Friday, May 15, 2009

Annual March for Life, Thursday March 14, 2009

My sister Pat and I met our friend Jennifer at Saint Patrick Basilica for the Mass at 10:00.

The celebrant was Bishop Plouffe of Sault Saint Marie. He gave a terrific homily. He said being pro life is not just a cause, it is a calling. We are men and women who are called to be artisans of a culture of life. We know in our hearts that human life is to be respected because it is sacred, because we are made in God's likeness. It is not mere religious opinion. Upholding the right to life is speaking up for a basic fundamental human right. We are called to give our lives so others may live, not counting the cost and not afraid to acknowledge the truth. Our vocation is love and it is by our love that we will win the hearts of others and the world will come to know the truth.

There were many other priests concelebrating mass including pastor Monsignor Martineau and assistant pastor Lindsay Harrison. Among the visiting priests was Father Anthony Hannon, the spiritual director of the legion of Mary in Ontario.

After mass, the three of us had lunch at 240 Sparks Street before proceeding to Parliament Hill. The rain had started and continued til about 3:00PM We listened to the uplifting speeches of the MPs before heading over to the eternal flame at 1:00 Pm to meet with the Priests for Life. We met a few French speaking people from St. Hyacinthe. My French is not very good but I did manage to carry on a sort of conversation with them as well as take a few pictures of them sitting in front of the flame before the battery died on my camera.

Then I ran into Deacon Lee Winchester and around the same time I saw Father Tom Lynch who is the director of Priests for Life and Fathers Larry McCormick and Paul Burchat also of Priests for Life. We joined with the priests for the March. The rain grew heavier and the wind was very strong at times but it did not deter the more than ten thousand peaceful and joyful participants in this annual event. And there were so many youth! I think this is what give me so much hope each year. Every year there are more and more of our young people.

Along the way we met many of our Bishops and it was just so wonderful to see so many of them this year. After silently and prayerfully passing the abortion clinic at 65 Bank Street we returned to Parliament Hill to hear the poignant speeches of the many women and men of Silent no More. It was three o'clock the hour of mercy and the rain had stopped.

After that the three of us met Barb our other sister who works in the West Block and we all headed out for dinner at Darcy Mcgee's a good old irish Pub on Elgin Street. It was a great day and we had lot's to talk about

To see some of the photos and links to news stories please visit my website March for Life 2009

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Violation of Freedom of Speech and Media Bias

For those of you who know me I think you know that one of my biggest pet peeves is the bias of our main stream media outlets. Well , because the Annual March for Life is coming up in a couple of days I thought it would be a good time to resurrect an article I wrote three years ago which I sent to approximately a dozen mainstream Canadian newspapers including The Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun. All of them ignored the article.

To the Editor

A few weeks ago I had a short discussion with a dinner guest re. Carleton University’s decision to ban pro-life groups on campus. The person believed that this was probably not a bad idea "because we are dealing with some very violent people here." I continued the conversation in an attempt to explain that to be Pro Life is to have the firm belief that all human life from the moment of conception until natural death is sacred and must be protected. Violent acts are contrary to what it is to be pro-life. Later on that evening I pondered this discussion.. False and biased news reports, will obviously result in conclusions that are inaccurate. Misuse of language can certainly taint one’s thinking. If one believes that human life is sacred and must be protected, we are often referred to as being "anti-choice," which in itself has a negative connotation. Sometimes we are called rabid anti-choicers, anti woman, fascists, bigots, etc.

I have never seen a pro-life person who wasn’t peaceful and joyful too for that matter.. We advocate for the most vulnerable human beings; those that society regards as disposable. It is the hope that we are saving lives that sustains our efforts and gives us peace and joy.

Incidentally, I do believe in choice. I call it free will. But some choices are immoral, like a man’s choice to rape a woman, or a parent’s choice to sexually abuse a child, or a thief’s choice to rob a bank. So, I’m "anti-choice" on rape, sexual abuse and bank robbery. How come no one complains about that?

I have attended The National March for Life on Parliament Hill each Spring for many years and the participants are always peaceful. Last year we were blessed to have many members of Silent No More: women who deeply regretted their decision to have an abortion. Each one of them said that if they had known the truth, they would never have had the abortion. http://www.canadasilentnomore.com/

After the speeches on the Hill, the crowd of 5,000 walked peacefully past Henry Morgantaler’s abortion clinic on Bank Street

The Life Chain is an Annual Pro-Life Event and it is always peaceful. One hour on a Sunday afternoon, we silently stand at different major intersections throughout Canada, holding signs such as Abortion hurts women, Abortion kills babies, Choose Adoption, Choose Life etc.

Dr. Angela Lanfranchi gave an excellent presentation on the abortion -breast cancer link, here in Ottawa last year. Dr. Lanfranchi is one of the co-founders of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute and a member of Physicians for Life. Her presentation was ignored by our local media. Don’t women have a right to know the facts?
http://www.physiciansforlife.ca/html/life/abortion/

Bobby Schindler’s compelling and eloquent talk at Saint Paul's University here in Ottawa last spring, on the last days and the agonizing death of his sister Teri Schiavo’s had no local coverage either.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/9/22/165543.shtml
http://www.blogsforterri.com/archives/2006/03/bobby_schindler_6.php

And what about the high statistics of depression, suicide, drug use and even murder associated with women who have had abortions? You won’t read about that in your local newspaper.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011007.html

The site of The 2005 National Pro-Life Conference in Montreal had to be changed at the last minute because of threats to Saint Joseph’s Oratory. Demonstrators against the Conference handed out condoms to passers-by labeled the body of Christ. They held a sign that said If only Mary ( the mother of Jesus ) had known about abortion. Protesters also pummeled one officer to the ground. For more information on this event
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05111704.html
For some more examples of pro-abortion violence
http://abortionviolence.com/0.HTM#SECT1
http://abortionviolence.com/QB.HTM
http://www.rightgrrl.com/99grrls/May/Sass/violence.html
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011007.html

We are one of the few countries without an abortion law and we have no protection for unborn victims of violence either. When Edmonton Woman Olivia Talbot, who was six months pregnant, was shot in the abdomen last year, two lives were lost, but many other lives were shattered. The man responsible was only charged with the murder of Olivia and not her son baby Lane. MP Leon Benoit’s Private Member’s Bill which would protect unborn victim’s of violence was deemed unconstitutional by then Justice Minister Vic Toeus . You would think there would be a public outcry but there wasn’t.
It seems that every time someone questions the high number of abortions or publicly states that they believe that life is sacred, there is an uproar by feminist "pro choice" groups who will cry foul, that someone even dares to have an opinion other than theirs. What are they afraid of anyways? It is a sad reflection on our supposedly tolerant society to see the discouragement of open honest and intellectual discussion in the very place that it is needed the most ( Universities) When the Truth is suppressed it follows that justice will be too.



footnote: eventually Catholic Insight did publish a portion of this article as a letter to the editor

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Happy Birthday Debbie

Believe it or not it seems like only yesterday that I gave birth to you, my one and only little baby girl. You were just so cute. I won't give your age away Deb but even though you have come a long way you are just as cute today as you were then. Oh incidentally you share a birthday with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Just a little bit of birthday trivia. Hope you have a great day and you blow out all the candles.
xoxo

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Happy Birthday Kyle

Our oldest grandson turns 16 today. Wow! I can hardly believe it. It seems like only yesterday that you were in diapers Kyle. Well you have come a long way and grandpa and I love you so much and are so proud of you . I ask God to bless you today and may he guide you in all your endeavors.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Feast of Mercy / Second Sunday of Easter

I am always in awe of God's goodness and today is a reminder of just how good He always is to me. In spite of the fact that I am a sinner and that for my sins he died the most horrible death possible, still he loves me and shows me His mercy time and time again. No matter how many times I fall down he reaches out to me with his merciful love. I need only to repent of my sins and show His mercy to others. This message of God's mercy was made known to a saintly Polish nun around 1930.

THE MESSAGE OF DIVINE MERCY
from Saint sister Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938)
The Lord Jesus entrusted a great mission to a Polish nun, sister Maria Faustina Kowalska, from the Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy, Saint Faustina, who had complete trust in God - to proclaim His message of mercy to the whole world. Her mission was to introduce new prayers and forms of devotion to the Divine Mercy, which are to remind us of the forgotten truth of our faith - of God’s merciful love for every person. In the message, Merciful God reveals Jesus Christ the Savior, as the Father of love and Divine Mercy, especially to the most unfortunate, faulted and sinful.

Pope John Paul II chose the occasion of St. Faustina's canonization on April 30, 2000, to declare the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday for the universal Church. The Great Mercy Pope died on April 2, 2005, at 9:37 p.m., which was the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday that year, as thousands of the faithful prayed the Rosary in Saint Peter’s Square — thus ending a reign of more than a quarter century. The Holy Father‘s last gift to the Church was the Regina Caeli Message he had written in advance for Divine Mercy Sunday, April 3 (the Second Sunday of Easter). It seems prophetic to me that our saintly former Pontiff was called home on the eve of the Feast of Mercy. Below is the Vatican link to the homily of Pope Benedict on Mercy Sunday last year
HOLY MASS ON THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY
OF THE DEATH OF THE SERVANT OF GOD JOHN PAUL II
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St Peter's SquareWednesday, 2 April 2008
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20080402_anniv-morte-gpii_en.html

For more information on Sister Faustina and the Divine Mercy message please go to this link on my website
http://sites.google.com/site/faithfulcatholics/Home/divine-mercy