Shouting It Aloud: The 2016 National Day of Prayer

The theme for the 65th annual National Day of Prayer is Isaiah 58 - a call to prayer and fasting for our peoples' transgressions.

In a nation that not only continues to countenance Planned Parenthood kill unborning children but profiting from the sale of baby body parts, such a call is apt. To add injury to insult, some governments are prosecuting the whistle blowers in lieu of the abortionists who are engaged in prima facia illegal practices. 

The Supreme Court broke with 5,000 years of human civilization and legalized same sex so called marriage, but forced it upon all states with a dubious application of the 14th Amendment and a fuzzy "Right to Dignity".

And over the last year, progressive LGBTQQ? activists have been fighting to break down privacy barriers to allow people claiming gender dysphoria to use bathrooms opposite to their biological designation, which opens the door for perverts (non-transvestites citing gender fluidity) easy access to public facilities.  But if one points out that there are only two sexes (as shown through chromosomes), social justice warriors will unmercifully attack and isolate the individual not speaking the politically correct shibboleth.

Thus is seems apt to focus on asking the Lord for forgiveness and seeking to fast.

Alas, even fasting is a facet for this culture to mock.  Recently, Glenn Beck called for his audience to fast for America as it was on the precipice of choosing the major party candidates for press.  Yet even some right wing media outlets like Breitbart and the Drudge Report (both of which have been heavily skewed for supporting Donald Trump), found this clarion call a moment for mockery.

Some may cynically question if a call to prayer will matter. Bible believers should recall the walls came tumbling down in Jericho by those humbling themselves and following divine will.  Many attribute the stop of Islamic incursions into Europe during the 16th century in the Battle of Lepanto because of the call by Pope Pius V to pray the Rosary via the intervention of Our Lady of Victory (now called Our Lady of the Rosary).  The American Revolution was bolstered by the first Great Revival and the prayful action of the Black Robe Regiment.

The 2016 National Day of Prayer will have 47,000 separate events. This is the time to shout it out loud. 

Cardinal Donald Wuerl on Same Sex Marriage Ruling

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz on Marriage

Bishop Michael Jarrell on Marriage

 

 In reacting to the  Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) decision in which a 5 to 4 Supreme Court majority imposed same sex marriage throughout the United States, Bishop Michael Jarrell of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana gave forthright instructions to his faithful.

Bishop Jarrell enjoined his clergy from participation in same-sex "marriage" ceremonies, forbade the use of Catholic facilities or properties (e.g. churches, meeting halls, Catholic educational health or charitable institutions) from being used in a solemnization of same sex marriages.

 This decision comes down during the fourth Fortnight for Freedom, a 14 day campaign by the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops to educate America about our fundamental first Constitutional right, the freedom of religion (not worship) and to defend religious liberty.

    

Alas, Catholics will need to take to heart the examples of St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher and the English Martyrs who suffered for adherence to their faith.

h/t: Church Militant

"Reid Between the Lines" Anti Papist Bigotry at MSNBC

When MSNBC was reporting on the Hobby Lobby which was going to be argued before the US Supreme Court, Joy Reid's video package included some naked Catholic bigotry.

Rather than settle for arguing the merits of Sebilius v. Hobby Lobby  for the State (as is MSDNC's wont) on whether corporate personhood can include religious convictions, Joy Reid impeached the credentials of two thirds of the nation's highest court based on religion.

While Reid's legal analysis might acknowledge the  Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, she is blissfully ignorant of Article VI paragraph 3 of the Constitution regarding no religious test.

Catholic Supreme Court Justices 2013-2014 session

To think that an originalist like Associate Justice Antonin Scalia or natural law jurist like Associate Justice Clarence Thomas would vote en bloc with their wise Latina co-religionist Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor is drinking liberally spiked Kool-Aid around the ugly fever swamp.

Jeff Dunetz observed that MSNBC is hypersensitive about racial implications.  So if court commentators hypothetically opined about three African American judges voting together, this would be condemned as racism.  Dunetz, who writes Yid with Lid, noted: "However because Joy Reid was questioning Catholic judges, it’s no big deal.  In the world of the  mainstream media it’s only bigotry when directed toward certain groups, blacks, women, Muslims, Hispanics, etc.".  Yet liberals are quick to condemn conservatives for supposedly judging people because of their race or creed.

Jeff Dunetz observed that MSNBC is hypersensitive about racial implications.  So if court commentators hypothetically opined about three African American judges voting together, this would be condemned as racism.  Dunetz, who writes Yid with Lid, noted: "However because Joy Reid was questioning Catholic judges, it’s no big deal.  In the world of the  mainstream media it’s only bigotry when directed toward certain groups, blacks, women, Muslims, Hispanics, etc.".  Yet liberals are quick to condemn conservatives for supposedly judging people because of their race or creed.

It is sad that unwarranted accusations against certain groups of faithful, such as Roman Catholics or Latter Day Saints (Mormons) are accepted by progressive posses but judging the actions and expressed intentions of Salaphist or Jihadist Muslims is quickly condemned as "racism".

Ms. Reid's read of the Catholic cabal on the Supreme Court proved to be quite mistaken.  Arguments before the high court had Justices gravitating their questions from ideological and gender groupings, not from shared creed.

Sketch of Solicitor General Donald Verrelli arguing Sebelilius v. Hobby Lobby at US Supreme Court 

In fact, based upon early reporting, the more overt allusions to applications of faith to legal hypotheticals was a question from Associate Justice Samuel Alito , who queried Solicitor General Donald Verrelli (arguing the Obama Administration's case) whether halal or kosher butchers could be banned if legislators passed an animal cruelty law like Denmark.  Verrelli's answer was that they could get standing with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but they better get their cases to court by raising claims on behalf of their customers using the First Amendment.

While CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called Verrelli's two hours of arguments a "train wreck" for the Obama Administration, other liberal commentators dissented.

Let us hope that in late June when the contraception cases are likely to be issued that the Lamestream Media can contain their contemptible secularist biogotry against the faithful.  But that is expecting a minor miracle from the media.

h/t:  Hot Air
      Yid with Lid
      SCOTUS Blog
    WSJ Washington Wire

The Equalizer?

As the California Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) cases were argued before the United States Supreme Court, there was a concerted social media campaign to show support for Same Sex Marriages by displaying an equals sign on a red background. 

This Graphic "You want to talk about Equality"  challenges that meme with footprints challenging progressive secular sanctimoniousness by reminding them about their negative solution on the Right to Life. Meme chose, n'est pas?  

Actually no it isn't as the right to life would seem to trump altering contract rights and imposing it on all states. 

Some Are Still Gestating a Respect for Personhood

Sign from a March for Life demonstrator

 This week marked the 40th Anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade which open the floodgates across America for abortion on demand. Associate Justice Harry Blackman mooted some state anti-abortion laws in his 1973 majority opinion under the guise of an unwritten “right to privacy” that was contained in penumbras and emanations of the bill of rights as applied to states via the Fourteenth Amendment. This vague and confusing “logic” was the legal modus operandi for the judicial branch to legislate from the bench by imposing progressive moral sensibilities as "choices".

Nellie Gray

 Pro-Life protesters have demonstrated in our Nation’s Capitol every year around that January 22nd anniversary to protest this perceived injustice to the unborn.  This is the first year that the March for Life has been held without Nellie Gray, who died last August at the age of 88.  Gray was an accomplished attorney for the Federal Government who was so appalled by the Roe v. Wade decision that she walked away from her career (and took a small pension) to dedicate her life to standing for life by organizing the Marches for Life.




Although scheduling conflicts precluded my participation in this year's March for Life, organizers estimated at least 500,000 people participated despite the bitter cold and the afternoon onset of snow which makes District of Calamity denizens deranged.

View of crowd from the 40th March for Life, Washington, DC January 25, 2013

Yet you would never know it by the elite liberal media reports (a.k.a. the Lamestream Media).  The sea of humanity marching for the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death, is minimized while the dozen of counter-protesters insisting that abortion is not murder are given equal time. And the media is quick to cite an outlier poll which "proves" their point that people do not think that abortion is murder.





  READ MORE reflections on the March for Life at at DCBarroco.com

SCOTUS Sartorial Stylings at the Inauguration

While there has been a buzz in the Lamestream Media as to the sartorial stylings of First Lady Michelle Obama at the 57th Presidential Inauguration, some astute observers had admired unusual haberdashery on the dais.

[Front L. Justice Sotomayor, R.  Justice Scalia; Back L. Justice Thomas, R. Justice Kagan]

Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wore some distinctive head-wear to the public swearing in ceremony.  Scalia donned a hat which was a gift from the St. Thomas More Society from November 2010 that is a custom made replica based on the 1527 portrait of St. Thomas More by Hans Holbein. What is more interesting than the fashionista question: "What are you wearing?" would be "Why are you wearing that hat?"  Was this just an opportune occasion to wear a stylish cap?  Or might the sartorial choice be subtle statement which echoes the inspiration for the Fortnight for Freedom?

[L.] . Justice Scalia at Inauguration [R] Detail of St. Thomas More portrait by Hans Holbein (1527)

Last summer, when the US Council of Catholic Bishops sought to educate the public about the encroachment of Obamacare into our foundational freedom of religion by the HHS Qualified Health Plan   (contraception) mandate.  The kick off mass celebrated St. Thomas More, a faithful Catholic who sacrificed his high position as Lord Chancellor (Prime Minister) as well as his own life when the secular sovereign demanded him to abandon his faith. You be the judge. h/t: First Things

Celebrating the Red Mass

[L] Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl and [R] Chief Justice John Roberts at 2012 Red Mass

On the day before the start of new Supreme Court term, six justices attended the Red Mass at St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington, DC. The Red Mass harkens on a Roman Catholic tradition which began in the High Middle Ages, where the Church asks for guidance by the Holy Spirit to come upon all who seek justice. The Red Mass derives its name from the red vestments worn by the clergy during the liturgy, which recalls the Holy Spirit’s tongues of fire which came upon the Apostles at Pentecost.

 The Archdiocese of Washington and the John Carroll Society have sponsored a Red Mass in Washington since 1953. This year Chief Justice John Roberts along with Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, and Elena Kagan attended. It should be noted that Justices Breyer and Kagan are Jewish but they clearly attended to respect the concept and supporting religious plurality in America.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio at St. Peters Tomb

The Mass was celebrated by Washington Archbishop Donald Cardinal Wuerl. However the homily was given by Archdiocese for the Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the prelate charged with shepherding the spiritual welfare for the 1.5 million Americans serving overseas in the military or government service.

 Archbishop Broglio’s homily included some scriptural exegesis to the readings at Mass and delved into some Catholic culture as he recognized Saints’ Day. But Broglio embraced the mantle of the New Evangelization and dared to echo themes from the Fortnight for Freedom of religious liberties, the latter may touch upon issues that the High Court will soon tackle.


 Here is the written text of Archbishop Broglio’s Red Mass homily:

The author A.J. Cronin told the story of a district nurse he knew during the time he practiced medicine.  She covered a ten-mile district by herself, was extremely capable and generous with her time.  She was patient and cheerful.  Her salary was insignificant and late one night after a particularly strenuous day, Dr. Cronin suggested that she demand a higher salary.  “God knows you are worth it”, he added.  Her reply was classic, “if God knows I’m worth it, that is all that matters to me”.

Indeed if we live and work with the confidence that we are inserted into the Lord’s plan, then that is all that matters.  Is that not what the word of God tells us this morning at the 60th annual Red Mass as the readings invite us to be open to the Spirit of God, beg His blessing on a new judicial year, and strive to be instruments of a new evangelization.

The passage from the Book of Numbers is fascinating.  The Lord has guided the Chosen People out of Egypt and through the desert, but there is a structure and a system to govern them.  Seventy elders are chosen to help Moses with the task of judging, but Eldad and Medad miss the installation.  Still they receive the gift and the mission.

To Joshua’s concern about a possible challenge to Moses’ leadership, he explains that the divine gift is not limited by place, but attached to the person, wherever he or she might be found. The sovereign liberty of God determines how He will act and that obliges the believer of all times to question the temptation to close God within the narrow spaces of a justice which assigns itself the task of protecting the presumed rights of God while trampling upon those of his or her brothers and sisters.

Of course, you and I live in a world of forms, ID’s, procedures, and verification.  One commentator on this passage suggested that in the near future in order to die you will have to fill out the appropriate form, and perhaps a diligent clerk will tell you to save the receipt to present to St. Peter at the Gates of Paradise. Moses’ wish is the better course: “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!” 

His invitation is to look for the evidence of the good, of truth, and of the beautiful in another.  There is not a monopoly of the Spirit, but rather an abundance of gifts to be used to build up the Body of Christ.  

How appropriate it is to speak about that abundance on September 30th when we would normally celebrate St. Jerome, a learned doctor of the Church who was first charged to translate the Bible from its original languages to the vernacular Latin.  His talents were used to make the Word of God accessible to the ordinary folk.

We remember him and remain inspired by his quest for learning as we gather as a community of faith to beg an abundance of blessings upon the women and men of our judiciary and the legal profession.  

 It is a moment to pause and pray for those who serve our Country and foster justice for all.  We know that a believing community engages in prayer for the needs of all, but especially for those who face arduous tasks. Indeed “Justice is radically intolerant of injustice; justice seeks out injustice to destroy it.  To emphasize security at the expense of eradicating injustice creates a fool’s paradise.”
 The Romans put it more succinctly: “Justitia non novit patrem nec matrem; solum veritatem spectat justitia.” Justice knows neither father nor mother; justice looks to the truth alone. For that reason we are here primarily to pray with you and for you as you execute the daunting task assigned to you at various levels.  

We beg a blessing for all of you and for all of those who assist you in this important ministry.  We invoke the only Just One so that He might inspire all that you do.  We recognize “that those who involve themselves with human law are doing God’s work.  You are called to be involved with the same matters with which the Lord God is involved in relationship with His creation.”

We have heard the question posed by the Apostles just before the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven.  Their vision was of a political reality alone: the end of Roman rule and the independence of the Chosen People.  It was a vision firmly anchored in this world alone.  They would need the gift of the Holy Spirit so as to purify their goals, understand their mission correctly and be able to accomplish it.

So we pray for all of those gathered here that they might welcome the strength of the Holy Spirit and the interior dynamism with which He fills our hearts. We do so just before the beginning of the Year of Faith given to us by the Holy Father, because there is a “need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ.”

The mission is always audacious, but it is possible with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are instruments in the hands of the Lord and so we pray to be ever open to His presence. The message is filled with hope: not only for eternal life, but also for the graces necessary so that our lives are truly noble, worthy of God, and of the vocation He has given us.

We speak so often of the new evangelization, because we recognize that we must be its instruments in all that we do. The faith we hold in our hearts must motivate the decisions, the words, and the commitment of our everyday existence.  That existence is extraordinary, because it is infused with divine grace.  

St. Thomas More said that he died the good servant of the King, but the faithful servant of God first.  We, too, are faithful citizens only when we embrace the fullness of the principles of our faith and allow them to enliven and fortify our contributions to the life of the Nation. Or to draw on the eloquence of the Archbishop of Baltimore in a paraphrase: we must be loyal Americans by being a bold and courageous men and women of faith and conviction regarding the ethical norms that guide society and its choices.

There is so much that we bring to the discourse of our society.  Our faith expresses itself in worship, but also in witness.  From the beginning the Church has been active in society to make a contribution, especially to the care of the poor, but also to education.  The first universities grew out of the monasteries.  We cannot separate who we are from how we live.

 To quote Father Alfred Delp, a Jesuit condemned to death by the Nazis, “Futility or ineffectiveness do not dispense one from speaking the truth, declaring what is right and just…Woe if the prophets are mute out of fear that their word might not be heeded.”

I am reminded of my first year as a seminarian in Rome.  An important 19th Century Justice Department building was closed because it was unsafe.  It seemed to be sinking into the ground.  Yet the Colosseum, Pantheon, and the ruins of the Roman Forum were all still standing and could be visited.  It was a good reminder that not everything contemporary is good and that stable foundations are essential.  Our society must also rest on stable, clear foundations.  Otherwise, we run the risk of sinking into the mire of one popular sound byte after another!

Last January the Holy Father recalled for the Bishops of this region that consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good and the conditions for human flourishing are at the heart of every culture.  “In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation’s founding documents, was grounded in a worldview shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principles deriving from nature and nature’s God.”

Cronin’s nurse knew that, as well.  She recognized that the ultimate value was the eternal judgment rendered by Almighty God.  “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”

h/t: Whispers In the Loggia