Life, Liberty, and Happiness
I believe that the abortion of the unborn is an injustice that must be corrected. Unfortunately, about half of the voting population believe that abortion is a right that is protected by the US Constitution. Many profess the mantra: My body; my choice.
I believe that the American Declaration of Independence which states governments are established to protect unalienable rights that come from God and that among these are the right to life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Are these words just words highlighted by men influenced by the age of enlightenment or are they words inspired by the will of the creator or dare we say God? America’s founders realized that these rights are natural rights that come directly from God and as such they must be protected.
Thomas Jefferson who was the principal author of our Declaration of Independence to England and the World; stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Much of our misery in the world is caused by laws that reverse the order ensuring that wealth trumps liberty and liberty trumps life. Jefferson and our founding fathers of this country knew that God’s law had a primary focus on life. Jefferson’s argument is not that the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to pursue happiness originate in government, but that these rights have a divine origin. Jefferson argued that the job of all governments was to “secure” rights that God had already granted. In other words, the rights to life and liberty do not come into being with the force of government fiat; life and liberty are pre-political rights already granted by God. Acts of legislators or the rulings of courts when established must ensure that laws are enacted and enforced that support life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today, we have lost that concept.
Indeed, as Jefferson noted in our declaration men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Whether it is self-evident or not, it is the philosophical belief in the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that helped make America a light to the nations. Let’s continue to promote and defend all three with Life first, followed by liberty and then the pursuit of happiness. To protect liberty at the expense of life is an injustice.
After the American revolution again in the establishment of the American Constitution we see that the framers again reasserted the primacy of life in the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
It is my contention that the Preamble is the mission statement for the whole constitution. In other words, the entire constitution is designed to bring about the mission stated in the preamble. Therefore, if we focus on the statement: “and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” we see that the U.S. Constitution is designed to secure the blessings of liberty for both the living and the next generation “our posterity”. Therefore, the unborn have a right to life.
FindLaw Staff | Reviewed by Laura Temme, Esq. Preamble to the Constitution. 18 07 2022. https://constitution.findlaw.com/preamble.html#:~:text=The%20preamble%20to%20the%20Constitution%20is%20an%20introduction,intention%20of%20the%20entire%20document%20full%20of%20laws. 10 11 2022.
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
MOTHER
CABRINI
Romans, Chapter 16, Verse 19-20
19 For while your obedience is known
to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise as to what is good,
and simple as to what is evil; 20 then the God of PEACE will
quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our
Lord Jesus be with you.
Not fear but
revere! This is Holy fear which
acknowledges, He that is, and that we exist in and through Him by the saving
grace of Christ and the action of the Holy Spirit. The opposite of revere is to
despise. There are many in our country and world who despise the Lord. How did
this come about?
According to the
US Army Leadership manual[1]
followers tend to ask two questions: 1)
Is the leader powerful? 2) Does he care about me?
To get to Holy fear we must know that God has power (thus acting accordingly by following his commandments) and know that He cares about us. To not do this we will fear, tolerate or despise our Lord but if we acknowledge His power and His love, we will have reverence and according to the second part of this verse, “Glory will dwell in our land.”
When we know that in truth that God does
care about us and that He has real power over us we trust and respect Him and
are at peace!
|
|
Does He care about me? |
||
|
Does He have power? |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
Trusted and Respected |
Feared |
||
|
No |
Tolerated |
Despised |
|
ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[2]
CHAPTER I
DIES DOMINI
The Celebration of the Creator's
Work
"In the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth" (Gn 1:1)
9. The poetic style of the Genesis
story conveys well the awe which people feel before the immensity of creation
and the resulting sense of adoration of the One who brought all things into
being from nothing. It is a story of intense religious significance, a hymn to
the Creator of the universe, pointing to him as the only Lord in the face of
recurring temptations to divinize the world itself. At the same time, it is a
hymn to the goodness of creation, all fashioned by the mighty and merciful hand
of God.
"God saw that it was good" (Gn
1:10,12, etc.). Punctuating the story as it does, this refrain sheds a
positive light upon every element of the universe and reveals the secret
for a proper understanding of it and for its eventual regeneration: the world
is good insofar as it remains tied to its origin and, after being disfigured by
sin, it is again made good when, with the help of grace, it returns to the One
who made it. It is clear that this process directly concerns not inanimate
objects and animals but human beings, who have been endowed with the
incomparable gift and risk of freedom. Immediately after the creation stories,
the Bible highlights the dramatic contrast between the grandeur of man, created
in the image and likeness of God, and the fall of man, which unleashes on the
world the darkness of sin and death (cf. Gn 3).
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost[3] The focus of this Sunday is a reminder of the Book of Life and the resurrection of the body.
THE Introit of the Mass consoles us, and encourages
us to confidence in God, who is so kind to us, and will not suffer us to be
always in tribulation. “The Lord saith, I think thoughts of peace, and not of
affliction. You shall call upon Me, and I will hear you, and I will bring back
your captivity from all places. Lord, thou hast blest Thy land, Thou hast
turned away the captivity of Jacob.”
Prayer.
Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the sins of Thy people, that we may
be delivered by Thy goodness from the bonds of sin which, by our frailty, we
have committed.
EPISTLE. Phil. iii.
17-21; iv. 1-3.
Be followers of me, brethren, and observe them who
walk so as you have our model. For many walk, of whom I have told you often
(and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the cross of Christ; whose
end is destruction: whose God is their belly: and whose glory is in their
shame: who mind earthly things. But our conversation is in heaven: from whence
also we look for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will reform the body of
our lowness, made like to the body of His glory, according to the operation
whereby also He is able to subdue all things unto Himself. Therefore, my dearly
beloved brethren, and most desired, my joy and my crown: so, stand fast in the
Lord, my dearly beloved. I beg of Evodia, and I beseech Syntyche to be of one
mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also, my sincere companion, help those
women that have labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement and the rest of my
fellow- laborers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
Explanation.
In these words, the Apostle gives warning against
the false teachers of his day, who, although outwardly receiving and preaching
Christianity, in heart hated the strict requirements of Christian morals, and
lived according to their sensual lusts. He therefore cautions the faithful not
to take them for patterns, for they are only hastening to eternal perdition,
but rather to be followers of him, and of those who imitate his life. These
warnings and admonitions apply also to us. For are there not among us enemies
of the cross of Christ, who are called Christians, but who will have nothing to
do with self-denial, mortification, chastity, and such like virtues? who indeed
despise them, and count those who practice them fools? Let us not be led astray
by them. For what will be the end of them? Everlasting destruction. For he who
does not crucify his flesh does not belong to Christ (Gal. v. 24); whoever does
not bear about his body the dying of Christ, in his body the life of Christ,
will never be made manifest (n. Cor. iv. 10). Whoever does not already walk in
heaven, that is, direct his thoughts and desires to heavenly goods, will not
find admission there after death.
Ejaculation.
O my God would that I might say, with St. Paul, the
world is crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. vi. 14).
GOSPEL. Matt, ix. 18-26[4]
At that time, as Jesus was speaking to the multitudes, behold a certain ruler came up, and adored Him, saying: Lord, my daughter is even now dead; but come, lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus rising up, followed him with His disciples. And behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind Him, and touched the hem of His garment. For she said within herself: If I shall touch only His garment I shall be healed. But Jesus turning and seeing her, said: Be of good heart, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus was come into the house of the ruler and saw the minstrels and the multitude making a rout, he said: Give place, for the girl is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed Him to scorn. And when the multitude was put forth, He went in, and took her by the hand. And the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that country.
Explanation
The ruler and the woman here mentioned teach us that in diseases of body or of mind we should have recourse to Jesus with faith and confidence; and even when the malady continues, and seems to be incurable, we should not suffer our courage to sink.
ON MOCKERY AND RIDICULE
When Jesus entered the house of Jairus, and said, the
girl is not dead, but sleepeth, the multitude laughed Him to scorn, because
they understood neither the meaning of His words nor what He was about to do.
Similar treatment sensual-minded men of the world often give to those servants
of God who, by word and example, preach the contempt of honors, riches,
pleasures, and the love of poverty, humility, and mortification. Permit not
yourself to be led astray by those who ridicule your zeal for virtue; pay no heed
to them, according to the example of Jesus, and trust in Him Who was Himself
derided for your sake. Say to yourself: I know, O dearest Jesus, that the
servant is not greater than his master. When Thou wast so often mocked, why
should it appear strange to me to be jeered at and called senseless for
endeavoring to practice devotion and virtue? I would not fare differently from
Thee, my Lord and my God.
The Resurrection of the Dead[5]
Don't forget to pray for the
Poor Souls in Purgatory from November 1 to the 8th.
The Bible tells us that when Jesus returns to earth, he
will physically raise all those who have died, giving them back the bodies they
lost at death. These will be the same bodies people had in earthly
life—but our resurrection bodies will not die and, for the righteous, they will
be transformed into a glorified state, freed from suffering and pain, and
enabled to do many of the amazing things Jesus could do with his glorified
body. The resurrection of the body is an essential Christian doctrine, as
the apostle Paul declares: "[I]f the dead are not raised, then Christ has
not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you
are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished". Because, as Paul tells us, the Christian faith cannot
exist without this doctrine, it has been infallibly defined by the Church. It
is included in the three infallible professions of faith—the Apostles’ Creed,
the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed—and has been solemnly, infallibly
taught by ecumenical councils. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215),
infallibly defined that at the second coming Jesus "will judge the living
and the dead, to render to every person according to his works, both to the
reprobate and to the elect. All of them will rise with their own bodies, which
they now wear, so as to receive according to their deserts, whether these be
good or bad" (constitution 1).
Most recently, the Catechism of the Catholic Church reiterated
this long-defined teaching, stating, "‘We believe in the true resurrection
of this flesh that we now possess’ (Council of Lyons II). We sow a corruptible
body in the tomb, but he raises up an incorruptible body, a ‘spiritual body’
(cf. 1 Cor 15:42–44)" (CCC 1017).
Mother
Cabrini, the Saint of Italians in America[6]
Frances
Xavier Cabrini, born in the province of Lodi in Lombardy, eventually came to
the United States toward the end of the nineteenth century. It was due to total
serendipity that she became the saint for Italian immigrants in this country.
It is also a sweet paradox that she, from the north, arrived during the great wave
of southern Italian emigration to the United States. Having taken her vows in
1877, three years later she and six other nuns founded the religious institute
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As we read earlier, wanting to
provide help to immigrants beginning in the U.S., Pope Leo XIII suggested
instead that she go west, where, according to him, the already thousands of
Italian immigrants in the U.S. were in great need of assistance. Mother Cabrini
and six others arrived in the United States in 1889 and hit the ground running,
so to speak. As they did in Italy, here, too, Mother Cabrini and her team
founded the requisite housing, a series of schools and orphanages, and the
necessary hospitals that chiefly served the Italian immigrant communities.
Actions supported by the Church, for sure, but actions also emblematic of what
Italians can do in order to help other Italians in need.
In
all, they founded close to 70 institutions of all types in numerous cities
throughout the United States — Chicago and New York the two principal cities
associated with Mother Cabrini today, as well as Cabrini College in
Pennsylvania. Undoubtedly, Mother Cabrini was an exemplar of all things
possible and thus a symbol of hope for all. She herself had crossed the ocean
in 1889 and, in so doing, had followed the same route that thousands of other
immigrants had and were taking. Privileged as she was in her role as nun — and
let us underscore at this juncture her gender — she was a woman of great
acumen, having succeeded in overcoming great obstacles of the time and
demonstrating how all things were possible. In this sense, then, she was also
an example of how one can get things done and, more important, how we can still
today — and let us say should — open doors for all people who are in need of
such assistance.
Her
legacy clearly lives on both within and beyond the Italian/ American community.
Italian Americans continue to serve and donate to many Catholic and social
institutions today, at times even beyond. If there is one thing to bemoan, it
is that her medical institutions of New York — Columbus Hospital and the
Italian Hospital, which eventually became the Cabrini Medical Center — could
not be sustained and consequently closed in 2008. Nonetheless, Mother Cabrini
remains that shining light not only for all those whom she helped, but to be
sure, that exemplar par excellence that we, today, should emulate for the
dedication so necessary to get things done for the better good.
Things
to Do:[7]
·
If you live in or pass through Colorado, visit the
western Mother
Cabrini Shrine.
·
Read more about St.
Francis Cabrini.
·
Prepare an Italian dinner in honor of St. Francis
Cabrini. For dessert make a ship cake (symbolizing her missionary work), a
heart cake (she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart) or a Book
Cake (symbolizing her founding a religious order).
·
Say the Little Rosary of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini.
·
Read the Encyclical, On Consecrated Virginity, by Pius XII and if you are single consider the
possibility of a vocation to this life.
·
Read the Pope Benedict XVI's Address for World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 2007.
·
If you know someone who has immigrated to this
country, try to help them feel welcome, perhaps by inviting them over for the
Italian dinner.
Orphan
Sunday[8]
True
religion is taking care of widows and orphans.
Orphan Sunday is a time to
stand up for the orphans of the world. In truth, there are likely no more
vulnerable human beings in the entire world than those thousands upon thousands
of children in this world who have no mother or father, due to all sorts of
tragedies that have occurred in their lives, ranging from accidents, to
sicknesses, to war. Whatever the reason, orphaned children need our help in any
way we can offer it.
Over the years, many different
churches and organizations have hosted events they called, “Orphan Sundays” in
an effort to raise awareness of the orphans in our areas, their problems and
needs. The Christian Alliance started their own version of Orphan Sunday back
in, when a American visitor to Africa Gary Schneider attending a church service
in Zambia was moved by the pastor’s call to care for the numerous orphans in a
local community plagued by hunger bordering on starvation, poverty and AIDS. At
that time especially, children who were orphans were in a particularly terrible
situations, as they were often left to fend for themselves, a thing that no
child is prepared to do. Because of this, many children’s entire lives became
jeopardized, as they had no way to make enough money to get to school in hopes
of getting an education and a decent job in the future. Even though the locals
attending the service were mostly extremely poor themselves, at the end of the
service, many of them stepped forward to offer their support, some even giving
away their own clothes or shoes to help the children. Moved by this display of
generosity, Schneider decided to help Zambian leaders take care of the Zambian
orphans by getting the word out about this new practice, and it spread like
wildfire. By 2003 these efforts had spread to the United States. The Christian
Alliance honors the Zambian church Schneider had visited for the gift of Orphan
Sunday and the inspiration they gave people all over the world to care about
the orphan; in fact, Orphan Sunday is often called, “Zambia’s gift to the
world”. Nowadays, the Christian Alliance includes more 150 respected
ministries, and Orphan Sunday is celebrated in thousands of churches across the
globe in over 50 nations.
How to Celebrate Orphan Sunday
The best way to celebrate
Orphan Sunday is find something you can do for the sadly fatherless and
motherless children the Zambians have been doing their best to look after for
all these years. And it doesn’t stop there! Though Zambia is where the whole event
started, it is definitely not the only place in the world where we can find
orphaned children—there are children who have lost their parents in every
community that could use your help. Orphan Sunday is your opportunity to rouse
church, community and friends to God’s call to care for the orphan. Each Orphan
Sunday event is different, depending on who it’s led by—the believer in any
local church, along with their priest or pastor, get together to decide what
actions they could take stand to benefit their local orphans as well as orphans
worldwide. Events range from sermons on God’s heart for the orphan, whose
plight Christians believe is especially important to, to fundraisers, live
concerts, and even to foster family recruiting.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION ONE-MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE
SPIRIT
CHAPTER TWO-THE HUMAN COMMUNION
Article 2-PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL LIFE
II. The
Common Good
1905 In keeping with the social nature of man, the good of each
individual is necessarily related to the common good, which in turn can be
defined only in reference to the human person:
Do not live entirely isolated, having retreated into
yourselves, as if you were already justified, but gather instead to seek the
common good together.
1906 By common good is to be understood "the sum total of
social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to
reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily." The common good
concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from
those who exercise the office of authority. It consists of three essential
elements:
1907 First, the common good presupposes respect for the person
as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect
the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. Society should
permit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common
good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms
indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as "the
right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard . . .
privacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion."
1908 Second, the common good requires the social well-being and
development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social
duties. Certainly, it is the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the
name of the common good, between various particular interests; but it should
make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food,
clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, the right
to establish a family, and so on.
1909 Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the
stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should
ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It
is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defence.
1910 Each human community possesses a common good which permits
it to be recognized as such; it is in the political community that its most
complete realization is found. It is the role of the state to defend and
promote the common good of civil society, its citizens, and intermediate
bodies.
1911 Human interdependence is increasing and gradually
spreading throughout the world. the unity of the human family, embracing people
who enjoy equal natural dignity, implies a universal common good. This good
calls for an organization of the community of nations able to "provide for
the different needs of men; this will involve the sphere of social life to
which belong questions of food, hygiene, education, . . . and certain
situations arising here and there, as for example . . . alleviating the
miseries of refugees dispersed throughout the world, and assisting migrants and
their families."
1912 The common good is always oriented towards the progress of
persons: "The order of things must be subordinate to the order of persons,
and not the other way around." This order is founded on truth, built
up in justice, and animated by love.
Daily
Devotions
·
Today in honor of the
Holy Trinity do the Divine Office giving your day to God. To honor God REST: no
shopping after 6 pm Saturday till Monday. Don’t forget the internet.
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Victims
of clergy sexual abuse
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
· Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[1] Military
Leadership, Field Manuel 22-100
[4]Goffines Devout Instructions, 1896
[6]http://www.iitaly.org/node/38900
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