The Evil Nature of Abortion

Posted on January 24, 2017 by mikatsa6

 

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Truly you have formed my inmost being’ You knit me in my mother’s womb.- Psalm 139:111

Today marks the 44th year that abortion has been legal in our country, allowing the killing of over 59 million babies since 1973. Most(93%) of these abortions are done as a convenience for the parents. Every day in America, abortion kills more Americans than were killed on 9/11. Every year, abortion kills more Americans than were killed in all the battlefields of all the wars in the history of the United States. This is an atrocity that cries out to the Lord. It is a crime against all of humanity.

Abortion is being ‘sold’ to our women, as a right. It is a lie, that is cleverly  wrapped in words that make women feel empowered, when in fact the very nature of legalizing abortion was a means to control women and their ability to conceive and bear children. This is especially true with regards to minorities. In 1922, Margaret Sanger, who is the founder of Planned Parenthood, wrote in her book ‘Woman, Morality and Birth Control’ that  “Birth control must lead ultimately, to a cleaner race.”  Today in America, roughly 52% of all African-American pregnancies end in abortion. I ask you, how can a society that is convinced that it must kill its own, be free? Abortion is a means of controlling a population, it is a means of controlling the women of that population.

Pro- abortion advocates can often be heard touting the fact that it is a right of a woman to control her body and that no one should infringe upon that right. Yet, so many of these young women, when faced with crisis pregnancies, are having their rights as a living child of God, trampled on, by these very same advocates. And they are being  encouraged to kill their child; thus giving up their parental rights, as well as the right to life, of their unborn child, all for a society that cares for neither.

Regardless of how often we are told that good is evil and that evil is good; it is still a lie; created by the father of all lies, Satan. The devil is clever, he uses our pride and our arrogance to control us…to deceive us into killing our young and most innocent. In believing his lies, we become enslaved to him. We are putting our souls in bondage. Many who abort their child, become so ensnared in the lies of abortion, that they are no longer  free. Abortion is a trap. We murder our young, and in order to justify the nagging feelings we are left with, we start touting the same lies that were used on us….thus becoming enslaved to the very beast that ensnared us… entangled our souls in the flames of hell. This is not a way to live. And the devil knows this. Abortion is not a right. It is a wrong. When the abortion mentality takes hold of a society it destroys the family. And societies that allow this evil, are never free. In fact, all ancient societies that freely killed their children have failed; Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Aztecs to name a few.

But unlike these past civilizations which worshiped gods carved out of stone or wood, America was founded on the truth that Jesus brought into the world. It was founded as a Christian nation with a God and a religious code that included morals that helped shape the way we governed. But as our nation fell away from God, the  laws changed, and allowed such heinous acts as abortion to become legal; showing how far we have fallen away from the moral code that once guided us. We are now unable to differentiate the truth from the lies….the same lies that enslave us and keep us from becoming the true people we are meant to be, and the same lies that keep us killing our unborn, thus keeping them from being who they were created to be.

So as we pray for our nation on this day that abortion became a legalized law of our land, let us ask the saints in heaven and the Blessed Mother for their  intercession in  aiding  in the conversion of those who are most at risk from procuring an abortion; those pregnant women who feel abandoned and alone. Let us also continue to pray for the conversion of all those who work to provide these abortions, that they may start realizing the true evil that abortion really is. And let us pray for the courage to actively work to promote a culture of life in a world so preoccupied with death.

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Dear Lord,  First,we thank you for all things You have given us and ask for your guidance in our actions. We ask for conversion of women who are pregnant and considering  abortion. Please help them to recognize the person-hood of the child they are carrying. We also pray for those who work to perform these abortions, that You may touch their hearts and help them to recognize the evil that abortion truly is.  We ask You Dear Lord, to give us the grace and strength we need to be beacons of truth in the darkness surrounding abortion. And finally Dear Lord, we pray for our country that we may once again be a country that protects all human life from conception until its natural end. Amen.

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Inauguration Day Prayer

Posted on January 20, 2017 by mikatsa6

Today I pray for our nation. I ask that you would give our new President wisdom beyond his own understanding and the courage to chose the right path no matter how narrow the gate. I pray for all in authority over us that you would give them the grace and strength to stand against the temptation to use power as a weapon but rather to carry it reverently as one would a child. I pray for the spiritual leaders of our country that they would hear your voice and know your heart. I pray that they would lead from their knees and by that simple grace bring each one of us to our knees before your throne. Have mercy on our nation Lord,We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen -Anonymous

As we prepare for the Inauguration of Donald Trump, I want to pray that we as Catholics will continue to pray for the leaders of this nation, that they will carry out their civic duties with a christian heart. We may not agree with our political leaders, and many of them haven fallen short in their roles of authority, oftentimes ignoring the very real, moral and just authority the Lord has over each of us.
But, we as Catholics must not lose sight of Who has the true authority over us, over our souls. We must give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but remember; that we must give to God, all the rest.
May the Lord have Mercy on our country, and keep us in His care. Amen.
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St. Joseph- Patron Saint for Families

Posted on January 19, 2017 by mikatsa6
St. Joseph, by Guido Reni, 1635

Holy St. Joseph pray for us.

In the Tradition of the Holy Mother Church, Wednesdays were often days that included prayer Devotions directed towards Saint Joseph, in addition to a special feast day celebrating him on  March 19. How fitting it would be for us to start to devote some of our prayers to this wonderfully holy man. Not only is he recognized as the earthly father of Jesus, and the chaste husband of the Blessed Mother, he is described as being “a just man” in Matthew’s gospel. He is also recognized as one of the saints whose intercession we should seek  when praying for those who are dying, that they may have the grace of a happy death. Saint Thomas Aquinas once noted that St. Joseph is unique among patron saints in that he is able to assist us at anytime for anything.

During these days when the role of the father has often been reduced to ‘baby daddy’ we should remember to offer prayers for the intersession of St. Joseph for our families and for the fathers in our families, but especially for those families where children are being raised without fathers. A stable family unite is paramount to a stable society. And whether we want to admit it or not, fathers play a vital role in the familial structure. For even as God was the Father of Christ Jesus, He sent Joseph to be His father on earth, so that Jesus’ family would be complete. Jesus did not need an earthly father, but God in His eternal wisdom knew that we need fathers, and sent St. Joseph as an example to us, to fulfill this vital role in human history. Dear Saint Joseph, patron of families. Please watch over our families; our fathers; our children without fathers; as closely as you watched over your  adopted son Jesus, and help us, so that we too may be close with you and Jesus in heaven. Amen.

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Monday January 16, 2017

Posted on January 16, 2017 by mikatsa6

litanies1b-trinity.jpgSt. Augustine Prayer to Holy Spirit

Breathe into me, Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.

Move in me, Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.

Attract my heart, Holy Spirit,
that I may love only what is holy.

Strengthen me, Holy Spirit,
that I may defend all that is holy.

Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may always be holy.

In the Tradition of the Holy Mother Church, Monday’s prayers should be dedicated to the Holy Spirit. An invocation that the Holy Spirit will dwell in our souls. Of course the Holy Spirit abides in each of us already, but because of original sin and the fruits of human weakness, He finds resistance in each of us, and will not sanctify us without our consent. He (the Holy Spirit) will do no violence to our liberty; our free-will. He waits for us, to lovingly cooperate in His work, we must yield our soul to His sanctifying actions, freely and with fervency.

In order to become the saints that God intended, we must consent to the work of the Holy Spirit, and since we do not understand His actions, we must learn how the Divine Paraclete works in each of us through our prayer life. Though the Holy Spirit is active in our souls from the beginnings of our spiritual life…from our baptisms…It remains hidden, until we form our souls to accept these graces, and only then, is the Holy Spirit able to elevate us to a supernatural state. However, it is only because of God’s grace that we can become sanctified, for we can do nothing on our own accord in attaining sanctity with God. We do not create our own grace.Grace comes from God; it is a gift from All Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity; a gift created by the Father, merited by the Son in His Incarnation, Passion and death, and diffused in our souls by the Holy Spirit. By our baptisms we become justified in “the name of The Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit..” Through our baptisms we have broken our solidarity with Adam and are brought into solidarity with Christ Jesus. Baptism is an act of God, and it requires from us a response of faith.

St. Paul states: “For in one Spirit we were all baptized.” Therefore, it is only with the help of the Holy Spirit that our souls are prepared and made ready for the supernatural life by pouring forth grace in us. So on each Monday, let us remember the Holy Spirit in our  prayers. Let us try to remember that we must open our hearts and souls to the will of the One Who created us and saved us from death.

This mediation is adapted from the words of Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalan and can be found in the book “Divine Intimacy.”

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Friday January 13, 2017

Posted on January 14, 2017 by mikatsa6
zurbaran-crucifixion

But He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. By His bruises we were healed.- Isaiah 53

In the Tradition of the Holy Catholic Church, Fridays are the day we focus on Christ’s Passion and also for honoring His Sacred Heart. And when praying our rosary, we meditate upon the Sorrowful Mysteries. Traditionally, it was a day of abstaining from meat..(I still remember fish sticks on Fridays, even at my public school,)  Fridays were recognized as penitential days,because Christ’s crucifixion took place on a Friday. It was considered a day to actively recognize our having fallen away from the Lord with our actions; our thoughts, our words,and  our deeds.  

But how the times have changed! Most people nowadays don’t even recognize the penitential aspect of Lent anymore, let alone that each and every Friday should be treated as such! We are a fallen people. Allowing ourselves to enjoy so much that the world has offered us, that we fail to see the truth of our existence. We have penciled in so many other things in our day to day plannings, that we fail to see the Liturgical nature of the calendar. First and foremost, it should be viewed and used as a way of sanctification! Oh, how the Lord loved each of us so much that He created this wondrous Church, The Holy Catholic Church,which developed this calendar of days so that we the faithful would have a guide to help us navigate our earthly days.

But, we our marked and stained by original sin, and our nature reflects as much, so that we tend to take the easy way out. Following the work week calendar, we celebrate our Fridays as the end of the week, failing to see the penitential aspect of the day… failing also to recognize that all of Christ’s faithful are obliged by Divine Law, in his or her own way, to do penance. Instead of engaging in self satisfying actions we should be engaging in works of piety and charity, denying ourselves of worldly pleasures and becoming mindful of Christ’s suffering for us. Practicing penitential acts helps us to put worldly things into perspective and helps us discipline our bodies so that we may become disciples of Christ. And that we, may focus more on the One who created us, and less on the wants, of the one created.

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Thursday January 12, 2017 Feast of St. Anthony of Pucci

Posted on January 12, 2017 by mikatsa6

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Saint Anthony Pucci was born in Italy in April of 1818.  He was kindly referred to as “the little parish priest,” by his parishioners. He held degrees in theology but his devotion remained with the sick, the poor and the aged. He served with distinction during two major epidemics in his town. He founded a seaside nursing home for children, and is credited with pioneering “Association of the Holy Childhood,” which is a children’s association for the benefit of children throughout the world.

The Association of the Holy Childhood an organization that is perfect for young families, as each child can become members immediately after Baptism, and may continue in membership for the rest of their lives, although as they turn twenty-one they would have to enroll in the Lyons Association for the Propagation of the Faith.

The purpose of the Association is twofold: First, to rally around the Infant Child Jesus  from their tender years, so that as they increase in age and strength; along with their imitation of Jesus their Master, they may grow to practice true Christian charity. The second aim is that by the practice of charity and enduring generosity, those same little Christian children may co-operate in saving from death and sin the  many thousands of children that live in pagan countries and are neglected by their parents and often cast away to die unbaptized.

Four popes and hundreds of other ecclesiastical dignitaries have approved the association and recommended it to the faithful. Leo XIII, in an encyclical letter, blessed it and recommended it to the bishops, stating “It is my earnest wish that all children of the Catholic world should become members of this beautiful association.” Pope Pius X also regarded it in favor and compared it to an army that could spread out throughout the world.

Members are to recite daily a “Hail Mary” with the addition of “Holy Virgin Mary, pray for us and for the poor pagan children.” Until children are able to recite these prayers by themselves, their relatives should do this for them.

So today as we read about Saint Anthony Pucci and an organization he helped pioneer, let us remember in our daily prayers to pray for the children who are neglected throughout the world, those being raised in pagan households, and for all those who are suffering while outside the embrace of the Holy Mother Church. May we the faithful continue to be diligent in our daily lives to emulate the saints who spread the Light of Christ throughout the darkest of lands.Amen.

There is further information regarding this association at: http://www.newadvent.org

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Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Posted on January 10, 2017 by mikatsa6
images.duckduckgo.com Mass and saints.jpg

There’s Nothing Ordinary About It

 

With The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord behind us, we enter into what is referred to as a period of “Ordinary Time” in the liturgical cycle of the Holy Mother Church. This ‘ordinary time’ will carry us through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of the season of Lent. Though it is referred to as ‘ordinary’ the actual translation means ‘time during the year‘ and we should not be lulled into a sense of boring, non-extraordinary days! The Church calendar is filled with Feasts of the Saints, both widely known and those lesser known Saints that lived their lives on earth and are recognized for their holiness, and how they lived their lives committed to their love of Christ.

These are the days we should look at our calendar and learn these names, learn about these Holy Saints. These men and women who devoted their lives to knowing God…loving Him and serving Him so that they could be with Him in Heaven. In doing so, we can be assured that we will find nothing ordinary about any day, when lived with our heart and eyes focused on the extraordinary lives of those who embraced the Holy Catholic Church.

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Of Baptisms and Birthdays

Posted on January 9, 2017 by mikatsa6

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Today in the Holy Mother Church we celebrate with great joy, the Baptism of the Lord. This signifies the liturgical end of the Christmas season. Though we just celebrated His birth a few short weeks ago, He is now showing us the importance of the sacrament of Baptism,  how vital it is to be born anew in the spirit, or rather, born from above. And even though Jesus had no need for baptism, as He was unmarred by the stain of original sin, He submitted humbly to Saint John the Baptist, to show us, by example, the importance this sacrament has in the life of the faithful. With the waters of Baptism , original sin is washed from our souls. It frees us from the eternal fires of hell.(Praise the Lord)

In our family we have several birthdays that we celebrate in these less chaotic days following Christmas. At times in our excitement and in the  planning of these celebrations, we forget to take the time to thank God for each of these special ones and for all the moments we get to spend with them. We rush around, especially when our children our young, trying to fill the day with activities and parties…celebrations of all sorts, to let them know how special they are to us. Even as adults we tend to busy the day with dinners, and gifts and earthly pleasures….which are fine and good; but lacking spiritually. In all things we should  remember the Lord. How easy it is to find the times of a nearby Mass and go give thanks and praise to the Lord for the loved one you celebrate. Remember: in all things celebrate God first .

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So…today we will be attending Mass to celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, and also to pray  (and light a candle or two!) for those loved ones who are celebrating their birthday today and in the coming week, and we will also celebrate God, by giving Thanks to Him for all things….First.

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Feast of the Epiphany- January 8th

Posted on January 8, 2017 by mikatsa6

The Feast of the Epiphany or the Feast of Light as it is also called, is upon us once again, drawing to a close the twelve days of Christmastide, which began with the revelation of Christ to Israel at His birth and ended with the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles at the epiphany.

“The star which they had observed at its rising went ahead of them until it came to a standstill over the place where the Child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star.”-

Matthew 2:9 – 2:10

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The wise men saw the sign in the sky, the bright light of the star sent forth to guide them, and they followed it until it came to rest where Jesus was waiting…..

“And when they come into the house, they saw the young Child with His Mother, and fell down and prostrated themselves and did Him homage. Then they opened their coffers and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11.

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During this feast day, let us remember that not only are we called to be courageous like these three wise men, by following the light of the ‘star’ we have seen, regardless of how hazardous or rough the journey may be. Each of us is called to follow the light of our faith so that we may recognize Our Lord and Ruler in whatever way He presents Himself to us. We should pray that we may bow down in adoration and pay Him the homage that He deserves especially in the Holy Eucharist.

And  like those kings, we are called to carry the Light of Christ to all that we meet, so that we might spread  Christ’s light throughout the lands. Let us ask the Lord to give us the courage we need so that we may proclaim that truly Christ is Lord and ruler over us and let us pray that we may become  vessels for whatever He asks.

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First Friday, January 6, 2017

Posted on January 6, 2017 by mikatsa6

This is where the real New Year’s resolutions shall begin; in the close proximity to the Heart of the One Who Loves us most.

Lord Jesus Christ, to Your Most Sacred Heart I confide this ...

In the busyness of days and the all out assault of our physical senses, we must remember our spiritual side…that part of us that belongs to the Lord. I mean our entire being is actually His, but it is our immortal souls that are created to reside with Him forever. Even when we are caught up in the day to day chaos of life, we must remember to put aside at least an hour to spend with Our Most Precious Lord, particularly on the first Friday of each month. (In addition, of course to fulfilling our weekly Sunday obligation.)

Most Catholic Churches will have a special First Friday Mass or Holy Hour devotion, as desired by Our Lord, so that we the faithful, may spend an hour in adoration, repentance and thanksgiving in front of the Most Holy Eucharist…the actual body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. If we would but allow Him, a moment of  quiet, a bit of our heart, with a fervent desire to fulfill His Will for us…we could, like the saints before us, set this world on fire with Christ’s  love.

The Feast of Corpus Christi, Enthroning the Lord - U.s. - News ...                                                                        This is My Body

Whether we realize it or not, the Lord is calling each of us…every day…actually; every moment of every day! So on this First Friday of the year, slip into the quiet of His embrace and allow yourself all the graces He wishes to pour onto you. It may feel like the world exploding in your heart, or  it may feel like nothing at all. But know this, the Lord is most generous…He will not be outdone…if you love Him; listen to Him…He will give you everything you need to get out of this world and be with Him forever… remember…He loves you more than you could possible know, after all, He created you for greatness, He created you to be a saint.

Dear Lord, please forgive me for all the times I have failed to heed your call,  please continue to call me,even in my stubbornness, and guide me, each of my days on this earth, that I may one day rejoice with You in Heaven. Amen.

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