A really big day in Rome (and an unexpected book review)

It almost feels redundant to call it an historic event during a week when we touted yet another "historic" weather event and storm. Just don't know what else to call a move by the Pope that has not happened in more than six centuries...so a really big day in Rome it is. For me, it came upon waking up after I spent the night reading late...a novel with some real life issues. Sons of Cain by Val Bianco. The book, if you have not read it is an exciting novel about real life secret service type catholics who are charged with protecting the Catholic Church from an attack, both internal and external. I love that it is an exciting Randy Alcorn-type novel that allows us a peek at the supernatural fight that is going on around us, along with the real physical battle. Yes, the good guys win. There are casualties, though, it is nice to see that God will win in the end, and in fact, He already has. But also, He will win some of the skirmishes...sometimes directly helping. We don't always have that awareness.

So I know it is a novel, but some of the issues that were brought up could be pulled right off the new pages. An idealistic American president with an agenda...wanting to go down in the history books for passing legislation for the American Health Care System; all this despite common knowledge that the tax base cannot sustain the cost of universal health care. The president and administration pushing an agenda that will have to incorporate increased use of and acceptance of state/doctor assisted suicide...at the end of life and whenever else it would be convenient. We can only afford universal health care if we don't waste too much of it on old people and chronic illness for undeserving individuals. And really, who is deserving. All touted as a Good; thinking people will want to take charge of their own end and will want to protect their wealth for their children. The book also explores how life-time politicians--politicians who make a business of well, politics, and hand it down to their children, raised in the life style and with the same leanings and mindset--keep the country mired in the same direction. It also examines a system of government where the people who toil in it can legislate lucrative job opportunities and then fill the positions (the book examines Senators with medical experience working themselves into high paying jobs in its administration--much like in real life, the officials who develop vaccines and then take government jobs to mandate them for all children thus increasing their wealth, regardless of consequences.) It explores, briefly, the tendency of the country to accept a new value and then once it becomes mainstream, open the door to similar horrors that don't seem so horrific anymore. Having lived through 40 years of Roe v. Wade, it is easy to see how this can happen, and the book refers to Abortion style of acceptance opening the door to the euthanasia. There is a model, and why not use it for everything. Finally, it is nice to see, albeit in a novel, the clear influence of Evil in what can be seen as current issues. Yes people, there is Evil and there is an orchestrator of it. Evil, personified in the Devil. He lives and He has an agenda. He may even use a president, or other influential people to forward his agenda...

So with this fictional book forefront in my mind, it was with fear that I woke up to the news that our beloved Pope Benedict was resigning for health reasons. Raised with enough knowledge of Fatima and its predictions, any new Pope is looked at with anxious eyes. With an Historic resignation, I read with much anxiety, not so much about what will we address a retired pope as...Cardinal Ratzinger? Is it legal for him to do this? From who does he get permission and who has to accept his letter of resignation? as I did the blog posts and articles about why he decided to resign. His health. His inability, in his assessment, to handle the rigors of the job during this time and with the, sigh, historic decisions he must make. I accept that, and with millions of other catholics, I will be praying that the Lord has raised up a strong, young man of God to carry on the office of Peter. Who will keep us Catholic. Who will promote love and dignity in our lives and interactions in a world that seems to want to equate "right" with whatever feels "right" right now...that looks at a long time not as 40 years but as 2000. I want a Pope who can determine the will of God and have the strength to keep us on His path and not just swing us more to the middle, as the Times would have us go. And I would offer one last prayer...a prayer that was typed out in Bianco's book at least twice,

St. Michael fine art print can be found at www.aquinasandmore.com catholic goods

"St. Michael the Archangel, Defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell, Satan, and all other evil spirits who prowl about the earth seeking the ruin of souls...amen"

The Party Line...

Nothing Personal, but my party believes...

"Yes, I believe in equality for all races, but my husband's best friend was stabbed by a black man and he died when he received an HIV tainted blood transfusion, so you can see how my husband hates all black men..."

No, I really can't. I relate that conversation that took place years ago just to illustrate a point. Yes, that man can hate the black man who stabbed his friend and eventually led to his death, but I think that you would have to really, really stretch to make the leap that that could reasonably cause you to hate all blacks. But we sometimes stretch to make that leap or ones similar to it.

Likewise, we can stretch to believe that birth control, or abortion, or gay rights, or cheap student loans are the most important issue of the 2012 election. Or we might think that the election isn't important at all. But it is. I have, without apology, voted single issue for every year I have voted. I voted for the babies. I won't argue that, because frankly, my mind cannot be changed, and I suppose yours cannot either. I pray that hearts will change and let Jesus do the work. But for the first time I have considered that maybe, my single issue, would have to be expanded...None of it really matters if we don't have our constitutional protections firmly in place and the continued ability to make that choice.  In light of that, I have tried to look at other issues. That too, is exhausting, because it seems that everyone has a pet issue. In an attempt to find harmony, I have tried to look at some points of agreement. Neither party has all the answers. Partisan politics may have out-lived its usefulness...but it's what we are stuck with for right now. However, there are a few things that we should all agree with: preserving our rights and supporting our boys in the military.

Not only do millions of our children don a uniform each year and vow to defend each and every American, they do so often at great sacrifice and often without a firm understanding of why they are fighting. I like to think they are fighting for all of us to have our opinion and the ability to cling to it, even if, for example, that opinion is to hate all blacks because of a very narrow excuse...special interest excuse, if you will. Everyone has a moment, or a person, or situation that is dear to their heart because of his or her own situation. But that doesn't make it the most important thing. I got a request to sign a petition regarding an 18 year old boy scout who was denied his final project badge or pin because he was gay. Was he surprised by that? Is it in the rules? If that is the Boy Scout rules, he should have quit before it was a problem for him...somewhat shortsighted. Would I be upset if it was my son? Yeah, but I would have tried to find out the rules before having my son invest years of his life into it. If it was still important to him, he could live without the pin. If it wasn't, no loss. I like to think I would have more important things to think about than whether or not he could get his pin, for example, life expectancy of gay men. I would hate the lifestyle my son chose to embrace and the pain his decisions would likely lead to. I would never hate my son, gays in general, the Boy Scouts, or even the people who choose to believe that this is one of the most important issues of our time. But it is a narrow issue. As long as we have the choice to agree, disagree, sign a change.org petition or not....well, that's what matters.

So 2012 is an election year. Most people are already tired of it. Wish people would start posting jokes again instead of mini campaign posters. Who cares about which party wins...they are all funded by BigPharma and Agribusiness anyway, so either candidates are going to have the same results...Apathy is the danger. Just vote and care, because it is the American way. If we don't believe in the process, the choice can and will be taken from us. Teach your children the right to vote is just as important as a Boy Scout pin. And if all playing fields are level, I say vote for the one who supports our constitutional rights and didn't go on campaigning while our embassies, flags, and citizens burned in Libya....

 

The Most Hated Woman in the US

I may be the most hated woman in the United States of America. I can't tell you the statistics or show you data that says that, but...oh hell, that is what got me in trouble in the first place..in my family we are taught that even if you cannot prove something, you should say it loud and with authority...I AM THE MOST HATED WOMAN IN THE WORLD...

I have the habit of getting into arguments with people who do not wish to hear anything but their own opinion. If I wanted to do that, I would go on, say a site, where we are all discussing the same issue and all have the same opinion. No challenge there. Instead, I like to check out Yahoo articles and read what the masses have to say. Usually, it is not my opinion and often misspelled. So, occasionally, I type emails...tidbits of wisdom to bring them around to my side...not very effective. At any rate, I chimed in on one such issue yesterday. As of last night, I had such a significant number of thumbs down, they hid my post. That seem a little unsportsman-like to me, but whatever. That is what blogs are for.

The issue in question was a senator...or some type of congressman, don't start hating me already...i didn't even tell you the name of the state, and i am not going to because I just don't remember. It doesn't matter...this elected politician decided to take his daughter out of girl scouts because they support Planned Parenthood. You can look it up...its documented and in little letters, but yes, your cookie purchases contribute to the annihilation of mostly black babies every day... Since Roe-v-Wade, more than all the Nazis killed in WW2. Now some of you may not care...just keep believing that Planned Parenthood is a nice non-denominational health care provider that additionally supports a woman's god-given right to her own body. Many of the people on the site where I am the most hated woman in America...I am really hated. No one questioned whether or not this man had a God-given right to choose what organizations his daughters belong to...he's a public servant, so he should just support the Girl Scouts and buy some cookies instead of wasting his constituents time on such trivial matters as life and death of babies. For all I know, this public servant may, in fact, be pro-choice, but just didn't like the fact that girl scouts were funnelling funds to other corporations without common knowledge...they do. No one questioned if the Girl Scouts do, in fact, send funds to Planned Parenthood. They do. They send money to the World Wide Organizations of Girl Scouts, and they do send funds to Planned Parenthood. So the Local Girl Scout Troops can dissociate from the baby killing. They can send letters saying that the Catholic Church does support Girl Scouts and troops. And local troops do much good. But the bottom line is...the local troops who raise the money with the cookies that we all love send their money to the world wide organization who then sends big fat checks to Planned Parenthood. But my haters, of whom there were many, didn't care about that. They were upset because I said that Planned Parenthood supports abortions. That is why they hated me. And I said a number, a high number, and in fact, I was wrong. That is what they were upset about. How could I be so stupid, or as one of my haters said, "does it hurt to be that stupid?" They told me I was a nut job. I can't remember it all... frankly, I'm too scarred.

So, for all my haters out there, of whom they are legion...Planned Parenthood is a good, wholesome organization...mea culpa. They support the God-Given right of women to their own bodies...while the fetus (whoops, I almost said baby...again, mea culpa) is small the women can then um, terminate them for any reason...like this 6 week old fetus...

My apologies if this in any way resembles a baby...it is not my intention. I understand that a fetus may be terminated for any reason, simply by swallowing a pill. If the president has his way, soon even the Catholic church will be mandated to supply the pill. Maybe, we can offer free samples in Girl Scout Cookies, but I digress...always thinking about marketing. Anyway, I understand it is a woman's God Given right to terminate a pregnancy at later times as, well, if you know...well, I don't know. Any reason, but I can't think of them right now. But they can. It is a little harder because, rather than using a pill, the doctor (is that what they call them...i am not sure and I don't want anyone to accuse me of disseminating wrong information)...anyway, the doctor then has to cut the fetus up and they need to collect all the parts...

After that time, the um, doctors need to request the patient come to the clinic to drink/eat poison. I am not sure of all the details, but after a few days, the woman returns to the doctor to have the fetus um, partially delivered (trying to watch my language here...sorry). In order to make the WOMAN as comfortable as possible, they stick a needle in the area that would be the head if it were a baby, and collapse the brain. Then the doctor can deliver the remaining fetus easily. If it was a small sample, and they didn't need to collapse the head like area, the fetus might actually be delivered um, breathing. This unsuccessful procedure need not have any consequences as the health care providers are ordered to leave the um, body matter waste shivering and crying on the cold table until it quiets down.

I am so relieved to have this off my chest. I am going to go apologize to those people on Yahoo that I offended with my stupidity. Then I am going to go comment on something I just heard. President Obama gave an interview before he was in office where he described sin as being out of alignment with his own values...but don't quote me.

I hate the dentist...

Back in the time of the mighty Roman Empire, things were handled a bit differently than we do now in our modern age. For example, if a woman gave birth, the child was not immediately oohhhed over and given a name. In Roman times, the midwife delivered the baby and placed it on the ground. The father, as head of the household, then decided what would happen...if he wanted the baby, it was cleaned up, named, and the ooohhing commenced. If he gave the baby a thumbs down for whatever reason, the baby was then exposed to the elements and left for dead, usually outside the walls of the town. At that point, animals or the weather would finish the child. Unlike the pagans, the new Christians in Rome...members of Jesus' new Catholic church believed in the value of life. They began collecting these discarded babies and caring for them. These new Catholics didn't worry that they were pagan babies--God doesn't care. God blessed those efforts and eventually, the Catholics were to triumph over the mighty Roman Empire. It didn't happen quickly, but the Catholic church never let paganism--evil--triumph over it. God worked mightily in His oppressed people, and they persevered in doing His work and spreading His Good News.

Today, we are living in a neo-pagan culture that again believes the right of people to choose for themselves which life is worthy of being given a chance.  Women and men decide at the babies conception or some time afterward if they want to be a parent. Sometimes the mother doesn't believe she has the money, time, or situation that the baby should be born into. Other times, the baby might have a physical problem that would prohibit a good life like down syndrome, a birth defect...the wrong sex. Whatever the reason, our society now condones...applauds the woman's right to choose life or death. We refuse to see that the baby is nothing more than an appendage of the mother while it is still inside her body, and so if we never see the smile, the laugh...the arm, we are not leaving it behind the city gates, so to speak. It is much more sterile. So we are not really killing babies like those pagan roman's--for pete's sake, its a surgical procedure like getting a tooth pulled. Really? Well, you decide.

pulled tooth

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aborted baby

This was just to remind you that the Catholic church has a long history of protecting babies and other defenseless people.

Additionally, the Catholic church, since Jesus formed it more than 2000 years ago has been healing sinners and trying to bring comfort. In one of its sacraments, Reconciliation, the Priests are to act as a conduit through which Jesus' healing and forgiveness of sins is complete. Today, through groups like Gabrielle's or Rachael's Project, women and men who have suffered through an abortion can receive healing and mother's who are expecting can receive aid. In its 2000 year history the church has had some moments when in condemned, but much of it history has been bringing forgiveness and healing to its members and others.

All this is just to say, hey guys, we have held onto this belief for more than 2000 years. Jesus himself appointed the first pope...he was the man. The others deferred to him. We still do, and through divine grace, a man holding this office ever since has made sound decisions regarding the issues important to Jesus' church. I am not saying that every Pope who has been in office has been a holy man, however, each has made decisions regarding important church teaching that have remained sound. Its like they may have been really bad men, but when it came to leading the church through its important decisions, they were able to dredge through the sludge and make the right decision. Jesus protects His church. On this mandate that President Obama is trying to pass, The Catholic Church will remain strong and not accept evil in continuing to do something good.

The very sad part of this is, the American public will lose. Obama wants to pass a resolution that will change our constitution and rather than look at that as an evil, everyone would rather focus on those evil old men priests who abuse boys. I am not minimizing, but is that really the issue. The issue is being clouded by everything other than what it is...Obama, using the power of his government office, wishes to mandate a religious institution to abandon its 2000 year old beliefs and precepts. whatever happened to the separation of church and state?

night, little annie..



Anne and Al at their Wedding

17 years ago today, I lost my best friend. It was not unexpected...she was ill for almost 2 years with cancer. It had begun in her colon and metastasized from there when doctors did not immediately remove her colon. They were hesitant to remove it since she was so young, though she eventually had to have a colostomy and she died anyway. Anne was in her early thirties when she passed away, much, much too young. 4 months married, she was buried in her wedding dress--I think she was pleased with the effect it would have and, always clothes conscious, she knew she looked fantastic in it. Anne was very dramatic...she planned every detail of her funeral down to the songs that would be played and how her friends would grieve over her casket while we were getting ready to leave the cemetery...humming a little ditty we used to sing in our college days. Yeah, she loved her drama. It was all pretty exciting--and she lost weight!! Yes, her words...I didn't see the colon cancer diet gaining popularity until they could do something about the edema, or "that funky old edema" as Anne called it...ahh, good times. Up until the day she lost her ability to tell us how she felt. That night she laid down, after being carried to her bedroom, and never got up. She realized that afternoon that she could no longer communicate with us. Anne was very verbal...and if she couldn't use that way of communicating, she could write. That was almost better because then she would leave us a visual and lasting message. The day she could no longer write, she knew. This wasn't a drama, where she gets up, slim and beautiful...newly wed and lives happily ever after. A beautiful heroine in a story made just for her. Finally silent, Anne gave up. She cried silent tears all afternoon and then went to sleep. She woke up only intermittently after that and passed away the next evening. I am glad she only had to live in her silent world for little more than a few hours. I pray that when she woke up, she was in Jesus' arms and her pain was gone. That she got to tell everyone what an ordeal dying was but she was glad to be there...and that really is happily ever after.

When Anne could no longer express herself, she lost her will to live.  I remember a show, few years back (ok, maybe more than a few, but its my turn to talk!!) about some talking dinosaurs...one was a baby and very obnoxious. I realized when watching that show I could never eat an animal if it could talk to me. Really, and I'm pretty sure I could talk any animal out of eating me if given half a chance. It just seems so uncivilized. If the bird I was fixin' to prepare for dinner said, "um, its cold in here...could I have a blanket while I wait?" all interest in dinner would cease. I imagine that he would be thinking that, but I can block that out as long as I don't understand what he is feeling. So does the ability to talk make us human? Is a voice we understand enough to make us relate to someone as an equal being? I wonder what the babies would say if they could talk to us from the womb? What if, when we did a sonogram, we could hear the baby say, "mom, eat your vegetables...I am feeling a bit weak down here." It worked for Bella and Edward. Edward believed in his baby and did everything he could to save her as soon as she spoke up and told him that she loved him. And she loved her mommy. Before that he only viewed her as a beast...something trying to kill his wife. Life lessons from Twilight and the vampires...whatever works. I love a good visual. Something else I got from Anne.

Anne Boland Cushner

Daughter, Wife, Friend...Hair Brush Singer Extraordinaire

Gone, but Never Forgotten


Angie, Me, Anne, Debbie, and Karen in what turned out to be our last portrait together
Interesting side note; Best friends since day one of college for
most of us (Deb wasn't from Scranton, but Clearfield, another Coal town in PA) within 10 years
of graduating, each of us was either dead or had an autoimmune disease...coincidence? I
think not...but that is a post for another day.

The Weed...

At mass yesterday, the Priest spoke of the Matthew gospel where Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the tares. In this parable, the farmer sowed good seed in his rows, however, when asleep, the enemy came in and sowed weeds in with the good. When they began to grow, the farmer told the workers to let the the wheat and weed, which had become entangled, alone to grow so they didn't in advertently pull up wheat and kill it. He said after threshing, they would seperate them and burn the bad.

That parable tells us how God only sows, or gives us, good things. We often think that God is making bad things happen to us, but really He never sends bad. Because He allows us free will, sometimes we allow the bad in. Sometimes, we invite it. Heck, sometimes we run after it. Sometimes someone else brings it in. Sometimes, when we are not paying attention, it sneaks in...

God has a plan for each of us that is all good! Sometimes we are unhappy waiting or want something different. With everyone going off and making his or her own plans, sometimes bad things result. These are not sent from God to test us, however, He does allow it. Not because He is enjoying it, but because He is our Father...Do we enjoy when our children are hurting or make mistakes, or do we allow some of it knowing they need it to mature and grow. We don't take enjoyment from their suffering. Neither does God. But the only way we ensure that we have all good is when we are sure we are following His plan.

When my older children are really angry, they refer to their younger brothers and sister as "your children" as if by saying that they can be seperate from them. Yes, adopting 7 children into our family makes things more challenging, but Shawn and I are sure we are following God's plan for our lives. Just as we are sure that adopting the three of them were part of His plan. He has assured us that it will all work for His good. Sometimes, however, it just seems like there is no way to make it better and the good starts to look like a weed...being sure that we are doing what is His will is what keeps us going. Sometimes its so hard to tell the wheat from the tares...

At Mass, Father told us something that I didn't believe. I was shocked actually. He said that the Susan B. Koman foundation supported abortions. I had much respect for the Koman people. If anyone said they were doing a walk and wanted a donation and mentioned the Koman foundation, I had no problem whipping out my checkbook. I had to google it when I got home. Here it is...shocking, no...I mean really, no. I was at first, taken aback, but after the things I have learned in the past two weeks, the Breast Cancer support group supporting an organization that provides abortions which are linked to breast cancer is...well, like the peanut butter manufacturer supporting the organization that supports the allergy kids and hands out their epi pens. It is job security. It is a way to conceal negative research results. It is like the wheat and the tare. Sometimes the Evil is hidden so well in the good that we support it without knowing. We fall asleep like that farmer in Matthew...