Free Republic

The Real Presence and SanctityFr. John A. Hardon, S.J.In speaking about Holiness it is remarkable how we can overlook the obvious.  For example it is obvious that we cannot become holy unless we obtain the extraordinary graces needed to reach sanctity.  Hearing about holiness;  reading about it;  even seeing holiness, does not make one holy.  We need grace.   It is equally obvious that the graces we need must come to us from Christ since as He told us, "Without Me you can do nothing".  If that nothing refers even to salvation, it most certainly refers to sanctification. Photo...

Acting in his capacity as bishop of Rome, Pope Francis has offered words of encouragement to his diocesan priests, urging them to keep their vocations alive through their love of God.The Pope was speaking on Monday at a meeting with diocesan clergy in the Basilica of St John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome.Pope Francis devoted the first part of the meeting, which lasted more than two hours, to answering a letter he had received a few days earlier from an elderly parish priest, writing of his struggles as a pastor.“The letter is beautiful, I was moved,” the Pope said, speaking...

Here is Star Parker’s commentary: Supreme Court ruling is the latest in a long process of the unraveling of American culture driven by pride — the sense that we answer to no higher authority. The Book of Proverbs, part of biblical canon, once a vital part of American culture, tells us: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” It’s this haughty spirit, this pride that precedes destruction, that lies behind the Supreme Court’s decision last week to bury the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA defined marriage, for purposes of federal law, as traditional marriage — the union...

"MAMA" (By Jo Nuvark) Psalm 47:4 and 139 Mama. Mama. Don’t blame me for your blues. I may be inconvenient, but it’s much too late to choose. Listen with your heart, you’ll hear my still small voice. Let me live I’ll be your life, your child not your choice.

I Have a Dream that the Abortion Holocaust Will End By Kyle-Anne Shiver In 1960, when I was in the fourth grade, I learned the word, "Holocaust." It was a big word. And as soon as the librarian had explained its meaning to me, I wished that I could go back to not knowing about it. I first saw the word in the Encyclopedia Britannica. I was reading The Diary of Anne Frank for my book report and my teacher had supplied a list of places to look for more information on Anne and why she was forced to spend...

An abortion doctor has been arrested and charged with the murder of a patient and seven live infants whose spines were severed with scissors at a West Philadelphia clinic that has been described as a house of horrors, officials said today. District Attorney Seth Williams said the doctor, Kermit P. Gosnell, was charged following a grand jury investigation. Gosnell, 69, lost his medical license last year after health officials determined his clinic posed "a clear danger to the public." Gosnell was arrested this morning, officials said. He has maintained his innocence. The seven infants were born alive in the 6th,...

Here is video of the Tim Tebow Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad that has generated so much controversy. It aired during the Super Bowl just a few minutes ago. . . . (VIDEO)

Posted by Beau Douglas Weider at 06:11 PM on January 13, 2010 I know, I know... it's unfair and it denies 'equal' rights, but sometimes having special rights can cause a society harm. Ted Olson put forward a compelling, but ultimately specious case for removing a popular statute to protect the sanctity of marriage and the cornerstone of society. I'm reminded of a scene from 'The Incredibles'; where the villian wants to give everybody super-powers and says; “When everyone is special, no one will be”. Marriage is special. The men and women who marry are celebrating a God-given and ordained...

A personel reflection from a Freeper and insignificant blogger straight from the heart. What more appropriate time to visit about abortion than the day that our savior rose from the dead in the confirmation of sacrifice and the affirmation of rebirth and salvation. I, as many have been challenged with the temptation of an easy way out of the earthly obligations that accompany the behaviors that we have freely chosen. I admit my beautiful wife was stronger than I when it came to walking the walk in this respect. When I was still reeling at the prospect of becoming a...

Liberals breathlessly criticized Sarah Palin because she had the audacity to be interviewed at a turkey farm while turkeys were being terminated. How on earth do liberals think that turkeys die on the way to the table? Natural causes? Hey it could be worse, at least they weren’t the victim of a Bartial Birth Abortion. Compare the Palin video (below) to demonstration videos of Partial Birth Abortion (also below)

When Marc Weide's mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she chose euthanasia. Here, we publish his shockingly frank diary of her final days Marc Weide's mother, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and chose euthanasia Monday February 11 2008 5.30pm: Dad is bent over the toilet bowl with a brush in his hand and a scowl on his face. I walk up to him. "Shall I give you a hand?" Dad begins to snigger, abandoning any attempt to make sense of the situation. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our backs to Mum, who paces around the landing with...

TANROW, June 13, 2008 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) - A Polish volleyball star who was buried on June 9 is being compared by local Catholics to Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla because of her heroic sacrifice for her unborn child. Agata Mroz, who was originally known for her athletic prowess, was buried in her hometown of Tarnow. Mroz was pregnant with her first child when doctors discovered she had a fatal case of leukemia. After consulting with her husband, Mroz delayed a bone-marrow transplant until after she gave birth to her daughter Liliana on April 4, 2008. Polish fans dubbed the national team...

Contacts: Janet Morana, 917-297-0946; Georgette Forney, 412-398-7885; both with Silent No More Awareness Campaign WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, /Christian Newswire/ -- Priests for Life and Anglicans for Life will again sponsor a major gathering of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign in Washington DC this Tuesday, January 22. Men and women who have lost children to abortion will gather in front of the Supreme Court at 4:00 PM and begin sharing publicly their testimonies of pain and healing. Fifty-seven people are scheduled to speak. In 28 other locations, similar gatherings will occur. The Campaign, which started in 2003, has sponsored some 201...

Action by nurses opposed to abortion has reduced by more than half the number of terminations in a Puerto Rican hospital. Fifty-two nurses in the obstetrics unit at the University Hospital for Adults in San Juan, Puerto Rico, have not been assisting at abortions for several months. The hospital is the only public hospital on the Caribbean island that carries out the operation. The nurses have cited "conscientious objection" in their defence - a legal right in Puerto Rico that allows medical personnel to refuse participation in procedures they morally oppose. Dr Riccardo Moscoso, the hospital medical director, told The...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Two researchers say reducing abortions in the United States would significantly cut the rate of premature births. They say the rate has increased as abortion has been legalized and point to Poland as an example of how banning or significantly reducing abortions would help pregnant women. Dr. Richard E. Behrman, representing the Institute of Medicine, has identified prior first-trimester induced abortion as an “immutable medical risk factor associated with pre-term birth.”In his book Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention, Behrman found that the premature birth rate in the U.S. was 12.5% in 2004 -- 40 percent...

Help Arrives for Homeless Newborn Triplets, MomTuesday, November 13, 2007 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Offers of help are pouring in for a homeless Michigan woman who recently gave birth to triplets. "We have received hundreds of calls," said Janie Bergeron, who directs Green Gables Haven, a Barry County shelter where Monica Roberts, her babies and her mother are staying. Bergeron's staff is working overtime this week to return telephone messages. "There are literally hundreds of people we're trying to call back," she told The Grand Rapids Press for a story published Tuesday. Invitations to take in the 33-year-old mother and...

November 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mainstream media have again almost totally ignored a new study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons that found that abortion is the "best predictor of breast cancer" in eight European nations. One notable exception to this media black-out however is an article by Dennis Byrne of the Chicago Tribune, who wrote a commentary entitled, "Snubbing cancer study will only hurt women: Research showing link to abortion ignored by media." Read the article here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped1022byrne... Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer said: "The media's behavior is very problematic. When...

They say twins share a strong bond - but the one between Gabriel and Ieuan Jones was unbreakable. When doctors found that Gabriel was weaker than his brother, with an enlarged heart,and believed he was going to die in the womb, his mother Rebecca Jones had to make a heartbreaking decision. Doctors told her his death could cause his twin brother to die too before they were born, and that it would be better to end Gabriel's suffering sooner rather than later. Mrs Jones decided to let doctors operate to terminate Gabriel's life. Firstly they tried to sever his umbilical...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former member of Congress Henry Hyde will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom next Monday for his work opposing abortion. For decades, after his landmark Hyde Amendment stopped federal funding of virtually all abortions, Hyde became the pro-life movement's elder statesman on Capitol Hill. Hyde was first elected to the House in 1974 and served as chairman of the House International Relations Committee and the House Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001. In those positions, Hyde advanced pro-life legislation and worked to stop using taxpayer dollars to subsidize abortions in other countries. Hyde's lasting legacy will...

After months of giving ambiguous signals on abortion, Rudolph W. Giuliani is planning to offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews in the coming days, despite potential consequences among some conservative voters already wary of his views, aides said yesterday. At the same time, Mr. Giuliani’s campaign — seeking to accomplish the unusual task of persuading the Republican Party to nominate an abortion rights supporter as its presidential candidate — is eyeing a path to the nomination that would try to de-emphasize the early states in which abortion opponents wield...