Strange Email I Received

Apparently someone found my blog via Marie and Ginny's Big is Beautiful blog and thought she needed to email me the following:

I came to your blog by way of Historical Christian, which linked to Big is Beautiful, where there appeared to be a thank you to you for recommending it for some award.

I find Aimee Cooper’s blog challenging and grace-filled, and occasionally a little angry over this or that, but by and large quite “Christian” in the sense of not attacking other most of the time. The Big is Beautiful blog seems to be on hold, so I checked yours out.

I am quite surprised, and disappointed, in the over-arching negative tone of the blog, if the several articles I read are representative. I don’t want to presume that you are not a happy person, but as a Catholic woman trying to live my faith and interact with this hurting world in a way that may bring others closer to our Lord, I found most of the vitriol spouted quite hateful, judgmental, and off-putting.

I pray your life is filled with more light than your blog suggests. May Christ’s love fill you and all those you love and hold dear.

If you are wondering why I am posting it here it is to ask you...what is she talking about?

I am not posting her name in order to spare her any embarrassment. But really, does anyone know which posts were hateful??? I did email her first before posting it here but I have not received a reply back.

Another Critic of EWTN

The problem is it is seen by many as “the Catholic channel.” Unfortunately, it is Mother Angelica’s version of the Catholic Church, and it is an outdated view of what “church” is.

Fr. Z posted about a university chair of a theology department and his gripe with the Eternal Word Television Network and Mother Angelica.

Whenever I read articles like this, it only makes me want to donate more money to EWTN.

God bless Mother Angelica and all the good people who work hard to bring us EWTN. It is our light in a world gone dark with sin and evil.

Prayer Request for Australia

Please keep the people of Australia in your prayers. The devastating fires in Victoria have killed over 170 people. Article

Not only are the people and animals suffering from the extreme heat, they now have to endure this suffering as well. Pray especially for our blogging friends down under, like Marie, Elena and Therese

New Shrine of the Holy Innocents

Father Groeschel's show last week was about a new shrine at the Divine Mercy shrine in Stockbridge, MA. Mrs. L has some details

God, Be Merciful to Us - Miracle on the Hudson River

Sorry but I do not have the source of the above cartoon. It was shared via email.

A banker on a business trip in New York City, Fred Berretta had just checked into his hotel room. He had about 20 minutes down time before he had to meet his colleagues.

For some reason he decided to clean out his briefcase, something he hadn't done in a long time. As he emptied it out, he came across a booklet he had stuffed into a pocket years ago on praying the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. He recalls having prayed it a few times years ago. But by Jan. 15, 2009, it was a good intention mislaid — among spreadsheets and quarterly reports and matters that seemed far more pressing.

Only two weeks prior, Fred had made a New Year's resolution to try to get into better spiritual shape. Here in this hotel room was an opportunity to fulfill it. So he followed along in the booklet and prayed the chaplet, a prayer our Lord gave to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s during a series of revelations that have sparked the modern Divine Mercy movement.

The time happened to be 3 o'clock, known as the Hour of Great Mercy, when Jesus died on the cross. Fred would consider that detail the following day — as he was preparing to die....

Read the rest of the story here

The Hypocrisy of the Liberal Media

Reminder - Novena for Conversion of America

Just a reminder that the Novena for the conversion of America is currently underway. I do want to thank the person who originally left this comment on my blog, for sharing this with me.

Another 72 day Conversion of America novena will begin on January 25th, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, and end on April 6th (Monday of Holy Week) Please help spread the word! If you come late, simply start at a later date and end later also. People may also become "American Sentinels" by pledging to pray the rosary every day over the next four years! ***

Conversion of America Novena - Day 15: Sorrowful Mysteries Rosaries Pledged: 44810

Rosaries for Life

Patron Saints 2009 - Message to Those Requesting a Patron Saint

Some of you have written me regarding the selection of the 2009 Patron Saints ministry.

In a recent email from Marianne she indicated a new blog was in the process of being created. It is my understanding she has also started to receive requests.

However, this year, I will be assisting my friend Sue Cifelli who originally introduced me to Marianne. Sue has decided that she needs to help people with this ministry and I feel I need to support her.

Therefore, if you would like a patron saint, you could continue to email Marianne or you can leave a comment at Sue's blog. Your Patron Saint for 2009

You can also leave a comment here if you would like for Sue to help with our patron saint.

UPDATE: You can continue to leave comments at the Patron Saints Ministry blog too. Marianne will get those messages.

If you are leaving a comment here, please be sure to check back as Sue will be leaving a reply here for you.

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer on Integrity

The latest column from Fr. Euteneuer was too good not to share.

Dear Spirit and Life readers,

One of my most memorable experiences in Marine Corps boot camp was the lesson of integrity. Certain infractions of the strict code of discipline were considered “integrity violations” such as lying or undermining the chain of command, etc. We all implicitly understood that term to mean the breaking of rules of conduct or ethics that bind men together for the common mission. We did our best to avoid committing any violations of integrity, not merely to avoid penalties, but more so because we sought to form ourselves as honorable, trustworthy men deserving of our uniforms.

Ironically, the country our honorable Marines serve is currently being led by a President who has begun his term of office with an extensive list of “integrity violations,” setting new lows for integrity in American history, and on the way to shredding the last bits of moral fiber left in our nation. But this is what we get when we elect a confirmed champion of the culture of death to the highest office of our land.

Count with me a couple of these violations that occurred in the President’s first two weeks in office:

* Mr. Obama is the first and only President-elect ever to be investigated by the FBI (regarding the Blagojevich scandal); and hasn’t his normally-boisterous Chief of Staff been rather quiet lately?

* Three of his nominees for high office were caught cheating on their taxes, including—astoundingly—the now-confirmed Secretary of the Treasury who has oversight of the IRS!

* Candidate Obama’s fervent promises to shun lobbyists from any influence in this administration didn’t stop him from picking at least twelve lobbyists for top jobs, including the #2 man at the Defense Department. One blog noted that Obama has hired a lobbyist a day in less than two weeks in office!

* The #1 man at the Obama Justice Department helped President Clinton pardon a billionaire financier on the run from tax evasion charges; the #2 man at the Obama Justice Department is an extreme pornography and abortion rights advocate; the #3 man at the Obama Justice Department helped to kill Terri Schiavo. This is Mr. Obama’s version of justice?

* Our new Secretary of State, even aside from her husband’s foreign fundraising conflicts of interest, will put the whole US foreign policy apparatus behind the promotion of abortion around the world. Come to think of it, this is not an integrity violation at all; it is an essential part of the moral code of Obama, Hillary and company. The President’s erasure of the Mexico City Policy will fund the international killers to the teeth for a new reign of terror on the unborn worldwide.

I could go on but I won’t. One just wonders what the word “shame” means any more.

The icing on the integrity cake, however, is Mr. Obama’s recent call to limit the compensation of the CEOs of corporations that receive government bailout monies. There are two good reasons (among many) why this move is disingenuous in the extreme: first is that it actually applies to no one at the moment because all those who have already received government bailouts are exempt. Second, keeping corporate executive salaries down will stimulate nothing except the rapaciousness of the vultures in Congress who want more sectors of American society under their control.

I can think of a number of people whose salaries should really be capped, however, but it would take integrity to call these filthy rich celebrities and sports stars to account for their obscene income in the same period of time in which more than one million Americans lost their jobs:

* J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter author)—$300,000,000

* Oprah—$275,000,000

* Beyoncé and her rapper husband Jay-Z—$162,000,000

* Jerry Bruckheimer—$145,000,000

* Tiger Woods—$115,000,000

* Simon Cowell (American Idol)—$72,000,000

* Howard Stern—$70,000,000

* David Letterman—$45,000,000

* Michael Jordan—$45,000,000

* Madonna—$40,000,000

* Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie—$34,000,000

Integrity is clearly not Mr. Obama’s strong suit. His lack of experience, superficial judgment, and penchant for empty rhetoric is now on display for all the world to see, and it is embarrassing. The point of the matter, however, is not that America can’t survive such a poor performance. Remember that we did survive eight years of the Clinton regime. It’s that this man is a product of the culture of death and will entirely radicalize our nation’s institutions with other immoral and extreme people who share his views. The blood of fifty million aborted babies has clouded our national judgment, and we have chosen to rule over us not just one man, but thousands of his appointees who will likely drive us into oblivion before we wake up and insist on integrity once again.

Personally, I think a few months in Marine Corps boot camp might serve President Obama very well.

Sincerely,


Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

Saintly Quote - Disorder

Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family.

St. Angela Merici (1474-1540)

Shared by Sue