Barack Obama: Igloos in Hell?

Obama's press conference last night:

"I think that those who are pro-choice make a mistake when they -- if they suggest -- and I don't want create straw men here, but I think there are some who suggest that this is simply an issue about women's freedom and that there's no other considerations.

...Now, the Freedom of Choice Act is not my highest legislative priority. I believe that women should have the right to choose, but I think that the most important thing we can do to tamp down some of the -- the anger surrounding this issue is to focus on those areas that we can agree on. And that's -- that's where I'm going to focus. "

Militant turns moderate? What a pause 2 million red envelopes creates. And what a pause 300,000+ signatures, 53 bishops and an upcoming protest at Notre Dame make.

The Catholic Church and Socialism

As our President and government moves our country closer towards an European-style type of Socialism, we should never forget we should be a free people, as stated by our Founding Fathers and by our Holy Fathers:

"...Socialism...cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth."QUADRAGESIMO ANNO, 117, Encyclical of Pope Pius XI Reconstruction of the Social Order, May 15, 1931

"...no Catholic [can] subscribe even to moderate Socialism."MATER ET MAGISTRA, 34, Pope John XXIII On Christianity and Social Progress, May 15, 1961

"Socialists...debase the natural union of man and woman...the [family] bond they...deliver up to lust. Lured...by the greed of present goods...they assail the right of property. While they seem desirous of caring for the needs and satisfying the desires of all men, they strive to seize and hold in common whatever has been acquired either by title, by labor, or by thrift."QUOD APOSTOLICI MUNERIS, 1, Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII On Socialism, December 28, 1878

The Best of VCR: A Sacrifice Accepted

Originally posted on May 25, 2008:

Recently, with the many pressures of fatherhood, I have come to the awareness and appreciation of how extremely fortunate I have been to have so many superior role models of Catholic fathers in my life.

There was a very great man, Tom, that I had a good amount of exposure to in my youth because was he heavily involved in the local parish's CYO group and friends with my parents. What made this man so special was that in 1971 he was shot five times while on duty as a policeman, with one bullet hitting him directly in, and passing through, his neck. It is hard to believe that someone could survive this, or not be a paraplegic.

He, through the grace of God, did survived this horrible event and began his extremely difficult and painful road back to recovery to try to lead as normal a life as possible. He had three small children, one just born, who needed him and this was, I am sure, his motivation.

I remember in early grade school seeing Tom at my sporting events, on the sideline, spinning a football with his fingertips then catching it while standing still. Being so young I did not realize his difficulties, but did realize that it was strange that he was never able to turn his head without his shoulders moving in lockstep as well.

Many years later in 2003, one of the nicest surprises on my wedding day was to see Tom and his wife in a pew next to a side door in our church. He had deteriorated quiet a lot and it was no small task for his wife to assist him in moving from his parked car to the pew. I sat down in the pew in front of him and reached for his hand, giving him a soft handshake. I could not make out anything that he said to me, but gave him a smile and pat on the shoulder to show my appreciation he came.

His wife apologized to me for not being able to make the reception because of her husband's condition, and he was not doing well. This man had daily suffering in his life, suffering that would have turned many against God. His Faith was a core aspect to his life, and I have absolutely no doubt that his suffering was offered up daily to Christ.

Upon his passing, countless friends and family came to pay their respect to this great man. The priest presiding at his funeral Mass made the trip in from Pennsylvania. It was proper that this priest was to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass in Tom's memory, because this priest knew Tom well and witnessed his sacrifices over many, many years. Tom would not have any other priest say his funeral because this priest was very close his heart. It was his oldest and only son, Thomas Jr.

It is so moving that his son offered the same sacrifice that was at Calvary, to memorialize the personal sacrifice and suffering Faith that his father's life had been; serving as his father's own Calvary. I can't help but believe that his many years of suffering and sacrifice yielded a blessing worthy of the challenges and pain he went through. A son who had the powers of consecration and to save souls. God never gives a cross without a Grace.

Pope Benedict XVI: "Your Humble Servant"

One year ago this week, I was given the extreme privilege of attending a Mass celebrated by Our Holy Father, Benedict XVI.

Being at a Papal Mass is really an event that impacts and defines your life, similar to your wedding day or the birth of a child.

There were really quite a few surreal moments.

The moment the Pope came into the Stadium and could be seen by the masses was one. The place erupted. You can’t comprehend the charisma of the papacy. The Holy Spirit overflows. No other person could generate crowds of MILLIONS of people in any corner of the earth, even ones as remote as third world jungles. Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods could not do it. Paul McCartney could not do it. Tom Cruise could not do it. Neither could the Queen of England nor the President of the United States. They would get crowds, but not in the millions, not anywhere. In 1995, John Paul II celebrated mass in the Philippines. Estimates had four to seven million people in attendance.

The second lasting impression was how reverent 50,000 people could be. There were moments when you could hear a pin drop in the Stadium.

But the moment that was most surreal for me was such a small nuance but had such a huge impact. Through decades of attending Mass, I have heard the Eucharistic Prayer thousands of times. Most practicing Catholics can recite it by heart. There is a moment in the prayer where we say, "We offer prayers for Benedict, our Pope, William our Bishop", etc… When Benedict came to this moment, he said, "We offer prayers for me, your humble servant…" It was such a stark realization that the Vicar of Christ, the man to whom Christ gave all His authority to lead His beloved Church, was in standing my presence consecrating the Eucharist. The man that every Roman Catholic Church around the world prays for in every sacrifice of the mass was there in the flesh, standing right there. How can you not be speechless? To this day, at each Eucharistic Prayer since then, at these words, I am still impacted and truly understand the physical and spiritual singular man we are praying for.

Report: Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins in Route to White House for Private Meeting with President Obama

Isn't this an interesting report? Phil Lawler reports that a reliable source says that Fr. Jenkins is in route to Washington D.C. to meet privately with President Obama. Why would he be doing this? You don't rescind an invitation to the Leader of the Free World over the phone:

"Today we received a report from a reliable source, and although we haven't been able to confirm the report, it's so important that I want to pass it along. The report is:Father John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame, is in Washington today for an unannounced meeting at the White House."

Lawler's son confirmed that there was a flight from South Bend to Dulles that arrived late morning, which gives this story additional credence.

Couldn't this get really interesting?

4/22 Postscript: A University Spokesman is denying the meeting.

Notre Dame: Fr. John Jenkins Rationale?

When acknowledging the over-riding hypocrisy in inviting and honoring Barack Obama to Notre Dame, there is a significant, ancillary problem that should also be brought up.

Why did the President of Notre Dame, Fr. John Jenkins, not foresee the explosive outrage that would ensue within his own Catholic community based on his invitation? The cause and effect of his action did not require Nostradamus to determine it would be hostile. To this point, more than 50 Catholic prelates spoke out months earlier to their flocks against the election of this man due to his complete juxtaposition on the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The predicament that Fr. Jenkins found himself in even had a blueprint to help him navigate through this situation in the U.S. Bishops Conference 2004 document Catholics in Political Life, which makes his blunder even harder to understand.

I pose there are only three reasons for Fr. Jenkins actions:

One, he did not have the foresight, nor prudence, to determine what the reaction would be. Was he completely oblivious enough to think this would not be a problem? If this is the case, does this esteemed university really want someone running it whose intelligence can’t put this simple calculation together? Think of the many students and parents who made great sacrifices to get to this year’s graduation day only to have a media-circus environment marking their day of accomplishment courtesy of Fr. Jenkins' decision.

The second reason is that he did not care. If this is the case, he is not in line with the Magisterium of our Church.

Our Holy Father last year issued a letter to all Catholic Universities in America reminding them of their responsibilities:

"...In regard to faculty members at Catholic colleges universities, I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom. In virtue of this freedom you are called to search for the truth wherever careful analysis of evidence leads you. Yet it is also the case that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church’s munus docendi [duty to teach Christ’s message] and not somehow autonomous or independent of it.

Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church's Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution’s life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual..."

So although Benedict XVI did not write this to any one person, it lends one to think he is instructing that Fr. Jenkins is betraying Notre Dame’s Catholic identity.

The third possible reason for Jenkins’ actions is that he would rather deal with an internal mutiny than to possibly offend the President. This could speak of his courage and the core of his character. No backbone.

Alumni groups have already started banging the drum to replace Fr. Jenkins. They are going after the jugular, Alumni donations.

All three of these reasons converge on the realization that Fr. Jenkins is not the man to lead the jewel of Notre Dame.

I believe there will be two possible outcomes to this mess. This year’s commencement will mark the last time that Barack Obama will speak at a Notre Dame event. It could also mark the last time Fr. Jenkins speaks at a Notre Dame commencement. Maybe both.

The End of Newsweek?

As many of you know, the Liberals (capital "L") at Newsweek chose Easter week to launch a cover story on how Christianity in facing its end in America. Brent Bozell answered this story better than I could:

"Newsweek greeted the coming of Easter with a black cover, and the headline "The Decline and Fall of Christian America," spelled out in red in the shape of a cross. Inside, it was more declarative: "The End of Christian America." Why? Because they found that the percentage of self-identified Christians had fallen 10 points since 1990. OK, then let's compare. How much has Newsweek's circulation fallen since 1990? Just since 2007, their announced circulation has dropped by 52 percent. It would be more plausible to state "The End of Newsweek."

At the end of 2007, Newsweek reduced its "base rate" (or circulation guaranteed to advertisers) from 3.1 million to 2.6 million, a 16 percent drop. At the end of 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported that Newsweek, faced with an estimated 21 percent decline in ad pages, could soon drop that circulation number by another 500,000 to 1 million readers. In February, the magazine confirmed the million-issue drop, saying it would drop to a base of 1.9 million in July and 1.5 million readers by January 2010. [Blogger Note: So circulation went from 3.1 Million in the beginning of 2007, to 1.5 Million by next January, more than 50% of Newsweek subscribers ran for the exits.]

...Newsweek's strategy in the midst of all its financial decline is to double and triple the amount of editorializing, cast aside all semblance of "news" in favor of long, liberal essays by self-impressed Newsweek editor Jon Meacham and his international editor Fareed Zakaria. Is that really a business solution, or is it the captains performing violin solos on the deck of the Titanic? [Blogger Note: Bonus points for Brent on the Nearer My God to Thee reference.]

...All this leads back to the sneaking suspicion that the top minds at Newsweek think they are the wisest of men, the definers of trends and the shepherds of public opinion. So why is everyone abandoning their advice? Why are the captains of a magazine that's lost half its circulation telling the rest of us where the mainstream lies?"

I have a feeling in 2010 the Liberals are going to see where this mainstream lies.

Vatican Says, “Thanks, But No Thanks,” to Caroline Kennedy

In reinforcing my point that the Roman Catholic Church in America has grown impatient with pro-abortion, so-called Catholic politicians - and now will take a more vocal, proactive approach to confront them - the Milan newspaper Il Giornale reports that the Vatican has Vetoed Obama’s choice of Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador to the Vatican.

I am not sure a person from such a prestigious American "Catholic" family as Caroline would have been vetoed even as much as a five years back, which in itself shows a change in tactic.

According to the paper, the Vatican also vetoed Douglas Kmiec as another Obama choice for Ambassador to the Holy See.

Let take a moment here to connect the Quid Pro Quo dots on these appointments.

Caroline Kennedy was one of the first well known Democrats to break with the Clintons and publicly endorse Obama.

Douglas Kmiec is an Obama hack who wrote a book trying to manipulate the Catholic case for voting for Obama last fall in the hopes of convincing - read confusing - some less discerning Catholics that they could vote for Obama and maintain their status as good Catholics. The Pepperdine Law professor was also once denied Communion publicly in California.

The UK Guardian states:

"There is unhappiness in Washington that the Vatican should veto its choices because they do not adhere to Catholic teachings. But the White House has been caught off guard by the intensity of the backlash within parts of the US Catholic community, which is divided over whether private religious beliefs should decide public policy."

It is a whole new ballgame for Roman Catholicism in America! The Vatican has sent a message to the Obama administration loud and clear.

Easter's Lesson: Evil's One Mortal Wound

"... Two days later, early in the morning, a converted sinner is found walking in a cemetery — she whose heart had been captured by Him without, as other men had done, laying it waste. She was in search of a tomb and a dead body which she hoped she might anoint with spices. The idea of the Resurrection did not seem to enter her mind — she who herself had risen from a tomb sealed by the seven devils of sin. Finding the tomb empty she broke again into a fountain of tears. No one who weeps ever looks upwards. With her eyes cast down as the brightness of the early sunrise swept over the dew-covered grass, she vaguely perceived someone near her, who asked: "Woman, why weepest thou?" (John 20:15).

Mary, thinking it might have been the gardener said: "Because they have taken away my Lord; and I do not know where they have laid him."

The figure before her spoke only one word, one name, and in a tone so sweet and ineffably tender that it could be the only unforgettable voice of the world; and that one word was: "Mary."

No one could ever say "Mary" as He said it. In that moment she knew Him. Dropping into the Aramaic of her mother’s speech she answered but one word: "Rabboni"! "Master"! And she fell at His feet— she was always there, anointing them at a supper, standing before them at a Cross, and now kneeling before Him in the Glory of an Easter morn.

The Cross had asked the questions; the Resurrection had answered them.

The Cross had asked the question: How far can Power go in the world?. The Resurrection answered: Power ends in its own destruction, for those who slew [their God] lost the day.

The Cross had asked: Why does God permit evil and sin to nail Justice to a tree? The Resurrection answered: That sin, having done its worst, might exhaust itself and thus be overcome by Love that is stronger than either sin or death.

Thus there emerges the Easter lesson that the power of evil and the chaos of any one moment can be defied and conquered, for the basis of our hope is not in any construct of human power, but in the Power of God Who has given to the evil of this earth its one mortal wound — an open tomb, a gaping sepulchre, an empty grave. " -Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Cardinal Ignatius Kung: A Good Friday Reflection

In 1955, the Roman Catholic bishop of Shanghai was arrested by the Communist Chinese Government an imprisoned.

A few months after that arrest, the bishop was brought -wearing nothing more than pajamas- to a capacity-filled sport stadium in handcuffs to denounce his Faith and allegiance to Rome publicly on stage. When brought to the microphone, he responded in front of the sold-out crowd what he must have thought were his last public words, "Long Live Christ the King! Long Live the Pope!" [Blogger note: These words were the inspiration for the name of this blog.]

As a result of his unwavering Faith, Ignatius Kung spent over thirty years in solitary confinement in a Communist prison and was named a Cardinal in Pope John Paul II's heart. During his imprisonment, His Eminence wrote a short reflection on the crucifixion on a small piece of rice paper that was smuggled out of the prison. Please read and reflect on this holy man's words now that you understand the conditions and background story in which it was written. It is a perfect Good Friday reflection.

"Our Lord Jesus is on the Cross. His whole body is covered with wounds, His hands and feet are nailed to the Cross; His head is crowned with thorns; for His drink, only vinegar and bitter gall. Although He suffered so much, He knows that many will remain indifferent. This mental anguish is even more painful than His physical torment.

God suffered so much for me. Why am I not willing to give up some worldly pleasure and accept some suffering in this life? I know well that Jesus suffered in reparation for my sins and yet I still go against His will and commit sin. How can I reject His grace and increase His sorrow?

Jesus accepted suffering inflicted by every kind of person. The apostles betrayed Him, the Jews made accusations against Him, the Gentiles cursed Him, and high priests, officials, soldiers and other people all determined to kill Him. Because Jesus suffered in order to save all classes of people, so He accepted sufferings caused by all kinds of people, including all of us. Are we not increasing His suffering by our lack of faith, committing sin and not loving His Sacred Heart?

Where was our Blessed Mother at that time? She was weeping beside the Cross, watching Her Son suffer. This was not just the human love between mother and son. She united her love of Jesus with her love for all mankind, offering [her suffering at the foot of the cross] in sacrifice to God the Father for the salvation of the whole world. Our Lady is indeed the Mother of our salvation.

Each and every one of us should imitate Our Blessed Lady, contemplating Jesus on the Cross. We should offer our sufferings in reparation for our sins and those of others, asking for mercy and forgiveness and not fail to respond to the graces Jesus obtained for us through His Passion."

Buchanan on Notre Dame: Eternal Truth vs. Scavenger Hunt for Marketplace Ideas

As I said in a previous post, Pat Buchanan has the ability to get to the issue at hand:

"Notre Dame, a university that teaches that all innocent human life is sacred, will thus honor a leader determined to ensure that a woman’s right to destroy her unborn child in the womb remains unrestricted.

...Says Ralph McInerny, a philosophy professor since 1955: “By inviting Barack Obama to be the 2009 commencement speaker, Notre Dame has forfeited its right to call itself a Catholic University. … (T)his is a deliberate thumbing of the collective nose at the Roman Catholic Church to which Notre Dame purports to be faithful.

...An honorary degree, writes Catholic author George Weigel, is a statement that here is a man we should admire and emulate. But how can a Catholic university say that about a man who means to appoint Supreme Court justices who will keep constitutional and legal the systematic slaughter of the unborn that has taken 50 million lives in 35 years?

Can Father Jenkins not see the contradiction here that renders Notre Dame a morally incoherent institution?

...what Notre Dame is saying with this invitation is that Obama’s 100 percent support for policies and programs that bring death to more than a million unborn children every year is no disqualification to being honored by a university dedicated to Our Lady who carried to term the Son of God.

...Is Notre Dame still a repository, teacher and exemplar of eternal truths about God and Man, right and wrong, whose mission is to convey and defend those truths in a hostile world?

Or has Notre Dame joined the secularists in their endless scavenger hunt to seek and find truth in the marketplace of ideas?"

Go, Pat, Go!

White House Confirms Millions of Empty Red Envelopes Delivered

From World Net Daily:

"The White House mail office has confirmed it received a "deluge" of as many as 2.25 million red envelopes symbolizing the empty promise of lives snuffed out in abortion in a massive campaign that was larger than most White House mailing movements in the last 35 years.

White House mail worker "Steve" has handled letters for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for more than three decades. Every single package and letter destined for the White House goes through his office.

Asked if he has seen a flood of red envelopes bound for the White House, Steve chuckled.

"Uh, yes," he said emphatically. "Believe me, they made it here."

Steve said while Obama has been occupied in Europe, his administration has noticed millions of red envelopes on behalf of aborted children.

"Quite frankly, there was definitely a deluge of mail coming through," he laughed. "I had to handle them all."

"I've been here 35 years, so I've seen presidents come and go," Steve told WND. "This campaign ranks up there with the big ones.""

Deluge: to fill quickly beyond capacity, as with a liquid; an overwhelming number or amount; to overwhelm; to inundate, to fill or cover completely.

Notre Dame Madlibs for Mad Reasoning

Political, TV commentator Mark Shields argues by inviting President Obama to Notre Dame and bestowing an honorary award on him, they are honoring him as President, and not for any of his views.

"Notre Dame is honoring Barack Obama as president of the United States and as a major political leader, not as a champion of legalized abortion. Obama did not campaign in 2008 on the issue of abortion. When questioned, he answered directly that he was pro-choice."

Let play some Madlibs on this absurd comment to show you how ridiculous Shield’s line of thinking is:

"Yeshiva University is honoring Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization and as a major political leader, not as a champion of Israel’s destruction. Arafat did not campaign in 1969 on the issue of Israel’s destruction. When questioned, he answered directly that he was anti-Israeli."

Do you think a statement like this would ever be made by Mark Shields in this situation? How do you think the press would handle Yasser Arafat, who had extreme, contrary views against the core principles of Yeshiva, being invited to Yeshiva? Would they being dishing the garbage they are now against the Catholic Bishops? How long do you think the President of Yeshiva would be around if he made the ignorant blunder that Fr. Jenkins made? Would anyone dare defend the President of Yeshiva if the Jewish community demanded him to rescind the invitation, or have the University President step down? The answers are as obvious as telling.

In this theoretical situation, I would completely expect, and support, Yeshiva rescinding their invitation to Arafat on the basis that he represents a philosophy completely at odds of their core principles.

Notre Dame Scandal: "Strong of heart and true to her name..."?

The above blog title and phrase, "Strong of heart and true to her name..." is taken from the lyrics of the University of Notre Dame fight song. Sadly, the University of Notre Dame's leadership has displayed it is no longer strong of heart nor true to her name, honoring Our Lady.

Papal Historian George Weigel gets directly to the heart of the matter in the University of Notre Dame's scandal in inviting Barack Obama to give the commencement speech in May, and bestow upon him honors:

"When a university invites a prominent personality to deliver a commencement address and accept an honorary degree, a statement is being made to graduates, students, faculty, parents, alumni and donors: "This is someone whose work is worth emulating." The invitation, in other words, is not to a debate, or to the opening of some sort of ongoing conversation. The invitation and the award of an honorary degree are a university's stamp of approval on someone's life and accomplishment.

Which is precisely why the University of Notre Dame, which claims to be America's premier Catholic institution of higher learning, made an egregious error in inviting President Barack Obama to address its May commencement and accept an honorary doctorate of laws degree.

Since Inauguration Day, Obama has made several judgment calls that render Notre Dame's invitation little short of incomprehensible. The president has put the taxpayers of the United States back into the business of paying for abortions abroad. He has expanded federal funding for embryo-destructive stem-cell research and defended that position in a speech that was a parody of intellectually serious moral reasoning. The Obama administration threatens to reverse federal regulations that protect the conscience rights of Catholic and other pro-life health-care professionals. And the administration has not lifted a finger to keep its congressional and teachers' union allies from snatching tuition vouchers out of the hands of poor inner-city children who want to attend Catholic schools in the nation's capital.

How any of this, much less the sum total of it, constitutes a set of decisions Notre Dame believes worth emulating is not, to put it gently, easy to understand."

Take a moment and respectfully tell the President of Notre Dame, Fr. Jenkins, what you think about his decision to honor Barack Obama at a flagship Catholic institution.

Or write Fr. Jenkins' e-mail account at president@nd.edu and tell him of your disappointment.

The Cardinal Newman Society is sponsoring a web page, Notre Dame Scandal.com, that has compiled signatures in the hopes of rescinding President Obama's invitation. They are up to more than 232,000 signatures. This is a good web site to monitor this story.

"It is clear that Notre Dame didn’t understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation... the flagship Catholic university [has] brought extreme embarrassment to many, many people who are Catholic.” - Cardinal Francis George - Chicago

"I am appalled, disappointed and scandalized! Notre Dame University has certainly turned against the Catholic Church... It is a travesty that the University of Notre Dame, considered by many to be a Catholic University, should give its public support to such an anti-Catholic politician. I hope that you are able to reconsider this decision. If not, please do not expect me to support your University in the future.” - Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran of Oklahoma City

"The numerous, repeated and extensive anti-life positions taken by President Obama merit his recognition as an unequalled, prominent proponent of the culture of death in our nation. Given her Catholic identity, the University of Notre Dame’s receiving the President as the 2009 commencement speaker and her bestowing on him an honorary doctorate are truly shameful, a scandal to the Church and a major blow to hundreds of thousands who have sacrificed to bring forth a culture of life in our midst." - Bishop Joseph F. Martino of Scranton

No Words Needed