Stays in Vegas? Really

Interesting thought:

“What happens in Vegas – is recorded in Heaven”

How It Feels to Withdraw Feeding from Newborn Babies

Why should we care about euthanasia as present in Britain?  I care because we are following in their footsteps.  How soon before Obama-care mandates cost cutting methods effecting care of the elderly and the weakest among us. Abortion is only the beginning!

How opposed to First, do no harm, or, in Latin, primum non nocere, a medical injunction (the "Hippocratic oath" is this:

 

Sue Reid and Simon Caldwell report"

"THEY WISH FOR THEIR BABY TO GO QUICKLY. BUT I KNOW, AS THEY CAN'T, THE UNIQUE HORROR OF WATCHING A CHILD SHRINK AND DIE

Here is an abridged version of one doctor's anonymous testimony, published in the BMJ under the heading: 'How it feels to withdraw feeding from newborn babies'."

The voice on the other end of the phone describes a newborn baby and a lengthy list of unexpected congenital anomalies. I have a growing sense of dread as I listen.

The parents want ‘nothing done’ because they feel that these anomalies are not consistent with a basic human experience. I know that once decisions are made, life support will be withdrawn.

Assuming this baby survives, we will be unable to give feed, and the parents will not want us to use artificial means to do so.

Regrettably, my predictions are correct. I realise as I go to meet the parents that this will be the tenth child for whom I have cared after a decision has been made to forgo medically provided feeding.

A doctor has written a testimony published under the heading: 'How it feels to withdraw feeding from newborn babies'

The mother fidgets in her chair, unable to make eye contact. She dabs at angry tears, stricken. In a soft voice the father begins to tell me about their life, their other children, and their dashed hopes for this child.

He speculates that the list of proposed surgeries and treatments are unfair and will leave his baby facing a future too full of uncertainty.

Like other parents in this predicament, they are now plagued with a terrible type of wishful thinking that they could never have imagined. They wish for their child to die quickly once the feeding and fluids are stopped.

They wish for pneumonia. They wish for no suffering. They wish for no visible changes to their precious baby.

Their wishes, however, are not consistent with my experience. Survival is often much longer than most physicians think; reflecting on my previous patients, the median time from withdrawal of hydration to death was ten days.

Parents and care teams are unprepared for the sometimes severe changes that they will witness in the child’s physical appearance as severe dehydration ensues.

I try to make these matters clear from the outset so that these parents do not make a decision that they will come to regret. I try to prepare them for the coming collective agony that we will undoubtedly share, regardless of their certainty about their decision.

I know, as they cannot, the unique horror of witnessing a child become smaller and shrunken, as the only route out of a life that has become excruciating to the patient or to the parents who love their baby.

I reflect on how sanitised this experience seems within the literature about making this decision.

As a doctor, I struggle with the emotional burden of accompanying the patient and his or her family through this experience, as much as with the philosophical details of it.

'Survival is often much longer than most physicians think; reflecting on my previous patients, the median time from withdrawal of hydration to death was ten days'

Debate at the front lines of healthcare about the morality of taking this decision has remained heated, regardless of what ethical and legal guidelines have to offer.

The parents come to feel that the disaster of their situation is intolerable; they can no longer bear witness to the slow demise of their child.

This increases the burden on the care-givers, without parents at the bedside to direct their child’s care.

Despite involvement from the clinical ethics and spiritual care services, the vacuum of direction leads to divisions within the care team.

It is draining to be the most responsible physician. Everyone is looking to me to preside over and support this process.

I am honest with the nurse when I say it is getting more and more difficult to make my legs walk me on to this unit as the days elapse, that examining the baby is an indescribable mixture of compassion, revulsion, and pain.

Some say withdrawing medically provided hydration and nutrition is akin to withdrawing any other form of life support. Maybe, but that is not how it feels. The one thing that helps me a little is the realisation that this process is necessarily difficult. It needs to be.

To acknowledge that a child’s prospects are so dire, so limited, that we will not or cannot provide artificial nutrition is self selecting for the rarity of the situations in which parents and care teams would ever consider it.

Many Veils

Still the many veils
Stand between us.
I know they are the weave
Of my concupiscence,
Hanging over my heart,
Weighing the corners
Of my smile,
Hiding me from You
In my shame.

Must I forgive myself
For being other
Than Your Christ?
My imperfection,
And repeated falls
Spoil my high hopes,
But I find them useful as well,
For the crushing of my pride.

The temptation to reign
In the place of God
Is Satan's prompt,
And plays persistently,
Appealing in its disguise
As progressive,
And Evolution at its finest.

Unveiled before you
In humility
I see my call to be least,
And allow You to reign
Great in me.

Lord, triumph over vain glory,
Accomplish all
The Father's desires for me,
That my baptismal garment
Of purest white
May appear
In all the colors
Of Your Glory,
God resplendent
Even in His smallest work
And humblest creature.

From a homily on Matthew by Saint John Chrysostum, bishop

Technorati Tags: homily'

From a homily on Matthew by Saint John Chrysostum, bishop

As long as we are sheep, we overcome and, though surrounded by countless wolves, we emerge victorious; but if we turn into wolves, we are overcome, for we lose the shepherd’s help. He, after all, feeds the sheep not wolves, and will abandon you if you do not let him show his power in you.

What he says is this: “Do not be upset that, as I send you out among the wolves, I bid you be as sheep and doves. I could have managed things quite differently and sent you, not to suffer evil nor to yield like sheep to the wolves, but to be fiercer than lions. but the way I have chosen is right. It will bring you greater praise and at the same time manifest my power.” That is what he told Paul: My grace is enough for you, for in weakness my power is made perfect. “I intend,” he says, “to deal the same way with you.” For, when he says, I am sending you out like sheep, he implies: “But do not therefore lose heart, for I know and am certain that no one will be able to overcome you.”

The Lord, however, does want them to contribute something, lest everything seem to be the work of grace, and they seem to win their reward without deserving it. Therefore he adds: You must be clever as snakes and innocent as doves. But, they may object, what good is our cleverness amid so many dangers? How can we be clever when tossed about by so many waves? However great the cleverness of the sheep as he stands among the wolves – so may wolves! – what can it accomplish? However great the innocence of the dove, what good does it do him, with so many hawks swooping upon him? To all this I say: Cleverness and innocence admittedly do these irrational creatures no good, but they can help you greatly.

What cleverness is the Lord requiring here? The cleverness of a snake. A snake will surrender everything and will put up no great resistance even if its body is being cut in pieces, provided it can save its head. So you, the Lord is saying, must surrender everything but your faith: money, body, even life itself. For faith is the head and the root; keep that, and though you lose all else, you will get it back in abundance. The Lord therefore counseled the disciples to be not simply clever or innocent; rather he joined the two qualities so that they become a genuine virtue. He insisted on the cleverness of the snake so that deadly wounds might be avoided, and he insisted on the innocence of the dove so that revenge might not be taken on those who injure or lay traps for you. Cleverness is useless without innocence.

Do not believe that this precept is beyond you power. More than anyone else, the Lord knows the true natures of created things; he knows that moderation, not a fierce defense, beats back a fierce attack.

Weaned Child

I am the weaned child,
Upon Your knee.
Forgetful of time,
I curl Your hair about my fingers,
And tug at Your heartstrings.

My toys, the shiny objects of yesterday,
Lie by the stairs,
By which I began my ascent to You.

Comfort me.
Cuddle me.
Tickle me.

You spend Your universe,
As You had always planned,
Delighting one so small,
The least of the Children of Man.

© 2012 Joann Nelander

Heaven’s Feast

Heaven’s Feast

I am hungry, Lord.
Yet, it is not my belly
That speaks.
How is it
That You have
Subjected my gut,
And even my mind
Is Your weaned child,
Yet pangs assail me?
Is it my heart
That desires more?

When You filled me,
I believed I would be
Satisfied forever.
My capacity was full
And overflowing.

As promised,
You made me grow.
My heart expanded
In Your tutorage,
My blood alone
Did not suffice.

I fed on You,
Body and Blood,
And the demand
For Life in me
Kept pace.

Here I am, again,
At Your Table,
At Banquet,
With my King.
Thankfully, my Food
Is in steady supply,
And, in that,
I will be nourished,
And hungry no more.

You never deny me.
May I never deny You,
My Host and my Plenty,
Until, at last,
I sup at Heaven's Feast
For all Eternity.

Crown of Thorns

Crown of Thorns,
Kingship crowned,
Where the diamonds?
Where the gold?
Riverlets of Your Mercy
Covering Holy Face.

Crown of Thorns,
Kingship in rejection,
Shining as diamonds,
Pure as gold,
Blood, all holy,
Innocence dying on a Cross,
Satisfying the Father's desire
For sons and daughters
Made holy in His Christ,
Now by our willing,
And humble assent.

Crown of Thorns,
Glorious Redeemer,
They kingdom come.

Jesus Christ, the King of All Nations and All Time

Cover all my life,
And my sin
Nail to Your Cross.
Indeed, cover all of Time,
Till Time be no more.
You have dominion,
And I, Your least,
Cry in my wretchedness.

Faithful Witness,
You Who have seen the Father,
And His Work,
And His Will,
Witness to Life and Love.

Firstborn of the Dead
Bless those who
Enter through the Veil
Of Your Flesh,
Your pierced side,
An open door.

You rule all the kingdoms
Of the Earth,
And all the peoples
For whom You were nailed
To the Tree,
Your Cross becoming
A Tree of Life,
Where Death sought victory,
But was ravaged,
As You assailed it
From Your grave,
A grave that couldn't hold You.

Lord of the Now,
Alive in all
Who live
Covered in Your Blood,
No earthly monarch
Could love his people
As You Love us.

You make us priests,
Prophets and kings,
As Your Church marches
Throughout Time,
Into Eternity,
As Your Body.
Joined to its Head,
King and captain.

Alive in Your Divinity,
King of All,
Alpha and Omega,
King of Kings,
Embracing and transforming,
Reign over Past, Present and To Come.

We offer the sacrifice
Of our lives,
Sinful and faulty
As they are,
To live for Your announcing
The Trinity of God,
Witnessing with You,
For in You , we, too, reign
To be blessing
To the Nations
To be Church.

Jesus Christ,
King of Al Nations,
And all Time,
You have dominion,
Glory and power,
Reign over all,
Forever.

©2012 Joann Nelander

©2012 Joann Nelander

Help Save Ireland's Good Pro-Life Example

Recently Published - Into the Stillness

Into the Stillness by Joann Salerno Nelander | Make Your Own Book

How Poor Am I?

How poor am I?
No one suspects my poverty,
For I hide it
'Neath empty bravado.

All show,
The fool fooling all,
But myself.
Yet, sometimes,
I , too, believe
My haughty claims.
How poor am I?

Copyright Joann Nelander 2012
All rights reserved

Precious Jesus

Precious Jesus,
Holy Gem,
Beauty, beyond my knowing,
You are God, hidden,
As diamond in the rough,
A Man, yet God, One.

It is for me
To desire You,
To call You,
To allow You,
God willing.

You will be my tumbler,
Life's crucible.
The Rock, chipping away
At my clay.
My stoniness,
Yielding its course substance,
While I journey.
Rude being honed
To perfection.

You polish,
And reveal
Light through my layers,
The Father, shining in You,
The Sun of His Being,
Resplendent now in me,
Made glorious
In You,
Precious Jesus,
Holy Gem.

©2012 Joann Nelander

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving – State of the Union

Our country is a miracle.  Our freedoms are precious. Our future is uncertain.

I thank God this Thanksgiving.  I pray that the spirit of our fore-bearers still lives, leading us to take responsibility for our Country in 2012.

State of the Nation 1776

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this Army—Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; this is all we can expect—We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our own Country’s Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions—The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

Extract from General George Washington's General Orders, 1776

The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOSl85CXjVk&w=340&h=191]

The following meditations will probably rank high among many similar works which the

contemplative love of Jesus has produced; but it is our duty here plainly to affirm that they

have no pretensions whatever to be regarded as history.

They are but intended to take one of

the lowest places among those numerous representations of the Passion which have been

given us by pious writers and artists, and to be considered at the very utmost as the Lenten

meditations of a devout nun, related in all simplicity, and written down in the plainest and

most literal language, from her own dictation. To these meditations, she herself never

attached more than a mere human value, and never related them except through obedience,

and upon the repeated commands of the directors of her conscience.

The writer of the following pages was introduced to this holy religious by Count Leopold

de Stolberg. (The Count de Stolberg is one of the most eminent converts whom the Catholic

Church has made from Protestantism. He died in 1819.)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4utpDKDNjxY?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-pj_JdqvGo?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlbmPkA9VbU?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MvA-lfYHWY?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ONZyqKHQE?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dydz4QVvMro?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvfHj2mGxKo?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG9AdgIdGWI?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGXgyrW40ik?list=PLF6BB4C96A850EC48&hl=en_US&w=340&h=191]

PDF of the Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Kiss of Prayer

No one would argue
That I exist
And live this day
On Earth.
Yet, I know
That I am with You.

Here in this place
At this Time,
I breathe Heaven's air
As I pray
"Come Holy Spirit"
And You come,
Bringing Heaven with You
To dwell in the land
You make Your own
And, by grace, call holy.

Here, love and truth meet,
justice and peace kiss."
Am I not caught
In this embrace?

Copyright 2012 Joann Nelander

Rank and File

O God, that I may do my part.
All are arrayed for battle.
I am enjoined
Rank and file
In readiness.

Command us!
Vigilant and faith
Unconstrained,
We press forward,
Lean upon You
And desire all that You Are,

Our only rest,
Your consummate End,
With Your Spirit
We praise Your Glory
In the triumphant shout.
Alleluia!

Update:Photo Contestant (Me) Needs Your Vote or Vote for My Sister

I've entered Landscape Dreams Photo Contest and I would appreciate your vote.

If you like my either of my entries, please do me the honor of clicking on the picture and vote by hitting the VOTE button:

Sunset Majesty

 Sunset Majesty

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Sunset Before the Storm

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Hidden Gifts

Be attentive to the small.
Diminutive things hide gift,
Less the glory,
Inviting in simplicity
And in need,
Making room for God to move
Upon the empty places,
To spend Himself.

God will not keep company
With vain glory,
Nor suffer the competition
Of the arrogant will.
The humble,
Empty of self,
Win the Heart of God.

Veterans Day–Passion of a Warrior

When did his passion begin?
Did it commence with the kiss
By which he bid his loved ones adieu.
Or did the call to battle
Bid him count the cost,
Shattering vanities and proud hoorahs,
With winter ice
Through veins
Piercing to the marrow of bone.

The Call was always greater
Than one man’s valor or presumption.
Holier than Adam could undertake in rage,
Yet a young David found an “Amen”
Rising within his shepherd- breast,
Shielded by hope and faith
Born of a Savior,
Borne into battle
By the foal that carried Him forth.

All battles,
Waged for the souls of men,
Find common ground;
Friend and foe,
Dying side by side.
As grains numbered as the sand,
And the blood,
Bridle high at Armageddon,
Corpses piled and claiming
The best among us,
As generations of spent warriors’ might,
Trust to God
To judge the heart of every man,
And wear his colors in His raiment.

Memories, born as festering wounds,
Or toughened scars,
Mark the man and record the Passion.
No jot or tiddle forgotten,
Fingered on the ground,
Condemning only the Accuser.

Angels minister the balm of Gilead
As the dead live again,
And the living love
Through the Darkness.
Mended hearts,
Held to a measure,
Weighed on scales of Mercy.
Are blessed.
None forgotten,
All forgiven.

How long? How long?
Martyrs witness the passion of the warrior,
And place merited crown,
And victor’s wreathe,
As a new name resounds,
Pronounced by the Mouth of God.

©2012 Joann Nelander

Knowing You

I have been flawed
For all the years
You have known me.

Ah, but You
Have known me.
In this is my hope,
That I have known You, too.

You Are a New Creation

You are a new creation.

You hear the words,
Even delight at them.
Smiling and free
You run off to play,
Tucking the Words away.

Think to steal a day.
Take out the Words.
Turn them in your heart.
With fingers of prayer,
Feel their frame,
Touch them again.

The Words do not come alone.
He Who spoke them
Descends into your heart,
Repeats His refrain,
Speaks Love again.

You are a new creation.

Each time the Words are spoken,
The creature takes on a glow,
Exists in Time
Holiness accentuated,
Grace effectuated.

Pondered and plumbed,
Their depths revealed,
An anchor of Truth
Makes them the bedrock
Of your being.
With Love's true eyes
All is new for the seeing.

You are a New Creation.

Abandonment to the Will of God

Abandonment to the Will of God,
That's the Call.
What is holding you back
From accepting the Cross?

Give God your plans.
Give God your anger.
Give God your pain.
Give God your way.

Give God the nails
That nail you to your will.
Allow the nails in His Hands
To hold you fast with Him.

Our mouths may praise
His Father with Him
In this the Holy Hour of Abandonment.
We call His Name
As the crowds cry "Crucify."

This is the hour for prayer.
Then shall come the fruit of Crucifixion,
Then will God's Justice descend,
Then will the rain fall.

In each heart that looks,
Cries, mourns,
Goes to their homes disheartened,
And yet believes,
A flower will grow.

God will yet feed the multitude,
Not with the bread of Mammon,
But with His Holy Flesh
Willing supplied,
The same flesh
Savagely devoured
By the mob.

As the praise goes up,
Then will His Reign begin,
Then will God bless the Land,
Then will the Father
Kiss the multitude
Who dared lift the Son
High above the Earth.

©2012 Joann Nelander

Abandonment to the Will of God  (Read by author)

Hour of Darkness

Hour of Darkness (Read by author)

To the Cross we go,
A Nation hanging,
Lifted on the wood,
Drying up, exposed,
Blood drained
In a hemorrhage
Of its young.

Did you watch?
We're you one
To wring your hands?
Were your hearts wrenched,
Or did you party
With the crowd
As the veil
Of the Temple
Was torn in two?

Suffer the Moment
Hoping with Love,
That the curtain,
Was split
From top to bottom.
That even now,
In the darkest hour
Of  choice's choosing,
When Herod has opened
Yet another womb,
Salvation is found in Crucifixion,
Still God will shine through
The gaping Wound in His Side,
As God is want to do.

©2012 Joann   All rights reserved

©2012 Joann Nelander All rights reserved

Hour of Darkness (Read by author)

What America Are YOU Voting For?

Purity of Heart

There is only one heart so pure,
As to remain demure,
One life lived in blessed union
With Your Own.
One so holy
As to share Your throne.

Solomon in His wisdom,
A type of Christ,
Rose from his kingly chair
To seat his mother
By his side,
Thereby made clear
Her stature in his sight,
Made queenly and motherly ruling
Her right.

Queen Mother, most pure and holy,
By the Father 's will made New Eve
To His Son, New Adam,
A Spouse of flesh and blood to share
The rule of David's Promised House,
When courted by the Holy Spirit
Your "Fiat"
Made you One
To bring forth
Holy Son.

Copyright Joann Nelander 2012
All rights reserved

LEST WE LOOSE HEART REMEMBER

LEST WE LOOSE HEART REMEMBER

“Over In A Sigh”–Life on Planet Earth

The Anchoress writes:

It’s good to remember that our time on earth is short.  — that, as Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton said, “we are made for eternity” and not just for our brief sojourn, here. Read more here.

Psalm 90

Our span is seventy years,
or eighty for those who are strong.

And most of these are emptiness and pain.
They pass swiftly and we are gone.
Who understands the power of your anger
and fears the strength of your fury?

Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.

Religious Liberty–Archbishop Aquila

Support the archbishop in his efforts to uphold religious liberty.

“I think there are a lot of people who don’t appreciate the significance of the election for the Church’s activity in this country, and also the significance of this election for Catholics in this country,”  said J.D. Flynn, chancellor of the Denver archdiocese.

In his letter, Archbishop Aquila emphasized religious freedom as a foundational American value.

“Our founding fathers understood that without these freedoms, especially religious liberty, our democratic experiment would fail,” he wrote.

However, religious liberty faces “an unprecedented threat” from the Health and Human Services mandate, which “undermines the promise of the First Amendment,” Archbishop Aquila said.

The Obama administration’s contraception mandate requires employers to provide health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their beliefs.

It has drawn nearly 40 lawsuits by more than 110 plaintiffs since its announcement earlier this year.

“No one should ever be forced to choose between integrity and charity, or to violate their conscience in business,” the archbishop said.

“No one should ever be forced to choose between integrity and charity, or to violate their conscience in business,” the archbishop said.
Tags: Contraception mandate, Religious freedom, 2012 election

Election Prayer–Urgent!

Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Enlighten the minds of our people [in] America. May we choose a President of the United States, and other government officials, according to Your Divine Will. Give our citizens the courage to choose leaders of our nation who respect the sanctity of unborn human life, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of marital relations, the sanctity of the family, and the sanctity of the aging. Grant us the wisdom to give You, what belongs to You, our God. If we do this, as a nation, we are confident You will give us an abundance of Your blessings through our elected leaders. Amen.

Composed by Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.
Imprimatur: +Rene H. Gracida, Bishop of Corpus Christi, July 7, 1992
Published by Eternal Life in 1992

Rosary for the Preservation of Life and Religious Liberty - November 1 2012

Just One More Day

Just One More Day

A Nation cries

In want of Thee.

Time hurries,

All the while consuming,

That which our hands have built.

Our plenty devoured

In furnaces of desire.

"More, give us more,

The engines roar. "

You wait,

That we might recognize

Your reign.

Your sun rises on each new day.

You are patient.

Wait, wait, wait....

Obedience is not our way.

We turn only blind eyes

And misprize chastisement's scourge.

We know only

The gates of Hell demand,

Demand our sacrifice,

Human sacrifice.

We do not deny them.

No place too sacred to invade.

Give the gods their due,

For they pay our way.

After all, we are only clay,

Living to be merry

One more day.

You speak of Love and Eternity.

Our bellies cry out "Now"

"Who needs Your Throne!"

Give us bread without God,

Our way,

Just one more day.

©2012 Joann Nelander All rights reserved

Reasons Why Obama Must Be Defeated

Reasons Why Obama Must Be Defeated

John D. Keisling, Ph.D.

1. He has vastly expanded Federal government power:

• Significantly increased dependency on government:
  • Doubled food stamp spending: 47 million now on food stamps.
  • Government takeover of healthcare: see below.
  • Government takeover of General Motors.
• Unconstitutional attempt to remove welfare work requirement passed in 1996.
• Unconstitutional recess appointments with Senate still in session.
• Unconstitutional ignoring of laws: Defense of Marriage Act.
• Unconstitutional executive orders: Amnesty for younger illegal immigrants (DREAM Act—could not pass Congress).
• War in Libya without Congressional authorization.
• National debt up from $10 trillion to $16 trillion in 4 years. Increasing debt twice as fast as Bush. Now $50,000 for every American man, woman, and child.
• Supports “spreading wealth around.”
• Insulted small-business owners: “You didn’t build that!”

2. He wants to radically redefine marriage and family:

• Supports defining homosexual relationships as “marriage.” See Romans 1:18-32.
• By extension, supports homosexual indoctrination in public schools (Massachussetts, second grade—court ruled parents have no right to opt out or be notified)
• By extension, supports forcing Christian businesses to promote homosexuality:
  • New Mexico, Elaine Photography—fined $6,500 for refusing to photograph lesbian “wedding.”
  • Vermont innkeepers who refused a lesbian “wedding” forced to pay $10,000 fine and $20,000 to the lesbians’ favorite charity.
  • Churches will not remain exempt for long.

3. He fully supports abortion:

• Supports Roe v. Wade: unlimited abortion, all 9 months.
• As an Illinois state senator, voted 4 times to deny basic Constitutional protection to babies who survive abortions.
• Co-sponsored the federal Freedom of Choice Act, which would overturn all state restrictions on abortion and therefore allow it in all cases.
• Appointed pro-abortion radical Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
• HHS now forcing religious organizations to pay for birth control and abortion.

4. He has made unprecedented attacks on religious freedom:

• Supports HHS mandate forcing religious organizations to pay for birth control and abortion. Never before in our history—government now says it can define what religion is.
• His Sec. of State says “freedom of worship” instead of “freedom of religion.” “Worship” is what you do in church Sunday morning; “religion” encompasses your entire life. Major difference.
• Refuses to allow conscience protection—pro-life doctors and nurses forced to perform abortions.
• Redefining marriage: see above.

5. He supports Obamacare:

• Massive expansion of government power. 2700 pages—no one knew what was in it.
• Barney Frank called it the best path to single-payer healthcare—illegal for anyone but government to pay for health care.
• Forces Americans to buy a product. Never before in our history.
• Sets up unelected board (IPAB) with authority to ration health care.
• Rammed through Congress against people’s opposition, without a single Republican vote.
• Recess appointment of Donald Berwick as Medicare administrator, who said, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care. The decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.”
• Many doctors say they will not accept Medicare patients anymore.
• Takes $719 billion from Medicare to pay for Obamacare

6. He has broken major promises:

• Promised to cut deficit in half in 4 years. Deficit was $1.2 trillion in 2008; now $1.17 trillion. Democrats controlled House and Senate for two years.
• Promised not to raise taxes on middle class: Bush tax cuts about to expire—largest tax hike in American history. The Supreme Court ruled that Obamacare’s individual mandate is a tax.
• Promised unemployment would stay below 8%. Still around 10%.
• “If you like your current health plan, you can keep it:” 5-20 million Americans likely to lose employer plans under Obamacare.
• No budget passed in 3 years: Obama’s budget failed in Senate 97-0!
• Was against homosexual “marriage”; now for it.
• In 2006, stated on Senate floor, “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America ’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills... Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.” In 2011, he strongly advocated raising the debt ceiling again.

7. He has weakened America in the world:

• Disrespectful to America : worldwide apology tour for America , bowing to the Saudi king and Japanese emperor.
• Michelle Obama: “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.”
• Has done nothing to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly vowed to destroy Israel .
• Recently refused to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.
• Supported “Arab Spring.” Now embassies are attacked in North Africa and Middle East . 4 Americans murdered in attack on Libyan Embassy.
• Attacks free speech of Americans: blamed above attacks on an obscure film criticizing Islam.
• Told an envoy to Vladimir Putin, “After my election, I’ll have more flexibility.”

Are We Safe Under Obama?

 

Clare M. Lopez is a senior fellow at the Clarion Fund.  She is a strategic policy and intelligence expert. Here she again focused our attention Benghazi.

Benghazi: The Set-Up and the Cover-Up

Arms Flow to Syria May Be Behind Benghazi Cover-Up

Read more: Family Security Matters

New Book

Listening With My Heart by Joann Salerno Nelander | Make Your Own Book

Can Heaven Be Made More Glorious

If heaven can be made more glorious,
Make it so, my Lord.

If the honor and respect,  I show,
Sinner, though I am,
Can render
Your saints more glory,
For the light
They shine on men,
Make it so, my Lord.

If the blood of martyrs,
Can again be received
Before Your throne,
Mingled with the Blood of Christ,
That coursed their veins,
And flowed out
As rivers.
To wash the Nations
And praise Your Holy Name,
Make it so, my Lord.

All time is Now
In Your Eternity.
Your battles,
Though waging on earth,
Have all been won,
And presented to You
In Your Son.

"Thy Kingdom come!"
You make it so , O my Lord.

©2012 Joann Nelander

All rights reserved

Bee Bee the Chihuahua

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All Saints Day–St. Bernard

From a sermon by Saint Bernard, abbot
Let us make haste to our brethren who are awaiting us.

Why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this feast day mean anything to the saints? What do they care about earthly honors when their heavenly Father honors them by fulfilling the faithful promise of the Son? What does our commendation mean to them? The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning.

Calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company, so desirable in itself. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join the assembly of patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, the council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with all the saints. But our dispositions change. The Church of all the first followers of Christ awaits us, but we do nothing about it. The saints want us to be with them, and we are indifferent. The souls of the just await us, and we ignore them.

Come, brothers, let us at length spur ourselves on. We must rise again with Christ, we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness. While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory.

When we commemorate the saints we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ our life may also appear to us as he appeared to them and that we may one day share in his glory. Until then we see him, not as he is, but as he became for our sake. He is our head, crowned, not with glory, but with the thorns of our sins. As members of that head, crowned with thorns, we should be ashamed to live in luxury; his purple robes are a mockery rather than an honor. When Christ comes again, his death shall no longer be proclaimed, and we shall know that we also have died, and that our life is hidden with him. The glorious head of the Church will appear and his glorified members will shine in splendor with him, when he forms this lowly body anew into such glory as belongs to himself, its head.

Therefore, we should aim at attaining this glory with a wholehearted and prudent desire. That we may rightly hope and strive for such blessedness, we must above all seek the prayers of the saints. Thus, what is beyond our own powers to obtain will be granted through their intercession.