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TUESDAY January 18, 2000 volume 11, no. 12 |
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SECTION ONE SECTION TWO SECTION THREE | |
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TUESDAY January 18, 2000 volume 11, no. 12 |
To print out entire text of Today's issue, go to |
SECTION ONE SECTION TWO SECTION THREE | |
First off, before we get into the meat of this commentary, we wanted to make you aware of one particular obstacle ol' horn-head has thrust at us here at the DailyCATHOLIC. On Friday morning we discovered that our e-mail program suddenly lost all its data. We have Eudora Pro 3.0 and Eudora 4.0, but this editor has preferred using the former because of its simplicity and speed of use compared to the more complicated, high falutin' newer program from Qualcomm. We understand from our computer experts that a DLL or "dill" overrode the 3.0 and transferred it to the 4.0 program however it left out one very important ingredient: ALL of our cache which included all e-mails waiting to be answered. Therefore, if you have sent us an e-mail before Saturday, January 22nd and not received a reply, then chances are you won't get a reply unless you resubmit your post since all was lost. This includes those many who had submitted a request to have their sites added in our Ports o' Call Links Decks. Therefore, if you have not received a reply yet and want your Catholic site listed, please let us know again; otherwise it will forever be lost in the great void of the black hole of the worldwide web.
While we are on the "help!" vein, we want to bring to your attention the plight of a site that badly needs your help to stay on line. The contemplative Institute of Divine Mercy is in dire need of $1,100 to be able to maintain their site for the next year. If they can't pay it in the next two weeks they will be forced to cancel their excellent web-site which provides a platform for women interested in a traditional, cloistered, contemplative order that has its roots in what Blessed Sister Faustina received from Our Lord in both spreading devotion to Divine Mercy and interceding in calling down Divine Mercy upon a world badly in need of it. That is the apostolate of these devoted women who, in taking the vow of poverty, have no money and depend solely on the charity of others to subsist as they carry out God's Will. To understand what this much-needed religious institute is all about, we encourage you to go to www.DivineMercy.org to read more. On behalf of these dedicated sisters, we also ask you to help in any way you can. You can use our giftform and earmark it for the Institute of Divine Mercy and we will make sure all donations for such go to the Institute or you can send a donation check, made out to the Institute, to: Help save the Divine Mercy Site, 9306 Forest Hills Lane, Dallas, TX 75218. That's how much we believe in this worthy institution that is so important during these times.
These times are important because the soul of America hangs in the balance. Though the Dow Index just keeps soaring, we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that is an obstacle as well for it has blinded Americans to what is really happening. Pat Ludwa's hard-hitting column yesterday pinpointed the problems, but they go even deeper and only prayer can right the wrongs. While many, many have profited from the burgeoning stock market, they have forgotten Christ's words in Mark 8: 36, "For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul?" They have failed to heed the Holy Father's words "America, if you want liberty and justice for all and lasting peace...defend life!" He echoed those no uncertain words at the end of World Youth Day in Denver in August 1993 and since then, what has America done? Continued on in its sinful ways, reelecting an avowed pro-abort president and vice-president and stepping up the subliminal and not so subliminal attack on religion, and Catholics in particular, by trying to degrade our moral and value system by making the perverted seem normal and the normal seem perverted. Cardinal Thomas Winning has said the same in Scotland and is being grilled on the spit by the media and the culture of death amorals who are trying to crucify him for being insensitive to gays even though he fully understands their hidden, extremely dangerous agenda better than others.
The advocates of abortion and relaxing the moral code and family values are clever but sinister. Read Dr. Frank Joseph's articles this week and re-read Pat's excellent column yesterday and you'll see their modus operendi. It's called "attack, attack, attack!" while trying to pose as the innocent victim. It doesn't work with Christ's teaching and it shouldn't work with us. But yet, with all these obstacles, we've been detoured into defending ourselves where the shoe should be on the other foot. Dr. Joseph points out so clearly how the Democratic candidates are camouflaging the campaign, staying as clear as they can from the abortion issue while bragging about the economy. Again, have they read and truly understood Mark 8: 36? Meanwhile most of the Republican candidates for president have fallen into the trap of trading barbs on other issues without emphasizing the soul of America: life - the inalienable right to life as our Constitution assures. While all proclaim they're pro-life and, as we report in today's NEWS & VIEWS, that front-runner George W. Bush believes Roe vs. Wade was a mistake, only one candidate's platform has consistently stood for all that God desires. That is Alan Keyes who, despite media snubs, is gaining in popularity because he speaks the truth.
We're writing this on the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales, patron saint of communicators on the day Pope John Paul II has proclaimed WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY in exhorting the media to respect the Sanctity of Life and uphold the laws of God. This is also exactly what Alan Keyes has been professing to the public since the beginning. His obstacles are the media that refuses to give him the necessary, equal airtime that should be given all candidates. It still boggles our mind that here is a conservative African American candidate that you would think the NAACP and Black community would be rallying behind fully as "their man." But he isn't. Why does rabble rousing Jesse Jackson get so much play and Keyes so little? It's not because of their articulation and intelligence because there is no candidate more articulate or abreast of the issues than Keyes. After all, he has a tremendous media presence in that he was a radio talk-show host for many years...when there was respectability for the profession before the likes of Jerry Springer and Howard Stern, both darlings of the pro-aborts. So why is Keyes so largely ignored when there are so many mental lightweights running?
As much as we'd like to say it isn't, when one eliminates all the other obstacles, it has to be his Catholicism. Wait, you say, but Pat Buchanan is Catholic, too. The difference is the latter is a bitter man whose prejudices come through loud and clear and, with apologies to those who rabidly follow him, conjures up more ghosts from the past and equation to the Inquisition than Our Lord's charge to love our neighbor and forgive. Keyes does not spew vindictives, only common sense and a strong morality because he realizes the fragile thread America hangs by. He, like all of us, don't want that thread to become a noose. We can only pray that as other candidates fall all over themselves in exposing their own flaws and doublespeak, the public will see the honesty and sincerity of this man from Maryland. That would be like a breath of fresh air - honesty and sincerity in Washington, D.C.! We know, everybody has written Keyes off because of the "he hasn't got a chance" rhetoric the media circulates. But remember, a nobody came out of the pack, sadly, in 1992 to upset the applecart and we know how he's upset the moral fiber of America ever since.
Some might think we, and some of our other columns we carry by Pat Ludwa, Sister Mary Lucy Astuto, or Dr. Frank Joseph are political. No, we are not political, but rather Catholic and intent on upholding Catholic teaching in all walks of life which includes the political arena. We're not raising money for Keyes, just prayers, badly needed prayer for the sake of America. Let's hope the FCC never gets control of the internet or we can all kiss our proverbial you-know-whats goodbye. That is evident when the FCC placed a tremendous obstacle in the path of Christian programming that Senator Dick Armey in out to reverse for if this new ruling stands it will greatly jeopardize not just Christian programming, but Catholic programming where stations will have to pay to provide religious programming and you know they're not going to do that. Their ruling dictates that religion is not educational. Yes, you heard us right. Can you imagine the ramifications and domino effect if that stood up? What an obstacle!
Another obstacle the pro-aborts are launching is the campaign to strip the Holy See of their Permanent Observer status with the UN spearheaded by Frances Kissling's "un-Catholics for Free Choice." Realizing they have nothing to do with the Catholic Church, these upstarts are trying to cover that up by attacking. Who are they attacking? Holy Mother Church herself by denigrating the Vatican in the eyes of the world. While they have a cadre of pro-abort factions behind them, surely the UN Assembly and the world can see that the only organizations that has consistently stood up for the rights and liberties of all is the Church and her undaunted Vicar of Christ. Because there is no threat of sanctions because of the Holy See's status, Kissling is attacking with every weapon at her disposal with lies and slander that will undoubtedly reserve her place in hell if she doesn't repent of her ways soon.
And we do mean soon because the Warning is not far off. In prayer you can just feel its proximity. When? We're not sure and we're not going to speculate on the day, for things come to fulfillment in God's time, not ours. Yet we can sense it is very, very close. When it does occur, it will be an obstacle only for those who refuse to believe, refuse to acknowledge the state of their own soul, and will continue on hard-hearted in their agenda. We look at it as an awakening, a tremendous breath of Heavenly fresh air that will blow out much of the evil that men do for they will see themselves as God sees them. What they, and all of us will see, will not be pretty. Using the great gift of free will, we can then choose to either follow God and His laws, or turn our backs on him and continue the one-way path to eternal damnation. As we've said many times, the Warning will be a dress rehearsal for the Final Judgment. In essense God will be giving everyone a second chance to get it right. Can you think of a more merciful act by the Triune Divinity than that?
And so, our concluding thought is, in following with the worn-out idiom about when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, we say when obstacles are placed in our paths, follow the example of the saints and turn these negatives into positives by offering it all to God to do with as He sees fit. You'll be surprised how fast these obstacles will dissipate when we place it all in His hands and strive to do His holy will. No obstacle is too big that it cannot be overcome and Jesus confirmed this when he reminds us of the faith of a mustard seed in Matthew 17: 19-20 and also in Mark 11, "Because of your little faith; for amen I say to you, if you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Remove from here'; and it will remove. And nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting." Truer words were never spoken. The Blessed Virgin Mary has always emphasized the importance of prayer and fasting, not because it's her idea, but because her Divine Son, the Son of God proclaimed it. Isn't it time we took her exhortation to heart and respond in kind? With prayer and fasting we can better focus on the problem at hand and realize, no matter the obstacle, nothing is impossible with God!
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January 25, 2000 volume 11, no. 17 CATHOLIC PewPOINT
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