Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Miss California
I'm not really into polls but, according to the following AT&T/Yahoo News Poll, Miss California has a lot of supporters!
Q. Carrie Prejean caused a stir on the Miss USA stage when she said marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Judge Perez Hilton and others in the pageant slammed the response, which may have cost her the crown. On the talk-show circuit Prejan has stood by her response and garnered praise from opponents of same-sex marriage. What do you think? Does Prejean deserve criticism or praise for her response?
She should be criticized. That sort of prejudice should never be tolerated.
11%
She should be praised for expressing her opinion.
87%
Not sure/No opinion.
2%
17295 votes
Vote here
Q. Carrie Prejean caused a stir on the Miss USA stage when she said marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Judge Perez Hilton and others in the pageant slammed the response, which may have cost her the crown. On the talk-show circuit Prejan has stood by her response and garnered praise from opponents of same-sex marriage. What do you think? Does Prejean deserve criticism or praise for her response?
She should be criticized. That sort of prejudice should never be tolerated.
11%
She should be praised for expressing her opinion.
87%
Not sure/No opinion.
2%
17295 votes
Vote here
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Happy Birthday Pope Benedict XVI!
Last year my family and I went to DC during the Papal visit. Here is the video my sister made with some of our pictures:
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Holy Week Pictures
WWII Army Chaplin
From The Windsor Star/Fr. Z's blog:
He was a soldier to the end. His threadbare army tunic hung on the wall, and his room was filled with religious icons, rosaries and holy pictures. And when you spoke to him, his words were about the men he knew on the battlefields of France when he rigged up a makeshift altar on the hood of his jeep and said mass for them. The photos from the Second World War show these anxious men kneeling, their heads bowed, silent in the muddy fields just hours before they were sent into battle. And when age finally wore him down -- long after the war and years of serving parishes all over the London diocese including Windsor, Woodslee and Kingsville -- this old priest told me it wouldn't stop him from saying mass in his bed at the nursing home. It would never stop him from being a priest. And there was no way he would ever lose his faith in his religion or people. I'm speaking about an old friend, Rev. Mike Dalton, who passed away Monday afternoon at Sacred Heart Nursing Home in Courtland, Ont. He was 106, a month shy of his 107th birthday. This son of a Goderich farmer is the most decorated padre who ever served in the Canadian Army. He marched at the front lines with his fellow soldiers, often carrying their weapons when they tired of battle. Besides the Military Cross for bravery, Father Dalton was the first Catholic priest to receive the Member of the British Empire. The day King George VI pinned the decoration on his tunic at Buckingham Palace, he dug deep into his pockets and handed the monarch a Catholic religious medal. When I met Father Dalton in the mid-1990s, this legendary padre with the Essex Scottish, who landed at Normandy in 1944, complained of sitting in a wheelchair. His legs had given out on him. He prayed for God to give him back his strength, so he could stand up again and say mass. TWINKLE IN HIS EYES
Deep down, he knew better. He told me so. The day I met him, Father Dalton wore the Roman collar, and had a twinkle in those slate-grey eyes and a wit and a humour that bubbled out in the stories he spun for me. He loved to talk. He loved people. He loved life. He loved God. He loved being a soldier. He loved being a priest. If there was anything he didn't like, it was losing those fathers and sons to war. He had sensed their inner fears. It didn't matter if the orders were to stay clear of the front lines -- he listened instead to his own heart, and drove his jeep to the brink of battle. And he would sit there in the open jeep -- its windshield festooned with flowers -- and hear the laboured, disturbed confessions of terrified soldiers. Or sometimes he would join a soldier on a road to a battle and try to ease their woes and lift their spirits.
Somehow Father Dalton believed he was invincible. He said he feared nothing. He figured he had a purpose, a reason to be. He felt lucky. He felt destined and blessed for some higher purpose. How else, he asked, do you explain how twice his truck was hit with shrapnel, and men died all around him? "I didn't have a scratch. I couldn't even get a cold," he said.
And sometimes he was so lost in the reverie of saying mass on the hood of his jeep that he would suddenly turn to give a blessing, "and there was no one there ... I was all alone. The soldiers had jumped for cover, and shrapnel was flying everywhere. I hadn't heard a thing."
Rev. Matthew George, a longtime friend of Father Dalton, in hearing of his death, said the biggest regret of this priest's life was discovering too late the botched Dieppe invasion. "He had been at a chaplain's meeting and when he found out, he wanted to be put ashore, but they wouldn't let him. "He cared about those men -- and never forgot them," said George.
It reminded me of what Dalton told me years ago when I asked why he joined the army. He said that when he served at St. Alphonsus in downtown Windsor, he realized those same kids who had made their First Communion in that church were now running off to war.
"I had to go with them," he said.
Now with his passing, I'm speculating the old padre is catching up to them, once again.
Deep down, he knew better. He told me so. The day I met him, Father Dalton wore the Roman collar, and had a twinkle in those slate-grey eyes and a wit and a humour that bubbled out in the stories he spun for me. He loved to talk. He loved people. He loved life. He loved God. He loved being a soldier. He loved being a priest. If there was anything he didn't like, it was losing those fathers and sons to war. He had sensed their inner fears. It didn't matter if the orders were to stay clear of the front lines -- he listened instead to his own heart, and drove his jeep to the brink of battle. And he would sit there in the open jeep -- its windshield festooned with flowers -- and hear the laboured, disturbed confessions of terrified soldiers. Or sometimes he would join a soldier on a road to a battle and try to ease their woes and lift their spirits.
Somehow Father Dalton believed he was invincible. He said he feared nothing. He figured he had a purpose, a reason to be. He felt lucky. He felt destined and blessed for some higher purpose. How else, he asked, do you explain how twice his truck was hit with shrapnel, and men died all around him? "I didn't have a scratch. I couldn't even get a cold," he said.
And sometimes he was so lost in the reverie of saying mass on the hood of his jeep that he would suddenly turn to give a blessing, "and there was no one there ... I was all alone. The soldiers had jumped for cover, and shrapnel was flying everywhere. I hadn't heard a thing."
Rev. Matthew George, a longtime friend of Father Dalton, in hearing of his death, said the biggest regret of this priest's life was discovering too late the botched Dieppe invasion. "He had been at a chaplain's meeting and when he found out, he wanted to be put ashore, but they wouldn't let him. "He cared about those men -- and never forgot them," said George.
It reminded me of what Dalton told me years ago when I asked why he joined the army. He said that when he served at St. Alphonsus in downtown Windsor, he realized those same kids who had made their First Communion in that church were now running off to war.
"I had to go with them," he said.
Now with his passing, I'm speculating the old padre is catching up to them, once again.
[HT: Patricia]
Monday, March 30, 2009
We Remember Terri
From www.TerrisFight.org:
Four years ago today Terri Schiavo died. By the order of Judge George W. Greer, Terri died a slow barbaric death by starvation and dehydration over a period of almost two weeks. We have been posting stories of the events that occurred on each of those days not only in respect for Terri's memory, but a reminder that in this moment countless people are suffering slow, agonizing deaths in hospice, nursing homes, and hospitals in America and around the world.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Abortion/Breast Cancer Link
My mom just sent this e-mail out and Jill Stanek posted it on her website.
As I walked into Jewel today, I was approached by a women soliciting donations for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk. I took a brochure and when leaving spoke to her about how this company, along with the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, denies the link between abortion and breast cancer. In addition to that, Komen gives monies directly to Planned Parenthood. I explained in a simple way, how abortion causes breast cancer: When a women has her monthly cycle, her breasts fill with a cancer causing toxin (estrogen). When she becomes pregnant, her cycle stops for the 9-month period. That in itself has always been an indisputable key factor to lowering breast cancer. The earlier a woman completes a full-term pregnancy, the better, and the more children, the better. Breastfeeding also helps stave off breast cancer.
But in addition, when a pregnancy is suddenly aborted, breasts that were preparing to nourish a baby are left with more undifferentiated, i.e., cancer-vulnerable cells, than before she was pregnant. The fact is, abortion can increase a woman's risk factor up to 260%!
As I was explaining this to the ill-informed volunteer, a woman and a man separately walked up with donations. I started explaining the ABC risk to them when the Avon rep rudely told me to leave. The man kept his money and walked out with me and thanked me!I realized I should complain to the store manager, so I did. The lady at the counter thanked me for the info and called the manager. I told them if the Avon campaigner was not removed, I was going home to get my 6-ft. picture of an aborted baby and coming back!Well, the manager said, he didn't think that was necessary. Still, I left for my sign, but when I got back to the store, the Avon rep was gone, praise God!
As I walked into Jewel today, I was approached by a women soliciting donations for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk. I took a brochure and when leaving spoke to her about how this company, along with the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, denies the link between abortion and breast cancer. In addition to that, Komen gives monies directly to Planned Parenthood. I explained in a simple way, how abortion causes breast cancer: When a women has her monthly cycle, her breasts fill with a cancer causing toxin (estrogen). When she becomes pregnant, her cycle stops for the 9-month period. That in itself has always been an indisputable key factor to lowering breast cancer. The earlier a woman completes a full-term pregnancy, the better, and the more children, the better. Breastfeeding also helps stave off breast cancer.
But in addition, when a pregnancy is suddenly aborted, breasts that were preparing to nourish a baby are left with more undifferentiated, i.e., cancer-vulnerable cells, than before she was pregnant. The fact is, abortion can increase a woman's risk factor up to 260%!
As I was explaining this to the ill-informed volunteer, a woman and a man separately walked up with donations. I started explaining the ABC risk to them when the Avon rep rudely told me to leave. The man kept his money and walked out with me and thanked me!I realized I should complain to the store manager, so I did. The lady at the counter thanked me for the info and called the manager. I told them if the Avon campaigner was not removed, I was going home to get my 6-ft. picture of an aborted baby and coming back!Well, the manager said, he didn't think that was necessary. Still, I left for my sign, but when I got back to the store, the Avon rep was gone, praise God!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Madonna of the Rock
As the Holy Family was fleeing Herod, they happened to stumble upon a cave belonging to a thief and his family. The robber and his wife had an infant son the same age as Jesus. Sadly, the baby had leprosy. The Blessed Mother took pit on the poor child and his mother. In gratitude for the shelter and food the robber's family had provided, She, through Jesus, performed a miracle.
Our Lady told the mother to place her son in the bath water that had been used to wash the Christ Child. As soon as the robbers son was bathed in the water, his skin was completely restored and renewed.
Many years passed, the two boys grew to manhood. The cured boy grew into the trade of his father and became a thief. One fateful and terrible day the two men met again, this time not in a cave, but on a hill. The leprous baby boy was now the thief who hung on the cross at the right side of Jesus and said, "Lord, remember me when Thou dost enter into Thy Kingdom". Jesus' Mother's kind deed of long ago had won the thief the grace of faith and repentance.
[H/T:Patricia] Seton Press Homeschool
Our Lady told the mother to place her son in the bath water that had been used to wash the Christ Child. As soon as the robbers son was bathed in the water, his skin was completely restored and renewed.
Many years passed, the two boys grew to manhood. The cured boy grew into the trade of his father and became a thief. One fateful and terrible day the two men met again, this time not in a cave, but on a hill. The leprous baby boy was now the thief who hung on the cross at the right side of Jesus and said, "Lord, remember me when Thou dost enter into Thy Kingdom". Jesus' Mother's kind deed of long ago had won the thief the grace of faith and repentance.
[H/T:Patricia] Seton Press Homeschool
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