On Ministering in Tragedy

As America commemorates the 12th anniversary of the jihadist terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, one of the iconic images which personalized the atrocity was the photo of Father Mychal Judge, OFM.   Fr. Judge was a 68 year old Franciscan Friar who was the pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Manhattan as well as being a chaplain for the New York Fire Department since 1994.

After the World Trade Center was burning from the plane bombs which were deliberately flown into the office towers, Fr. Judge rushed to the scene of the attacks to minister to those in need.





 After administering last rites to an injured firefighter, Fr. Judge was struck by falling debris and killed.  Fr. Judge was the first recorded fatality following the terror attack. Some have dubbed the image of five emergency workers carrying the remains of the fallen Fr. Judge as the "American Pietà"

Fr. Judge's example of heroic ministry to those in their time of need is an excellent counter-example to the trend of barring clergy at mass casualty events.  After the Boston Bombing on Patriots Day 2013, priests in adjacent parishes rushed to the scene of the Boston Marathon Massacre to anoint the dying, but  police refused  them access to the bomb victims. As eight year old Martin Richard lay dying from shrapnel from the pressure cooker bomb, two priests were denied access to the scene, which may have prevented him from receiving Last Rites.

While Fr. Tom Curzon, OMV, who was one of the priests turned away from the Boston Marathon Bombing, later said that he understood that:

They [law enforcement] were trying to keep safe a very unstable, chaotic area. Even the police who were there on the perimeter, they had no idea what was behind them. All they knew was that they needed to clear out the area, and they had no idea how much they themselves were standing in harm's way.

The clergy who rushed to minister to the bombing casualties resorted to set up a table to distribute fruit and water to those who approached them.

While safely securing a perimeter by law enforcement makes sense, it is premised on the presumably unimpeachable "safety" provision.  This ignores decades of tradition where ministers worked side by side with what we would today call emergency workers to do their spiritual work. Asymmetrical warfare and terror  tactics may provoke some caution in emergencies, but priests and ministers have long heeded Christ's exhortation that: “No greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15: 13), especially in emergencies.

Sixty years after his death,  Fr. Emil Kapaun, an Army Chaplain was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery on the battlefield and in prison camp during the Korean War.  When his commanders ordered an evacuation of their position, Fr. Kapaun stayed with the wounded, comforting the injured and the dying.  In prison camp, his comfort and ministering, Fr. Kapaun's faith was instrumental.  As President Barack Obama put it during the presentation of the medal:

That faith -- that they might be delivered from evil, that they could make it home -- was perhaps the greatest gift to those men; that even amidst such hardship and despair, there could be hope; amid their misery in the temporal they could see those truths that are eternal; that even in such hell, there could be a touch of the divine. Looking back, one of them said that that is what “kept a lot of us alive.”

Even though Fr. Kapaun was ministering to the military on the battlefield, the virtues of giving hope to those in their time of despair and caring for the spiritual health of their souls at a time of trauma. 

 While there certainly is a security element in the impetus to bar ministers from mass casualty circumstances, it may also be an imposition of secular civics, either out of political correctness or atheist over-expansion of the "separation of church and state".

On September 10th, 2001, Fr. Judge gave what turned out to be his final homily to firefighters. Fr. Judge's  peroration  was focused on firemen, but his words ring true to ministers in a mass casualty situation:

What great people.  We love the job.  We all do.  What a blessing that is.  A difficult, difficult job and God calls you to it.  And then He gives you a love for it so that a difficult job will be well done.  Isn't He a wonderful God?  Isn't He good to you?  To each one of you?  And to me!  Turn to Him each day.  Put your faith and your trust and your hope and your life in His hands, and He'll take care of you and you'll have a good life.

Fr. Judge embodied that exhortation.  A prayer was found in the pocket of the fallen New York Fire Department's Chaplain which has been put on plaques and prayer cards and epitomizes the call of ministry.

Supporting the Beleaguered Copts

Burnt Coptic Church in Minyan, Upper Egypt  (Photo: David Degner)

Since ex-Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi was deposed from power in July, 2013, there has been increasing violence targeted against Egypt's eight million Coptic minority. In the past fortnight, 58 Christian Churches (14 of them Catholic) throughout Egypt.




Aside from torching these churches, agitated Islamists also paraded three Franciscan nuns through the streets like prisoners of war before a Muslim woman gave them refuge.  Alas, two other women working at the school were sexually harassed as they fought to get through the mob.

When an Obama Administration spokesman was asked about whether the violence in Egypt crossed a red line on the Obama Doctrine's "Duty to Protect", the White House flack  chose to make a snarky comeback.






Fortunately, not everyone  took the Muslim Brotherhood inspired attacks against the Copts and other Egyptian Christians as a laughing matter.  The Catholic Bishops in Egypt released a statement:  "This is not a civil war between Christians and Muslims. It is not a civil war but a war against terrorism. And the majority of the population is against terrorism and religious extremism."

Due to the threats of violence, the Coptic Virgin Mary and Priest Ibram Monasteryi in Degla, Upper Egypt, did not celebrate Divine Liturgy  for the first time in 1600 years. But Fr. James Martin, S.J. posted an inspiring photo on his Facebook account which showed the faithful celebrating Mass in a burnt out church. 

While people may hold different religious tenants and express their faithfulness in different ways, this site celebrates religious freedom and the freedom of conscience.  These attacks seem to be targeted against Christian faithful in Egypt, which predates the introduction of Islam.  The Muslim Brotherhood may be using the unrest as a means to impose shariah upon Egypt, which is contrary to Egypt's history. 

Although it is not my creed, count me as a Copt to standing up for their faith and supporting the freedom in conscience throughout the world. There is a campaign to show support for beleaguered Christian believers in Egypt with the #iamcoptic campaign.  This is not like the trend in the Nineties to show how much you care by wearing ribbons.  This is to recognize that the Islamist persecutions of Copts in Egypt may represent a Christian Krystallnact in 1938 when Nazi Germany ramped up persecution of their Jewish scapegoat minority before embarking on their diabolic final solution of the Holocaust. 

Misguided Prayers to POTUS?

A YouTube video has gone viral which features a child praying to Barack Obama.

Some of the verbiage used did not seem like it would naturally come from the mouth of babes.  In addition, at one point the boy pauses and he is softly prompted off camera.  Thus it is shocking that such sacrilege is being inculcated by adults.

Protestants often protest at the Catholic practice of praying to saints.  But Catholics are quick to distinguish their veneration (regarding with great respect) and worshiping.  Since Catholics believe that Saints are already eternally alive and in paradise, it is asking a spiritual big brother for help when petitioning the divine.

While the blasphemous blurb from the boy does mention that  "God has given you special gifts", when one listens closely to the viral video, he thanks Barack Obama for all the gifts he has received.  That certainly sounds like worship to me, said on one's knees no less.

Such misguided prayers should not be surprising considering the near cult of personality which the Lamestream Media has portrayed the President. Prior to his election in 2008, Mark Motford perpetuated the myth of Obama as a Light Worker or enlightened being.  In 2009, Newsweek journalist Evan Thomas opined that Obama was standing over the world, a sort of God. In 2010, Newsweek continued this meme portraying Obama in the style of an Indian God with many arms.

Moreover, there were a spate of photos framed so that Obama looked like he had a halo.  And Mr. Obama seemed to have trouble mentioning God when reciting portions of the Declaration of Independence. 

Aside from obvious illusions which put Obama on a divine plain, the elite liberal media has made it taboo to give President Obama a hard question much less satirize him.  Last week, Drew Johnson, who was the managing editorial editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press was fired after he pushed an unsigned editorial piece entitled: "Take Your Jobs Plan and Shove It."  In April 2012, Larry Conners was fired from St. Louis TV station KMOV after asking President Obama hard questions in what the White House intended as a softball local media interview. 

And consider the rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair i who dared to wear a mask of the President while doing his entertainment job.  Missouri's Governor Jay Nixon (D-MO), Lieutenant Governor Pete Kinder (R-MO)  and Senator Claire McCaskell (D-MO) all offered apologies.  In addition, the Missouri State Fair issued a lifetime ban on the masked rodeo clown.  

American culture is being led to a point where the President is being put on a pedestal and made beyond reproach. This harkens back to sensibilities of divine rulers when is was a crime and blasphemy to question the monarch. It is dubious if other Presidents are part of this pantheon of unquestionable leaders.  And shouldn't progressives be supporting the separation of Church and State? 

Perhaps another self described rodeo clown was prescient.  In October 2008, Glenn Beck produced "The Obama Anthem" set to the Soviet State Anthem as a piece of election agiprop as well as promoting his premiere on Fox News Channel in 2009.

The messianic allusions as well as the hallmarks of the imagined reign ring poignantly today. 

  

Over-the-Counter Eugenics?

Part of the pharmaceutical publicity roll out for Plan B One-Step by Teva Pharmaceuticals includes this ad. The model for this campaign clearly does not look over 17.  But  this is in line with the April 2013  Food and Drug Administration ruling that women and children can purchase the abortifacient over-the- counter provided the purchaser can show an ID proving that they are over 15.  In June 2013, the Obama Administrated aborted its attempt to block over-the-counter availability of pill to all women and girls. 

The marketing of this pill is targeting youthful minorities as an alternative to birth control pills, which might require a pesty and embarrassing visit to a physician while skirting some state's parental notification requirements. 

When a dozen New York City high schools announced that they would be distributing  the so called "morning after pill", New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan  objected to distributing powerful drugs with serious potential side effects to girls as young as 14 without parental consent as being "tragic and misguided".  Cardinal Dolan's modest proposal that: 

The public schools would be better advised to promote what truly works rather than continuing to follow a failed experiment that will only lead to further problems for society and for young people.

But of course inculcating an approach of abstinence before marriage is advocating morality and that can not be allowed in secular schools.  But freely distributing morning after pills like Plan B while limiting aspirin, ear-piercing, tattoos or tanning beds without parental consent is fine because of potential health risks. 

In New York City, 60% of all pregnancies to non-Hispanic blacks end in abortions. Nationally, it is the largest cause of death for African Americans since 1973.

Abortion advocates have long advocated that such a delicate decision should be made between a woman and her doctor.  Now Plan B eliminates the doctor which may ameliorate those horrific statistics.  And since it is an Over-the-Counter purchase, it eliminates the cost strain on the free birth control and abortofacients prescribed in Obamacare. 

Abortion opponents like Dr. Alveda King have observed that the most dangerous place for African Americans is the womb. 

The Plan B One-Step and the marketing towards minority youth seems to fulfill Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger's plan to weed out undesirable elements from the population.  The irony is that the eugenics occurs at the hands of targeted population.  What progress!

Then again,  consider President Obama's blessing of Planned Parenthood during his re-election campaign in 2012. 

A God Forsaken Patriotic Beer Commercial

A new advertisement campaign by Samuel Adams Brewing from Boston, Massachusetts has an "Independent" take on our founding fathers' declaration:
  

 

The namesake of this brewery would certainly have qualms about this God-forsaken omission. Samuel Adams opined: 

But the brewery was not the first to lop off "endowed by their Creator".  President Obama was infamous for not reading those lines about our Creator  off the teleprompter when reciting patriotic phrases.

Capitol Visitors' Center,Washington, DC

This advertising omission is just another instance of secular humanists trying to re-write history and claim that our Founding Fathers were atheists and to deny  the importance of a God centered revolution to bestow liberty upon America. The $621 million Capitol Visitors Center initially tried to pass off "E Pluribus Unum" as the national motto instead of "In God We Trust".   This was corrected only after 108 lawmakers backed Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA 4th) protested to the Architect of the Capitol for this historical inaccuracy.  

Washington Monument Capstone Replica, Washington, DC 

There was considerable controversy in 2007 when the "Laus Deo"  inscription on the replica capstone of the Washington Monument was   obscured.  The National Park Service promised to correct what it characterized as a stupid mistake. Praise God that that they felt the heat and then saw the light. 

Perhaps the Samuel Adams Brewing  ad was just another isolated incident of forsaking the faith of our founding fathers.  But as Independence Day approaches, we ought to toast the unalienable rights granted by our Creator for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

Fanfare for the Fortnight for Freedom

NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan

Today is the start of the second Fortnight for Freedom as urged by the United States Council of Catholic Bishops.  It is a period of  prayer, fasting, education and action to preserve the fundamental natural right that is enshrined in the Bill of Rights–the Freedom of Religion.  This effort was started last year by USCCB President New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan






Appreciating the First Amendment is particularly poignant as there are so many challenges to religious liberty and the freedom of conscience, such as the HHS Qualified Health Plan Mandate (a.k.a. the Contraception, Sterilization and Abortifacient rider), the exclusion of non-compliant adoption organizations who will not service same-sex couples, states which have approved , states co-ercing traditional marriage believers to conform to same-sex so called marriage, the military labeling Catholics and Evangelicals as extremist groups for upholding their moral beliefs, military chaplains being forced out of service if they did not tow the new Politically Correct line on homosexuality.

When President Obama marked Religious Freedom Day in 2013, he framed religious liberty as the “freedom to worship as we choose.”  That might have been acceptable public policy shorthand, but such a charitable assessment is not borne out by the actions of the Obama Administration.   This is especially exemplified in the HHS contraception mandate.

 After the initial hue and cry when the Obama Administration aborted religious liberty with the Obamacare requiring free contraception, Mr. Obama supposedly backtracked by rescinding this reviled regulation.  But as it turned out, the Obama Administration was just obfuscating authority regarding religious liberty.  The rule for “free” contraception  supposedly would not be applied to objecting churches themselves but would be effectively passed along by the insurance companies who were forced to pick up the tab for the unconscionable inclusions.  However, this so called contraception compromise did not cover religiously affiliated groups, like religious orders, parochial schools etc...  Moreover many of these organizations self-insure, so it still passed along these contraception costs for them.  Furthermore,  the same day that President Obama gave the public remarks about the contraception compromise, the Federal Register published the final rule for the Qualified Health Plan mandate with language that was unchanged from August 11, 2011.  Mr. Obama’s contraception compromise did allow religious organizations to delay implementation for one year, or as Cardinal Dolan joked that: "We were given an extra year to change our morals."

Pope Francis

While some may dismiss the contraception controversy as it seems like a Catholic thing, those who care about religious liberty need to delve deeper.  These regulations are defining what qualifies as a church in a narrow and strangling manner To receive First Amendment protections, the Obama Administration believes that an entity serve only who hold the same creed and serve only those professing the same faith.  Aside from the absurdness of having a government bureaucrat defining what “Church” is, this understanding of freedom of worship misses the point.  As Baltimore Archbishop William Lori points out : "Religious freedom protects more than the freedom to worship on Sunday; it also  protects our ability to live out our faith the other six days of the week."  Pope Francis also extolled: “We are not called to be part-time Christians...[W]e’re called to live our faith at every moment of every day.”

Religiously affiliated adoption agencies in three states and DC- the District of Calamity (sic)  have been forced out of business because their organizations will not work with same-sex couples. Catholic charitable organizations have been criticized for withdrawing from immigrant programs which endorse Gay Marriage.   Religious hospitals who maintain their ethical values will either need to serve their own flock or close down if they do not accede to the abortion requirements of Obamacare.

But it is not just faithful Catholics who are under assault for upholding their faith in America.  The Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School had to go to the United States Supreme Court to receive approbation to fire a called minister.  Despite the 9-0 ruling from the nation’s high court in January 2012, the Obama Administration foisted the contraception clause on America the next week.

The assault on religious liberty is being waged by more than the Obama Administration.  New York City instituted a new policy which prevented the Bronx Household of Faith and other small religious groups from renting space in public schools on weekends even though other non-religious groups could do so. Christian groups on college campuses are being denied recognition (and funding) when they require their leaders to be Christians and strive to live a chaste life as being discriminatory.

Great Maryland Seal

Rhode Island 1st Gov. Seal

The Puritans were Englishmen who were self-exiled to Holland at the beginning of the Seventeenth Century so that they could have religious liberty.  They decided to come to America so that they could raise their children as Englishmen who could have religious liberty in the New World. Roger Williams was a theologian forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who founded what became “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” in 1636 which separated church authority from religious authority.  Maryland was settled by Cæcilius Calvert, the 2nd Lord Baltimore and others as a refuge for English Catholics.  The Maryland Religious Tolerance Act of 1649 was  first law ever to guarantee the right to worship regardless of denomination.

Secular society has been championing a concept that America was founded on a separation of church and state and that religion was ancillary to education of the times.  While it is true that there is not a state religion, history shows the profound motivation of our founders to pursue religious liberty.   The Fortnight for Freedom should remind us of our proud history of religious liberty and point out how state incursions are strangling this fundamental freedom.  Part of this education about religious liberty should include how sweeping state regulation of secular values will end vital social services in adoption, immigration, adoption, feeding the destitute and health care by religious groups which are serious about their core beliefs.

A Bit of Brooding About Born Never Asked

It is fascinating to witness how the gory details of the Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s capital murder case has made pro-choice people uncomfortable.  The elite liberal media had to be shamed to cover the serial killing string infanticides of seven babies who were born but had their spinal cords “snipped” to “ensure fetal demise”.   The New York Times, whose mast proclaims “All the News that is fit to print”, which tends to be the vanguard for the mainstream media (really the elite liberal media) stopped covering it because it had already published six articles.  The New York Times’ editorial editor Andrew Rosenthal rationalized the Old Gray Lady’s lack of curiosity over the gruesome details of Gosnell by opining: 

What does the trial of a Philadelphia doctor who is accused of performing illegal late-term abortions by inducing labor and then killing viable fetuses have to do with the debate over legal abortion?

That rhetorical question is easy to answer– it gives insights how some of our high ranking elected officials actually hold political positions which condone Gosnell’s acts of infanticide and how government officials and medical turn a blind eye to existing law protecting the newly born to ensure the viability of their perceived sacred right of abortion on demand.

  ***

Although this author is appalled by abortion, it is currently the law of the land with some caveats (like the 24 week rule, and Born Alive).  But consider the appalling medical conditions described in the Gosnell trial, and the aforementioned Orlando abortion instance and the lack of regard for the Born Alive Protection Act.  Does this type of treatment represent the sentiments which President Obama alluded to when quoting President Bill J. Clinton that “Abortion should be rare, safe and legal”.

***

If abortionists routinely skirt the law on infants born alive and give sub-par medical treatment to women wanting abortions on the cusp of legally recognized viability, then how does it bode for other medical treatment, especially under Obamacare? 

Those who oppose abortion know that pro-choice people become uncomfortable when the ghastly  facts about abortion as practice are exposed.  That is why the Lamestream Media ignores cases like Gosnell and Hollywood stereotypes pro-lifers as hayseed, obsessed bitter clingers.  But as we are all being fed into the machine of Obamacare, people should be fully cognizant how medical ethics are being skirted for profit and professional integrity as well as the ethics of removing the voice for the defenseless such as  the unborn may soon imperil you.

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com 

Snips of Truth About Ignoring Infanticide in America

Some may be scandalized by comparing the unsavory actions of abortionist Kermit Gosnell and President Barack Obama.  Yet the facts hold out that as a legislator in the Illinois Senate, Mr. Obama twice opposed the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act.

In 2008, Presidential Candidate Obama  lashed out against "liars" when his legislative positions were questioned.  He issued a statement that he was deeply insulted and offended as the proud father of two girls that he was in favor of infanticide.  Even the Washington Post would award Mr. Obama four pinocchios for this misleading statement, as Obama was impeached on a Christian Broadcasting Network video, but that was so four years ago. 

But listen to the legislative colloquy that then State Senator Obama had on the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act.

That if that fetus, or child, however you want to describe it, is now outside of the mother's womb and the doctor continues to think that it's non viable but there's lets say movement or some indication that they're not just coming out limp and dead that in fact they would then have to call in a second physician to monitor and check off and make sure that this is not a live child that could be saved?

The salient point is that the requirement to have a second physician on call was an undue burden that would inhibit access to an abortion.   Furthermore, Mr. Obama dismisses the notion that physicians would not attend to mistakes and have a fetus outside of the mother's womb that was viable.

Consider the gory facts exposed in the Gosnell capital murder case in Philadelphia.  Abortionist Gosnell's special technique, which he instructed other unlicensed staff in his office to also perform, was to snip the spinal cord of a just born-alive child in an illegal late term abortion so that it "ensured fetal demise".  Does that give Mr. Obama some cause for pause?

Mr. Obama's contradictory comments make as much sense as when President Obama recently said "God Bless Planned Parenthood"  to a conference of the nation's largest abortion and "family planning" providers.  

The media continues to ignore the inconsistencies in Obama's extreme abortion stance as well as the details of the Kermit Gosnell trial because facts challenging their secular shibboleths exposes the hypocrisy of doing everything "for the children" and exposes the callousness of their "choices". And to add insult to mortal injury,  both Gosnell and Mr. Obama justify their actions to help the poor and marginalized, with little regard for the law, ethics, or the ultimate consequences.

A PC DOD is FUBAR

Last Thursday, President Obama posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award, to Korean War Army Chaplain Emil Kapaun for his heroic bravery.  It is sad to think so soon afterwards  that we need to consider how the Department of Defense fervently seems to battle the military chaplaincy and traditional religiosity to evangelize for faith in politcal correctness. Recently, the U.S. Army proffered Equal Opportunity training for Pennsylvania Reserve Troops that included this helpful poster on “extremist groups”.  

The Army presentation stipulates that extremism is a complex phenomenon present in many religions when "some followers that believe that their beliefs, customs and traditions are the only 'right way' and that all others are practicing their faith the 'wrong way,' seeing and believing that their faith/religion superior to all others."

 It is fascinating to see how Evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews, Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and Catholics were lumped in with Al Quaeda (spelled incorrectly in official Army materials), the Ku Klux Klan and Hamas as dangerous extremist groups. And being leery of the spread of Sharia over secular democratic civil lawyer is also defined as a hate group "Islamophobia".

  The American Family Association postulates that the Army relied upon propaganda from the Southern Poverty Law Center to label Catholics and Evangelicals as extremist because of this scriptural stances considering  homosexual relations sinful and opposing same-sex so called marriage.  The danger of the state imposing laws for same sex marriage is that the force of government makes opposing views anathematic, even if it is a tradition that has ordered Western society for thousands of years and is deeply held spiritual beliefs. 

 There is the fear that non-profits and churches which dissent from the state stampede of same sex marriage may lose their tax exempt status, especially based upon charters for many charity organizations which stipulate following the societal law.  ***

Lest anyone think that the PC DOD is all about hot button societal moral issues, consider the way the Obama Administration has used America’s military to advance his political agenda with little regard to national security. 

***

It is frightening to think that as we live in an increasingly dangerous world that a PC DOD is more concerned about making political points that it is about defending our nations interests.  If that is the case then it is not SNAFU but FUBAR.

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com

Praising the Valor of Medal of Honor Recipient Fr. Emil Kapaun

President Obama Giving Medal of Honor to Fr. Kapaun's nephew Ray

Father Emil Kapaun is a Kansas born US Army Chaplain who was post-humously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor six decades after his death in a North Korean prisoner of war camp. Fr. Kapuan is the fifth Catholic chaplain who has been given the Nation’s highest honor.  Fr. Kapaun has been recognized as a Servant of God, meaning that a case has been opened at the Vatican to explore beatification.

 Fr. Kapaun’s Congressional Medal of Honor was presented to his nephew Ray.  President Obama's  remarks at the award ceremony captured the valor which Fr. Kapaun displayed as well as demonstrating the value of the chaplaincy to the troops, especially in the duress of enemy

captivity. ***

Statue of Chaplain Kapaun, Pilsen, Kansas

What jumped out from this tribute was the observation from one of his POW comrades was how Fr. Kapaun’s very presence could make a mudhole seem like a cathedral.  The presence of a positive and faithful priest gives a glimpse of the Kingdom of God so the the mundane transcends into the magical.

 The humility, self-sacrifice and ridicule which Fr. Kapaun displayed followed the hard teachings of the Messiah is inspiring.  And the hope that Fr. Kapuan instilled in the internment camp gave them a reason to survive their hellish treatment by the enemy mirrors Passiontide. It is sad that the public has been conditioned to bemoan the tragedies of warfare without really appreciating the heroics of our brave troops, particularly from a chaplain 62 years later. May we all be inspired by the valor which Fr. Kapaun displayed on the field of battle and suffering in prison for righteousness.  And may we remember that we have a G.I. intercessor in heaven.

Army Chaplain Fr. Kapuan offering Mass on the Korean battlefield, Oct. 1950

Lord Jesus, in the midst of the folly of war, your servant, Chaplain Emil Kapaun, spent himself in total service to you on the battlefields and in the prison camps of Korea, until his death at the hands of his captors. We now ask you, Lord Jesus, if it be your will, to make known to all the world the holiness of Chaplain Kapaun and the glory of his complete sacrifice for you by signs of miracles and peace. In your name, Lord, we ask, for you are the source of peace, the strength of our service to others, and our final hope. Amen.

Chaplain Kapaun, pray for us.

SEE MORE at DistrictofCalamity.com

Pope Francis' Urbi et Orbi Excerpt

Pope Francis gave his first Easter Blessing to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Urbi et Orbi.  His remarks resounded in the message of the Resurrection:

We too, like the women who were Jesus’ disciples, who went to the tomb and found it empty, may wonder what this event means (cf. Lk 24:4). What does it mean that Jesus is risen? It means that the love of God is stronger than evil and death itself; it means that the love of God can transform our lives and let those desert places in our hearts bloom. The love God can do this!

This same love for which the Son of God became man and followed the way of humility and self-giving to the very end, down to hell - to the abyss of separation from God - this same merciful love has flooded with light the dead body of Jesus, has transfigured it, has made it pass into eternal life. Jesus did not return to his former life, to earthly life, but entered into the glorious life of God and he entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of hope.

This is what Easter is: it is the exodus, the passage of human beings from slavery to sin and evil to the freedom of love and goodness. Because God is life, life alone, and we are his glory: the living man (cf. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, 4,20,5-7).

Dear brothers and sisters, Christ died and rose once for all, and for everyone, but the power of the Resurrection, this passover from slavery to evil to the freedom of goodness, must be accomplished in every age, in our concrete existence, in our everyday lives. How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbor, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the Creator has given us and continues to give us. God’s mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can restore life to dry bones (cf. Ez 37:1-14).

Pope Francis' message of humility and the love of God transforming our lives is an interesting contrast to the Easter message by Rev. Luis Leon that President Obama heard.   Unlike the sermon at St. John's Episcopal, Pope Francis's fuller remarks  failed to include smack talk about sports however considering the trouncing the that Jumpin' Jesuits of Marquette experienced in the March Madness Elite Eight, perhaps it was better to pray for peace.

h/t: Whispers in the Loggia

Obama's UN Unorthdox Equivocation on Intolerance

During President Barack Obama’s annual speech before the United Nations General Assembly gave a perplexing perspective on religious liberty.




Obama went on to equivocate by challenging those wishing to stop Islamic blasphemy to also condemn Holocaust Deniers and those who torch churches.  However, it is shamefully naive to think that the Arab Street will hear these later rhetorical challenges.

READ MORE at DCBarroco.com

Oye Vey--Fun with Political Platforms

Many political pundits dismiss platforms as tree killers which collect dust. But both the RNC and the DNC has had fun with platforms. What is telling is how Democrats tried CYA on God and Jerusalem and ignored the will of their delegates


READ MORE  at DCBarroco.com

Discerning Civic Values--Chicago Style

After Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy dared to publically express support for the traditional definition of marriage of being one man and one woman, there has been a cacophonic chorus of progressive politicians condemning the chicken restaurant chain.  It is inconsequential that Cathy expressed his personal views on a public policy that is not settled law.  Moreover there is no evidence that Chick-fil-A violates the law and discriminates in their restaurants, liberal leaders are quick to fillet Chick-fil-As.

In fact, Chicago Mayor (and former Obama Administration Chief-of-Staff) Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago) went so far as to say: "Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values. They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents. This would be a bad investment, since it would be empty.” It is disturbing for an elected official like Emanuel to use his public office to rail against a private business. But he also seems to be applying a civic values test to conduct business in Chicagoland.







Francis Cardinal George, a native Chicagoan who just happens to be Archbishop of Chicago had some thoughts on this Chicago values test purported by Mr. Emanuel.

Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the “values” that must be held by citizens of Chicago. I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval. Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city? Is the City Council going to set up a “Council Committee on Un-Chicagoan Activities” and call those of us who are suspect to appear before it? I would have argued a few days ago that I believe such a move is, if I can borrow a phrase, “un-Chicagoan.” …

 People who are not Christian or religious at all take for granted that marriage is the union of a man and a woman for the sake of family and, of its nature, for life. The laws of civilizations much older than ours assume this understanding of marriage. This is also what religious leaders of almost all faiths have taught throughout the ages. Jesus affirmed this understanding of marriage when he spoke of “two becoming one flesh” (Mt. 19: 4-6). Was Jesus a bigot? Could Jesus be accepted as a Chicagoan? Would Jesus be more “enlightened” if he had the privilege of living in our society? One is welcome to believe that, of course; but it should not become the official state religion, at least not in a land that still fancies itself free. Surely there must be a way to properly respect people who are gay or lesbian without using civil law to undermine the nature of marriage.

Surely we can find a way not to play off newly invented individual rights to “marriage” against constitutionally protected freedom of religious belief and religious practice. The State’s attempting to redefine marriage has become a defining moment not for marriage, which is what it is, but for our increasingly fragile “civil union” as citizens. 

Mayor Emanuel seems to have selective indignation and criteria for doing business in Chicago.  Earlier in the month, when Mayor Emanuel was asked about the epidemic of gang violence in the Second City, “Rahm-bo” retorted:

We've got two gangbangers, one standing next to a kid. Get away from that kid. Take your stuff away to the alley. Don't touch the children of the city of Chicago. Don't get near them. And it is about values. As I said then, Scott [Pelley of 60 Minutes], who raised you? How were you raised? And I don't buy this case where people say they don't have values. They do have values. They have the wrong values. Don't come near the kids -- don't touch them.

OK, it seems that Emanuel will tolerate the illegal activities of gang bangers (robberies, burglaries, drug dealing), so long as they stay away from the kids.  If Chicago values mean just means to whole heartedly embracing homosexual marriage, then what about President Barack Obama who, up until his supposed evolution in May, had opposed Gay Marriage while supporting their civil rights?

Catholics just celebrated the “Fortnight for Freedom” which was a coordinated nationwide effort of prayer, fasting and instructions to educate Americans on the importance of preserving the sanctity of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution–namely, the right to freedom of speech, assembly and the unfettered exercise of religious beliefs. As this Chick-fil-A attacts show, unbridled government officials (Mayors, Cabinet Secretaries like HHS Chief Sebilius and even Presidents) need to be reminded of this First Freedom.

As Americans discern whether to preserve the traditional understanding of the covenant of marriage, we ought to affirm our tolerance and diversity for individuals of integrity who do not bend to the imposition of values of men rather than divine truths.

h/t: Hot Air

Atheists' Umbrage at Obama's Movie Massacre Prayer

Just hours after to the Midnight Movie Massacre in Aurora, Colorado, President Barack Obama recast his re-election campaign rally into a more somber public appearance. Mr. Obama encourage Americans to put aside politics as he called for a day of prayer and reflection.

President Obama concluded his remarks in Fort Myers Florida with a brief prayer: “May the Lord bring them comfort and healing in hard days to come.” These temperate remarks to the grieving American public trying to process the 12 people murdered along with 71 others shot seemed quite Presidential.

Unfortunately, atheists expressed at Mr. Obama’s attempts to offer spiritual succor to the nation.

READ MORE at the DCBarroco website