Misplaced Fuss Over Rick Santorum and World Net Daily
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Rick Santorum debates Howard Dean at Cornell University. Cornell alumni include Ann Coulter and Keith Olbermann. Santorum is fond of debate and does not shy from the chance to speak in venues where there is strong disagreement.

There seems to be a great deal of misplaced fuss over Rick Santorum contributing at WorldNetDaily. While I am used to this coming from the Left, it was a surprise to see Matt Lewis write at the Daily Caller that this means by attrition that Rick Santorum is not running for president in 2016.

1.) Santorum apparently decides against 2016 run – At least, that is the only conclusion one can draw from this press release from World Net Daily:

“Rick Santorum – the former U.S. senator who ignited grass-roots conservatives as a Republican candidate for president this year – today joins WND as an exclusive columnist. His commentaries will be featured each Monday.”

Rick Santorum is not likely to pass up an opportunity to write an exclusive op-ed for a high traffic news website, nor would anyone who wants to get their message out to as many people as possible. He also offers exclusive commentary at Red State, Ricochet, and other websites.

Who else writes at World Net Daily? Thomas Sowell. David Limbaugh. Phyllis Schlafly. Dennis Prager. Star Parker. These are mainstream conservatives who support the Republican Party platform. To my knowledge, none of them are concerned about Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Contributing at a website does not mean that you endorse everything on it. If it did mean that, I would take issue with Matt Lewis for writing at The Daily Caller, where Ann Coulter is also a columnist. Coulter has said that Mitt Romney is more conservative than Ronald Reagan. One doesn’t get much more off the rocker than that.

It’s very disappointing to see such an extreme charge against Rick Santorum from someone like Matt Lewis who is usually quite level-headed. I do hope he will re-think the idea of claiming that if you write for a website, you automatically endorse all of that website’s editorials. I’m sure that most people understand that when Thomas Peters writes at the left-wing Washington Post it does not mean he has jumped ship to become a liberal. In like manner, when Rick Santorum writes at World Net Daily, it does not mean that he agrees with the editor or the other contributors on any issue unless he specifically says that he does.

Why Rick Santorum is Right about the CRPD Treaty and Parental Rights
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Santorum press conference on CRPD. Bella Santorum was in attendance along with her parents, Rick and Karen, her sister Sarah and brother Dan.

Rick Santorum is right that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is a danger to parental rights, as he explains in a new op-ed at World Net Daily.

“The best interest of the child” standard may sound like it protects children, but what it does is put the government, acting under U.N. authority, in the position to determine for all children with disabilities what is best for them. That is counter to the current state of the law in this country which puts parents – not the government – in that position of determining what is in their child’s best interest. Under the laws of our country, parents lose that right only if the state, through the judicial process, determines that the parents are unfit to make that decision.

In the case of our 4-year-old daughter, Bella, who has Trisomy 18, a condition that the medical literature says is “incompatible with life,” would her “best interest” be that she be allowed to die? Some would undoubtedly say so.

So if the state, and not Karen and I, would have the final word on what is in the best interest of a child like Bella, what chance would a parent have to get appropriate care in the days of increasingly government-funded medical care?

He is correct that the language sounds tame to those not paying attention. Obamacare is expected to include rationing of healthcare, particularly if those on the Left who are now attacking Rick Santorum as a “conspiracy theorist” get their way. The New York Times is openly advocating for rationing. If the State, instead of the parent, determines what is in the “best interest of the child,” and if the Left gets their way on rationing, then it follows that the State would have authority to deny parents of disabled children the right to obtain medical care for their children in need.

It should not be for the State to decide what is in the “best interests of the child” simply because a child has a disability. It should always be up to the parents to decide what is in the best interest of the child UNLESS the parents are abusive. The treaty should not even include “best interests of the child” in the text because being the parent of a disabled child should not, in and of itself, rob you of your legal status as the person responsible for making those decisions.

Read Rick Santorum’s full op-ed.

 

 

Those Passionist Nuns Always Make Me Smile
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Passionist Nuns acting in a fun skit for Sr. Mary Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee

The Passionist Nuns of St. Joseph Monastery are responsible for a great deal of joy in my life. They are cloistered nuns, but as a Passionist Oblate Associate, I am spiritually connected to them in the Cross. It is quite an experience, most of all spiritually, to be a part of a family you never really get to see. We do get to see a whole lot more of them than usual, though, by way of their monthly newsletter. I very much hope you will sign up for the Passionist Nuns newsletter which you can receive by mail. Click here to visit their recent blog post on the Autumn newsletter. Click here to see the archive of newsletters, which you can read online  or print out to read and share.

May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Be Ever in Our Hearts!

 

Video: Advent in 2 Minutes – But Don’t Forget the Repentance
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Busted Halo has produced a nice little video about Advent called “Advent in 2 Minutes.” It’s really a good way to call attention to this blessed season. I do have to mention, however, that the video says that Advent is not about repentance but about hope. Actually, as this nice article at Catholic Online says, Advent is a time for repentance…and much more. While it is not Lent, it is also definitely a time to go to Confession, so please don’t miss out on that important part this Advent. Other than that, the video is very good!

Via @Mizzmonsoon at #Catholic Twitter Daily

A Cajun Nun?
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My friend Opinionated Catholic (a big LSU fan in Louisiana) has a great video on his blog of a Daughter of St. Paul, Sister Tracy, who is from Cajun country in South Louisiana. That’s some cool stuff there! One funny thing she shares is that she said her highest aspiration in high school was to get a job at the mall so that she could get a discount at GAP. haha

I promise that Sr. Helena did not pay me or twist my arm to post this. I just thought it was neat. Of course, I’m still partial to the Passionist Nuns.

Via #Catholic Twitter Daily

St Gemma on Humiliations
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Humility is…”The moral virtue that keeps a person from reaching beyond himself. It is the virtue that restrains the unruly desire for personal greatness and leads people to an orderly love of themselves based on a true appreciation of their position with respect to God and their neighbors.”  Humility is a quality of all the saints. St. Gemma Galgani, a Passionist saint, wrote about Jesus and humiliations in her diary on July 20, 1900.

By four o’clock today I was tired of suffering. I presently found myself with Jesus, Who came beside me and was not sad as on the previous night; He caressed me and lifted the crown from my head. I then felt less pain; but when He put it upon His own head I felt no pain at all. My strength returned and I felt even better than before I began to suffer.

We talked of many things and during our conversation I asked Him not to make me confess to Father Vallini, because I did not like to. Jesus seemed disappointed, and told me that I should go at once. I promised I would. He showed His heart to me and said “I love you greatly because you are like me.” “In what way, Jesus?” I asked, “because I seem so unlike you.” “In accepting humilia­tions,” He replied. Then there returned to me a vision of my past life. I saw my pride. It was always one of my greatest defects. When I was little, wherever I went I al­ways heard it said that I was very proud. But what means Jesus has used to humiliate me, especially during this past year. At last I understand what God was doing with me. May Jesus be always thanked. Then God added that with time He would make a saint of me. Of this last I will say no more for that is impossible to happen to me. He told me of something to say to the confessor and blessed me. I knew Jesus would be away from me for some days. But how good He is! Scarcely had He gone when my Angel Guardian appeared, who with his con­tinual charity, vigilance, and patience assists me. Oh Jesus, I have promised always to obey you. I affirm it anew.

In politics, there is a lot of talk about government dependency, and there are many who say that the most important thing is to end this dependency on government and for people to learn “self-sufficiency.” Certainly, dependence on government does get in the way of our dependence on God. There is something to be said for self-sufficiency, but in the end, money is not what matters. Unless we have humility, which is dependence on God, we cannot really have peace. We can never be satisfied by the things of the world. If government dependency were ended, people would turn to other things to satisfy their appetites. Jesus not only satisfies all that we truly need, but He fully completes us. Total dependence on God is where the truest happiness is found. Lack of dependence on God means one’s heart is chained to the world, or even, perhaps, to sin.

Humility is the quality not only of being able to suffer humiliations, but being willing to welcome them for Jesus, to become more like Him, as He said to St. Gemma, and to help convert sinners. The opposite of humility, of course, is pride. Pride keeps us from being willing to suffer humiliations.

St. Gemma has helped me to understand a great deal on this. Visit StGemmaGalgani.com for more.