My Catholic, Homeschooling, Pregnant-With-Number-Seven, Cousin is Very Smart

Recently I have been trying to find some class project that I can do during the season of Lent with my 5th Graders - something that will get their minds toward service, sacrifice, and stewardship. 

I came up with a few ideas:

- Crisis Pregnancy Center Supply Drive

- Easter Crosses

- Prayer Pals

But I was reading Amy's blog and saw what a great idea she had for her kids during Lent:

- Sacrifice Eggs

You can read about the idea here.

I think it's a great class project, particularly because of the time crunch I am in currently trying to fit in the rest of the Sacraments before CCD ends! It's something we can do at the beginning of each class that would not take up too much time, but allows for loads of discussion when we open our eggs after Easter!

Long Break, Lots of News

Being gone for Mardi Gras since last Friday has left me a lot of news worth blogging about:

1) 40 Days for Life is underway!

2) As is the magnificent season of Lent! I found some pretty cool articles about the season, including tips and ideas for fasting and almsgiving.

- this is a really nifty list of 25 things to do to help celebrate Lent, recommended by Fr. Marvin Kitten S.J. via Facebook

- EWTN features this helpful Lenten calendar, including reflections and questions for each day.

- On his blog, Mark Shea posted this excellent essay about Mary and the Rosary during Lent.

For Lent this year, I have decided to abstain from meat everyday of the week, not just on Fridays. I am also doing a daily rosary or a prayer reflection each morning and night. As a religion teacher, I always try to stress to my students the importance of fasting and almsgiving and how it means more than just "giving something up" for Lent. I always felt that doing somethin

g to help the community would be more fulfilling for the youngsters. This year, I plan to have my class participate in a baby supply drive for the local Crisis Pregnancy Center.

3) LifeSiteNews.com posted this article responding to the growing epidemic of sex-selection eugenics and abortion. I found it particularly interesting. The amount of suffering women go through because of abortion never ceases to amaze me. How can neo-feminists support such activities?

4) I came across, in my opinion, the greatest website ever created last night. I thought it was the perfect way to start off the weekend!

{LOLSaints}

"Upon My Dead Child"

I found this poem when reading this article from the American Life League about the History of Abortion. I thought I would share it.

"Upon My Dead Child"

Jean Micheleau

O Thou, whose eyes were closed in Death's pale night,
Ere fate revealed thee to my aching sight.
Embryo, imperfect as my tortured thought;
Sad outcast of existence and of naught;
Thou, who to guilty love first owest thy frame,
Whom guilty honour killed to hide its shame;
Dire offspring!

Formed by love's too pleasing power!
Honour's dire victim in luckless hour!
Soften the pangs that still revenge thy doom;
Nor from the dark abyss of nature's womb,
When back I cast thee, let revolving time
Call up past scenes to aggravate my crime.

Two adverse tyrants ruled thy wayward fate,
Thyself a helpless victim in their hate;
Love, in spite of honour's dictates,
gave thee breath;
Honour, in spite of love, pronounced thy death.

Prayer for the Jesuits!

Oregon Jesuits are filing for bankruptcy.

Remember to pray for these Jesuits - the first religious order to file for bankruptcy.

(Also remember that tithing is part of being Catholic...)

Pelosi, Pope, Personhood

I've been sick all week and haven't really had the chance to blog until now - and boy, did I miss a great week!

1) Nancy Pelosi gets to meet the Pope?!?

My first issue with this is the fact that I don't get to meet the Pope and Pelosi does. The Pope tried to convince Pelosi that the Church teaches killing babies is wrong...but it seems the message fell on deaf ears. Pelosi is convinced that she knows more about Catholic doctrine than the Pope, apparently. At least she's heard about the evil of abortion from the Pope himself. Maybe it will sink in later?

Does Pelosi even count as a Catholic anymore??

2) Apparently, she does.

The Archbishop of her home parish in San Francisco as been trying to meet with Pelosi for quite some time. One of the reasons her Pope visit was so initially irksome concerned her statements about being too busy to meet with her own bishop. Of course, even if I were too busy to meet with Alfie over in New Orleans - I would cancel EVERYTHING to meet His Holyness. No doubt about that.

Of course, those reports are all wrong. Pelosi has in fact met with her Archbishop...and the meeting has been spectacularly analyzed over at American Papist.

3) My favorite thing in the world is happening over in North Dakota.

Babies are people too! And finally a state in the union is recognizing this (obvious) fact in law. At least, their House of Representatives is - the Senate votes on the matter in a few weeks. 15 other states are in the process of pursuing similar legislation.

My hope for this week is the passage of this law in North Dakota and in other states. It is essential to the pro-life cause. It will change the abortion debate forever. Please remember to pray for those voting and for those whose lives depend on those votes.

That Katrina Bishop

Gerhard Wagner is asking the Pope to withdraw his nomination for Bishop, reports from the Catholic News Service say.

Although I've never met the guy, I was never a huge fan of his nomination because I don't particularly like him. It's probably because I'm from New Orleans and he believes my city deserved the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina because of our "spiritual pollution." Silly, silly man. If God had wanted to punish us for our sins, he would have swamped the source - the tourists on Bourbon Street, not my uncle in suburbia. 

I am not a fan of his initial nomination, so I am perfectly ok with his request to withdraw. I'm probably just still bitter.

A Very Smart Little Girl

She articulates the pro-life cause in a surprisingly eloquent way for a 7th grader. Being familiar with the cause, no facts she stated were that surprising to me and most of it I have heard before. With that being said, I think this little girl expresses the dire nature of this genocide very well. I think she really needs to be commended for the bravery she shows by speaking out on a highly controversial and upsetting topic. Awareness is the first step!

{LifeSiteNews}

The Red Envelope Project

I stumbled upon this neat little project on Facebook the other day. I think it is a phenomenal idea that has the potential to truly affect our President - that is if only enough people can get involved. 

The idea is to send empty red envelopes to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with the following message written on the back:

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.

I think that if enough of these are sent, MAYBE our President will hear the will of the people to stop the slaughter of the innocents. Maybe...

You can read more about it here.

Saint on Sunday

Just found out about this kid the other day:

St. Agape, a student of St. Valentine's.

Jesus is My Valentine

Jesus is my Valentine.

My boyfriend comes in second.

Babies Having Babies

It's been a problem for years - children having children. Recently, a young British couple is widening our understanding of this phenomena. 13 year old Alfie Patten recently told reporters that he is the father of a newborn baby, Maisie. His girlfriend is 15 and they got pregnant after having sex only one time. 

Although the situation is both disturbing and very serious, it's also important to realize how brave these young parents were. Obviously, 13 year olds (and 15 year olds) should not be having children, but the fact remains that they have. The brave part of this whole story is their decision not to schedule an abortion. They decided to give their child a chance at life, no matter how difficult it may be for the parents or grandparents. Alfie certainly seems like a proud father, he "wanted to be the first to hold Maisie...he tenderly kisses the baby and gives her a bottle." {source}

Alfie could have avoided a lot of attention and disapproval if he had convinced his girlfriend to "take care of it." But Alfie is a brave little boy. Sadly, he probably doesn't understand much about the magnitude of fatherhood - but he is willing to work on it. 

Alfie and Chantelle's decision for life reminds me of Jesus' words:

"Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Mt 19:14

Sure, the Catholic Church and I do not agree with the situation Alfie and Chantelle have put themselves in. Obviously the "free sex" culture has done them wrong. It is a shame these children weren't taught about the sanctity of sex and love. However, their extraordinarily pro-life decision sits perfectly all right with me. I hope that they consider some form of open adoption as they deal with this sudden thrust into adulthood.  

It's Almost the Weekend

{ReverendFun}

In Memory Of...

Eluana Englaro - victim of euthanasia, buried today in Italy.


“Neither as doctors, nor as Christians nor as persons can we accept what was done to Eluana. A human being can never be left without food. Eluana was alive and they killed her." - Simon Castellvi, President of the International Federation of Associations of Catholic Doctors.

Support Life

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Nadya Suleman, the new mother of octuplets in California. I believe a lot of the negative reaction surrounding the birth of her beautiful children stem from the culture of death that tells us that big families are irresponsible, selfish, and unhealthy. Of course, this cannot be further from the truth.

Although the means in which Nadya became pregnant with her eight children are not smiled upon by the Church, the fact that she chose life for all of them definitely should be. In an effort to show our support of her extremely pro-life decision, I'm asking that everyone checks out her website. On the homepage you can find links and addresses to send donations (money, baby clothes, diapers, etc...) to help support Nadya's large family (14 in all!). 

Even those who cannot find the resources to help the Suleman family, remember that prayer is also a very important gift. 

I would like to personally give my support of Nadya's decision to resist "selective reduction" and carrying to term all of her beautiful baby humans.

Hell on Wheels

China is really working on that whole "improving human rights" thing.

With the unveiling of their new "death bus" China is hoping to reduce the number of deaths by firing squad by using the more socially acceptable method of lethal injection for criminals facing capital punishment. Of course, the Chinese government has always been very smart when it comes to effectively wiping out members of its own population - why should this case be any different? A mobile death chamber is obviously the easiest solution to quick and accessible executions. 

(Thanks, Hobie, for the tip on this CRAZY story.)

Hans is Crazy!

“Benedict is unteachable in matters of birth control and abortion, arrogant and without transparency and restrictive of freedom and human rights." {source}

So this "theologian" known as Hans Kung thinks the Catholic Church should become more open to threats to human life such as abortion and birth control. Not quite sure about this one. A little confused as to why he keeps calling himself a theologian though, considering he obviously doesn't understand the basics of Catholic Theology (namely don't kill people because Jesus loves everyone).

Saint on Sunday

St. Scholastica 

Canon Law Rules!

What do John Kerry, Joe Biden, and Nancy Pelosi have in common?

Many, many things.

First of all they are all Democrats, which is not a sin (yet), and they all support pro-choice and pro-abortion policies. And another thing, they are all Catholic.

According to Archbishop Raymond Burke, there is yet another thing that have in common:

They are all breaking Canon Law by recieving the Eucharist.

LifeSiteNews.com has the entire story and an exclusive interview with Archbishop Burke.

His comments bring a lot of light onto the "contraversial" subject of denying certain people the Eucharist. Seeing as it is an absolute Canon Law, I have no problem with it. These politicians are not only harming themselves with this sacrilege, but they are also sending a message to American Catholics that it is ok to be pro-choice and a good Catholic. Sorry guys, but that just isn't the case. The popular bumpersticker has it right: you CAN'T be pro-choice AND Catholic.

Pick one.

Infanticide is not cool

There are few things in this world more tragic than abortion, except the killing of abortion survivors.

A Florida woman recently gave birth to a 23 week old child and promptly cut the umbilical cord and tossed the baby in a trash can - with the help of a Miami abortion clinic of course. Obviously, pro-lifers are devastated by this unnecessary death and I would venture to say that pro-choicers have to admit that throwing a live, breathing baby into a trash can is wrong.....right? Well not everyone. A spokeswoman stated about the incident:

"It really disturbed me...I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep (women) from going to these types of clinics." {source}

Nothing about the baby? Nothing about the wounded mother? Only...its disturbing these clinics exist. Well, DUH. It's very disturbing that abortion clinics exist. What is this lady talking about?

You know what else is kind of disturbing? The lack of coverage this story is getting from the mainstream media (outside of Fox News, of course). 

Here is a capture of CNN's home screen...notice there is absolutely no reference to this horrifying story. Why not? They have two articles about Facebook.

 

Even though this is an awful story, let's remember to pray for the mother, the child, and all the participants in this clear example of infanticide.

Saint on Sunday

Saint Brigid of Ireland.

Happy Sunday!