Social Security Administration Buys 174,000 Rounds of Gun Ammunition

I recently posted about the plan the American military has for waging war on American citizens.  I have also posted about the passage and signing of the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows the president to order the military to arrest any US citizen and put them in detention without charge and without trial for an indefinite period of time.  I have never mentioned it here, but we also know there are FEMA camps being built by the government, and they aren't telling anyone the purpose of these camps.  American Thinker told us on January 2, 2012:

In a nutshell, there seems to be a solicitation of bids occurring for the staffing of FEMA camps within 72 hours of implementation by an order from either Homeland Security or the president. This situation begs to be investigated, with special consideration paid to the motives of the present administration.

I went to the source, the FedBizOpps.gov, and searched for the solicitation number HSFEHQ-10-R-0027, titled National Responder. 

* * *

I began the laborious task of reading the Invitation to Bid -- this tome is 116 pages with many canned and boilerplate requirements for doing business with Uncle Sam duly enshrined amongst the pages. The Task Order Request (TOPR) under Scenario I & II under Section J of the Appendix made for another 42 pages. The required size of the camps was fluid, though they had the required capacity of 301 to two thousand, including security and camp cadre.

The staffing requirements or cadre for FEMA personnel for these camps -- which are identified as being located in five (5) distinct regions throughout and within the borders of the USA, with camps located in each and every state -- was three to fifteen each. The size of these camps will vary around 5 acres per 1,000 inhabitants, though they will never be less than 3 acres for populations of 500 or fewer inhabitants within the camps' boundaries.

This requirement also had a minimum square footage for each inhabitant: either the camp's cadre and first responders of 63 square feet, or approximately 8 feet on each side. This is slightly less than current Federal Court(s) requirements for housing prisoners, which is approximately 72 square feet. Perimeter fencing or barricades is required to be six feet high, enclosing the camp, with all traffic in or out to be recorded on a daily log and with security restricting all traffic and access. The contractor shall also provide fencing and barricades around areas which are "off limits" to occupants. ID Badges are required and are either blue or red, depending on the carrier is temporary or considered an occupant of the camp.

The author ends his article as follows:

To sum up: the solicitation to bid for the staffing of FEMA camps within 72 hours is a curious proposition, since it appears to predict a calamity that will affect the entire nation simultaneously --completely unlike a location-specific natural disaster.

This may be nothing more than a preparedness exercise by Homeland Security to see if anyone besides the military would be able to meet these stringent requirements for rapid deployment. However, what I found most striking was the "off limits" areas within each camp and staffing with "displaced persons" and the "Mission Support Work Area(s)," all undefined. As citizens, we need to know the exact purpose of these camps, given President Obama's propensity to bend our constitutional republic to his own purposes!

Don't you find it just a little suspicious that we never hear about any of this in the mainstream media?   I am convinced that what passes for news in the MSM is actually designed to keep the America public as misinformed and unenlightened as possible.  If the only place you get your news from is the MSM, then you don't have a clue about what is really happening in the world.  It is time to wake up.

The latest news is that various agencies of the government, including the Social Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have all been accumulating weapons and ammunition.  Putting all of these stories together creates a nightmare scenario that should have every American on high alert.  

Below is the story from infowars.com about various governmental agencies buying hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition.  The big question is - why?

Social Security Administration To Purchase 174 Thousand Rounds Of Hollow Point Bullets

Preparing for civil unrest? Ammunition to be delivered to 41 locations across U.S.

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2012

UPDATE: DHS Now Covering Up Ammo Purchases?

First it was the Department of Homeland Security, then it was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and now the Social Security Administration is set to purchase 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets that will be delivered to 41 locations across the country.

A solicitation posted by the SSA on the FedBizOpps website asks for contractors to supply 174,000 rounds of “.357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition.”

An online ammunition retailer describes the bullets as suitable “for peak performance rivaling and sometimes surpassing handloads in many guns,” noting that the ammo is “a great personal defense bullet.”

357 Sig 125 Grain Bonded Jacketed Hollow Point Bullets

The synopsis to the solicitation adds that the ammunition is to be shipped to 41 locations within 60 days of purchase. A separate spreadsheet lists those locations, which include the Social Security headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland as well as major cities across the country including Los Angeles, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

Hollow point bullets are designed to expand as they enter the body, causing maximum damage by tearing apart internal organs.

It’s not outlandish to suggest that the Social Security Administration is purchasing the bullets as part of preparations for civil unrest. Social security welfare is estimated to keep around 40 per cent of senior citizens out of poverty. Should the tap run dry in the aftermath of an economic collapse which the Federal Reserve has already told top banks to prepare for, domestic disorder could ensue if people are refused their benefits.

Indeed, earlier this year the Department of Homeland Security ran a drill called Operation Shield which included turning the entrance of a Florida Social Security office into a checkpoint manned by Federal Protective Service officers armed with semiautomatic rifles.

Operation Shield, Leesburg, Florida

“With their blue and white SUVs circled around the Main Street office, at least one official was posted on the door with a semiautomatic rifle, randomly checking identifications. And other officers, some with K-9s, sifted through the building,” reported the Daily Commercial.

A rash of solicitations by federal agencies for hollow point bullets in recent months has stoked fears that the government is preparing for civil unrest caused by a financial collapse on a scale similar or even larger to scenes already witnessed in Europe over the last two years.

As we reported yesterday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has put out a contract for 46,000 rounds of hollow point bullets along with 500 paper targets.

Despite initially asking the bullets to be delivered to the National Weather Service, NOAA claimed this was a “clerical error” and insisted the ammunition was being sent to the Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. Why powerful hollow point bullets that are designed to tear apart internal organs are needed for practice shooting at paper targets has not been explained.

Back in March, Homeland Security purchased 450 million rounds of .40-caliber hollow point bullets that are designed to expand upon entry and cause maximum organ damage, prompting questions as to why the DHS needed such a large amount of powerful bullets merely for training purposes.

This was followed by another DHS solicitation asking for a further 750 million rounds of assorted bullets, including 357 mag rounds that are able to penetrate walls.

The DHS recently put out an order for riot gear in preparation for the upcoming DNC, RNC and presidential inauguration. The U.S. Army is also busy buying similar equipment.

The DHS also recently purchased a number of bullet-proof checkpoint booths that include ‘stop and go’ lights.

Just what is our government preparing for?  And why aren't we hearing about any of this in the MSM?  All of you Fox News fans who think they are actually giving you the news, have you heard any of this from them? 

We are living in extremely serious times.  We must wake up to the fact that the America we thought we knew no longer exists.  Our rights have all but been eliminated, and the plans are in place for the military to be used against our own people.  Don't think it can't happen here.  That is what the people thought in Germany in the 1930's. 

Pray, ask our Blessed Mother to pray for us and give us the guidance we need to face these very difficult times.  Question everything and accept nothing on face value.  And realize we have a very real enemy who might look just like we do.

The Mother of God Assumed Into Glory

Today is the Glorious Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the day the Catholic Church celebrates the assumption into heaven, body and soul, of the Mother of God.  Our Blessed Mother lived a very sorrowful life here on earth, from the time she said "yes" to the Angel Gabriel when he brought a message from the Trinity asking her to be the Mother of God, to that terrible time of her Son's passion and death on the Cross.  She is the only perfect and sinless human created by God, and yet she had to endure suffering beyond what any of us can begin to comprehend.  She watched her Son, the Second Person of the Trinity conceived in her by the Holy Spirit, live a life of persecution and die an agonizing death on the cross at the hands of the very people he had created and come to earth to save from the fires of hell.  She suffered along with her Son without complaining, never feeling sorry for herself and never feeling anger or bitterness towards those who persecuted and killed her Son.  In fact, she gave her Son to us willingly, without reservation.  She opened up her Immaculate Heart to the sword prophesied by Simeon. 

Our Lady of Sorrows

And today, the Feast of the Assumption, we celebrate the great reward she received.  She is assumed into heaven, body and soul, never suffering corruption of any kind, and is crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.  All of Heaven rejoices at the reception of this most magnificent of all of God's creation. 

The Coronation of Mary by the Trinity
as Queen of Heaven and Earth



Defeating the Serpent

And Mary's love for the children of God and now her children has only increased over the ages.  She never ceases to intervene on behalf of us, praying for us, constantly appealing to Her Son's great love and mercy.  She has made countless visits to earth, imploring us to repent of our sinful ways, warning us of the consequences if we don't.  She is Satan's most hated enemy because she has replaced him in heaven.  And she did it with humility, the very opposite of his great sin of pride.  And not only was she a lowly human being, she was a woman.  He had so easily deceived the first woman, Eve, into disobeying God and separating all mankind from their Creator.  But this lowly contemptible creature had completely crushed him, merely by saying "Yes" to God.  She had undone all of his work in destroying mankind.  There is no one, not even God, that Satan hates more than our Blessed Mother.  And only God Himself loves us more than our Blessed Mother does.  She is our refuge from Satan.  She will never fail us. 

"No man is delivered or preserved from the world-wide snares of Satan save through Mary; and God grants His graces to no one except through her alone."

~ Saint Germanus ~

 I found today's reading from the Traditional Breviary especially inspiring.

Mary, the new Ark of the Covenant,
holding her Maker within

The Lesson is taken from a Sermon by St. John of Damascus

This day the holy and animated Ark of the living God, which had held within it its own Maker, is borne to rest in that Temple of the Lord, which is not made with hands. David, whence it sprang, leapeth before it, and in company with him [here St. John of Damascus lists the nine choirs of angels] the Angels dance, the Archangels sing aloud, the Virtues ascribe glory, the Principalities shout for joy, the Powers make merry, the Dominions rejoice, the Thrones keep holiday, the Cherubim utter praise, and the Seraphim proclaim its glory.

David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant

This day the Eden of the new Adam receiveth the living garden of delight, wherein the condemnation was annulled, wherein the Tree of Life was planted, wherein our nakedness was covered.

The choirs of angels rejoicing at
Mary's entrance into heaven as their Queen

This day the stainless maiden, who had been defiled by no earthly lust, but ennobled by heavenly desires, returned not to dust, but, being herself a living heaven, took her place among the heavenly mansions.

From her true life had flowed for all men, and how should she taste of death? But she yielded obedience to the law established by him to whom she had given birth, and, as the daughter of the old Adam, underwent the old sentence, which even her Son, who is the very Life Itself, had not refused ; but, as the Mother of the living God, she was worthily taken by him unto himself.



Hail Holy Queen
Our Life, Our Sweetness and Our Hope

St. Dominic Teaches Us How To Pray

Are we an angel on Sunday and
a devil the rest of the week?

Many, if not most, in today's world compartmentalize their lives.  They have their business lives, their family lives and their "spiritual" lives (At least some people have a spiritual life.  Far too many completely neglect this aspect of their lives).  They pray on Sunday (or at least a small percentage do) and then work and/or play the rest of the week.  They feel free to take part in almost any activity they want, never thinking of whether it is "right" or "wrong" in the sight of God because their spiritual lives, if such even exists, are completely disengaged from their every day lives.

This is a very dangerous way to live our lives because everything around us, including our very lives, is temporary.  Everything that we can see, touch, taste, smell and hear is going to fade away, and all we will have left is the spiritual  If our entire lives have been consumed with the physical and material, we will fade away right along with it.  Matthew 6:19-24 tells us:

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and the moth consume, and where thieves dig through, and steal.
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor the moth doth consume, and where thieves do not dig through, nor steal.

21 For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.

22 The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be simple, thy whole body shall be lightsome.

23 But if thy eye be evil, thy whole body shall be darksome. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great will the darkness itself be?

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 

Christ further warns in the the next chapter, Matthew 7:

21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father, who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many wonderful works in thy name?

23 And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.

24 Every one, therefore, that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock.

25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.

27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof.

How do we separate ourselves from this world so that we do not perish with it? It is only through prayer, through communion with God. The devil is actively pursuing you, and unless you are actively and constantly resisting him, you will fall prey to his trap. Our strongest weapon in the fight against the devil is prayer, unceasing communion with God. As St. Paul tells us in I Thessalonians 5:17, Pray Without Ceasing. The question is, how do we do that?

Pope Benedict XVI recently gave a wonderful talk on this very subject.  I have frequently posted the weekly talks by Pope Benedict XVI because I have found them so very helpful and inspirational.  He has been focusing heavily on prayer in his talks as can be seen here, here and here.  The Holy Father has also included several talks on silence, which is intimately linked to prayer as can be seen here and here.  He continues this theme from his summer vacation home in Castel Gandolfo in a talk he gave on August 8.  This was the feast day of St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominicans.  The Holy Father emphasized the importance of prayer in St. Dominic's life and how he incorporated it into everything he did, leaving us a strong example of how we should live our lives.

Here is the English translation of the transcript from his talk:

On the Prayer of St. Dominic

"The day he dedicated to his neighbor, but the night he gave to God"

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 8, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience held at Castel Gandolfo. This morning the Holy Father reflected on the prayer of St. Dominic.

* * *

Dear brothers and sisters!

St. Dominic

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Dominic de Guzmán, priest and founder of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans. In a previous catechesis, I presented this illustrious figure and the fundamental contribution he made to the renewal of the Church of his time. Today I wish to highlight an essential aspect of his spirituality: his life of prayer. St. Dominic was a man of prayer. In love with God, he had no other aspiration than the salvation of souls, especially those who had fallen into the snares of the heresies of his day. An imitator of Christ, he radically embodied the three evangelical counsels, uniting to the proclamation of the Word a witness of a life of poverty. Under the Holy Spirit's guidance, he advanced along the way of Christian perfection. At each moment, prayer was the force that renewed and rendered his apostolic works increasingly fruitful.   

Blessed Jordan of Saxony (who died in 1237), his successor as head of the Order, writes: "During the day, no one showed himself more sociable than he … Conversely, by night, there was none more assiduous than he in keeping watch in prayer. The day he dedicated to his neighbor, but the night he gave to God" (P. Filippini, San Domenico visto dai suoi contemporanei, Bologna 1982, pg. 133). In St. Dominic we can see an example of the harmonious integration between contemplation of the divine mysteries and apostolic activity. According to the testimonies of the persons closest to him, "he always spoke with God or of God." This observation points to his deep communion with the Lord and, at the same time, to his constant commitment to leading others to this communion with God.

St. Dominic, to whom the Blessed Mother
gave the Rosary to fight heresy

He left behind no writings on prayer, but the Dominican tradition has collected and handed on his living experience in a work titled: The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic [click on the link if you wish to read about this]. This book was composed between the year 1260 and 1288 by a Dominican friar. It helps us to understand something of the saint's interior life, and it also helps us, as different as we are, to learn something about how to pray.

St. Dominic in prayer

According to St. Dominic, then, there are nine ways of prayer, and each of these -- which he always carried out in the presence of Jesus Crucified -- express a bodily and a spiritual attitude that, intimately interpenetrating, favors recollection and fervor. The first seven ways follow an ascending line, as steps on a journey toward communion with God, with the Trinity: St. Dominic prays standing, bowed down to express humility; prostrate on the ground to ask pardon for his sins; kneeling in penance to participate in the sufferings of the Lord; with arms outstretched gazing at the crucifix to contemplate Supreme Love, his gaze turned toward heaven, feeling drawn to the world of God. Thus, there are three forms: standing, kneeling, and lying prostrate on the ground -- but always with one's gaze turned to the Crucified Lord.
          

   FIRST WAY OF PRAYER                       SECOND WAY OF PRAYER



Illustrations from The Nine Ways of Prayer from St. Dominic





The two final ways, which I would like briefly to consider, correspond to two forms of piety the saint normally practiced. First, there was personal meditation, where prayer acquires a still more intimate, fervent and comforting dimension. At the end of the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, and following the celebration of the Mass, St. Dominic prolonged his colloquy with God, without placing any limits on time. Seated quietly, he would recollect himself in an attitude of listening, reading a book or gazing upon the Crucifix. He lived these moments in his relationship with God so intensely that even outwardly his reactions of joy and tears could be perceived. Thus, through meditation, he assimilated the realities of the faith. Witnesses recount that at times he entered into a kind of ecstasy, his face transfigured; but immediately afterward, he would humbly resume his daily activities, recharged by the power that came to him from above. 



Then, there was his prayer during journeys between one friary and another; he recited Lauds, the Midday hour and Vespers with his companions, and as he crossed valleys and hills he contemplated the beauty of creation. From his heart there flowed a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God for so many gifts, especially for the greatest wonder: the redemption wrought by Christ.

Dear friends, St. Dominic reminds us that prayer, that personal contact with God, is at the heart and origin of the witness of faith that every Christian must give within family life, at work, in social commitments, and even in times of relaxation. [To separate God from one part of our lives is to be separate from Him in every aspect of our lives.  A relationship with God is an all or nothing proposition.] Only this real relationship with God gives us the strength to live each event intensely, especially the most painful moments. This saint also reminds us of the importance of exterior attitudes in our prayer: kneeling, standing before the Lord, fixing one's gaze on the Crucified, pausing to recollect oneself in silence are not secondary; rather, they help us to place ourselves interiorly, with the whole of our person, in relation to God. I would like to recall once again the need in our spiritual lives to find quiet moments for prayer each day, to have a little time to speak with God. We should take this time especially during the summer holidays, and make a little time to speak with God. It will also be a way of helping those around us to enter into the luminous rays of the presence of God, who brings the peace and love that we all need. Thank you.

St. Dominic was one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Church.   But as with all other great saints, this did not just happen.  He completely gave his life to God.  Every moment was somehow in communion with the Lord, either talking about Him, meditating, reading and of great importance, praying.  He was so united with the Lord that everything he said and did flowed out of that relationship.  That is what it means to be a saint, and that should be the goal for each and every one of us.  "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."  (Matthew 19:26). 

Prayer - intimate communion with the Great Almighty God - is the most powerful spiritual weapon God has given us.  Let us not neglect it, as our Holy Father has exhorted us over and over. 

Assisted Suicide: Just Another Way to Say "I Love You"

Mankind has lived in a fallen world since the time our first parents said yes to the serpent and no to God and as a result were thrust out of the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve had to deal with fratricide when one of their sons, Cain, killed another, Abel.  There is no evil in the world today that has not existed since the beginning of time. 

But there is one big difference in the era in which we live.  Much of what was once deemed totally unacceptable and evil is now being accepted and even embraced as normal, e.g., homosexuality, living together without marriage, having babies outside of marriage, drug use, etc. etc.  And now the New York Times tells us that even suicide is acceptable and further, helping someone to commit this evil act is now considered an act of love.  The Bee Gees sang back in the 70's:

You know it's all right, it's ok
I'll live to see another day
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man

Assisted suicide?  Why, you just might be up for a
humanitarian award from The New York Times!

Well, in 2012, the New York Times' "effect on man" may be that we will not live to see another day.  A week of so ago in the New York Times Magazine section, there was a question to The Ethicist that just made my mind go tilt, and the answer given was directly from Satan himself.  A woman wrote in very concerned because her mother has asked her to give her books on suicide.  The answer from The Ethicist says everything about how secular and anti-God and anti-life our society has become.   Read on.

SUICIDE WATCH

I am one of five children of two aging parents. My father, 88, is in the early stages of dementia. My mother is 83 and has macular degeneration. I’ve always enjoyed a close relationship with both parents, especially my mother. She is the most practical, intelligent person I have ever known. She is my best friend. I go to her for advice on everything, but I need help with the one thing she has turned to me for: My mother asked me to get her books on how to commit suicide, so that she can read up on it before her vision deteriorates to a point where she can no longer read at all. When pressed, she told me she does not want to commit suicide now — but that when the time comes, knowing how to end her life will give her great comfort. I love her, and I understand how she feels. Do I get her books on suicide? [How low have we fallen as a culture where this question can even be asked?  This woman obviously loves her mother, but she cannot see that helping her mother kill herself is not an act of love!] I also have four siblings — do I have to clear it with them? [She wants to know if giving books on suicide to her mother is something she should clear with her siblings.  We as a society have no idea what love even means anymore.] R.C., Westchester, N.Y.

And here is the understanding, compassionate answer from "The Ethicist":

This is a heavy problem. The request, however, is straightforward and reasonable [!!!!!!!!]. Your mother is not asking you to help her commit suicide; she is asking you for books that explain how such an act could be done without pain or error. [Yes, you're reading it right. This is the answer given in America's "paper of record."  The only thing wrong with suicide is if it is painful or you make a mistake, not like suicide itself is a mistake!] You describe her as “practical and intelligent,” so it’s not as if she’s making this request from a position of confusion or naïveté. She may never act on this urge, and it’s possible that reading about the reality of suicide might make her less willing to consider it. But the fact that she’s asking you to acquire these books is meaningful. She could undoubtedly find them on her own, but she specifically asked you to do it for her. What this suggests is that she’s indirectly asking for your permission to consider this option and potentially helping you prepare for the inevitable end of her life. [I guess it didn't occur to "The Ethicist" that possibly the woman's mother is reaching out to her daughter and saying  "help me." ]  It’s doubtful that simply withholding these books will stop her from making a decision this profound [Note, suicide is a "profound" decision, not a morally wrong decision], so I would get her what she requests. But keep in mind that this is more than a favor. This is an attempt to communicate much deeper information to a child she trusts. As for your siblings, you don’t need their permission [!!!!!], but you should absolutely tell them that your mother has made this request (and that you elected to fulfill her wish) [isn't this thoughtful of The Ethicist]. If they find this upsetting or shocking [I can't imagine why they would be shocked by the news that their mother wants to kill herself and their sister is going to give her books on how to do it], explain your reasoning and tell them that they need to talk to your mother about why this is important to her.

Ah, so now we have been told by The New York Times that telling someone you want to kill yourself is just another way of saying I love you and trust you.  And if we love the person who confides so in us, we will respond in the most compassionate way possible and help him or her do it, but do it in the right way, with no errors or pain.  After all, life with any kind of discomfort or suffering just isn't worth living, and so if someone does not have a perfect life, the most loving thing we can do is help them end it if that is what they wish. 

Back in the 70's there was a very funny movie made called "The End" with Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise.  Burt Reynolds played a man who has just been told he has a fatal disease, and he decided the only way to deal with it was to kill himself.  After he attempts suicide, he meets Dom DeLuise's character in a psychiatric hospital.  When Burt tells Dom he wants to kill himself, Dom feels the best way to be his friend is to help him in his morbid goal.  Each time Burt would come close to it, he would chicken out.  Here is the trailer:


The truth is, Burt's character didn't really want to die. He just wanted to find a way out of the pain he was in. We laughed at Dom DeLuise's character because we knew that his "assistance" to Burt wasn't really the right thing.  By the end of the movie both Burt and the audience know that life is always the best choice.  But the New York Times would treat this story as a serious drama, and Dom DeLuise would be the hero of the movie. 


Where does thinking like this come from?  It may sound strange, but it all comes from the use of artificial birth control.  When we use birth control we are cutting ourselves off from life, and to cut ourselves off from life is to separate from God.  When you are separate from God, your only other choice is the devil, whose only goal is to destroy you.  So you have now made a partnership with your worst enemy.  We have now separated ourselves from the author of Life and from the One who gave his Life for us so that we may spend eternity in complete bliss and happiness with him.  Instead, we are now in league and controlled by the very one who is the author of death and who wishes to destroy us.  What else can we expect?  Of course suicide is going to be glorified in our society.  We celebrate the "right" of women to kill their babies.  We run from pain and suffering, and by doing so, we run right into the arms of the devil.  Instead of taking the Cross from Christ that will lead us to life, we take up the cross from the devil upon which he will kill us.  As Blessed John Paul II said, we are a culture of death.

And we honestly think there is still hope for a society that thinks assisted suicide is a form of love?  America, America, how I mourn for you!

The Greatness of the Mother of God

Those outside of the Catholic Church, and sadly, far too many in the Catholic Church, are very critical of the veneration and devotion the Church gives to Mary, the Mother of God.  The Catholic Church is often accused of worshipping Mary and putting her above our Lord.  I can only attribute this to the fact that these people are not aware of the great role our Blessed  Mother plays in our salvation.  She, above all other women, was chosen to be the Mother of God. As our Lord hung dying on the cross, one of His very last acts was to give her to us as our mother.   Our Lady reigns in heaven with her Son as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. The angels praise her as their queen. She is the arch enemy of Satan and the crusher of all heresies because it was her "yes" that crushed the head of the serpent, the devil. 

The Litany of Loretto gives us some of the titles for our Blessed Mother.  Here is a portion of that Litany:

Ark of the covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Heath of the Sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of Angels,
Queen of Patriarchs,

Queen of Prophets,
Queen of Apostles,
Queen of Martyrs,
Queen Confessors,
Queen of Virgins,
Queen of all Saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,




In yesterday's traditional breviary, there was a beautiful reading from St. Gregory the Great on the importance and magnificence of Mary.  As the great saint, St. Maximilian Kolbe said,

 “Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”

St. Maximilian Kolbe

The Lesson is taken from the Exposition
of the Books of Kings by St. Gregory the Pope

Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim of Mount Ephraim. The Mount, whence this man came forth, mindeth us of the most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. For she is like unto a mountain, in that she is raised up above the height of any other elect creature by the dignity to which she was preferred. Did not Mary, like as a wondrous mountain of holiness, tower to a height above all the angelic choirs, so as to approach toward the very throne of God, in that she reached so high as to conceive the Eternal Word? Now Isaias hath a prophecy concerning the most excellent dignity of such a mountain : And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains. And verily Mary, in the height of her holiness, sitteth on high, above all the other Saints, like as a lofty mountain piled on top of another range of lofty mountains.

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St. Faustina

In the words of St. Faustina:

"To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, we unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us." (Diary Entry 1746)

You will not be able to find any great saint in the Catholic Church who did not have a deep devotion to our Lady.  This is what just a couple of those great saints have told us:

'Mary having co-operated in our redemption with so much glory to God and so much love for us, Our Lord ordained that no one shall obtain salvation except through her intercession.'
--St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori 

“The greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue will be the most assiduous in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to assist them.”
--Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

In just a few days we will be celebrating the feast of our Lady's Assumption into heaven.  She alone of all human beings has been assumed body and soul into heaven because other than her Son, she has been the only sinless human being in the history of mankind.  There is no praise too high for this most magnificent of all God's creatures.  We cannot please Jesus more than when we give praise and glory to His Mother:

”The honor of Mary is so intimately connected with the honor and glory of Jesus that to deny the one is at the same time a denial of the other.”
--Blessed William Joseph Chaminade

”Jesus honored her before all ages, and will honor her for all ages. No one comes to Him, nor even near Him, no one is saved or sanctified, if he too will not honor her. This is the lot of Angels and of men.”
--Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Martyr

In these evil times we live in, we have no safer and more sure refuge than with our Blessed Mother. 

“In trial or difficulty I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.”
--Saint Therese of Lisieux

“No matter how sinful one may have been, if he has devotion to Mary, it is impossible that he be lost."
--Saint Hilary of Poitiers -Bishop, Father, and Doctor of the Church

"Seek refuge in Mary because she is the city of refuge. We know that Moses set up three cities of refuge for anyone who inadvertently killed his neighbor. Now the Lord has established a refuge of mercy, Mary, even for those who deliberately commit evil. Mary provides shelter and strength for the sinner."
--Saint Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church

How can we not love this most beautiful Creation of our Lord!  As St. Augustine has told us, we cannot praise her too much or hold her in too much esteem.   And her love for us is more than we will ever be able to fathom in this life. 

“Think of what the Saints have done for their neighbor because they loved God. But what Saint's love for God can match Mary's? She loved Him more in the first moment of her existence than all the Saints and angels ever loved Him or will love Him. Our Lady herself revealed to Sister Mary Crucified that the fire of her love was most extreme. If Heaven and earth were placed in it, they would be instantly consumed. And the ardors of the seraphim, compared with it, are like cool breezes. Just as there is not one among all the Blessed who loves God as Mary does, so there is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and Saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary's love for even a single soul.”--Saint Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

Saint Alphonsus Liguori

We hear many dissident and heretical voices in the Church today, calling for active disobedience to the Magesterium and the plain teaching and dogma of the Church, e.g., the acceptance of birth control, married priests, women priests, acceptance of homosexuality.  Is it coincidence that none of those in conflict with the church have a devotion to Mary?  We never see any heretics or dissidents praying the Rosary or praising our Lady.

There is no more sure or safe road to salvation than through our Blessed Mother, and no surer way to damnation than to reject her.  Give yourself to Mary and you will be assured of finding Her Son.  Let us give praise and honor to the Great Mother of God as we prepare for the great Feast of the Assumption.

The Immaculate alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. She seeks souls that will consecrate themselves entirely to her, that will become in her hands forceful instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spread of God's kingdom."
--St. Maximilian Kolbe

'After the love which we owe Jesus Christ, we must give the chief place in our heart to the love of His Mother Mary.'
--St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

 "But the power of Mary over all the devils will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lay his snares against her heel: that is to say, her humble slaves and her poor children, whom she will raise up to make war against him. They shall be little and poor in the world’s esteem, and abased before all like the heel, trodden underfoot and persecuted as the heel is by the other members of the body. But in return for this they shall be rich in the grace of God, which Mary shall distribute to them abundantly. They shall be great and exalted before God in sanctity, superior to all other creatures by their lively zeal, and so well sustained with God’s assistance that, with the humility of their heel, in union with Mary, they shall crush the head of the devil and cause Jesus Christ to triumph."
--Saint Louis de Montfort True Devotion to Mary