you think? Pros? Cons? Let me know???

Pray for Egypt, Pray for Africa, Pray for Democracy!

2011-02-11T07:47:00.000-08:00

From the Heritage Foundation:

Egypt Exposes Obama Doctrine Happy Talk

The Obama Administration thought they had solved the crisis in Egypt. Yesterday in Marquette, Michigan, President Barack Obama told students at Northern Michigan University, "What is absolutely clear is that we are witnessing history unfold. It’s a moment of transformation that’s taking place because the people of Egypt are calling for change." But hours later, after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to step down, White House officials were "stumbling for their next step in a crisis that was spinning out of their control." How could President Obama have gotten events in Egypt so wrong?

The answer could be found hours earlier when both Leon Panetta, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and General James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, testified before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. First, Panetta touched off an avalanche of erroneous expectations when he testified that there was a "strong likelihood" that President Mubarak would step down by the end of the day. And where did Panetta get this valuable intel? The New York Times reports: "American officials said Mr. Panetta was basing his statement not on secret intelligence but on media broadcasts." The Washington Post adds: "Panetta, who had little intelligence experience before taking the CIA job two years ago, has been praised … for handling public controversies with a deft touch. … Unlike other senior intelligence officials who were more circumspect in their comments on Egypt, Panetta did not hesitate in offering assessments of the rapidly shifting events."

But the Obama Administration’s intelligence fumbling did not end there. Just 30 minutes after Panetta passed off CNN headlines as CIA intelligence, General Clapper created his own entire reality when he testified that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is "largely secular." This is, of course, completely false. In reality, the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, is the Middle East’s oldest and most influential Islamist movement. Outlawed in Egypt since 1954, when it attempted to assassinate former President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Brotherhood retains the long-term goal of creating an Islamist state and implementing Sharia law. An offshoot of the Brotherhood, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981, perpetrated a series of terrorist attacks in Egypt in the 1990s, and became part of al-Qaeda. Another offshoot, the Palestinian Islamist extremist group Hamas, won elections in Gaza in 2006, staged a coup in 2007 to transform Gaza into a terrorist base, and remains committed to destroying Israel.

Clapper’s office later issued a statement to "clarify" General Clapper’s testimony, but the original testimony—especially when placed in the context of Panetta’s claims and President Obama’s speech—shows an Administration that has far too much faith in the power of the President’s rhetoric and not nearly enough concern about our enemies in the Middle East.

The worst possible outcome of the present crisis would be to replace President Mubarak’s authoritarian regime with the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a totalitarian Islamist agenda. This would ultimately be a disaster for freedom in Egypt as well as for American interests in Egypt and the wider Middle East. Washington should work quietly behind the scenes with the leadership of the army and leverage its $1.5 billion in annual aid to Cairo to ensure the emergence of a government that respects the freedom and human rights of its own citizens, complies with Egypt’s international obligations to fight terrorism, and carries out its legal obligations under Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

My Response to Liturgical Music Take 2

2011-02-09T18:28:00.000-08:00

Wow! Fantastic!!!

My Response to Liturgical Music

2011-02-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

Pro Life Quiz

2011-02-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

So this is a very interesting video from the March for Life. A.L.L . went around and quizzed pro lifers on their basic recognition of PP and Lila Rose. Amazing response! Angelina Jolie anyone???

Tuesday's Biggest Loser Report

2011-02-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

I firmly resolve...

Well, here it is 2 weeks later, and I'm back to the 10 lbs total mark. I didn't post last week because I didn't lose weight. I re-lost it again this week (if I'm allowed to say that?) and Mike and I have recommitted to our weight loss goals.

It's all about resolve. Resolve can form habits, and it can keep from breaking them. I need to make healthy lifestyle choices into habits. Otherwise its so easy to fall into the old habits. But I'm resolved now and I hope it will make a difference.

Thanks for your prayers, and I'm hoping to post again next week!

Why Be Catholic?

2011-02-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

I have to admit it, I really hate being a Catholic sometimes. I love the Church, I love her as a means of salvation, I love that Christ founded her as His Immaculate Bride. I love her laws, I love her ways, I love her House, and that she holds within her the Body of Christ. But man, sometimes I hate actually living it out.

Its because I live in, and prescribe to, a culture that does absolutely everything it can to be comfortable. I spend countless amounts of time and money on my comfort. On my appearance. There is my hair styling products to help pump up my hair when it's gone limp, and the other products to keep it flat when its too full. There is the makeup to hide the wrinkles, and the zits and blotches. The concealer to hide the bags under my eyes. There are the girdles to hide the fat rolls. The perfume to hide the smell of sweat. I hide so much of myself, is it any wonder that I hate confession?

And then I walk into Church and am greeted by so many members of my society trying to do the same thing. All sending the very clear message..."Don't you dare judge me!" Not because there isn't anything blatant to judge in our actions and persons, but because we're 'beyond such things'. The same guy walking in front of me to receive communion was just bragging about his vasectomy at the boss's party last week. The woman over there with her two kids was offended when asked if she was going to try for more "Me? No way! I'm done and I've had 'them' tied to prove it!" But you'd better sit yourself down in the pew, pray up, and shut up, because I am 'above judgment'. Come on...Let's be honest. Being yelled at for judging a pew-sitter in the Catholic Church today is like being yelled at for walking into a strip joint and staring at breasts.

We sing these hymns as we sit there in our corpulent bodies "Lord, fill us". What for? Its obvious from our bloated fingers grasped in prayer, and our aching hips and knees on those kneelers, that we are overly-full. Or those great hymns of "Companions on the Journey" or "Bread for the Journey". Journey for what? The blind leading the blind in a prodigal path, slipping further and further away from Him who Is the Truth.

I pretend to love the Holy Family. I've even got myself convinced. But birthing babies in an animal cave? Raising my children in poverty? That's for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. "Come follow me" was Christ's call. "To the ends of the earth Lord!" At least that's what I want to assure him of, and yet I can't even crucify my passions.

I look at the Saints in the Church. Here are the great men and women that God put into this world to herald the great Faith. And I know that for my part, I get in their way and drown out their message. Saints were people who suffered and they understood the value of it. They slept on boards, they watched their children get dismembered by lions, they were crucified backwards, forwards, and upside down. I know I don't stand a chance - outside of God's mercy that is. I feel it's suffering when I enter my "too small" house that's warm, lit, and has a working sewer system. These great men and women would die for their Faith, I feel like its death when members of my family no longer speak to me, because I'm just "too Catholic".

Then there are those modern day leaders of the Church. Those giants in the Catholic realm who stand apart for their witness. Padre Pio used to groan for the hordes of people who would flock to see him. Not because he didn't want to visit those whom Christ sent to him. But because the more Christ would show himself in the Padre, the more Padre would have to suffer for it. Do we really understand that? Did Mel Gibson? Did Bud MacFarlane? Did Fr. Euteneuer? No, and they fell. So, if these guys who are stronger in so many ways than I - God have pity on me and spare me, a sinner!

Why is abortion legal? There were 400,000 people who Marched for Life in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago. Did you hear anything about it? But 30,000 people gather in a square in Egypt and its flooding the news. So 30K are looking for the fall of tyranny in their country after 30 years, and yet we still tolerate it 34 years later in the form of abortion. Let's face it. Democrat politicians are blatantly pro-death. Republican politicians are pro-death, but will call themselves pro-life in order to garner your vote. We're being duped and we're allowing ourselves to be. The political system in this country is broken, elections don't mean anything anymore, no matter whose hands we're in, whether we're asses or elephants. If we're to be a moral and educated people, then why are we as a society so blatantly immoral, so blatantly uneducated? We need to vote with our pocketbooks, and yet we still fund organizations that fund Planned Parenthood. How was that McDonald's? Shopped at Target lately? If everyone in that crowd of 400,000 had withheld even one dollar for the day on these organizations, that might have been enough to turn us around. But again, we're comfortable with the fact that we can get together once a year for one more year.

We're a missionary country - here in the United States. And yet, how much evangelization for the Church takes place? How many RCIA classes welcome people from all walks of life, to make it as "easy as possible" to enter the Church? Yes, I went through the equivalent of this program when I became a Catholic. I know how it works. I never heard about the Catholic stance on birth control, on homosexuality, on the male Priesthood, I guess it was assumed I would understand all that as a former agnostic. And the problem now is that there are few Roman Catholics in this country. There are Americans in this country, who are trying to stake a claim in a religion that has become so watered down that the word 'catholic' could just be a common noun. God forbid that you mention the Magisterium. Scripture might be acceptable, but don't ever mention Tradition. "...and the rich man went away sad." "...many who heard this teaching were unable to accept it and went away." "Will you leave me too?" Not all who encountered Christ could endure what He stood for. And yet His Church is whoring herself to sell the treasure of His Body and Blood real cheap. It doesn't matter what you believe, just come. It doesn't matter what you live when you leave, so long as you warm that bench once a week while you're here. And when you're gone with the angels to the Judgement Seat, and you realize that what we've sold you is a bunch of malarkey, we'll assure everyone that you're in a better place. Did we forget that Christ did not come to save the world? He came to save souls, and yet we try to fool ourselves into acts of false charity in order to assure our salvation. "Thou shalt not judge" has become the greatest commandment, eclipsing "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, thy whole mind, and thy whole soul." When we love we come to know the other. How can we know the other if we do not judge the knowing to be true and right. By this new form of heresy, we're supposed to flounder around in the dark, keeping our light under a bushel basket.

Embarking on a journey of Faith starts only when the applause stops. Faith is lived once you stop feeling good about it. Charity counts only when it hurts to give it. Hope is gained only when its the only thing left that you have to cling to. When you encounter self and realize what a wretch self is...Hope is the only thing you can count on; hope for the mercy of God.

And this is why I hate being a Catholic. And this is why I'm starting to love it desperately.

O Come Little Children

2011-01-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

My husband and I have been open to life since the beginning of our marriage. We made it a vow to the point of a charism in our vocation to "accept children lovingly and raise them according to the Catholic Church". If we were trying to "make a point" in our parenting, it would be that we were parents who were open to any and all children God would send us.

Well, my first born son, an answer to my prayers, got sick this evening. He has a nervous stomach, and as he's an intensely emotional boy, we usually have no warning when he's going to be sick. He'll be fine one second, and then the next, he's running for the bathroom.

Well, tonight he got sick. And of course, he was too far away from the bathroom to make it. So my husband and I spent dinnertime cleaning up after our eldest child. I began to gripe about it in my heart. "Why couldn't he make it?" "Why couldn't he just accept that he had an upset stomach, and not try to force himself to eat?" and on and on and on...I stopped suddenly and it came to me...I rant and rave like this in my heart all the time about my kids at various points of inconvenience throughout the day. Wasn't caring for my children what I was most looking forward to as my vocation of mother? Tending to them, fulfilling their wants and needs to the best of my ability? Then why, when faced with that opportunity, was I shirking it and begrudging it in my heart?

The answer hit me between the eyes: I haven't been recognizing Christ in them. Do I care for them as I would if it were Christ there? If Christ were asking me to tie his shoes, to wipe his nose, to clean his laundry, to bathe, dress, and feed him?

I remember as a young girl, hearing my mother tend to my brother (who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy) in the early mornings. She would bathe him, dress him for the day, feed him breakfast, and get him medicated, all usually before the rest of the house was awake. And she used to sing that hymn "Whatsoever you do, to the least of my people, that you do unto me". I never got it then, careless as I was in my youth, why she was intent upon singing that hymn to my brother. She wasn't singing it to him, she was singing it in prayer to our Lord.

I am called to be a mother, in imitation of our Blessed Mother. She nurtured and loved the Christ child right up through his execution. She loved and served him faithfully, in the perfect love of a perfect mother. And yet, through my sinfulness I've forgotten this most important component of my vocation. I take it for granted that my family is growing in the Faith. I do not readily realize that there is a Faith message to be found in my family. That Christ can be found in each member of my family. Would I change, feed, dress, rock, play, and care for the Christ child as carelessly as I do my own children sometimes? The answer is "no".

Oh Lord, forgive me for my careless ways. Help me not to be distracted in your call to care for these little ones, but to care for them as if you were there in them. May my care of these your little flock, help to bring both their souls and mine, closer to you.

Blessed Mother, help me in my work. Help me to tend to them and love and care for them as you would the Christ child whom you bore.

Amen.

Beautiful picture

2011-01-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

Young Catholic/Christian soldiers at the March

2011-01-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful testament to the Faith. I was born after Roe v. Wade, and so were most of the young people at the March. They really were marching for their lost brothers and sisters. For those of you who are young and feeling alone in your Catholic journey, I urge you, find a way to attend the March for Life next year. You are not alone, and you are blessed by so many who are praying and working for life just like you!

Youth Turnout Strong at US March for Life

Participants Urged to Fight Against Culture of Death

WASHINGTON, D.C., JAN. 25, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., had a new energy this year due to a significant youth presence among the hundreds of thousands of protesters.
Each year since the Jan. 22, 1973, Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States, marchers from across the country have taken to the streets in the nation's capital in protest. Although the protest is traditionally held on the anniversary date of the Roe v. Wade decision, this year, since that day fell on a weekend, the March for Life took place on Monday, in order to allow for the interchange of the people with their representative lawmakers.
This year's protest, which drew up to 400,000 people, featured a majority of young people born after the court decision.
One participant, Richard McGill, of Elmira Heights, New York, a regular participant at the annual March for Life since the beginning, told the National Catholic Register that there has been a "dramatic change the last few years."
"Try to find the old-timers," he said. "It's mostly young people now."
McGill added: "Something is going to change sometime. You can see it in the young people."
As is tradition, the march was preceded by a youth rally and Mass on Monday morning. This year, however, a second venue was added to accommodate the growing numbers of young people.
Some 34,000 gathered in the Verizon Center and the D.C. Armory for the rallies, and six additional Masses were held at churches around the capital city.
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, addressed the youth and shared with them a message from Benedict XVI.
Alive
In his homily at the armory, Father Patrick Riffle, parochial vicar at St. Peter Church in Olney, Maryland, observed the energy in the crowd: "The Church is young; the Church is alive! Man, I love being Catholic!"
He acknowledged that "what we are dealing with here is something much greater than just the issue of abortion."
The priest continued: "It is a state of mind; a way of thinking that fails to recognize the beauty and dignity of the human person. It is a mentality that says that it is all about me."
"If I am only seeking my good, and you are only seeking what is good you, then all we are doing then is simply using each other," he stated. "What we are dealing with is, as the soon to be beatified Pope John Paul II rightfully named it, the culture of death."
Father Riffle explained: "This is the mentality that lies behind violence, terrorism, and discrimination. It is what is behind drug and alcohol abuse, pornography and pre-marital sex and contraception."
"If we are going to rid our nation of the tragedy of abortion," he added, "if we are going to be truly pro-life, we are going to have to rid our society and ourselves of this culture of death."
Pro-Christ
"The Gospel of life is proclaimed first and foremost in the living out of our Catholic faith in daily life," the priest affirmed.
He urged the young people: "If you as a Catholic want to be pro-life, you must be pro-Christ. That means that you must seek to live out your Catholic faith in its entirety."
"The best way that you as young person can really be a living witness to the Gospel of life is through living lives that are chaste and pure," Father Riffle said.
He continued, "Keeping sex within the context of marriage, not viewing pornographic materials, keeping your Facebook page free from inappropriate materials all reaffirm your belief in that the dignity that belongs to each and every person."
"Men, you need to take the charge in this," the priest asserted. "So often the media and advocates for abortion would like to portray life issues as a woman's issues, but it is an issue for both women and men alike."
"We are naturally the protectors of life," he affirmed. "Never do anything that seeks to objectify or lessen the dignity of anyone, yourselves included, but most especially the dignity of a woman."
Changing culture
At the Verizon Center, Father Mark Ivany, parochial vicar at the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, Maryland, gave the homily.
He underlined the need to know what it means to be human as God created us, in his image and likeness.
"As Catholics we all know the One who created us, the One who knows us and who loves us," the priest affirmed.
He stated, "We must remember that our mission is not just to change one law in our country; our mission is to change the whole culture of our country."
Father Ivany underlined the need "to create a culture in our country that recognizes and protects human life from conception to natural death, a culture that sees the importance of purity and chastity before marriage and the gift of openness to life in marriage."
"You do this every time we live our lives the way Jesus intended humans to live," he encouraged the youth, "every time you say no to sex before marriage, and yes to purity, every time you say no to materialism and yes to helping the less fortunate, every time you help a friend to say no to abortion, and yes to life, and every time you help someone who has been involved in an abortion to get help."
In this way, the priest said, "you are setting an example that will lead to the end of the culture of death and the beginning to a culture of life, the culture that we were created to live in."

Another great video from Micahael Voris

2011-01-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

Tuesday's Biggest Loser Report

2011-01-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

I lost 2 more pounds this week! Make that a *drumroll please* total of 10 pounds! Yay!

There have been ups and downs this week. And I realized today most importantly that I can't gague my weight lost on how I'm feeling. I thought for sure this week had been a gain, or anything but a loss. Nope, I lost. God is good.

I started exercising today. I'm feeling stressed out, low down, anxious, and grouchy. I was heading towards that gallon of ginger snap ice cream in the freezer and I decided...Try exercising first. So I popped on the bike for 20 minutes. My legs are numb, my butt hurts. But my munchies are gone and my mood is improved. Aw, the benefits of exercising! They're coming back to me...

Thank you for your prayers. I feel good about the future. So excited by my newfound energy levels. About seeing my cheekbones again:)

I'll keep you posted! Literally! Next Monday I'm joining a woman's group that is meeting once a month. A support/prayer group to help members achieve their goals. This one is mine:)

Why I Homeschool

2011-01-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

I've never been asked this question, although I know many are perplexed and curious about my decision to do so. Quite simply, I homeschool for my benefit of my children. It has nothing to do with anyone who has proven a positive or negative example of any other type of schooling. I don't do it to strike or affirm anyone else's parenting. In the first years of our marriage Mike and I made a pact not to criticize other people's children, because, quite honestly, they weren't ours. "Not my kid", and it helped us immensely to remain friendly with most of our peers and family. Kids have quirks, I've learned this now by my fifth. It's often not the intention of the parents for these kids to have such quirks. I can't judge the parents based on what I see in their children, and I wouldn't pretend to be in a position to do so. Mike and I have been falsely accused of many things, but in my heart I know that all the children I hold in my circle of acquaintance are there solely because I love them all dearly and they are very important members of my life.

But, why do I homeschool? Well, again, its for my children. I love to watch them learn. I love to watch them grow in knowledge. I remember with my first son, as he approached the age of 4, I moaned and groaned that it seemed all he could ask was "why". The infamous "why" phase that every child has. Well now that I have many more children, I've taken on the hope that none of my children ever outgrow the "why" phase. Whether they be four or forty four. Some of the most successful entrepeneurs are those unafraid to ask "why" or rather "why not". I want my children to continue to love learning. To let learning be an organic experience of their young lives so they fully embrace in their secondary and post-secondary educations. In homeschooling, my children learn very quickly and very soon in their educational career to independently study. To continue to pursue truths and theories even after the books are put away. I see one sitting in the corner trying to sound out words from a book, even though we finished reading an hour ago. I see another drawing with his sister and practicing writing letters, even though we have yet to do his letter drilling for the day. As I'm washing the dishes from lunch I'm engaging one in Religion, in ethics, in politics, in social sciences, and he's only six.

'Yes, but Patty, my kids go to such and such a school, and they do all these same things. What makes your kids so special, so important, that you take pride in what they've learned or how they learn it? My kids read in their spare time, and they draw, and they talk together and to me, and they do all these things as well.' Then, I can only surmise that you do in your household the same thing in your parental role that I do in mine, encourage learning. And that is a great thing.

I homeschool my children for my Faith. I admit, if we could at all afford it, Mike and I would have sent our children to Catholic school. We love our Faith, we love the Church, and its a gift we want to pass on to our children. We want our children to learn the Faith, to come to love the Faith, to have a relationship with Christ and his Immaculate Bride. I love to see my little ones learning to pray. I love to hear my older ones pretending to "say Mass". I'm excited to hear my eldest teach the others to read from the Bible and to talk to his father about God. I want them to grow up secure in the love that God has for them, and to thrive in that love.

'Yes, but Patty, my kids go to such and such a school, and they know and love God and his Catholic Church. Why would you think that your kids wouldn't have Faith if they went to public school?' I never said that. I said only that I delight in having a role to help my children come to the Faith and to learn it. No matter what school environment they were in, my kids would learn the Faith at home because, as poor an example I am of it, I love the Church and all of Her graces. Praise God that your children live in a household that has a strong example of the love of God in you, the parents. That you encourage Faith in an environment that may not always be supportive of it. Again, that is a great thing.

I homeschool my children for the chance to go to college. That's a stretch, I hear you saying. But I'm sure you didn't know that 99% of homeschooled students are recipients of scholarships to higher education. In recent years, the trend has been for colleges and universities to search out homeschoolers to join to their student body. Mike and I are poor, and we have a lot of children. The chances that we will be able to pay in entirety all of our children's college tuition at this point is an impossibility. While we will help in whatever way we can, homeschooling is a way for our children to help themselves. That is our hope anyway, and we work everyday in school to guarantee it.

'Yes, but Patty, my kids go to such and such a school, and because of their grades, their involvement in various extra curricular activities, and their application to various organizations, they will have college money when they need it.' Again, I applaud you as a parent for being so supportive in their college pursuits. Its a great sign of a parent, imho, who can lend so much of themselves to ensure their children are given opportunities at education.

I homeschool for my children. My schooling days are filled with joys and challenges. With prayers and hopes and dreams. With laughter and frustration. But they are days that are cherished and well lived out. As every school day ought to be. As every school day is for children who's parents are involved in their schooling. If you're interested in my schooling, its only because you are intersted in your own student's schooling. I don't have to sell homeschooling to you. It's not an option you may care to be involved in. That's fine. It works for us, but I know it doesn't work for everyone. I do it for my children. And at the end of the day, I do what every good parent does. My...absolute...best...for...my...children...

To paraphrase a quote from I believe Fulton Sheen, for those who believe in homeschooling no explanation of why it is done is necessary. For those who don't believe in homeschooling, no explanation of why it is done will suffice.

I do it for my children. Because I love them. Because I want what's best for them. In the end, its because I'm trying to be the best parent I can be. And despite my greatest efforts, they'll still turn out just fine.

God's Timing

2011-01-19T05:56:00.000-08:00

I love God. That's no lie. That's no secret. But how great is His Divine Timing?

Don't you find it incredible to the point of prophetic that our National Right to Life March in Washington D.C., the same March that last year drew over 300,000 people to the capital to march on the Supreme Court...That this same March is happening con-currently with the visit of China's president, whose name will not be mentioned???

Everyone who reads my blog, or the excellent postings by Steven Mosher, knows that China has the largest forced population control in the world, and that China is the largest abortion giant in our bloody history. Part of the reason why the United Nations continues to fund their efforts (same ideologies). God is good! And I hope that our example makes him angry. That the communist gets mad at our Freedom of Speech for the Freedom of Life. I also hope that our spineless president doesn't try to contain our efforts in the attempt to please our new master (considering how much of our debt is owned by China, we are endentured servants to this godless communist country.) Well let him fume. We're still a democracy. At least this week.

I'm continuing to pray for all of you on the March...Maybe one or two of you might find a picture of this so called world leader and post it next to our own national messiah (a.k.a. what was once called the POTUS). It might just bring the point home...Life is sacred, for those who believe in sacred.

Here's a video by Steven Mosher:

PRI Intro from Population Research Institute on Vimeo.

In Honor of Roe v. Wade: A Catholic Perspective

2011-01-19T03:35:00.000-08:00

Please, please, please...If you do nothing else for me this week...

Read this article.

I was supposed to write the third edition of my trilogy on Humane Vitae, well this author, Peter Kreeft who wrote the article above says everything I wanted to say in a much more articulate manner. I'll leave it to him. (H/T Mike from Exultet...Thanks Honey:) I know its long, but if you understand the Catholic pro life movement, this about sums it up for all of us I think...

I have been struggling with the fact that Mike and I aren't able to go to the March for Life in D.C. this year. Even with God's abundant grace to get there, we just can't get it in the budget to get there. Reading this article became a form of prayer for me, and it helped me to understand that we have a lot more work to do than to just head down to Washington D.C. every year. I don't underestimate that in the least, and I'm with all of you in spirit on your Pilgrimage praying in reparation for the bloodbath of America. I would ask that if there are any who would like to unite themselves in prayer to the movement, please, please, please read the above article.

And yes, if I had the means, I would print it out and send it to everyone of my Catholic friends! Hahahah! But I have Blogger, right?

Tuesday's Biggest Loser Report

2011-01-18T17:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!
Well, I lost 1.5 lbs this week. Pretty good for me, enough to keep the momentum going.

Here's my shameless plug of the week. Mike and I started eating Wanchi Ferry Chinese food. We prefer the frozen dinners, but they're more expensive and more fattening then the box dinners. But for those Chinese food lovers out there, this hits the spot. My favorite box dinner that they have is Kung Po Chicken! Yummy!

So I'm figuring out what to do about exercise. A gym membership...Haha! Yeah right, way too expensive! Plus I don't have the time to go by myself. An exercise class might be more up my alley, but again, its not in the budget yet. Well...It occurred to me as I was pondering this morning over what to do about this problem. Gabby is just starting to take to her exersaucer and Bumbo seat. She sits and stands in either of these contraptions for about 10 minutes apiece. Well, I remember reading that you don't have to exercise straight through your 30 minute daily goal to acheive it. Exercising in spurts works too. Bingo! I get her in there, and get on my bike. There's my exercise. And then, when we shovel out this spring, I hope to take the kids for some bike rides (my older ones can bike themselves, and the girls can use the cart...Man! What a workout that is!) There we go.

Sorry this is short, but I want to keep you posted. I'm battling a major head cold tonight so I'm going offline for the evening. Keeping everyone in my prayers!

Cantique de Jean Racine

2011-01-14T19:15:00.000-08:00

So everyone remembers that famous scene in Babe. Okay, I know what you're thinking...Is there a famous scene in that movie? Is Babe able to be 'relateable' to famous at all? Okay, so for those of you who attached themselves to that innocent movie like I did in my youth...Go with me for a moment. The night of the terrible storm. The one before the big show with the Boss. Where the cat disses the pig and he runs off somewhere. Well the memorable part for me was the T.V. show the Boss was watching, more noticeably, the girls' rendition of Cantique de Jean Racine. I felt it was almost a form of blasphemy that the piece was knocked about by the storm. How could a director, with any sense of artistic sensitivity cut out such a beautiful piece???

I'm very Irish. It's true, I'm even a hot head when I'm drunk (not that that happens too often;) So when I heard the title of this very French piece, I assumed it was a song to a lady that Faure was enfatuated with. Boy was I wrong! Turns out this song is actually a hymn of praise to our Lord. And I've decided tonight that it is a Hymn I want sung at my Funeral.

Here are the lyrics' translations and then please enjoy a beautiful piece with me. I promise, disaster aside, that the power will not be knocked out in the middle of this piece:)...

Word, equal to the Most High, our only hope,
Eternal day of the earth and the heavens,
From the peaceful night we break the silence,
Divine Savior, cast your eyes upon us!

Spread upon us the fire of your powerful wisdom
May all hell disappear at the sound of your voice;
Dispel that slumber of a languishing soul,
Which has driven it to forget your way!

Oh Christ, be favourable to this faithful people
Now gathered to bless you.
Receive the songs it offers to your immortal glory,
And may it return filled with your gifts!

Vatican announces beatification of Servant of God John Paul II

2011-01-14T06:41:00.000-08:00

H/T Paul Zalonski at Communio

Read the entire Vatican post here.

"John Paul II’s pontificate was an eloquent and clear sign, not only for Catholics, but also for world public opinion, for people of all colour and creed. The world’s reaction to his lifestyle, to the development of his apostolic mission, to the way he bore his suffering, to the decision to continue his Petrine mission to the end as willed by divine Providence, and finally, the reaction to his death, the popularity of the acclamation “Saint right now!” which someone made on the day of his funerals, all this has its solid foundation in the experience of having met with the person who was the Pope. The faithful have felt, have experienced that he is “God’s man”, who really sees the concrete steps and the mechanisms of contemporary world “in God”, in God’s perspective, with the eyes of a mystic who looks up to God only. He was clearly a man of prayer: so much so that it is from the dynamism of his personal union with God, from the permanent listening to what God wants to say in a concrete situation, that the whole of “Pope John Paul II’s activity” flowed. Those who were closest to him have been able to see that, prior to his meetings with his guests, with Heads of State, with Church high officials or ordinary citizens, John Paul II would recollect himself in prayer according to the intentions of the guests and of the meeting that was to come."

Band of Brothers Hero Dies...

2011-01-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

My husband and I are huge Band of Brothers fans. Of course we own the HBO movie, but in coming to know the men of the 101st Airborn, we know real American heroes. The leader of the movement - Captain "Dick" Winters passed away. Please keep him in your prayers, and what a very sad day for America.

PHILADELPHIA - Richard "Dick" Winters, the Easy Company commander whose World War II exploits were made famous by the book and television miniseries "Band of Brothers," died last week in central Pennsylvania. He was 92.

Winters died following a several-year battle with Parkinson's disease, longtime family friend William Jackson said Monday.

An intensely private and humble man, Winters had asked that news of his death be withheld until after his funeral, Jackson said. Winters lived in Hershey, Pa., but died in suburban Palmyra.

The men Winters led expressed their admiration for their company commander after learning of his death.

William Guarnere, 88, said what he remembers about Winters was "great leadership."

"When he said 'Let's go,' he was right in the front," Guarnere, who was called "Wild Bill" by his comrades, said Sunday night from his South Philadelphia home. "He was never in the back. A leader personified."

Another member of the unit living in Philadelphia, Edward Heffron, 87, said thinking about Winters brought a tear to his eye.

"He was one hell of a guy, one of the greatest soldiers I was ever under," said Heffron, who had the nickname "Babe" in the company. "He was a wonderful officer, a wonderful leader. He had what you needed, guts and brains. He took care of his men, that's very important."

Winters was born Jan. 21, 1918 and studied economics at Franklin & Marshall College before enlisting, according to a biography on the Penn State website.

Winters became the leader of Company E, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division on D-Day, after the death of the company commander during the invasion of Normandy.

During that invasion, Winters led 13 of his men in destroying an enemy battery and obtained a detailed map of German defenses along Utah Beach. In September 1944, he led 20 men in a successful attack on a German force of 200 soldiers. Occupying the Bastogne area of Belgium at the time of the Battle of the Bulge, he and his men held their place until the Third Army broke through enemy lines, and Winters shortly afterward was promoted to major.

After returning home, Winters married his wife, Ethel, in May 1948, and trained infantry and Army Ranger units at Fort Dix during the Korean War. He started a company selling livestock feed to farmers, and he and his family eventually settled in a farmhouse in Hershey, Pa., where he retired.

Historian Stephen Ambrose interviewed Winters for the 1992 book "Band of Brothers," upon which the HBO miniseries that started airing in September 2001 was based. Winters himself published a memoir in 2006 entitled "Beyond Band of Brothers."

Two years ago, an exhibit devoted to Winters was dedicated at the Hershey-Derry Township Historical Society. Winters, in frail health in later years, has also been the subject of a campaign to raise money to erect a monument in his honor near the beaches of Normandy.

Winters talked about his view of leadership for an August 2004 article in American History Magazine:

"If you can," he wrote, "find that peace within yourself, that peace and quiet and confidence that you can pass on to others, so that they know that you are honest and you are fair and will help them, no matter what, when the chips are down."

When people asked whether he was a hero, he echoed the words of his World War II buddy, Mike Ranney: "No, but I served in a company of heroes."

"He was a good man, a very good man," Guarnere said. "I would follow him to hell and back. So would the men from E Company."

Arrangements for a public memorial service are pending.

For unto us a child is born....

2011-01-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

Big shout out of Congratulations to Anonymous Catholic Housewife who just brought a beautiful son into the world!!! For pictures of the latest most beautiful boy born yet this year look on her blog, linked above!!! God bless the entire family for a wonderful addition!!!

So we ended up with a few flurries...

2011-01-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

Mike stopped measuring at 2 feet! LOL!

What a beautiful day for the family though. I love snow days. It's God's invite for us back to the Garden of Eden. We take the day off from school, Mike stays home from work, we relax and enjoy...And well...The rest can be seen in pictures:)

Working to build the Island of Sodor

A kickboxing clown! So fun!

So Pretty!

Mike's greatest find: a snowblower! Under mounds of snow!

There are two layers of snow here, making it well over 3' deep.

Everyone came in to warm up with cocoa.

Everyone that is, except the diehard snow fans!

We broke into Christmas presents, here unearthing dinosaur fossils.

Snuggling for a Netflix

Trying out the new to her exersaucer:)

Some chose hibernation...

We found a T-Rex!!

We all enjoyed some snow cream (see previous post)

Yes, it was as good as she made it look!

Just what he needed after a hard day's nap:)

Helping himself to some more...


This mound covers what was once Mike's car!

Want a fun way to use up the snow?

2011-01-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Make snow cream!!! Enjoy! H/T foodwishes video recipes

Tuesday's Biggest Loser Report

2011-01-11T19:13:00.000-08:00

This week went well. I lost 6 and a half pounds! Yay! Want to know what that looks like?

6.5 lbs of baking goods:)

It was my honeymoon week. I didn't really have to focus on what I was eating, just focus on eating more in moderation. I am in a hard spot to start dieting. I have a newborn baby who is nursing, so I have to be careful in my caloric consumption not to cut back too much to the point that I jeopardize her milk. Also, in having a newborn I don't have the chance during the day to record what I'm eating, when I'm eating, and how many total calories I've consumed, etc. The one aspect that I really appreciated most on The Light Weigh diet program was that there was no measuring, no calorie counting. Everytime you got hungry, you ate. It was really that simple. It helped you to acheive moderation by limiting that meal to one coffee cup full. That's right, every time you got hungry you had to "mug it". I was never good at this diet though in that it was too easy to "cheat" and I didn't have enough discipline to really stick to it for long. I did well on Weight Watchers before I was married. I lost over 40 lbs the first time I was on it. But the system again right now is not realistic. I don't have the chance to record everything that I ate, nor to carry around that little notebook that was my constant companion before I was married.

So my goal is to combine these two diets that worked so well, and have great principles. I'm going to work to listen to my body and to eat only when I'm hungry. I'm not going to shoot for the "points program" like WW, but I will make every conscious effort to eat a well balanced diet as per the food guide pyramid. I did well with this aspect this past week. I found there were two dangerous times for me to eat thoughtlessly - when I was stressed and when I was tired. I blew it twice this past week and both times it was because I was either stressed, tired, or both. I'd like to get a handle on my diet and then to start exercising. I'm hopeful that regular exercise will help me regain my energy and to put a better perspective on those issues that I find stressful.

So that's been my week in a nutshell:) I'm excited about the snow day we're looking at tomorrow, enjoying some down time with my family. Please know that you're in my thoughts and prayers as we continue this journey!

Gabby at 2 mos 10 days old, yes I picked the onesie!

Ha! And I thought I had a "large family"!

2011-01-09T17:22:00.001-08:00

This is a truly fantastic story of Faith and the humanity that comes when women choose life! H/T Creative Minority Report...

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

Do you make them? I used to make them faithfully, but haven't done so in recent years. I always crack up at the same New Year's Party that my husband and I attend when a mutual friend of ours announces that his "New Year's resolution is to give up making New Year's resolutions." Yes, he's been saying the same joke for 13 years we've been attending this family party and I still crack up when I hear him say it.

Well, this year, I'm going out on a limb and have decided to make some resolutions myself. And, if you my dear readers would bear with me, I'd like to post them here and keep updating my status here.

Not to be too typical, but my number one priority is to lose weight. Yes, my husband and I are in the thick of it, not to play on words. We both were on Weight Watchers before we got married, but now, 5 kids later, I'm embarrassed with my appearance. And even more directly, Gabby's pregnancy was harder on me with the extra weight, even though I did a fantastic job in my pregnancy weight gain (I think I topped out at 15 lbs total gained when I gave birth). I do want to have more children, but I know I need to be healthier and be carrying less of myself before I can carry anymore of my unborn children (God willing). My goal weight is 130, and it will take me a while to get there, but like I say, I'll keep you posted. (Not to give too much away, but I'll have to lose over 100 lbs to get there.) Mike and I are weighing in once a week, and I'd like to keep a blog post on weight lost, the journey, as well as any fun or interesting recipes I find along the way.

I'd like to make it to Daily Mass with the kids. Now, I have yet to start embarking on this goal, mainly because Gabby must have found out about it and she has allowed for me to only get about 2 hrs. total sleep in the past two nights...*sigh* But Mike and I are going through a lot of discernment right now, and there are a lot of major "life" decisions that we're going to be making right there on the horizon, I need to be closer to our Lord and the graces from His Immaculate Bride if I'm going to hear what He's guiding us to do. Plus, Lucas will need these graces for his preparations on the reception of First Holy Communion (which I'm excited to say Mike has agreed to let me prep. him at home...Praise God!!! More on that in another post!)

The above ties in directly to my prayer life. I spend so much time teaching and cleaning and tending to everyone's needs throughout the day that I neglect Our Lord. I'm so weak that I need His grace to help me to help our family throughout the day. Most importantly, I want to model a good example of a "woman who fears the Lord" for my children in the hopes that they will come to rely on Him as strongly in their adult lives as I need to. Mike and I are praying Morning and Night Prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours, and I highly recommend this routine as prescribed by the Church if you're looking for a well structured prayer routine as well.

Getting organized. Now that I've got my physical space, organized (for those who have been in my home as of late, please refrain from laughing), I'd like to get on a schedule, a routine. This is hard for me, as usually I'm overly militant (do I really need to have slots for "potty breaks" for myself???LOL!) No I mean, I'd like to have a routine, a set amount of chores per day, that I can count on doing in order to keep my house running and in order. I've tried the Fly Lady program, which worked great when I was first married, but that was also before children. I can't seem to work it in now with my homeschooling routine, so I'm trying to adapt another routine in the meantime....Yeah, I'll keep you posted on that too;)

So that about covers it. My goal this week is to secure my diet. To get my house in shape before the weekend, and to go to Mass at the very least on Friday and Saturday morning (my Parish does not have a Daily Mass on Thursdays), and to set a cleaning schedule for my house. *sigh* Life is good:)

And of course, our family is also planning our annual pilgrimage to the March for Life again this year, and I promise to keep you posted on that. Plans are in the works on that too!

My prayers are with all of you my dear readers, as we keep working towards the goals of having a goal! It's like looking for a lighthouse in the fog right now, but we'll keep turning until we see the flash!

Happy...Holy...Days...

2010-12-30T02:25:00.000-08:00

To all my dear readers, wishing you a very Merry Christmastide and a Blessed New Year!

"Frick", "Frack", "Fred", Mary and Gabby, the Fantastic Five!

We had a wonderful Christmas here at home, the kids all enjoyed a Christmas full of both presents that were wrapped and family presence that was enjoyed. My father came from Idaho, my sister (whom I had not seen for over a year and a half) came to have dinner with us the week prior to Christmas. My better half's family enjoyed the holidays together after having to postpone only once due to our "New England blizzard". It was an awesome Christmas for my family of littles.

"Frick" making Gingerbread houses

Our youngest son, "Fred"

We enjoyed a year of firsts this Christmas. It was the first time that I really got down and made a point to enjoy moments with each of my children. It's amazing what happened when I had my fifth baby. Something that most people obviously experience with their first baby. Time is precious, and fleeting, and this year I had this strong inner urge to enjoy the preparations of Christmas, to really enjoy them, with my children. We started some new traditions this year. We decorated gingerbread houses that were proudly put on display with our nativity scene on the china hutch. My eldest son and I decorated the trees outside (which I'm sorry to say that I haven't done in the six years I've been here.) We had an "Advent" Christmas tree that was decorated with hand made ornaments by my children. I picked three new people to randomly send a Christmas card to, and invited new friends for dinner and merriment. The children and I went caroling this year to some shut ins in our Parish. I opted not to work so many Masses this Christmas Eve into Christmas to enjoy more time with my family (in the past I've been hired to sing/play at up to six Masses, this past Christmas, I went to three.) I got a sense this year, in spite of our economy, that the money can wait, but that my family cannot. And that's a decision that I will never regret, despite my children's obliviousness to it.

"Frack" making Gingerbread Houses

We have looked three different times at the same house in a neighboring town. It's a small duplex that sits on a third of an acre. Unlike most of these mill-style houses though, this one is divided into a 5 bedroom unit and a 1 bedroom efficiency rental. It seems like a good opportunity for us, a good "next step", as we struggle to make the best decision for our ever-growing family in our ever-shrinking accomodations. We're going to sit tight for a little while longer and see what the start of 2011 looks like before we make such a major decision. I ask that you all keep us in your prayers as we discern this point.

Gabby and Dad

Mary

Gabriella has proven to be an enormous blessing for our family. Already in her young life she has been shunned by Priests and family alike. She, the fifth child, must have been 'a mistake in a fit of passion that is a glaring embarrassment for us'. Yes, that is the stigma we have faced this past fall as she continues her life's journey with our family. People who were so quick to visit and leave friendly cards and gifts on the arrival of our first baby, now deride us with scorn on our fifth. They obviously don't know Gabriella the way her brothers, her sister, as her mom and her dad do. They can't see that big drooly grin that she's developing, they can only see her bobbing head as I carry her in the sling through the grocery store and juggle the other four. They can't know how well loved and cared for she is by all of her siblings and mom during the day, they can only assume she is ignored and starved for attention since she 'must have been such an afterthought'. They can't hear her Doctor marvel at how strong and healthy she is, and how lucky we are to have such a beautiful baby, they can only assume that we are investors at our local Pediatric clinic with all the business we provide them. Well in the end, our laughter of delight will be the only sound left ringing in the ears of the cynics. For she is indeed a beautiful, happy, healthy, and very much loved new member of our family. And yet again, God has given me the grace of not remembering life without her, now that she is here. I look at my children, my greatest gift and joy this Christmas season, and I see in them a future bright with hope and wonder. That same glimmer of hope burns out all the brighter with each candle that is newly lit in the lives that are born here in our small and poor family. As I let go of so many superfluous and shallow things to be more and more open to the grace that God has given me in my children, I realize that I am blessed, truly blessed, to have the loving support of my husband - a holy and righteous man of God, to have the outreach of a pro-life community in my Parish and in my friends, to have the grace that even comes to us from family members who may have chosen a different path for us. In the end I am richly blessed, and grateful for the blessing.

Lord, this coming year, help me not to count the crosses that you ask me to bear, but to give thanks for all the blessings that those crosses symbolize.

Wishing you a prayer-filled, peaceful, Holy Christmastide, and a joyous and prosperous New Year.

Second verse of the "Star Spangled Banner"

2010-12-16T17:12:00.001-08:00

Diocesan Concert this Sunday

2010-11-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

For my friends in or near CT, this promises to be a great presentation of Vivaldi's works. Please come and enjoy if you can!

Cathedral Concerts will present "Going Baroque" on Sunday, November 21 at 7:30 PM at St. Patrick Cathedral. Under the direction of Douglas Green,
Cathedral Music Director, the Norwich Diocesan Choir, orchestra, and soloists
will perform a program of 18th century sacred masterworks in the sanctuary of the
cathedral.

The program will feature Antonio Vivaldi's well known "Gloria" along with the
composer's musical setting of Psalm 112 (Beatus Vir). Soloists for both works
will be Carroll Mailhot, Mary Beth Lee and Patricia Johnson. The evening
program will also include Handel's "Let the Bright Seraphim" and Giuseppe
Torelli's "Trumpet Concerto in D" with Ken Tedeschi as trumpet soloist.

Founded in 1978 by its director, Douglas Green, the Norwich Diocesan Choir has
sung at every major diocesan event held at the Cathedral for the past 30 years.
In addition to its liturgical duties, the choir also presents annual concerts of
sacred music. The choir has sung at the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception in Washington D.C.; the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Baltimore,
MD; the Basilica of St. Patrick, Montreal, Canada; and Blessed Sacrament
Cathedral in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The concert is open to the public and donations of all amounts will be accepted at the door. Further information may be obtained by calling the Cathedral Music Office at 860-886-0403 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 860-886-0403 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

A Baby Story and the First Two Weeks

2010-11-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Wow! I have suddenly found myself this afternoon with two free hands:) So I figured I'd give you an update.
Firstly, thank you one and all who prayed and remembered me during my labor and delivery on the first. I know it was thanks to the enormous amounts of grace that I had such a smooth labor and delivery. I was trepidatious heading into an induction, but I gave it all up to God, and of course, everything turned out just fine.
Mike and I did everything we could to induce naturally (EVERYTHING:), to no avail. It was a confusing and exhausting time. I had three false labors the week prior and lots of signs that I was in labor, but I wasn't progressing. While I came to expect the false labor, I did not expect a false induction! I went in on the Thursday before Gabby was born and the Obstretrician had changed his mind about inducing me that day. He didn't feel comfortable doing that and wanted to wait and see through the weekend. *sigh* When I left that appointment he told me I was about 3 cm's dilated and about 60% effaced.
I came in Monday morning and when the midwife checked me she said I was a cent. and a half dilated and only about 50% effaced. I almost cried as I asked her how I could go backwards. She told me the measurements were all subjective and not to be too upset by it. *Yeah right!* She put me on pitocin at 9 and came in again at noon to check me, and told me I was 3 cms (for real this time:) and about 90% effaced. She broke my water and told me there was a lot of fluid between the baby's head and my cervix, and that now my contractions should be more productive. She came in again at about 1 in the afternoon to put an internal monitor on Gabby and told me that my cervix was posterior so it made it difficult to get the monitor on. I had not changed since the last time she had checked me.

My girlfriend came with her son (my Godson) and was such a blessing. She led Mike and I in the Rosary, and they worked as a team to relax me. My little Godson was cooing and babbling away in the corner, and when I looked over she was holding him and nursing him. It was so helpful to me, to hear the noises of that precious little one, and to see a mother in action. It helped motivate me to get my baby out so that I could do the same! For any non-first time mother who could not do a home birth, I would recommend the experience if its offered to have a newborn infant in your hospital room. Rather than be distracted by the sterile sounds of a hospital, I was comforted by the sounds of a beautiful baby. My girlfriend ended up having to leave around 3 (I think?), but was such a help while she was there.

Mike was also amazing! He was able to get me so relaxed during a contraction that I let go of everything. I was able to enter a quiet, peaceful place, while my body worked. I was also able to pull out of it in order to talk to the medical staff or to change positions to help labor. He never left my side, and he actually worked to go into the same state with me so that we could labor together as he coached me through each contraction. I remember at one point beginning to feel overwhelmed by the amount of work my body was doing. I didn't know if I could handle the pitocin the entire time, and was feeling a lot of doubt that I could make it. Experience kicked in and I remembered that all I could do was to take it one contraction at a time. It was then that I began to hold my prayer sacrifice intention in mind and a picture of our Lady of Fatima and that helped me to get through the afternoon.

My midwife came back in around 4:30 and offered to check me. I was hesitant to have her check me, as Mike and I were in such a good place for laboring, and I didn't want to get doubtful again due to "lack of progress" or something else. Mike was feeding me ice chips, and my midwife got me some ginger ale. I began to feel nauseous and kept turning down the ginger ale. I felt that I was in need of some pain meds and began asking for an epidural. I thought if I could relax enough to doze for a little while I could make the end of my labor and be okay. The mid wife consented and told me to empty my bladder before the anesthesiologist came. I went to the bathroom and could not get myself to go (although at that point I had an urge to go the other one!) I reached down and thought to myself that Gabby was crowning, but again, I doubted myself and didn't say anything to anyone. I had some more contractions in the bathroom and the nurse helped me though them while Mike talked to the anesthesiologist who had come in. Mike sat in the chair across the room while the nurse held me up for my epidural. I had some intense contractions through the epidural, but Mike was able to coach me through them from the chair and I was able to breathe through them. The last contraction I had while sitting on the bed, I thought for sure I was feeling the need to push, but I didn't want to say anything again, just in case it was the drugs' interaction with my body and not my body. The anesthesiologist told me to lie down on the bed and that in 10-15 minutes I wouldn't feel pain anymore. I didn't think I had 10-15 minutes but again, I didn't say anything to anyone. The nurse was cleaning up and Mike was standing up to talk to her. On my next contraction I told Mike I was pushing. I saw his face from across the room go pale and heard him crying "I see a head!!" The nurse broke into action and yelled to the intercom "I need help! I need help in here!" The anesthesiologist, who was standing next to me to make sure the meds were kicking in, jumped almost onto my night stand. My midwife appeared from nowhere, threw on some gloves and caught Gabby as she came the rest of the halfway out! I set a new hospital record that day - shortest epidural time of 4 minutes! Gabby came into the world so quickly and unexpectedly, no one was ready. The bed was not even down, the bassinette was not set up, nothing was ready for her. They laid her on my stomach right away, and I stared at her for the first minute in disbelief, like "she's here. I have a baby?" then "I have a baby!"

Gabby is a great baby! She nurses like a champ and sleeps great.

We co-sleep, so I'm not exactly sure about how long she sleeps v eats at night. But she went in on Monday for her appointment. Her Doctor was very pleased with her progress. She went from 7 lbs 15 oz at her last weigh in to 9 lbs 1 oz on Monday. She's so calm and peaceful, a bundle of joy for our entire family. The children all love her, and Mary is so excited whenever Gabby is awake and she can giver her baby sister "hugs". It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship!:) The boys are all really good with her too. Lucas loves to hold her, and Philip likes to kiss and love her too.

We're all resting well at home. Mike has been a Godsend and has been able to take time off, to work from home, and to work half days to help me with all my appointments and whatever else we need. Thanks to everyone who has helped us in the past couple of weeks. Thank you one and all for the prayers and good wishes. This has been the easiest transition for a baby that we've had so far! Know that as we continue to settle into a routine and get back into our school year, you are in our prayers!

Love,
Patty and Gabby:)

The Baby is Here!

2010-11-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry this wasn't posted sooner, but...

She's here!

Gabriella Sophia Victoire

Born on Monday November 1, 2010

5:06 p.m.

Birth Weight 8lbs 7oz

Birth Length 22 inches

And yes folks...She's got red hair! Hahaha!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and well wishes. It was a very positive experience, even though I did end up going in for an induction. Gabby and I are both doing great! I am on borrowed time as my arms these days are full of baby (what a blessing:), and will post more as I can...

Know that you are all in my prayers and thoughts, and I will be back on the blogosphere as soon as I can!

Update

2010-10-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hello there! Sorry its been a while since I updated on Gabriella;)
Not too much to report. I'm still pregnant, and I'm getting weary of it. I so appreciate your prayers right now! And know that I am praying for all of you as well.
Mike and I went to the hospital on Saturday night, but were released early Sunday morning for "failure to progress". I've had contractions on and off since then, mostly at night, leaving both (all) of us exhausted the next morning. And of course the kids are all wild from being on such an erratic routine (if you could call it that) and they've been going to bed later and getting up earlier (this morning we went to bed at 5:30 after a night of contractions, and the kids woke up at 6:30). I keep having signs and symptoms of being in labor, but no baby to show for it yet. I am humbled by the false notion of "knowing what I'm doing" as this is my 5th. I guess its yet another lesson in humility for me.
I've got a pre-natal appointment on Thursday. They're going to check me and then if I've still not gone into labor naturally by then, Mike and I are discerning whether or not to let them induce me. I didn't want another induction, and its a hard decision to make. But I have the option of laboring hard for a day, or continuing to labor on and off for many days. I guess its really a non-thought when measured that way. Pray that I have the grace to accept fully God's will. Prayer intentions would be immensely helpful at this point. If you and your loved ones have a specific request that I could carry with me on Thursday, please leave it in the com box, and I will offer my labor for your intentions (that includes if I go into labor naturally before then of course!)

Another soul gone home, leader of the pro-life movement.

2010-10-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Mildred Fay Jefferson. The following is a tribute written by Judi Brown from the American Life League.

MILDRED FAY JEFFERSON, M.D. (1926-2010) ... REST IN PEACE

Mildred Fay Jefferson, M.D., past board member of American Life League, past president of the National Right to Life Committee, The Right to Life Crusade and recipient of 28 honorary degrees, went quietly to meet the Lord late last week at the age of 84.

Dr. Jefferson was a heroic, inspiring, yet humble, leader who made her mark on the history books in many ways-including being the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School.

If you were to ask Mildred what her greatest achievement in life had been, she would have told you it was being devoted-with every fiber of her being-to the preborn babies whose lives she defended eloquently from the moment she learned about abortion in the late 1960s until the moment of her death last week.

Not a day went by without her sounding the call to stop abortion-addressing the most egregious human rights violation in the history of mankind-and doing all that was humanly possible for one strong woman to do to expose the criminal act of abortion. She often told me that she prayed daily for God to give her the strength to move forward and to ignite the spark of zealous indignation among the people of this nation so that they would carry the banner for the babies until victory was achieved.

While we cannot lay her to rest knowing that she achieved her goal, we can do so knowing that, without her, this pro-life, human rights movement would never have grown to the historic proportions it has. Nor would we be as motivated to carry on for the babies, for the Lord-their Creator-and for her.

Mildred endeared herself to countless thousands of Americans who will miss her smile, her words of leadership and guidance, her ever-wise advice and her counsel. Through our tears, however, we understand that she would not want us to dwell on her passing, but to carry the torch she lit so many years ago. And she would not want us to look back. She'd say we must always look forward to embrace the challenges that lie ahead for the preborn, the elderly and the infirm.

The world has lost a great leader the likes of which will never pass this way again. We herald her remarkable accomplishments; we celebrate her life of valor, commitment, leadership, deep faith and love; we mourn her passing and we resolve never to stop defending the children who meant the world to Mildred Fay Jefferson, M.D. She gave her life in their service; we will not let her memory die.

St. Gerard's Feast Day is October 16th!

2010-10-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you Lacy from Catholic Icing for your excellent post on St. Gerard!

She made these incredible notecards that you can print out and send to friends and families that are expecting:

You can find them here at Lacy's blog! Just beautiful.

And for all my dear readers, I found this prayer at Totus Tuus' blog site in her com box, and I include it as a prayer for all of you (for those who are expecting, for Moms, and for those who have asked my prayers in the next couple of weeks for loved ones)!

A Prayer to St. Gerard for Safe Delivery
O great Saint Gerard, beloved servant of Jesus Christ, perfect imitator of your meek and humble Savior, and devoted child of Mother of God, enkindle within my heart one spark of that heavenly fire of charity which glowed in your heart and made you an angel of love.

O glorious Saint Gerard, because when falsely accused of crime, you did bear, like your Divine Master, without murmur or complaint, the calumnies of wicked men, you have been raised up by God as the patron and protector of expectant mothers. Preserve me from danger and from the excessive pains accompanying childbirth, and shield the child which I now carry, that it may see the light of day and receive the purifying and life-giving waters of baptism through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

News from the Nest

2010-10-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

My little unborn daughter, Gabriella, has dropped. I feel like we've both become significantly lighter. I've been getting braxton hicks contractions in the evenings (during dinner...which kind of makes 'family time' hard:)

But...

Man have I been nesting! I mean, I've been "polishing the china" type nesting! Hahahah! I made home made bread. From scratch...With flour from a bag that didn't start as bread...LOL! It's been wonderful....And the kids and Dad all loved the bread!:)

I'll keep you posted as we go, but know that I'm praying for you all, my dear readers (especially those who are expecting their own little miracles too!) I don't remember my daughter dropping this early, so maybe I've got my first "early bird" on my hands. All the others were an average of 10-12 days late. *sigh* Thy will be done Lord.

Yet another tragic anniversary.

2010-10-05T18:01:00.001-07:00

China's Thirty Years War Against its Own People Slated to Continue

by Steve Mosher

I was surprised when Beijing decided to celebrate (!) the thirtieth anniversary of the One-Child Policy this week. I thought, quite frankly, that the declaration of a national day of mourning would have been more appropriate.

But I was even more taken aback when the head of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, a woman named Li Bin, announced that China would continue to enforce this same Draconian policy for “decades” to come.

Decades? This is, after all, a policy that has led to a slaughter of the innocents of Biblical proportions. Hundreds of millions of women have been forcibly aborted and sterilized. Homes have been razed, livestock confiscated, and exorbitant fines levied. In all, 400 million people are missing from the Chinese population as a result of the one-child policy. Like previous Chinese Communist Party-orchestrated disasters such as the Great Leap Forward, or the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, this policy, too, has been a disaster for the Chinese people.

I should know. I was in China when the one-child policy began 30 years ago.

What I saw then, living in an agricultural commune in rural Guangdong, rivals anything that happened in Nazi Germany. One day in 1980 several hundred young mothers, all pregnant with second or higher-order children, were ordered to attend population control meetings. There they were told that they would all have to abort their pregnancies. Those who refused were arrested for the “crime” of being pregnant and locked up until they, too, buckled under the pressure and submitted to an abortion.

At that point they were taken to the local medical clinic and given a lethal injection into their uterus. If their bodies did not expel their dead or dying babies within two days, they were subjected to a cesarean section abortion. Most horrific of all, babies born alive were killed by means of an injection of formaldehyde into the ”soft spot” on the crown of their heads. Those few women who managed to escape arrest and had their babies in secret were assessed heavy fines.

Everything that I witnessed then, from the forced abortions of women in the third-trimester of pregnancy to government-sanctioned infanticide, is still happening now. Those women who manage to avoid the dragnet by going into hiding are now subjected to even heavier fines, which currently run three to five times the family's annual income. Those who can't pay this huge amount have had their homes destroyed and their possessions and livestock confiscated.

Moreover, such a child remains a “black child,” that is, one who does not exist in the eyes of the state. Such children are nonpersons, turned away from the government clinic if they fall ill, barred from attending a government school of any kind, and not considered for any kind of government employment later in life. They are not allowed marry or start families of their own, since the government has decreed that “black children” will not be allowed to reproduce. One generation of illegals is enough.

The Chinese government, supported by foreign population control zealots, believe that its program should be held up as a population control role model for the rest of the world. In reality, it should be roundly condemned for its widespread and systematic violations of human rights, especially the rights of women.

But even those who shy away from defending China's brutal repression of its population sometimes argue in favor of the one-child policy on other grounds. China is often held up—by the UN Population Fund, for example—as a positive example of a county that has been able to slow population growth rates dramatically, and which has achieved prosperity as a result. But to praise the country that has become the ugly poster child of forced abortion and coerced sterilization for the economic growth that these inhuman policies have supposedly generated is not only inconsistent, but also wrong.

China is clearly worse off economically as a result of eliminating from its population 400 million of the most productive and enterprising people the world has ever known. China's astonishing economic performance—its annual GDP growth over the past three decades is close to 10%—is not only a tribute to the tremendous work ethic of the Chinese people, but also has led to labor shortages in China's coastal provinces. Every baby born in China today is a net economic asset. How much more would China have been able to achieve with an even larger population?

Some would argue that adding people would overburden the Chinese environment, but the PRC has been an ecological disaster zone from the time of Mao's forced-pace industrialization programs in the 1950s. The same remains true today, as the Chinese leadership remains far more concerned about the economic growth rate than about ensuring that the populace has clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. Witness the government-mandated shutdown of all factories in the Beijing region in the days leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Once the athletes (and the foreign journalists) were gone, the smokestacks resumed spewing out their plumes of black smoke. Nothing had changed. This is to say that the sorry state of China's environment has far more to do with misguided political decisions, and the lack of public accountability for the actions of both government and privately owned businesses, than it does with the number of people.

The one-child policy has been a social disaster as well. Two generations of Chinese have grown up with no siblings, no cousins, and no aunts and uncles. This radical shrinking of the boundaries of the family is, in itself, is a great poverty. Then there is a problem of female infanticide and sex selective abortion, which has eliminated tens of millions of little girls from the population, leaving an equal number of young men without brides to marry. Prostitution, homosexuality, and gang activity are on the rise as a result.

Finally, there is the demographic snare that the one-child policy has set for the Chinese people. Because of the radical cutback in births, the Chinese population is aging faster than any human population in human history. The worker/dependency ratio is unsustainable. How can an only child support two parents and four grandparents in retirement? I am afraid that this will lead the Chinese government to embark upon a “one-grandparent policy” in years to come, in which tens of millions of elderly Chinese will be urged to accept euthanasia, perhaps in return for their only grandchild being allowed to go to college. Forced abortion and forced euthanasia are two sides of the same debased coin.

For all its failings, I do think that the one-child policy has served one important purpose as far as the Chinese Communist Party is concerned: It has helped to maintain the muscular rigor of the one-party dictatorship that rules China. China is a police state, after all, and such a state, to remain strong, must have something to police. Economic controls have been loosened over the past 30 years, so control over other aspects of life must be tightened. The brutal one-child policy is one consequence of such a system's relentless drive for control over people's lives.

Do I think that the Chinese Communist Party really intends to continue, as Li Bin asserts, its one-child policy “decades” into the future? Absolutely. And it will certainly never admit that the policy was a mistake. One-party dictatorships don't make mistakes of such consequence—at least if they want to stay in power.

Steven W. Mosher is the President of the Population Research Institute.

Eternal Rest Grant unto Her O Lord

2010-10-03T00:40:00.000-07:00

In Memory of my Mother in Law, on this day, October 3, her birthday.

May the Angels lead you into Paradise.

May the Martyrs come to welcome you.

And take you to the Holy City.

The new and eternal Jerusalem.

Rest in Peace Memere. We love you and are praying for you!

Gulp

2010-10-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

I've been cantoring for 15 years this year. I started cantoring when I was a sophomore in High School as a volunteer in my Parish. I've been able to help support my family through this ministry up to now. I've sung in various settings: rowdy high school Masses, Funerals with loved ones wailing for their departed, weddings where people sat ticking the time away until they could get to the reception, regular Sunday Masses where I take it for granted that things just happen. I've pretty much been around the block, and thought I had seen it all, and then there was tonight.

I was cantoring at my job in a Parish in our Diocese for the 5:00 Vigil Mass on Saturday evening. I had just sung at a wedding that afternoon, and was able to come home for a 1/2 hour between "gigs" to spend a little of the beautiful afternoon with my family. My 18 month old daughter is sick with a cold, so I was able to hold her, and tuck her in in front of a movie with a cup of juice before leaving again. I kissed her on the forehead goodbye, and something told me to kiss my other little ones as well. My 3 y.o. son was outside playing with walkie-talkies and handed me one which I used until we broke up our signal about a 1/4 mile from our house. I said "Goodbye Honey, I love you. Be good for Dad" about 10 times until that signal was lost. I couldn't help but think in a poignant way what it would be like if those were the last words I said to him.

I got to Church, warmed up, reviewed the Psalm and Gospel Acclamation, and proceeded upstairs with the organist. I sat down in the front of the Church, waited for the Prelude to end, and then got up to make the announcements and start the opening hymn. I noticed him immediately. He was across the aisle from me, two pews from the front, a man bigger than my husband, looking very much agitated and restless. I started singing, and he did too. Loudly. Screaming the lyrics. About 1/2 step off and about 1 measure (approx. 4 words) behind me and the congregation. I knew something was up at this point. I ignored him, began using my internal metronome, and plowed on. I could not outsing him and knew it was against my ministry to try, so I backed off the mic enough to keep from competing, while maintaining a steady voice to keep my organist from becoming too distracted. I prayed my S.O.S prayer to the Holy Spirit to keep me from breaking, and forged on ahead. We sang all the verses of the Hymn to accomodate the Procession, and it felt endless. Something was not right about this man, and I immediately felt sympathy for him. I tried not to let it affect me, but it was a prayer to make that happen.

The opening prayer was said, and everyone sat for the first reading. Turning so I could focus on the ambeau, I listened to the first reading. I was again distracted by this man, whom I could see in my periphery, swaying in his pew rocking back and forth, back and forth, and drumming his fingers violently on the pew beside him. I saw the lector finish her reading, gave the appropriate response, waited until she returned to her seat, and then said a Hail Mary. Usually I use this prayer as a spacer to give adequate time between the readings. At this time, I was fervently asking for the Blessed Mother's intercession. I got up, walked to the ambeau and began the Psalm. When I signaled the congregation to come in, there he was again, screaming the lyrics, a half measure off. I was grateful he was not trying to sing the verses with me (I have had that happen before too!), and I used that time to pray through the Psalm and gather strength for the refrain, ironically "If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts." I finished the Psalm, and walked over to the lectern, and turned my attention back to the lector who was beginning the second reading.

He was getting more agitated and upset, this time he began playing with something in the pocket of his hoodie sweatshirt. He kept swaying in his pew, and began mumbling to himself. I kept my sight on the lector, but my attention was divided. The lector finished, returned to her seat, and my cue to start the Gospel Acclamation. Father began the Procession and broke it to approach this man. My heart was filled with pity when I heard him say that he just "wanted to sing" because his mother had died and he was grieving for her. "Father, you should know her, the Mother Mary?" I kept on singing, trying to give my organist visual clues in his "rear view mirror" to keep the acclamation music going. Father broke with this man, and went to proclaim the Gospel. As I stood beside the lectern listening to the Gospel, I was relieved to see this man had calmed somewhat. And then I saw this man become agitated once again. He began swaying in his pew, looking around him at other people, and playing with the pocket of his hoodie. What did he have in his pocket? What if it were a gun? My heart froze as I saw him pull something shiny and black from out of his pocket. "Thank you God for allowing me to kiss all my children and my husband goodbye", that was my first thought. I made an act of contrition and prayed ardently for the state of my soul, having wished I had made it to confessions held before Mass that day. I began to wonder what I should do. At the close of the Gospel, and with the realization that the man had pulled out his cell phone, I made it back to my seat. Again, I watched Father, but began to pray the "St. Michael's Prayer." My adrenaline must have affected my unborn child, as she began to stir violently within me. I glanced above Father's head to see the Church's statue of Madonna and child. I begged the Blessed Mother, that if I were to go today, that she would allow me to carry my unborn baby through the gates of Heaven. The Church was silent, everyone was focused on this man, who by this time was mumbling louder and louder, he began to pull his hair, and never stopped swaying in his pew.

Suddenly, during the Intercessions, this man stopped swaying. He became still and calm, composed even. I could hardly breathe as I walked to the lectern to announce the Offertory Hymn. I had a fleeting thought as to whether or not I should walk to the back of the Church and sing this hymn in the choir loft with the organist. No, I resolved to stay, and prayed to God for all in our Church that evening. I began to sing, and right on cue, he was singing too. A little less scream, a little more off in timing. I forged on ahead, composed in prayer. I was horrified when I saw Father approach this man a second time. The man's face turned deathly white, and then terribly red. He began talking so vehemently that spittle was flying into Father's face. He raised both fists and began shaking them at Father. I watched in horror as I saw two men from the back rush to Father's side. I thought for sure Father was going to be struck. Again, Father quickly broke with this man to receive the Offertory gifts. We ended the Hymn, and I turned to pray with Father. It was then I noticed the Altar Server. She was a small 9 y.o. girl, and she was visibly scared. Next to the table where the cruets and such are kept for Mass, she was hovering, and staring longingly at her mother and father about 3 pews from the front, across the Aisle from this man. I longed to reach out to her, to show her support, but I knew not to break this already distracting Mass. I sang through the "Holy, Holy", debating in my head whether or not to kneel with this young girl in front of the Altar while she rang the bells, to show solidarity with her, and to protect her if I could. I knew that would be a huge distraction for Father and the congregation, so I opted to kneel in my normal spot in front of the Tabernacle, behind and to the right of the Altar. The little girl knelt and wiped away her silent tears. My heart wrenched within me to see this little one crying, and I prayed for her. I got up to lead the Eucharistic Acclamation and the Great Amen. This man was not kneeling, but was still again. He wore the most sinister, twisted look upon his face. We all stood to say the Our Father, made it through the Doxology, proceeded to the Lamb of God and the Sign of Peace. I made a point to give peace to the little girl altar server, and she visibly calmed a bit. The man stopped singing with me through the Lamb of God, he never opened his hymnal for the Communion Hymn, he just sat and stared violently at Father. I noticed as I turned to announce the Communion Hymn that two police officers were standing in the back of the Church. Obviously someone had made their way out to call them, and they stood at attention at the doors in the back. We finished Communion, had a moment of reflection, Father made a few announcements, and gave the final blessing. As the Procession lined up in front of the Altar, the man sent a steely gaze through Father's back. I saw him collect saliva in his mouth, as if preparing to spit on him, thought the better of it, and let Father exit in peace. When the Collect had departed, the man turned his attention back on me. He continued to try to get my attention, and I avoided his gaze. He just watched me as I finished the Hymn and then I saw him leave his pew as I was kneeling down to say the "St. Michael's Prayer". He walked in front of me, slowing as if he wanted to say something. I did not bring my head up to meet his gaze, and after a moment he walked out. Noticing there were police at the back of the Church, he turned and exited out a side door.

Thanks be to God, I was able to go home and see my family for one more day.

Midwife Who Saved Hundreds of Newborn Babies from Nazis to be Honored

2010-09-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

By Patrick B. Craine
ROME, September 29, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The late Polish midwife Stanislawa Leszczynska will be honoured in a display at the 5th World Prayer Congress for Life in Rome next month for her heroic efforts in saving hundreds of newborn babies from a brutal end at Auschwitz.
Before she arrived at the camp in April 1943, all the newborns of prisoners in the infamous Nazi concentration camp were drowned and allowed to be ripped apart by rats before his or her mother’s eyes.
But, as Matthew M. Anger reports in his article ‘Midwife at Auschwitz’, Leszczynska refused to carry out the Germans’ order to kill the babies – even opposing the infamous Dr. Mengele – and, amazingly, was allowed to carry on unimpeded.
During her time at Auschwitz, Leszczynska delivered over 3,000 babies. Half of those were murdered and another thousand died from the horrible conditions in the camp. But those with blond hair and blue eyes, about 500, were sent to be raised as Germans, and another 30 survived the camp.
In her ‘Raport from Auschwitz,’ Leszczynska described how the pregnant women were plagued with intense hunger and extreme cold, and faced a severe lack of medicine and water. She and others had to work day and night to keep away the rats, which would gnaw off the noses, ears, fingers, and feet of the sick. “Rats with their diet of human flesh grew to sizes of large cats,” she said.
During Leszczynska’s entire time at the camp, no mother or baby died under her care. Asked by her supervising doctor to report on the death rate, she reported this fact to his astonishment. “Lagerarzt looked at me in disbelief,” she recounts. “Even the most sophisticated German clinics at universities, he said, could not claim such a success rate.”
While she suggested in her ‘Raport’ that "the emaciated organisms were too barren a medium for bacteria,” Anger reports that her children and other inmates called it a miracle.
Leszczynska was able to use a secret tattoo under the newborns’ armpit to help many of the families reunite after the war. “As long as a newborn was together with the mother, motherhood itself created a ray of hope. Separation with the newborn was overwhelming,” she said. “The thought of a possibility of future reunion with their children helped many women go through this ordeal.”
The cause for Leszczynska’s beatification in the Catholic Church is underway. The Stanislawa Leszczynska Foundation, led by members of her family, is working on a feature film about her life.
The 5th World Prayer Congress for Life, organized by Human Life International and a number of other major pro-life organizations, will be held in Rome from October 5th to 10th, featuring many of the major figures in the worldwide pro-life movement and various high-level Vatican officials.
LifeSiteNews Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen will address the Congress on how to communicate the Catholic Church’s teaching on sexuality in a hostile culture.

Click here to register to attend the Congress.

Latest Papal Outreach to Pro Life Movement

2010-09-30T18:06:00.001-07:00

Holy Father Urges Participation in Pro-Life Vigil

US Bishops Mark Respect Life Month

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 30, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is calling on all Catholics to join in a Vigil for All Nascent Human Life, to be celebrated in local parishes and dioceses Nov. 27.
The Pope will celebrate the vigil in St. Peter's Basilica on the eve of the First Sunday of Advent, and is requesting "all diocesan bishops (and their equivalent) of every particular church preside in analogous celebrations involving the faithful in their respective parishes, religious communities, associations and movements," a communiqué from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops reported.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments and the Pontifical Council for the Family collaborated in creating an outline for the vigil, and the U.S. bishops' conference is developing resources for the parishes.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Texas, chairman of the episcopal conference's pro-life committee, highlighted the "unprecedented" nature of this request from the Pontiff.
In a statement written for Respect Life Month, which begins Friday, the prelate said, "I heartily encourage all Catholics, whether at home or traveling over the Thanksgiving holidays, to take part in this special prayer." (In the United States this year, the First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday after Thanksgiving.)
He noted that the purpose "according to the Holy See is to 'thank the Lord for his total self-giving to the world and for his Incarnation which gave every human life its real worth and dignity,' and to 'invoke the Lord's protection over every human being called into existence.'"
The statement also provided a reflection on the theme of this Respect Life Month, which is: "The Measure of Love Is to Love Without Measure."
"With over 1 million innocent children dying from abortion each year, the plague of abortion remains embedded in our culture," Cardinal DiNardo stated.
Widening rift
He observed that "in many areas of public policy, the rift continues to widen between the moral principles expressed by a majority of Americans and the actions of government."
The prelate explained: "For example, Americans oppose public funding of abortion by wide margins, with 67% opposing federal funding of abortion in health care in one recent poll.
"In early 2009, Catholics and others sent over 33 million postcards, and countless e-mails and letters to members of Congress, urging them to 'retain laws against federal funding and promotion of abortion.'
"Yet in March of this year, Congress passed a health care reform law that allows for federal funding of abortion in some programs and could pressure millions of Americans to help subsidize other people's abortions through their health care premiums."
"Defenseless human life is also placed at risk today in the name of science, when researchers seek to destroy human life at its embryonic stage for stem cell research -- and demand the use of all Americans' tax dollars to support this agenda," the cardinal stated.
He noted that "in a recent poll commissioned by the Catholic bishops' Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, 57% of respondents favored funding only stem cell research avenues that do not harm the donor, using stem cells from cord blood, placentas, and other 'adult' tissues."
"Only 21% favor funding all stem cell research, including research that requires killing embryonic human beings," the prelate added.
"Yet the current administration issued guidelines last year to fund human embryonic stem cell research, and some in Congress are preparing legislation to ensure continued funding despite a federal court's finding that these guidelines may violate the law," he warned.
Cardinal DiNardo affirmed, "Becoming a voice for the child in the womb, and for the embryonic human being at risk of becoming a mere object of research, and for the neglected sick and elderly is one of many ways we can teach our fellow citizens that 'The Measure of Love is to Love Without Measure.'"

Charity and Truth: On Marriage

2010-09-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

So I've been having a debate in my head for the past year (or longer) on which element in the Faith is more important: Truth or Charity. I engaged in a lot of debate with Catholics during the 2008 presidential elections, and it was hard for me sometimes to discern whether I should promote the truth in my witness or to hold back to allow time for spiritual growth in charity. I've learned a lot since then, but I still struggle with this question - when is it more important to promote the truth for the good of another's soul, as opposed to withholding the truth for a time when one isn't spiritually in a position to receive it out of charity. My husband posits that in Heaven we will more clearly recognize that Truth is indeed and in fact Charity, and I can't wait to see that! But for now in my human weakness, I continue on with my fellow human family and wonder. It's so easy to say "truth always", but I've seen a lot of well intentioned Catholics throw tenements of the Faith at people who were not spiritually ready to receive them, and have been turned away. I've been guilty of this myself. I think there are grace filled times for truth in evangelization, and there are grace filled times for charity. For me, it comes down to having the spiritual where-with-all to discern the different points of grace along the way. When do we respond to a person in Truth? When do we respond to a person in Charity? The only way to discern this is through the veil of humility, the key to witnessing the Faith. When we're really close to a person, and we'd like to sacrifice the Truth out of fear of their rejection, we need to pray for the gift of humility to help us promote the Truth in spite of another's reaction or rejection. When we're really on fire with the Faith and we're ready to lead in the Crusade, we need to pray for the gift of humility to help us act charitably so that we are kinder and gentler to those around us who might be struggling. I guess when I get really good at evangelizing, those two distinct facets of the Faith will be indistinguishable.

Another analogy of Truth and Charity in action could be found in a marriage. The man of the household, the husband, personification of Truth, leads and guides the way. The woman, the wife, personification of Charity, supports and lives the Truth with her husband. I feel that in a good marriage one does not seek to dominate the other, but both strive to live for the other, lending their virtue one to the other on the path toward Heaven. I was made for my husband, for the vocation of our marriage. Therefore I have gifts and strengths that aid my husband along his way to Heaven. I have weaknesses and faults that my husband was made to help me correct. I believe this is true in every Catholic marriage that lives the Holy Sacrament. The husband in a Sacramental marriage should not seek to dominate his wife, just as the wife in a Sacramental marriage should not seek to undermine her husband. Thus, in the end, Truth and Charity must work together, equally for the good, in order to become more fully Catholic.

An Unhappy Anniversary

2010-09-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

RU-486: Ten Years After

by Jeanne Monahan

09/28/2010

Today, September 28, 2010, marks the ten-year anniversary of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of Mifepristone (popularly known as RU-486). RU-486 is the only drug the FDA has approved for the sole intention of inducing abortions.

While proponents often claim that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare,” one could make a strong case that chemical abortions, while indeed legal, have over the last ten years posed major safety concerns including infection, life-threatening bleeding and even maternal death.

Chemical abortions have become anything but rare. Despite this dubious safety record, it appears to be a major goal of the abortion industry to increase the number of chemically induced abortions.

By way of explanation, RU-486 is in a class of drugs called selected progesterone receptor modulators (SPRM). RU-486 is “effective” because it blocks the necessary action of progesterone, the key hormone that a baby needs to implant in the uterus and survive during the first ten weeks of development. In this way RU-486 cuts off nutrition to a developing unborn child.

Looking back at the spring and summer of 2000, the FDA approval process of RU-486 was flawed, rushed, politicized and deviated from the FDA norm in a variety of ways, including the use of inferior clinical trials to support its safety. For example, when the FDA’s advisory panel voted to approve RU-486 in 1996, American trial data was neither finished nor sufficient, so the FDA relied on French data primarily, which is atypical.

Worse yet, this same data had been found by the FDA to be marked by “carelessness,” “fraud” and “evidence tampering.” Those were the FDA’s own words! This is one example of many.

Over the course of the next six years story after story hit the news about the serious side effects of RU-486—the most grievous ones being death. One of the most well-known tragedies involved the death of Holly Patterson, an 18-year-old from California. In 2003, Holly received RU-486 at a Planned Parenthood clinic and died a week later from septic shock.

In her father’s words, “The medical community treats this as a simple pill you take, as if you’re getting rid of a headache. The procedure, the follow-ups, it’s all too lackadaisical. The girl gets a pill. Then she’s sent home to do the rest on her own. There are just too many things that can go wrong.”

Holly is only one of many negatively impacted by this “safe” and legal drug. In fact, as recent as 2006, only six years following its approval, the FDA admitted that they had received over 1,000 adverse-event reports related to RU-486. Of these, 116 cases involved blood transfusions, 232 required hospitalizations, and most grimly, 8 were fatal incidents. As shocking as these numbers are, they are a gross underestimation because approximately only 10% of problems with drugs are submitted in reports to the FDA.

Yet despite concerns about safety, use of RU-486 is increasing. A recent New York Times article touted the growing popularity of the drug. One group recently reported that the number of Planned Parenthood Clinics providing chemical abortions with RU-486 has increased over the last few years: in 2007, 108 facilities administered RU-486 whereas in 2009, the number had increased to 131.

One reason for the increase in RU-486 abortions is that Planned Parenthood has begun a process called “telemed abortions.” In these abortions, the doctor is no longer physically present with the patient when prescribing RU-486 and its accompanying drug. The doctor does it by closed circuit TV.

The procedure is attractive to abortionists given their declining ranks. With telemeds, fewer doctors can prescribe a greater number of abortions. Unfortunately, fewer doctors also mean reduced patient oversight, attention and care. For example, the doctor might be in another state when the woman having the abortion needs critical attention—like a transfusion caused by a failed abortion or damaged ongoing pregnancy—and has to go to an emergency room. Despite the gross inferiority of this procedure, in May 2010, Planned Parenthood announced a five-year plan to nationalize “telemed” abortions.

As RU-486 celebrates its ten-year anniversary, one thing is ironic. The abortion movement promised decades ago that women having abortions would have the best medical attention—no more unsupervised, lonely abortions with women bleeding away in back alleys. Well, now with chemical, and especially with telemed abortions, women have less medical attention and still bleed away, having a lonely, unsupervised abortion over a toilet. Progress for women’s health? No. Instead, pursuing an agenda of increasing chemical abortions at all costs, the abortion industry is reverting women’s health back to the Dark Ages.

Jeanne Monahan is the director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council. Prior to FRC, Jeanne worked for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Secretary. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology from James Madison University and a Masters degree in the theology of marriage and family from the Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

This post can be found here.

So I'm in our bedroom...

2010-09-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

...hanging out on the blogosphere as my husband prepares to spend some time praying at the local abortuary for the 40 Days for Life campaign. Our Diocese does not allow women to go after sunset to the Clinic alone, so my husband looks for hours at night to go so that there is that "male presence" which sadly is very much needed for everyone's safety.

Our oldest sneaks out of bed, and gives Dad his send off "Good night Dad. You're going to pray?"

My husband responds that yes, he is going to pray for the babies.

"And Mom says you're going to stay awake for 40 days?!"

Hahaahha! I guess I have to be careful in how I toss things out so carelessly around this little detective:)

Changing the world, one diaper at a time.

2010-09-23T16:06:00.001-07:00

Sunday, August 15, 2010

REAL AMERICA
Why housewives will save the world
Exclusive: Patrice Lewis explains how 'glued together' families build strong nations

Posted: August 07, 2010
1:00 am Eastern
By Patrice Lewis

Once in a while a reader is astonished to learn that I am, quite literally, nothing more than what I've always claimed to be: an opinionated north Idaho housewife. I am not a journalist, or a reporter, or anything loftier than a keeper of the home. I use the denigrated term "housewife" deliberately because I am proud to be a member of this elite group.
If you associate housewives with dull women too dumb to do anything but wipe noses and clean toilets, I'm here to tell you otherwise. I will even make the extraordinary declaration that it is housewives who will save the world. Or at least, our nation.
The standard assumption about housewives (besides the obligatory doubts about our intelligence and educational level) is that our husbands make so much money that we can "afford" to stay home with the kids. This assumption always sends us into peals of laughter because it is so seldom true. Let's face it, the term "thrifty housewife" was coined for a reason.
Housewives spend years learning to be thrifty. We shop at Goodwill, not Nordstrom. We mend holes and patch jeans. We purchase basic food items and cook from scratch. Most of us don't do this because we are green and environmentally conscious. We do it because it's cheap and it keeps us home with the kids.
Many housewives supplement their husband's income with cottage industries. I do freelance writing. I know a woman who makes brassiere holsters for handguns (yes really … this is Idaho, remember). Yet another woman makes reusable feminine hygiene products. Yet another woman sells items on eBay.
Perhaps the most encouraging film on marriage of our time -- own it for yourself: "Fireproof"
None of us is sitting around watching soap operas and eating bonbons. We're too busy making our home welcoming, too involved in looking for additional ways to earn money, too occupied in finding yet more techniques to trim the household budget so the bacon stretches further.
We praise our husbands for bringing home this bacon, however modest in size it may be. It's our job to stretch that bacon so it lasts the whole month.
A housewife takes her marital vows seriously and does whatever it takes to make her husband feel like a man by giving him respect, dedication, love, faithfulness, a warm home and happy children. Housewives don't (or shouldn't) speak disparagingly of their husbands. We praise them. Praised men are happy men.
And that's why I believe the housewives of America will save this nation.
When the chips are down, the housewives rise up. We work harder, stretch the dollars further and discover creative ways to do even more things from scratch. We become cleverer and more resourceful at "making do."
These may seem like such small, trivial things. How will baking our own bread or making our own laundry detergent save the nation? It may not … but it could save the family. And if a family is saved, then bit by bit, family by family, the nation is saved. See the logic?
What I mean is this. On a massive scale, our nation's problems are far beyond our individual ability to do anything about them. Housewives cannot stop the insane spending spree our government has embarked on during the last 50 years. We cannot keep the economy from its free fall.
But we can help ourselves. Inch by inch, foot by foot, we can keep our family afloat. If our husband loses his job, we tell him he's still manly and sexy. We give him the confidence to look for work. We tighten an already tight belt even more. We pick up part-time employment. We write more columns, make more holsters, sew more feminine hygiene products and clinch another eBay sale. We stroke our husband's fevered brow and whisper that it will be OK, we'll weather this together, we'll stumble along doing whatever it takes to keep our family whole. We don't let the cruel winds of financial hardship rip our family apart. We are the glue that binds it.
You see, the role of a housewife is so much more than wiping noses and cleaning toilets. Feminists have looked with contempt at housewives for decades and have tried to convince our daughters that only lofty careers and hefty paychecks can fulfill a woman. But housewives know better.
(Column continues below)
Men work hard at jobs they often dislike to provide for their families. For a man, it is not his job that grants him identity, fulfillment and meaning; it is his wife's praise and admiration. The wise housewife honors her man for his dedication and sacrifice. The smart housewife becomes the kind of woman her man wants to come home to. This is the glue.
A glued-together family stays together no matter where they are. If they are evicted from their home because they can't afford the mortgage, then they rent a cheap single-wide. The housewife will then turn it into a beautiful haven because she knows it is not furnishings but love that makes a home.
When the hurricane roars during an economic storm, it will be the thrifty housewife who will bear her family aloft through hard times. Her frugality, common sense and familial glue will keep the boat afloat until it lands on a more fruitful shore. As the waves settle, she will continue to bind, weave and mesh her family into a seamless harmonious whole. In return, she is blessed a thousandfold for her actions.
On the surface, it may not seem like wiping noses and cleaning toilets can have any significant impact on saving our nation. After all, these acts are not spectacular achievements like winning a court case, negotiating a contract or curing someone of cancer. But the foundation of a nation is a solid family unit. It is the humble, collective efforts of housewives that build those solid, happy families. Nation upon nation is built on this foundation. Without housewives, such a foundation would not – could not – exist.
Don't thank us. We're just doing our job. But please, remember to put the toilet seat down.

The Churching of Women

2010-09-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

I had heard of this custom, mostly as a young girl from my mother who disdained the concept of it. She told me that it was distasteful for the Church to consider women unclean due to the physiological repercussions of labor. They bled, therefore they were unclean. My mom saw this as archaic and masochistic, to say the least. My dear husband, in yet another great yard sale find, found a "Manual of Prayers" book dated 1889, that gives the prayer form for this ritual, and I became intrigued when I read through the beautiful ceremony. I don't know yet if I will have the opportunity to "get Churched" myself after my little one is born, but I thought I'd leave the prayers here for my dear friends who are about to re-enter the joys of motherhood (and those who just love beautiful rituals:) to peruse.

From CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA:

A blessing given by the Church to mothers after recovery from childbirth. Only a Catholic woman who has given birth to a child in legitimate wedlock, provided she has not allowed the child to be baptized outside the Catholic Church, is entitled to it. It is not a precept, but a pious and praiseworthy custom (Rituale Romanum), dating from the early Christian ages, for a mother to present herself in the Church as soon as she is able to leave her house (St. Charles Borromeo, First Council of Milan), to render thanks to God for her happy delivery, and to obtain by means of the priestly blessing the graces necessary to bring up her child in a Christian manner. The prayers indicate that this blessing is intended solely for the benefit of the mother, and hence it is not necessary that she should bring the child with her; nevertheless, in many places the pious and edifying custom prevails of specially dedicating the child to God. For, as the Mother of Christ carried her Child to the Temple to offer Him to the Eternal Father, so a Christian mother is anxious to present her offspring to God and obtain for it the blessing of the Church. This blessing, in the ordinary form, without change or omission, is to be given to the mother, even if her child was stillborn, or has died without baptism (Cong. Sac. Rit., 19 May, 1896).

The churching of women is not a strictly parochial function, yet the Congregation of Sacred Rites (21 November, 1893) decided that a parish priest, if asked to give it, must do so, and if another priest is asked to perform the rite, he may do so in any church or public oratory, provided the superior of said church or oratory be notified. It must be imparted in a church or in a place in which Mass is celebrated, as the very name "churching" is intended to suggest a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the church, and as the rubrics indicate in the expressions: "desires to come to the church", "he conducts her into the church", she kneels before the altar", etc. Hence the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore (No. 246) prohibits the practice of churching in places in which Mass is not celebrated.

The mother, kneeling in the vestibule, or within the church, and carrying a lighted candle, awaits the priest, who, vested in surplice and white stole, sprinkles her with holy water in the form of a cross. Having recited Psalm 23, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof", he offers her the left extremity of the stole and leads her into the church, saying: "Enter thou into the temple of God, adore the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary who has given thee fruitfulness of offspring." She advances to one of the altars and kneels before it, whilst the priest, turned towards her, recites a prayer which expresses the object of the blessing, and then, having sprinkled her again with holy water in the form of the cross, dismisses her, saying: "The peace and blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, descend upon thee, and remain forever. Amen."

Our help is in the name of the Lord.
[R] Who made heaven and earth.
[Ant.] She shall receive.

Psalm 23

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof: the world and all they that dwell therein.
For He hath founded it upon the seas: and hath prepared it upon the rivers.
Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in His holy place?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart: who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord; and mercy from God his Saviour.
This is the generation of them that seek Him: of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.
Who is this King of Glory? the Lord strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.
Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts. He is the King of Glory.

Glory be to the, (etc.)...

[Ant.] She shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God her Saviour; for this is the generation of them that seek the Lord.

Then, reaching the left end of the stole into the woman's hand, the Priest introduces her into the church, saying:

Enter thou into the temple of God, adore the Son of this Blessed Virgin Mary, who hath given thee fruitfulness of offspring.

She, having entered, kneels before the Altar, and prays, giving thanks to God for the benefits bestowed upon her; the Priest says:

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father (inaudibly).
[V.] And lead us not into temptation.
[R.] But deliver us from evil.
[V.] O Lord, save Thy handmaid,
[R.] O my God, who putteth her trust in Thee.
[V.] Send her help, O Lord, from Thy holy place.
[R.] And defend her out out of Sion.
[V.] Let not the enemy prevail against her.
[R.] Nor the son of iniquity draw nigh to hurt her.
[V.] O Lord, hear my prayer.
[R.] And let my cry come unto Thee.
[V.] The Lord be with you.
[R.] And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Almighty, Everlasting God, who, through the Delivery of the Blessed Virgin Mary, hast turned the pains of the faithful at childbirth into joy: look mercifully on this Thy handmaid, who cometh in gladness to Thy temple to offer up her thanks: and grant that after this life, through the merits and intercession of this same Blessed Mary, she may be found worthy to attain, together with her offspring, unto the joys of everylasting happiness. Through Christ our Lord.
[R.] Amen.

Thanksgiving After Childbirth

Gracious God, by whose providence we are made, who formest us in secret, who beholdest us when we are yet imperfect, and in whose book all shall be written: I humbly beseech Thee to accept this my acknowledgment of Thy power, and to receive this my most hearty praise and thanksgiving, which I now offer to Thy divine Majesty, for Thy favor and goodness towards me. Behold, O Lord, what Thine own hands have fashioned; and grant that this infant, which Thou hast made by Thy power, may be preserved by Thy goodness and, through the grace of Thy Holy Baptism, may be made a living member of Thy Church and be carefully brought up to serve Thee in all piety and honesty. Through the merits of Thy dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Shock at the Vatican

2010-09-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

9/11 and why we shouldn't build that Mosque

2010-09-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

This passage is taken from The Light Weigh cookbook Building the Family Cookbook by Suzanne Fowler.

"...a date that should be the most famous in history, September 11th, 1683." This quote is taken from Hilaire Belloc's book The Great Heresies and was written in 1938. Hilaire Beloc was referring to the Battle of Vienna where 250,000 Turks had laid siege to Vienna, Austria. The Islamic forces were camped outside Vienna, with a better army and artillery than the Polish Catholic forces they came to conquer. The Polish army was under the command of the King of Poland, Jan Sobieski. The Islamic forces outnumbered the Polish Catholic soldiers nine to one.

Pope Innocent VI realized the gravity of the situation and called for an emergency Rosary Crusade. Every Polish soldier was given a Medal of Mary before the battle began and went into battle with the cry, "Jesus, Mary, help! Help us! Be at our sides!" Miraculously, the Catholic King of Poland and his troops defeated the Turks. This defeat was critical because it kept Islamic forces from sweeping thorugh all of Europe. Hilaire Belloc writes, "But the peril remained, Islam was still immensely powerful and within a few marches of Austria and it was not until the Great Victory of Prince Eugene at Zenta (on September 11th) in 1697 and the capture of Belgrade that the tide really turned...at the end of the seventeenth century."

The September 11th date in 2001 was chosen because of its signficance to the Islamic world. The East remembers what the West forgets. These victories, which occurred less than one hundred years before the Declaration of Independence, are forgotten to us; yet they changed the course of the world forever.

Talk to your children about the heroism that has been exhibited on this date throughout history. The Catholic King of Poland and his Polish soldiers; Prince Eugene of Zenta and his soldiers; both going up against incredible odds, armed with their weapons, but more importantly armed with their Catholic Faith! These soldiers were also protected by the prayers of thousands and thousands and thousands of people who were praying the Rosary! Remember the heroism of St. John Gabriel Perboyre, who suffered like Christ for our Roman Catholic Faith. He would not trample on the cross to relieve his own suffering! Remember all of the men, women, and children who died in the September 11th attack on the United States of America in the year 2001. Many of them died in the line of duty, others were going to work to support their families, others gave their lives in a fight to take one of the airplanes back, so it could not be used to hurt more people. Let us learn fromt he victories of the past on this date. The Rosary was critical to winning the battles that changed the world. The Rosary is as critical today as it ever has been! Please pray a Rosary today with your family; for our Faith, for the Holy Father, for the people who have died, for our country and for our enemies, that their hearts may be converted, that they too will know the love and hope of Jesus Christ!

September 11, 1649 is the date of the massacre by the English General Oliver Cromwell and his forces, in Drogheda, Ireland. On that day three thousand men, women, and children were murdered, because they were Roman Catholics.

**Note: The following is my thought on the above.**
I know that as an American I'm called through my Patriotic duty to be open to everyone's Constitutional rights. And I know that this Imama Rauf is within his rights when working to build this Mosque. He can hide behind his "inter-religious worship center" all he likes, but we all know it is what it is - a Mosque. On the 9/11 memorial. In the place where thousands of innocent people died. Because of the violence of jihadists who profess his relgion. I know I'm supposed to take all that in view before I declare judgment. Well here's my judgment, I don't like it. When the concentration camps of Aushwitz were declared a Jewish memorial, did Nazis come in and say that in fairness, a German National Church was going to be built to recognize the German men and women who died who were of that faith? They wouldn't have dared. But as Suzanne Fowler so beautifully points out "The East remembers what the West forgets." We as a society are so quick to forget international history, that we would declaredly consider ourselves in this Nation divorced from it. Giantly divorced and sleeping from it. No, this Mosque is not a means of healing between the Islamic East and the Christian West. It is an attempt to dupe a culture who so wants to be duped. If that were not the case then why would this Mosque have any ties with the Mosque in Cordoba? Linking those names has no sense of irony for us does it? Look closely at this beautiful Mosque in Cordoba -

does it remind you of anything? Yes! Absolutely! Our Faith! This "Mosque" was built as a Basilica in Spain before it was ransacked, pillaged, and plundered by the Muslim invaders of Spain. And then it was kept standing to be used as a place of victorious worship for the Islamic community there. And yet, no one in America is batting an eye, when this "innocent" Imam is looking to call his Mosque at 9/11 "Cordoba"? What is wrong with this country?!
Sure, the WTC was not a religious place. But it was held as an icon in the American tradition. Just as the Pentagon building is an icon. Just as the White House is an icon, and it was spared thanks to the brave Americans who gave their lives to crash their plane before it was able to crash into our Nation's capital. And yet, there's already an Islamic crescent moon in the field where those victims should have been memorialized. Why are we giving more religious credit to the men who attacked our country, then to the Americans who were victimized on that day?
Now, I'm not into violence. I especially approve those brave leaders of the free Islamic world who have stood up in unity with Christians and decried the Mosque being built on Ground Zero (*crickets chirping...Anyone? Anyone?*) I don't believe in book burnings, I'd rather see all concerned Christians pray a Rosary on this day than burn the Koran (see above for historical significance.) But Americans can hide behind this false god of inclusivity all they want. This war between the Eastern Islamic countries and the Western Christian countries is decidedly that. A war on religion, a war on religious principles. This is the main reason why a majority of Americans who are queezy at the thought of a war in Afghanistan or Iraq or any other predominately Muslim country are 'uncomfortable with the thought of war'. Because deep down, I bet they're 'uncomfortable' with the thought of religion. And now? In retaliation for standing up to this creepy Imam and saying "NO! America does not want this Mosque built!" He is slyly saying that there will be repercussions on our troops. "Give the Islamic community its tribute to the victories of this day, or more innocent men and women will be killed by our religion!" That was his warning...So this same religion that was the reason for so many innocent lives lost on that day, September 11th 2001, for these proclaimed jihadists who were declared heroes and martyrs for their faith by the Islamic world, is to be allowed to build a place to worship over the unknown bodies of its victims from this horrendous crime against humanity? And if we don't see 'reason' (e.g. the reason why this Mosque should still be built) then we're Islamaphobes. And if we don't care about name calling, and still stand against this Mosque...Then we are threatened with the truth that MORE MEN AND WOMEN WILL BE KILLED IN THE NAME OF THIS RELIGION!!!

And that's what we want America? We want to see this Mosque built, this religion of fanaticism honored in the place where it claimed so many lives? This is the answer for America? Peace at any price, and we'll foot the tab?

As for me and my house? We're praying the Rosary today for the men and women who were killed on 9/11, as well as for the conversion of many to the love of Jesus Christ and His Church. I wouldn't kill a Muslim if he/she didn't come to my Faith (and yes, many have been killed by being labeled as "infadels" for not converting to the Muslim faith.) No, I would pray and sacrifice for these people, for their souls, that they come to find the Way, the Truth, and the Life...And the Sacraments. Christ called us to pray for those who persecute us, for our enemies. And despite our best attempts at passivism, America has enemies. Let's pray for them, and speak out against the plans for this Mosque to be built!

Thoughts on Birth

2010-09-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

At this point in my pregnancies, my thoughts turn toward birth. I've had a pretty tumultuous journey this pregnancy with my Obstretical practice. My local OBGYN decided to close his doors, leaving the only option "in town" to be the local Planned Parenthood. For multiple reasons, I could not in good conscience join this practice. One of my girlfriends said it best "it'd be like delivering your baby into the hands of King Herod himself." Exactly!

God knew best though, and sent me to another practice a little farther away, but with all the services I could want and/or need, above and beyond my former practice. I've had two appointments with this new practice and they're amazing. Plus I was able to witness one of the Obstetricians first hand as I was a labor assistant for my girlfriend who went here for her pregnancy. Despite a very difficult labor and a delivery that did not go according to plans (she wanted a natural birth, a VBAC, and wound up with a C-section) the OB on call did everything she can to accomadate my very distraught friend, going above and beyond her personal comfort level, and maintaining professional decorum the entire time. She was very impressive, and brought a beautiful baby into the world.

I don't really want anything fancy for my birth. I've made no birth plans. My husband and I who are advocates for Bradley Birthing haven't been practicing our relaxation techniques. We used to do both for the entire pregnancy for our other children. But the last birth I had was the simplest, and to date my best, labor and delivery so far. It started out to be typical...I was 10 days late, and was scheduled for an induction the next day. I didn't want to be induced, it was the biggest fear I had (and still have) regarding delivery. I was induced for my first son out of medical necessity (I had developed toxemia and the night I went in to the hospital my Diastolic was reading around 300 - I can't remember my systolic, but I was not supposed to be able to be moving...) I believe that it was for the life of my son and for myself that I had medical intervention - and that we're both alive today because of it. But the induction was hard work, and I was exhausted at the end of it. My body labored through drugs the entire 16 hours that I worked to birth my son, and it was unnatural. I had an epidural for him, along with everything else...It was a very intense labor and delivery. But I was okay with it as I felt it was needed to protect my life and my son's.

My next son was also induced, supposedly for being "late". I do not have normal 25 day cycles, so my dates have yet to match up to the spinning wheel that they use to give you that 'magic number'. But after 14 hours of induced labor, when they went in for him, my water was clear, he came out average weight and length, and indeed he was not late. So again, I went through that tremendous work (thanks to pitocin) to deliver a baby that could have been born on his own without the use of drugs. This was a very hard labor and delivery for me, and I was not as well suited to bond with this beautiful baby.

For my third son I gave them the wrong date with which to gague his due date. They didn't give me an early ultrasound to confirm my dates, so I allowed myself an extra 10 days margin based on my own cycles. Looking back, I know this was risky and dishonest. But I couldn't fathom a third induction in 30 months. My son came out precisely on my due date (and would have been late by their "spinning wheel") without the use of pitocin. My OB at the time came in at one point during my labor and told me I was "failing to progress" at the speed he likes to see. He told me he was going to have to give me some pitocin. I told him he was not to come near me with that drug until I had an epidural. I got my epidural, progressed from 4-10 cms in 4 contractions and was pushing within an hour. They got the pitocin in me in time for me to contract my uterus down...Great...;) My faith in this OB was shot, and I decided it was time to move on.

I chose a new OBGYN practice for my daughter and had a pretty positive experience. The OB there was very laid back, but the midwife was a "Doctor light". I tried to give them the wrong dates again purposely, but this practice did an ultrasound for dating and bumped me back the 10 days I had tried to tack on. My midwife decided that I needed to be monitored continuously during this pregnancy because of my weight, and so I had to juggle babysitting for my other three in order to go in twice a week at the end for NST's, in addition to my regular pre-natal appts. I'm not against additional monitoring, when needed, but my blood pressure was always low (it got to 100/70 a few days before I delivered) and my blood sugar came back right on. The baby was always confirmed right on for size and development. I did not see a need, outside of the preventative medicine that haunts OB's in CT, for all this additional testing. And with the other children, and homeschooling, and maintaining some semblance of a life, it was burdensome to say the least. When I went past the assigned due date, my mid wife told me she'd give me 3 days past that date before I was induced. I panicked and told her that I'd need at least 2 weeks to give my body a chance to go into labor naturally. She gave me 10 days, and it was on the ninth that my husband and I prayed for me to have the grace to accept God's will if I should go in for an induction. The next morning I was in labor. I progressed well (they had telemetric monitoring, so I didn't even have to get into bed until the very end of my labor for transition) and was able to stay ahead of my contractions with my husband's help. They broke my water at 4 cm's, but I was confident that I would go. Same thing happened as with my son. Four contractions later I was pushing. The funniest part was that my OB kept coming in to offer me an epidural and I kept telling her there wasn't enough time. Sure enough, my daughter was born "drug free". I'm not against drugs to help manage pain during birth. I had used them for three out of four of my labors, and will use them to augment my labor if needed this time. But what a joy it was to have full use of my legs after my daughter was born! I could get up and shower within an hour of her birth. The nurses didn't have to come in my room again to monitor my vitals from the epidural, so my husband and I got a restful night's sleep (note: that's not the same as full:). I was "more myself" right after birth than I had ever been.

This practice does not believe in pitocin, even for the case of induction. They like to work with the mother to insure she gets a birth that she wants. They don't even like to induce if they don't have to...All very positive signs to my ears! I don't have concrete plans for this delivery, but I hope that I can make it as natural as possible. My husband is the best resource I have for "pain management", as he knows me so well and can tell when I'm not relaxing as I should. I look forward to bringing our child into the world together again. And this hospital is very low tech (for a hospital), so that makes me happy. I'm excited about the birth, about meeting our beautiful daughter, and about working with the medical staff that I've gotten to meet.

Of course, these are just my thoughts:)

Who Says Chivalry is Dead?

2010-09-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

So...My husband is the most romantic and chivalrous man I know...

Last night, after Hubby worked all day, he came home and finished the outside trim around our new windows (preparing for Hurricane Earl, we thought it wise to get this done). Then he came inside, had dinner with the kids and I, went back outside to finish picking up the yard and his tools, as well as to finish one more window. He casually mentioned he might need to run out to Home Depot for some more materials. I jumped at the opportunity and asked if he would mind running to WalMart for me to buy me a new air mattress.

[Side story:] I am in my third trimester now (its official:), and with each pregnancy my hips become softer and softer earlier on in each pregnancy. My husband had gotten me an air mattress in June, but it popped two nights ago. I slept on our bed's mattress and was pretty sore the next day. The next night I was not looking forward to another restless night on the same mattress, so when I heard he was going out, I jumped at the chance!

[Back to main story:] I waited for Hubby to finish up in the yard, but ended up falling asleep on the couch. He worked until midnight outside (again, mostly in preparation for the Hurricane) AND THEN he drove to our local WalMart and got me an air mattress. He came home, blew up my mattress, made the bed, checked on the kids, woke me gently and helped me to bed in my new air mattress. He didn't go to sleep until 1:30 this morning for taking care of his family. And the most romantic part? He woke up at 7:30 without complaint to head into the office for another day's work.

Sure ladies, we don't have dragons anymore. Thanks to our modern day gutter system, most men don't have to lay down their jackets so that our hems stay clean, but chivalry is far from dead! What a considerate, romantic, and chivalrous hunk I've married (yes, I know he's blushing right now *giggling*...)

My Apologies

A new Blogger on the Block!

The Great Scandal

The best of both worlds...

A teen's take on homeschooling

Here I Am! Send me!

Little House on the Horizon

I'm Alive!!

This article makes me want to work harder today.

Old MacDonald

My Hubby:)

Catholic 'Mantras'

The Story of Us...Cont'd

The Story of Us...

"I Stand with Indiana"

My prayer for New York

Women are hurt the most by feminism

Novena to St. Rita

NOVENA TO SAINT RITA,PATRONESS OF IMPOSSIBLE CASES

Homosexual "Marriage"

LGBT "Pride"

A shout out to Melody!

About 8 years ago this month...

On Innocence

Springtime FUN!!

Honey I'm H*O*M*E*!!!

Adult stem cells cure A.I.D.S.!?!

Black and White do not make Brown

The Meaning of Life

Saint Osama bin Laden? Pope Saint John Paul II?

Blessed John Paul, pray for us!

Changing Heads:)

Homeschoolers Make History!!!

What now?

Chinese Food for thought...

Christ Is Risen!

Good Friday Homily

Prayer Before a Crucifix

Senator Blumenthal Responds...

Defund Planned Parenthood vote on Thursday

When the Going Gets Tough

More PP Deception Exposed...

Stressers...

Sacred Vespers for Laetare Sunday

Life Happenings...

More P.P. Closings!!!

For Richer or Poorer

Author: Trust in God to Find True Wealth

Book Exposes Spiritual Side of Money Management

Defund PP

The Seven Last Words of Christ

I thought this was amazing!

Onwards and Upwards

What a Great Day for America's Unborn!!!

From the Family Research Council:

Richards Nixin' the Budget?

Beautiful Women Get a Life!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Saxon Math? Apologia Science?

Pray for Egypt, Pray for Africa, Pray for Democracy!

My Response to Liturgical Music Take 2

My Response to Liturgical Music

Pro Life Quiz

Tuesday's Biggest Loser Report

Why Be Catholic?

O Come Little Children

Beautiful picture

Young Catholic/Christian soldiers at the March

Youth Turnout Strong at US March for Life

Participants Urged to Fight Against Culture of Death

Another great video from Micahael Voris

Tuesday's Biggest Loser Report

Why I Homeschool

God's Timing

In Honor of Roe v. Wade: A Catholic Perspective

Tuesday's Biggest Loser Report

Cantique de Jean Racine

Vatican announces beatification of Servant of God John Paul II

Band of Brothers Hero Dies...

For unto us a child is born....

NOVENA TO SAINT RITA,
PATRONESS OF IMPOSSIBLE CASES

Honey I'm HOME!!!

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