media blackouts to make the Chinese envious…

May 24, 2012 By The Crescat 13 Comments

Outrage Over 72 Hours Of Network Silence On Catholic Lawsuit Spreads To Other Christian Leaders…

Fury over the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts’ continued refusal to report the lawsuits Catholic entities have filed against the Obama administration has spread beyond the Media Research Center watchdog group and Catholic leaders to nine additional Christian leaders equally concerned about this decision to deliberately not report national news. Below are statements released by FRC’s Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer of American Values and seven more leaders.

For the third night in a row the broadcast networks have refused to cover this correctly. This momentum is fueled by CBS Evening News’ outrageous decision not only to spike the Catholic lawsuits but instead to lead the news with yet another story about the Catholic sex abuse scandal. The broadcast devoted two minutes and 31 seconds to the accused abusers and allegations that occurred decades ago. That’s roughly eight times more coverage than CBS Evening News gave the historic lawsuit on Monday.

On Twitter:
@nbc
@nbcnightlynews
@CBSNews
@CBSTweet
@nbc
@nbcnightlynews

On Facebook:
CBS Nightly News
MSNBC
ABC News Network

Feel free to direct your righteous indignation at any one of the above sources. Let them know you like your news reporting censorship free.

Filed Under: Liberal Lunacy Tagged With: , , , , 13 Comments

Belmont Abbey’s oldest monk, Benedictine Fr. Matthew McSorley passes away…

May 24, 2012 By The Crescat 3 Comments

… A public memorial will be celebrated in the basilica on Saturday, June 2, starting at 2:30 p.m for those wishing to come and pay their respects. Fr. McSorley passed away today on the feast of Mary Help of Christians, the Abbey’s patroness. Read more here.

Requiscat in pace.

Filed Under: Diocese of Charlotte 3 Comments

Wow, kindness abounds…

May 24, 2012 By The Crescat 12 Comments

… So I’ve been sort of laying low for a bit because I didn’t know how my post below would be received. Writing it was, ironically, a bit like giving birth. The labor was long – 6 whole months! – and so much emotional energy and physical exertion was poured into writing it that I needed some recovery time afterwards. So I hit publish, turn off my laptop, and took a nap.

Oh, and I also went to the ER yesterday morning. I was bitten by a spider three days ago while working in my garden and it got infected. I had a nasty case of erysipelas, aka Holy Fire. More ironies. But I’m OK now. I got a steroid shot so I won’t be playing pro sports any time soon. I was home resting all day yesterday after that and am now just reading through some 275+ comments, Facebook messages, and private emails. Wow. And I mean wow.

I originally wrote that post in January just hours before the DC March For Life. I woke up with a start and raced to find internet access, madly typing it all down before it was gone. It proved to be too personal for publication in a certain news outlet where it was set to be published. I felt rejected having poured my heart only to be told it wasn’t feel good enough – no happy ending and neat resolution. What can I say, there is no happy ending to abortion. However, to say I was also relieved was an understatement. At that point I still hadn’t told my family. It would have been wrong for them to find out that way. God was looking out for me and saved me from my own impetuousness.

But that post really started the night after my Rachel’s Vineyard retreat two years ago. It’s been there saved as a Word document on my PC that long; revised and edited more times than I can count. Lots of you left comments about Rachel’s Vineyard and I wanted you to know that organization and retreat saved my sanity and possibly my life after a particularly nasty event involving the Face the Truth people but that’s another very long post. Let’s just say it is the reason behind this, this, and this post.

Not having the post originally published in January was a good thing. It gave me time to pray about it some more and seek the counsel of some very wise people, one being my priest. I had to be sure I was going public with my past for all the right reasons. I didn’t want to make the public announcement out of fear of exposure because for years now the only other person who knew about my past isn’t very fond of me anymore and at any minute could have exposed me as a fraud. So yeah, there was that. And yes, I felt like a fraud.

More importantly; however, I had to consider what the impact would be on family and evaluate if I was prepared to tell my son when he is older. Then there was the embarrassing vain fears. Fear that I would not be liked or cause a scandal. Fear that some nice Catholic man [crush included] would read this and know for certain I was not a nice Catholic girl. Which I’m not. But I try. Which is why I only date practicing Catholics. Though I’m not dating anymore. Because… you know, I desire Heaven more than I desire a spouse.

Let’s just say I truly felt I had a lot to lose by coming clean. I suppose that is why I wrote my post with an underlying defensive tone. I was fully prepared to be called a hypocrite. I even felt being called that was justifiable.

But than the comments, and emails, and private messages poured in and it proved that the vast majority of you are kind, compassionate, and supportive beyond words. You guys certainly make it increasingly difficult to maintain my cynical world views and steely, stoic facade.

You all have proven, in your comments, that the pro-life advocates are a very caring and forgiving community of people. The few negative comments I did receive were from a self professed feminazi and some random pro-abortion advocates, and they were so far in the minority they had no impact. Naturally all the usual suspects were present in their comments; sex abuse scandals and Hitler, blah blah blah.

To borrow Leah’s Kitler…

This kitten will be the only thing compared to Hitler in your comments from this moment on.

Again, I want to sincerely thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. So many of you contacted me in private with your own stories and I will be personally responding to each. It will take awhile. Forgive me.

A lot of you applauded my courage for coming forward and many expressed the desire to do the same. Please know, I don’t want to guilt anyone or make them feel they need to come forward before they are ready. As I said, this was several years in the making. It involved more prayer and tears I thought I was capable of. There was “the talk” with family and a few close friends and private communications with a priest. There was therapy and a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat. There were a hundred things to consider and even more things to do in preparation. So, if you feel compelled to share your own stories but aren’t quite ready I understand. Take the time you need to heal a bit first and search your heart for the right words and spiritual guidance.

And for those still silently suffering… please look into Rachel’s Vineyard. If money is a problem they will even waive the cost. They truly desire everyone who needs healing to receive it.

Some other great resources are:

Abort73.com
Priests For Life
Silent No More
Project Rachel – Hope After Abortion

Lastly, some of the most heartbreaking replies I received were from post-abortive men. Men are so ignored in the life debates with the emphasis being on the woman and her choice. Sadly, the only time men are discussed in the debate is to highlight coercion and forced abortions. But abortion hurts men too and they are victims in need of sympathy and healing as well. A lot of men I’ve met and spoken too all felt helpless to stop the abortion from happening [Follow the link for an emotional and eye opening testimonial to this fact] and live with half a manhood, incapable of making important decisions and doubting their judgement for years to come.

Again and again, I want to thank you all for your kindness and understanding. I appreciate and welcome the prayers. All I would ask of you at this point is your continued prayers, not for me, but all post-abortive men and women still silently suffering.

Thank you.

Filed Under: Sanctity of Life Tagged With: , , 12 Comments

Fifteen years later and silent no more…

May 22, 2012 By The Crescat 323 Comments

… The bumper sticker read, “Having an abortion does not make you un-pregnant, it makes you the mother of a dead baby”. The word “mother” struck me because “mother” is such a powerful word. It conjures many meanings, and when a woman becomes one she is fundamentally changed. “Mother” as a verb means to nurture, care for and protect. “Mother” as a noun means a female person who is pregnant with or gives birth to a child; or a female person whose egg unites with sperm, resulting in the conception of a child.

By this definition if you’ve ever been pregnant you are a Mother. Even if you’ve had an abortion you are still a Mother… a grieving Mother.

“A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.” Matthew 2:18

There is no consolation to be had for the mother that loses a child. She will grieve in her heart for the rest of her life. Abortion; however, not only robs a child of it’s life and a mother of it’s child, it also robs the mother of her grieving. She is not allowed to grieve because she cannot publicly claim the title Mother.

Abortion advocates will never admit a post-abortive woman is a Mother because to admit that would acknowledge the existence that there was once a child. Not a clump of cells, but a very real living child. When girls begin menstruating they are not called mothers to a clump of cells, yet so many people really believe an abortion is just like having a heavy period or passing a large menstrual clot. This was how it was described to me when I found myself in their clinic fifteen years ago. Two years later when I returned to have a second abortion the lie had not changed.

For fifteen long years I’ve lived with the pain, shame and guilt associated with my past. In that time I’ve experienced denial, anger, and depression. It wasn’t till my conversion to Catholicism that I finally sought the reconciliation my soul needed. Once I received the grace of forgiveness I was charged with the next most important task of my life… to tell as many women as I can how horrible, evil and despicable abortion is.

However, it has taken me another six years to find my courage. In order to honestly talk about the truth I needed to admit to my past and in this one area my words failed me. Today I write this past so that I may finally own up to what it is I have done and make the necessary reparations for my crimes so that others will know just how fundamentally soul-destroying abortion is.

I am choosing this day to find my voice.

Here is the truth I spent so many years denying and keeping from the public – I killed two of my children, robbed my parents of grand-children, and murdered my son’s siblings. These abortions directly caused a medical condition known as incompetent cervix which resulted in the premature birth of another son who died after a week long struggle in the NICU in 2001. The suffering I’ve endured and caused others is immeasurable and the guilt almost drove me suicidal. I am a coward in every way.

I was a coward in my youth, unable to take responsibility for my sexual actions and I am a coward today because I’ve failed to honestly speak out against abortion for so many years. I failed to shout from the highest building all the ugly truths for every ear to hear. I tried to help a friend once who was considering abortion but there only so much I could say without giving away my own horrible, awful secret. In the end, withholding that information was not enough to convict her otherwise and she had an abortion. I failed her with my silence.

I refuse to be a coward anymore. In these times, no one can afford to be a coward. The price of our silence is paid in the blood of millions of innocent aborted babies. This is a deplorable evil and it must end now.

Women, post-abortive American women, will be the ones who will make the greatest strides against abortion and change the nation’s heart. Now, on this election year, is the time to stand up and honestly share, in heartrending and uncensored detail, what happens to women when they have an abortion and how they are forever changed in hopes that no one will suffer the same pain. I’ve been silent for far too long.

Please forgive my silence and I apologize for the scandal these words may cause. Please know that what ever deplorable opinion you hold of me pales in comparison to the opinions I have had of myself.

Filed Under: I Actually Know What I Am Talking About Here, Sanctity of Life Tagged With: 323 Comments

A united effort to destroy Obama’s plans …

May 21, 2012 By The Crescat 6 Comments

… I think Marc Barnes stated it aptly when he said

When any creature that normally takes half a century to form a complete statement starts a united effort to destroy your plans, think twice about your own brilliance.

And that is exactly what happened today, a united effort.

The Archdiocese of New York, headed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., headed by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the University of Notre Dame, and 40 other Catholic dioceses and organizations around the country announced on Monday that they are suing the Obama administration for violating their freedom of religion, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The dioceses and organizations, in different combinations, are filing 12 different lawsuits filed in federal courts around the country. The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. has established a special website–preservereligiousfreedom.org–to explain its lawsuit and present news and developments concerning it.

Updated 5/22/12

Filed Under: My Religion is Cooler Than Yours, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , 6 Comments

Diversity training doesn’t work, stereotypes and those organic food snobs…

May 21, 2012 By The Crescat 9 Comments

… Today’s “well duuuuuh” moment brought to you by Psychology Today.

When people are divided into categories to illustrate the idea of diversity, it reinforces the idea of the categories. Categories are dehumanizing. They simplify the complexity of a human being. So focusing people on the categories increases their prejudice. Don’t reinforce labels, which only serve to stereotype.

Millions of dollars a year were spent on the training resulting in, well, nothing.

I could have told you this for a dollar. Anytime we focus on race, gender, or sexual preference we risk losing the individual to the label, which makes it easier to stereotype. Though, I am not entirely against the use of labels as they help us recall a frame of reference.

Honestly, the idea is ludicrous and unrealistically idealistic. Whether you agree with me or not, you will never forcefully indoctrinate or erase labels. Labels exist for a purpose, they help us identify groups of people either positively or negatively. People will always stereotype.

In other news; study finds people who buy organic foods are pretentious, elitist snobs. Again, I could have told you this for a dollar.

Filed Under: DUH 9 Comments

Molto Bello Monday – Eduardo Verástegui…

May 21, 2012 By The Crescat 3 Comments

… God does good work.

And He obviously favors Catholic men.

Filed Under: Molto Bello Monday, Near Occasion of Sin Tagged With: 3 Comments

“We cannot be Catholic and not accept the Second Vatican Council” …

May 21, 2012 By The Crescat 2 Comments

Filed Under: Mass Hysteria Tagged With: , , 2 Comments

Contraceptives in the rain…

May 17, 2012 By The Crescat 27 Comments

When a new synthetic substance is created, or a naturally occurring substance is generated at greatly increased levels, the effects can be far longer-lasting and wider-reaching than its manufacturers predict or intend. Some well-known examples of this include asbestos, a popular insulation and flame retardant in the late 19th century, which was later discovered to be carcinogenic; and polystyrene foams like Styrofoam, which is frequently used in disposable packaging, yet takes hundreds of years to break down once discarded. In the case of oral contraceptives, the key ingredients are synthetic hormones known as progestins, which mimic progesterone, either alone or combined with estrogen. When used therapeutically in contraceptive pills or in hormone replacement treatments for menopause, these synthetic hormones make their way into the water supply after being excreted in the patients’ urine. As environmental contaminants, these are referred to as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), due to the fact that they interfere with the endocrine systems of humans and animals alike following exposure.

While its impact is still being widely studied, there is no doubt that the exposure is occurring: multiple international studies have documented elevated levels of natural and synthetic hormones in drinking water, and one such study conducted in France noted that progestins in particular were more resistant to removal by water treatment methods, compared with other types of pharmaceuticals [3].

Due to the accumulation of synthetic steroids in water, much of the research conducted on its impact has been done using water-dwelling vertebrates such as fish and frogs. An ever-increasing collection of studies report harmful effects of these hormones on aquatic vertebrates, particularly with regard to their reproduction, as would be predicted given the nature of the contaminants [4]. One study focused on the effects of exposure to the progestin Levonorgestrel (LNG) on the frog Xenopus tropicalis. While the male reproductive system did not appear to be impaired, female tadpoles exhibited severe defects in the development of their ovaries and oviducts, rendering them sterile [5]. [SOURCE]

More reason to stay away from the infernal Pill.

Filed Under: Sanctity of Life 27 Comments

Oh, Pelosi. What are we going to do with you…

May 17, 2012 By The Crescat 8 Comments

… In the past I have certainly vocalized my thoughts on Pelosi and fraternal correction while entertaining fantasies reminiscent of this…

… and I will admit an eye twitch develops at the mere sound of her name. So when she was back in the news last week spouting more about how her “faith compels her” the old war cry “anathema sit” was quick to rise from my lips. And so this post originally started out with wondering how flammable she might be.

Then I went to lunch with a friend and we chatted. And it turns out Pelosi’s ideas are, unfortunately, shared by a lot of people and sometimes those ideas are not formed out of direct malice and contempt for the Church but out of genuine misunderstanding and shaped by personal situations that can interfere with sound reason. It happens.

Although in Pelosi’s case I’m pretty sure she’s just evil personified. My friend; however, is just your typical liberal thinking Catholic who doesn’t really mean any harm and when she says she loves her religion I believe her. I think it’s good to remember that when dealing with people who think and believe dramatically different than we do. The intentions are usually good albeit misinformed. It’s a teaching moment that should be met with civility. And humor.

What? I’m advocating being nice to liberals. Why yes, yes I am.

Filed Under: Warm and Fuzzy 8 Comments

Pope Benedict – causing me to reevaluate my genuine dislike of the feline species..

May 17, 2012 By The Crescat 15 Comments

I don’t know if this one is photoshopped too, but I definitely see kitsch potential in the theme… Pope Benedict with kitties.

Filed Under: BXVI, Potpourri of Popery 15 Comments

Rome to US Eastern Catholics: New Priests Should “Embrace Celibacy”…

May 17, 2012 By The Crescat 25 Comments

… Wait, hasn’t this sentiment been expressed before?

Signaling a possible shift in policy, Catholic News Service today reported the comments of the head of the papal office overseeing US Eastern Catholic Bishops that new vocations to the priesthood in US Eastern Catholic Churches should be “embracing celibacy” because “mandatory celibacy is the general rule for priests” in the US.

Fr. Ireland anyone? Anyone?

In 1891, Ireland refused to accept the credentials of Greek-Catholic priest Alexis Toth, citing the decree that married priests of the Eastern Catholic Churches were not permitted to function in the Catholic Church in the United States, despite Toth being a widower. Ireland then forbade Toth to minister to his own parishioners, despite the fact that Toth had jurisdiction from his own Bishop, and did not depend on Ireland. Ireland was also involved in efforts to expel all Eastern Catholic clergy from the United States of America. Forced into an impasse, Toth went on to lead thousands of Greek-Catholics to leave the Catholic Church to join the Russian Orthodox Church. Because of this, Archbishop Ireland is sometimes referred to, ironically, as “The Father of the Orthodox Church in America.” Marvin R. O’Connell, author of a biography on Ireland, summarizes the situation by stating that “if Ireland’s advocacy of the blacks displayed him at his best, his belligerence toward the Greek Catholics showed him at his bull-headed worst.”

So what happened to all that previous talk about unifying the East and West? And I wonder how the married Anglican priest coming Home will interpret this. Or maybe my reaction is a silly one because as an obedient Catholic who acknowledges the Pope as the vicar of Christ I couldn’t bring myself to schism no matter the circumstances. Though, in all seriousness I cannot imagine a priest being told to choose between his spouse and The Catholic Church. Oh Wait, yes I can.

In the past, I’ve admitted to being torn on the subject. I known gads of married priest, several quite personally. For the sake of clarity “gads” meaning 5. Seeing a priest with his wife and children no longer shocks or confuses me. Not to generalize that Romans are shocked or puzzled by married priest, it’s just not a prevalent norm for them. From my own outside observations of these men I know it can be done – married clergy. However, I know it is profoundly hard to balance. I’ve heard their wives lament the loss of the husband and children’s fathers to parish responsibilities, especially the wives with young children. Why, they ask, didn’t their husband wait till the children were grown for ordination when, after all, husband and father was their first vocation?

So yes, married priesthood can be tricky, especially in the US, where Eastern Catholicism is made up largely of converts and people with no history or cultural ties to Constantinople. And certainly no one wants Byzantine Catholic vocations to be sought simply because it’s viewed as the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too option.

Filed Under: Eastern Catholicism Tagged With: , 25 Comments
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