Starting this fall, all students at John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School are required to carry identification cards embedded with a microchip. They are tracked by the dozens of electronic readers installed in the schools’ ceiling panels.
One student has apparently retaliated by hacking into the school’s website and shutting it down. That is not an acceptable response to such policies. Lashing out is not the way to handle this problem. Rather, parents should take charge and mention to school administrators that parents have the right to home school their children. You do not have to put up with this.
Knights of Columbus march with women, Arizona March for Life, Phoenix, January 22, 2012
To my friends in Arizona, you need to reject John McCain now. Today, on the Solemnity of Christ the King, John McCain has called for Republicans to abandon the abortion issue.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that Republicans should steer clear of discussions of abortion that could alienate young and female voters, after the two groups helped power President Obama’s reelection.
“As far as young women are concerned, absolutely, I don’t think anybody like me — I can state my position on abortion, but, other than that, leave the issue alone, when we are in the kind of economic situation and, frankly, national security situation we’re in,” McCain told “Fox News Sunday.”
Catholics in Arizona especially, you need to withdraw any and all support from John McCain immediately.
Today is the Solemnity of Christ the King, and I thought I would share with you the gist of the message given today in an awesome homily from our priest, Father Brian Johnson, at St. Benedict parish in Clarkson (Wax), Kentucky.
At the founding of our country, Americans joined together to throw off the bonds of oppression by a king; namely, King George III of Great Britain. In doing this, they rejected the idea of the “blue bloods” ruling over the masses. Even though this ethic of the rejection of “kings” continues to be strong in our country, it is a reality of human nature that we will seek out kings. Some call Elvis “the King” of music. Richard Petty, the NASCAR driver, is called “King Richard.” Budweiser is known as “King of Beers” and the Clydesdale breed used to promote that brand is known as “King of Horses.” This is a reflection of our natural desire that there be people and things that will set a “standard” by which others are measured. This is all well and good, as a reflection of our nature, but in the end, we must acknowledge Jesus as the True King of our Hearts. He is the ultimate standard by which we must judge our own lives. If we set other “kings” ahead of him, no matter what they may be, we are missing out on the glory of the true Kingdom of God.
When Jesus was asked by Pilate if He was King of the Jews, Jesus responded that His Kingdom is not of this world. When we say the “Our Father,” we say “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” The Kingdom of God is not of this world, but the Kingdom does come in this world when we who are in the world have Christ as our King in the manner that we live in the world. We seek a heavenly kingdom, the Kingdom of God, and so do all others, whether they realize it consciously or not. All are seeking a king, and when we let Christ reign as King of our hearts, we give them a glimpse of the True King, and the Kingdom of God which their hearts are longing for.
Crucifix at Slea Head, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, West Coast of Ireland
The state of the Church in Ireland is certainly a cause for concern, but Mark Lambert has written an article that made me feel a bit better about the situation. For example, I did not know that people are still attending Mass in large numbers.
Yet Ireland IS Catholic. I went to Mass last Sunday and there were literally thousands of people in St. Mary’s Church, Westport. Thousands! It’s awesome! Irish people ARE Catholic—it’s in their nature, their bones, it oozes out of their pores, it is their way. It is manifest in the importance of community, of caring for others, their friendliness, it is part of the make up of this place.
This next part, I did know,but of course, the bishops in communion with the Vatican are the only ones who can remedy this.
But it is under threat. People still go to Mass, but what do they get there? Last Sunday’s (really quite good, by and large) homily contained a sad admission from a priest who found, at the grave of two little boys who had been killed last week, that he had no answer to the question “where is God in this?” He actually announced to the congregation that he had no answer. Frankly I was shocked by this admission.
There is no catechesis, no solid spiritual food. No answers to difficult questions. They put statues and rosary beads on their gravestones, they go to Mass, but I worry that this is becoming merely habitual, a superstition rather than the Catholic faith.
Read the whole thing. Lots of great insight there. My thoughts are that with God’s help Ireland will be as strong as ever in her Catholicism. And certainly, God will help.
Liberal protesters arrive at Todd Akin’s campaign HQ, during the recent general election campaign, with a cake to signify their view that seniors would die if Akin were elected, due to his fiscal conservatism. Establishment Republicans chose to join with the radical Left in demonizing Akin on the core issue of the dignity of all human life, then later backtracked when their plan to remove him from the race did not work. Akin eventually lost the election to liberal incumbent Claire McCaskill. Akin’s position on the dignity and sanctity of all human life is consistent with the Republican Party platform.
Austin Ruse, head of Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, writing at Crisis Magazine, offers some pointed remarks in response to the GOP “elites” who are blaming social conservatism (again) for election losses. He makes several points, all of which I agree with. This, below, is possibly the most important among them.
[D]oes anyone think if Todd’s last name was Bush that the GOP and conservative elite would have called immediately for the political death penalty?
Also this.
But if the GOP succeeds in abandoning the social issues, as some are now arguing, the GOP will never win another national election.
Before the Lord takes me home, I would like to do this. Sometime in my life, I want to do this. But then, I’m sure heaven is way better, so if by some chance I don’t get to do this in my lifetime, I’ll be okay with it.
Blessed Clemens August Count Von Galen, Bishop of Munster during the Third Reich
In October, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, a native of Germany, announced the formal declaration of the beatification of Bishop Clemens August Count Von Galen. Bishop von Galen spoke out against the Nazis during World War II in Germany. Below is a YouTube playlist of three sermons delivered against the Nazis by Bishop von Galen during the Third Reich. The sermons are read by Cal Beisang.
In these sermons, Bishop von Galen takes on the Nazis, exposing what they did to innocent German citizens, the Catholic orders, the mentally ill, the old and infirm and how the government was usurping the role of parents in raising children.
There was swift retribution for these sermons. Reichsleiter Bormann advised to Hitler that the Bishop should be taken into custody and be hanged. But, they feared that they’d have to deal with the remainder of the Catholic population in the diocese of Munster. Instead, they attacked those close to the Bishop. Twenty-four secular priests and 13 members of the regular clergy were deported into concentration camps. Ten lost their lives.
As a parent of school-aged children, this concerns me. I would not agree to this. Would you? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
