Catholic Fire

"As I speak a word of encouragement today I also want to tell you soberly, dear friends, 'We are at war!'" "The 'battle between believers,' who claim a certain 'common ground' with us, while at the same time, they attack the most fundamental tenets of the Church's teachings, or disavow the natural law - this opposition is one of the most discouraging, confusing, and dangerous." "Occasionally we still hear an elected official speak of his or her personal opposition to abortion, while they support the legal right to an abortion." "We should be very clear: Such a person places him or herself completely OUTSIDE the moral framework, the moral imperative of Evangelium Vitae and other Church teaching on these issues. ... They have abandoned their place in the citizenship of the Church. Quite simply they have become warriors for death rather than life." ~Bishop Robert Finn of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph speaking at...

An article by the ND Observer shares the following: "Jenkins made clear the University is not honoring the president for his stances on these issues, but for his leadership." Please respond to this statement in the poll on the left hand side of this blog. Any additional comments in the com box below are welcomed and encouraged. To learn more about this controversial issue, read the following: Notre Dame President Fr. Jenkins Responds to Criticism TAKE ACTION NOW! OBAMA TO GIVE COMMENCEMENT AT NOTRE DAME! Notre Dame: There's more.. American Papist: Weigel, Schall, Garnett, others weigh-in on Obama invitation Update: 20,000 sign ND petition, ND switchboards overwhelmed Some Have Hats: Notre Dame, RIP What Does the Prayer Really Say? McInerny on Notre Dame’s “vulgar lust” Creative Minority Report: Moderation in Temper, But Not Prinicple SFO MOM: My Alma Mater Gets It Wrong

No one should judge that he has greater perfection because he performs great penances and gives himself in excess .... Merit consists in the virtue of love alone, flavored with the light of true discretion, without which the soul is worth nothing. ~ St. Catherine of Sienna

HLI President predicts financial martyrdom for believers Father Thomas J. Euteneur, president of Human Life International, said Christian martyrdom will take on different forms in the future. Writing in a letter titled "Green Martyrdom," he suggested that Christian witness will not be a "red martyrdom" of blood but rather a "green martyrdom" of monetary sacrifice required by principled living. He explained the subtle economic forces that can compromise the faithful: "even though many Catholics would undoubtedly give up their lives for Christ, people find it much harder to give up their jobs for Christ." HLI's president warned of pressures on health professionals to commit intrinsically evil acts in the course of their work, the difficulties of avoiding immoral practices institutionalized in some businesses, and the unjust stigma placed upon parents who criticize sex education in schools or have more children than average. Father Euteneur sa...

July 16th is is the patronal feast of the Carmelites. The Order of Carmelites takes its name from Mount Carmel in Israel, which was the first place dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and where a chapel was erected in her honor before her Assumption into heaven. July 16th is also the feast of the "Scapular of Mount Carmel" On that day in 1251, pious tradition says, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Simon Stock, General of the Carmelites at Cambridge, England, showed him the scapular and promised supernatural favors and her special protection to his Order and to all persons who would wear her scapular. To obtain the indulgences and other benefits promised to those who wear the Carmelite scapular, a person must be invested by a priest and must lead a consistent Christian life. Practices:Wear the Brown scapular after enrollment.Observe chastity according to your state in life.Recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary , or recite the Rosary daily (usual requirements). ...

To view a great video on the benefits of chastity and virginity , go here.

In a few months I will publish a book on exorcism and deliverance by which I hope to educate the Church Militant on the reality of spiritual evil and the truth of the Church’s power against it. On this weekend where our Church celebrates Pentecost, the great Feast of the Holy Spirit, I offer an excerpt from this upcoming book to highlight the influence of the Holy Spirit in defending our cause against the accusing spirit of the devil. If we are to fight for the salvation of souls, we must know our enemy and experience God’s love as the protective shield against all his evil. The following excerpt is taken from the chapter entitled, “The Devil, His Minions, and His Activities.” [More] Perhaps we should all chip in and purchase a copy for each of those 18 "Catholic" democrats who recently objected to the comments of Pope Benedict XVI about the fact that legislators favoring the legality of abortion should not receive Communion. These individuals claim to be Catholic, but don...

Fidelis Condemns Giuliani Embrace of Abortion Rights CHELSEA, MI – Fidelis President Joseph Cella today condemned the unapologetic embrace of “abortion rights” by Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. Cella stated: “This is the third position Rudy Giuliani has had on abortion in two weeks, and his credibility with faithful Catholics and other pro-life voters is beginning to evaporate.” Following a series of contradictory positions on the abortion issue and according to this morning’s edition of The New York Times, Giuliani has decided to strongly assert his support for abortion, shifting his target of support from states with strong pro-life constituencies among the primary electorate – such as Iowa and South Carolina – to more liberal-leaning states such as New York, California and New Jersey. “Rudy Giuliani supports abortion on demand in all nine months of pregnancy, he has supported partial birth abortion, he supports forcing taxpayers to pay for abortions, and he has fin...

This week's Catholic Carnival is up at 50 Days After. Thanks, Chris , for your hard work! Leticia at Cause of Our Joy has a heart-rendering post about how sad it is when a town has no children . Steven at Book Reviews and More writes an interesting and informative review on Peter Kreeft's new book on The Best Things In Life: A Contemporary Socrates Looks at Power, Pleasure, Truth & the Good Life. Be sure to check out Easter in Iraq at Monastic Musings. Don't miss Jay's great book review on a fascinating new book entitled Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters. These are just a few of my favorites - there is a treasure chest of gems there. So go check them out here. Be sure to read my post Stem Cell Research - Part II - The Benefits of Adult Stem Cell Therapy. ( Yes, shameless self-promotion.)

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on those who are unhappy with Catholics on the Supreme Court: “On Wednesday, when the U.S. Supreme Court said no to partial-birth abortion, I wrote, ‘We are waiting for the anti-Catholic bigots to go bonkers over the fact that all five of the justices who voted against infanticide are Roman Catholic.’ I didn’t have to wait long before Rosie O’Donnell made yet another splash bitching about all the Catholics on the high court. Now she has been joined by American Atheist bloggers, Tony Auth and Julianne Malveaux. “American Atheist bloggers are saying that outlawing some instances of infanticide is ‘very bad news for all women in the United States, all gays and lesbians in the United States, and of course, anyone else not Catholic, especially Freethinkers, Agnostics, and Atheists.’ Blogger Dave assumes that everyone who is not Catholic is upset with the Supreme Court’s decision. Has he not heard of Nancy Pelosi? And don’t gays want gay...

"Many people are concerned with children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is the greatest destroyer of peace today- abortion which brings people to such blindness." ~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta