Fortnight for Freedom--Day Three

"We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other. Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory, and should instead be complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to contribute to our common life together. "

—Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, April 12, 2012

O GOD OUR CREATOR,
from Your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  You have called us as Your people and given us the right and the duty to worship You, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ.  Through the power and the working of your Holy Spirit, You call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.

We ask You to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.  Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of Your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.

Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in Your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome--for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us--this great land will always be "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer and image: Copyright 2012, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. 


"We must not be afraid of being Christian and living as Christians!
We must have this courage to go and proclaim the Risen Christ,
for He is our peace, He made peace with His love, with His forgiveness,
with His blood and with His mercy." 
--Pope Francis, Regina Caeli, Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7, 2013 

Fortnight for Freedom Day Two

Religious liberty in many countries of the world is under attack. It continues to be under threat in the United States.  Some example of this threat in the United states are:

--HHS mandates for sterilization, artificial birth control, and abortion-inducing drugs.

--The government attack on and closing down of Catholic foster care and adoptive services for their refusal to release children to same sex couples.

--State laws that penalize Catholic charities for giving Christian charity to undocumented immigrants.

--Discrimination against small church organizations who desire to use public buildings.

--Discrimination against Christian based groups at certain universities.

See the USCCB fact sheet on Current Threats to Religious Freedom.


"When, in the name of an ideology, there is an attempt to remove God from society, it ends up adoring idols, and very soon men and women lose their way, their dignity is trampled and their rights are violated." Pope Francis, Address in Albania, September 23, 2014

O GOD OUR CREATOR,
from Your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  You have called us as Your people and given us the right and the duty to worship You, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ.  Through the power and the working of your Holy Spirit, You call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.

We ask You to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.  Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of Your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.

Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in Your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome--for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us--this great land will always be "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer and image: Copyright 2012, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. 

Fortnight for Freedom--The Freedom to Bear Witness

Today begins the Fortnight of Freedom in many Archdiocese/diocese in the United States.  This campaign was started four years ago by the United States Bishops to raise awareness that our religious liberties are in constant danger in the US and that Christians abroad are still being persecuted for their faith.  This year's theme is the "Freedom to Bear Witness," focusing on the freedom to bear witness to the truth of the Gospel.  The USCCB website has many resources available for the Fortnight of Freedom to help make US Christian aware of the dangers our modern society poses to religious freedom.

From the USCCB website:

The Fortnight for Freedom: Freedom to Bear Witness will take place from June 21 to July 4, 2015, a time when our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. The theme of this year's Fortnight will focus on the "freedom to bear witness" to the truth of the Gospel.

"[A] healthy pluralism...does not entail privatizing religions in an attempt to reduce them to the quiet obscurity of the individual's conscience or to relegate them to the enclosed precincts of churches, synagogues or mosques."  --Pope Francis, Evanelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), para. 255.

O GOD OUR CREATOR,
from Your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  You have called us as Your people and given us the right and the duty to worship You, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ.  Through the power and the working of your Holy Spirit, You call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.

We ask You to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.  Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of Your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.

Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in Your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome--for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us--this great land will always be "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer and image: Copyright 2012, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. 

"I cannot fail to recall the many instances of injustice and persecution which daily afflict religious minorities, and Christians in particular, in various parts of our world. Communities and individuals today find themselves subjected to barbaric acts of violence: they are evicted from their homes and native lands, sold as slaves, killed, beheaded, crucified or burned alive, under the shameful and complicit silence of so many." --Pope Francis, Address to the European Parliament, Nov. 25, 2014

Attack on Religious Liberty Contined...

Faith, Hope, Charity, with Sophia
(Wisdom) as Virgin Martyrs

"We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government." 

--USCCB statement on the so-called heath care 'Compromise'

I find it incomprehensible that any Christian would not understand the recent attack on religious liberty.  A "friend" on facebook said she didn't see attack on religious liberty at all.  Really?  Are you that blind?  An acquaintance at church really thought that Obama's so-called compromise was a change of heart on Obama's part?  Really?  Are you that blind?  I have a hard time comprehending why seemingly intelligent Christians don't get what is going on.

The issue for Catholics on "Obama Care" is the forcing of Catholic organizations to pay for something Catholics find morally reprehensible.  And this "compromise" ain't a compromise.  He says that Catholic organizations won't have to pay for abortifacients or sterilizations but the insurance companies will.  Huh?  You don't think the insurance company isn't going to pass on that expense to the employer buying the insurance, really?  It's not a compromise; it is a bait-and-switch.  So, yeah, most of the bishops are now saying they will make sure we do not pay for it.  IF  it comes down to that Catholic organizations (ie, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, charities, etc) will be FORCED to drop insurance coverage.  That is how serious it is!  Bishops would rather Catholic organizations pay the huge fines than be forced to pay for things Catholics (real, orthodox ones anyway) find reprehensible--it is against God law.

"Catholics should not be misled into accepting feeble compromises on issues of principle. The HHS mandate is bad law; and not merely bad, but dangerous and insulting. It needs to be withdrawn – now."
--Archbishop Chaput


Do some reading, please!
USCCB's reaction statement, In depth analysis: The Bishops Response to the Obama 'Compromise' mandate, Catholic World News article on the "Compromise", Recent Catholic New Service article, January Fox News item, Archbishop Coakley's letter, Fr. Z's blog listing all the Bishops and Archbishop's letters, messages, etc. out so far.

This is worth repeating:

"First they came for the Socialists and I didn't speak out because I was not a Socialist. 
Then they came for the trade unions, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me."
--Martin Niemoller, German pastor interred in Nazi concentration camps from 1938-1945.

More later...

Threats to Religious Freedom in America

This is the name of a seminar just put on the schedule at CDU.  It is timely.  It has purpose.  Dr. Royal will review and discuss the present attack on religious freedom in America.  What can we do about it?  Learn where it comes from, who is doing it, and how we can prepare ourselves for battle against it or standing up to it. 

Sign up now the seminar starts March 5th.

New Seminar on Religious Freedom

Catholic Distance University (CDU) is offering a three-week seminar pertinent to current events:
"Threats to Religious Freedom in America."  It starts March 5th. 

Here is the brochure:  http://cdu.caucus.com/~caucus_cdu/LIB/ITEMS/30040/0/CDU-seminar-Rel-freedom_flyer.pdf

Our first ammendment rights are under attack by this administration.  We should inform ourselves on what's at stake, and steel ourselves to make a stand--now!