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Saint Augustine, in his Confessions, Book VIII, Chapter X, describes his torment at being torn between two wills, the carnal and the spiritual, and writes, "..as yet I was bound by the iron chain of my own will. The enemy held fast my will, and had made of it a chain, and had bound me tight with it. For out of the perverse will came lust, and the service of lust ended in habit, and habit, not resisted, became necessity. By these links, as it were, forged together -- which is why I called it 'a chain' - a hard...

When the left savages the right, it's OK. When America's top conservative questions why taxpayers must subsidize the sex life of a coed, the sky falls in. Bill Maher, call your office. When the late, great Andrew Breitbart was asked in a Twitter conversation whether he'd apologize for his website's posting of a video of a speech by Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod that led to her forced resignation, Breitbart replied, "Apologize for what?" Breitbart knew the sensitivities and the hypocrisy of the left when their sacred cows and double standards were under attack. Hell hath no fury, he knew,...

In an editorial entitled, "Stop the erosion of religious liberty," The Catholic Free Press, official newspaper of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, laments that, "The Obama administration has embarked on a systematic effort to erode religious liberty to the point of non-existenceby attempting to restrict it solely to freedom of worship. Through administrative policies and mandates, religious liberty and freedom of conscience in the United States is under attack, as witnessed by the most recent 'accommodation.'..The Obama administration has been chipping away at the right of religious institutions to abide by their beliefs when those beliefs oppose the secularist agenda,...

First Amendment: The ex-head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops compares the administration take on freedom of worship to the Soviet Union's and says its contraceptive mandate will force church hospitals to close. On the first Sunday of Lent, Chicago's Francis Cardinal George issued his version of the letter issued by the USCCB he recently led. It shredded assurances by the administration that things could be worked out so that religious freedom would not be impaired and painted a bleak future that just might be the administration's intent. Going a bit further than his peers, Cardinal George essentially rejected...

Homeschooling families will soon be forbidden from teaching that homosexual sex is sinful as part of their schooling program, according to the government of Alberta, Canada. Under the province’s Education Act, homeschoolers and religious schools will be banned from “disrespecting” people’s differences, Alberta Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk’s office told LifeSiteNews just last week. “Whatever the nature of schooling – homeschool, private school, Catholic school – we do not tolerate disrespect for differences,” said Donna McColl, Lukaszuk’s assistant director of communications. “You can affirm the family’s ideology in your family life, you just can’t do it as part of your educational...

Thursday, February 23, 2012 Sir Trevor Phillips: Christians, and only Christians, should be denied religious freedom and conscience rights Saint Thomas Aquinas explains that a law is just if it corresponds to the divine law. If civil law does conform to the divine law, then it has the power to bind us in conscience and to disobey such a law would be a sin. But human law cannot exceed the power of its human authors. Aquinas teaches that the law which is promulgated must correspond to the divine law. No human authority can declare what is morally evil to be...

The recent flap over the Obama Administration’s edict that all employers must provide birth control, including abortifacients, as part of heath insurance benefits for employees has given us a “teaching moment,” says representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.). “We have established the fundamental principle that employers may not force their views on employees by refusing to cover the costs of birth control measures,” Wasserman-Schultz crowed. “The days of employer oppression of employees are over. The government has stepped in to defend the working class.” The Congresswoman dismissed complaints that the Obama Administration’s move wrongfully violates individuals’ rights to act in accord with...

President Obama has a slightly different interpretation of Exodus 20:3, first of the Ten Commandments, he has now clarified his policy: When a despot (Obama) declares one “right” (too choose to kill your offspring) to be SUPERIOR to another right (worship and conscience, as per First Amendment)… we soon learn we in reality have NO RIGHTS at all (how can any "right" trump another?)! Obama’s actions are tantamount to “establishing religion” as worship of government above all other is demanded and to be forced through Federal coercion! This is not just unconstitutional, it is ANTI-Constitutional! BIG LIB, media and Obama...

Constitution: The Air Force removes a reference to God from its logo as the Army forbids Catholic chaplains from reading an archbishop's letter to those in uniform. What's next, the crosses at Arlington National Cemetery? 'It is a blow to a freedom that you have fought to defend and for which you have seen your buddies fall in battle," read the letter from Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services to the Catholic chaplains in the U.S. military. The letter that the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains kept from being read to...

Journalism: When the abortion giant's funding was in jeopardy, the media provided 24/7 coverage with a decidedly liberal slant. When the feds assaulted First Amendment religious freedom, you could hear the crickets chirp. Secular progressive bias in the media was never more evident than in the past few weeks with the difference in coverage of two major news stories — the temporary cutoff of funds from the Susan G. Komen Foundation to Planned Parenthood and the ultimatum from the Obama administration that the Catholic Church and its institutions had a year to find a way to violate their consciences and...

When Vatican I defined the personal infallibility of the Pope, it was understood by the Fathers of that Council that the teaching was incomplete: the council fathers knew that, at some time in the future, the teaching would have to be completed to address the authority of the Ordinary Magisterium as well. That task was left to Vatican II. One of the forgotten teachings of Vatican II was its definition of the infallibility of the Ordinary Magisterium: namely, that the Pope doesn't have to declare something ex cathedra in order for it to be considered infallible; that the Church's ordinary...

1st Amendment: Catholic bishops on Sunday issued a response to ObamaCare's mandates on providing contraception in violation of conscience and religious freedom. The message was simple: We will not comply. It was hardly a profile in courage when the Obama administration, hoping to kick the issue down the road past the November election, announced last Friday that Catholic hospitals and other religious institutions will have an extra year to comply with a new requirement that most health plans provide contraceptive benefits at no cost to their members. On Sunday, America's Catholic bishops in an open letter to their parishioners and...

The Catholic Church has taken a rather strong stand in opposing the Obama administration's requirement that the church provide contraceptive medicine and treatments as a required component of Obamacare. Apparently the administration is in accord with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in shrugging off concerns about the "conscience thing" that has forced the Catholic Church to denounce this policy from the pulpit during Mass on this past Sunday all over America. The government is requiring the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, and the congregants who are devout Catholics, to fund such contraceptive medicine for all lay employees of Catholic grammar...

The decision last week by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to reject the appeals of scores of religious leaders and retain a very narrow “religious” exemption from Obamacare’s so-called contraception mandate has ignited an uproar among Catholic leaders, as well it should — because it’s hard to fathom a government dictate more offensive than this one. Here’s how we got where we are: Obamacare includes within its massive delegation of power to the federal government the authority to define what constitutes “preventive services” that must be covered by all health-insurance plans sold and purchased in the United States,...

Confession – Is It Still Necessary? July 28th, 2009 by Gary ZimakOne of the harsh realities facing the Catholic Church is the fact that many of her members no longer receive the sacrament of Confession on a regular basis. For one reason or another, many Catholics don’t feel the need to go to Confession. Let’s look at some of the common objections and discuss why the sacrament of Confession is still as relevant today as it was when Jesus instituted it 2000 years ago. “I confess my sins directly to Christ. Why do I need to go through a ‘middle...

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 22, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blasted Catholics for fighting for the right not to perform or fund abortions, describing their abhorrence for supporting abortions as “this conscience thing,” in remarks to the Washington Post. Last month, during a debate in the House over a bill to stop abortion funding in the health care bill and to strengthen conscience rights on abortion, Pelosi had described the bill as “savage,” claiming that it would allow doctors to let women “die on the floor” because they could refuse to perform an abortion. In her...

Sarah Palin's true role will be revealed in her next contribution to conservatism. The first token will be seen in her participation in primaries on behalf of conservatives against rinos. After the election, assuming a Republican president and a Republican Senate, look for Sarah Palin to assume the role of the conscience of conservatism. When Sarah Palin burst onto the national scene she was reflexively and viscerally loathed by the left. The left's reaction was visceral in the sense that it was not cerebral. They loathed Sarah Palin, they could do no other, and they did not even know why....

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Two people have been charged with burglary after police said they stole property but later returned it because they felt bad. According to arrest records, 24-year-old Eugene Carrier Jr. admitted to police that he unlawfully entered a home on Driftwood Drive and stole property. Police said 21-year-old Katherine Hunt waited outside. Carrier gave the stolen items to Hunt and they drove away together, police said. Hunt said that a few days later, they returned the stolen items to the victim because they felt bad about what they had done, according to arrest records.

Adult First Confession Candidates (preparing for Confirmation/First Communion), you need to go to confession sometime this Lent, that is, before the Easter Vigil. The Elect (preparing for Baptism), you don’t have to go to Confession this Lent, because Baptism itself washes away all sins. But sometime after Baptism, you should think about going to Confession, since regular Confession is an excellent habit to get into. Baptism --- by God’s grace -- makes you clean. Confession--- by God’s grace--- helps you stay that way. 1. Absolutely commit to doing it. Set a date. Put it on your calendar (in ink!) And...