Insurance mandate

While our government is trying to tell us what procedures we have to cover with insurance, regardless if it is morally right or not, we need to remain strong and continue to pray that justice will prevail. 

We can not and will not go against our faith and promote abortion, contraception, and sterilization just because our government seems to have forgotten about freedom of religion; what this country was founded on. 

Pray the rosary.  Pray daily that this new mandate will be repealed.  Pray for our leaders of this nation.  Pray that the Bishops will remain strong and fight.  




These awesome pictures can be found and downloaded at:
http://www.stpeterslist.com/3834/i-stand-with-the-catholic-church-10-pictures-in-defense-of-the-church/

Ash Wednesday

"Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return"

Today is Ash Wednesday and so another season Lent begins.  This is the perfect time for us to reflect on our spiritual life.  People are always asking each other "what did you give up", trying to compare who gave up the most difficult item.  But as I encourage my 3rd grade religious ed kids, think of Lent as more than just giving up something.  Think of it as a time to add something. 

We are asked to give up meat on Friday's during Lent and many people give up some sort of indulgence, such as chocolate, wine, social network sites, etc.  That is wonderful as it keeps our mind focused on sacrificing and reminds us how Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice for our salvation.  But I challenge you to add something to your spiritual life as well.  Take a retreat, read the Bible as a family, pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet or some other devotional, begin to say the rosary daily, or anything else to bring you closer to God.  If you have been away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation for a while, now is the time to return and receive God's healing grace. 
That is what I think the  main point of Lent is; not just giving up, but drawing closer to God and enriching our relationship with Him.

One year I decided to attend the weekly Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings during Lent at our Parish.  It was amazing how it refocused any Earthly worries I had as I pondered the agony and pain our Lord suffered during His Passion.  It made any troubles I had going on in my life seem minimal to say the least.  Another year I prayed a devotional to Our Lady nightly before going to bed.  It was a challenge as I am so tired before going to bed, but it was nice to end the day with prayer and to feel Our Lady's closeness as she interceded for me. 

This year, I plan to take online courses to become a better catechist.  I have been putting it off for months now due to lack of time, but it is something that I am going to focus on this Lenten season.  Currently I pray the rosary daily on my drive into work.  I have about a 25-30 minute drive due to traffic and it is a perfect time to pray the rosary.  I have also been attending daily Mass for a year now since the Cathedral is just 2 blocks from my work and they offer a Noon Mass.  Very recently I purchased a Divine Mercy Chaplet song version CD and listen to it on the way home.  Just those 3 things alone have made such a tremendous difference in my life.  I feel more focused on what is important, I do not worry as much as I used to, I am more happy and content, and I feel more loving toward my neighbors.  It is honestly something  you have to experience, words alone can not describe it.


As I'm getting ready for Mass tonight, I will keep my mind on the sacrifice of our Lord, His eternal love for us, and His eagerness to become closer to us during this Lenten season.  I pray others will do the same.       

Our God

Saw this on Facebook and thought how true!  Our God is a wonderful God!

Our Lady of Lourdes

Bernadette in death, as she appeared in April 1879.

Bernadette in her crystal tomb, which bears inscriptions of the dates of each of the eighteen apparitions

"Every human being is precious in God's eyes" St. Bernadette

St. Bernadette asked Our Lady four times, "Would you be so kind as to tell me who you are?" 

"Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou" ~ "I am the Immaculate Conception"  was the response from Our Lady


Our lady appeared to St Bernadette numerous times and requested a church be built at the place she appeared.  There she created a spring of pure water which she instructed Bernadette to bathe and drink from. 

"I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next" ... These words spoken by Mary to Bernadette at the third apparition on February 18, 1858 

Bernadette received an inner calling to return to the grotto to hear the messages of Our Lady.  She was a faithful servant and even though she was ridiculed by many of the locals and considered crazy, she remained faithful to Our Lady.  May we all have the faith and determination and willing spirit of St. Bernadette.  

  For an amazing read about Our Lady of Lourdes please visit http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/bb_bernadette_body.htm

Religious freedom

Our Bishop's letter as was posted on his Facebook.  We continue to fight for the right to life and for religious freedom.  

For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 

 

My statement in response to the HHS mandate:
February 2, 2012
Solemnity of the Presentation of Our Lord

To all the Clergy, Religious and Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Tulsa,

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

These are dire times in which we live and dire times require that we not mince words but speak with authority when it comes to matters of faith, conscience and truth.

I wish to join the Bishops of this country in expressing my fear that religious liberty in the United States is even now under attack from those elected officials whose duty it is to protect the inalienable right we have from God to worship Him and to defend the Constitution of the United States which guarantees that our right of conscience may neither be violated nor held in contempt.

With the Bishops and with all right thinking Americans, I protest as strongly as I can the decision made by the Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services on January 20 which will require every Catholic in the United States to violate his or her Christian conscience and support abortion, abortion-inducing drugs, unnatural chemical contraception and direct sterilization.

As you know, in 2010 President Obama signed into law the Health Care Reform Act. This Act, the legality of which has already been challenged in the Supreme Court, makes it compulsory for every citizen to buy or procure health insurance. This same law gives to President Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, unprecedented power over all health insurance. On January 20, Ms. Sebelius issued a ruling that will require every insurance policy - even policies issued privately - to cover the cost of those actions which are in themselves always and everywhere immoral and contrary to the law of God.

This means that all of our Catholic schools and hospitals, our charitable agencies and welfare institutions, our dioceses and all our parishes will be required to cover the complete cost of chemical contraception, sterilization and abortion. If this mandate is not overturned, we Catholics will be compelled by law either to violate our conscience in a matter of grave sin, or to cancel the health insurance we offer to those who work for the Church, or for the hospitals, schools and agencies through which the Church exercises it mission.

Until now, nonprofit religious institutions have always had the right to exempt themselves from having to offer coverage if it contradicts their basic religious beliefs or violates their conscience. This right was guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution. This is no longer the case. Sebelius’ January 20 decision gives us one year to comply or suffer the consequences.

As your bishop, I want to make it clear that I consider this mandate unconstitutional, unjust and evil.

This mandate is unconstitutional because it does not allow us the full and unfettered practice of our faith. The religious freedom guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution is not simply the freedom to worship God on Sunday morning, but also the freedom to worship Him by living moral lives. No Catholic can claim to live a moral life and at the same time support contraception, direct sterilization and abortion. The first amendment guarantees us the freedom not to participate in health care plans that would require us to insure and pay for actions that are gravely sinful.

Because this mandate is unconstitutional, we will refuse to comply with it.

This mandate is evil, because not only does it require that all Catholics cooperate in sin by providing for and paying for coverage for gravely immoral actions which have as their final end the destruction of human life, but also by requiring that Catholics who do not cooperate in this should be punished. Were we to comply with this law, we would offend God and imperil our souls. We will not comply.

This mandate is unjust because it imposes a secular definition of religious freedom that makes it a crime to practice our faith in the public square. It is the Church - not the government - which has the right to determine how and when we practice our faith. In this matter, President Obama’s administration has overstepped its authority. This is what Pope Leo XIII cautioned against when he wrote over a hundred years ago: “if the will of rulers is opposed to the will and the laws of God, then those rulers exceed the bounds of their own power and pervert justice. Nor can their authority be valid, since authority without justice is null.”

From the founding of our nation, we Catholic have always obeyed the laws. But this law, we cannot obey.

I ask you as a fellow American, I beg you as your Bishop, pray and do penance that this matter be resolved according to God’s will. I also hope you will contact your senators and congressmen in Washington to protest this outrage against our religious liberty and demand that this decision be overturned.

In this difficulty as in all things, let us place our confidence in Jesus.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Rev. Edward J. Slattery
Bishop of Tulsa -

St Francis of Assisi

St. Francis is a beloved Saint to most Catholics.  He gave up everything to follow the teachings of Jesus.  He was a lover of animals and the poor and sick.  He was also a lover of peace.  He saw Jesus in the poorest of the poor.  He prayed to feel the pain and suffering that Jesus felt in his passion and he was given the stigmata.  For two years he suffered in pain and illnesses. 

St. Francis pray for us. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHVz45n5a9M&feature=colike