in Pennsylvania's First Congressional District
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania's_1st_congressional_district http://archphila.org/pastplan/MAPS/Arch.pdf
and the Central Garden State

Friday, February 28, 2020

Temptation, Sin, Repentance, Salvation (First Sunday of Lent)

  • Doctors Without Borders Teams up with Do-it-Yourself Abortion Group (C-Fam, 2/28/20)
    • “'The Church law requires very little for a valid marriage. People playing all these head games about why their marriages are invalid don’t understand the Church’s teachings'....

      "from the beginning, marriage has always been the center of a great battle. No one should blithely expect that he’s in a special class that is somehow spiritually protected.

      "A marriage was Satan’s first target in the Garden of Eden, and it was one of his preferred fields of battle through the Old Testament. The British schism in the Protestant Reformation began when a committed Catholic, Henry VIII, wanted to divorce his wife. And today, the battle over marriage rages on” (Crisis Magazine, 2/27/20)
    • Advertising "annulment info" sessions (2/28/20)
  • "Twenty-seven years ago today , John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen A. Knapp, William Macko, Wilfredo Mercado, and Monica Rodriguez Smith and her unborn child were killed in the first terrorist attack at the World Trade Center. Their names are forever memorialized in bronze on the Memorial's north pool to commemorate their lives and to ensure their legacy and the ongoing ramifications of the 1993 terrorist attack will not recede from our collective memory" (email from National 9/11 Memorial Museum, 2/26/20)

International Concerns

  • Support the Heartbeat Bill, HR 3985 (cf, LifeSite)
  • Support the Life at Conception Act
  • Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (cf, USCCB)
  • Support H. Con. Res. 79, that assisted suicide is a “deadly, discriminatory and non-compassionate practice” (USCCB) 
  • Opppose the Misnamed International Violence Against Women Act (cf, C-Fam)
  • Oppose HJ Res 79, as it is "intended to insert language into the U.S. Constitution that could invalidate any limits whatsoever on abortion, including late abortions, and require government funding of abortion"  (cf, NRLC) 
  • Oppose the Misleadingly Named Medicare for All Act (cf., Politico)
  • Support the Equal Campus Act, HR3243/S1168 (USCCB)
  • Support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (cf., USCCB)
  • Support S. 2394/HR2529, the New START Nuclear Weapons Treaty (USCCB) 
  • NO to "the Shaheen amendment...[in] the Senate’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations bill" (Human Life Action).

The Commonwealth of Pa

(Pa Catholic Conference Legislative Review and Voter Voice)
  • Support the Telemedicine Bill (SB 857) as passed by the Pa House (Pa Catholic Conf)
  • Please ask the governor, Pa Senate and Pa Assembly for a religious exemption for adoptions (Pa Catholic Conference) (See also the Pa Family Council link.)
  • Call for Funding Increase for Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)  
    • Please ask Governor Wolf to SIGN House Bill 800 on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)

Pennsylvania March for Life [Harrisburg, 5/18/20] 

Pa ProLife Federation petition


The Garden State

  • "Legislation (S2173/A3818) to remove a religious exemption and mandate immunizations for children....this legislation undermines parental rights and should be vigorously opposed" (NJRTL email, 1/10/20).
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Advertising "annulment info" sessions

I am NOT a canon lawyer, but I have read each of the annual addresses to the Roman Rota by Saint Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, as well as several by Pope Francis and Dignitas Connubii.  As there is seemingly little attention to marriage prep and NFP instruction, how is advertising the possibility of annulments truly in keeping with authentic respect for marriage?  If it really were a good idea to have and advertise annulment information sessions, why aren't there similar sessions on laicization and dispensation from religious vows?  

    • "The Catholic Church is suffering a severe credibility crisis among faithful young adults.....

      "The Church needs...frank descriptions of the annulment crisis..., especially in the United States, the world leader in annulments. In the United States the annulment process is commonly viewed as the way large numbers of Catholics divorce and remarry....

      "the Catholic Church says all the right things about the indissolubility of marriage. Yet, most folks both inside and outside of the Church, as well as those on the margins, will give greater weight to what the Church does with annulments when forming opinions on just how serious the Church is about indissolubility.

      "Yes, I am very aware of the many websites, books, articles, media campaigns, and broadcasts explaining how declarations of nullity are not simply the way Catholics do divorce and remarriage. Yet most of these noble efforts lack effectiveness since most Catholics in the United States have firsthand experience of friends or family members getting undeserved easy annulments. They see Catholics divorcing and remarrying like the general public, except Catholics just need some expensive paperwork.

      "I am not saying this is an accurate universal portrayal of annulments, but the fact is too many easy annulments have created a distorted perception of Catholic marital teaching. Church leaders, religious media personnel, and faithfully practicing older Catholics desperately need to go outside of the narrow circle of various Catholic media outlets to discover what tens of millions of Catholics, especially young adults, are really thinking about annulments.

      "Equally important is to uncover why the marriage rate of young Catholic adults is plummeting. While easy annulments are not the only cause, they are certainly one of the primary reasons why thousands of young adults hold such a low view of a sacramental church wedding that they are increasingly avoiding it altogether....

      "I am appalled by...mention that the declaration of nullity doesn’t mean that the children from such broken marriages are in any way illegitimate. The statement is completely true, yet fails to mention that annulments do not ameliorate the decades of a child’s suffering after the divorce as seen in higher rates of: depression and psychological disturbances, substance abuse, welfare dependency, school suspension, incarceration, cohabitation, out-of-wedlock child-bearing, and rates of divorce in future marriages....

      "What Catholic marriages really need, especially in Europe and North America, is practical and effective assistance in healing hurting marriages in order to reduce the Catholic divorce rate" (Steve Wood, August 2014)
Posted by at No comments:

Stations of the Cross

http://faithfulinthe8th.blogspot.com/2015/04/stations-of-cross.html
Posted by at No comments:

"It is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden" (3/1/20)


  • As per a 2/26/20 email from NJ Right to Life, "two motions to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the Pain Capable and
    Born Alive bills both failed to reach the necessary 60 votes.
    Below is the Vote Tally.  .

    Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S.3275): 53-44  
    All Republicans Senators except Collins (R-Maine) and Murkowski (R-AK) voted Yes.
    All Democrat Senators except Casey (D-PA) and Manchin (D-WV) voted No.                                                                                                     
    Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S.311): 56-41
    All Republicans Senators voted Yes.
    All Democrat Senators except Casey (D-PA), Manchin (D-WV) and Jones (D-AL) voted No.

    Sens. Sanders, Warren, and Klobuchar missed both votes."

International Concerns

  • Support the Heartbeat Bill, HR 3985 (cf, LifeSite)
  • Support the Life at Conception Act
  • Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (cf, USCCB)
  • Support H. Con. Res. 79, that assisted suicide is a “deadly, discriminatory and non-compassionate practice” (USCCB) 
  • Opppose the Misnamed International Violence Against Women Act (cf, C-Fam)
  • Oppose HJ Res 79, as it is "intended to insert language into the U.S. Constitution that could invalidate any limits whatsoever on abortion, including late abortions, and require government funding of abortion"  (cf, NRLC) 
  • Oppose the Misleadingly Named Medicare for All Act (cf., Politico)
  • Support the Equal Campus Act, HR3243/S1168 (USCCB)
  • Support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (cf., USCCB)
  • Support S. 2394/HR2529, the New START Nuclear Weapons Treaty (USCCB) 
  • NO to "the Shaheen amendment...[in] the Senate’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations bill" (Human Life Action).

The Commonwealth of Pa

(Pa Catholic Conference Legislative Review and Voter Voice)
  • Support the Telemedicine Bill (SB 857) as passed by the Pa House (Pa Catholic Conf)
  • Please ask the governor, Pa Senate and Pa Assembly for a religious exemption for adoptions (Pa Catholic Conference) (See also the Pa Family Council link.)
  • Call for Funding Increase for Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)  
    • Please ask Governor Wolf to SIGN House Bill 800 on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)

Pennsylvania March for Life [Harrisburg, 5/18/20] 

Pa ProLife Federation petition


The Garden State

  • "Legislation (S2173/A3818) to remove a religious exemption and mandate immunizations for children....this legislation undermines parental rights and should be vigorously opposed" (NJRTL email, 1/10/20).
Posted by at No comments:

‘Benedict Option’ Author Predicts US Persecution of Christians by the State NCR, 2/26/20)

https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/benedict-option-author-predicts-us-persecution-of-christians-by-the-state





Posted by at No comments:

Stop the Christian Genocide in Nigeria National Cathoic Register, 2/26/20)

https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/stop-the-christian-genocide-in-nigeria




 
Posted by at No comments:

First Sunday of Lent

First Sunday of Lent (3/1/20)

  • As per a 2/26/20 email from NJ Right to Life, "two motions to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the Pain Capable and
    Born Alive bills both failed to reach the necessary 60 votes.
    Below is the Vote Tally.  .

    Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S.3275): 53-44  
    All Republicans Senators except Collins (R-Maine) and Murkowski (R-AK) voted Yes.
    All Democrat Senators except Casey (D-PA) and Manchin (D-WV) voted No.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
    Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S.311): 56-41
    All Republicans Senators voted Yes.
    All Democrat Senators except Casey (D-PA), Manchin (D-WV) and Jones (D-AL) voted No.

    Sens. Sanders, Warren, and Klobuchar missed both votes."



International Concerns

  • Support the Heartbeat Bill, HR 3985 (cf, LifeSite)
  • Support the Life at Conception Act
  • Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (cf, USCCB)
  • Support H. Con. Res. 79, that assisted suicide is a “deadly, discriminatory and non-compassionate practice” (USCCB) 
  • Opppose the Misnamed International Violence Against Women Act (cf, C-Fam)
  • Oppose HJ Res 79, as it is "intended to insert language into the U.S. Constitution that could invalidate any limits whatsoever on abortion, including late abortions, and require government funding of abortion"  (cf, NRLC) 
  • Oppose the Misleadingly Named Medicare for All Act (cf., Politico)
  • Support the Equal Campus Act, HR3243/S1168 (USCCB)
  • Support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (cf., USCCB)
  • Support S. 2394/HR2529, the New START Nuclear Weapons Treaty (USCCB) 
  • NO to "the Shaheen amendment...[in] the Senate’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations bill" (Human Life Action).

The Commonwealth of Pa

(Pa Catholic Conference Legislative Review and Voter Voice)
  • Support the Telemedicine Bill (SB 857) as passed by the Pa House (Pa Catholic Conf)
  • Please ask the governor, Pa Senate and Pa Assembly for a religious exemption for adoptions (Pa Catholic Conference) (See also the Pa Family Council link.)
  • Call for Funding Increase for Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)  
    • Please ask Governor Wolf to SIGN House Bill 800 on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)

Pennsylvania March for Life [Harrisburg, 5/18/20] 

Pa ProLife Federation petition


The Garden State

  • "Legislation (S2173/A3818) to remove a religious exemption and mandate immunizations for children....this legislation undermines parental rights and should be vigorously opposed" (NJRTL email, 1/10/20).
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, February 24, 2020

Even now, says the LORD, return to Me with your whole heart

Rend your hearts, not your garments
As per Operation Tescue, "Two important pieces of pro-life legislation are set for votes in the U.S. Senate [on 2/25/20].... Senate Bill 3275, known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act....[and] Senate Bill 311, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act"  Ask your senators to support these!

Catholics asked to sign petition opposing assisted suicide in N.Y. (Catholic Courier, 2/3/20)

In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. 

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;behold, now is the day of salvation.


International Concerns

  • Support the Heartbeat Bill, HR 3985 (cf, LifeSite)
  • Support the Life at Conception Act
  • Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (cf, USCCB)
  • Support H. Con. Res. 79, that assisted suicide is a “deadly, discriminatory and non-compassionate practice” (USCCB) 
  • Opppose the Misnamed International Violence Against Women Act (cf, C-Fam)
  • Oppose HJ Res 79, as it is "intended to insert language into the U.S. Constitution that could invalidate any limits whatsoever on abortion, including late abortions, and require government funding of abortion"  (cf, NRLC) 
  • Oppose the Misleadingly Named Medicare for All Act (cf., Politico)
  • Support the Equal Campus Act, HR3243/S1168 (USCCB)
  • Support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (cf., USCCB)
  • Support S. 2394/HR2529, the New START Nuclear Weapons Treaty (USCCB) 
  • NO to "the Shaheen amendment...[in] the Senate’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations bill" (Human Life Action).

The Commonwealth of Pa

(Pa Catholic Conference Legislative Review and Voter Voice)
  • Support the Telemedicine Bill (SB 857) as passed by the Pa House (Pa Catholic Conf)
  • Please ask the governor, Pa Senate and Pa Assembly for a religious exemption for adoptions (Pa Catholic Conference) (See also the Pa Family Council link.)
  • Call for Funding Increase for Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)  
    • Please ask Governor Wolf to SIGN House Bill 800 on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)

Pennsylvania March for Life [Harrisburg, 5/18/20] 

Pa ProLife Federation petition


The Garden State

  • "Legislation (S2173/A3818) to remove a religious exemption and mandate immunizations for children....this legislation undermines parental rights and should be vigorously opposed" (NJRTL email, 1/10/20).

your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Ash Wednesday 2020

Ash Wednesday
Lectionary: 219

Reading 1JL 2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.

Responsorial Psalm51:3-4, 5-6AB, 12-13, 14 AND 17

R.    (see 3a)  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R.    Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R.    Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R.    Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R.    Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Reading 22 COR 5:20—6:2

Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

Verse Before The GospelPS 95:8

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

GospelMT 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, February 21, 2020

Communism, Conversion Therapy, Polygamy, Pornography, "Assisted" Killing

(signed homily)  


International Concerns

  • Support the Heartbeat Bill, HR 3985 (cf, LifeSite)
  • Support the Life at Conception Act
  • Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (cf, USCCB)
  • Support H. Con. Res. 79, that assisted suicide is a “deadly, discriminatory and non-compassionate practice” (USCCB) 
  • Opppose the Misnamed International Violence Against Women Act (cf, C-Fam)
  • Oppose HJ Res 79, as it is "intended to insert language into the U.S. Constitution that could invalidate any limits whatsoever on abortion, including late abortions, and require government funding of abortion"  (cf, NRLC) 
  • Oppose the Misleadingly Named Medicare for All Act (cf., Politico)
  • Support the Equal Campus Act, HR3243/S1168 (USCCB)
  • Support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (cf., USCCB)
  • Support S. 2394/HR2529, the New START Nuclear Weapons Treaty (USCCB) 
  • NO to "the Shaheen amendment...[in] the Senate’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations bill" (Human Life Action).

The Commonwealth of Pa

(Pa Catholic Conference Legislative Review and Voter Voice)
  • Support the Telemedicine Bill (SB 857) as passed by the Pa House (Pa Catholic Conf)
  • Please ask the governor, Pa Senate and Pa Assembly for a religious exemption for adoptions (Pa Catholic Conference) (See also the Pa Family Council link.)
  • Call for Funding Increase for Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)  
    • Please ask Governor Wolf to SIGN House Bill 800 on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)

Pennsylvania March for Life [Harrisburg, 5/18/20] 

Pa ProLife Federation petition


The Garden State

  • "Legislation (S2173/A3818) to remove a religious exemption and mandate immunizations for children....this legislation undermines parental rights and should be vigorously opposed" (NJRTL email, 1/10/20).
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Utah senate unanimously moves to decriminalize polygamy (Reuters, 2/18/20)

Posted by at No comments:

Soviet Union Rewind: Why Are We Praising Communism Again? (National Catholic Register, 2/19/20)

Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Conversion Therapy, Pornography, Assisted Suicide

(signed homily)  



International Concerns

  • Support the Heartbeat Bill, HR 3985 (cf, LifeSite)
  • Support the Life at Conception Act
  • Support the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
  • Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (cf, USCCB)
  • Support H. Con. Res. 79, that assisted suicide is a “deadly, discriminatory and non-compassionate practice” (USCCB) 
  • Opppose the Misnamed International Violence Against Women Act (cf, C-Fam)
  • Oppose HJ Res 79, as it is "intended to insert language into the U.S. Constitution that could invalidate any limits whatsoever on abortion, including late abortions, and require government funding of abortion"  (cf, NRLC) 
  • Oppose the Misleadingly Named Medicare for All Act (cf., Politico)
  • Support the Equal Campus Act, HR3243/S1168 (USCCB)
  • Support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (cf., USCCB)
  • Support S. 2394/HR2529, the New START Nuclear Weapons Treaty (USCCB) 
  • NO to "the Shaheen amendment...[in] the Senate’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations bill" (Human Life Action).

The Commonwealth of Pa

(Pa Catholic Conference Legislative Review and Voter Voice)
  • Support the Telemedicine Bill (SB 857) as passed by the Pa House (Pa Catholic Conf)
  • Please ask the governor, Pa Senate and Pa Assembly for a religious exemption for adoptions (Pa Catholic Conference) (See also the Pa Family Council link.)
  • Call for Funding Increase for Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)  
    • Please ask Governor Wolf to SIGN House Bill 800 on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference)

Pennsylvania March for Life [Harrisburg, 5/18/20] 

Pa ProLife Federation petition


The Garden State

  • "Legislation (S2173/A3818) to remove a religious exemption and mandate immunizations for children....this legislation undermines parental rights and should be vigorously opposed" (NJRTL email, 1/10/20).
Posted by at No comments:
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