Tag: featured

What Planned Parenthood does and does not do

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A few days ago I posted a link on my Facebook wall to one of the videos concerning the recent Planned Parenthood scandal. In a response, one of my friends wrote “…in low income and rural areas planned parenthood is the only clinic available to women for women’s health”. My friend Rachel asked what kind of services they provide, but never received a reply.

Well, undeterred, Rachel did some digging and yesterday she posted a link on my wall to something posted by Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee. I wanted to reproduce it here in its entirety:

AbbyJohnson

This is for people who say Planned Parenthood provides so many services for women. Here are the facts. Planned Parenthood should NEVER be your “go to” for healthcare.

Planned Parenthood does NOT provide:

-Mammograms
-Prenatal Care
-Breast Biopsies
-Breast Cancer Diagnostic Care
-Primary Health Care
-Diabetes Treatment
-Treatment for Elevated Cholesterol
-Treatment for Elevated Blood Pressure
-Holistic Medicine
-Obstetrical Care
-Pediatric Care
-Care for HIV Positive Individuals
-Infertility Treatments
-Natural Family Planning Instruction
-Care for Uterine Fibroids
-Treatment for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
-Adoption Placement
-Prostate Exams
-Uterine Laser Ablation
-Cervical Laser Ablation
-Miscarriage Management
-Bladder Disorders and Urinary Problems
-Prolapsed Pelvic Floor Concerns
-Laparoscopic Procedures
-Hysterectomy
-Treatment of Endometriosis
-Polyp Removal
-Endometrial Ablation
-BRCA Testing
-Bone Density Testing
-Treatment of Pelvic Pain
-Treatment of Vulvar Pain
-Molar Pregnancy Follow Up

Planned Parenthood DOES provide:

-First and Second Trimester Abortions
-Limited STD testing and treatment
-Pap Smears for Women in Child Bearing Years
-Limited Contraceptive Methods

Just wanted to put some of the myths to rest.

Faith alone?

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Martin LutherOne essential difference which divides Catholics and many Protestants is the question of faith and works in salvation. The disagreement began at the Reformation. In fact, the “material principle” of the Reformation was that we are saved “Sola Fide”, by “Faith Alone” and that works have no place in our justification whatsoever.

This subject often comes up when speaking with Protestants. I think most Catholics have had the experience at one point or another of being told by a Protestant that Catholicism doesn’t preach the Gospel, teaching instead that we have to earn our salvation. St. Paul’s epistles to the Romans and Galatians are often cited during such an exchange.

When this has happened to me in the past, I tend not to dwell too long upon the person’s interpretation of Paul’s epistles. I usually simply point out that in those letters St. Paul is contrasting faith in Christ with the works of the Mosaic Law. I turn then to the Epistle of James, since it presents a bit of a problem if someone wishes to say we’re saved by faith alone…

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Wise Men Competition

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I mentioned earlier about Fr. Donald Calloway’s recent events in the San Diego area.

In one of his talks on Blessed Mary he mentioned a car sticker he saw which read “Wise men still find Him with His mother”. One of my friends commented a few days later that she had tried to find this sticker online, but to no avail.

Thinking myself to be something of an Internet Ninja, I went looking for it, but also came up empty. Not wanting to be beaten by the Internet, I decided isntead to make it:

Car Sticker

I had four of these stickers made, so I now have three to give away. If you would like to win one, simply leave a comment below with the name of a favourite speaker you’ve heard recently. Three names will be randomly selected next week and I’ll email the winners.

The article Wise Men Competition first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net

Before 300: Pre-Constantinian Christianity

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It is often asserted that the Catholic Church was founded by the Constantine, who was Emperor of the Roman Empire from AD 306-337. A couple of weeks ago, a lady named Monica made such an assertion and in earlier post I pointed out some of the problems with such a theory.

However, today I would like to do something a little different… In this post I would like to set forth the positive historical case for the existence of the Catholic Faith in the generations prior to Constantine. I will show how twenty-two different Catholic doctrines were taught long before Constantine rose to power:

  1. The Church is Catholic
  2. The Church has a three-fold structure of leadership
  3. There is unity through episcopal authority and schism is evil
  4. Sacred Tradition is authoritative
  5. Worship is liturgical
  6. There is Apostolic Succession
  7. Peter has Primacy
  8. The Eucharist is a Sacrifice
  9. Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist
  10. The Eucharist is taken to the sick
  11. Infants are to be baptized
  12. Baptism actually washes away sin
  13. Priests forgive sins
  14. Works are involved in salvation
  15. Prayers are said for the dead
  16. There is purgation after death
  17. Relics are venerated and Saints are celebrated
  18. Mary is the New Eve
  19. Mary was a perpetual virgin
  20. Mary is the Mother of God
  21. Prayers are made to Saints
  22. Songs are sung to Mary

I will demonstrate these early Christian belief by looking at primary sources alone and restricting myself to writings produced prior to AD 300.

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Shameless Publicity

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On this blog I regularly share edifying resources that I’ve come across in my Internet wanderings. Today I’d like to publicise a site that is probably my favourite Catholic blog on the Internet:

Shameless Popery is written by a chap in the DC area named Joseph Heschmeyer. He posts articles pretty much every day on a wide range of subjects pertaining to the Catholic faith.  He’s a lawyer by training and his systematic and methodical writing style is testimony to his logical and orderly way of thinking. I want to keep him humble so I’ll cease the adulation here, but I’d strongly encourage everyone to go subscribe to his blog.

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Vatican 2 on the The Eastern Churches

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As part of my continued service to the students of Franciscan University of Steubenville ;-), I have just recorded the audio for the document “Orientalium Ecclesiarum”.

This document was produced by the Second Vatican Council and concerns the Churches in the Catholic Church which follow an Eastern Rite. Given that I attend an Eastern Rite parish during the summers, it’s rather odd that I’ve never actually sat down and read this document before.

Still, better late than never I suppose…

A long time ago, when I first began this blog, I start producing a series entitled “V2 we love you!”. At the time, the JP2 Group was reading the document “Dei Verbum”. I anticipated that we would work through more of the Council’s documents. My hope was that the series of blog entries would provide a helpful accompaniment to our study.

We didn’t end up studying any more of the documents and so I never wrote the blog posts. However, a little while ago I signed up for a course on the Second Vatican Council at the Diocesan Institute which starts this October. Hopefully that’ll get me motivated and I will once again be renewing my efforts with the series.

Anyway, the text for the document is available here and the audio is available below:


Orientalium Ecclesiarum

I’m baaaaaaack…

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So it’s 2015, which means my sabbatical is over and I’m back blogging! The posts over the next few days are going to be pretty light as I’m working on a few special blogging projects:

1. I am completing a series of posts concerning abortion, which I’m posting to coincide with the March For Life later this month.

2. Next, I have a series of guest posts on the subject of sex for the Goretti Group that I’m just finishing off which will be published in a few weeks.

3. Finally, I’m recording a video series on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians. You’ll be hearing more about all these projects over the next couple of weeks…

The break was good, but it’s good to be back. Happy New Year everyone 🙂

2015

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