Catch Up Saturday

Hello everyone,

I know, it's becoming a routine.  I write a piece, I link to it two or three days after it runs. This time, I have an excused absence.  On Thursday, I took a train to Southbend, Indiana.  No wi-fi.  Friday, I spent with family and friends, no time on the computer.  So today, Saturday, I'm finally slowing down enough to be able to write...and here we are. 

So if you want your SST fix, the link to Catholicmom.com's piece is here. It's called, "Begin again."

I also have a piece over at the National Catholic Register, Love Drives Out the Fear of Life. It stemmed from a conversation online, where people puzzled about why people want abortions.  To me, the reasons seemed to be as diverse as the people who have them, but the question shouldn't be why do people have them, but how do we minister to people so they won't need them or desire them.

Talking about this topic is always touchy, and the goal was to engender compassion toward the person considering the abortion. It's not perfect. It's not comprehensive.  I'm praying people recognize the goal, and don't take me to the woodshed for venturing onto the subject. But, the title reminds me love drives out fear, and so it's here for all to read. 

I hope you have a wonderful Saturday.  More writing to come.  Enjoying my trip.

Wanting America to be Good

To be Catholic is to be a bat in the animal kingdom, neither fitting with the birds because you have hair, nor with the beasts because you fly.  Today is the March for Life.  Thousands have come together to march on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.  Our nation has for the past 47 years, been fighting a battle over the definition of ideas.

I worry and I know, to some, this worry seems crazy.  After all, the March is getting covered, the Vice President spoke, so theoretically it should be hopeful, and yet, I am not.  Why am I not?  Because I know, we have to judge a tree by it's fruit.  We cannot allow the zeal for justice for one group of people, to blind us to injustice done to any other group of people. It is an easy charge to lay at the feet of those of us who march for the unborn, because those who issue the charge, see the opportunity cost of the good we advance (that is, the child's life), being thrust on the mother and possibly, the mother alone.  

While I can cite countless organizations and people of good will, who minister to people in crisis pregnancies, to win this argument, we must not miss one, and there are many who are missed, who fall through the cracks.   So I worry, because I want this nation to not be great, but good, overwhelmingly good, overwhelmingly kind, overwhelmingly merciful, overwhelmingly generous and forgiving.  

The right to decide, is at odds with the discussion, what are we allowing to be decided.   The women and men who brave the elements (this year it's nice, last year, not so much), believe one's right to exist should not be threatened by geography.

All people of good will on some level, agree with this issue. It is why many on the liberal side of politics, fight for the refugees and the immigrants to not be prisoners of law by the arbitrary reality of their geography.  One should not receive the death penalty because a crime was committed in one state as versus another.  (I would argue, no death penalty).  Law is to serve humanity, not to make humanity servile.   Politics have made issues of serving the public good always an either or discussion, when faith, Catholic faith, demands we respond to all of life with a Both And. To be against the torture of even our enemies, is to think with the same sensibilities as one who argues for the innate dignity of the unborn.   It is not what we do, or can't do, or even if we are acting in a kind or unkind manner that determines our innate worth.  We are innately of infinite worth.

It is hard to speak on this matter, believing that every child deserves to be allowed to be born, without seeming to be insenitive to all the reasons a woman might opt to abort.  The presumption of our culture, is to hold that one should not do something (EVER), even if allowed by the law, is proof of a closed mind and closed heart.

 We should do everything in our power to facilitate life, providing shelter, (room in the inn), care (when I was sick), compassion (when I was lonely), and answering the call of the Holy Spirit, which is always to love, always to do more.  Since we are not saints, we have not always answered this call, we have not always made a gift of self, and thus the theory goes, because we are not perfect in being pro-life, we have no moral authority to insist upon this particular injustice.  

Politicians and those who follow law and policy can rightly say, the right is not pro-life because it allows for war, it seeks to repeal health care, it won't enact policies which curb the use of heavy firearms in our society.  The right can also rightly say, the left do not care about the little guy or the innocent, because no one is more innocent or little than the unborn and you demand we pretend they aren't human and don't count.  Both parties point to the planks in the other's eyes and say, "Yeah, but your plank is bigger," and so we go on being blind.  We will allow injustice to persist, and trumpet the goods we've championed, as though the ballance sheet works out when all our policies agree with us.  
The subsequent argument to the people marching for the unborn is, take care of everyone out here, or if you're not taking care of everyone out here, you've lost the moral authority to speak for these people who aren't people.  They're just cells. They're just blobs of tissue.  They don't have legal standing.  They're not human persons, ergo, they're not worth wasting your time marching for, you'll never change everyone's hearts, so stop already.  The call to act is correct, but the condemnation is not.   The counter could also be made, take care of the unborn, but the reality is, everyone, should be taking care of everyone.  

Yes, we've all failed on many occasions, but each day offers the opportunity to begin again, to be a light.  All it requires of us, is the courage to say yes.  The question is not, when is it licit to kill, or when is it legal to kill, or when is it licit and legitimate to hate, and when is it not.  The question is, do we want a society that can arbitrarily decide to be unjust to a whole class of people or not?  

If the answer is yes, then understand, one day, we will all wind up in that class which has been deemed unworthy.  We will grow old and feeble, and be less useful to the state.  Ergo, we will be told, it's a good, it's better this way, and ushered out.   We will hold an unpopular opinion.  The political wind will change.  At some point, we will be on the outside looking in.  We will have children who aren't all star athlete honor role musician scientists, and thus they can be ignored.   We will at some point become poor or homeless or ill, and not productive enough to merit protection.  If the answer is no, then it is our job to help shape that society with that particular ethic, all human life has infinite innate dignity as the inspiration and impetus of all policy and all action. Life may not be fair, but it is for us to make it as fair minded and good as possible, to value truth, kindness, forebearance and forgiveness, generosity and gentleness.  

To be fully pro-life, is to know and be energized by the reality that we can act, and that we were all created to do exactly this, to love our neighbors, in all the distressing disguises we encounter.   Every act of injustice poisons our society and makes it less just.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  It's true. To be pro-life is to march today for the unborn. Tomorrow, remind the government not to allow for the deportation of people fleeing war torn countries and religious persecution, to beg them to provide sanctuary. One day, the person who knows each person is of infinite value regardless of creed, race, capacity, nationality and ideology, will jam the phones at the legislature to make sure people aren't tortured, and the next that same person will say, "Today I am Muslim," if the government decides to register people based on their nationality and/or faith.  It will take incredible persistence to keep up with the world's ever increasing inventive ways of trying to make us choose death over life, but we're up to the task.

To stand against creating a register of people based on faith, go here.

To call your representative and stand against torture. Here's the link to contact your senator as well.

To provide aid or help to a place that provides healing for mothers and fathers post-abortion.

To get the facts from a woman who ran the largest Planned Parenthood in Texas before stopping and learn about the ministry she runs to help people leave the industry.

To deal with addressing a pro-life issue that tugs at your heart and there are as many as there are stars, here's a good starting point.

It's a lot of work and it's why we've been given a lifetime to do it.  Let's roll up our sleeves and get started.  

Some of the More Things of Heaven and Earth

We live in a world that professes to love beauty, to love when people triumph over adversity, to love courage and fortitude and persistence. We celebrate it in wounded warriors, in athletes, in students that come from disadvantaged situations. When someone who has defined parameters we can see, exceeds them, even for a moment, it is a stop and recognize "there are more things in heaven and earth Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." type of moment.  But the world seems to think, we need less of these moments, as it continues to champion the destruction of the disabled in the womb, and sanction the euthanasia of the elderly.  The world professes to love seeing people triumph over adversity, but advocates for eliminating all people who might suffer from adversity.  You can't have the victory without the struggle, but the world, out of fear, out of hopelessness, has declared, all struggling should be eliminated.

Today, my son came to me and said, "Catch" and threw me a ball. It is a simple thing. But for my son to speak is already more than I expect. For him to invite me to play with him, and to do it multiple times, showing me he knows what he wanted, and how to say it, and how to do it, well, I had my miracle for today. He even caught the ball twice. 

Some people think people like Paul should be destroyed before they're ever born, to save them from suffering through the trials of this life. Some people think giving birth to a disabled child if you know the child will be disabled, is the height of selfishness, because you could have spared them.  

The problem with this sort of thinking is it denies a reality. No matter what the tests show, every child will be dis-abled, in that there will be some things that any given child cannot do or do well. There has not yet been born a Super baby, and even those exceptionally gifted, struggle with something because all of us do. Should your child be born perfect, there will still be the flaws of the world, of teachers and bees, mean dogs and rainy days, boredom and chores he finds tedious. She might hate ballet even though she has the legs and grace and apparent talent. She might love singing, though her voice is that of a frog. Desire, talent, reason and capacity do not always line up, and no matter who one gives birth to, or how well they are raised, there will be at some point, some rawness, some keen disappointment which shakes them out of the idea that all in life must flow without effort, and without suffering. Someone will die, someone will fail, someone will not show up, someone will disappoint. It may even be themselves.

We cannot bubble wrap life and live it to the marrow at the same time. If we opt for safety in all things, we can create a fragile creature of a person, and ensure they never have a skinned knee, but that will rob them of the joy of discovering they can survive such things, and that such things in the scheme of things, are not worth worrying over. Eventually, science will allow us to eliminate all sorts of conditions, but only at the cost of all sorts of people, people like Michael J. Fox, like Beethoven, like Stevie Wonder, like anyone we've ever met who inspired us because they didn't let their disability define the whole of them, or rather, they didn't let us define them solely by their disability. They already knew they were more than their blindness or Parkinson's or deafness or whatever it was, they already knew they were whole people of infinite worth.

Paul doesn't have a magic talent like they showcase in Hollywood movies. He can't count cards like Rainman, and he isn't a musician of professional caliber. He's seven.   But none of his brothers or sisters weigh Paul's worth by what he can't do. They celebrate his presence daily, not because they're angels, but because they recognize his victories are just that, victories over what the world says about his capacity to add value to life. Paul adds salt to our family. We were a big family before him, but he has made us fuller. 

Tomorrow, he will show me another miracle. It may be when he (he's seven), wants to go outside, and brings me my gloves. It is a  gallant little gesture on his part, but the world will be saved by little acts, by little kindnesses, by little miracles. And people like Paul, specialize in those sorts of things that will save the world. 

The Growing Hidden Chorus

The California Governor opted to sign into law the "right to die,"  In India, non human "personhood" has been granted to dolphins, in an attempt to protect them from slaughter.  In American, unless we've decided not to, people have access to all the videos exposing the evil of Planned Parenthood's operations, and even the direct video is not enough to soften all hearts toward the children our society throws away by the thousands every day.

If people will not be moved by natural law, or by unethical behavior, or by foresight of the need for future preservation, if people will not cease cheering the Culture of "When do we get to kill?" advancing on all fronts, legalizing the slow destruction of people by drug use, or the final termination of any who despair via false charity mercy killings, then perhaps a history reminder will snap some from the reflexive embrace of all things if the right political party applauds or the wrong political party rejects.  

If the law can bequeath value, worth and protection, owing to the thinking of the day, then the law can taketh away.  We all know this from history, women, african-americans, children, untermensch, three-fifths of a person, savages, the unborn, whosoever we opt not to see as human, we do not treat as human, making our society, less humane.  To presume the moral code which keeps the power to "kill" from being abused will remain as it is, is also to ignore history, the history of law, and human nature.
The right to die, will become the obligation, because what we can do, we always do to excess.  What we allow via law, we codify as correct morally.  What we codify as correct morally leads to further exploration... well how far out is it correct to use this right to declare "personhood" or to strip it, and when is it right and just to usher a person out of life, as a kindness?  Does a smart dog have personhood?  What about a smart phone? Does a Down Syndrome child lack sufficient purpose to the society, such that he does not merit person hood once those who love him die?   If being desired and loved is what determines personhood --as in the case of the unborn, then if one is undesired or unloved as far as one knows, does one lose "personhood?" Is the status something conferred by the State, or by the individual?  What if the individual can't speak for him or herself?


We always cloak our moral rationalizing in such pastel terms.   And those who favor whatever modern sensibility has been advanced, will view any such concerns voiced by those who object to the fashionable new laws, as so much hand wringing.  Anyone concerned at the abuses such a law enacted in California and the four other states that sanction mercy killing, is written off, the equivalent of a Catholic Cassandra predicting the fall of Troy.

We will invent a new language, new terms to make the decision by a person to die more socially acceptable, less morally challenging, maybe pick a ribbon color that hasn't been designated yet, and make a particular month, the month --probably December, because that's so terribly considerate to family, to get it done at the end of the tax year.  These laws in California, in Oregon, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington and to a lesser extent, Montana, call it "death with dignity."   If this law metastasizes and spreads across the land, via the courts or popular opinion, dying will become an industry in this country, with customs and pomp and circumstance and glowing articles depicting how noble and selfless it is to do this for one's family.   A society that cannot bear hearing phrases which trigger emotional hurt, will have little tolerance for enduring the cross of growing old, or witnessing those who do.  

We can pretend they aren't people, we can declare them not people, or lacking or having lost "personhood," (because we gave it to the dolphins or the chips or the dogs or computers or trees or whatever other thing or creation we deem of more worth).  We can shout with laws and courts, politicians and celebrated beautiful powerful people, they are not people.   That does not make it truth; it only reveals how we are treating them, and our justification to our own selves.

Even absent my own deeply held religious convictions, people of good will, who believe we should care for the poor and the sick, who want a society which protects the weak from the powerful, should agree with the following sans any scaffolding of faith: there is no one more fragile than the one no one has to see; no one has to hear; no one has to know about.  There is no one more poor in society, than the one who has no say, no choice, and no chance except by the grace and mercy, charity and courage of others.

The government and laws which reflect the society governed, must protect the most vulnerable, or they are a form of tyranny against the powerless, sustaining the comfortable in their status quo.  The problem with that sort of scenario, is sooner or later, each of us will wind up on the other side of the equation, on the side those comfortable, don't favor. I return to the unborn because they get dismissed the most easily, but it applies to the elderly, the infirm, the disabled, the veterans, the homeless, the mentally ill, to any whom society deems less useful, to all who walk the earth unseen.

Here is why I stand against the law in California sanctioning the "right to die," and against abortion. Both laws stem from the same line of thinking, that life is tedious, painful, a nuisance and too much trouble if it is anything but care and worry free.  How long can a society endure, that cannot weather even paper cuts to the psyche?  How long can a people survive, intent on eliminating all who aren't perfect, either in genetics or in geriatrics?  What nation thrives under the delusion that all suffering can be eliminated from experience?

 Wake up. Wake up.  Wake up.  

Just today, we've lost three thousand.  

Those little ones die baptized in blood and water in the course of their short lives in the womb. I envision a great multitude in heaven of never before heard voices,  Those deliberately silenced form a choir so magnificent, we will wonder how we ever endured living on this Earth without their songs, and wonder why we wanted such a silence in the first place. 

Facebook Charcoal Fire

Don't bite on it.  Click ignore.  Read something else.  Check your email. Go blog. Go tweet!  Do something, anything, but don't go back and respond to that post.

We've all been there.  You log onto Facebook and there is a post, advocating something that you cannot possibly stomach, and worse, it is posted from a friend.  You make a comment maybe, or click, "I don't want to see this." but the posts keep coming.  You unfollow for a time, but still, the links and the posts keep coming.  It starts to feel like a constant drill into the head.  There are the subsequent "subtle" shares of links and posts that dispute the issue at hand, but eventually, one has to either swear off entirely or address the issue.

It's at this point, I so get Saint Peter.  Because I feel very cowardly at the charcoal fire put before me on Facebook.   How many times can you read something you absolutely disagree with on every level before you either brand yourself a coward, or speak up?

And the stupid cost.  The cost. The cost. The cost.  This is a friend.  They would never talk about this sort of thing with me face to face in this manner.  Even if we did bring up something difficult and found we disagreed, the conversation would be reasonable, it would be charitable, we'd have laughs and talk about everything we have in common rather than what divides us.

Neither Facebook nor the internet allow for that sort of dialogue easily.  The venue is best for hit and run, drive by stake out your position and dare someone to disagree type memes.  Click like and move on.  Will I lose them?  Should I be holding their friendship so dear?  Is their friendship that dear, am I valuing it too much or not enough?

Is it a call to evangelize, or a time to be prudent?  I know which one I will pick, and draft as best I can, a private message.  Underlying every word is a beg.  Please don't dismiss me, please don't throw me away, please don't hate me.  I'd make a lousy apostle, I don't do dislike well.   It's humiliating to know, even at forty-nine, I'm still so damn needy.  Still full of doubts, still worried when I have to stand up, I will be alone.

But I profess to be Pro-life, I always have been.  Being a two pound eleven ounce baby myself, I have a fire in the heart for the smallest of all.  Science informs me that a human is human from conception to natural death, regardless of capacity, past, present or future.  

So when the discussion of defunding Planned Parenthood came up, I signed petitions, I prayed, and thought back to when I first learned the reality of this organization.  

Back in 1992, when I first discovered myself expecting, I went to the general doctor office near my apartment.  The doctor heard my medical history and immediately said, "Abort."  When I said no, he told me in order to treat me, I'd have to have some lab work and sent me to Planned Parenthood with an appointment for a pregnancy test.   At the time, I admittedly didn't know of Planned Parenthood as a brand, and agreed to the appointment.

Inside the clinic, I sat while the man drew my blood.  I noticed the place was dirtier than what I expected.  I saw what looked like a little lump of flesh on the floor, and bits of bloody guts, they reminded me of when I gutted freshly caught fish before I've cleaned up.   I told myself I was imagining things.

The lab technician told me I was pregnant, and immediately asked me if I wanted an abortion.  When I said, "No!  Are you serious? (though I think I said crazy),  I'm keeping the baby!" He said, "Then I can't help you."  and I left. I felt an urgency to flee. No other services were offered but abortion.  I felt an urge as I saw the other women in the clinic sitting and waiting for whatever they were waiting for, to tell them, "Run." I hope some of them did, and found themselves with now twenty-two year old sons and daughters they love beyond all measure.

But I can still see that young man in the lab coat, I remember his face.  I also can't forget the fleshy bit I didn't imagine on the floor.

So when I read what former directors and doctors of Planned Parenthood say about abortion, about what goes on inside those walls, I believe them, and think, as soon to be named a Saint, Blessed Mother Teresa said, "If abortion is not evil, then nothing is evil."  And as is said in my favorite Star Trek Series, Deep Space Nine, "Evil must be opposed."  

We do not want a society that thinks those not convenient, should be ignored, swept under the rug, destroyed or hidden.  I know what that means, caring for the homeless, the disabled, those in prisons, those dislocated by war, those here in great need, the just and the unjust, all of them, matter.  It isn't an easy thing to advocate, because the political parties do not lend themselves to all, but only to some.  Often the argument in favor of caring for all gets derailed by the imperfect nature of proposed solutions.  But the absence of a solution that fits all, does not eliminate the need to stand for something which is good, and will to work out the details as we go.

Pope Francis came to this country. He fed the homeless, he visited those in prisons, he counseled the ignorant, (Congress), he prayed with the suffering, he counseled us to harbour the harbourless, he prayed for the living and the dead, he lay hands on the sick, he sent a letter to try and ransom the captive (woman on death row who was not pardoned).  He encouraged the faithful to have hope, counseling the doubtful.  In short, he did as many acts (spiritual and corporeal) of mercy as he could in the six days he was here.  He tried to embody the truth, the good, the beauty of the Catholic faith, to all who encountered him.

If the Church is right about feeding the hungry, being stewards of the Earth and all her peoples, caring for the sick, welcoming the lost, lonely, scared and the stranger, then isn't it possible, we're right about needing to care for these unborn too?   To those who say, what about the mother? I say, they must be cared for, that is part of the necessary act of a Catholic, to care for the woman with an unplanned pregnancy, for the mother, for the child, for the father, for the family whether it is bound legally or not.  (See, I agree, it isn't an easy solution, it will require work).   What is good, is good, and what is evil is evil, even if the law ignores the reality or pretends it is neutral.

So I hope my friend reads my words and hears the heart behind them and knows I'm still a friend, and maybe can see why this issue reflects the same value necessary for all the other classes of people in need of a pro-life society.

Prayer and Fasting

I was going to write a humor piece today about the next two week hiatus I intended to have. 

But unless you've been under a rock, if you're part of the Catholic blogsophere, (and I am), you've no doubt seen or read about the interview.  It breaks your heart to think people could discuss either the procedure or the procurement so casually over a salad and wine.   Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood apologized for the "tone" of the discussion, (note, not the content).     

I saw comboxes filled with justifiable horror, and some things which were far less justifiable, condemnations.   Yes, these people kill the innocent for money.  They do so for a living, it's what they do.   As the old joke goes... We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling over the price.

We will not convert Cecile Richards via this expose, or the senior director of medical services for all of Planned Parenthood, Dr. Deborah Nucatola or anyone else, even given the ick factor of harvesting human organs from unborn children willfully discarded and destroyed.   These are people who must live with themselves and to my understanding, there are only three ways they could manage to get through the day and consider themselves moral agents.  

1) They view abortion as a good, not an evil.  Because they view it as a good, as a service they provide to the needy; those who oppose it must be willfully blind to the suffering and fear of the women seeking an abortion. Whether because of their faith or ignorance of the reality of said women seeking abortion, those who oppose abortion do not understand the true service provided.  Ergo, their opinions don't matter, and can be dismissed.  

2) They view abortion as a necessary evil, for the greater good.  The end justifies the means, with the goal being a good. (Independence, freedom from pregnancy). Anyone who doesn't, is imposing their morality and again can be dismissed.   

3) They view having an abortion as a neutral act, having no morality save that ascribed by the person considering it.  As such, they think abortion is something that needs to be destigmatized because it's a hard reality, and having the bonus of morality makes the hard reality worse.  

If we're going to win the hearts of people who think we have nothing they need to hear, it will take more than exposes and votes and threats of fire and brimstone.  It will take serious love, prayer and fasting.  

As incredible as it may seem, for God's mercy and love is beyond ours, that woman sitting discussing her skills at crushing the top and the bottom, like Dr. Kermit Gossnel, and all other advocates who profit from, and push for the continued killing of the innocent, are our brothers and sisters in Christ.   They are Saul before his trip to Damascus.    They are the slave trader before he began his conversion and eventually penned "Amazing Grace."  So I have a proposal for all readers/pro-life advocates/Catholic bloggers out there that made it this far.   

Adopt an abortionist, director of a Planned Parenthood, or a politician who advocates for the procedure for the next year.   Come up with a doable prayer and fast you can perform on behalf of that person.  

Why?     
"Some demons can only be driven out by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21).

My suggestion is to take one person who is a public face advocating/supporting this grave evil be done to and by human beings.  I'd prefer to have two people adopt each person. Your prayers and fasting are up to you.  Make it a doable thing, like a Hail Mary a day for the person in question, and a nickle a day for a local Crisis Pregnancy center or a rosary a week, anything you wish, but state the person you wish to claim.     

I've chosen Cecile Richards because she is the public face of Planned Parenthood, and I don't think discussion at this point is possible.  If we were to sit down at a dinner, and I were to talk about the innate dignity of every human from point one, it would not be heard.  If I were to talk about the crime which cries out to God, slaughtering the innocent, it would not be heard.  She has come to hold what she does is a good.  

My husband has choses Dr. Deborah Nucatola, the woman in the video.  We hope others will join in this project for the next year. 

Imagine an army of Pauls from the army of Sauls.  

1) Cecile Richards
2) Dr. Deborah Nucatola
3) Dr. Kermit Gossnel
4) Dr. Leroy Carhart (Local, does late term abortions).
5) Any member of the Pro-Choice Caucus: 

Federal Caucus Member	Blumenauer, Earl	D-h03	Portland
Federal Caucus Member	Brownley, Julia	D-h26	Thousand Oaks
Federal Caucus Member	Capuano, Michael E.	D-h07	Randolph
Federal Caucus Member	Cohen, Steve I.	D-h09	Memphis
Co-Chair	DeGette, Diana L.	D-h01	Denver
Federal Caucus Member	Doggett, Lloyd A.	D-h35	San Antonio
Federal Caucus Member	Ellison, Keith M.	DFL-h05	Minneapolis
Federal Caucus Member	Engel, Eliot L.	D-h16	Bronx
Federal Caucus Member	Farr, Sam	D-h20	Santa Cruz
Federal Caucus Member	Frankel, Lois J.	D-h22	Boca Raton
Federal Caucus Member	Grayson, Alan M.	D-h09	Orlando
Federal Caucus Member	Green, Gene	D-h29	Houston
Federal Caucus Member	Grijalva, Raul M.	D-h03	Avondale
Federal Caucus Member	Honda, Mike	D-h17	Newark
Federal Caucus Member	Huffman, Jared W.	D-h02	Ukiah
Federal Caucus Member	Kildee, Dan T.	D-h05	Flint
Federal Caucus Member	Lee, Barbara J.	D-h13	San Leandro
Federal Caucus Member	Loebsack, Dave W.	D-h02	Davenport
Federal Caucus Member	Lowey, Nita M.	D-h17	New City
Federal Caucus Member	Lujan Grisham, Michelle	D-h01	Albuquerque
Federal Caucus Member	McDermott, Jim A.	D-h07	Seattle
Federal Caucus Member	Nadler, Jerrold L.	D-h10	New York
Federal Caucus Member	Pallone, Frank J.	D-h06	New Brunswick
Federal Caucus Member	Pocan, Mark	D-h02	Beloit
Federal Caucus Member	Quigley, Mike	D-h05	Chicago
Federal Caucus Member	Scott, David A.	D-h13	Smyrna
Federal Caucus Member	Sinema, Kyrsten	D-h09	Phoenix
Co-Chair	Slaughter, Louise M.	D-h25	Rochester
Federal Caucus Member	Titus, Dina C.	D-h01	Las Vegas
Federal Caucus Member	Tsongas, Niki S.	D-h03	Fitchburg
Federal Caucus Member	Veasey, Marc A.	D-h33	Fort Worth

5) Hillary Clinton (she's the forerunner but I'm not singling her out other than for that reason).

6) Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg --She's been outspoken on this issue, but any and all of the justices need our prayers on this issue.
7) Prayers are always valid, so pray for the soul of George Tiller --murdered abortionist.
8) Pray for the unknown fathers who have no capacity to protect their children from death.
9) Pray for the nurses and assistants who perform these actions.
10) President Obama and those of his administration that share this view of the unborn as mistakes, punishments, and disposable.
11) Republicans for Choice --I'd list the members but the site ironically does not give any names.
12) Catholics for Choice.   They are denying part of Catholic social justice teaching and moral teaching, by advocating dissent on this issue.
13) There are more but that's for anyone who wishes to discern.   The goal is to adopt a person, make it personal to you, for whom you will pray as a friend prays for a friend, someone who we hope we either get the privilege of welcoming into Heaven, or the honor of being welcomed by.  

We know as Catholics, we will be asked one day, how many did you bring?  Did you turn your one, two or ten talents into more, or bury them?   Our lives are one giant project to invite everybody.

Let's get to work.

If You Can't March Today

Today is the March for Life in Washington, DC.  I believe all human life is precious, from conception to natural death.  Right now, hundreds of thousands are braving the cold to walk from the mall to the Supreme Court, witnessing and praying for all who suffer the wounds of abortion, and for all those who died because of abortion.  

Even if you cannot march, today you can do something to stand up for life.    I used the number 42 because the decision which made abortion the law of the land happened 42 years ago today.

42) Call your mother.  She accepted you sight unseen.  She said "Yes."
41) Pray a rosary for the unborn and for pregnant mothers.
40) Make a donation of clothing or goods to a local pregnancy crisis shelter.
39) Join your local 40 Days for Life..
38) Fast for the day from something.
37) Make a holy hour.
36) Donate to the Priests for Life, Sisters of Life,, or Good Counsel Homes..
35) Lobby your legislators.   Find your Senators or Representatives.
34) Read "Horton Hears a Who" to your children.
33) Hug your children.
32) Reach out to a friend or family member who is pregnant or a new mom, invite them out to lunch.
31) Bring food to a pantry program.
30) Go to mass.
29) Read Abby Johnson's Unplanned..
28) Tweet the Pope's "Every life is a gift."
27) Consider adoption.
26) Pray before a clinic.
25) Visit someone who can't get out, offer assistance.
24) Register to vote.
23) Join the pro-life ministry in your parish.
22) Read Humane Vitae. (It's short).
20) Read the decision and the dissent of Roe vs. Wade.  Know that the original Roe, now opposes abortion.
19) Read today's readings.
18) Witness to life with your own family.
17) Read Jeremiah's 1:5 "Before I formed you..."
16) Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for those who practice abortion/run the clinics.
15) Discuss this issue with friends.
14) Reflect on the number of people lost world wide as a result of abortion, and then multiply that number by three, to get the number of families scarred by the culture of death.
13) Put a Pro-life sticker on the back of your car.
12) Volunteer in homes for those suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia.
11) Become part of Special Olympics. 90% of those diagnosed with Down Syndrome are terminated in the womb.  Those who survive the rubicon of the womb need our support.
10) Pray to the Blessed Mother, no one understands the impact of saying "Yes" to life more than she,
9) Look at pictures of ultrasounds.
8) Read the stories of Be Not Afraid.
7)  Go to EWTN or Guadalupe Radio to find out what pro-life events are in your area.
6) Study the apologetics of being Pro-life.  Here's one of my favorites: Peter Kreeft.  I just gave you one of his gems. He has more beautiful thoughtful writing at that sight.
5) Follow Jill Stanek.  She's a nurse, she testified about infants being left to die after botched abortions, and stays on top of the political and cultural issues that are pro-life.
4) Get involved in the Susan B Anthony list, an activist group that works to educate both the public and the politicians about pro-life issues.
3) Support programs that help the poor.  I'm partial to Catholic Charities. Poverty is a pro-life issue.  We aren't just about the unborn, we're about life.  Being pro-life means we want to help all out there with the hard business of living.  
2) Watch a pro-life movie.  Some of the more recent possibilities include The Drop Box, Juno, Life is Beautiful, The Giver, Amazing Grace, August Rush, Bella, Children of Men.  I got some of the list from Students for Life.
1) Look for and share articles about the March for Life, they're somewhat rare. The running gag is that 200,000-near 500,000 pro-life ninjas take over the streets of Washington DC every January 22nd. You can watch those masters of stealth witness to life at 12 noon today on C-Span.

What We Can Do

Many of us aren't near Washington, DC for tomorrow's march which takes place regardless of the weather at 1 o'clock.  Many of us can't go owing to work or distance, health or familial obligations, but that does not release us from bearing witness to the Gospel of life in our daily lives.  How remains the question, do we reveal ourselves to be pro-life in the everyday if not with those who can brave the cold and march from the mall to the Supreme Court tomorrow? 

1) Phone your legislators on the federal, state and local level and tell them to vote pro-life.  You can find your senators here and representatives here.

2) Pray and fast for the end of abortion.  This is a battle for souls, it will not be won without grace.  Prayer is the greatest weapon we have, and some reparations must be done for the great injuries we export daily by the culture which promotes an evil as a right.  Fasting, little penances, help bring about the turning of hearts. 

3) Visit the sick, the lonely, feed the poor, comfort the cold and the seemingly lost.  Again, pro-life isn't just about abortion, it's merely the most visible manifestation of how little we understand the infinite value of everyone.   Pro-life means everyone, all of them.  We want to want everyone in Heaven, so we must see Christ in everyone, and serve Him as such.  

4) Read what the Church really teaches in the catechism.  We cannot witness what we do not know.  It is not enough to simply be aware of the Church's position, else we may come to slip into viewing it as a merely political stance.  We must know the root, the stem, the whole of the tree of thought, Humane Vitae seems an easy place to start.   The writings of Dorthy Day and Blessed Mother Teresa also reveal the heart of the Church, grounded in both theology and the muscular participation of serving the poor.  

5) Develop a relationship with your own family, connect with all of those given to you as blood, and with your friends, see them for the gifts they are, pray for those who have died, and offer whatever alms or sacrifices you can as gifts before the blessed sacrament, before the Christ child, before the crucifixion in thanks for the infinite mercy available to all of us. 

6) Watch Bella or Juno or Give Me Shelter, and understand that the question of abortion is often one driven by fear, so become someone who offers room in the inn, for the person knocking at the door, hoping someone will welcome them.  

7) Donate clothing and necessities to a pregnancy center or even better, your time. 

8) Prayerfully consider adoption. 

9) Pray for adoptions. 

10) Subscribe to or follow lifenews, Jill Stanek or Abby Johnson, all three good sources of information about the pro-life movement and how to help stem the bloody tide of 55 million killed.

Why I Voted For Romney

The election is over.  The President has secured another 4 years.  I wish him well as leader of our country and hope his stewardship of our nation improves from past experience. 

But I thought I should tell you why I voted for Mitt Romney.

I voted for Mitt Romney because I am pro-life. 

The President has signed into law the HHS Mandate that requires all Americans with the limited exception of churches --not schools or charities or hospitals, to pay for sterilizations, birth control and abortions even if doing so is in direct violation of one's moral code or religion.  If you don't believe me, go read the damn mandate or do a search of it for abortion. I have. It's there. 

I voted because the Current President sends unmanned drones to bomb countries in the War on Terror, killing innocent civilians without any more qualm than the prior president did.  (And I was troubled then).  And I hoped if there was a change, the press would wake up and pursue truth or at least less than the White House Spin.  I also thought there would be more desire for an end to foreign wars than there seems to be, or do the deaths of countless innocents abroad and soldiers far from home (2000+ in Afghanistan) only matter if the Commander in chief has an R attached?

I voted because the current President's first act in his first term was to repeal the Mexico City Policy that had prohibited the spending of federal dollars abroad to fund/support abortion. 

I voted against Planned Parenthood continuing to receive 300,000,000 in tax dollars to use however they see fit, which is mostly to lobby for more support of Planned Parenthood.   They don't do mammograms. They only do referrals. No one would be robbed of the opportunity to get a mammogram by defunding them. 

I voted against a man who voted against providing medical help to infants that survive abortion attempts while in the State Senate.  You may say, that was a long time ago.  I would say, it doesn't matter.  He wouldn't help those born if the mother had willed them otherwise. 

I object to my nation's treasure going to fund things I KNOW to be evil and immoral even if they are completely legal.  

Before anyone lectures me on how Not Pro-life Mitt Romney is, recognize I know the candidate I voted for is imperfect.  But the President is an aggressive advocate of abortion. 

So one issue voter --you betcha.   I had no illusions about repealing Roe-vs. Wade, nor was I entertaining such notions, but I did hope the nation might not think funding them unchecked forever might cause some pause. 

For those who say Safe, legal and rare...55 million plus children have been lost...or 1/6th of the population since 1972.  3000+ a day.  At what point, does it stop being rare?  

I voted in hopes that a new President would stop some of these things. I presume the current President, since he continued or started these things, won't.  

Do I sound mad?  Yes. I'm disappointed.  I knew there would be loads of hard work if Romney won.  But there's even more because he didn't.   We have a lot of hearts to move if only on this issue, that all life is sacred.  All human life is precious, from unborn to elderly.  The other issues to me are turf wars and pork barrel projects, fights for bragging rights and titles.   I'm pro-life.  That's why I vote.  That's why I voted.  

Only an Hour

Right now, there is a nation wide campaign, 40 Days for Life!  Yesterday, I spent an hour on the curb as part of our Parish's contribution to the prayers and witness against the culture of death that allows for abortion. We were asked to stand near a clinic in Germantown that engages in late term procedures. 

The first thing I learned is I'm more of a coward than I knew.  I believe that every child ought to be safe in the womb. Our very faith is based on as far as humans are concerned, the most unplanned pregnancy that all of History ever recorded.  Even in the womb, He was recognizable by those who loved Him.   But walking to stand at the corner with the signs was an act of activism I'd not done before and somehow, I felt fearful standing there. 

Setting the alarm on my phone to mark the time, from 7-8, I took a look around. It was a Friday night, it would be getting dark.  No one was coming to the clinic at this hour, not many people were even at work in the complex and I wasn't sure how much witness standing on a corner would do.  

My brain felt crowded with warnings and doubt...This wasn't the wisest thing I'd ever done....My car might get a ticket....I wasn't illegally parked but somehow I wondered if it was okay....Standing there felt vulnerable.  I wanted to go home but the phrase floated into my head "Could you not stay awake an hour?" and kept me rooted to the spot.  Someone before me had put out a sign and a creche and flowers. Just then, a mother with twins walked by.  She gave a half smile smile but her daughters reached out for the bouquet.  "We are made for beauty," I thought, it attracts us.   The flowers and signs that other people believed this, other people had witnessed to this, gave a little boost of courage.  Why was I afraid?

I was grateful to have my 7 week old with me, she was both my sign to the outside world of what abortion denies, and my courage.  I'd look in her eyes, half closed and sleepy from having a full belly as she yawned and even if she didn't smile, I did.   I held her that hour, lapsing into the rosary, trying to show her off to the passing cars and grinning when a truck would give me a happy double beep.   But I kept circling back to the question. "Why did I feel so anxious affirming what I believe?" 

"I like to be liked." I answered myself.  Standing out here declares me (as if having ten kids didn't), it is a side I've chosen affirmatively to hold not just in my heart but publically.  In the quiet on the side of the road, I found a part of myself that maybe needed to be less listened to, but which had become ingrained in my behavior. Someone might not like me as much if I seemed too religious, too political, too serious about a value that was so controversial.  I could see how I'd held myself back in other areas too, how hemmed in my heart was, how unwilling except in safe company I'd been to be a full witness.  I could tell myself it was prudence, tact and manners, but part of it was that old scar of wanting friends.

Old scars reveal old wounds.  I always wanted people to like me, craved it...I needed to like being liked less.  No wonder I'd fought standing still in the silence, meeting myself wasn't very pleasant. This was why courage is a spiritual gift, because it takes more than one's self to do some things, to face some things, to accept some things, whether it is witnessing to gifts and grace in the face of indifference, evil or ignorance, acknowledging one's own poorer traits, or recognizing the why of one's own tendency to err.   I was too attached to feeling comfortable and liked.   My skin felt all the thinner for recognizing I was thin skinned.  I didn't realize going to the corner was going into the desert.  I'd been similarly not too vigilant in my Lenten observance of adoration.  Yes I'd been busy, but part of that was being too busy to let myself be probed or pushed by God beyond my boundaries.
 
This is Lent. The season is made to make us recognize we should not be too comfortable in our own ways, or we will not allow for Christ to be more of our lives.  We will want to stay fixed, safe, known and yet untethered. Ours is not a tame God and there are no tepid souls in Heaven.  But here on Earth, we will avoid going into deeper waters until  we are all fished out. Whenever we do go out deeper, we are surprised beyond measure by the richness of the experience.  Our nets nearly burst with plenty.   I tremble when I consider that this was only an hour.

A Dear Friend Shared This With Me

Pesky Facts and other Thoughts

Senator Ben Nelson feels that he has exacted enough pounds of flesh to pay for the pounds of flesh that will be lost in the process, and that the wink and nod he gives government accounting will satisfy his value system. Under the Nelson deal, 45 Million has been allocated over the first ten years for Medicaid and perpetual federal funding for the state of Nebraska's senior citizens and there will be 13 states in which federal funding underwrites abortions.

Comparing Mary Landrieau of Louisiana to Nebraska's senator Nelson is unfair, it is oranges to apples. Mary Landrieau's deal of 300 million for her state's poorest citizens may have cost more fiscally, but at least she didn't sell out morals. She never held the unborn dear in the first place. Nelson, like Adam, couldn't resist the apple.

Reid has the 60 votes to bring the bill to the floor, avoid a filibuster and get the damnable piece of legislation into reconciliation with the house version so that the President can brag of establishing health care. But let's talk about those pesky things; facts.

What the bill doesn't do:
It doesn't lower the deficit. CBO estimates the cost at 2.5 Trillion over the next ten years and I'd add, when has the Government ever come in UNDER budget?
It doesn't fix Medicare (it cuts 470 billion from that program).
It doesn't provide care for the uninsured immediately --it will tax immediately, but the full benefits won't go into effect until 2014.
It isn't fully transparent because it still isn't finished being put together.
It doesn't safeguard the concerns of those who do not want to fund abortions.

What it does do:

It will demand that people and businesses buy coverage or suffer fines.

It will increase premiums (CBO estimates GNP allocations to health care expenses will increase 17 to 24 percent over the next ten years as a result).

It will cover abortions through a wink and a nod of allowing states to opt out and having a monthly premium fee of segregated money used to address this service. 45 million may constitute a fig leaf for Senator Nelson, but for most moral thinkers, dead is still dead and so if you oppose abortion, you don't really care if the abortions are done in Texas or New York, you care that they are done period. You care that your tax dollars pay for an immoral inherently evil act.

It will ration care by adding a layer of bureaucracy.

It will ration care by eventually eliminating much of the private sector. Private schools do compete with public schools but when the economy is tight, guess which ones are suffering?

It will encourage doctors who can retire to do so, rather than be paid less for the same services they provide now.

It will create a whole new segment of government that no one will have read or know much about other than that it costs tons of money and eventually, all of us will pay.

But when things are darkest, we must be lights. Hearts aflame burn brightly.

Call your Senator. Call Congress. Write. Email. Jump up and Down. Speak out. Read. Stay informed and above all else, pray for the strengthening of will, the softening of hearts and true wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Charity towards the poor and the sick does not negate the need to champion the innocent and the helpless. Christ turned away no one and if we would be followers, neither should we.

This bill is many things. People who have argued against it have been called racists, separatists, tools of the insurance companies, uninformed, neanderthals, homophobic, selfish and unpatriotic and unchristian.

This bill is many things, but patriotic, fair, evenhanded, reasonable, good, thoughtful, sensible or helpful to the sick, poor and helpless, and just to all, it isn't. This bill is many things,Christian isn't one of them.

A Roman Scene We Might Consider

All consciences may not be formed the same, but Truth is inviolate.

Let us imagine.

It is the height of Roman power, when Ceasars are at their zenith, and thus all manner of "entertainment" is allowed at the Colosseum. Some citizens within the Empire, object to the feeding lions with renegade Christians as a form of entertainment, claiming to be "pro-life."

The centurions and aristocracy and government that are in power find these claims laughable, as these rebels bring it upon themselves by not being willing to be reasonable and see the nuances of the real world. If they would have open hearts and open minds and be willing to accept the equal nature of Zeus and Hera and the Ceasar himself to Christ, there would be no quarrel. If they would just give a bit of "respect" to those who disagree, they wouldn't find themselves in this situation.

Some of those arguably on the Christian side, have counseled that their fellow members ought to be more fair minded. They have said, "Debate about this issue is not about to close. Differing consciences on such a matter should be met with love no matter how vexing they may be." and that to argue by refusing to show deference or by shouting or getting upset, to "satisfy that furstration by shunning or denouncing your unseeing companion will accomplish little beyond expressing your exasperation."

Maybe, but when the lions are being sent routinely to rip apart the innocent, it might be time to satisfy some of that frustration.