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Category Archives: Catholic culture

Pray, Hope and Don’t Worry.

September 23, 2011

Padre Pio, would often tell people who came to him, “Pray, Hope and Don’t Worry.” These words give comfort and healing to millions of people.

Padre Pio was born May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy, a small town in southern Italy, and he died on Sept 23, 1968.

Who was this man who has inspired millions around the world? And what does he tell us today?

First of all he was a Capuchin. This means that he was a son of St Francis. When people think of Padre Pio they connect him with many spiritual gifts such as having the stigmata, perfume, prophecy, gifts of healing and bilocation.

If we didn’t know we might think he was a figure out of the middle ages. He was a contemporary saint. He lived thru the first and second World Wars, the Second Vatican council, and the revolution of the 60’s.

God gave us Padre Pio to remind a skeptical world that God Exist. His supernatural gifts were in stark contrast to modern world rationalism, unbelief. Padre Pio’s spiritual gifts remind our world that God can still confound the world and its unbelief.

Padre Pio was not a saint because he had such spiritual gifts. Padre Pio was a saint because he was faithful to Jesus and His Church. Padre Pio would hear confession for the thousands of people who came to him from all around the world. He had the gift to read hearts. One of the pilgrims that came to him was none other than John Paul II.

Because tens of thousands came to him from all over the world he had his detractors as well. On June 1922, restrictions were placed on the public access to him. He was ordered not to answer letter written to him. From the years 1924-1931 the Vatican issued a statement denying anything supernatural about Padre Pio. On June 9, 1931 Padre Pio was ordered by the Holy See to stop all activities, even hearing confessions, except the mass which was to be celebrated in private. This ban was reversed in early 1933 by the Holy See.

He was a saint because he loved Jesus and His Church. During this time the restrictions were placed on him he never once complained against the Church. He would often say when people pointed out the unfairness of how he was being treated, “we must love the Church She is our Mother.”

Padre Pio reminds us that the Church is our Mother. He reminds us of the value of obedience for the church, even when we have been hurt by the Church.

It is for His love for Jesus and His Church that we call Padre Pio Saint Padre Pio

Padre Pio Pray for Us – May we Follow the Words of Padre Pio, “Pray, Hope and Don’t Worry.”

Father Stefan Starzynski is the author of Miracles: Healing for a Broken World and the Spiritual Director of the Paul Stefan Home for Mothers

Also posted in catholic, Catholic Life – 2 Comments

In Christ, “I Do”

May 25, 2011

Summer is nearly here and wedding season is offically upon us.

“You may kiss the cross” is not exactly a phrase we’re used to hearing as the happy couple exchanges vows.

But it should be!

There is a beautiful tradition in the Croatian culture for weddings that we recently learned about from a column on RenewAmerica. It is a custom using a crucifix that centers the bride and groom on their life in Christ Jesus and His cross ”represents the greatest love and the crucifix is the treasure of the home.

When the bride and groom set off for the church, they bring a crucifix with them. The priest blesses the crucifix, which takes on a central role during the exchange of vows. The bride places her right hand on the crucifix and the groom places his hand over hers. Thus the two hands are bound together on the cross. The priest covers their hands with his stole as they proclaim their vows to be faithful, according to the rites of the Church…. the bride and groom do not then kiss each other, they rather kiss the cross. They know that they are kissing the source of love. Anyone close enough to see their two hands joined over the cross understands clearly that if the husband abandons his wife or if the wife abandons her husband, they let go of the cross. And if they abandon the cross, they have nothing left. They have lost everything for they have abandoned Jesus. They have lost Jesus.

Read more about this custom, how it has transformed the Croatian people and the beauty of making the cross the center of the wedding ceremony and marriage here.

Also posted in catholic, Catholic Life, Catholic Moment, marriage – 1 Comment

Trusting God and His Methods

April 27, 2011

God is our Creator. He knows what is best for us. But don’t you find yourself sometimes as a perpetual teenager, thinking your Creator doesn’t know best?

Well, here’s yet another testament that He truly knows best. Dr. Lazar Greenfield, a highly respected surgeon and inventor, published an article recently that touted the Zen-like benefits of semen on women. He cited research that said that women who had sex without any barriers (condoms, etc.) were significantly less depressed than women who used condoms or were abstinent. Unfortunately, Dr. Greenfield resigned this week because of significant public pressure from feminist groups who aren’t happy that a high-profile medical professional was touting the benefits of male-female relations or “sexism” as they call it. Confused? So are we.

When married couples engage in relations as God intended, without any barriers, they get some great rewards in the mental health department. The Catholic Church has always recognized the holiness of the marital act (Genesis even says that a man should leave his family and “cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”) and in her wisdom, decidedly condemned the birth control pill when other faiths were saying that it’s fine to use for contraception, even in marriage (see Humanae Vitae).

Which is why it was really disappointing to see a study by the Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) say that 98% of Catholic women use birth control methods banned by the Catholic Church. 98%! In several dioceses across the country, engaged couples have to go through a Natural Family Planning course before they get married where they learn all about why the Church teaches NFP and how to go about implementing it in their marriage. What happened to them? Or their parents?

For those who do adhere to NFP, the benefits are immense. Not only are these couples following the Church’s teachings, but they are a reflection of Christ and his bride, the Church, in that He gave fully of himself to her, holding nothing back. Husband and wives are called to imitate that love, holding nothing back from each other, including their fertility. If used correctly, NFP has a 99% success rate in helping couples avoid a pregnancy if they are called to hold off on having kids for the time being.

The marital act, as God intended it to be, is something wonderful for husbands and wives and gives each of them immense benefits not only spiritually but as science has proven, physically and mentally as well.

Time and time again, God shows us one way or another that He knows best. Let’s stop fighting Him like teenagers and follow His will because He surely has our best interests in mind.

Also posted in catholic – 0 Comments

Dear Gabby: Do Catholics Worship Mary?

April 20, 2011

Dear Gabby,
Do Catholics worship Mary, the Mother of Jesus? Do Catholics worship the saints also?
-David

Dear David-

Great question, especially since this is a common misunderstanding about Catholics. The short answer is no, Catholics do not worship Mary or the Saints. We worship God and Him alone. Catholics devote a great deal of their religious life to the worship of God through prayer. A close look at what happens during a Catholic Mass will erase any doubt as to the place God and Mary holds in a Catholic’s daily life. Here are three examples where Catholics worship God during the Mass. We pray:

Lord God heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.
For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
Lord, GOD of power and might. Heaven and earth are filled with Your glory.

There are other times where Catholics will use prayer to honor someone. We honor Mary and the Saints because they are examples, a perfect one in Mary’s case, for us to follow.

This is probably one of the coolest things about being Catholic actually. We believe wholeheartedly in the power of prayer and of miracles, so much so that we ask those who we know are in heaven (to become a saint, two miracles have to be attributed to you to basically make sure you’re in heaven) to ask Jesus to help us. We certainly pray to God himself of course but also have devotions to Mary and the saints to help us along. It’s kind of like when you ask your friend to pray for you for something. We figure, the more prayers the better and who better to ask than those who have already achieved eternal life and have found favor with God.

There are many, many saints and lots of them are patron saints of something, usually of something that they may have faced and overcome in their own lives. For example, St. Sebastian is the patron saint of athletes because he was known for his endurance (he was sentenced to death…twice). Here’s a list of patron saints.

As to Mary, she is the Mother of Jesus himself and Catholics believe she is a wonderful saint to ask for help and prayers. The Bible is clear that Mary was sinless and a perfect creature and “full of grace.” In fact, Jesus’ first miracle happened because the servants at the wedding at Cana went first to Mary to tell her that they were out of wine. Mary interceded with Jesus on their behalf and it was at her request that he turned the water into wine (John 21:1-2). And before Jesus was even born, the angel Gabriel greeted Mary at the Annunciation with the words “Hail, full of the grace, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). These are the same words we use at the beginning of the Hail Mary.

Mary is the greatest of all the saints and for good reason. She gave her fiat, her Yes, to God and became the mother of Jesus and lived an extraordinary, sinless life that continues in heaven today. Catholics hold her in the highest honor and many have great devotions to her.

We recommend the book “True Devotion to Mary” by St. Louis de Montfort for a wonderful meditation on Mary, her virtues, the mysteries of Rosary, and how to consecrate your life to Jesus through her. And for a much longer explanation on Mary’s role in the Church, see this link: http://maryimmaculate.tripod.com/marian.html.

For Him,
Gabby

Have a question for Gabby? Send to stmichaelsociety@gmail.com.

3 Comments

Mother-Daughter Fashion Wars

April 20, 2011

“Fashion wars.”

The age-old battle between parent and daughter about her wardrobe, and we’re not just talking about wearing jeans to church.

Plunging necklines, short skirts, tight pants and cut off t-shirts never seem to lose their appeal for teenaged girls, no matter what the decade.

But parents – especially mothers – must step up and stay strong in the midst of these wars because, as Jennifer Giroux writes in her latest “Mother-Daughter Fashion Wars” commentary, we are called to “teach our daughters to respect themselves and to understand what it truly means to ‘dress with dignity.’”

Even when you’d rather be the “Cool Mom.” Because, as Giroux writes, “Caving in on fashion now often means caving in on sexual morality later. You can’t win the latter unless you show yourself to be a warrior mom for the former.”

At the end of the day, the “proper formation of our daughters’ self image and integrity as persons” is what lies in the balance. And that’s no small task.

Read the piece by Jennifer Giroux, mother of nine children, HERE.

She is spearheading the “Speaking of Motherhood” speaking tour that features six mothers who in total have 44 children and consider themselves part of the counter-cultural comeback of large families.

If you are you a mom raising a teenage daughter, Giroux encourages you to tell them about your struggles and joys – all comments to remain anonymous. Email them at Speakingofmotherhood@gmail.com.

Also posted in Catholic Life – 1 Comment

What the Pope Really Said on Condom Use

November 22, 2010

Does the Pope approve the use of condoms?

Jenn Giroux
November 21, 2010

The media is at it again.

They are trying to say that the Pope approves the use of condoms

Below Professor Janet E.Smith. provides explanation and clarification of the Pope’s comments:

Conversion, Not Condoms

Pope Benedict on Condoms in the Light of the World (p. 119)
In Light of the World, these answers appear:

To the charge that “It is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms,” Pope Benedict replied (This paragraph is at the end of an extended answer on the help the Church is giving the Aids victims and the need to fight the banalization of sexuality.):

“There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.”

Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?

“She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.”

Commentary:

What is Pope Benedict saying?

We must note that the example that Pope Benedict gives for the use of a condom is by a male prostitute; thus, it is a reasonable to assume that he is referring to a male prostitute engaged in homosexual acts. The Holy Father is simply observing that for some homosexual prostitutes the use of a condom may indicate an awakening of a moral sense; an awakening that sexual pleasure is not the highest value but that we must take care that we harm no one with our choices. He is not speaking to the morality of the use of a condom but to something that may be true about the psychological state of those who use them. If such individuals are using condoms to avoid harming another, they may eventually realize that sexual acts between members of the same sex are inherently harmful since they are not in accord with human nature. The Holy Father does not in any way think the use of condoms is a part of the solution to reducing the risk of Aids. As he explicitly states, the true solution involves “humanizing sexuality.”

Anyone having sex that threatens to transmit the HIV needs to grow in moral discernment. This is why Benedict focused on a “first step” in moral growth. The Church is always going to be focused on moving people away from immoral acts towards love of Jesus, virtue and holiness. We can say that the Holy Father clearly did not want to make a point about condoms but wants to talk about growth in a moral sense, which should be a growth towards Jesus.

So is the Holy Father saying it is morally good for male prostitutes to use condoms?

The Holy Father is not articulating a teaching of the Church about whether or not the use of a condom reduces the amount of evil in a homosexual sexual act that threatens to transmit the HIV. The Church has no formal teaching about how to reduce the evil of intrinsically immoral action. We must note that what is intrinsically wrong in a homosexual sexual act in which a condom is used is not the moral wrong of contraception but the homosexual act itself. In the case of homosexual sexual activity, a condom does not act as a contraceptive; it is not possible for homosexuals to contracept since their sexual activity has no procreative power that can be thwarted. But the Holy Father is not making a point about whether the use of a condom is contraceptive or even whether it reduces the evil of a homosexual sexual act; again, he is speaking about the psychological state of some who might use condoms. The intention behind the use of a condom (the desire not to harm another) may indicate some growth in a sense of moral responsibility.

In Familiaris Consortio (On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World), Pope John Paul II spoke of the need for conversion which often proceeds by gradual steps:

What is needed is a continuous, permanent conversion which, while requiring an interior detachment from every evil and an adherence to good in its fullness, is brought about concretely in steps which lead us ever forward. Thus a dynamic process develops, one which advances gradually with the progressive integration of the gifts of God and the demands of His definitive and absolute love in the entire personal and social life of man. (9)

Christ himself, of course, called for a turning away from sin. That is what the Holy Father is advocating here; not a turn towards condoms. Conversion, not condoms!

Would it be proper to conclude that the Holy Father would support the distribution of condoms to male prostitutes?

Nothing he says here indicates that he would. Public programs of distribution of condoms run the risk of conveying approval for homosexual sexual acts. The task of the Church is to call individuals to conversion and to moral behaviour; it is to help them understand the meaning and purpose of sexuality and to help them come to know Christ who will provide the healing and graces that enable us to live in accord with the meaning and purpose of sexuality.

Is Pope Benedict indicating that heterosexuals who have the HIV could reduce the wrongness of their acts by using condoms?

No. In his second answer he says that the Church does not find condoms to be a “real or moral solution.” That means the Church does not find condoms either to be moral or an effective way of fighting the transmission of the HIV. As the Holy Father indicates in his fuller answer, the most effective portion of programs designed to reduce the transmission of the HIV are calls to abstinence and fidelity.

The Holy Father, again, is saying that the intention to reduce the transmission of any infection is a “first step” in a movement towards a more human way of living sexuality. That more human way would be to do nothing that threatens to harm one’s sexual partner, who should be one’s beloved spouse. For an individual with the HIV to have sexual intercourse with or without a condom is to risk transmitting a lethal disease.

An analogy:

If someone was going to rob a bank and was determined to use a gun, it would better for that person to use a gun that had no bullets in it. It would reduce the likelihood of fatal injuries. But it is not the task of the Church to instruct potential bank robbers how to rob banks more safely and certainly not the task of the Church to support programs of providing potential bank robbers with guns that could not use bullets. Nonetheless, the intent of a bank robber to rob a bank in a way that is safer for the employees and customers of the bank, may indicate an element of moral responsibility that could be a step towards eventual understanding of the immorality of bank robbing.

Prof Janet E. Smith
Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Detroit, MI
profjanetsmith@comcast.net
734 883 4080
http://www.aodonline.org/SHMS/Faculty+5819/Janet+Smith+9260/Dr.+Janet+Smith+-+Welcome.htm

Resources:

Edward C. Green, “The Pope May Be Right” Washington Post (Sunday, March 29, 2009); http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702825.html

Edward C. Green and Allison Herling Ruark, “AIDS and the Churches: Getting the Story Right” First Things (April, 2008) http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/medical_ethics/me0126.htm

Edward C. Green, Rethinking AIDS Prevention: Learning from Successes in Developing Countries (Praeger: 2003)

Matthew Hanley and Jokin de Irala, Affirming Love, Avoiding AIDS: What Africa Can Teach The West, (National Catholic Bioethics Center, 2009)

Susan E. Wills, “Condoms and AIDS: Is the Pope Right or Just “Horrifically Ignorant?” The Linacre Quarterly, 77:10 (Feb 2010) 17-29.

Edward C Green AIDS, Behavior, and Culture: Understanding Evidence-Based Prevention (Left Coast Press: 2010) forthcoming

Jenn Giroux is the new Executive Director of HLI America, a program of Human Life International. (You can visit HLI America at www.hliamerica.org)

Before joining Human Life International, Jenn was the CEO and Executive Director of One More Soul. Prior to that in 2003, Jenn began Women Influencing the Nation (WIN), an organization dedicated to reclaiming traditional morals in our society with special emphasis on encouraging women to have more children once again in America.

Women Influencing the Nation was heavily involved in supporting the efforts of Former Attorney General Phill Kline in his criminal charges against Planned Parenthood and to enforce the Late Term Abortion Law inside Kansas, the abortion capital of the World. Jenn testified before the Kansas Legislative Committee on September 6, 2007 representing over 5500 petitions asking Kansas official to prosecute George Tiller for doing illegal abortions.

Jenn has been a Registered Nurse for 24 years where she has witnessed first hand the devastating physical, mental, and spiritual fall out from the feminist movement, especially in areas of birth control and abortion. This has been the foundation of her inspiration to form this nationwide network connecting women to counteract the negative impact that the feminist influence has had over the past 40+ years in destroying families.

Jenn was a former radio talk show host with Salem Communications and also worked as Assistant to the President for Citizens for Community Values where she led the Catholic outreach for school presentations to parents on how to keep their children away from Internet Pornography. Jenn has been a regular guest on Catholic Radio to discuss women’s issues in the Church and politics. Jenn has also been seen debating many political and religious issues on MSNBC, CNN, FOX, and COMCAST NEWS NETWORKS.

Jenn regards God’s gift of motherhood as her most important and fulfilling work. She and her husband, Dan, have 9 children. They are the owners of The Catholic Shop and currently live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Also posted in Catholic Life, contraception – 0 Comments

The Pill: A Prescription for Breast Cancer?

November 4, 2010

Catholics have had a lot to cheer about lately. Midterm election victories for the unborn. Justice for those in office who betrayed the value of human life and have been voted out of office. Clear guidance from our Holy Father on how our conscience must vote.

But no matter who is in office, an alarming threat remains for women and their health: the widely used carcinogen known as The Pill.

We are calling on St Michael Society members to become educated on the pill so that you can share the health dangers with the women you care about in your life.

The Birth Control Pill Isn’t Just a Catholic Issue

We know the Catholic Church opposes artificial contraception because it defies Natural Law and how God intended us to work with him in procreation. Even more serious, some of these contraceptives – like the Pill – can act as an abortifacient, ridding a mother’s body of her embryonic child without her even knowing she is pregnant. But the consequences also go beyond Catholic morality …

In order to silence the public discussion of the harms of contraception we have often been told that we are pushing our ‘Catholic’ views on women. This has effectively kept many health care providers and pro-life groups silent on this issue. Do you know what has nothing to do with being Catholic? Experiencing breast cancer in your 30s, having a stroke in college, or having an undetected and sudden blood clot that results in permanent health damage or death are life-threatening side effects that visit women of all faiths.

This is according to Jennifer Giroux, registered nurse and executive director of HLI America. We’ve written about Ms. Giroux’s work before and she has a new Zenit column with medical evidence from credible experts citing the connection between hormones in the Pill and deadly breast cancer.

Read it in full here.

But only if you’re willing to share it with friends and family who may need an unwelcomed wake-up call.

Because withholding information like this from a loved one may put their health – and their life – at risk. And there are too many bad consequences in this life and the next that might result from silence.

Women deserve to know the truth. They have been failed by physicians in not being warned of the physical damage that they are doing to their bodies, and they have been failed by their priests in not being warned of the spiritual damage that they are doing to their souls.

May God give us the courage to share this with the women who matter most in our lives.

Also posted in abortion, Catholic Life, contraception, Guttmacher Institute, Healthcare, planned parenthood, prolife, sex education – 0 Comments

Significance of the Number 9 in Catholicism?

October 6, 2010

Ever wonder about the meaning of certain numbers in the Catholic faith? Gabby tackles the number 9 and its significance in this week’s installment of “Dear Gabby.” Have a question for Gabby? Send to stmichaelsociety@gmail.com.

Dear Gabby,

What is the significance of the number nine in Catholicism?

-Mary

Dear Mary,

Thanks so much for writing and thanks for your question. Pretty much everything in our Catholic faith holds some sort of significance and this is no different.

If you pray novenas, you may have noticed that they are all nine days long (novena comes from the Latin novem, meaning nine). A novena is usually prayed to obtain special graces. There are four types of novenas:

novenas of mourning, such as the novena made during the novemdiales — the nine day period following the death of a Pope
novenas of preparation, or “anticipation,” such as the Christmas or Easter Novenas
novenas of prayer
the indulgenced novenas

St. Jerome said that in the Bible, the number nine is often associated with grief or mourning. Among the Greek and Roman cultures, there existed nine days of mourning with a special feast on the ninth day after death or burial. By the Middle Ages, a custom of a novena of masses for popes and cardinals was already established. Also around this time, the novena of prayer arose, usually to ask for some type of intercessory healing from a saint.

Besides novenas of the dead and prayer, also by the Middle Ages there was an established novena of preparation before Christmas, most notably in Spain and France. This held its origin in the nine months Christ was in his Mother’s womb, preparing for his time on Earth.

Additionally, Mary and the Apostles also prayed for nine days between Christ’s Ascension and Pentecost – so novenas have been around for awhile.

It’s worth noting that some people claim that novenas are like superstitious chain letters – “pray this prayer for 9 days and all your wishes will come true” kind of thing. Obviously, that’s not the way to go about it and Catholics don’t believe in that. Novenas certainly have more of a sense of urgency at times and we are grateful we have these special prayers but certainly don’t believe they are of a superstitious nature.

Here’s a list of several novenas: http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/prayers/novena.htm.

Hope that helps Mary.

For Him,

Gabby

Have a question for Gabby? Send to stmichaelsociety@gmail.com.

Also posted in Catholic Life – 0 Comments

The Catholic Vote 2010 — Will You Vote Your Faith?

October 5, 2010

We are now just inside of one month until election day. The question we have for our Catholic family, friends, fellow parishioners and co-workers is: Are you praying, reflecting and ready to Vote Your Faith in 2010? Given the nature of the mainstream media today, many folks simply don’t know where candidates stand on issues. It is our goal to help educate committed Catholics about the issues in this campaign that impact our faith or are in direct conflict with it.

We as Catholics are called to practice our faith in the voting booth. In fact, in the past two elections cycles Pope Benedict XVI outlined a three point model to reflect on before voting.

Benedict XVI said that the focus of public interventions by the Catholic Church “is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person and she is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable.”

The Pope spelled out these principles thus:

– “protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception to natural death”;

– “recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family — as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage — and its defense from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union which in reality harm it and contribute to its de-stabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role”;

– and “the protection of the right of parents to educate their children.”

Common to all

Benedict XVI clarified: “These principles are not truths of faith, even though they receive further light and confirmation from faith; they are inscribed in human nature itself and therefore they are common to all humanity.”

So, what are some important Catholic issues before us this election cycle?

1. Taxpayer funding of abortion in health care. When President Obama signed the health care law, he signed a law that opened the flood gates for taxpayer funding of abortion. Americans United for Life Action has launched a “Life Counts” campaign targeting specific members of Congress who voted to force taxpayers to fund abortion. See if your Congressman is on the list here. If so, call him or her and let them know you will not be voting for them because they support the radical policy of forcing taxpayers to fund abortion.

Find out: Did candidates seeking your vote this November, support Obamacare? If they voted for Obamacare, they voted to force taxpayers to fund abortion. Vote them out and support a candidate running to repeal Obamacare and end taxpayer funding for abortion throughout the federal government by supporting Smith-Lipinski (see number 2).

2. Ending taxpayer funding of abortion in all federal government agencies. Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) have introduced a bipartisan bill to end taxpayer funding of abortion across the federal government. The bill has 150 original cosponsors, including 16 Democrats. Read more on the bill here.

Ask candidates for Congress or Senate in your state: Do you support the bipartisan Smith-Lipinski bill in the House, which would end taxpayer funding of abortion across the federal government? If they do, support them. If they don’t, vote them out.

3. Taxpayer funding of human experimentation through embryo research. Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) and Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) have introduced legislation to not only have taxpayers fund embryonic stem cell research, but also opens the door to taxpayer funded cloning. To learn more about this issue go here.

Find out: Do candidates running for Congress seeking your vote support Specter-DeGette and taxpayer funding of human experimentation through embryo research? If they do, vote them out by supporting candidates who oppose embryonic stem cell research.

4. Traditional marriage is under attack across the country and key elections in Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Iowa could weigh heavily on the future of the marriage issue. In each of these states, public support continues to fall on the side of protecting marriage as the union of one man and one woman, yet we have elected officials who continue to push against the voters’ say on the marriage issue, and who are taking matter into their own hands – whether it be a Governor or a state supreme court justice. The National Organization for Marriage has all the info you need here.

Find out—do candidates seeking your vote support marriage as defined between one man and one woman? If not, vote them out by supporting candidates that support marriage.

5. School choice. One would think all would agree that parents should have the right to decide what education, including homeschooling, options are best for their kids. Yet many liberals and unions fight against this very basic civil right across the country from the smallest town to the largest city. Learn more about school choice issues here.

Find out: Do candidates seeking your vote this November support school choice? If not, vote them out by supporting candidates who do support school choice.

6. Supreme Court and Judges: Senators have amazing power. They have a vote to determine who will sit on various levels of our federal judiciary and apply laws and bring justice. Yet the biggest injustice our country faces today is the over 50 million babies who have been murdered thanks to a Supreme Court ruling.

It is important that as Catholics we vote for Senate candidates who commit to voting for judges who apply the law and not support judicial nominees who legislate from the bench. The most notorious example of legislating from the bench was the 1973 Roe Vs. Wade decision in the Supreme Court, which made abortion on demand the law of the land.

Find out: Do your Senate candidates support judges who apply the law and consider Roe vs Wade legislating from the bench and a bad decision? If they do, support them. If they don’t, vote them out. You can learn more about judicial issues here.

For more information you can also visit CatholicVote and Catholic Answers, both terrific organizations assisting Catholics seeking to learn more about issues important to Catholics and where candidates stand.

Also posted in catholic, Catholic Politicians, Embryonic Stem Cells, Healthcare, marriage, Pope Benedict XVI, prolife – 0 Comments

Happy Birthday, St Michael Society!

September 29, 2010

Today on the Feast Day of our patron Saint Michael the Archangel, we stop to celebrate the St Michael Society’s 1^st anniversary and say THANK YOU to the thousands of Catholics whose support is the reason this society has flourished.

One year ago today we launched this effort with the goal of creating an active, faith-driven community of Catholics who worked together to defend and promote our faith and morals in the public square.

Thanks to the overwhelming support from you – our members and readers – we have done just that.

Your dedication to reading the blog and engagement in posting on Facebook, Twitter and sharing our Catholic news and calls to action with your friends are only reason we’ve been able to build an incredible army for Christ and his Church across America and in six other countries!

Our blog has been read more than 460,000 times.

Facebook has become a huge tool for encouraging fellow Catholics to join our cause. We’ve seen more than 8,100 interactions transpire on our fan page and nearly 5,500 people have “liked” us in cities and towns across the U.S. We are also represented by our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Philippines, Canada, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Thank you, St. Michael Society members! We are excited to begin a new, fresh year and ask that you join us in our one, central goal:

Help us continue to build a Catholic community that is to mobilize quickly in defending our faith, both nationally as a Christ-centered influence and locally in our voting booths.

How can you help?

Keep spreading the word. Keep telling us what inspires and moves you on our Facebook page. Send us more ideas, prayer requests and most importantly keep praying for the Church and our country, that Christ and His Light be the driving force in each of us. May the intercession of St. Michael defend us in every battle against abortion, assisted suicide and government-run healthcare; defend us against attacks on the sacrament of marriage; defend us against human exploitation; and defend us against our own weaknesses that lead us to sin and stray from God’s grace.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. – Matthew 28:19

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