Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday Right Around the Corner

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

Why we receive the ashes

We receive ashes because they are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

To go along with these practices of penance during lent, we Catholics have also been taught that we should make an examination of conscience every day before we retire for the evening. And lent is a great time to get into the habit of examining our consciences for the next 40 days along with prayer and fasting so that we can put it into practice the rest of the year.

This year we need to focus our prayers to fight abortion and to offer up our sufferings to God in reparation for the sins of those who promote abortion, starting with the Catholic pro-choice politicians and pray that they will not be enacting the FOCA bill that will destroy a lot of freedoms along with the unborn.

So, to overcome our failings during lent, we must know them. We must do a daily check of our service to God so that we begin to know what we must watch, in order to root out of our lives imperfect or sinful habits. Below are some suggestions.

• Have I tried to live this day mindful of the presence of God?
• Have I tried in all things to do His will?
• Have I murmured or been impatient with the reverses or the difficulties I have met?
• Have I been guilty of any act or word contrary to truth, honesty or purity?
• Have I given way to pride, envy or hatred?
• Have I spoken of the faults of others?
• Have I hurt anyone's feelings by my words or actions?
• Have I encouraged those who were speaking of the faults of others?
• Have I been seriously trying today to lead a holy life - by avoiding sin, loving God, and being concerned for all with whom I come in contact?
• Do I live selfishly, as though the people with whom I come in contact did not matter to me?
• Am I concerned over the salvation of the souls of those around me?
• Am I willing to inconvenience myself to help others?
• Am I kind only to my friends, or do I help also my enemies?

Here is a nice Act of Contrition we can pray each day as well. It's a little different than the usual one we say at Confession.

ACT OF CONTRITION

Have mercy on me, according to Thy great mercy. Behold, I am deeply sorry for all my sins, because I have deserved to be punished by Thee, the all-knowing and just Judge, in this life and in the life to come, but much more because I have offended and grieved Thee, the most high and most loveable Good.

And according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out my iniquities. Cast me not away from thy face, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. I am firmly resolved never to offend Thee again. Help me with Thy grace. O Jesus, for Thee I live; O Jesus, for Thee I die; O Jesus, I am Thine in life and death. Amen!

First Five Saturdays Devotion to the Immaculate Heart

It's always made me wonder why the Five Saturday's devotion to the Immaculate Heart isn't being practiced publicly much anymore. This devotion goes back to the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Her message told all the faithful just what we and our Bishops and Pope need to do in order to bring peace to this world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia. I think my post will show us why things are not being brought to total fulfillment with the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.

First off, the practice of the Five First Saturdays is a wider devotion to Christ and His Mother. And it's such a simple devotion. All we need to do is attend Mass on the first Saturday (not Sunday Mass held on Saturday night), go to confession on that day or 8 days prior or after the first Saturday, pray five decades of the rosary, meditate for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the rosary and do this with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which I will explain in a bit.

I am reading a book entitled "The Wonders of Fatima" written by Father Joseph Cacella in 1947. I am going to post some exerpts from this book regarding the First Five Saturdays Devotion.

(From Page 94-98) Mary gave the following message to Lucia, and this message was given an Imprimatur: Santuario de Fatima 21st of Sept 1939 JOSE, Bishop of Leiria:

"Behold my Immaculate Heart encircled with the thorns which ungrateful men thrust therein at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me and tell them that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation, whoever, on the First Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes, while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

All Christians should try to observe the Five First Saturdays. This is easy if Communion is received habitually on the First Friday of each month. It is a means of obtaining the great graces lavished in the sacraments and sacramentals involved. It will increase faith, purity of morals and peace of conscience. It will please Our Lord Who desires it, and console the Immaculate Heart of Mary who inaugurated the devotion. Our Holy Father (then Pope Pius XII) encouraged it greatly (I might add that this book was dedicated to Pope Pius XII). Mary will faithfully keep her promise to obtain the grace of a holy death for those who practice it. She will effect the conversion of Russia if the devotion is practiced universally.

Is it possible this is why the complete conversion of Russia hasn't happened - because we are not practicing this devotion universally? In fact, again, how many parishes do this devotion in the world, because it has to be done in the whole world. In fact, have any of us ever heard a priest mention this devotion? The only priest I mentioned it to, was back in 1991 when I first came back to the Church, and he pretty much told me it is superstitious nonsense.  Well that kind of blows a person out of the water when a priest says something like that.

Back to the book (page 95)

The conditions of the Great Promise are simple. The devotion is based squarely on the Eucharist, confession and prayer. These conditions are:

1. Confession (sacrament)
2. Communion (sacrament)
3. 5 decades of the rosary (sacramental)
4. 15 minutes of meditation on the mystery of the Rosary (sacramental)
5. Intentions of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart (Her (Mary) own request)

Confession required can be made within the 8 days before or after the First Saturday. The First Friday confession will satisfy the obligation. Of course, this is another problem, how many of our parishes actually have a First Friday devotional Mass? It's about the same as those who do not have the First Saturday devotional Mass. Or maybe we just have to attend Mass on that day, or does the Mass have to be attributed to Mary? I don't know. As for confession, the difference between this confession and others is that it should be accompanied by a spirit of reparation to the Heart of Our Lady. The Bishop of Leiria declared that "should one forget to form the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it may be formed at the next confession, occasion to go to confession being taken at the first opportunity."

Now my question has always been - What is the reparation that Mary is talking about?

THE INTENTION OF MAKING REPARATION

The act of making reparation is merely making pious exercises to the Immaculate Heart. The pious exercises' motive is a sublime one, worthy of the angels. Some of the pious exercises include saying an extra rosary, or praying fifteen decades with meditation to satisfy both requirements of praying the rosary and meditating on the mysteries of our redemption. We can also make the Stations of the Cross with the Sorrowful Mother to console her and to meditate on the fourth sorrowful mystery which is the "Carrying of the Cross". We can attend a sermon on the Rosary, read thoughtfully from a book on the Rosary or meditate on the five sorrowful mysteries while attending morning Mass, provided there IS a morning Mass.The faithful who console the Heart of Our Lady please Jesus, for they participate to some extent in the Passion of Christ Who suffered the more on beholding His Mother's grief.

The practice of dedicating Saturday to Our Lady, is a very ancient and Catholic one. All Saturdays are favorite days for clients of Mary. Their spirit of filial piety and atonement finds its natural expression in attendance at Mass and mortification on that day. The Church, under the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit has richly indulgenced this type of devotion. That the Five Saturday Devotion of Fatima is not novel is obvious from the following decrees of the Holy Office (New Raccolta), page 249, no. 335)

Here are the promises we receive from Mary in regards to praying this devotion.

A. The faithful who on the first Saturday of each month perform some special exercises of devotion in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate in order to make atonement for the blasphemies whereby the name and prerogatives of the same Blessed Virgin are reviled, may gain: A plenary indulgence on the usual conditions. (S.C. Holy Office, June 13, 1912.
 
Note: I find it interesting that this was put out on the same day of the month as Mary appeared to the children 5 years later in 1917.).

B. Those who once in their lifetime perform such a devout exercise on the first Saturdays of eight successive months may gain, without prejudice to the above plenary indulgence: A plenary indulgence at the hour of death, if, after confession and Communion, or at least being truly contrite, they invoke with their lips, if possible, otherwise in their hearts, the most Holy Name of Jesus, and accept death with resignation from the Hand of God as the due punishment of their sins. (Benedict XV, Rescript in his own hand, November the 9th, 1920, exhib Nov. 17, 1920).

FATIMA AND CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART

"I ask the consecration of the world to my Immaculate Heart."

 Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady repeated several times to the children of Fatima her desire that the entire world be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart. Unassuming and humble as Our Lady is, hiding always in the shadow of her beloved Son, she made it clear that this consecration was the desire of God Himself. Mary strongly affirmed that the afflictions being visited upon the world were the punishment of sin and that God's wrath would be greatly placated by the act of consecration. Recording Mary's words in a letter of March 19, 1939, Sister Lucy wrote: "On the practice of this devotion together with the consecration to my Immaculate Heart depends either war or peace for the world.

Is that the answer then? The practice of this devotion is required of all Catholics together with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart if we are going to have war or peace? So why aren't a lot of Catholics doing this? Maybe people don't even know about it. Again, I don't know.

There have been numerous consecrations done, not always by a pope, but by Bishops, since this apparition. At least two popes have attempted to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary before it was finally done correctly by Pope John Paul II in 1984.

First, on the 13th of May, 1931, a grateful Portugal made a national pilgrimage to the site of Our Lady's apparitions. Hundreds of thousands of the faithful participated. The nation was solemnly consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the words of the consecration being transmitted to the people thorough loudspeakers. Our Lady was invoked as Queen of the Rosary, of Dolors, and of Carmel. The thirteen bishops present, clad in cope and mitre, elevated their hands and voices in unison to impart the Pontifical blessing.

May 13, 1938, the ceremony was repeated. Rumors of war were rife in Europe and the faithful of Portugal turned to their heavenly Protectress with greater fervor than ever. The bishops had consecrated their respective dioceses to the Immaculate Heart and vowed to make this solemn pilgrimage with their flocks. A record number of faithful were present. The terrible war raged in almost every corner of the globe, but Portugal continued to enjoy the blessing of peace and the special protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The first consecration of the world by a pope took place October 31, 1942 by Pope Pius XII just before major turning points in World War II, but he did it alone and not with all the Bishops in the world, as requested by Mary. The Pope consecrated to Mary not only the Church but the whole human race, as "Father of Christianity" as representative of Christ, who has all power in heaven and on earth. Pope Pius called for a prayer crusade to the Queen of Peace, because he felt that only she could help the world, which was then at the height of war in Europe and the Pacific. Pope Pius also dedicated the whole human race and especially Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But this apparently wasn't done correctly, according to Sister Lucia.

Pope Pius XII again attempted to consecrate the Russian people to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on July 7, 1952, but it still was not done properly.

And in 1964, Pope Paul VI renewed Pius XII's consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart, but again this pope did it alone. Sister Lucia continued to insist that it had to be collegial (with the Bishops).

After Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, he began requesting and studying more deeply the documents related to Fatima. His determination to consecrate Russia with the bishops of the world became stronger. He remarked that he had come to understand that the only way to save the world from war, to save it from atheism, was the conversion of Russia according to the message of Fatima. I always thought it was to be done for Russia so that they would not continue to spread their errors around the world.

Pope John Paul's first attempt happened on May 12-13, 1982, when the Pope visited Fatima to thank Mary for sparing his life. He did conduct a consecration of the world and Russia, but many bishops did not receive the request to join him in time and Sister Lucia said it did not fulfill all the requirements.

So in 1984, Pope John Paul II sent invitations to the world's bishops, including Orthodox, to join him on March 25, 1984 for the Collegial Consecration of the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He was joined by a moral totality of the world's bishops in the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart. Shortly thereafter, Sister Lucia told the Papal Nuncio of Lisbon the Collegial Consecration for the conversion of Russia had been accomplished and God will keep His word. The Nuncio answered: 'Now we await the miracle'.

So, finally, after nearly 70 years of waiting for this to happen, the world and Russia were finally and properly consecrated to our Blessed Mother as she requested in 1917. In 1989, the collapse of communism occurred in Russia, the wall came down in East Berlin, and it did seem as though the world was in peace. But then came 9/11 - Sept. 11, 2001 and the subsequent war the United States was fighting with Afghanistan and Iraq. So what has happened?

It is my opinion that it is now up to the people of the world, the Catholics of the world if no one else wants to join us, to now do as Our Lady requested - spread the devotion of the the first Saturdays and practice the devotion, and convince our priests and bishops that these things need to be done if we are ever to achieve peace in our world. We need to do this before things get out of hand, as it seems to be happening now. How long can our prayers appease God when there is so much sin in this world? All of mankind needs to turn from their sin. This has always been God's will and we need to do it. But first we need to convince our parishes to begin holding Mass on the first Saturdays of each month IF the Saturday evening Masses for Sunday do not count, and I'm not sure about it. If we do this, I believe the Triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart will finally happen. When that day comes, we are assured there will be peace in our world.

Click this link to find the text of the consecration to the Immaculate Heart.
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/heart/Im_consecr.htm

Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco
The Children of Fatima

Were You There by Tatiana

Why Are Catholics Focused On The Crucified Lord?

I was asked one day 'why do Catholics have such a fixation on the gruesome scene of a Cross'?

I've never thought about the Cross as gruesome. Rather, it's about the love of God, and in return, I love Jesus for what He did - dying for our sins.

The passion of our Lord is recreated every year, beginning on Holy Thursday. That evening, Jesus entered Jerusalem and ate the Paschal supper with His apostles. It is called the Last Supper because it was the last meal He ate before His death. After the supper, Jesus then washed the feet of the apostles to teach them humility. After the washing, Jesus instituted the Blessed Eucharist and said the first Mass and gave His Apostles their first Holy Communion.

Of course next came the kiss from Judas and Jesus was led away, to be scourged at the pillar. They then placed a crown of thorns on His head. He stayed silent, suffering for us. How can anyone not appreciate this fact and love the Lord because of it?

The redemption for our sins means that Jesus Christ, as Redeemer of the whole human race, offered His sufferings and death to God as a fitting sacrifice in satisfaction for the sins of men, and regained for them the right to be children of God and heirs to heaven. No other creature could do this.

Sin offends our infinite God. Many people today believe that they are saved, despite their sins. They believe that Christ's death on the cross is all that is needed for them to go to heaven.

But Scripture tells us a different story. That story is, that sin offends God and needs satisfaction. What Christ did was opened up the gates to heaven that had been closed after the fall of Adam and Eve. Christ did die for all men, without exception. But that does not mean that all men are saved because not all accept the graces which Christ merited for us by His death. Many also do not believe in Him. Of those who believe, many lead sinful lives.

Many of us who saw the movie, The Passion of Christ, were shocked at how bad Christ looked when He was beaten and nailed to the Cross. It brought tears to many people, to see how Christ suffered. And that portrayal was probably nothing compared to how it really was and people need to see this. It should bring us all to our knees in complete and humble thanksgiving for what Christ did for us that day.

Saint Blaise Feast Day

I completely forgot that Feb. 3 is the feast day for Saint Blaise along with Saint Ansgar. For those that don't know who Saint Blaise is, he is the patron saint for those suffering from Throat Ailments.

Each year on this day, our throats are blessed at Mass. Because Feb. 3 is also the anniversary of my mother's death, I attended Mass and was pleasantly reminded of the feast and the blessing. Both of our priests were at this daily mass and it gave me goosebumps to see them bless each other.

From This Website - Information on St. Blaise

Domestic-Church.Com: Saint Profile: Saint Blaise

Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, devoted the early years of his life to the study of philosophy and became a physician. Then, receiving a call from God, he was ordained to the priesthood and made Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia.

At about this time, a new persecution of Christians began under the reign of Licinius. Saint Blaise was told in a message from God to go into the hills to escape this persecution, so that he might minister to the flock. Saint Blaise went into the mountains and took refuge in a cave.

The governor of the region, called Agricolaus, sent men into the hills to hunt Saint Blaise. When these hunters came across the cave, they found it surrounded by wild animals, all suffering from illnesses. Saint Blaise moved about them, healing the animals, and unharmed by them.

The hunters seized Saint Blaise and took him back to the governor. Along the way, Saint Blaise continued to perform miracles. He cured a woman's son, who was choking to death on a fish bone. He persuaded a wild wolf to release a poor woman's pig. In gratitude, this woman followed Saint Blaise and brought him candles and food while he was imprisoned.

Finally, Saint Blaise was ordered executed by the governor, and was beheaded along with seven Christian women. The Roman Catholic date of his feast day is February 3rd, while in the Eastern rite, his feast is celebrated on February 11th. Because of the miracles he performed, devotions to Saint Blaise for healing of throat ailments grew through the centuries and are still performed today.

POPE QUOTE!

Almighty God enriched the Blessed Virgin with the gifts of his grace more abundantly than He enriched any other creature. He chose her from all mankind and at the word of an angel elevated her to the ineffable dignity of dignity of the Mother of God.
- Benedict XIV, Gloriosae Dominae, September 27, 1748

Lent Draws Near

It seems like we fly through the Church seasons. We barely finish with Advent, and then it's the Christmas season for a few weeks. A little over a month later, Ash Wednesday is upon us and then it's 7 weeks of Lent, then the Easter Triudum, then eight weeks for the Easter season until Pentecost. I always look forward to these seasons because sometimes I think ordinary time gets to be a tad boring. It's fun to see the Church decorated for each event and it always seems to bring new life into our Churches.

I know you've seen these before, but here is a refresher on the guildelines for fast and abstinence during Lent. Ash Wednesday falls on February 22 this year, with Easter falling on April 9.

ABSTINENCE: Abstinence is a penitential practice consisting of refraining from the consumption of meat and is to be observed by all Catholics who are 14 years of age and older. Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and the Fridays during Lent are days of abstinence. Pastors and parents are encouraged to see that children who are not bound by the obligation to fast and abstain are led to appreciate an authentic sense of penance.

FAST & ABSTINENCE: In addition to abstinence, fasting is to be observed by all Catholics between the ages of 18-59 years (inclusive). On days of fasting, one full meal is allowed. Two smaller meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to one's needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids are allowed. Note: If a person is unable to observe the above regulations due to ill health or other serious reasons, they are urged to practice other forms of self-denial that are suitable to their condition.

The Bible Teaches The Catholic Faith

We can see from the writings of the early Church fathers, particularly those who walked with Jesus, that the Church came before the New Testament, and consequently, the Bible as we know it today. The Word of God preached during Jesus’ day came from inspired writings and traditions that were handed down to the Apostles from the Old Testament and from Jesus Himself.

Since the beginning of time, God has revealed things to man through various means which he wants all of us to believe. And man is bound to believe everything God has revealed under the pain of eternal damnation. Thus, we must believe all that Christ has taught. Christ said: ‘He that believeth not shall be condemned’.

The Catholic Church, for over 2000 years, has taught from both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. All of these things, came from God, and were handed down to man by the Apostles and consequently, by the laying of hands, passed on down through the centuries to the popes, bishops and priests by authority of Christ. So that man wouldn’t be condemned by not knowing the Word of God, Christ gave us the means to know what He has taught and that all things must be within reach of all people - the Catholic Church. Logically and historically, this tells us that the Catholic Church, then, preceeded scripture.

A non-Catholic Christian may say that the Bible holds all things that we need to know, but the Bible alone tells us that the Bible does not hold all that was revealed. John 21:25 says 'But there are also many other things which Jesus did which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written.’

Second, God wants all men to know what He has taught and these teachings are meant for the learned and unlearned alike. The unlearned also need the means to learn the truths God taught so that they may believe them and be saved. The means God gave us had to be infallible so it would lead no one astray. Again, the non-Catholic Christian will say the Bible is the only infallible way to learn, but we say what about those who can’t read or don’t access to a Bible? Are they going to be condemned for that? No. So God gave us an infallible Church to teach all men the written Word of God (sacred scripture) and the oral Word of God (sacred tradition).

In fact, Jesus instructed that all men hear the Word of God, not read the Word of God. Mt 17:5 says: ‘And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him’.

Or this: Luke 8:21: ‘Who answering, said to them: My mother and my brethren are they who hear the word of God, and do it’. In other words, if God had intended that man should learn his religion from a book, in this case, the Bible, Jesus would have handed them out. But He didn’t do this. He also didn’t say ‘sit down and write Bibles and scatter them over the earth and let every man read his Bible and judge for himself.” In fact personal interpretation is forbidden in the Bible. 2 Peter 1:20: ‘Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation’.

However the 16th century reformers decided that was exactly what man was to do, interpret scripture for themselves, which has since become kind of a man-made tradition for non-Catholic Christians. For the past 500 years, over 30,000 denominations have arisen thanks to people interpreting scripture for themselves. This has left us with many errors from the one Book they all claim to follow.

We see one church teaching infant baptism, another doesn’t. One teaches ‘once saved always saved’, another one doesn’t. One teaches Saturday Sabbath, others teach Sunday and on it goes.

In fact since the 16th century religion upon religion, church upon church, have sprung up, all fighting and quarrelling with one another and all because of private interpretation. So, how do we know who to go to when individuals have taken the bible, studied it for himself and have come up with so many interpretations that we have lost count?

The Church.
Matthew 18:17: 'And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican’. And who is the Church? Scripture alone tells us the house of God is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.' People are not the pillar and ground of the truth, but the house of God is. And it's not 30,000 different houses, but one house - one faith, one baptism, one body. 1 Tim 3:15: 'But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.’

The only Church that fits this criteria is the Catholic Church, which was given to man by Jesus while He walked the earth. Mt 16:18: ‘And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’

It was not until the 4th Century, that the Pope of Rome, the Head of the Church on earth, the successor of St. Peter, assembled together the Bishops of the world in a council to decide which writings would be put into a book that we now call our Bible.

In addition, before the printing press was invented, Bibles were rare things and very costly. To get a copy of the Bible everything had to be done with the pen upon parchment or sheepskin. It was a tedious and slow operation. So again, would Jesus have left the world without that book if it was necessary to man's salvation? We know that He did not do this. Jesus left us a Church, the Catholic Church, the House of God, the pillar and ground of truth.

Ave Maria by Seraphim

By Seraphim - found on You-Tube

Election 2008 Draws Near!

It seems hard to believe but Election 2008 is finally almost over. And who can say that it hasn't been an exciting time in the history of this country?

For the first time ever, we have an African/American running for president and a woman running for vice-president. One of the political parties will most definitely be making history.

But as Catholics, we all need to sit down and think a little bit on how we are going to vote this year. And as South Dakota Catholics, we have a little more at stake than just the presidential race.

Once again South Dakota has a measure on the ballot to try and limit the number of abortions that are performed here in this state. Statistics show that around 800 unborn children lose their lives every year at the hands of the abortion Dr. Mengeles of our time.

Dr. Joseph Mengele was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. He gained notoriety for being one of the SS physicians who supervised the selection of arriving transports of prisoners, determining who was to be killed and who was to become a forced laborer, and for performing human experiments on camp inmates. He was also known as the Angel of Death. Some of the horrors documented included numerous acts of cruelty - the dissection of live infants; the castration of boys and men without the use of an anesthetic; and the administering of high-voltage electric shocks to women inmates under the auspices of testing their endurance. He attempted to change eye color by injecting chemicals into children's eyes, various amputations of limbs and other brutal surgeries. And sad as it is, some of this is nothing different than what the abortion doctors do at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls. (Wikipedia.org).

What baffles me is why our country allows cruelty to be performed on unborn infants, while their mothers sit back and do nothing to stop it. And how any doctor could suck the brains out of a living human being, is hard to understand.

Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls, where all of the state's abortions are performed, told us in 2006 that if South Dakota included three exceptions to the law, they would be all for ending abortion. But, how soon they forget. Planned Parenthood is not for the end of abortion because to do so will mean thousands of dollars of lost revenue by which they run their clinic. Their clinic is not interested in providing free health care to women. Their clinic is only interested in providing abortions and raking in those big bucks to pay the Dr. Mengeles of today's world.

Bishop Paul Swain has told the people of our diocese that it is ok to vote for this law because it is the first step in the process of ending all abortions. I guess I can live with that. After all, there aren't all that many women who get pregnant after a rape and really, having an abortion after being raped is only going to cause more trauma on the woman and forever end the life of another living being inside her womb. And there aren't that many people who get pregnant from incest, thank God. As for the health of the mother. How many women do we know who have lost their life giving birth or from being pregnant? Every hospital in this country has the capabilities to save not only the mother, but the baby as well. And whatever happened to death by natural causes? Why have we let the doctors become gods over us choosing who will live and who will die, when the main purpose of their job is to save lives?

In the beginning, abortion proponents began the campaign to take away the humanity of the unborn child. And through deceitful practices, they have convinced women that an abortion is getting rid of a glob of cells rather than butchering a living, human being, who did nothing but become created by God. And when I say butcher, that is exactly what is done, everything from suctioning the brain out, collapsing the baby's skull, to tearing off limbs, to injecting burning solutions - all intended to kill this child. What did this child ever do to us? And tell me how this is different by what Dr. Mengele did in Nazi Germany? It's not different at all.

With prayer abortion can be defeated. But it is going to take Catholics around the world praying for the end of this atrocity and it can be done. But first all Catholics need to come to the understanding about what abortion really does - and that is, it destroys the life of a living human being and make the mother, the mother of an eternal dead child.

If people want to continue on saying this is all about choice - fine. But there are other choices. There is abstinence, number one. There is adoption. There are many other choices that don't include murder.

God's commandment of Thou Shalt Not Kill should be the first clue that something is wrong with abortion.