The Gift of a Sibling

My Father Shares His Opinion of CNN

My father is a retired attorney. Now, he likes to write. He gets published for writing about local politics, about race horses, and he teaches some adjunct classes at a local university. His opinions and words are usually colorful, from years of crafting them for the courtroom. I thought I'd share something he recently sent me. I hope he'll take up blogging....

I can't seem to lose my addiction to the law. A good addiction I think...I have another very bad addiction.

Just to annoy myself, I occasionally watch CNN. It's the masochistic side of my otherwise sunny personality.

The recent Arizona decision was reported on CNN this way…

CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS ARE SERIOUSLY WORRIED ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT'S RECENT RULING IN THE ARIZONA MATTER AND SAY THAT IT MAY LEAD TO ILLEGAL PROFILING OF NATURALIZED CITIZENS OF HISPANIC ORIGIN AND OTHER FOREIGN BORN AMERICANS.

WOW. WHAT A WAY TO REPORT A STORY.

Lacking even routine professionalism, they choose to report the "negative reaction of the ACLU" rather than report what happened. This is like reporting the negative reaction of Ohio state football fans to a loss at the hands of the Michigan team at Ann Arbor. Wouldn't you expect them to report the score first?  Then, after we know what the score is, you can tell us how badly the losers are reacting to the loss! But CNN lives by its own opaque rules. Well, let me do for you… what CNN refuses to do…TELL YOU THE  SCORE .

Arizona : 8. Obama:  0  !!!!

That's  8-- count them 8  justices of the Supreme Court affirmed Arizona's Constitutional right to use its own police power authority to conduct investigations, based upon REASONABLE  CAUSE, of the citizenship of anyone whom they stop or detain for a lawful purpose. Now, let's go back to the numbers.

8 - Repeat after me  -  8. Elena Kagan recused herself because she was in the Obama administration  when these policies were adopted to challenge Arizona. Not one single Judge voted for Obama. Not Sonya Sotomayor, Obama's Latino appointment. Not Steven Breier, Bill Clinton's old liberal appointment. Not the "left of left" RUTHIE  GINSBURG . Even old "ACLU Ruthie"  voted against Obama. It was a clear BLOW OUT in favor of Arizona.

So how does CNN report the story that civil rights groups are worried. Why are they worried ?? Because they think every cop in Arizona is a flaming bigot? 

You have no capability of getting the "NEWS" reported to you on CNN.

They are hopelessly jaded to the point where they are professionally incapable of reporting anything other than their own biased opinions.

He could have a blog, right?? 

Blogiversary Give Away

This blog is 5 years old!

According to my stats, there have been almost 250,000 page views in that time. Thank you! And thank you for your comments, you know I love them and the relationships built here through them.

I am grateful that this blog has brought my family to the Vatican for the first ever Vatican Bloggers Meeting. In gratitude for that event and blessed circumstance, I commit to sharing and promoting Catholicism via many avenues of Catholic social media. In those efforts, that I love, God brings me into the company of so many wonderful souls. Here...and on Facebook...and on Twitter....and on Tumblr...and on Pinterest,  I thank you for your presence and friendship. Let's keep using the internet for good, to spread Catholicism.

I am grateful to you, dear reader and thank you for being here!

At the recent IHM National Catholic Homeschool & Parenting talks, I especially liked a talk by Father Shannon Collins. (He's been on EWTN) I have on order a CD audio of that talk, entitled  Homeschool Families and the Counter-Revolution.  But it's not just for homeschooling families, if you care about your Catholic faith you will find it meaningful.  

To enter the drawing to win this (and other goodies I will undoubtedly add - stay tuned) if you are on the following social media sites, please "Like" the blog on Facebook linked above, follow me on Twitter and Tumblr and Pinterest linked above AND you don't have to be on social media to subscribe to receive this blog via email. There's a spot on the right side column of this blog to enter your email address and be a subscriber. 

Leave a note in the comments to let me know and I will draw a name randomly from there. The winner will be picked on July 4th.

Again, thank you for being here...with me...to love our faith.  

Totus Tuus (all for) Jesus, Mary & Joseph

Fr. Shannon Collins - Counter Revolution - IHM Conference

Notes taken during talk....

The moral order has largely collapsed. 41% of births are out of wedlock. 700% increase of those in jail. Is traditional America dying in our midst? No institution more ravaged than Catholic Church. We are not in a springtime of faith, we are in a winter of disbelief.

Less than 25% of Catholics attend Mass on Sunday. Bella Dodd admits to recruiting 11'000 men into the Priesthood to subvert it in pseudo religion. (This is someone to google!)

Why emphasize this decline? We have to understand the horrors and put aside unjustified optimism that we are thriving. Let's get honest about what we've allowed ourselves to become!

Counter Revolution

Remember who we were, who we are is who we were. (Read that again...slowly). There's no evolving belief system. Read oath against modernism by Pope Pius X, where he says dogmas can not evolve, for they come from Christ. Every true Roman Catholic is a counter-revolutionary.

Satan looks to overthrow social reign and order with tyranny of evil, chaos.

Counter revolutions failed in England, France and Mexico when they gave into agreements and put down arms or they would have succeeded. Homeschool families are one of the main ingredients in reform and counter revolution. BE a sign of counter culture, show no signs of the world. Embrace tradition!

We're infected, but all is not lost. We all want to restore all things in Christ. There is a ground swell for the faith of our fathers out of this devastated vineyard.

Do not make peace with the beast.

Let Our Lady crush the serpent with her heal.

Vivo Christo Rey!

All the years I have been coming here... BEST. TALK. EVER!

Order the LILIX conference recording of this one!

Prof. Joseph Pearce - Leaving the Nest - IHM Conference

Notes taken during the talk....

Author and Ave Maria professor Joseph Pearce addressed homeschoolers about college choices and how to thrive in the world after homeschooling. As a college professor, he said that he felt homeschoolers were better educated. And that, in itself, was great preparation for college.

The most important thing about a college education is orientation. It should point you in the right direction for the rest of your lives. He mentioned the Cardinal Newmann colleges and that some secular colleges had strong Catholic pockets.

Seek wisdom in college. Being clever is not the same thing as being wise.

Our children should know that the future belongs to those who have children. Promote the culture of Life. Be fruitful and multiply. More than "to thine own self be true"...

Be true to the truth beyond yourself.

Fr. Brian Bashista - Consider Your Call - IHM Conference

My husband and I sat with our younger children, in the back of this teen talk on "Callings." Our teens sat with their friends. Conferring afterwards, we concluded that this was one of our favorite talks of the day.

What a perfect Director of Vocations, Father must surely be! He communicates so effectively. He held the room rapt with a calm, confident delivery of his message. Something about his voice and timing just bathed the room in a peacefulness....a tenderness is really the perfect word for it.

Here are some notes from Father's talk that struck me.

The fact that we all have a vocation was explained. Our vocations are to the married, single or religious life.  We need to pray to be obedient to what God's plans are for us. Father spoke of the long discernment process in the religious life, the years. He juxtaposed it to how long couples usually date prior to marriage, typically 1 year.  But that it too should be a courtship,making sure this is the person God wants for you.

In fact, and this was something I have NEVER heard before and yet found so illuminating, feeling that you have a calling to marriage and parenthood does not preclude one from religious life.  In fact, Father said if a candidate came to him and said he couldn't fathom married life or felt adverse to it that he'd wave them goodbye. Indeed, he felt that one better feel that way. You will be a spouse to the Church with many "children" to shepherd. You will be called to love and love greatly!

Father also related that in the seminary you will always get an answer. You will either stay because you have a calling to religious life or you will leave because you get the answer that you don't.

The way he ended the speech had my husband and I looking at each other with tears welling in our eyes. He asked the teens to begin to say a prayer every night along these lines....

Lord, if I am called to the married life I pray for my future spouse. I pray for his/her protection, for his/her purity and faith. (Further he asked, "Can you imagine 10 years from now saying to your spouse - I prayed for you every night?!" and then he admonished that you can't just use that line, you gotta do it or you'll need to go to confession.) And Lord, if it is my calling to take religious vows, please put into my path people that won't tell me to do it, but the right people to encourage me to do so.

I hope that the many souls that heard that prayer and dear priest tonight are in their beds praying that very prayer. I reminded mine too.

Fr. Shannon Collins - The Hell There Is - IHM Conference

NOTES taken during the talk....

Father, in his commanding presence, related the story of a priest who had a near death experience. It was not the comforting, white light version where people return to living an unchanged life, this priest heard his sins recounted by angels and agreed when he was condemned. But then a woman interceded...Our Mother.

And he changed.

We don't deserve heaven. It is supernatural. We will be judged not on whether we were nice people but on supernatural criteria. Understanding that criteria is relevant to our ultimate goal...heaven.

Modern world rejects hell. Aren't modernists so much wiser than our ancestors? But that is not the teaching of the Catholic Church. The bible tells us of hell, of Sodom and Gomorah, the 4 sins that cry out to heaven.

St. Augustine states that the number of the damned will be greater than the saints. And there are many more who speak the same. Many are concerned that this is negative talk. But consider the source...saints AND Jesus Himself. Their aim? To guide us with Truth, as difficult as it may be. There is a REAL fire below.

Fear may bring about the seeds of conversion. Hell should get our attention. It's not myth or metaphor. It's Jesus' words - fire - Gehenna - a constant burning - the Jews knew it to be a place where human sacrifice was practiced as a band played to drown out the screams of those thrown into the actual pagan pit.

The modern world has lost track of offending God. A soul made in God's image and likeness has been taken in abortion, murder and so those crimes are against God. Only Jesus could pay the infinite price that no one could pay.

Keep your end in mind. Read St. John Bosco's dream of hell. Seek God's mercy NOW in confession. For at death, He will be all justice.

Dr. Ray Guarendi - Back to the Family - IHM Conference

Day 1, first talk and the laughs are starting. Dr. Ray always brings the laughs and a packed house.

Some notes, taken during the talk -

Sharing best practices of successful parents, he relates that many came from troubled homes and committed to do better.

Dr. Ray says our children need to respect us and talk with respect. God gave parents 10% of the Commandments! Honor your father and mother. Disrespect should not be tolerated in any form. Give them essays and labor for infractions.

(I love that my kids are here and hearing this...getting the message with side-splitting humor.)

The number one theme that emerged from his study of families for his book, BACK TO THE FAMILY, was faith. But spiritual practices aren't a guarantee...

We have a culture that is ok that you rot out a child's soul but one spank and the police will be in your driveway.

Find out more about Dr. Ray via his books and videos. www.drray.com

IHM National Catholic Homeschool & Parenting Conference 2012 this coming Friday & Saturday

This conference is an opportunity to hear dynamic and well-known Catholic speakers and be surrounded by those who love the Catholic faith! It's also great Catholic shopping...all under one roof.


Every year I am excited to be surrounded by so many who share my goals and to also find motivation to stay the course. 


I am hoping to tweet from the conferences using the #Hashtag  #IHMVA12 .

Oh...and did I mention it's FREE?

IHM CONFERENCE NEXT FRIDAY AND SATURDAY!

THE EVENT: The Eleventh Annual Immaculate Heart of Mary National Homeschool and Parent Conference

WHEN: Friday and Saturday, June 22nd and 23rd, 2012 (Friday, June 22nd from 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.) (Saturday, June 23rd from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

NEW LOCATION! WHERE: Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center 2371 Carl D. Silver Pkwy. Fredericksburg, VA 22401

WHO IS INVITED: All adults, not just homeschooling families. All religious are especially welcome. We love children, but must restrict attendance to young adults (13+) and nursing babies only. 

SPEAKERS: Over 20 speakers, many nationally known!
Speaker Bios - Schedule of talks/description of topics - Teen Program & College Fair

VENDORS: Many Catholic vendors invited! Please note vendor area opens at NOON Friday and will stay open throughout the conference. http://www.ihmconference.org/national/vendors/ 

FEATURES: Rosary, Family Consecration, Scapular Enrollment and Confessions! NO PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED! ADMISSION IS FREE!! PARKING: FREE and CONVENIENT!! CONTACT: Please email info@ihmconference.org or call 540-636-1946.

WEBSITE: www.ihmconference.org for additional conference information, including complete vendor listing, driving directions, hotel accommodations, speaker schedule, etc.

TAPES: All talks will be available for purchase. Orders for CDs and MP3s will be taken at the conference and shipped afterwards.

USED BOOK SALE! Here's your chance to pick up great deals on used books! We are bringing almost twice as many used books as we have had in the past..about 4,000 books! Hope to see you there! Please spread the word. Thanks and God bless!

Sunday Silence ~ Latin Mass Consecration Photo

Have mercy, my Lord and my God, on those You have purchased and redeemed 

with Your Precious Blood.

Follow the River and You Will Find the Sea

This.... all leads to something bigger.

Go to confession. Go to Mass.

Stand Up For Religious Freedom - Delaware

Today, Delaware joined with 164 other US cities to Stand Up For Religious Freedom

The Main Speaker was my Pastor, Fr. Leonard Klein. Here is his speech.

"The US Conference of Catholic Bishops did not begin to be worried about religious liberty in America this past January.  A committee had been assembled and functioning for some time.  A large part of the reason was the health care bill, whose lack of adequate conscience protections was a source of deep concern.  It is now plain that their concern was warranted.

But there are other issues as well.  In their document “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty” the Catholic bishops of Maryland – and that includes Bishop of Malooly of this diocese – list several in addition to the HHS mandate which was under consideration when they issued the statement:

They include:
           * State immigration laws which would restrict the Church’s ministry to illegal immigrants.
           * The restriction of the freedom of Christian groups on campuses
           * The elimination of Catholic adoption and foster care programs for their refusal to place children with same sex couples
           * The barring of small Protestant churches from renting space in New York City public schools, when all sorts of other groups are welcomed
           * The termination of a contract with a highly rated Catholic program for victims of human trafficking because it did not provide contraception or abortion – as if these were what victims of the sex trade really need.

I should also mention the effort to impose a definition of Christian ministry on the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, slapped down by the Supreme Court 9-0 in the Hosanna Tabor case earlier this year.

Reports from other parts of the developed world are more chilling.  In Canada, the bishop of Calgary, Alberta, among others has fallen afoul of the law for a letter gently reminding his flock of Church teaching on homosexuality.  Four nations in Europe have outlawed kosher slaughtering – although they all have liberal access to abortion and one is a destination for assisted suicide.  In England, Jewish law was ruled discriminatory when applied to the question of who might be enrolled as a Jew in a Jewish school.

 The motivations are many, but the statism is egregious.  All of these actions assume that the government is the proper arbiter of religious freedom and that the state exists not to guarantee liberties and protect the thousand gardens of civil society but to direct society. All of these actions assume that the annoying complexity of human religious and individual liberties must be subordinated to the judgment of enlightened minds in positions of power.  Religious liberty – indeed all liberty – simply throws too much sand into the gears of progress.  The image of a smooth running social and governmental machine is more precious than the little platoons of families, churches, communities, municipalities, and voluntary associations that are the real wealth and beauty of this nation and all decent human civilizations.

The mean-spiritedness of the HHS mandate provides a wonderfully crude example of the statist impulse I have just been describing. 

Contraception is cheap.  A monthly cycle of the pill will cost Sandra Fluke about the same as a good glass of wine in a Georgetown bar.  Abortifacient morning after drugs can be purchased from vending machines on some college campuses.  Condoms are handed out like candy.  (Actually they don’t hand out candy so much any more; too much sugar is bad for you.)

The drugs in question are widely available, widely used, and often subsidized.  Even sterilization is cheap as elective medical procedures go.  Yet the mandate insists that such things be entirely free but not, say, life-saving blood pressure medicines.  Kathleen Sebelius is knowingly picking a fight.  The purpose appears to be to force the Catholic Church to line up with progressive views relating to sexual freedom and its necessary concomitants – contraception and abortion.  The idea seems to be to pick off the big guy first so that the rest of you will fall in line. 

The mandate is designed to bring the Church to heel and to warn all other voluntary associations against resisting the advances of the culture warriors of the left.  And let’s remember that we did not start the culture wars.  We were simply going about our business and practicing our faith, when they were unleashed upon us.

These threats to religious liberty and to all liberties arise from the notion that the smart people who run the government and constitute the progressive cutting edge should determine how the rest of us should live.  But here’s the truth, so well understood by the founders but not at all by the advocates of the mandate: those smart people do not exist.  These are the same people, after all, who still believe in the face of a 40% out of wedlock birthrate and the attendant social catastrophes that with enough contraception and abortion there will be only planned and happy children.  Those smart people who can unfailingly direct civil society to good ends do not exist.

We have checks and balances and a Bill of Rights because the founders, though not terribly orthodox Christians, retained a lively view of original sin.  They therefore had a deep mistrust of aggregations of power.  They knew that no one was wise enough to rule.  They knew that state power had to be divided and restrained.  And when it gets too big for its britches, it must be fought.  Or we will be ruled by the smart people in all their breath-taking arrogance and incompetence.  

A little late to the Marc Barnes bandwagon, but I am ON!

Let it be known that Marc Barnes of BadCatholic blog is now my favorite blogger. He is a rockstar.

He's 18.

18!

Read Ripples From the Rock.  "No, the Holy Roman Catholic Church is the damn scale. She is the cumbersome and ancient ruler which all things are measured against."  Subscribe to this guy. His writing is on fire.

Here's an interview of another awesome young writer , Brandon Vogt, with Marc Barnes. With young men like these in the Catholic faith we can be excited and hope-filled.


I'm a little late to the bandwagon,


http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2012/03/marc-barnes-catholic-blogger.html 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2012/01/the-kid-got-mentioned-in-the-wall-street-journal.html

but I'm here to tell you, get on.

Honoring Corpus Christi - Resources on The Eucharist

In honor of Corpus Christ - the feast of Our Lord's True Presence in the Eucharist...


Please visit these posts - 


* http://totustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2011/01/scripture-eucharist-miracles.html to see all the Scriptural support for the Eucharist.


* on HOW Christ is the Eucharist, answering questions http://totustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-christ-in-eucharist.html  


* Also, my children have LOVED this CD with stories of the miraculous Eucharist http://www.holyfamilypress.com/HFS/CD/02_OHG/cd02_ohg-main.html


 * MORE links to scriptural support and miracles of the Eucharist http://totustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2008/03/institution-of-eucharist.html

Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. - St. Matthew 22:37

Madonna Del Roseto, Solopaca - A Family Tradition

In the town of Solopaca, Italy, in 1844 there was a Madonna miracle. Her intercession brought about the rain after a devasting drought.

Last Sunday, as is our tradition on the first Sunday in June, my family sat with my mother-in-law for the Mass here in the US that commemorates those events from her mother and father's home town. Amongst all the Solopachesi who come every year, we listened to the priest recount that story linked above...about the drought...about trust in Our Lady and devotion to her.

On that bright sunny day, the sky suddenly darkened and as the Priest spoke thunder struck! Then, a surprising and heavy rain fell. Everyone in the Church looked around at each other, even the priest seemed amazed and made mention of it. For 74 years these relatives of immigrants have been re-enacting what happens on this same date...still...in Italy.

Here's a video from 1986. What a mountain they descend...singing...what a tradition! 

Click HERE and HERE for my previous posts with pictures and video.

This year, it was my daughter's turn to crown the Madonna. She was so excited to participate in this family legacy!

With her GMom

With my parents

This pin is from 1939 and still worn by members of the society

Here, in the US, our pilgrimage is just down the aisle, not a mountain.

But, the love is here too and the joy of family...and tradition. Dear Mother who intercedes with showers of graces...we love you!

Let Justice Roll On Like A River ...

9 Tips For Pinterest - Making it Your Personal Assistant

Interested in Pinterest, the virtual pinboard to bookmark items of interest to you?

Here are 9 tips (plus a BONUS one, too) to make Pinterest work for you. They are a part of my weekly, Friday series on CatholicMom, so they'll be new ones there each week.

[1]    Make Pinterest work for you. Let it be your filing cabinet. Make boards of things you need to remember and want to catalog. 

* Create a Favorite music board and add YouTube performances. Separate it by classical, hard rock, by decade. 

* Make your own top 10 lists. For instance, and again with YouTube, catalog all the funniest videos that come across your path. 

*  Create a Yearboard- all about the year you were born or exciting things from THIS year.  

*  Need to learn something, create a board for it with articles and how-to videos. 

*  Create a mystery board. In the description ask followers to see if they can figure out what you're getting at with the pins you pin...Charades!

[2]  As for BASICS, when you receive an email notification from Pinterest saying that someone is following you, in turn you don't have to "Follow All" of their boards. If you are only interested in some of their boards, just follow those specific boards of your shared interests. It'll make Pinterest more manageable and pertinent for you.

[3]   "Repin" is different than "Like." The way I see it, repin is for something that you really love. It suits your current boards or makes you want to create a board for it! Likes are something that doesn't fit into a board...yet...but you want to remember it.

[4]   Commenting. Who doesn't like getting a comment? If you've really appreciated a pin or have a kind question, why not reach out? Like I say on my blog, the mannerly use of commenting is how we begin to build relationships. Commenting can make Pinterest a more conversational place, a community.

[5]  Don't like a pin? Move on. With 10 million users (and growing) on Pinterest there's much to see. Find something you do like. No need to start a war...their pin, their board.

(That said, there is "report pin" option which I would use for something illegal or pornographic.)

[6]  Find something on a blog that you want to pin? Why not let them know in the comment box? "Great post! Will be sharing a link to this on Pinterest."    Then they'll know who to thank for all the referral traffic from Pinterest. They may start following your boards.

[7]   Bloggers, want to be pinned? Put an image on each of your posts. In fact, find an image that evokes the focus of your post. On Pinterest, it's the image that grabs attention. You'll be amazed with the traffic Pinterest can bring to your blog. There are readers who only need words and there are readers who need pictures with words...you can attract them both.

[8]  Give credit, we are obligated to make sure our pins link to the original source.  While Pinterest says best not to promote your own stuff...but, what's safer?  You're assured of getting the credit right and there's no chance of making yourself angry. It's your board. No one has to follow you. There is an unfollow button. Create a nice mix, share the love.

[9]  Utilize the buttons to Tweet your pin or Facebook your pin...when appropriate. Ask yourself how many of these pins are my followers going to want to see? It could be overdone if your friends receive 10 Facebook updates from you in as many minutes. Because once you're in a groove on Pinterest, the pins can start dancing...

[BONUS - A GREAT IDEA alert - here it is!]  Why not create your own group board? 

From the top right ADD button, click Add a Board and add your friends and family as contributors.  

Some ideas? 

*  Make a family vacation board or family reunion board to share ideas, hotels, locations, day trips, sites to see. 

*  Make a board with fellow parishioners for upcoming Sacraments, like – FHC, and resources for preparation, for Confirmations you could pin about Saints candidates can choose. For Pre Cana and wedding ideas you could pin money articles, tips for a happy marriage, Church teachings and quotes on the sanctity of marriage, wedding ceremony music samples, readings. 

*  Collaborate with your playgroup moms for kid ideas, discipline articles, books to read, recipes and stress relievers. 

*  And if Pinterest ever allows private boards…Make a board with your husband of things you want to accomplish with each other, house plans and goals you are helping each other with, prayer inspirations for each of your children.  **UPDATE** Pinterest now does have SECRET boards.

*  Make humor board with your siblings, especially if they live far away and share nostalgia pins with them as well.  

Bottom line, sure you can use Pinterest to organize your thoughts and interests and plans and goals... BUT, you can also use Pinterest to connect! 

Make it work for you.

(Next Friday there will be a new tip at CatholicMom.com)