Month: November 2016

Wise Words on Wednesday: Culture Today and Christianity

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Rick

Today in our culture…

materialism is idolized,
immorality is glamorized,
truth is minimized,
sin is normalized,
divorce is rationalized,
and abortion is legalized.

In TV and movies…

crime is sensationalized,
drugs are legitimized,
comedy is vulgarized,
and sex is trivialized.

In movies…

the Bible is fictionalized,
churches are satirized,
God is marginalized,
and Christians are demonized.

Also in our society…

the elderly are dehumanized,
the sick are euthanized,
the poor are victimized,
the mentally ill are ostracized,
immigrants are stigmatized,
and children are tranquilized.

Our families now live in a world where…

manners are uncivilized,
speech is vulgarized,
education is secularized,
advertising is sensualized,
and everything is commercialized.

Now, unfortunately Christians, you and I, we’re often disorganized, and we’re demoralized, our faith is compartmentalized, and our witness is compromised.

– Rick Warren

Another Planned Parenthood employee becomes pro-life…

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If you’ve been involved in the pro-life movement, chances are that you’ve come across Abby Johnson, the former Clinic Director of Planned Parenthood who is now an outspoken pro-life advocate. In the abortion debate, Abby’s testimony carries particular weight given her former employment by the nation’s most well-known abortion provider. Well, I recently heard about someone with a similar story…

A few weeks ago a reader told me about Patricia Sandoval, a lady who was also once an employee of Planned Parenthood. Like Abby, she is now a pro-life advocate and travels internationally sharing her testimony. Most of the videos on her website are in Spanish, but here’s one in English where she describes her (rather traumatic) journey:

I think stories like this need to be heard more often for a couple of reasons…

Firstly, I have been told many times by pro-choice friends that the abortion debate is over, abortion is legal now and that’s never going to change. I’m told that nobody’s opinion is going to be swayed on the matter. However, this is something which Patricia’s story clearly disproves.

The other reason why I think stories like this are important is that they remind us of the forgiveness, goodness and grace of God. They show us that it doesn’t matter how dire the situation or how dark our past, Jesus actively seeks out those who are hurting, to heal their wounds and to do something beautiful.

So with that in mind, please share this video on social media to remind the world that (a) the abortion debate is not over and (b) there’s nowhere that God’s grace cannot reach.

Music Monday: Hide In The Fairytale

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Today’s Music Monday is a little different from usual, a little more “metal” than most music I usually post. However, I absolutely loved the lyrics! A rock meditation on Original Sin and concupisence!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you “Hide in the Fairytale” by the band Theocracy:

A child in sweet duplicity
For innocence? Or slavery to nature
And the bents that haunt him straight out of the womb?
He doesn’t have to learn the things unseemly that his instinct brings
To carry like a burden from the cradle to the tomb
You’ll never have to teach him how to lie
If we are born in innocence, well, don’t you wonder why?
For selfishness already dwells inside
The birthright of Adam, the curse of the old man

Day and night
Jekyll and Hyde in the fairytale
This is much more frightening
Darkness and light
Feed the new man and tear the veil
See the old man dying

Behold the loving family man
Who tries to do the best he can
And loves his wife and children even more than his own life
But just like that, a wandering eye leads to a suffocating lie
And selfishness and deep betrayal cuts them like a knife
If mankind doesn’t have a sinful drive
Then tell me why he’d wreck his life to get some on the side?
The warring of two natures deep inside
Starving the new keeps the old man alive

Soul-sickness nailed to a cross

Humankind in innocence, a lie so thinly veiled
Man born without soul-sickness: this is the fairytale
Hide in the fairytale

The Role of the Laity

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In some circles, it’s very popular to complain about those in leadership, especially our bishops. A while ago I came across this challenging quotation from Archbishop Chaput, one which I think is well worthy of meditation:

chaput

It is the vocation of every Catholic to work in advancing the Kingdom. Therefore, prior to unleashing unbridled vitriol against the shepherds, I must first ask myself if I have been truly steadfast in contending for the Faith.

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