Say a prayer for all the veterans of all the wars this country has fought to preserve our freedoms, most of which we still have but all of which we must never quit fighting for.
Remembering The Veterans
Reports are that only one American World War I veteran is still living. He’s 107 year-old Corporal Frank Buckles of West Virginia, who laid a wreath at the grave of General John “Black Jack” Pershing, the head of the American forces in Europe during World War I, at Arlington Cemetery on Veterans Day.
It was originally called Armistice Day. The Armistice was signed at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. When I was a kid, everything came to a halt at 11am on Nov. 11, while we all fell silent for a minute. We prayed as whistles would blow at the paper mill and the glass factory, and bells would ring from all the church towers. There are about a dozen vets worldwide still alive who fought in “The War to End all Wars,” as it was known. Buckles, who lied about his age and joined the army at 15, drove an ambulance during the war.
Know Thy Enemy
I’m still struggling through “The Audacity of Hope” and reading whatever I can find on Barack Obama. You have to know your enemies better than your friends, they say, and any enemy of the unborn is an enemy of mine. In the “Will Wonders Never Cease” category I just found out that one of my favorite relatives voted for Obama. I suppose many people are discovering like disasters in their families, but it still comes as a shock.
USCCB Meeting Bears Pro-Life Fruit
Something good is coming out of the Catholic Bishops’ meeting in Baltimore. They are making some strong demands on President-elect Barack Obama over his support for abortion. At the meeting of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops they vowed not to accept any compromise on abortion, and are demanding legal protection for the unborn.
Francis Cardinal George is preparing a letter calling on the Obama administration to outlaw abortion. Bishop Daniel Conlon of Steubenville said that since abortion is an absolute evil, that they are not searching for common ground. Bishop Robert Hermann of St. Louis said, “Any one of us here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow to bring about the end of abortion.” Bishop Thomas Paprocki said the legislation Obama has already pledged to support would deny health care workers a right of conscience, and that if Catholic hospitals were required by Federal Law to perform abortions, they would have to close.
While the Bishops’ document will promise cooperation with Obama in areas of economic justice, immigration, health care and religious freedom, it will clearly state that there will be no compromise on abortion. They vowed to oppose any law or executive order that might loosen existing abortion restrictions. Any compromise at all, they promised, would permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by Catholics as a direct attack on the Catholic Church.
The bishops urged Catholics and all pro-lifers to stand firm. Vice President elect Joe Biden’s hometown bishop, Joseph Martino of Scranton, PA, urged all bishops to be more punitive against Catholic officials who are stridently pro-abortion and who try to falsify the Church’s teaching on abortion as Biden tried to do.
The bishops also approved wording for blessing a child in the womb: It reads: “May almighty God who has created new life now bless the child in your womb. The Lord has brought you the joy of motherhood: May he bless you with a safe and healthy pregnancy. You thank the Lord today for the gift of your child: May he bring you and your child one day to share in the unending joys of heaven.”
Religious Leaders Praise Obama
Meanwhile, Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun-Times has a column headlined, Religious leaders unite behind Obama. She relates a meeting of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jewish and Indian leaders meeting in Aspen, CO to urge Barack Obama to make compassionate decisions as President. Termed the Global Peace Initiative of Women’s Gathering Spiritual Voices of America, religious leaders referred to Obama variously as a blessing, a prophet, almost a savior. They expect a spiritual rebirth under Obama.
