PARTIAL BIRTH & NOTRE DAME SHAME

From: brianburch@catholicvote.com
Sent: 3/23/2009 1:19:48 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Notre Dame Shame

Dear CatholicVote.org Member,

http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/2923701:3759179976:m:4:142139552:E6A3C2A54E7EE361A1C60F156F1898FFLike many of you, we received the news last Friday that President Barack Obama will deliver the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame this May.

In addition to delivering the address, the President will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. In short, one of our nation’s premier Catholic institutions will honor the President, and hold out him as an example to its students as someone worthy of emulation!

Given President Obama’s utterly shameful record on life, how could a Catholic university honor him?

The University could have politely and quietly told the White House that their standing invitation to the President of the United States was not available this year. Better yet, they could have said that while they would welcome his contributions to the public debate over how to solve our economic crisis, his regrettable policies in favor of a culture of death make it impossible for them to welcome him.

Notre Dame has regrettably hosted pro-abortion speakers in the past, but President Obama is a champion of the abortion cause.

Sadly, it is now indisputable that our President has become the world’s leading promoter of abortion, embryo-killing cloning and research, taxpayer-funded abortion, and a vigorous opponent of conscience protections for medical professionals. His campaign promises to find ‘common ground’ have sadly been ignored, or perhaps were simply lies. And this Administration has only just begun.

Is there anything a president could do that would disqualify him or her from delivering such a prestigious address?

If there is such a threshold, Barack Obama has not disqualified himself with Notre Dame officials.

And so we must act.

We have spoken with professors, students, and leaders at Notre Dame over the past 48 hours and have concluded that a massive protest will be practically difficult, and even counterproductive. The University has a right as a private school to prevent all protestors from entering campus, and could legally arrest those who violate this rule. Secondly, a protest could create exactly the wrong impression.

Therefore, we are recommending four courses of action.

1) CatholicVote.org has partnered with the Cardinal Newman Society, a dynamic organization dedicated to the renewal of Catholic higher education in establishing www.NotreDameScandal.com. Together our aim is to collect thousands of signatures and present them to University officials. Sign the petition now.

2) Contact Notre Dame and charitably express your outrage. CatholicVote.org is large enough to have a major impact, and we urge you to contact Notre Dame President Father Jenkins at (574) 631-5000.

3) Join your fellow CatholicVote.org members in a prayer of reparation on May 17 from 2-4 PM. We encourage you to organize local groups to pray for mercy for the decision by Notre Dame, but also for our nation for continuing to permit the tragedy of abortion.

***If you live in the Midwest, or near Notre Dame University, we invite you to personally join us in prayer at the Grotto on the campus of Notre Dame from 2-4 PM on May 17, where we will be joined by several Notre Dame professors, alumni, and current students. The gathering will be a peaceful and prayerful.

4) Please forward this message to your family and friends. Let them know about Notre Dame's decision to honor the most pro-abortion President in American history. We must not remain silent over this scandal!

Sincerely,

Brian Burch, President
CatholicVote.org

SUPPORT THE NEW CATHOLIC MEDIA

Join me on CatholicVote.org.

It is an exciting opportunity to be part of a new movement that’s committed to using powerful media projects to create a Culture of Life. We can help shape the movement and have a voice in its future.

Sign up: www.CatholicVote.org

Check us out on our Facebook Page and on Twitter

Vatican YouTube Channel

The Vatican has launched a video channel on YouTube that features news coverage of Pope Benedict XVI and major Vatican events. The initiative is part of the Vatican's vision "to be present wherever people are." To create the channel, a partnership was formed between the Vatican Television Center, Vatican Radio, and Google/YouTube. Hours after the launch, the new channel had recorded over 12,000 views and enrolled more than 500 subscribers.

What a terrific new vehicle for The Church! Check it out:

www.youtube.com/vatican

401K BLUES

Have you been watching your retirement account shrink faster than you can say, "earmark"? Do you have an awful knot in your stomach and random, bizarre thoughts about the future? Visions of pawnshops and soup kitchens? I heard the "D" word on TV today, not "D" for defense, "D" for depression, as in the next great.

I think a certain group of talking heads would have us ready to jump out the window. I am weary of an America where one political party sells doomsday while the other sells the future with pork on the side. Partisan politics are driving the country into the ground.

Oh, Lord, when will the greed and bickering end?

I have been drawn to the story of Job many times in the past few years, but never more so than now. To quote Job 1:21:

"Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall go back again; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"

Turn off the TV and pray for the grace to know and obey God's will for us. After all, its His board game, not ours. We were created by God, for God. He may just allow capitalism to go to hell in a hand basket.

Easier said than done, right? Well, if Job's revolutionary attitude doesn't strike you just right, try our Lord and Savior:

"Then He saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea...(He said to them) ‘Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid’. He got into the boat with them, and the wind died down." (Mark 6:48-50 NAB)

Retirement accounts and our relationships to them are as varied as the projects getting government aid. Some of us are negligent in funding them, some of us worshiped them and the dream they represented, and most of us swore to increase our contributions as we signed our tax returns each of the past several years.

Those who worshiped long at the retirement account altar are watching their excursions to the Far East and African safaris disappear, while the C and E type contributors are forced to swear off Starbucks and trips to the mall. I haven't checked lately, but Wal-Mart might be the only safe investment right now. Those who have retired and live off interest, dividends, and social security, are praying the hardest. Those with cash are buying real estate.

When I think about all these things for too long, a little voice tells me to forget about it and re-focus on what God's will is for me. What does He want me to do today? He might say, "convert to cash," but more likely he will say "Call your brother," "Come to confession," or "Come to mass," and certainly "Be not afraid!"

Don't forget to say grace over your dinner tonight. Bless the Lord's name for knowing the number of hairs on your head, and for working out his plan for your life. The future always holds the certainty of change. With Him we are free to face it without fear.

THE BATTLE CONTINUES

President Bush, God bless him, signed broad job protection measures for health workers who refuse to provide care they find objectionable, i.e. doctors and nurses who do not want to perform abortions. The Obama administration is attempting to rescind these rules.

Meanwhile, back in California, the State Supreme Court begins a review of Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage. Wikipedia has a great page on Prop 8 with all the facts, figures and history of the issue--

Go to:

www.wikipedia.org

and type in "prop 8"