Kudos to Father Joel!

Benedictine style altar arrangement, CHECK
Proper vestments, CHECK
Traditional chasuble cut with maniple, BONUS

MAY YOUR TRIBE INCREASE, Father Joel Buenviaje of Novaliches diocese.

RIP: Fr. Pablo Straub, CCSSR

He is a staple of EWTN.

I especially loved his sermons for the Good Friday Liturgy.

Rest in peace Fr. Pablo!

And here is the video announcement from Michael Voris and his interview with Fr. Pablo.

Another wonderful blog from a priest

Please read the blog of Fr. Robert Zarate. Beautiful reflection about PORMA priests.

Remember my posts about NARCISSIST PRIESTS???

The guy who loves taking pictures of his vacations? Or the priest who spends more time telling jokes in his homilies? or the one who tries hard to modulate his voice and have liturgical dancers for his Mass at SM?

Yup. PORMA lang!

Compare and contrast their "working clothes".

Here are photos of the priest and his friends...

Fr. Zarate, our blogger priest...


And our other fave priest...

What the????  Is that the waiter???  Even for a waiter, he dresses lousily!

And even for a priest?!  A disaster!

Here is a killer quote from Fr. Zarate:

It is hard when you have already crossed the line of being “like one of the rest”. It is hard to come back to the very ideals you held dear in the very first days of seminary or in the very first years wearing the Cassock or the Roman Collar. Sometimes, I feel like removing this white thing in front of my neck when I am in a public transportation. Sometimes, I feel lazy wearing the cassock. But I have to fight it, in God’s grace. Usual Catholics may say, “Then, don’t wear it. Lots of priests don’t wear it anyway.” Yet, it’s like telling a policeman not to wear his uniform, or a married person not to wear his/her wedding ring. Ah yes... I did not become a priest to become an “undercover” witness of the Gospel. I belong to the more obvious category. In some way, I do not need to open my mouth to tell people that I am a “Man of God”. Rather than be “like the rest of the guys”, rather than do things that even the usual men down the streets can do even in their sleep, if a priest just stays on BEING A PRIEST... he does not need to do any PORMA at all!

BOOM! for the KSP priests!

Pro-life priest Fr. Pavone IS NOT suspended

So says the Vatican!

***

Vatican Upholds Fr. Frank Pavone's Appeal

Priests for Life
6/26/2012

We are happy to announce that the Vatican has upheld Father Frank Pavone's appeal and has declared that Father Pavone is not now nor has ever been suspended. Father Pavone remains a priest in good standing all over the world.

We were confident all along that a just decision would be made by the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy. While we fully agree that Bishop Zurek has rightful authority over the priests of his diocese, we also see the urgent need for Father Pavone to be allowed to conduct his priestly ministry outside the diocese of Amarillo for the good of the pro-life movement.

With regard to all inquiries relative to Father Pavone's status and the Diocese of Amarillo, we will continue to be as transparent as possible and place all communications and press releases on our public website. In this way we can best respect the rights and privacy of all concerned, particularly ecclesiastical authority and communications which are intended to be confidential at this time.

***

Fr. Pavone was suddenly suspended by Bishop Zurek Patrick J. Zurek of the Diocese of Amarillo, and recalled to his home diocese about somethings the bishop does not even want to fully clarify.

Most in the pro-life circles are wondering why the sudden discipline of the bishop of a priest who is working tirelessly to protect the unborn.

What is most obvious, IMHO, is that the bishop is probably, moooosssttt probably, not in favor of what Fr. Pavone is doing.

Humane Vitae ring a bell to you guys?

Yeah, what the Queen of Looney Tunes, Miriam has been saying that there are priests and bishops who are supportive of the RH Bill, that is true. Heard a lot of whispers in the rectory.

Meanwhile, the angry bishop who just got trumped isn't backing down and issued a very ambiguous statement:

In its decree of May 18, 2012, the Congregation for the Clergy has sustained Father Frank A. Pavone’s appeal of his suspension from ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo and his appointment from me on October 4, 2011 as Chaplain of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in Channing, Texas. Father Pavone is to continue his ministry as chaplain until further notice. As a gesture of good will, I will grant permission to him in individual cases, based upon their merits, to participate in pro-life events with the provision that he and I must be in agreement beforehand as to his role and function.  [Gesture of good will....then his permission on an individual case, based upon the merit?!?!?  What?!?!  Going to pro-life events must be based on its merits?!?!  Does the bishop do these to theological dissent festivals?!?!?]

All other matters are outside the purview of this statement.

Amarillo, Texas, June 20, 2012

+Most Rev. Patrick J. Zurek, STL, DD
Bishop of Amarillo

Vatican II is not God!

A direct quote from a very insightful post of Fr. Allan McDonald of Southern Orders blog:

***

At another blog, a sociologist made the following observation:

"By and large Vatican II was successful. Both the Liturgy and the Bible have become more accessible to the laity. Ecumenically and interfaith wise, Catholics are understanding other groups and collaborating better with them. More Catholics experience their families, work and communities as places where they are called to holiness.


What has not worked well has been collegiality: collegiality among bishops with the pope, collegiality among priests with their bishop; collegiality among people with their pastor. In all cases persons in charge have tended to be dissatisfied with “democracy.” While having formal processes of “consultation,” these do not influence decision making..."

We can say that Vatican II was successful, but we cannot say that it is successful if we look at the attrition rate of Catholics practicing their faith since the Second Vatican Council as only 20% are attending the successful and accessible liturgy of the Church. And of those 20% there is not always agreement on what is successful and accessible, in fact there is downright division and each person thinks their opinion is valid and all opinions are valid even if the opinion is opposed to what the Church actually teaches about this, that or the other.

What has not worked well: "Collegiality" is probably true as so often collegiality proposes false expectations of a democratic dynamic not only in administration where it could work well and be valid, but in Church teaching where the "voice of the people" including the voices of the clergy can be downright wrong, heterodox or even heretical. Ultimately the pope, the bishop in his diocese or the pastor of the parish after consulting has the canonical right to make a decision and sometimes in the areas of faith and morals no real consultation is needed or required except for pastoral reasons and the input that helps highlight what needs to be done and more importantly explained.

But even if the observation that collegiality is a sore point with Catholics, just how many Catholics of the 20% that attend Mass? 1%? 2%, 10%???? And of the 80% who no longer attend Mass, just how important is collegiality amongst them 1%? 2% or 100%? That would be an interesting sociological survey. My personal feeling from merely anecdotal evidence is that the vast majority of Catholics, 99.9% of them, practicing or not, don't give a flip about institutional collegiality in the Church, only Catholics involved in decision making in the Church seem to obsess on this.

Vatican II is not God; Collegiality is not God; Ecclesiology is not God; Lay participation in the Mass is not God! God is God and if God is not believed as the Church teaches and celebrates His action within Salvation History from start to finish, then, Houston, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

Your humble thoughts on this?


***

Huh?!

Successful?

In what terms?

Let me drill on this one by one.

Vatican II was successful.  Yeah....in that it was organized.  Ha!

Vatican II emphasized the use of the vernacular in the Liturgy which to some extent really helped bring some positive change in the world.  I have read in more than a couple of posts from more credible liturgists and theologians (Ha!) that what was expected was that the Mass would have more vernacular and less of the Latin, most especially vernacular in the readings and the Latin remains in the common parts of the Mass especially the prayers of the priest.  What happened is an alleged Mass that looks the same (DAW!) from the ancient Mass (DAW!) that the early Christians in Rome practiced (DAW!).

Pius XII warned against antiquarianism and this is what San Beda and Malaybalay kept on insisting.

On the issue of collegiality, it will never work.  Look at how happily disoriented the Anglican and Episcopalian communion are?  Look at how the Islamic world is tearing each other apart.  Everyone wants to be Pope!  It will never work.  Democracy will never work in the Church that was founded to have a supreme pastor and leader.  Look at the Council of Jerusalem was conducted.  When Peter spoke up, everybody shut up.  Questions?

So for the aging hippie priests who still teach subjects in theology about collegiality, consultation, lay empowerment, women's involvement, inculturated and animated liturgy, dialogue with religion, preaching in the margins, BEING CHURCH...........

ALL BALONEY!

Tick tock tick tock tick tock....

There is a new breed of Catholics being born every second around the world.

And they do not think like you.

Because the modernist theology you teach does not encourage young men to become priests or brothers nor do they encourage women to become women who are submissive to authority and who would rather serve in silence.  Modenist nuns love to hate men.  Oftentimes, They crave positions of authority and they would grab at every opportunity to be the leader and make slaves out of men.

That is what Modernism is:  STERILE and BARREN.

It does not reproduce.  They agree to disagree and fight each other once their common enemy, anything of the Catholic past, is mentioned.  They do not inspire for a higher good, something of the supernatural.  They always crave for the here and know.  Modernists will always tend to satisfy the senses, makes you feel good, but does not make you feel uncomfortable.  That is why you will never hear them talk about the Four Last Things.  Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell.  They will always talk to you about blessings, happiness, miracles, but not about the things WE NEED to prepare once this EARTHLY LIFE is over.

So, for Vatican II?  We need a clearer interpretation of what the Council Documents really meant.  That is why I fully support the views of Bishop Athanasius Schneider in that the Holy Father issue a Syllabus of Errors in defining Vatican II, one of which is "this phenomenon can be seen in three liturgical practices that are fairly well known and widespread in almost all the parishes of the Catholic sphere: the almost complete disappearance of the use of the Latin language, the reception of the Eucharistic body of Christ directly in the hand while standing, and the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice in the modality of a closed circle in which priest and people are constantly looking at each other."

So, you ask now, why I call out erring priests and bishops in their liturgical practice?

Three Catholic priests who died in the Titanic

Together with Fr. Byles: Apostles of Mercy on board the Titanic

Fr. Joseph Benedikt Peruschitz

Fr. Juozas Montvila

 My good friend Anita Moore, OP (yup she is a tertiary Dominican. Tertiaries like her have a strict rule of life, often going into a Dominican Novitiate, the formation lasting for 5 years, not months. Just saying.)

Well, anywho...

The post of Ms. Moore relates the story not only of Fr. Thomas Byles, which I posted here recently, but also of other priests who died with the sinking of the Titanic.

Head on over to her blog, to spike her site hits and also feel free to comment. :)

GULP Alert: The good and the bad and the ugly.

Here is a very nice photo of the great Filipino liturgist, Fr. Tim Ofrasio, SJ during the ordination of young Jesuits into the priesthood.

Notice the glaring difference between the two priests, the one on the left?

Fr. Tim knows his liturgy.  While the rest of the Jesuit priests and guest priests who attended used the hideously ugly overlay stole with a black stripe in the middle, Fr. Tim opted to use the correct vestment and put it properly.  You can see the fringe on his stole which is put under his chasuble, not the other way around as most priests do.

The other priests must be chuckling to see Fr. Tim look different.  Well, all of those who see this photo are the ones chuckling now for the others who vested differently from Fr. Tim.

Too legalistic?

Nah.

He just know how to do things properly.

If the priests like most Jesuits do not give a damn about the Church's laws, then they are just blatantly showing a bad example to all of us.

Which we must not follow.

A little known fact about the Titanic

Who hasn't seen the 1997 movie, huh?

Now they release it on 3D?  What new ending?

Part 2 if you ask the pirates at Quiapo and Greenhills.

What?!  The Titanic sunk again?!

Seriously.  I even saw DVDs at Quiapo being offered to me:  "The Passion of the Christ 2"

Goodness gracious.

But going back.

There is something most people don't know about the Titanic.

Yup, we all know how it sank, the aftermath, who most of the people are, but we don't know, as Catholics, this little known fact:

THERE WAS A CATHOLIC PRIEST ON BOARD TITANIC WHEN IT SANK...

AND HE DIED DOING WHAT A CATHOLIC PRIEST MUST DO:

COMFORT THE GRIEF STRICKEN AND ABSOLVE PEOPLE OF THEIR SINS.

An Apostle of the Divine Mercy on board!

Yup, the priest, according to witnesses, refused several offers to be in the lifeboats, instead helping women and children into the boats, while he stayed behind to do what he must do.

He is Rev. Fr. Thomas Byles. He was born on 26 February 1870. His birthname was Roussel Davids Byles, the eldest of seven children of a congregationalist minister. He studied theology at Oxford in 1889 and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894. It was at Oxford that he converted to the Catholic faith, taking the name Thomas at his baptism. In 1899, he went to the Beda College in Rome to study for the priesthood, and was ordained in 1902. He was assigned to St. Helen's Parish in Chipping Ongar, Essex in 1905.

His younger brother William, who also was received into the Catholic Church, invited him to officiate his wedding at New York which prompted big brother Father Byles to make the trip via the RMS Titanic. He said Mass on the morning of the sinking, Low Sunday, 14 April 1912, for both second- and third-Class passengers in their respective lounges. Ironically, his sermon was on the need for a spiritual lifebelt in the shape of prayer and the sacraments when in danger of spiritual shipwreck in times of temptation.

Reportedly, Father Byles was strolling on the upper deck reciting his Divine Office when the Titanic struck the iceberg. As the ship was sinking, he assisted many third-class passengers up to the Boat Deck to the lifeboats. Towards the very end, Fr. Byles prayed the rosary and other prayers, heard confessions, and gave absolution to more than a hundred passengers who remained trapped on the stern of the ship after all of the lifeboats had been launched.  It was even reported that he comforted and prayed with people of other faiths while the ship was sinking.  His presence comforted the troubled crowd.  Even the Jews and Protestants were praying the Rosary with him.  (Read it about it here.)

An artist's rendition of Fr. Byles comforting the passengers

A witness said:

'Continuing the prayers, he led us to where the boats were being lowered. Helping the women and children in he whispered to them words of comfort and encouragement.'
(The Evening World, April 22 1912 Miss Bertha Moran)

Third Class passenger Ellen Mary Mockler described his actions from her position in lifeboat No.No. 16:

"After I got in the boat, which was the last one to leave, and we were slowly going further away from the ship, I could hear distinctly the voice of the priest (Byles) and the responses to his prayers. Then they became fainter and fainter, until I could only hear the strains of 'Nearer My God, to Thee' and the screams of the people left behind." - Ellen Mary Mockler

His body was never found, or even if recovered was not identified as most of the bodies taken out of sea were immediately buried without being properly identified.

Learning of his death, and his heroism, his brothers installed a stained glass window in his memory at St. Helen's Catholic Church in Chipping Ongar, Essex. A stained glass window in the same church was also inaugurated and blessed in his memory. The window dedicated shows St. Patrick, the Good Shepherd, and St. Thomas Aquinas.

 The inscription reads:

Pray for the Revd Thomas Byles, for eight years rector of this mission, whose heroic death in the disaster to SS Titanic, April 15, 1912, earnestly devoting his last moments to the religious consolation of his fellow passengers, this window commemorates.

His family reportedly had an audience with Pope St. Pius X who after learning of his heroic deed said that Fr. Byles died "a martyr."

He has three times been portrayed in films about the disaster. In the 1979 television movie S.O.S. Titanic, he was portrayed by Matthew Guinness. In the 1997 film, Titanic, he was portrayed by James Lancaster, reciting Revelation 21:4 (at right). Richard Basehart plays a thinly-disguised Father Byles in the 1953 film.

So the next time someone talks to you about the Titanic, DO NOT FORGET this priest who died, doing his duty as an ordained Roman Catholic priest and died giving his place up for somebody else.

Hmmm...wasn't that what St. Maximilian did?

Now, you know what that means.


***

Read more about the life and saintly heroism of the unknown priest of the Titanic by visiting the website dedicated to his life, memory and his heroism by clicking here.

GULP ALERT: Benedictine Altar Arrangement at Church of the Gesu

No. I am not talking about the Church of the Gesu in Rome.  That's the mother church of the Jesuit order.  I am talking about the starship enterprise, err..., that new church in the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University.

Look at this picture below

That is the revered and imminent Jesuit liturgist, Fr. Tim Ofrasio, assisting the Papal Nuncio Archbishop Edward Adams, as Masters of Ceremonies at an ordination ceremony at the Church of Gesu

You can see that the altar was prepared by Fr. Ofrasio using the Benedictine Altar Arrangement.  Notice the seventh candle.

Here is a shot of the sanctuary.

Thanks to a friend and a fellow GULP for sharing the photos.

So, to the members of God's Undercover Liturgical Police...

Say it with me now!

HUZZAH TO FR. TIM OFRASIO!

And if I may add.  One of the few Jesuits I admire.  I hope by now you know why I that word is in bold and italicized.

The Correct English Translation of the Roman Missal

Thanks to Fr. Cory Sticha of Omne Quod Spirat, Laudet Dominum, posted some nice links pertaining to the correct translation of the Roman Missal.

One of the sites is "A New Translation for a New Roman Missal".

They are selling a DVD of the catechesis of the new translation.  The are sample videos also on the site.

Here is a sample of the once ghastly translated Eucharistic Prayer 2 now liturgically sound.

See the great difference?

And here is an interview with a not so well-known cardinal talking about the translation.

Go check them out.

Thanks for the links, Father!

Exorcism in the Philippines

I got the link to the video of the special documentary that GMA 7 ( a local Pinoy TV station) aired about Exorcism in the Catholic Church.

I cannot find the time to translate the video since most of it is in Filipino / Tagalog.

Thank the Lord that my good friend, Jay Balza of Veritatem Facientes in Caritate blog, though still grieving from his dad's passing, diligently translated what was being discussed by the resource persons, primarily the exorcists of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Diocese of Cubao, none other than Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo of Sense of the Sacred blog, in the video.  By the way, million thanks to you, Jay for giving me that beautiful book, Dominus Est of Bishop Athanasius Schneider. The reflections of the good bishop would really convince you to Stop Communion in the Hand!  Sign the petition on the left side bar!

Go over to Veritatem Facientes in Caritate to watch the video clips.  There is an actual exorcism caught on tape when the TV crew was at the church of Fr. Jojo, the Parish of the Lord of the Divine Mercy.

RIP: Fr. Thomas Dubay, SM

Father Thomas Dubay, S.M., was a well-known retreat master and highly respected author of books on the spiritual life. He spent the last 35 years or so giving retreats and writing more than 20 books on the spiritual life. He was considered an expert on the teaching of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.
After his ordination as a Marist priest, Father expected to serve in a parish. Instead, he was assigned to graduate school – he holds a Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America – and then to teach at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

Fr. Dubay’s EWTN series include “Teresa of Avila: Personality and Prayer,” “Prayer Quests,” “Saints: A Closer Look,” “Bedrock Basics,” “Community Transformed,” and “Contemplation: Union With God.”
His many books include “Faith and Certitude,” “Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel-On Prayer,” “Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within,” “Seeking Spiritual Direction: How to Grow the Divine Life Within,” and “Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment.”

Father Dubay was considered one of the greatest experts on the spiritual life in the Catholic Church today. His writings and teachings show us how we all have the capability to understand beauty and to live a Christ-like life, through deep prayer and understanding of the Gospel.

Eternal rest grant unto him,
O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace.

Amen.

***

All files and text courtesy of EWTN

Celebrating Summorum Pontificum with a blognic!

For those who are avid followers of Fr. Z's awesome blog, he would always invite his readers to a blognic, or a blog picnic.  Whenever he would visit a place, he would invite his readers for a blognic in a specific resto.

He recently went to the Big Apple for a blognic after celebrating a TLM, in NYC of course for the 3rd Anniv. of SP.

I was watching the blognic as it happens, live!  Fr. Z used his iPhone 4 to stream the video via his Radio Sabina Z-Cam.  Awesome!  The stream ran for a few seconds and then the viewers numbers quickly spiked up!  Judging from the photos, I am pretty sure everybody had a blast!

Wish Fr. Z can come here to the Philippines so we can have our blognic here. Or maybe...

TPC readers can have a blognic of our own?  What say you, savvy?

We have our own Fr. Z here, don't we?  Fr. Jojo Zerrudo?  LOL.

Maybe after the Anglican Use Evening Prayer that our friends, Ben and Bruce, is organizing?

Someday, I'll post the faith-story of Bruce who I learned lately is an "Anglican Use Roman Catholic (a convert from the Episcopal Church in the US) who has lived in the Philippines for several years".  Maybe an interview is in the offing?

If you want to see more photos of the Mass and the blognic, click here.  Thanks to cregduff for the photos.

3 years after Summorum Pontificum

Here is a beautiful post from the great Fr. John Zuhlsdorf aka Fr. Z of the equally great What Does the Prayer Really Say? blog about the 3rd anniversary of the issuance of Summorum Pontificum.

***

Three years ago, I started chilling the Veuve Clicquot. 

Fitting for the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

I got up at Oh-dark-hundred to post the text of Benedict XVI’s long-expected Motu Proprio (I had an advance copy under embargo until noon Rome time).  The click of the ENTER button was a blessed sound.  Then I stuck the Veuve into the fridge for later.

Summorum Pontificum will prove to one of the most important events of Pope Benedict’s pontificate. 

In this document he gave a great gift to the Church especially because it is such a great gift to priests.  Once priests learn the older form of Holy Mass – and this is especially true for younger priests – they never say any Mass in the same way again.  The older form teaches them something new about themselves as priests and about what and who they are at the altar.   In turn, this has a ripple effect on people around them. [AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!]

Summorum Pontificum is part of Pope Benedict’s "Marshall Plan" to revitalize our Catholic identity.

Let’s use this entry for your reflections on Summorum Pontificum three years later.  The document went into force on 14 September 2007, but it was released today: 07-07-07.

Post here your reflections and observations.  Let’s not use this thread for discussion.  Just post your own points without engaging others directly.  And pray for Pope Benedict!

***
Thank the Lord for Pope Benedict XVI.

Continue praying for the Holy Father as we all know how the minions of hell are ganging up on him.

Oratio pro summo Pontifice
Prayer for the Pope

The following prayer is taken from the Roman Missal. A partial indulgence is attached to the versicle and response.
 

V. Oremus pro Pontifice nostro N.	V. Let us pray for N, our Pope.
R. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius. [Ps 40:3]	R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. [Ps 40:3]
Pater Noster, Ave Maria.	Our Father, Hail Mary.
Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum N., quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuae praeesse voluisti, propitius respice: da ei, quaesumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus praeest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.	O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant N, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Liturgical Oddities

An average Catholic would find these things unusual when they see them at their Sunday Mass.

Which of the two would raise your eyebrows?

My "Deal-or-No-Deal parish priest would raise an eyebrow and throw a tantrum fit the whole week if he sees the cappa magna.  He was ranting for a whole day seeing a biretta!  Imagine the cape!

But what among these two photos would help you get the "sense of the sacred" or even lift your spirits towards the Omniscient God?

Read this excellent post of Fr. Allan Macdonald of Southern Orders.  Stop and reflect.

Thanks to Fr. Allan too for the photos.

One of the best blog posts

Father Z re-posted parts of the Creative Minority report's post.  He made the comment.  I couldn't agree more.  Here is the post...

***

Pro-lifers like me love science and technology. Yup. We're like science geeks without the comic books. And we've got girlfriend and wives.

For years, religious people have been called backward and anti-science while pro-lifers actually couldn't wait for scientific and technological breakthroughs so we could all get a better look inside the womb and understand better what it is to be human. I think everyone must remember the first time they saw a 4-d ultrasound. It changes you. It's changed lots of people.

The moment America saw the delicate, beautiful, and strong hand, the human features, the smiles, the thumbsucking of a 20-week-old baby in the womb much of America reconsidered everything we took for granted. When we see five beautiful fingers that only a loving God would take the time to create reach out, it changed everything.

Poll numbers in recent years have taken a decidedly pro-life turn and while part of that is simply that pro-lifers have more children another aspect that shouldn't be dismissed is that the more we see inside the womb the more difficult it is to believe the lies of abortionists who say it's a blob of tissue.

The unspoken message of the ultrasound is clear to all with an open heart: “I'm human—just like you.”

It was the same message of Harriet Beecher Stowe whose novel “Uncle Tom's Cabin” made the horrors of slavery impossible to ignore. It was the message of Rosa Parks who awakened a slumbering country to the evils of racism by the simple act of sitting down. It is the message of the victims and the oppressed throughout our history: “"I'm human—just like you.”

That moment when a woman sees an ultrasound will encourage millions to reconsider where they stand on the issue of when life begins. And that's why pro-aborts are fighting to keep women in the dark as to what/who is growing inside them.

I have great faith that science is on our side simply because truth is on our side. And the recent spate of ultrasound laws, I think, are a great thing. And I think before the country is willing to listen to a pro-lifer saying "don't" they might just listen to pro-lifers saying "look."

***

HUZZAH TO CREATIVE MINORITY REPORT!

PART 2: Hope to see this...soon!

His Hermeneuticalness, Tim Cardinal Finigan and his Vicar General, Msgr. John Zuhlsdorf!

Do visit the blogs of these great priest and the great service they do for the Church!

Fr. Tim's blog: The hermeneutic of continuity

Fr. Z's blog: What Does The Prayer Really Say?