le Monde

Le Monde is the largest newspaper in France. As you may have heard, Le Monde published a blasphemous cartoon on March 19 showing 'Our Lord' handing out prophylactics to the excited masses with the caption "The multiplication of the condoms followed the multiplication of the loaves."The cartoon targeted the Pope too. He was depicted as a decrepit old man who says: "Anything goes!"

Many offended Catholics have sent a note to Le Monde expressing their protest. Below is the email address and example note you may send.

Send it to courrier-des-lecteurs@lemonde.fr:

Le Monde: As a Catholic, I was dismayed and offended by your newspaper publishing a sacrilegious cartoon showing Our Lord Jesus Christ handing out prophylactics from a boat to the excited masses. The cartoon depicts Christ and the Pope saying things that are sacrilegious. This is offensive and hurtful to the Catholic faith. In response, I demand that you apologize for the cartoon and pledge never to publish such offensive material again. Thank you for your time.

Fallen Away

I was talking to a really nice lady at a playgroup recently. I assumed she was a Protestant until we got to talking and she shared she was a Catholic. I always get an excited feeling of kinship when someone shares that they are Catholic. But, she also shared that she is a non practicing Catholic.... but as our conversation continued I was struck by her 'relationship' with Catholicism in general. She spoke of her affection to saints and how she gave her St. Christopher medal to a friends high school newly driving son. She said her boyfriend had fallen ill, been given a rosary while in the hospital and how he wore it around his neck. She laughed and shared that he made him take the rosary off and told him what it was for. When admitted to the hospital the boyfriend shared that his religion was Catholic and she said,' Catholic? You aren't Catholic!' When he replied that his mother had been Catholic she exclaimed 'Being Catholic isn't like being Irish! You have to work to be Catholic!'

The conversation really moved me. I invited her to the church we attend downtown and tried to share my love for the Eucharist. It was at this point that she shared how her daughter was asking about receiving her First Communion. She said that she told her daughter that receiving First Communion required learning and time... that it was a huge commitment.

It stopped me. Her child was asking to receive her Holy Communion. Her daughter was asking about the Son of God! Granted it is enticing thinking about a white dress and possible party of course but overall the child was asking to be united with God in a way no other earthly experience can provide.

How beautiful! How fascinating! Yet still there remains a huge element of sad..... Because I don't think that the mom had any intention of letting her daughter receive this beautiful mystery. It made me think about that huge population of men and women who are Catholic and not practicing. And the effects they have on their children. How do you reach them? How do you evangelize to those who have already been catechized? How do you break through the reasons why they 'left' the church in the first place? Through the power of the Holy Spirit and our ability to open our hearts to holy boldness maybe we can be instruments in the conversion of those who have 'fallen' away.

Lord, please bless those that have fallen away. Open their hearts to your love once again. Please use us however You desire so that we can be instruments of conversion for your loved ones who have forgotten the way.

Romans 10:17

Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

How do you promote Catholicism to your children?

I have been meaning to mesh the whole 'mom' and 'catholic' lately.

I was thinking about the things that I do to bring Catholicism into my little three year olds life.

Then I was thinking about how most of my ideas all came from my friends. Ha! My thoughts were that maybe we could all share the things we do in our homes to promote Catholicism.

For example:

I just bought 'The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions'. (Review to come soon!) This book provides different activities for teachers or moms to do with their kiddos.

We do a Rosary playgroup on Fridays. My little one gets to have a playdate and I get to pray the rosary with my girlfriends. The kids definitely get loud during the rosary but I am sure Mother Mary is smiling down on us.

Holy Baby DVD's! Love them! (Another Holy Baby DVD giveaway to come soon!) They are Catholic DVD's that provide music, mass parts and so much more for your child.

What do you do? Post below and I can put together a comprehensive list for a new post entitled ' Keeping the Catholic in Kid!'

Woman's World and Repro-what?

I very innocently sat down with the magazine 'Woman's World' this weekend. All was well until I came to an article entitled 'Would You Like Fries With That Baby?'

It's funny because I 'get' the title now but when I first read it I wasn't sure if it was about losing weight after pregnancy! Oh how wrong I was.

In summary this article is about REPROGENETICS. New word for you? Me too. Basically it is a cross between reproductive technology (think IVF) and genetics and allowing a parent to choose or eliminate traits including things like gender or disease before the child is even conceived.

You can also test children when they are infants. The example they so innocently provide explains that a dad could test and see if his son is going to be a great football star. If genetics show that he does have an inclination toward athleticism than you know you do not have to waste time with music lessons. You can also use the information to foster the child's talent from a young age.

Overall the writer of the article is not very supportive of this break through in medicine because she believes a parent should let a child come into their own. She spoke about her own son who was athletically inclined but truly preferred music as his outlet. The article was not necessarily for this 'new wave' because they didn't want to crush a child's sense of creativity! WHAT?!!

Of course I am reading it and thinking OH MY GOSH! I guess I knew that these types of genetic findings would surface during my lifetime but I still am not prepared for this!

If parents are able to choose certain traits we are in a lot of trouble. Besides the obvious problem of playing God there becomes the issues of control. Hitler tried to choose the traits he wanted in society and it resulted in the Holocaust. China is attempting to choose gender traits by mandating a two child policy and killing baby girls. (This absolutely kills me that it is happening in this day and age and still I sit on my couch and can virtually do nothing.)

More than anything it directly affects the dignity of the human person. God knew us before we were formed in the womb. He plans it all out, our beauty inside and out, our talents, our motivations and science wants to eliminate those traits that it does not deem worthy. Or maybe traits that it just doesn't like. Science wants to try and trump what God has planned. How scary and sad! Please join with me in prayer to end reprogenetic research.

Prayer Request for Orphanage

I read an article about an orphanage in Padampur, India. It has been burned down for the second time from what I believe is religious conflict. This priest sounds inspirational. If you are interested you can read the article here.

Please remember to keep Father Edward and his efforts in your prayers. Pray for the children affected by this loss and for those who committed such a horrendous crime. This man sure sounds like a saint in the making. In addition to the orphanage he runs a leper colony in Asia.

Father Edward:

"Our mission to serve the marginalized and ostracised must go on, that is our calling, to serve these people with the love that Christ had for his Church. As a Catholic priest I was ordained to serve, so in spite of the climate of intimidation we have to breathe life of hope into these people. The cross is always be present in the life of a Christian, and this cross brought forth the most powerful fruit of the resurrection. This is our life, the cross of Christ in the face of persecution, and the hope of resurrection."

Wow. This truly puts in perspective the fact that persecution is real. And it really make the resurrection something very beautiful. I will go to bed grateful for my freedoms both religiously and politically.

A Doctor's Right

Here is another online form we can sign to let the Obama administration know that we do not agree with their policy.

It's called a Doctor's Right.

The Obama administration wants to rescind the bill by President Bush that allowed health care workers to refuse to participate in procedures that were against their beliefs. Most importantly this affects faith based hospitals and abortion issues.

The Heritage Foundation provides some additional information as well.

Thanks!

JPII's beatification

This makes me so happpppyy!!!

JPII'S BEATIFICATION: It has been resported that Pope John Paul II will be beatified on April 2, 2010. This is just five years after his death. I am so excited! Love him! It's amazing how just finding a picture of him moves my heart :-)

Ultimate Blog Party

Check out the Ultimate Blog Party! The Ultimate Blog Party is about building online friendships.

The Truth

I found this quote in a news email I was sent. The editor was responding to the different responses that priests gave regarding the Pope's support of monogamy and abstinence.

Henry Makori, editor of Catholic Information Service for Africa, spoke for many Catholics when he wrote:

" So what? The uneasy relationship between religion and the media will continue. One hopes Pope Benedict does not lose much sleep over this. The church's greatest challenge in this age is not to have secular media on its side, or to get everyone agreeing with its doctrines. Christianity is in town to bear credible witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ."


This brought to mind the Scripture that reads:

"If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as it's own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of this world- therefore the world hates you."- John 15:18-19


In light of these two articles of truth I have to laugh. You see I constantly forget that I am going to come up against opposition. Somewhere along the line (probably because of the 1960's or something) I have been inundated with the idea that everyone is just supposed to be 'cool' with everyone beliefs... I get confused because in order to be 'cool' sometimes it means that I am not a bearer of truth (The Truth) but more someone who nods my head and thinks, 'Well, not for me but its okay for you I guess'.


Hearing the Pope speak out against the use of condoms has really been an amazing example for his flock. Of course, we pray and hope the Pope would stand up for Truth, still he surely has received a lot of opposition. Media, other priests, fellow Catholics and the list goes on of those who are really upset by the Pope's seemingly 'unrealistic' stance.

But for those of us who are truly hearing the Message we know that this is a deeper call to holiness.....

"Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 10)" - Matthew 5:10

Yes Lord!

This is where its at. Standing up for what is truth and proclaiming the Gospel message.


It made me think about an experience I had the other day...

I had the opportunity to pray outside an abortion clinic for an hour. Nothing crazy just rosary time. I went with a good friend and with the help of another lovely women we quietly prayed outside.


So, upon getting there I was in another world... I just had so much going on in my own life that this had become just another thing to do on the list. We get there, break out the rosary, and the multitude of women start pouring into the clinic. They are coming and I am standing on the side of the road praying. Honestly, my emotions were overwhelmed. My heart was breaking knowing that these women were coming to seek an end to their child's life. I was angry because I have been praying for another child for three years and they are willing to just 'get rid' of theirs. All of this while being touched with a moment of embarrassment.... I know! See, we were on this busy street and cars kept screaming by on their way to work or lunch, where ever and I started thinking about what they must think of me. I thought about the impression I was making, how I was probably offending those pro-choicers driving by, how this could potentially 'turn someone off'.


These were just the thoughts going through my mind....so as the rosary went on and the cars kept coming I began to feel the urgency of prayer and how necessary it is to be a catalyst of change in that community. Abortions are wrong. They are a travesty to the human race and I imagine that God cries each time his children are killed. It was at this point that the Holy Spirit moved me into conviction and gratitude that I had been called to pray for his little ones.


This reminds me that I have to have to put on the Whole Armor of God to truly become his warrior. (this is one of my faves):


"Finally, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord and in the might of his power. 11 Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. 12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. High places, or heavenly places... That is to say, in the air, the lowest of the celestial regions; in which God permits these wicked spirits or fallen angels to wander. 13 Therefore, take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day and to stand in all things perfect. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of justice: 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. 16 In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. 17 And take unto you the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God). 18 By all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the spirit: and in the same watching with all instance and supplication for all the saints". - Ephesians 6:10-17 (taken from www.newadvent.com)


So, I have continued gratitude to the Pope for not only standing up for the Truth but inspiring his flock to follow suit and truly emulate his behavior. We are blessed to have a faithful and brilliant Pope. We must continue to pray for his faithfulness, holiness and servitude.

And as for us, I pray that we become INSPIRED! EXCITED! MOVED by the Spirit and able to always speak and promote the Truth.... With the Armor of God to cover us, the Rosary to guide us and the Eucharist to give us life we move forward in this day and age knowing that our reward lies in Heaven.

Christian Family Organizer Giveaway!

Christian Family Organizer

Life has really been coming at me! I wish I had a little more time to blog... So many great things to share. Please continue to check for new blogs and for now I thought I would give away a few Christian planners.....

My good friend over at http://www.thriftyandchicmom.com/ has generously shared some planners for me to give away to you!

These planners are fantastic. It is called the Christian Family Organizer and I have three to give away. The website can be found here. The planners are created by Amy Knapp. There are three different planners including the regular family planner, the maternity family planner and the ones I have to give away, the Christian Family Planner.

I immediately took to this planner for several reasons.

First, it is spiral bound which I love because it makes it so much easier to keep it open to any page I need.

Second, it offers a nice two page month by month calendar.

Third, it offers a place to list 'things to do', 'prayer and praise', 'menu planning' and 'Grocery'.

Fourth, the Menu and Grocery part are perforated so it can be torn out and taken with you to the grocery store! (Nice touch!)

Fifth, throughout the planner there are great scriptural references. (And who doesn't need a little inspiration!)

Sixth, there is a family budget planner, babysitter information, a place for information about the children for the babysitter, babysitter phone numbers, childrens' play friends section, childrens' organization references, parents' organization references, address and phone number section and even a web address/ login section!

Seventh, there are handy little stickers that can help highlight certain events.

The planner is functional, user friendly, offers enough room for all a mom's needs and can be easily transported.

To enter tell me in a comment why you want this planner.

For more entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

* Subscribe by email to Modern Catholic Mom

* Blog abut this giveaway with a link back

* Twitter about this giveaway with a link back

* Email a friend about this giveaway with a link be sure to CC me

Giveaway open to US residents only, ends 4/4 at midnight.

More Notre Dame Controversy

Here is a positive update to the Notre Dame Scandel:

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=2396

I was reading another article that was applauding Notre Dame's efforts to look past 'political disagreements' and honor the President for, well, something.

At first it just enraged me. The author, a 'Catholic', says:

"Our voices must be raised to say that we are thrilled such a distinguished Catholic university is considered such a part of the life of the nation that our President will be coming to address its graduates. We are thrilled that he will be sharing the stage with one of our Church’s and nation’s finest scholars and diplomats. And, we should be thrilled that the right wing commentariat has again adopted its smug "I thank Thee, Lord, that I am not like other men" stance. "

But really an article like this has only encouraged me further to be a defender of life. There will be many who say that those who are against the President speaking at Notre Dame is silly, excessive and even prejudice.

Come on.

Lets get to the bottom of this. THE PRESIDENT IS AN ACTIVE SUPPORTER AND CATALYST FOR CHANGE REGARDING THE PRO-CHOICE MOVEMENT. HE HAS APPOINTED MORE PRO-CHOICE MEMBERS TO OFFICE THAN EVER BEFORE. HE HAS SPOKEN CLEARLY ABOUT HIS BELIEFS AND INTENTIONS FOR AMERICA. HE BELIEVES ABORTION SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR ALL WOMEN IN ALL COUNTRIES. HE IS SUPPORTIVE OF STEM CELL RESEARCH.

And now one of the most well known Catholic universities in the country want to honor him. You better believe we are going to be upset. We are defenders of life! We are the unborns only voice! And it is sad that Notre Dame has decided to look past all that the President stands for regarding major moral issues and honor him anyway. Not okay. Not acceptable.

It is important for us to be prepared to share why it is unacceptable for Notre Dame to be so supportive of the President to our family and friends who don't understand. We know it truly is a matter of life and death.

Prayers for the president

Foremost we need to pray......

Then educate ourselves.....

Sometimes I have conversations with men and women who say, "President Obama really hasn't done anything to hurt the pro-life movement". I don't always know what to say. I know that he is Pro-choice and intent on making abortions, contraceptives and stem cell research available for all. Let there be no question, President Obama supports the culture of death. So in light of these 'conversations' I found some sobering information.

Lifenews.com listed a fascinating article here about what the President has really done. I will give you some highlights:

January 22, 2009 - Releases statement restating support for Roe v. Wade decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions and has resulted in at least 50 million abortions since 1973.

January 23, 2009 - Forces taxpayers to fund pro-abortion groups that either promote or perform abortions in other nations. Decison to overturn Mexico City Policy sends part of $457 million to pro-abortion organizations.

February 27, 2009 - Starts the process of overturning pro-life conscience protections President Bush put in place to make sure medical staff and centers are not forced to do abortions.

March 5, 2009 - The Obama administration shut out pro-life groups from attending a White House-sponsored health care summit. Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, made the invitation list as did other pro-abortion groups.

March 9, 2009 - President Barack Obama signed an executive order forcing taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research.

Notre Dame Scandal

If you haven't heard, Notre Dame has decided to have President Obama speak at their commencement ceremony this school year. This poses a multitude of problems when we look at a major Catholic university honoring a man who directly opposes so many of our Catholic beliefs.

I am amazed by the number of men and women who are signing this petition. It is pretty strange to think that such a predominantly Catholic college would seek and support someone who is trying to make abortions easier to obtain. It is contradiction at its finest.

You can sign a petition asking the President of Notre Dame to reconsider this decision here.

You can read the article put out by Notre Dame here.

Holy Baby Giveaway Winners!

Hello all!

The winners of the Holy Baby DVD's are:

#4 Rarely Sarah

#5 Kate W.

# 9 Jennifer H.

Congratulations!!

IF YOU DIDN'T WIN DON"T WORRY! THERE WILL BE A FEW MORE CHANCES TO WIN!

Photobucket src="http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr342/thriftyandchicmom/tcm_siggy-1-2.gif" border=0>

"He said what?"

I found a great article supporting Pope Benedict's recent statement regarding condoms. Sometimes when I hear about the Church stepping out and making bold statements that are totally counter-cultural I forget that I have to be a part of the revolution. Even within my family and friends I need to be on top of my game so I can 'defend' such statements.

So in light of the Modern Catholic Mom theme I am trying to figure out how to get involved as a mom!

Here are my thoughts:

1. Pray pray pray for the Pope and his Cardinals so they can remain faithful to the Tradition of the Church and always speak truth.

2. Educate ourselves so that we can respond to questions or misconceptions our family and friends may have. If you haven't read Pope John Paul II encyclical 'Humanae Vitae' it is an excellent source of knowledge regarding human sexuality and the Catholic Church's stance on such topics.


As most of us know the media is having a field day with the following:

The AIDS epidemic “cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems.”

With some media sources calling this one step away from a death sentence it is refreshing to read an article from the National Review Online that entertains the reasons 'why' the church would make this statement.

Here are the highlights:

"The pope, of course, is not actually “ignorant.” The Vatican knows well what it is doing, and the church is not deaf to the suffering of those Africans living with AIDS. Indeed, Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Internationalis (the U.S. and worldwide Catholic relief agencies respectively) are leaders in distributing antiretroviral drugs, and in so doing have saved thousands of lives."

It begins with the premise that while the AIDS epidemic is the result of a virus, it is as much a social as a viral illness. It is not something one catches merely inhalation or shaking hands or other passive contact. The transmission of HIV in the vast majority of cases can be traced to an elective and deliberate act of sexual intercourse.

The goal should be to promote widespread delays in becoming sexually active among young people and, when they grow up, encourage them to form committed relationships.

The Catholic position seems naïve to the average Westerner who, thinking of himself and his own society’s inability to regulate its collective sexuality, applies this lesson on the impossibility of self-restraint to the whole globe. (I have to comment on this because it just fires me up! Those who promote the use of contraception do so because they do not feel that our society is capable of any self restraint! Rather than try and teach abstinence they would rather throw condoms at our teens and tell them well since you are going to be reckless anyway mind as well use condoms! No! They can be taught self restraint which goes hand in hand with self respect.... which is the best gift we can teach our children. Ok- hopping off the soap box!)

In fact, such Westerners, before they criticize Benedict for being unrealistic, may first want to calibrate their own sense of reality to African standards. Because where abstinence and monogamy have been most vigorously promoted, the HIV-infection rate has declined the most dramatically. Particularly, this is true of Uganda, where evangelical Christian influences have imbued the country’s AIDS policy with a moralizing outlook and an emphasis squarely on behavior change. The message was: You have the power to change your behavior and, if you do not, you may very well die.

It proved to be startlingly effective. In spite of the expectations of public-health wonks, Uganda saw a “60% reduction in casual sex . . . equivalent to a vaccine of 80% effectiveness,” according to a review of the policy published in the journal Science. In the wake of the policy’s implementation, Uganda became one of the first African countries to post a decline in the HIV-infection rate. (Yay! Yay! Yay!)

In its obsession with condoms, the Western public-health community has been every bit as dogmatic as the pope. And it has been even more blinkered to the realities of Africa, which is arguably in the grips of a huge religious and moral revival that has a huge potential to be wielded in the fight against AIDS. Church attendance is soaring, and Africans are willing to make sacrifices, of both their money and their pleasure, for moral causes. In this respect, it is not Benedict and the Catholic Church who are out of touch. It is the West and its condom myopia.