Friday, June 28, 2013

Alan Shatter's outrageous abortion/rape comments on Ray Darcy Show

In a bloodcurdling comment Minister for Justice Alan Shatter says he hopes to be part of a Government that allows abortion for women who have been raped and for fatal foetal abnormalities(Irish Independent). An unborn child IRRESPECTIVE of how it was conceived is a human being. Shatter wants the unborn child executed for the sins of it's father. The rapist (father) of course will not be sentenced to death for his crime. So much for Shatter's "logic".

Is this not the same man who in 1993 called for a free vote on hare coursing? This was not granted by FG. Nevertheless Shatter went ahead and voted against the party on the issue but did not lose the party whip. He obviously places the lives of hares above those of unborn children. That of course is typical of liberals. They have more concern for animals than for the lives of unborn children. "I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born".-- Quote by Ronald Reagan during the Anderson-Reagan Presidential Debate in Baltimore (September 21, 1980).

On the basis that Shatter could buck the party whip in 1993 and get away with it, pro-life TDs who vote against abortion cannot lose the party whip. Over to you Mr Kenny!!! Is there one rule in FG for Shatter and another for pro-life TDs? Are you prepared to tear the party asunder because you refuse to stand up to Labour and the FG liberal clique of Shatter,Fitzgerald and Reilly?

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

100,000 flock to Medjugorje for 32nd anniversary of 1st apparition

..A majority of the faithful came from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia on foot and there were also pilgrims from Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, France, Poland, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Japan and other countries...Source:Dalje.com

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Monday, June 17, 2013

The Three Secrets of Pope Francis by Robert Moynihan in Newsmax Magazine

The June 2013 printed edition of Newsmax magazine has a wonderful article by Robert Moynihan titled The Three Secrets of Pope Francis. It is worth purchasing the magazine for this article alone. Below are a few very brief excerpts.

His Fidelity to His Grandmother's Faith

Here Robert Moynihan describes in detail the huge influence of the Pope's grandmother on his faith journey.... Indeed he kept a folded text, written by his grandmother, inside his breviary. The text is a short testament left to her grandchildren. It reads: "May my grandchildren, to whom I have given my whole heart, have a long and happy life, but if pain, sickness, or loss of a loved one should fill them with sadness , may they remember that one breath taken at the Tabernacle, where the greatest and most august martyr is present, and one glance at Mary at the foot of the cross, will act like a balm that is able to heal the deepest and most painful wounds.....

His Personal Relationship with Christ

This Pope at the age of 17, while deep in prayer after going to confession, felt he was touched by God. An official Vatican press release recounts that the youth felt he "sensed" the "descent of the Mercy of God". He felt "in a very special way" the "loving presence of God in his life". He felt as if God were gazing upon him "with a look of tender love". These are the elements of a personal experience, of a life transforming experience of God's presence.....

His Christo-centric Faith in Jesus

Pope Francis emphasizes simplicity and humility in his speech as Catholicism's leader frequently stressing a favorite theme: The Church is dependent on the centrality of Christ, not the Pope... On April 22 in Rome speaking speaking in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta where he is living, the Pope said that the only gate to the Kingdom of God, to the church, is Jesus himself, criticizing those who seek to enter the Kingdom by other ways......

Robert Moynihan, Ph.D, is the author of a new book published by Random house: Pray for Me:The Life and Spiritual Vision of Pope Francis, First Pope from the Americas. He is also the founder and editor of Inside the Vatican magazine, and the MoynihanLetters.com

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Statement by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland on Abortion (June 11, 2013)

A time to uphold the right to life: Statement by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland

On the second day of the June General Meeting of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Maynooth, the following statement has been issued:

A time to reflect

On Saturday last, tens of thousands of women, men and children gathered in Dublin to express their support for the equal right to life of mothers and their unborn children. We are at a defining moment for our country. The Gospel of life is at the heart of the message of Jesus. He came that we may have life and have it to the full (Jn 10:10). The Gospel challenges us to work for a world in which the dignity and beauty of every human life are respected.

A time to uphold the right to life

The right to life is the most fundamental of all rights; it is the foundation of all other rights. No individual has the right to destroy life and no State has the right to undermine the right to life. Yet the Irish Government is proposing abortion legislation that will fundamentally change the culture of medical practice in Ireland. For the first time legislation will be enacted permitting the deliberate and intentional killing of an unborn child. This represents a radical change. Every citizen, not just people of faith, should be deeply concerned.

We value the skill and efforts of our doctors, nurses and other care professionals who have helped to earn Ireland’s place as one of the safest countries in the world for mothers and their babies during pregnancy. Catholic Church teaching is clear: where a seriously ill pregnant woman needs medical treatment which may put the life of her baby at risk, such treatments are ethically permissible provided every effort is made to save both the mother and her baby. This is different from abortion, which is the direct and intentional taking of the innocent life of the unborn. No matter what legislation is passed in any country, abortion is, and always will be, gravely wrong.

A time for clarity and truth

The Government is under no obligation to legislate for the X case. People are being misled. We challenge repeated statements that this legislation is about saving lives and involves no change to the law or practice on abortion. Legalising the direct and intentional destruction of the life of an unborn baby can never be described as ‘lifesaving’ or ‘pro-life’. Contrary to clear psychiatric evidence, this legislation proposes abortion as an appropriate response to women with suicidal feelings during pregnancy. It is even possible to envisage as a result of this legislation the deliberate destruction of a child, who could otherwise be saved, right up to and including the moment of birth. Furthermore, we challenge assurances that the proposed legislation will provide limited access to abortion. As published to date, the legislation will allow for a very wide margin of subjective professional assessment by which the deliberate destruction of an unborn baby can be legally justified. As we have learned from other countries, such legislation opens the door to ever wider availability of abortion.

We remain convinced that enhanced medical guidelines, which do not envisage the direct and intentional killing of the unborn, could provide the necessary clarity as well as a morally, legally and medically acceptable way forward. While good health can normally be restored, life, once taken, can never, never be restored.

A time for freedom of conscience

Freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right. A State that truly cherishes freedom will respect the conscience of its citizens, including its public representatives, on such an important human value as the right to life. It is ethically unacceptable to expect doctors, nurses and others who have conscientious objections to nominate others to take their place. Neither should any institution with a pro-life ethos be forced to provide abortion services.

A time to decide: a time to act; a time to pray

We call on citizens to exercise their right to make their views known respectfully to our public representatives and to leave them in no doubt about where they stand on this issue. We ask our public representatives to uphold the equal and inviolable right to life of all human beings, even if this means standing above other pressures and party loyalties. We also invite our priests and people to continue to pray the Choose Life prayer at Mass and in the home that the dignity and value of all human life will continue to be upheld in this country.

Some mothers today are facing difficult or crisis pregnancies. Other people who have had, or who have assisted with abortions, may be re-living what happened in the past. They deserve to receive all the love, support and professional care that they need.As Bishops we will join this weekend in prayerful solidarity with millions of Catholics all over the world in the Year of Faith celebration of Blessed John Paul II’s Encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). Every human life is precious, every human life is beautiful, every human life is sacred. Choose life

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Bay Lough in Knockmealdown Mountains- Tipperary/Waterford border