November 2009 Archives
One of the main reasons Conservatives in New York revolted against the GOP’s choice of D. Scozzafava as their candidate, was because of her position on Abortion. Some Republicans assert that the Hoffman Revolution is about the economy, yet the majority of objections in articles and calls to Talk Radio centered, primarily, on the Republicat’s NARAL rating and her reception of the Margaret Sanger Award, both reflecting her position on Abortion. It is because Sarah Palin is profoundly Pro-Life that she understood the extent of the GOP travesty in asking Conservatives to violate their moral convictions by voting for a woman whose position on these core issues was the polar opposite of their own. While tacticians like Gingrich tried to brush these “secondary social issues” under the rug, Sarah did not. This is a good day to reflect on the very personal way that Sarah Palin brought the issue of Life to the 2008 Campaign.
For those invested in a Culture of Life, two statements made by Barack Obama during his campaign were particularly heart-stopping. The first was when he glibly responded to Pastor Rick Warren, during the Saddleback Interviews, that making statements about Roe V. Wade was, “Above his pay grade.” The second was when he shared with Planned Parenthood supporters that, should his own daughters ever “make mistakes,” he would not want them to be “punished with a baby.” Chilling death-sentence for any Obama grandchildren conceived out of wedlock.
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William Rehnquist |
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Since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council many ancient traditions of; the Catholic Church have simply vanished. The Mantilla, or chapel veil, worn by women while visiting a church or assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, has virtually disappeared in the modern age. However, in examining both the history and symbolism behind the chapel veil, it begs reconsideration on the part of all Catholic women who wish to uphold Mary-like modesty and true womanhood. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul demands that women’s heads be covered whenever they pray. He commands that “in all things you are mindful of me: and keep my ordinances as I have delivered them to you.”[1] He continues to explain the hierarchy on earth: Christ being the head of man, and man being the head of woman, “For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man.”[2] For this reason “ought the woman to have a power over her head, because of the angels.”[3] A power in this case means a sign of subservience to man – a veil. Later in his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul confirms that subservience to man is good and proper by stating that a head covering “is a glory to [woman].”[4] Man is the head of woman just as God is the head of Christ. There is no oppression involved in this headship, for just as it dishonors a woman to pray with her head uncovered, it also dishonors a man to cover his head. This notion of functional headship has been rejected by many modern women who can not reconcile it with their false feminist views that man and woman are perfectly equal. The Good Lord, himself, contradicts this erroneous belief many times in the Holy Gospel. |
"Thanks to James Larson for this article, which is scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of Christian Order magazine."
A very peculiar thing seems to happen to those Americans who have been involved in the Trialogos Festival in Estonia. This phenomenon is evident in James Likoudis' recent article in Christian Order, and I also admit to having fallen under the same spell. The fact is that, for some reason or another, we become especially enamored of this country and its people.
When looked at from the standpoint of Catholic demographics, the situation is desperate. In a country of 1.3 million people, only 5,000 are Catholic. Secularism dominates.
WALKING into church 40 years ago on this first Sunday of Advent, many Roman Catholics might have wondered where they were. The priest not only spoke English rather than Latin, but he faced the congregation instead of the tabernacle; laymen took on duties previously reserved for priests; folk music filled the air. The great changes of Vatican II had hit home.
All this was a radical break from the traditional Latin Mass, codified in the 16th century at the Council of Trent. For centuries, that Mass served as a structured sacrifice with directives, called “rubrics,” that were not optional. This is how it is done, said the book. As recently as 1947, Pope Pius XII had issued an encyclical on liturgy that scoffed at modernization; he said that the idea of changes to the traditional Latin Mass “pained” him “grievously.”
