Phones, sports, and vampires - ya know the everyday stuff.

Excerpt from a newsletter from Steve Wood at Dads.org


September 2010, Volume 16, Issue 4


Smart Fathers and Smartphones
One of the goals of a smart dad is to find a job or profession that supports the family financially and that also allows him to get home for dinner with the family. I realize that some special situations and professions make regular family dinners a goal difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, it should be a father’s goal to have regular dinners with the family. It’s one of the simplest ways to build family solidarity and to keep teens from submerging into negative peer culture.


The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia has released their fifth special report on the importance of families eating together. Here’s what they discovered:


“Over the past decade and a half of surveying thousands of American teens and their parents, we have discovered that one of the most effective ways parents can keep their kids from using substances is by sitting down to dinner with them. Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five to seven per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are:


• Twice as likely to use tobacco or marijuana; and


• More than one and a half times likelier to use alcohol.


The research shows clearly how important it is to get to the dinner table with your kids.”


This year’s special report looked into the effect of Blackberries, cell phones, smartphones, and other electronic gadgets on family dinners. The researchers found that electronic disruptions sabotaged the positive effect of family meals. For family meals to have positive effects fathers and all other members of the family can’t be texting and focusing on a smartphone every time it vibrates. The researcher’s advice was simple, clear, and direct: all members of the family should turn off all phones and electronic gadgets during family meals.


I concur with the advice from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. Smart dads turn off smartphones during family meals.


Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI on Sports
“Sports are not merely the exercise of muscles, but the school of moral values and of training in courage, in perseverance, and in overcoming laziness and carelessness. There is no doubt that these values are of greatest interest for the formation of a personality, which considers sports not an end in itself but as a means to total and harmonious physical, moral and social development.”


(John Paul II, 1984 Address to European Olympians in L.A.)


“Sport has a notable educational potential above all in the realm of youth and, because of this, it is of great importance not only in the use of free time, but also in the formation of the person. Hence, it is necessary that, in our time – in which we see the urgent need to educate the new generations – the Church continue to support sports for young people, fully appreciating also competitive activity in its positive aspects, as for example, in the capacity to stimulate competitiveness, courage and tenacity in the pursuit of objectives avoiding, however, all tendencies that pervert its very nature with recourse to practices that are also dangerous to the organism, as is the case of doping.”


(Benedict XVI, 2009 Address to Pontifical Council for the Laity’s seminar on sports and education)


Vampires
The latest stage of the descent into the occult paganization of youth is the vampire craze. The Twilight vampire-romance novels, movies, and DVDs are a runaway success. The first Twilight film grossed over $392 million worldwide. The first Twilight book stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for 91 weeks. The Social Security Administration reports that Bella, the love-struck heroine in the Twilight tales, is now on the list of the top 200 girls’ names. It says a lot about our culture when parents name their baby daughter after a girl who turns into a vampire.


A few months ago, I called a Catholic priest out-of-state whom I had never met or spoken to before. He was shaken when I called, having just hung up the phone from talking to his priest friend. It seems that two teenagers had called his friend asking the priest if he could put them in touch with a vampire. This depressing call revealed just how debased and toxic our culture has become.


A Barna research report (Teens and the Supernatural – Barna.org) found that “three quarters of America’s youth have engaged in at least one type of psychic or witchcraft-related activity, beyond mere media exposure.” The report stated that 77% of Catholic youth have experimented with psychic and witchcraft-related activities (such as: consulting Ouija boards, participating in séances, casting spells, mixing magic potions, etc.).


Here are a couple of good resources for fathers seeking to protect themselves and their teens from the vampire plague:


The Spiritual Counterfeits Projects, an Evangelical anti-cult and occult organization, has a special issue of its journal devoted to the vampire craze.


The well-known Catholic author, Michael O’Brien, has written a book entitled Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture.


Although O’Brien masterfully analyzes the literary value of Potter, Twilight, and other fantasy literature, the chief value of this book is its mature spiritual discernment. Many Catholics have made a huge mistake thinking that the chief questions about the Potter and Twilight novels are primarily questions of literary merit. This notion completely misses the threat posed by these novels which is deceptive and attractive spiritual portrayals of the dark side.


Consider that the unparalleled success of both the Potter series and the Twilight series came from authors who say that their stories just burst into their minds. Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight novels, said, “Bella and Edward were, quite literally, voices in my head. They simply wouldn’t shut up.” J.K. Rowling said that “the character of Harry Potter just popped into my head, full formed. Looking back, it was all quite spooky!” Are these just two literary coincidences or two inspirations from the demonic?


O’Brien warns, “Christian parents everywhere are facing the dilemma of raising their families in the midst of a tsunami of cultural corruption.” Teens calling a Catholic priest for help in locating a vampire, parents naming their daughters after Bella the vampire, and the extreme popularity of all things related to vampires, are just three indications of the paganization tsunami sweeping over our land. O’Brien’s book carries my strong recommendation for those fathers who desire wisdom in protecting their children from an invasive cultural corruption.

e5 Men Monthly Reminder

This Wednesday is the first Wednesday of the month

 
 
 
 

Yeah, its been blogged about....but its too good not to

I don't know how he made it through the whole song without laughing.  Oh Marty.

Previous Marty posts

The culture tells us it's ok......what about facts?

NEW OXFORD REVIEW
September 2007

Cohabitation: Ten Facts

By A. Patrick Schneider II
Patrick Schneider II, M.D., M.P.H., who holds boards in family and geriatric medicine and who received a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University, is in private practice in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Cohabitation -- it's training for divorce." -- Chuck Colson (1995)

1. Cohabitation is growing: 35 to 40 years ago cohabitation was rare; it was socially taboo. Growth by decade was: 1960s (up 19 percent), 1970s (up 204 percent), 1980s (up 80 percent), 1990s (up 66 percent), but up only 7.7 percent between 2000 and 2004. All told, cohabitation is up eleven-fold (U.S. Census Bureau, "Unmarried-Couple Households, by Presence of Children: 1960 to Present," Table UC-1, June 12, 2003).

2. Relationships are unstable: One-sixth of cohabiting couples stay together for only three years; one in ten survives five or more years (Bennett, W.J., The Broken Hearth: Reversing the Moral Collapse of the American Family, 2001).

3. Greater risk of divorce: The rate of divorce among those who cohabit prior to marriage is nearly double (39 percent vs. 21 percent) that of couples who marry without prior cohabitation (ibid.).

4. Women suffer disproportionately: Cohabiting women often end up with the responsibilities of marriage -- particularly when it comes to caring for children -- without the legal protection (ibid.), while contributing more than 70 percent of the relationship's income (Crouse, J.C., "Cohabitation: Consequences for Mothers and Children," presentation at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Oct. 11-14, 2004, U.N. Tenth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family).

5. Greater risk of STD: Men in cohabiting relationships are four times more likely to be unfaithful than husbands (ibid.). In 1960 there were only three STDs; now there are two dozen that are incurable. Cases of STD have tripled in the past six years. The rate of STD among cohabiting couples is six times higher than among married women (Crouse, J.C., Gaining Ground: A Profile of American Women in the Twentieth Century, 2000).

6. Greater risk of substance abuse and psychiatric problems: A UCLA survey of 130 published studies found that marriages preceded by cohabitation were more prone to drug and alcohol problems (Coombs, R.H., "Marital Status and Personal Well-Being: A Literature Review," Family Relations, Jan. 1991). Depression is three times more likely in cohabiting couples than among married couples (Robbins, L., Rieger, D., Psychiatric Disorders in America, 1990).

7. Higher poverty rates: Cohabitors who never marry have 78 percent less wealth than the continuously married; cohabitors who have been divorced or widowed once have 68 percent less wealth (Cohabitation Facts website).

8. Children suffer: The poverty rate among children of cohabiting couples is five fold greater than the rate among children in married-couple households (Bennett, op. cit.). Compared to children of married biological parents, children age 12-17 with cohabiting parents are six times more likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems (Booth, A., Crouter, A.C., eds., Just Living Together: Implications of Cohabitation on Families, Children and Social Policy, 2002). Likewise, adolescents from cohabiting households are 122 percent more likely to be expelled from school and 90 percent more likely to have a low GPA (Manning, W.D., Lamb, K.A., "Adolescent Well-Being in Cohabiting, Married and Single-Parent Families," Journal of Marriage and Family, Nov. 2003). Children find themselves without grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; the family tree is pruned (Bennett, op. cit.).

9. Society pays: The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with two million souls in federal and state prisons and local jails. In 1980 the figure was just over 500,000 (Bennett, op. cit.). Seventy percent of juveniles in state-operated institutions are from fatherless homes (Drake, T., "The Father Factor: Crime on Increase in ‘Dad Free' Zones," National Catholic Register, Jan. 2007). Three-fourths of children involved in criminal activity were from cohabiting households (Crouse, op. cit.).

10. Cohabitation breeds abuse, violence, and murder: Abuse of children: Rates of serious abuse are lowest in intact families; six times higher in step­families; 14 times higher in always-single-mother families; 20 times higher in cohabiting biological-parent families; and 33 times higher when the mother is cohabiting with a boyfriend who is not the biological father (Crouse, op. cit.). Abuse of women: Compared to a married woman, a cohabiting woman is three times more likely to experience physical aggression (Salari, S.M., Baldwin, B.M., "Verbal, Physical, and Injurious Aggression Among Intimate Couples Over Time," Journal of Family Issues, May 2002), and nine times more likely to be murdered (Shackelford, T.K., "Cohabitation, Marriage, and Murder: Woman-Killing by Male Romantic Partners," Aggressive Behavior, vol. 27, 2001). This data is consistent with similar data on children.

Cohabitation is bad for men, worse for women, and horrible for children. It is a deadly toxin to marriage, family, and culture. With great insight and wisdom Pope Benedict XVI has recently written in Sacramentum Caritatis (March 13, 2007) that among the four "fundamental values" that are "not negotiable," second only to respect for human life is "the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman."

© 2007 New Oxford Review. All Rights Reserved. September 2007, Volume LXXIV, Number 8.

H/T Catholic Parents Online

Happy Birthday's

Today, to my good friend - In Need of Mercy I am not sure how old he is (its pretty old though - think Sequoia trees)

No, This is not him by the big tree........or wait.....is it?   Just kiddin' buddy, hey, hope you had a great day.  God's Blessings to you.

And to the second.  My good friend who works full time in the trenches of Pro-Life ministry with the Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Will G.  Happy Birthday  Thanks for all you do.  (He is slightly older than the first....could be him next to that tree.  Maybe)

Fr. Michael Rodríguez doing his job, and the drama that follows

The following Article that started the drama
By the Rev. Michael Rodriguez \ Guest columnist
Posted: 08/01/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT
I sincerely hope and pray that all El Paso Catholics will take to heart the precious and infallible teachings of Holy Mother Church in the moral sphere, particularly those most relevant to our city at this critical juncture.

Remember: Every single Catholic, out of fidelity to charity and truth, has the absolute duty to oppose (1) the murder of unborn babies, and (2) any and all government attempts to legalize homosexual unions.

Any Catholic who supports homosexual acts is, by definition, committing a mortal sin, and placing himself/herself outside of communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

Furthermore, a Catholic would be guilty of a most grievous sin of omission if he/she neglected to actively oppose the homosexual agenda, which thrives on deception and conceals its wicked horns under the guises of "equal rights," "tolerance," "who am I to judge?," etc.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a pastoral letter on marriage in November 2009, which is endorsed by our own local bishop, his Excellency, Most Rev. Armando X. Ochoa.

This pastoral letter states the following:

"Among the many blessings that God has showered upon us in Christ is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the human race.

"The Church has taught throughout the ages that marriage is an exclusive relationship between one man and one woman.

"One of the most troubling developments in contemporary culture is the proposition that persons of the same sex can 'marry.' This proposal attempts to redefine the nature of marriage and the family and, as a result, harms both the intrinsic dignity of every human person and the common good of society.
"It is not unjust to oppose legal recognition of same-sex unions, because marriage and same-sex unions are essentially different realities. The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it."

I urge all of the Catholic faithful to treat homosexuals with love, understanding, and respect. At the same time, never forget that genuine love demands that we seek, above all, the salvation of souls. Homosexual acts lead to the damnation of souls.

Recently, a couple of letter writers claimed that in a democracy, it's up to the majority to decide between right and wrong. This form of reasoning is not only false, it's ludicrous!

While it's true that a majority of the citizens in a democracy has the political power to impose its "morality" on society, this juridical reality has no bearing whatsoever on the intrinsic moral value of actions.

That which makes something right or wrong is the objective moral order established by God, which can also be grasped and appreciated through the use of human reason. In philosophy, this is known as natural law.

Even the ancient Greeks had a basic respect for the principles of natural law.

To simplify: One would have to be ghastly morally decrepit to think that if 51 percent of Americans opine that rape is OK, then rape becomes, in effect, all right. Sure, the majority is politically capable of such a vote, but this could never make rape morally right.

There is such a thing as a corrupt democracy, you know!

Abortion and homosexual acts are unequivocally intrinsic moral evils. And friends, this objective truth doesn't depend on the opinion of the majority. Frighteningly, if the majority chooses to deny the objective moral order, then we will all suffer the pestiferous consequences.

Fr. Michael Rodríguez is the parish priest at San Juan Bautista Catholic Church.

Link to KVIA's special report

So, tell me again what this Priest did that goes against Church teaching?   Oh, that's right he just stood up for it and preached it.  GASP.  What will happen next, I wonder...........Mass without liturgical abuses?

Global Warming Unmasked - CIA

OK, so I realize some of those who view my blog may still take issue with Real Catholic TV and the work they do, however I would encourage all to take the time and watch their latest video on global warming.  Many Catholics have been stomping on the brakes of this train that seems to be running out of control.  They cover the issues as to why this agenda is being pushed on us.  It is not a great leap to see that many of these folks are in cahoots with other groups that Catholics struggle with - one of which is those who push population control.  It is just shy of 90 minutes - take the time, inform yourself, do the research.  Don't drink the kool aid.


This program is from RealCatholicTV.com

Dance off.....Sconnies vs Huskers

Since moving to Nebraska many have tried to convince me of the greatness of Husker ball games.  The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.  Who's the better dancer, with the better music. 

Sconnie Land......Nuff said.  Thanks to the Badger Catholic for the inspiration.
Herbie Husker

Bucky Badger

Politics...in the Church...C'mon R U serious?

Some lists on Sin - 3, 7, 4, 6, 9

We should not be satisfied merely to keep the commandments of God, but should always be ready to do good deeds, even when they are not commanded. The commandments of God state the minimum requirements for salvation. They should be kept not merely according to the letter, but also according to the spirit, which obliges us to strive for greater perfection.

Actual sin is any willful thought, desire, word, action or omission forbidden by the law of God.

3 Conditions for Mortal Sin

Grave matter
Full knowledge
Deliberate consent

Note:  From the Catechism of St. Pius X, "The Main Kinds of Sin," Question 9-10:

Q: What injury does mortal sin do the soul?
A: (1) Mortal sin deprives the soul of grace and of the friendship of God; (2) It makes it lose Heaven; (3) It deprives it of merits already acquired, and renders it incapable of acquiring new merits; (4) It makes it the slave of the devil; (5) It makes it deserve hell as well as the chastisements of this life.

Q: Besides grave matter, what is required to constitute a mortal sin?
A: To constitute a mortal sin, besides grave matter there is also required full consciousness of the gravity of the matter, along with the deliberate will to commit the sin.
The Seven Deadly Sins

I.PRIDE: Unrestrained appreciation of our own worth.
II.GREED: Immoderate desire for earthly goods.
III.LUST: Hankering for impure pleasures.
IV.ANGER: Inordinate desire for revenge.
V.GLUTTONY: Unrestrained use of food and drink.
VI.ENVY: Sorrow over another's good fortune.
VII.SLOTH: Laxity in keeping the Faith and the practice of virtue, due to the effort involved.

THE FOUR SINS CRYING TO HEAVEN FOR VENGEANCE
I.Willful murder (including abortion)
II.The sin of Sodom.
III.Oppression of the poor.
IV.Defrauding laborers of their wages.

THE SIX SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
I.Presumption of God's mercy.
II.Despair.
III.Impugning the known truth.
IV.Envy at another's spiritual good.
V.Obstinacy in sin.
VI.Final impenitence.

NINE WAYS OF BEING ACCESSORY TO ANOTHER'S SIN
(Not often spoken of..yes this is still a part of Church teaching and must be followed to be in union with Her.)
I.By counsel.
II.By command.
III.By consent.
IV.By provocation.
V.By praise or flattery.
VI.By concealment.
VII.By partaking.
VIII.By silence.
IX.By defense of the ill done

Thanks to Catholic.org

Examination of Conscience from Catholic Parents Online

Experts compare porn effect on brain to that of heroin or crack cocaine

11/19/2004 (Six years ago, what have we learned since......?)

Addiction to porn destroying lives, Senate told

Experts compare effect on brain to that of heroin or crack cocaine

WASHINGTON — Comparing pornography to heroin, researchers are calling on Congress to finance studies on “porn addiction” and launch a public health campaign about its dangers.

Internet pornography is corrupting children and hooking adults into an addiction that threatens their jobs and families, a panel of anti-porn advocates told a hearing organized Thursday by Senator Sam Brownback, chairman of the Commerce subcommittee on science.

Mary Anne Layden, co-director of a sexual trauma program at the University of Pennsylvania, said pornography’s effect on the brain mirrors addiction to heroin or crack cocaine. She told of one patient, a business executive, who arrived at his office at 9 a.m. each day, logged onto Internet porn sites, and didn’t log off until 5 p.m.

Layden called for billboards and bus ads warning people to avoid pornography, strip clubs and prostitutes.

“We’re so afraid to talk about sex in our society that we really give carte blanche to the people who are producing this kind of material,” said James Weaver, a Virginia Tech professor who studies the impact of pornography.

Brownback, a Republican from Kansas and an outspoken Christian conservative who has championed efforts to curb indecency on television and the Internet, said the public is beginning to realize “they don’t just have to take it.”

But he acknowledged the First Amendment right to free speech has limited congressional efforts.

In June, the Supreme Court blocked a law designed to shield Web-surfing children from pornography, ruling that requiring adults to register or use access codes before viewing objectionable material would infringe on their rights.

Brownback said scientific data is needed to help his cause.

Weaver acknowledged that research “directly assessing the impact of pornography addiction on families and communities is rather limited.”

But he pointed to studies that show prolonged use of pornography leads to “sexual callousness, the erosion of family values and diminished sexual satisfaction.”

Porn addicts on the rise by Suraj A. Bandara

There has been a dramatic increase in the viewing of pornography in recent years in Sri Lanka, Ranil Weththasinghe, a Family Planning Association Psychologist and a Counsellor said. School-going children are more vulnerable for addiction to pornography as there are many avenues to access it.

They visit porn sites on the promise that "It is common and hurts no one, and is socially acceptable. There is a widely held view by males that the female body is for male entertainment and sex is not about intimacy but self-esteem.

And as with any addiction, the more pornography, the more the appetite grows," he said.

Sri Lankan children know how to download porn material than adults. Adults are not educated on the technological side and they have very limited knowledge on how to access porn. It has given the opportunity to children to visit porn sites freely even in their homes, he said.

The mobile phones and portable video devices, particularly laptops, help the young to visit these porn sites which have been designed to attract more people particularly the youth, he said.

Explaining possible preventive methods, a spokesman for the Children and Women's Bureau of the Police Department said that the police make sudden checks on mobile phones to see whether any pornography are contained in them.

In such cases the culprits are produced before the court and fined, he said. The police arrested many individuals who were carrying porn materials in their mobile phones during the last two months.

Alarmingly even little children are addicted to pornography and the parents allow them to use sophisticated mobile phones irrespective of the risk of corrupting their minds, he said.

A spokesman for a key mobile network provider said it is difficult to block porn sites since there are innumerable and unaccounted porn sites.

But we have taken action to prevent accessing certain identified sites and also discussions are under way to take action to prevent all possible ways in accessing porn sites.

He was optimistic that after a common agreement of all network providers action could be taken at least to minimize visits to porn sites, he said.

HT - Daily News from Sri Lanka

Cardinal Marc Ouellet - You Da Man!!

His Eminence Marc Cardinal Ouellet
Archbishop of Québec
Primate of Canada

Marc Ouellet, PSS (born 8 June 1944 in La Motte, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the present Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 30 June 2010. Previously, he was Archbishop of Quebec, and thus Primate of Canada. He was elevated to the cardinalate, by Pope John Paul II, on 21 October 2003.

Early life and ordination


Ouellet was born in 1944 in La Motte, a small village near the city of Amos in northern Quebec. He attended the Teacher Training College, earning a baccalaureate in education, before obtaining a license in theology from the Grand Séminaire of Montréal. On 25 May 1968, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Gaston Hains of Amos.

Professor and theologian

Ouellet spent most of his priestly career as a professor and rector in seminaries. He also received a license in philosophy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) (1976), and a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University (1983).

Bishop

Ouellet was named titular archbishop of Acropolis and Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on 3 March 2001. Pope John Paul II personally consecrated him as an archbishop, with Cardinals Angelo Sodano and Giovanni Battista Re as co-consecrators, on 19 March of the same year in St. Peter's Basilica.

Archbishop

On 15 November 2002 he became Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada (installed on 26 January 2003), and has been one of the most staunch defenders of the Catholic faith in the Canadian hierarchy.

Ouellet is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and German. He is known for his missionary work in South America.

Cardinal

He was created Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Traspontina by John Paul II in the consistory of 21 October 2003.

He was a cardinal elector in the 2005 papal conclave, and numerous observers believed that Ouellet was papabile himself. A report said that Ouellet had supported Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Ouellet remains eligible to vote in any future papal conclaves that begin before his 80th birthday on 8 June 2024.

Ouellet serves as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Pontifical Council for Culture, and the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses. He takes part in the (generally annual) meetings of these bodies, held in Rome. He is also a member of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See.

A Eucharistic Congress took place in 2008 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Quebec City.

Cardinal Ouellet was elected the recorder, or relator-general, of the 12th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in early October 2008.

Roman Curia

He is the present Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 30 June 2010. He took over from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who had reached the age limit.[1]

Ouellet is associated with Communio, a journal of theology established by Catholics after the Second Vatican Council, and with Hans Urs von Balthasar, a renowned twentieth-century Swiss theologian.

Quiet revolution

He has suggested that changes around the Quiet Revolution in Quebec in the 1960s went too far.

Liturgy

Ouellet has supported a return to Eucharistic adoration and Gregorian chant.

Pastoral approach

A report by the National Catholic Reporter anticipating the 2005 papal election placed Ouellet among twenty papal possibilities ."[P]eople who have worked with Ouellet," said the report, "describe him as friendly, humble and flexible, and a man not so captive to his own intellectual system as to make him incapable of listening to others."

Catholic education

Ouellet was sharply critical of the Ethics and religious culture course of the Quebec education ministry, saying that it relativized the role of faith within the realm of religion and culture. [2]

Church persecutions

Ouellet has argued that the Catholic Church is persecuted in contemporary secular Quebec for telling the truth.[3]

Public apology

In a letter published in Quebec French-language newspapers on November 21, 2007, Cardinal Ouellet publicly apologized for what he described as past "errors" of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec. Among the errors he wrote about were attitudes, prior to 1960, which promoted "anti-Semitism, racism, indifference to First Nations and discrimination against women and homosexuals."[4][5][6][7] Cardinal Ouellet said his letter was written in response to the public reaction to the statement he submitted to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission, and that it was inspired by a similar letter issued in 2000 by Pope John Paul II.[8]

Abortion

In May 2010 Ouellet stood by his comments that abortion is unjustifiable, even in the case of rape, and urged the federal government to help pregnant women keep their child. He said that "Governments are funding clinics for abortion. I would like equity for organisms that are defending also life. If we have equity in funding those instances to help women I think we would make lots of progress in Canada." Having earlier applauded Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government for its stance against funding abortions in the developing world - praise from which Ottawa quickly distanced itself - he said:"If they do not want to fund abortion abroad and they do not bring at home more help to women to keep their child, I think they are incoherent,.[9]

Wikipedia Article

Catholic Monarchy

This original post of Catholic Government was removed, I'm working on getting a copy somewhere.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE:  I found it.



As my good friend The Badger Catholic says, "Heaven is not a democracy, it is a Monarchy."

"Emotion only carries you so far......"

"Emotion is a tool, not the end."

Wall Street Journal story link

More on Pornography

The more people I speak with, the more it seems that light needs to be brought to this subject.  I can understand why it is kept so quite - it is a very difficulty sin and addiction to overcome, there are many feelings of guilt, shame, and weakness tied to it.  Most often though, I don't think people actually recognize the damage that viewing pornography actually does to both sexes - or for that matter the way in which they view each other in general.  So, to that end, I will be posting more frequently on this topic.  I encourage any reader who struggles with this to not lose hope.  There are ways to free yourself from this addiction.  There are ways to heal your marriage.  There are ways to feel pride as a man, husband, and father again.  There are ways you can protect others from falling into the trap.  Don't hide, find someone you can trust to hold you accountable, get to Confession and Mass, seek the healing the Church provides. 

Some thoughts found on a Google search.

MSNBC article
A curvy body's like a drug to men

An hourglass figure activates the reward center in his brain
By Charles Q. Choi
updated 2/23/2010 1:23:02 PM ET

Watching a curvaceous woman can feel like a reward in the brain of men, much as drinking alcohol or taking drugs might, research now reveals.

These new findings might help explain the preoccupation men can have toward pornography, scientists added. Shapely hips in women are linked with fertility and overall health. As such, it makes sense evolutionarily speaking that studies across cultures have shown men typically find hourglass figures sexy.

To explore the roots of this behavior, researchers had 14 men, average age 25, rate how attractive they found pictures of the naked derrieres of seven women before and after cosmetic surgery that gave them more shapely hips. These operations did not reduce weight but just redistributed it, by implanting fat harvested from the waists into the buttocks.

Brain scans of the men revealed that seeing post-surgery women activated parts of the brain linked with rewards, including regions associated with responses to drugs and alcohol.

It might not be especially surprising that evolution wired the male brain to find attractive bodies rewarding.

"Hugh Hefner could have told us that by showing us how many zeroes are in his bank account," said researcher Steven Platek, an evolutionary cognitive neuroscientist at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia. "But there's more to it than buying Playboy, Maxim, or FHM."

For instance, "these findings could help further our understanding pornography addiction and related disorders, such as erectile dysfunction in the absence of pornography," he explained. "These findings could also lend to the scientific inquiry about sexual infidelity."

The scientists also found that changes in a woman's body-mass index or BMI — a common measure of body fat — only really affected brain areas linked to simple visual evaluations of size and shape. This may be evidence that body fat influences judgments of female beauty due more to societal norms than brain wiring.

"The media portrays women as wholly too skinny," Platek said. "It's not just about body fat, or body mass index."

What do women think?

Future research could also investigate the effects that attractive figures have on the female brain.

"It turns out women find similar optimally attractive female bodies as attention-grabbing, albeit for different reasons," Platek said. "Women size up other women in an effort to determine their own relative attractiveness and to maintain mate guarding — or, in other words, keep their mate away from optimally designed females."

These findings should not be construed as saying that men are solely programmed by their biology, nor that "women without optimal design should just hang up their mating towel," Platek added.

Platek and his colleague Devendra Singh detailed their findings online Feb. 5 in the journal PLoS ONE.

More to follow

Videos have now been added to retreat post

Retreat Videos and Pics

Best Buy Goes After Wisconsin Priest

[CATHOLIC CAUCUS] Best Buy Goes After Wisconsin Priest

National Catholic Register 
8/16/2010
Tim Drake

Posted on Monday, August 16, 2010 6:14:52 PM by markomalley

Father Luke Strand of Holy Family Catholic Church in Fond du Lac, Wis. wasn’t looking for attention from corporate America; he simply wanted to promote vocations to the priesthood. Instead, he’s facing a cease-and-desist letter from Minnesota-based electronics retailer Best Buy over his Volkswagen Beetle.  The black VW sports a “God Squad” decal on the door that’s similar in appearance to the logo used by Best Buy’s Geek Squad computer technicians.

Best Buy says that Father Strand’s use of the logo violates its trademarks.

“This was a really difficult thing for us to do because we appreciate what Father Strand is trying to accomplish with his mission,” Paula Baldwin, Best Buy spokesperson, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “But at the end of the day, it’s bad precedent to let some groups violate our trademark while pursuing others.”

Father Strand mentioned the cease-and-desist order during the 9:30 a.m. Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on August 8, but cannot discuss the details of the case.

Then-Deacon Strand, received the car in 2007 from Father Quinn Mann (right) of the Diocese of Green Bay. ( Catholic Youth Expeditions ) Not only does the car sport the God Squad logo, but also the websites thinkpriest.org and cyexpeditions.org on the fenders. His license plate reads GODLVYA, and the very front of the Beetle has a white paint stripe to match his priestly collar.

“It stimulates a lot of conversation,” Father Strand told the Fond du Lac Reporter in 2009. “People don’t always know when the right time is to start a conversation about faith questions. The church is alive, young and vibrant. This is a new and creative way to bring the faith I love into everyday life.”

Blogger Brian Osborne, of Geek.com, said that Best Buy has “created a public relations nightmare…the kind that could only come as a result of a company suing a priest,” and that the company is now facing the “backlash” from its decision.

Baldwin said that Best Buy is working with Strand to try to alter the God Squad logo in a way that will still work for him without infringing on the Geek Squad trademark.

“We’re confident that together we’ll come up with a good solution for everyone,” said Baldwin.

Update: Apparently, the “solution” was for Father Strand to remove the decal. This story from TMJ4 in Milwaukee reports that Father Strand removed the decals today.

“I’m not going to make a big huge stink about it,” he told TMJ4 News. “I was surprised to receive the letter, but you know what, we can find other creative ways to spread the Gospel. Maybe we can come up with an even better God Squad logo.”

My favorite part of the story is Father Strand talking about being mistaken for the Geek Squad. Here’s an excerpt from TMJ4:

“There’s been a number of instances when I’ve walked in to a gas station and they’ve said, ‘You know, we don’t have any computer problems,’ and I say, ‘Hey, you might want to take a second look at the vehicle,’ that they saw it was the God Squad,” said Father Strand. “People have mistaken me for the Geek Squad. I don’t think they’ve ever expected for me to come in when I’m in my Roman collar and fix their computer.”

CBS Youtube video (sorry about the commercial)
H/T - In need of Mercy

The Badger Catholic - A rare and scary sighting

Beer snob NO MORE.

It's Official: TV Linked to Attention Deficit

Babies and toddlers parked in front of the TV have a much higher risk of developing ADHD by age 7, a new study shows
by Jean Lotus

A study from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that watching videos as a toddler may lead to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, also called ADD in UK) in later life.

TV watching "rewires" an infant’s brain, says Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis lead researcher and director of the Child Health Institute at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, Wash. The damage shows up at age 7 when children have difficulty paying attention in school.

"In contrast to the way real life unfolds and is experienced by young children, the pace of TV is greatly sped up." says Christakis. His research appears in the April 2004 issue of Pediatrics. Quick scene shifts of video images become "normal," to a baby "when in fact, it’s decidedly not normal or natural." Christakis says. Exposing a baby’s developing brain to videos may overstimulate it, causing permanent changes in developing neural pathways.

"Also in question is whether the insistent noise of television in the home may interfere with the development of ‘inner speech’ by which a child learns to think through problems and plans and restrain impulsive responding," wrote Jane Healy, psychologist and child brain expert in the magazine’s commentary.

Babies brains grow rapidly

Even a child playing with its own fingers has the neural patterning that comes from bending, flexing, stretching and grasping. Scientists tell us that the brain develops in completely unique ways between birth and three years. As a kiddie viddie baby sits "mesmerized", neural paths are not being created. This is crucial brain development that stops by age three.

"You don’t want to think that something as innocent as half-an-hour’s peace and quiet could reduce your kid’s chances later in life," says Claire Eaton, 27-year-old mother from Lewisham, Australia.

Setting up baby for failure in school

Are parents who use infant videos such as "Baby Einstein" and "Teletubbies" putting their child at risk for a lifetime of Special Ed classes, school "behavioral therapy" and Ritalin?

In the study of more than 2,000 children, Christakis found that for every hour watched at age one and age three, the children had almost a ten percent higher chance of developing attention problems that could be diagnosed as ADHD by age 7. A toddler watching three hours of infant television daily had nearly a 30 percent higher chance of having attention problems in school.

Infant videos: They wouldn’t sell them if they were dangerous --Would they?

An explosion of kidvids for the bouncy chair set has hit the market. These include Baby Einstein, Baby Mozart, So Smart etc. TV shows, such as Teletubbies, aim at 18-month-old toddlers. These videos are peddled as "educational tools" to "give your baby a head start." The truth is, they are a video-tether that keeps baby out from underfoot.

"Max is learning German right now from a video"

Parents take away crucial life experiences from their child every time they pop in Baby Einstein. But they do love how it takes the baby out of their hair for awhile Listen to what parents say in testimonials about infant videos:

"I love spending time with my boy but let's face it, there are times when you just have to have 10 minutes or so to yourself so that you can wash the dishes or do laundry; that's when you pop this video in. It's 25 minutes of entertainment that holds the attention of even very young children. ," (son 10 months) Chris Hudson from San Antonio, TX.

There are times I rewind it and play it again and again until I get the dishes done and order restored. My son is captivated (and hopefully learning something). Mom I n Connecticut

The only thing I wish is that the videos were longer than 30min. Melissa Perruzi, Clinton Mississippi

(From Baby Eisntein reviews on Amazon.com).

Big problem for little people

Twenty-six percent of US children younger than age two have TV in their bedrooms - often watched from the crib, and 36 percent of families leave the TV on almost all of the time, even when no one is watching, according to a 2000 Kaiser Family Foundation study.

Don’t put your child at risk!

The good news is, infants and toddlers don’t need television to distract them. Humans raised children for 50,000 years before television sets and you can do it too. Your children can learn to entertain themselves or play with your supervision.

"When one-year olds are playing with a toy, they can explore it, poke at it, drop it," says Yale University Television Researcher Dorothy Singer. "They’re learning about space, about sound, and they’re developing sense of competence. Watching a TV show just doesn’t provide the same sensory experience."

Leaving a child alone with the TV is never a good idea.

"Would you entrust you toddler into the care of a baby sitter, even for a few minutes, who cannot hear or see your child?" writes Nancy Hall of Yale University’s Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy. "Would you leave your child in an environment that encourages passivity, limits creativity and results in increased aggressive behavior? Many 1-year-olds are spending time regularly with just such a baby sitter: the television set."

What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

ADHD affects 12 percent of US school children and has increased dramatically over the past 50 years. Studies show ADHD increased with the introduction of children’s television in the 1950s and then spiked higher in the mid 1980s when VCRs and home video became commonplace. Although the condition is known to be genetic, scientists have noted its rapid spread throughout every social class of children, and guessed that there could be an environmental cause. TV watching is a cause, this study shows.

How much TV should I let my baby watch?

No child under age two should watch television at all, the Academy of American Pediatrics advised in 1998. Doctors blame TV for increasing aggression and obesity in children, now they add ADHD risk to early TV use.

New Study:
Two-Year Olds Branded
by TV Advertising

Cornell Research: Children's TV Triggers Autism
Uh-Oh! Pediatricians

Ban TV for Toddlers

HT http://www.whitedot.org/issue/iss_story.asp?slug=ADHD+Toddlers and Jen from the Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Topics covered on retreat

Addictions to Pornography - Sermons (in MP3) and Statistics August 2, 2009 Fr. Brancich and safefamilies.org

Braveheart movie lines

Barney Mass (Liturgical abuses) Sorry, Youtube won't let me embed.

2010 Retreat at Devils aka Angels aka Our Lady's Lake

Hey Everyone.... I made it back to the Desert without difficulty.  This year, as far as I can tell, was a great success.  No one was hurt, no Priest was required to give Last Rites, all went home safe....all in all a good trip.  A short summery.
Wednesday was HOT
Thursday was HOT
Friday included torrential downpours, shopping, and a great dinner at The Barn.
Saturday was a great blessing, the weather was perfect
Sunday, more of the same
Monday, well one could not ask for more perfect weather

Thanks to everyone that came, you guys make it possible.

All together we had a total of 10 guys show up over the course of the week.  Three Priests, and not that many raccoons. 
They say a picture is worth a thousand words so...... (link to all pics at bottom)

2010 Devils Lake aka Angels Lake aka Our Lady's Lake Retreat in full

2009 Devils Lake aka Angels Lake aka Our Lady's Lake Retreat in full

Anticipation

I know you're all a waitin for some pics, I will get on it soon.  Praise God we had a safe retreat and all made it home safe

I'm packed up and ready to go

That's right!!! Tomorrow morning (Praise the Lord) I'm on the road, heading for some relaxing, retreating, verso laltoing, campfire, cooking, living the dream time. And I have everything packed in the JEEP. O!!!!O

For those of you who are coming, c u there.  For those of you who aren't...well....... you're missing a great time.  C U in a week.  And yes, I had plenty of room I tell you, plenty.

Words fail me

Saw this today..........in case you are following this trend as I am, this will add some extra insight.  The previous post speaks of our stores.  Here is The Vortex.  Some may find Mr. Voris a bit off from time to time.  I haven't watched an episode that doesn't hold a great amount of truth........tough to take, true nonetheless.  Here we go.  Take a stand.  Protect your marriage.  Protect your children.  For goodness sake LIVE YOUR FAITH.  If we don't (and we haven't otherwise this would not be happening) well...........its gonna get worse before it gets better.  Yes, we do win in the end, and that is a promise, but that doesn't mean we sit back, do nothing, and wait for the end.  My sinful tendency begins to come out in frustration waiting, hoping, and praying that an authentic Catholic voice will begin to be heard over all this garbage that is too loud for my ears.  Father Corapi speaks of a deafening silence..........

Home Depot bows to the culture

The Home Depot fires patriotic Christian, approves homosexuals
Employee wearing patriotic button is fired. Employees wearing pro-homosexual buttons praised.

August 9, 2010

The Home Depot fired an employee for refusing to remove a "One nation under God" patriotic button from his work apron. Trevor Keezor, a Christian, said he wore the button to support his country and his 27-year-old brother, who serves in the military in Iraq (story and video here).

Dozens of homosexual employees participated in Home Depot-sponsored gay pride parades and festivals. Many employees wore numerous buttons on their aprons promoting homosexuality.

The Home Depot defended them by saying homosexual employees will not be prohibited "in any way" when it comes to what they do and wear. The picture here shows employees who decorated their aprons for a Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in Seattle, Washington.

So...if you wear a "One Nation Under God" button, you will be fired. If you wear a "gay" button, you get company praise.


Well, here we go again.  There is more and more in the media saying we are headed down the slippery slope.  I can't believe how much I have seen and read in just the last week that promotes the homosexual agenda and completely demonizes traditional Christian values.  Tolerance......were?  I can't seem to see it..from them!  Double tongued.  As much as I don't like Menards, well I may have to start going there exclusively.

TAKE ACTION
1. Sign the Boycott Pledge at BoycottTheHomeDepot.com.

2. Call your local store manager. Let the manager know that you will not be shopping at The Home Depot until the company stops supporting the homosexual agenda. You can find the number here. (click "Store Finder").

3. Print the paper petition and distribute it at Sunday School and church.

HT -  American Family Association & Catholic Parents Online

For a successful retreat

Novena to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Mary, Queen Assumed into Heaven, I rejoice that after years of heroic martyrdom on earth, you have at last been taken to the throne prepared for you in heaven by the Holy Trinity.

Lift my heart with you in the glory of your Assumption above the dreadful touch of sin and impurity. Teach me how small earth becomes when viewed from heaven. Make me realize that death is the triumphant gate through which I shall pass to your Son, and that someday my body shall rejoin my soul in the unending bliss of heaven.

From this earth, over which I tread as a pilgrim, I look to you for help. I ask for this favor: (Mention your request).

When my hour of death has come, lead me safely to the presence of Jesus to enjoy the vision of my God for all eternity together with you.

Warning: Married fathers an endangered species

HT - Catholic Parents Online and The Heritage Foundation

Dr. Ray Guarendi in Omaha, Nebraska

KVSS Presents: Dr. Ray Guarendi

Join Spirit Catholic Radio and the member couples of Legatus of Omaha for an evening with The Doctor!

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010, at 7:30 p.m.

Dr. Ray Guarendi presents: Back to the Family

Come spend an unforgettable evening with The Doctor as he relates the story of a three-year, national search for strong families that reveals the common characteristics, as well as the struggles and difficulties most successful families face. The results will reinforce some traditional ideas about family life while offering some reassuring surprises.

St. Robert Bellarmine Church, 120th & Pacific streets Omaha, Nebraska

Never a dull moment when … “The Doctor is In!” Dr. Ray is heard Tuesdays – Thursdays at Noon on the Spirit Catholic Radio Network. Tickets on sale for only $5 each or five for $20, so bring the whole family and neighbors, too!

Pick up your tickets at the following locations in Omaha: Adoremus Books – 2992 S. 84th Street (Frederick Square Shopping Center) Cosgrave’s – 8222 H Street St. Robert Bellarmine Parish – 11802 Pacific Street

I have been to Dr. Ray's talks a number of times, and can say without reservation - GO.  Dr. Ray is funny, practical, and witty.  He imparts knowledge on the Faith, parenting, and just being a good and moral human being.  If you are at all able, please take the time.....you will not regret it.

Update on Weapons of Mass destruction

The early reviews are in on the latest episode of CIA (Catholic Investigative Agency) and people are raving about it. It's about the abuses in the Mass following Vatican II and what the Pope and others in Rome are doing about it. The show is Weapons of MASS Destruction and you don't want to miss it.

I watched this hour long episode the other evening and highly recommend that those who want to understand more about how we as Catholics worship God view this.  The link is posted below, and again, I recommend watching it.  If you agree with it, research more..........if you don't please post comments.  At the very least one could say that there is more to this than meets the eye.  Indeed, the way we worship has been drastically changed and one can certainly see that this has affected how we live out our faith.  Please take the time to watch, then comment........I would very much like others opinions.  Feel free to speak as you wish - but remember to be respectful and thoughtful.

Weapons of Mass destruction.