"Fear the Lord, your God"

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, 11/4/18

• Tuesday, November 6, is election day....
• Scott Wagner - a better choice for governor than pro abortion extremist Wolf
• Lou Barletta - a better choice for US Senate than Casey
• Brian Fitzpatrick - a better choice [for Congress] but NOT strongly pro life (10/27/18)
• Marguerite Quinn - a better choice than Santarsiero (few wouldn't be!) for state senate 
• Ryan Gallagher - MIGHT BE a better choice for the state house than Perry Warren (BTW,  father of 5 Warren comes across personally as a real gentleman), simply because Gallagher is affiliated with Republicans.  Yet, Gallagher seems to keep his thoughts on life issues and family issues close to the vest
If Catholic bishops change their weak approach to politics, we can defeat the culture of death (Patrick Yanke, 10/30/18)

• All Saints Day?  All Souls Day?  And what's up with Saint Michael the Archangel?  Doesn't the Church now teach that all nice people just go to Heaven?
• "Have you noticed how many Catholics seem to have forgotten purgatory? When a loved one dies they say, 'Aunt Hilda has gone to be with the Lord or 'Daddy is in heaven now.' or they comfort the bereaved by saying, 'George is with his beloved Gladys now.' Or at Catholic funerals the preacher consoles the loved ones with talk about the departed being in heaven now. This isn’t Catholic. It’s Protestant....
  
  universalism and semi-universalism is usually held by nice, upper-middle-class educated people who don’t really know anyone who is not equally nice, educated, polite and middle class. They don’t know any really awful, sinful, nasty people so they can’t imagine that God would send anyone as nice and polite as them and their friends to hell. What are the consequences of this universalism and semi-universalism? It’s just the kind of complacent, sentimental feel good religion we see in contemporary American Catholicism....
  
  One of the main reasons we’ve fallen into this trap is because we have forgotten purgatory....Heaven has...become a kind of democratic all-inclusive theme park where everyone gets in and everyone has a happy time, world without end AMEN....
  
  Belief in purgatory is both compassionate and common sense.... what do we say at funerals? We can be consistent with Catholic beliefs and also be compassionate. We can say, 'Thank God for George’s life. What a terrific man he was. We’ll all miss him, and you can bet I will continue to pray that God will complete his work of grace in George’s life.' We can say, “Thank God for Jimmy. May God continue to lead him into his life, light and happiness.'" (Father Dwight Longenecker, National Catholic Register, 8/2/18)
I believe that the lack of clarity and emphasis on "the last things" has much to do with the mess in which we currently find themselves.  How could it be that BISHOPS would evidence such little fear of God?   How could it be that any Catholic (no less those in leadership) would not realize that God hears the cries of aborted children, even if people in high places in the Church squeamishly try to look away? 
• ANSWER: "just follow the money" [corrected] (10/30/18)

On the right side of the home page are links to email Pennsylvania's and New Jersey's delegations in D.C. on federal issues (See 10/21/18 update.), Bucks County's delegation in Harrisburg on Pa state issues (See 10/20/18 update.), and Central NJ's delegation in Trenton on NJ state issues (See 10/21/18 update.).

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November 2018 Continuing the U.S. Bishops' work of promoting and defending marriage. Visit our Website Made for Love Podcast In October, the podcast covered Childbirth: Life-Giving Love, featuring author Mary Haseltine (Made for This: The Catholic Mom's Guide to Birth) and author and blogger Haley Stewart (The Grace of Enough), as well as other Catholic moms. Next, we looked at Catholics and Divorce (podbean link). If you listen through iTunes (USCCB Clips), it would help a lot if you would leave a review! And we are on Soundcloud and podbean We also have a flyer that you could download, print, and put up at your parish or in your office to help spread the word! 50th Anniversary of Humanae Vitae We continue to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) in 2018 The USCCB has published a 50th Anniversary edition of the encyclical by Saint Pope Paul VI. And the Natural Family Planning Office has a website dedicated to the anniversary and the various celebrations and conferences surrounding it. Click here for a two-part podcast on the anniversary as well. In addition, bishops in the U.S. are preaching on the anniversary and/or sharing little snippets about them at our #HV50 YouTube page. USCCB Action Center All the USCCB's action alerts for legislative priorities are available at one website. There you can contact your representatives and make your voice heard. Check it out! Legal Updates Minnesota On October 1, Minnesota started offering driver’s licenses with “X” as an option for “sex,” without legislative approval. Atlanta, Georgia The Atlanta city council voted this month to award $1.2 million to former Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran. Cochran had been fired for writing a devotional book on his own time about living out faithful manhood which contained only a couple of pages of Christian teaching on human sexuality. In December, a federal court ruled that Atlanta’s policies were unconstitutional. U.S. State Department As of October 1, the U.S. State Department is requiring same-sex partners of incoming UN and NATO diplomats to be married within their home countries in order to get visas, bringing them into line with the requirements for opposite-sex couples. The United Kingdom In a scenario familiar in the US, Christian bakers in Northern Ireland won in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, securing the right to decline to create a cake that said “Support Gay Marriage.” The family owners of Ashers Bakery prevailed in a unanimous decision that understood that the requirement to serve all people cannot compel speech in conflict with one’s beliefs."

Non datur libertas sine veritate. Vol. IV, No. 10 Dear sisters and brothers, May the peace of Jesus Christ and the love of the Holy Spirit be with you! During this time of year, we enter into one of the busy seasons in the life of the Church in the United States. Soon, we will celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls). Then, we celebrate Thanksgiving, the  Solemnity of Christ the King, and before we know it, we are into Advent and then Christmas. It can all seem like a whirlwind. May I ask something of you in the midst of this busy time? During the USCCB General Assembly, November 12-15, would you pray that as a body of bishops, we will act with wisdom, courage, and justice in response to the abuse scandals that have brought and continue to bring so much harm to the people of God? If we are to be true shepherds, it will be because of the help of God's grace. Thank you for all the ways that you carry out the mission of the Church in the world! With prayerful best wishes, I am                                                               Sincerely yours in the Lord,                                                               Most Reverend Joseph Kurtz                                                               Archbishop of Louisville                                                               Chair, Committee for Religious Liberty November 25 is the Solemnity of Christ the King In 2018, the Church faces pressures from without and crisis from within. The Solemnity reminds the faithful that Christ reigns as king of the entire world forever.  Let us rededicate ourselves this year to recognizing the reign of Jesus Christ and his Sacred Heart in every aspect of our lives. Resources are available at www.usccb.org/freedom. God's Servant First Blog: Religious Freedom - A Strategy for Security By Daniel Philpott Religious freedom advocates face this predicament: We fervently believe that our cause fosters justice and human dignity yet find that these qualities alone do little to persuade officials in the State Department, Defense Department, National Security Council, or the White House to make promoting religious freedom a high priority. In Washington, only the national interest talks.  Read more. First Freedom Podcast On Episode 19 of the First Freedom Podcast, Meghan Goodwin and Lucas Koach join Aaron and Mary to talk about religious freedom violations in Nigeria, Burma, and the Middle East, and some ways that the U.S. bishops are responding.  Check it out! Masterpiece Cakeshop Case Drew $500k in Grants from Religious Freedom Foes "We are losing our sense of civic friendship in our communities. Too often, activists seek to use the law to punish those they disagree with in an effort to create uniformity." Read more. As our Church and communities face difficult issues such as racism, inequality, and political polarization, we are called to not only dialogue but also to begin the difficult work of restoring justice and reconciliation. Join the discussion and be part of the solution by participating in the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, February 2-5, 2019.  Act now to be part of our special initiatives developing diverse leaders and young leaders in Catholic social ministry. To register or for more information, visit www.CatholicSocialMinistryGathering.org. Follow us on Twitter! For up-to-date religious freedom news, follow @USCCBFreedom today! www.usccb.org/freedom

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