“Far be it from us to forsake the LORD for the service of other gods....we also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.” (8/22/21)

Update on late August and September

August 22, 2021

(Signed homily and unofficial translation)

• Analysis: Defiant Biden is face of chaotic Afghan evacuation (AP, 8/16/21)
• Biden Could Have Stopped the Taliban. He Chose Not To (NY Times, 8/12/21)


• COVID Relief: Bring COVID relief to your community (USCCB, 8/16/21)

• It's Time to Do the "Kolbe Thing" - We're Going In! August 15 - October 7 (from Fr Richard Heilman's email, 8/14/21)

• Get Ready, Ethical COVID-19 Vaccines are Probably Not Coming (Children of God for Life, 8/14/21)

• Cardinal Cupich Reportedly ‘Leaning Hard’ on Bioethics Center to Retract Stance on COVID Vaccine Exemptions (National Catholic Register, 8/12/21)
• As per an 8/10/21 phone conversation with Archbishop Perez's secretary, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is NOT supporting religious exemptions to the COVID 19 vaccine mandates "at this time." Does anyone know whether Jersey's bishops will support Catholics' right to religious exemptions? 
• "The bishops of Colorado published an Aug. 6 letter stating that '...we continue to support religious exemptions from any and all vaccine mandates.'  Their statement provided a template religious exemption letter for pastors — the very kind of letter the NY archdiocese told pastors they should not sign" (The Pillar, 8/10/2)
• Bioethicist: There must be conscience exemptions to vaccine mandates (CNA, 8/4/21)
• Joint Statement: Vaccines and Conscience Protection (American College of Pediatricians, Catholic Medical Associations, Christian Medical and Dental Association, National Association of Catholic Nurses, U.S.A., 3/24/21) 
• Letters to Pharmaceutical Companies ["to protest the use of abortion-derived cell lines and advocate for the development of vaccines with no connection to abortion."] (USCCB)

• THE MORAL CONSCIENCE
• 372. What is the moral conscience?
• 373. What does the dignity of the human person imply for the moral conscience?
• 374. How is a moral conscience formed to be upright and truthful?
• 375. What norms must conscience always follow?
• 376. Can a moral conscience make erroneous judgments?

• Op-ed: Don't let them pave over the Princeton Rail Line (planetprinceton.com, 8/13/21)
• People Friendly Planning and the Blue Comet (Catholic Stand, 7/10/21)

• Cuomo exit isn’t stopping push for answers on nursing homes (PBS NewsHour, 8/12/21)
• Franklin Graham Statement on Objections to Samaritan's Purse Emergency Field Hospital Serving COVID-19 Patients in New York City (4-1-20)

• "Pope Francis has appointed the co-inventors of the CRISPR genome editing technology to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences....Their discovery sparked research into new treatments for cancer and other diseases, earning the two female scientists the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but it also poses a host of bioethical questions....National Catholic Bioethics Center President Joseph Meaney has condemned experimentation on human embryos.... Meaney added that it could be permissible to use this gene editing technology to correct genetic problems in adults who can give their informed consent after it had been safely tested in animals" (CNA, 8/12/21).

• If you want to stop fetal cell research, don't buy these products (HLI, 8/12/21)

• Are Patients Declared "Brain Dead" Really Dead? (Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization, 8/11/21)

• Email Bishop O'Connell and Archbishop Perez to ask that James Martin, SJ, NOT be allowed to mislead & scatter their flocks. 

• URGENT: Stop the Implosion of Family Values in the Infrastructure Bill! (Family Policy Alliance, 8/5/21)

• The Hour of the Laity [as per St John Henry Newman] (Fr Juan Velez, MD, STD, 8/3/21)

• Email Bishop Callahan, about Fr Altman, Msgr Burrill, and the USCCB.

• Standing up for the Truth on the federal level
• Email Senator Pat Toomey, to request a meeting on the Equality Act.

• Standing up for the Truth on NJ & Pa state levels 

• EMAIL TO REQUEST ENFORCEMENT OF CANON 915 TO PROTECT THE EUCHARIST FROM SACRILEGE AND THE FAITHFUL FROM SCANDAL.

• EMAIL TO EXPRESS YOUR SENSE OF DISGRACE ABOUT THE WITNESS OF CATHOLIC HOSPITALS.

• PLEDGE TO MAKE REPARATION FOR LOUISIANA CHURCH SACRILEGE

• SAVE CHRISTIAN TEEN LEAH SHARIBU FROM DEATH

• DEFEND PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS WORLDWIDE FROM VIOLENCE AND ABUSE

• DEFEND DYING CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA

• A PETITION TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES (MY FAITH VOTES, 6/24/21)

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Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church