ProLifeCon

Pro-life internet activists will gather at Family Research Council headquarters on January 24th, 2011 for ProLifeCon, the premier conference for the online pro-life community.  The event will be webcast live, and will feature experts and legislators to inform you about the cutting edge of the pro-life movement and give you ways to make a difference on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the rest of the online world.
Event Schedule:

• 8:30 - 8:35 a.m. emcee Jill Stanek: Welcome & Introduction
• 8:35 - 8:50 a.m. Abby Johnson (Author, Unplanned)
• 8:50 - 9:05 a.m. Lila Rose (Live Action)
• 9:05 - 9:25 a.m. Panel: Taking the Pro-Life Message to Urban Audiences Online: Dean Nelson (Care Net) & Ryan Scott Bomberger (The Radiance Foundation)
• 9:25 - 9:35 a.m. Michael J. New, Ph.D.
• 9:35 - 9:50 a.m. Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.)
• 9:50 - 10:05 a.m. Special Announcements
• 10:05 - 10:15 a.m. Tony Perkins (Family Research Council)
• 10:15 - 10:30 a.m. Terrence McKeegan (C-FAM)
• 10:30 - 10:45 a.m. Kristan Hawkins (Students for Life)
• 10:45 - 11:00 a.m. Jeanne Monahan (Family Research Council)
• 11:00 - 11:15 a.m. David Bereit (40 Days for Life)
• 11:15 - 11:30 a.m. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.)

(from http://www.frc.org/prolifecon)

Music with Meaning - Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down - Robert Plant

This a beautiful old gospel song. Robert Plant has done an amazing job on this cover version from his latest album "Band of Joy." I am in love with this dirge, simple but powerful. As the pope says in "Light of the World" - "Simplicity is Truth - and Truth is simple."

The picture shown above is of St Michael the Archangel defeating Satan.
We can pray to St Michael:

St Michael, Archangel

Defend us in battle

Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil

May God rebuke him,

we humbly pray,

and do thou,

Oh prince of the heavenly host,

thrust into hell

Satan and all evil spirits who prowl through the world for the ruin of souls.

These days many people are confused about the idea of hell. "How can a forgiving God send anyone to eternal suffering?" they ask. But let us flip that around. Remember that it is not God who condemns to Hell, but people who themselves turn their back on God and deprive themselves of his presence. When we look back at the story of the first sin in the Garden of Eden we read: 

"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." 

(Genesis 3:8)

They knew they had been disobedient and felt ashamed, but God still wished to be with them. However, they hid. They had wanted to be "as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:5b). And in an attempt at making themselves into gods they gave up the innocent beauty that was entrusted to them.

We too, continue in our pride to try and decide what is good and what is evil. It is only when we turn back to God and trust His goodness, when we give up wanting to justify ourselves that we can let ourselves look upon him in trust and joy. We cannot love God and impose our ideas on Him.

Hell is our choice to turn our backs on God. To be close to Him in the next life, but not allow ourselves to receive his loving embrace. God always calls us into His embrace, it is we who hide.

The Presence is Real

Another reminder that there is no such thing as a pro-choice Catholic!

UNPlanned by Abby Johnson - free previews

Just a quick one. There has been a lot of press in Pro-Life circles regarding the new book by a former director of a Planned Parenthood Centre who changed sides after seeing an abortion on ultrasound. You can get the first chapter as a free download and other previews here: http://www.ignatius.com/promotions/unplanned/

Some quotes from that page:

"The moving true story of the shocking truth of abortion and how God's love transformed Abby's life." - Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR

"Abby walked out of the abortion industry and came into my office just next door. After seeing her transformation from running a Planned Parenthood to joining our efforts to help women and save lives, I believe that ANYONE can change their mind on abortion." - Shawn Carney, 40 Days for Life

You can also listen to the launch party webcast in which 21,613 people participated (including Abby) earlier this week: http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=16864185

http://www.unplannedbook.com/

Philosophy of the devil (Noses and diagnosis)

As the more observant of you may notice (from my reading list in the right hand margin) I am still reading The Karamazov Brothers. I know it is taking a very long time, but in my defense it is rather long (second only to War and Peace I believe). I have been totally enthralled in recent chapters. Not to give away too much of the story, but there is a delightful conversation between one of the brothers and the devil. The intellectual posturing is at times hilarious and at other times just fascinating. I would like to share with you what the devil thinks of philosophy (I know it is lengthy, but I promise it is worthwhile):

'Philosophy, indeed, when all my right side is numb and I am moaning and groaning. I've tried all the medical faculty: they can diagnose beautifully, they have the whole of your disease at their fingertips, but they've no idea how to cure you. There was an enthusiastic little student here, "You may die," said he, "but you'll know perfectly what you are dying of!" And then what a way they have of sending people to specialists! "We only diagnose," they say, "but go to such-and-such  a specialist, he'll cure you." The old doctor who used to cure all sorts of disease has completely disappeared, I assure you, now there are only specialists and they all advertise in the newspapers. If anything is wrong with your nose, they send you to Paris: there, they say, is a European specialist who cures noses. If you go to Paris, he'll look at your nose; I can only cure your right nostril, he'll tell you, for I don't cure the left nostril, that's not my specialty, but go to Vienna, there there's a specialist who will cure your left nostril. What are you to do? I fell back on popular remedies, a German doctor advised me to rub myself with honey and salt in the bath-house. Solely to get an extra bath I went, smeared myself all over and it did me no good at all. In despair I wrote to Count Mattei in Milan. He sent me a book and some drops, bless him, and, only fancy, Hoff's malt extract cured me! I bought it by accident, drank a bottle and a half of it, and I was ready to dance, it took it away completely. I made up my mind to write to the papers to thank him, I was prompted by a feeling of gratitude, and only fancy, it led to no end of bother: not a single paper would take my letter. "It would be very reactionary," they said, "no one will believe it. Le diable n'existe point (The devil does not exist). You'd better remain anonymous," they advised me. What use is a letter of thanks if it's anonymous? I laughed with the men at the newspaper office; "It is reactionary to believe in God in our days," I said, "but I'm the devil, so I may be believed in." "We quite understand that," they said. "Who doesn't believe in the devil? Yet it won't do, it might injure our reputation. As a joke, if you like." But I thought as a joke it wouldn't be very witty. So it wasn't printed. And do you know, I have felt sore about it to this day. My best feelings, gratitude, for instance, are literally denied me simply from my social position.'

Story of our lives (from Matthew Kelly)

I just received this in the Matthew Kelly newsletter yesterday. He really is an inspiration. See his website http://www.matthewkelly.org/ and for American readers there is the opportunity to receive a free copy of his book Rediscovering Catholicism (I highly, highly recommend it).

Ideas shape our lives. Ideas shape history. We all have a need for a constant flow of ideas that inspire us, challenge us, illumine our minds, teach us about ourselves and our world, show us what is possible, and encourage us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves.

We need a diet of the mind just as much as we need a diet of the body. The ideas we feed our mind today tend to form our lives tomorrow.
Think of it in this way: We become the stories we listen to. It doesn't matter if we get those stories from movies, music, television, newspapers, magazines, politicians, friends, or books-the stories we listen to form our lives.
If you want to understand any period in history, simply ask two questions: "Who were the storytellers?" and "What story were they telling?"
Winston Churchill, Francis of Assisi, Charlemagne, Napoleon, Charlie Chaplin, Adolf Hitler, Bob Dylan, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn Monroe, Nelson Mandela, and Jesus each told a story.
If you want to know how your nation will be different tomorrow from the way it was yesterday, find out how the stories your nation is listening to are different from the stories of yesterday. If you discover that the stories we are listening to have less meaning, contain more violence, and, rather than inspire us and raise our standards, appeal more and more to the lowest common denominator, you can be sure that in the future our lives will have less meaning, contain more violence, and be more focused on the lowest common denominator.
We become the stories we listen to. But perhaps the more important question is, what stories do you listen to? What stories are forming your life?

~ excerpt from The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion & Purpose

Golfing with the Trinity, it's infallible

I just came across this speaker, Dr Ray Guarendi. He has been featured on EWTN and is very inspirational. He is the father of 10 and a practicing clinical psychologist. The second half of the clip talks about artificial contraception and the teaching authority of the Church.