I originally posted this one year ago today. I have a new post planned for the March for Life on Friday, but as today is the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I think it's important to ask ourselves, "What kind of 'choices' are we celebrating today?" Today, and every day, we need to remember the 55 million children who have never had the chance to make their own choices, who never had the chance to live, because of the 'choices' our society has made.
Unfortunately, evil has been present in our world since the Lucifer and his angels chose to turn away from God, and it will be present until the end of the world.
Because we have been given free will, we will always have the option to choose evil over good.
That doesn't mean evil is ever the right choice.
Society choosing evil over what is right has led to wars, genocides, the spreading of disease and famine, and a general stomping on the little guy all over the world.
No matter how you try to spin it, abortion is evil to the core. The Devil likes to disguise evil in appealing forms, but let's face it - abortion really isn't a very good disguise.
Just because we can choose evil doesn't mean we should. We have been given a choice so that we can choose to do the right thing.
So I ask, what does "pro-choice" actually mean? Is it promoting choosing good over evil, or is it just another disguise that the Devil hides behind?
I am for choice... the right choice. I choose to always fight for life.
I came across a post I wrote last year called The Message of Love:
...I'm not talking about the sappy kind of love that pervades our culture today. I'm talking about real love, as in the "let us love one another, because love is of God" and "God is love" (1 John 4:7,16) kind of love.
It all comes down to how we define love, which we read more about in St. Paul's letter to the Romans. Many non-Catholics (and unfortunately, even some Catholics!) would cite this passage as evidence that we no longer have to follow the ten commandments given to Moses by God, in the saying that we "owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8) Adultery? Coveting? It's okay if I do these things as long as I do them because of love.
Yet, what does Paul mean when he says to love one another? By whose standards should we love? My standards? Your standards? The standards followed by the president of the United States? No, we are commanded to love by God's standard. This means loving the entire person, where "love does no evil to the neighbor." (Romans 13:10)
I find that we as Catholics have to constantly be reminding ourselves of what it means to Love, and what it requires of us to love by God's standards. No, it's not always easy, but we are all called to speak the Truth, especially in the current state of our society.
We have to remember that Catholics are so very blessed. We belong to the Church that Loves us, wholly and completely, and wants the best for us. We belong to the Church that wants us to get to Heaven. Sometimes, that means the Church has to say no to us. Even us Catholics don't always like it, but we have to remember that this message of the Church is always one of Love.
Recently, the Church, her leaders, her shepherds, including my priest, and her followers have come under attack for standing up for Truth and speaking out against things such as abortion, contraception, and gay marriage. In the past few weeks even, how many of us have been called intolerant and judgmental bigots, when all we are trying to do is Love the whole person? I found this quote from Peter Kreeft, and I pray that this is the message that we send to the world:
The Church is the best friend of homosexuals, both because she tells them they are made in God's image and have intrinsic dignity and rights and are called to be saints, and because she is the only social force left that insists on moral absolutes. So when they sin against themselves she says NO, just as she does to heterosexuals who sin against themselves sexually, but when others sin against them she says NO also. No one else dares to say NO. She speaks up for everyone, including homosexuals.Source
We are all sinners. Every single one of us. I'm a sinner! But, we are all worth it.
Christ died for each and every one of us, because we are all in need of a savior. He died for each of us because we are worth it. We are all called to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. The path to holiness is never easy, but it releases you from slavery when it is freely chosen. The Church Loves each and every one of us, for who we are in our entirety, and not by how society labels us. Yet, the Church also wants us to aspire to be the person we each were created to be. She is willing to lead us there - are you willing to accept that path?
Unfortunately, evil has been present in our world since the fall of Lucifer and his angels, and it will be present until the end of the world.
Because we have been given free will, we will always have the option to choose evil over good.
That doesn't mean evil is ever the right choice.
Society choosing evil over what is right has led to wars, genocides, the spreading of disease, and a general stomping on the little guy all over the world.
No matter how you try to spin it, abortion is evil to the core. The Devil likes to disguise evil in appealing forms, but let's face it - abortion really isn't a very good disguise.
Just because we can choose evil doesn't mean we should. We have been given a choice so that we can choose to do the right thing.
So I ask, what does "pro-choice" actually mean? Is it promoting choosing good over evil, or is it just another disguise that the Devil hides behind?
I am for choice... the right choice. I choose to always fight for life.
For awhile now, my most popular post has been The Largest Genocide our World has Ever Seen. I think it's partly due to the fact that people keep finding it through Google search terms such as "largest genocide" and "genocide in the world today 2011", but I'm happy that it has had so many page views. I just pray that people who stumble upon it accidentally take the time to read it and really reflect on it.
In light of this post, I found the following video very interesting. His line of reasoning is logical, and you can see the surprise and sometimes prideful shame on people's faces when they realize that his logic has led them to re-think their beliefs about abortion.
This video is 33 minutes long, and I encourage you to not only watch it, but to also pass it on. The conversations that he had with these people made many of them change their minds about abortion, which is what we need to be doing. As I've said before on this blog, in comments, and in personal discussions, abortion in this country (and the world) will only end when the thought of killing a child in the womb becomes inconceiveable, and this will only happen if we take the time to convert one heart at a time.
I'm tipping my hat to Fr. Greg at GW Catholics for sharing this video. I would like to see this video (or one like this) on display in the modern day genocide exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
**Side note: I only have one qualm with this video, which is how the interviewer portrays salvation. But that's for another post...
There is a great post about the awkwardness of being pro-choice up over at BadCatholic. Be sure to go read it.
I especially found the following video interesting, which includes commentary from those who identify as pro-choice.
Some of their statements absolutely astound me. I think my favorite reason to support abortion happens at about 1:04 in the video:
"Unless you're... unless you're gonna start adopting all of these kids that are gonna be born, I dunno what we're gonna do! We don't have the... the maintenance..."
Point 1: She says "all of these kids that are gonna be born" - she acknowledges that these are KIDS, not fetuses or clumps of tissue or a parasitic attachment inside the woman's body... yet, she is still alright with killing these kids because we don't have the "maintenance" to take care of them.
Point 2: Who ever said that we don't want to adopt all of these kids that are going to be born? It can be difficult to find concrete statistics on those wanting to adopt, but the US Department of Health and Human Services showed that in 2002:
18.5 million women had ever considered adoption (1/3 of all American women at that time)
Of those who had considered it, 2.6 million had taken concrete steps toward adoption, 2.1 million of these women which were married
Of those who took steps towards adoption, 614,000 had actually been able to adopt a child.
In that same year (2002), it was reported by the CDC that there were 854,122 abortions (excluding those in the states of NH and CA, so it's probably much larger than this reported value) while the Guttmacher Institute reported 1.269 million abortions.
Let's look at the numbers for a minute here. 2.6 million women took steps towards adopting a child in 2002, and only 614,000 were successful. Meanwhile, a little over a million lives were abruptly ended in that same year. Doing some quick mental math, I calculate that there were twice as many women seeking to adopt than there were abortions in that same year.
So, Miss Pro-Choice, your premise is flawed and faulty, because, you see, for every child aborted in that year, there were approximately two women hoping to adopt a child of their own. We do have the maintenance to take care of these children, so stop using it as an argument to support your cause, because it is not reasonable. I can only imagine, now that more than half the country identifies as pro-life, that the numbers of those wanting or willing to adopt (especially given the alternative of abortion) have only increased (and I hope to keep doing some research to find more recent statistics).
Point 3: This goes along with Point 2. I do not have a job, and I do not have a husband, so I am not in the position to offer a child the home and life that every child deserves. However, if another person ever presented me with the decision to choose between only 2 options:
This baby will be aborted; or
You, Liesl, can personally adopt this baby. But only you, and no one else. Otherwise, Option 1 holds;
I would choose Option 2. I'd find some way to make it work. I think that there are at least a few million people in this country that would agree with me.
I got a new design for my blog! I've been wanting to change it for awhile, but I was having trouble getting everything the way I wanted it. I still don't like how the header isn't centered, but maybe blogspot will fix that soon... maybe?! Anyway, credit of the photo goes to Jen at Conversion Diary... she posted the photo in her blog months ago and I fell in love with it - it's been my desktop background pretty much ever since! What do you think of the new look? - be honest!
Last week, Leila sent me Abby Johnson's book Unplanned, and I finished it a couple of days ago. It really is a powerful story, and it provided a lot of insight into the pro-choice mindset and how Planned Parenthood works. I think we can use information like this to find common ground with many pro-choice supporters - like the fact that we all want to help women - and discuss how to further that - by caring for the whole person, not just by providing immediate but temporary and sometimes harmful solutions to the "problems" of women. I think Abby also has a powerful point, that we are going to win more converts by fighting them with love, prayers, and kindness - if the Coalition for Life hadn't been so kind and friendly to Abby for the 8 years she was at Planned Parenthood, would she have run to them when she realized she needed to leave? Probably not. Anyway, if you haven't read the book, go pick up a copy. Try your local library if you can't afford to buy a copy right now (like me!) or share it with friends! Thanks Leila for lending me your copy for the week!
I finally posted about my silent retreat. It's a long post, so ye be warned!
One of my favorite things about DC is July 4th! Despite all the politicians and politics that tear this city apart, or so it seems, July 4th really is very patriotic here. There's something about seeing the fireworks over the monuments that really gets me. I also hope to catch the concert this year too! If you were with me last year, you will also be glad to know that I have made a request of my friends that we NOT take the metro this year!
In my ample free time this past week, I finished off the BBC series Robin Hood, which I mentioned last week that I was watching. For those of you who like good TV shows, I would definitely pick up this one... except just skip the last season. It started out fine, but then just got weird and awful. Just pretend that the series ended after Season 2. Now, I have to find a new show to watch to help fill some time. Any suggestions?
I have a couple more interviews on my plate for "real" jobs, but it you know anyone who works in the chemical industry, would you mind hooking me up? I really just want to get my name out there to see what I can find! So far I haven't had that post-interview "I really want this job" feeling.
I've been debating whether or not to join the Bright Maidens for their post this Tuesday on tattoos... I don't really have a polarizing opinion either way, although I look forward on reading other people's insights. However, while watching The Voice earlier this week, I realized that my post would probably just have a bunch of pictures of Adam Levine, who has tattoos all over his arms. I have been a huge fan of Maroon 5 since before they were superstars, and I just think Adam Levine is really pretty, tattoos and all! So I will probably not post on this topic just because I don't think you all are really that interested in looking at a post of pictures... but hopefully I can join up again soon!
I promise, once I finish up everything I've let pile up throughout the semester, I will post more than just Quick Takes! I seriously have about 5 drafts started already... just not enough time to finish them!
Teaching chemistry lab has been great for helping me work on patience, which is something with which I have always struggled. Unfortunately, it still has it's fun times... like this past week, when I caught a couple of my students blatantly copying an assignment. I would like to live in a perfect world where I don't have to worry about students cheating on an assignment that is worth 1.8% of their grade, but we obviously don't. My thinking is, if you're going to copy something, at least be smart enough to change the wording! It's out of my hands now, though, so hopefully it will work out for them.
On a lighter note, in the 5th grade, we did this huge interdisciplinary unit on the Revolutionary War. We had to each choose a hero from the war and research them and represent them at our tea party. I was Sybil Ludington, the female Paul Revere. Today, I saw this ad on Jill Stanek's site, and it just made me laugh. Obviously a low budget film, but she does have an inspiring story... still not sure I could make it through this movie though. Barely made it through the trailer without laughing a few times.
Check out this great piece by Joe Carter at First Things, who writes about abortion and the "Culture of Me".
I've been following along with this post over at Leila's Bubble, and I finally couldn't keep from chiming in anymore... it was starting to remind me of my post last week on abortion and the Holocaust. Sometimes, I just really don't understand the reasoning behind being pro-choice. It seems to me it's like the Holocaust, when people had the evidence in front of them and still denied that anything was wrong.
I'm going on a women's retreat this Saturday. I'm hoping it will be very eye opening for me... I am feeling overwhelmed with finishing up the semester, searching for jobs, and figuring out what I am actually doing with my life, so I hope that the retreat will be the centering that I need!
I can't believe I graduate one month from today! AH! Crazy!
I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum recently with a friend who was visiting from home. This is the second time I've been there, and for those of you who have been to the museum know that it is a profound experience no matter how many times you see the exhibits.
A sign outside the museum that we really need to take to heart.
The museum is very well done, as it highlights not only the Hitler and Nazi regime, but also the factors that led to the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. There is also currently a special exhibit on Genocide, and how it is still happening today.
This happened to be the first exhibit that I walked through while I waited for my turn to go through the main permanent exhibition. While I was there, I just had the greatest sense of unease. It is awful that the genocides such as those in Rwanda and Darfur have happened and are continuing to happen. Why can't our world learn that this is not right? But the greatest sense of unease hit me when I sat down to watch a film detailing Hitler's rise to power. In this film, they defined genocide as the systematic murdering of large groups of people deemed inferior.
Systematic... done or acting according to a fixed plan or methodical system. Murdering... the wrongful premeditated killing of one human being by another. Inferior... a person lower than another in rank, status, or ability.
This definition of genocide is when it hit me, when I realized why I was feeling such unease in my heart. It was because we are committing the greatest act of genocide today in our world, and the worse part is that it is a legal and systematic act that ends the lives of millions of unborn children each year.
Pictures of actual victims line 3 stories of the building.
In the pro-life circles, it is not anything new to compare abortion to genocide and the Holocaust. However, I think my sense of unease came from the fact that the museum kept portraying all the defining qualities of genocide - all of which can blatantly be applied to abortion - but yet there wasn't even a mention of abortion whatsoever. Not even in the exhibit highlighting the atrocities in the genocides of our generation. There was an area where you could make a pledge to take action against the atrocities of genocide around the world, and I wrote that I will "continue praying for the respect, dignity, and protection of all human persons." This, ultimately, is what it comes down to. A lack of recognition and respect for the dignity of human life - even human lives that are different from ours, those lives that seem to be "inferior" to our "superior" intellectual and physical abilities.
As I spent hours walking through the exhibits, I was continuously struck by the similarities between the atrocities committed against the oppressed, mostly the Jews, during the Holocaust and the unborn children of the world today.
There was a section that highlighted the Nazi's T-4 euthanasia program, which shed light on the atrocities committed against men, women, and children with disabilities. They were used as experiments, and then exterminated because they were deemed inferior. I don't think there are many people that could see these atrocities and not see how wrong these acts were.
Yet, we are doing this today. It has been estimated that 90% of babies with down syndrome are aborted. This statistic doesn't even include the number of aborted children who test positive for other disabilities in the womb. I really would like to know how this is different from what the Nazis did during the Holocaust. How is almost completely wiping out children with different intellectual and physical abilities than the average person any different from the Nazi plan for euthanasia and extermination of those deemed inferior?
Of course, it doesn't end there. We all know from our history textbooks that Hitler and the Nazis set out to make the "inferior" races obsolete. 6 million Jews were exterminated because they were inferior, but that's not all. I think the numbers speak for themselves:
This toll doesn't really account for those that publicly and politically opposed the Nazis, although many of those can be accounted for in some of the above numbers. I am especially thinking about the many Catholic priests and laypeople who were martyred for standing up for the dignity of the Jews and others who were murdered.
Of course, the numbers differ depending on what source you use, but it must be recognized that none of these values are entirely accurate. How can one possibly track that many deaths? However, all in all, estimates for the total death toll from the Nazi genocide come to around 17-26 million individual lives lost from 1933-1945, or an average of 1.3-2 million deaths per year.
In comparison, there have been multiple statistical analyses tracking the number of abortions since 1973. An analysis in 2010 showed that 52 million abortions have been performed since Roe v. Wade legalized abortions in the United States, an average of 1.8 million abortions per year. How on earth can some humans be so blind as to not see that abortion has become our modern day Holocaust?
When we expand this to include the concept of inferiority, all you have to do is look at the numbers to see that abortion targets minorities. If looking at a map to see where Planned Parenthood builds most of their clinics isn't enough to notice this trend, you can also look at the statistics. Abortions are performed on more than 3 times as many minority children as it is on white children. From the census data in 2000, African-American women comprised 12.3% of the female population but accounted for 36.4% of the abortions in America in 2006. Hispanic women accounted for 25% of abortions in 2008, while they only made up about 12.5% of the female population in 2000. Meanwhile, 69% of America's female population check the "non-Hispanic, white" box on the census, but only account for 36% of all U.S. abortions. From 1973-2001, abortion alone has claimed more than 2.5 times as many African-American lives as the next five leading causes of death combined. Between Roe v. Wade and now, about 30% of the African-American population has been lost to abortion.
It is time for America to WAKE UP! We claim to be the heroes of defending freedom and protecting those who can't protect themselves, yet we are the leader in the largest genocide our world has ever seen. Yes, the latest action to try to defund Planned Parenthood is a start, but we have to go deeper than that. We have to appeal to the hearts of Americans. We can't do that with facts and numbers and percentages, but only by showing the reality of recognizing abortion as genocide. It can start with looking at the aftermath of the Holocaust that people still deal with today, but it ultimately has to come from a conversion of the American mindset and heart.
Where can we find the steadfast leaders we need to undertake this challenge?
The Catholic Church. Today. Yesterday. Every day.
From the Hall of Remembrance, from Deuteronomy 4:9
One of the things that gave me the most hope as I walked through the Holocaust exhibit was that the Catholic Church was recognized as being the only one who consistently opposed Nazi programs of sterilization, experimentation, and extermination of the "inferior" races (despite the fact that many claim the leaders of the Church either ignored the Holocaust or were Nazi supporters). It gave me hope - especially as a Catholic - to see that we continue to publicly oppose these horrors still present in the more modern forms of contraception and surgical sterilization, embryonic stem cell research, and abortion. We will not change our tune - even when we are publicly criticized for it - because this steadfast spirit in opposition is the right thing to do. People can now recognize the horrors of the Holocaust, and so they recognize that opposing the Nazis would have been the right thing to do. I hope and pray that the time comes soon when people will see this opposition against the atrocities in our modern culture as the right thing to do now as well.
As I walked through the exhibit and saw a wall that honored many priests and laypeople, who devoted their lives to hiding the Jews, and as I saw pictures of priests being executed for publicly opposing the Nazi regime, I started to keep true to my pledge. I asked those priests that were in the photos, by name, to pray for us and an end to genocide. We can't do this alone, and who better to turn to in our time of need today than the army who opposed these atrocities during the Holocaust.
It's official. I've become such a Catholic Answers Live addict that I even had to make a label for it on this blog!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's that bad.
Ha.
On a more serious note, I will listen to the podcast on my commute to and from campus many days. This afternoon, I listed to Abby Johnson's interview from early February and she spoke about her change of heart in the life movement, the details behind Planned Parenthood, and how she's converting to Catholicism!*
*Can I just point out that it seems like lots of really sweet pro-life people are converting/have converted to Catholicism? And by "lots", I mean Lila Rose and Abby Johnson, of those that I know... I'm sure there are lots more. But does anyone else see a trend??!!?? I do.
Anyway, everyone needs to listen to this interview. It provides so much insight into how Planned Parenthood works - from someone who used to be high up in the organization - especially about the lies they tell everyone and the way they train their staff so they can earn more money. I think my favorite part is when she totally dished it out to a caller who couldn't see anything "wrong"* with the latest Live Action stings... it was EPIC.
*I mean, did this caller see the same videos that we all did... because I think you'd have to be blind and deaf to not realize that there is something wrong going on there...
To make your lives easier, I've provided the link for you. You're welcome.
I think regular readers will get that I am a fan of Catholic Answers Live by now, but I listened to a great one on Mormonism this week. I learned so much I didn't know before, about spirit brothers and changing doctrine... oh goodness. I can understand how many Protestants believe that they're trying to be the true faith by (incorrectly) going back to the way the early church was in separating from the Catholic Church, but by having that you can change doctrine in your doctrine... how can you even claim to be the only true faith? I would like to be enlightened on this topic. (Right click on the Mormonism link and Save As... if you want to listen to it on your iPod or download to your iTunes).
For those of you who haven't seen these videos yet, be sure to check them out. Lila Rose alluded to these videos she had coming out when I heard her speak at FOCUS conference and she said they were BIG. Well, she was right. Let's see if the law officials actually do anything about it this time...
I just had one of those starts to my Friday morning. You know the one where I have to treat my 18 and 19 year old college students like first graders? Yea, that one. To me, it's pretty simple. You don't talk amongst yourselves when I'm going over a quiz or lecturing on material. If you're going to talk, don't talk loud enough that I can hear you. Well, not only did I have to say that I would break up this "talk fest" - which they thought was *hilarious*, by the way - if I had to, I then had to say when I turned back to the chalkboard and they started talking again that just because my back was turned didn't mean my ears stopped working. Any ideas on how to earn more respect from them without going all first grade teacher on them? I didn't have issues with this last semester at all.
I saw The King's Speech yesterday and it was really good. I highly recommend it. It's easy to see why it's been nominated for so many awards, and Colin Firth totally deserves to win, as does Geoffrey Rush in his supporting role. It also throw some great history into it as well. Check out the trailer:
*Note: For those of you worried about the R rating, it's because Colin Firth's character drops the F bomb multiple times in a row - it's one of his methods for getting words out - see, he doesn't stammer when he curses. Otherwise, it's a clean movie!
I have a lot of things that I need to get started on that aren't due for awhile but will quickly start to pile up... but I'm finding it difficult to get motivated. Any ideas?
Has anyone seen The Rite yet? I got a free pass and will probably go this weekend. I would post the trailer, but I feel like this post is already so YouTube heavy...
It's the weekend! On the to-do list this week: finish up an application, write a lab report, pick a topic for my presentation, clean like a madwoman, go through my old clothes and find stuff to give away, hang out with some friends, and sleep. Whew.
This past weekend, I attended the FOCUS Conference in Baltimore, MD. For those of you who aren't familiar with FOCUS, it is the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, and it is an organization dedicated to the new evangelization. They send out dynamic teams of missionaries to college campuses throughout the nation to engage students in discussion about faith, start Bible studies, and bring students home to Christ throughout those very difficult and tempting college years.
Someday, I hope to be a diving board model.
There's only one way to describe the conference experience: AMAZING times ten. Really. My personal experience was very introspective, where light was suddenly shed on a lot of things about which I have been praying. No one can doubt the presence of the Holy Spirit at the conference... but what else can you expect when you put about 1500 college students and young adults in the same place to worship Christ? I feel like this always makes God preeeeeeetty happy - to see young people in love with His son.
One of the best parts of the conference was the opportunity to hear so many amazing speakers. They each centered on the theme of "Answering the Call." I got a lot out of each of the talks, although sometimes I think I missed parts of their talks due to something they said that sent me off hurriedly scribbling away in my journal. Like I said, an introspective experience for me in many ways - the Holy Spirit was busy at work!
**Long blog post awaits all ye who enter... ye be warned**
_______________________________
She should wear a superhero cape.
Lila Rose - I was pumped when I found out she was speaking at conference, because I have watched many of her undercover videos on Youtube. Lila is a recent college graduate and convert to Catholicism that has answered the call to pro-life activism through starting Live Action. She goes into Planned Parenthood clinics across the country posing as an underage teenager who has discovered she's pregnant, and the video she's gotten... well, let's just say that people should be getting into WAY more trouble than they are.
She gave a lot of interesting - and frightening - facts about abortion. Like the fact that there's an abortion in our country every 23 seconds. Or the fact that ONE-THIRD of my generation has been the victim of abortion. ONE. THIRD. Can you believe it? I can only begin to imagine the great things that could have been accomplished by now if we didn't live in a culture of death.
One of the most profound things she said was a prayer that she says she prayed many years ago, and still does today. I want to be used by you, Lord. Tell me what you want me to do.Teach me to love you more. Show me what to do and help me act. She admitted that this is a dangerous prayer - look where it's gotten her! - but that it's what we are designed for.
You're gonna wanna buy this album.
Audrey Assad - What a beautiful musician! Audrey Assad was absolutely amazing - it was like an intimate concert despite the fact that our setting was a conference hall in a hotel. Her music was so full of emotion and personality, giving each listener insight into her personal faith journey. She shared with us about her awkward school years, how she was the girl that was way more into band than normal - hello, that was basically me. She worked through her awkwardness and struggles with life, faith, and love through music - so it's something to which we can all relate in some way or another.
After the concert, I was able to buy her album, where I got to tell her thanks for her music as she signed my CD insert! Let's just say that I've pretty much listened to nothing but her album since I got home from conference. My favorite song off of her album is "Restless", which is based on writings by St. Augustine, who said, I am restless 'til I rest in you. The song is simple, but incredibly beautiful.
I think the best thing that I got out of listening to her perform was that while she was singing, my mind started to wander and take off, leading me through thoughts that I've been trying to unlock for months. Thankfully, I had my trusty prayer journal with me... which is probably why I got a couple of strange stares from the people next to me as I furiously wrote before my thoughts got locked up again. Probably the most productive concert I've ever attended in my life.
"I want YOU to answer the call!"
Jeremy Rivera - Jeremy spoke on spiritual gifts and how to discover and use them for what God intends you to do. He said a lot of profound things. One of my favorites was when he asked all the full-time ministers to raise their hands. Priests and the FOCUS missionaries raised their hands. Then he asked everyone to raise their hands, saying that this response was the answer to the next question: Will all the full-time ministers raise their hands? He made the point that we are all in full-time ministry, just some of us are in disguise as teachers, students, construction workers, etc. What a great thing to tell college students - we are ALL full-time ministers! If even half of us go out from that and are even just part-time ministers - think of all the lives that can be touched. Some other great things he brought up:
When you're operating within your gifts and passions, weariness is low and effectiveness is high.
Where do we begin to answer the call?
What are you passionate about? What brings you alive? The word passion means to suffer, so are you willing to suffer for what you think your passions are?
What are your spiritual gifts? If we start serving in our communities and churches, our gifts will start to bubble to the surface.
What are your previous job experiences? What did you learn from them, and can you answer the call through them?
Don't compare yourself to others, because each of us has a place in the Lord's plan. Don't judge others, but don't belittle yourself either.
Evangelization is just one bum telling another bum where to find food. We are all broken, in need of a Savior.
Again, the floodgates of my brain and heart were once again opened while he talked. Let the furious scribbling ensue once again.
Jesuits are smart. He's no exception.
Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J. - Fr. Spitzer spoke on the historical proof of Jesus. I think the most interesting part of his talk was how he started - by giving us six questions to ask people who believe in God but question His authority and awesomeness in sending His only son to save us all.
Q: What is the greatest power that you have, a power of human beings that brings good into the world?
A: LOVE! The power of empathy, where doing good for others is easier than doing good for ourselves.
Q: If you have this power, do you think the Creator is devoid of love?
A: NO! God must have at least some love.
Q: Do you just want some love, or do you want infinite, unconditional love?
A: Through our relationships with others here on Earth, we all long for unconditional love from others. We all long to receive it and desire to love in that way as well. Could this be the meaning of life? Intriguing thought...
Q: Do you believe that the Creator could be devoid of unconditional love?
A: No, not if this kind of love is what we all long for.
Q: If God is, or is capable of, unconditional love, what would He be like? Would He want to be with you, not just spiritually, but physically? Would He be Emmanuel, "God with us"?
A: Just like when we love another person unconditionally, we want to be with that person, in his or her presence. This is what God also wants, to be in our presence in a perfect act of humility. Not just spiritually, but physically.
Q: Is Jesus the One?
A: YES! God the Father can seem way up there sometimes - distant - but Jesus is about God having infinite affection, humility, and love for each human being.
Whew! A logical progression of thought can lead to Truth. Good thing God gave us the power to reason as well as to love!
He also brought up the point that Christianity experience geometric growth proportional to the degree in which is was persecuted in the early Church. This growth is different from every other Messianic movement... why? Because the resurrection gave hope to the disciples and because of the Holy Spirit. Would you die for something that was a hoax, that you didn't believe in with your entire being? I wouldn't, and neither would the disciples and the many martyrs throughout history. People look for evidence of Christ's resurrection - you don't really have to look very far.
Whoa. (stupid surfer voice)
Chris Stefanick - This man walked out onto the stage and started playing classic rock licks on his guitar. What are we about to hear...? is what a lot of us were thinking, I'm sure. Well, we were in for a ride - but a good one. He is filled with love for God, but has a way of sharing Truth and catechizing in a very dynamic and hip way. He had the best one-liners, and he had the entire crowd cracking up one second and then "Aww"-ing at a picture of his baby girl the next. Some of the best thoughts and one-liners:
Reverence is when you stand back from something and feel WOW. But the closer you get, the more familiar it is. We get used to the most amazing things - i.e. GOD - and then they don't seem so amazing anymore. God is the creator of the universe... we should be saying WOW!
"Atheism is dumb... it's like the flea denying that the dog exists."
"You're telling me the Big Bang big banged itself billions of years ago?"
We need to step back as if we've never heard or seen this before and say, "Whoa." ... like a stupid surfer would say it.
The world gets a picture of "Happy Jesus" in their heads, especially with difficult teachings. The world thinks something is harsh and asks WWJD... "Well, have you read the Bible? He made the comfortable very uncomfortable."
Jesus taught that he is God. He's either God or had the biggest ego in history.
This guy is a hilarious, rock guitar playing saint! Can you imagine if he were canonized hundreds of years in the future - the card on your refrigerator would be him with his guitar going "ROCK ON!" Here's just a taste of his talk. If you ever get a chance to see him in person - do it.
His Dad-of-8-look: "You better answer the call, or else!"
Curtis Martin - No, I'm not talking about the former NFL running back (thanks Wikipedia!). I'm talking about Curtis Martin, the founder of FOCUS! I've heard him speak on Catholic Answers Live before, and so I was more than excited to hear him speak in person. His talk especially left an impact on me. Again, in the middle of his talk, I went off on a page and a half tirade in my own thoughts. I eventually came back around to catch the rest of his talk.
He told a joke (in a hilarious Italian accent!) that brought up the point that answering the call can be difficult sometimes - we pray for it and ask to know God's will, and then when we get an inkling of it, we blow it away.
Thank God he answered his calling and started FOCUS! He thought, "We live in a great but scary world - how can we solve this problem?" More Catholics! He quoted Pope Benedict XVI, who has said that evangelization serves the end that we address poverty in all forms. I've heard other people say that social justice issues wouldn't be issues if everyone knew Christ. No one would go hungry. No one would be abused. No one would live without a roof over their head.
He said that there are only three things that you need to live:
To know God - to be in a relationship with Him (see CCC 1).
To know God's plan for you - the only way to know His purpose for you is to know God.
To go out and live that plan with zeal and passion.
He recommended that we all join him in the habit of prayer - so that we can become people who don't just walk with Christ every once in a while, but who will always know and walk with God.
What a privilege to hear him speak - you can tell that he is in love with his faith and hopes to spread it to as many people as possible. FOCUS seems to be doing a pretty good job so far - may it continue to grow exponentially!
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Well, if you made it through my whole post, congratulations! You get 5,000 bonus points... that go towards something really cool. Trust me.
I sometimes wonder where Planned Parenthood got it's name... aren't most of the people that use their "services" there for an UN-Planned Parenthood? Just something that's always confused me...
Anyway, Planned Parenthood just released their 2008-2009 annual report. I recommend checking out CMR and Red State for more information, but this graphic pretty much sums it up in my opinion:
What do I get from this?
1. Our government (i.e. our tax dollars) are funding abortions.
and
2. The more government money given to Planned Parenthood, the more abortions they perform.
According to this report, adoption referrals were given only 3% of the time... what happened to the other 97%? Well, those babies were aborted.
I'm sorry, how many people do we have that wait years on a list to adopt a baby? I think I'm missing something here. Is it more profitable for Planned Parenthood to abort a precious life than it is to refer the mother to adoption services? I just really can't wrap my head around the reasoning as to why these numbers are so skewed.
Let us hope that all those children are in heaven praying for all those mothers who are considering an abortion and for our country, especially those in a position of power. It's time for a change. I do not want a penny of my taxes being given to Planned Parenthood anymore. It's time to put a stop to this. Let's hope the new Congress is ready to get things done.
