***Vatican to Commemorate Luther’s Apostasy!
In October, Pope Francis will travel to Lund, Sweden for the kickoff celebration of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s rebellion against the Church for which he was excommunicated. Luther’s revolt planted the seeds for the 30 Years War, the most devastating loss of life up until World War I. His actions also splintered the Church in Europe spawning numerous heretical denominations and many bloody religious conflicts including the destruction of monasteries and convents. The orthodox website, Rorate Caeli, questions the guidelines being used for the “common prayer” for the joint Catholic/Lutheran event. "The Reformation and Martin Luther are repeatedly extolled, while the Counter-Reformation and the Popes and Saints of the 16th century are passed over in total silence" they say. This commemoration joined to statements of the pope that indicate a willingness to allow Lutheran inter-communion with Catholics is adding to the confusion in the pew. One of the greatest obstacles to unity, almost completely ignored, is the Lutheran position on abortion.

***Lutheran Position on Life Issues is a Disaster!
The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) is the body “dialoguing” with the U.S. bishops. They claim to favor life, but support abortion for hard cases as well as supporting contraception, sterilization and sex ed. ELCA adopted their “Social Statement on Abortion” in 1991: “This church recognizes that there can be sound reasons for ending a pregnancy through induced abortion. The following provides guidance for those considering such a decision. We recognize that conscientious decisions need to be made in relation to difficult circumstances that vary greatly…. An abortion is morally responsible in those cases in which continuation of a pregnancy presents a clear threat to the physical life of the woman. A woman should not be morally obligated to carry the resulting pregnancy to term if the pregnancy occurs when both parties do not participate willingly in sexual intercourse. This is especially true in cases of rape and incest….[and] in some situations in which women are so dominated and oppressed that they have no choice regarding sexual intercourse and little access to contraceptives. Some conceptions occur under dehumanizing conditions that are contrary to God’s purposes. There are circumstances of extreme fetal abnormality, which will result in severe suffering and very early death of an infant. In such cases, after competent medical consultations, the parent(s) may responsibly choose to terminate the pregnancy. Whether they choose to continue or to end such pregnancies, this church supports the parent(s) with compassion, recognizing the struggle involved in the decision….Prevention of unintended pregnancies is crucial in lessening the number of abortions. In addition to efforts within church and home, this church supports appropriate forms of sex education in schools, community pregnancy prevention programs, and parenting preparation classes. We recognize the need for contraceptives to be available, for voluntary sterilization to be considered, and for research and development of new forms of contraception.”

Exactly how is this consistent with Catholic teaching and how can we unite with a Church that officially endorses one of the sins that cries to heaven for vengeance while it also endorses the root cause of abortion, i.e., contraception and attacks the innocence of children through sex ed? Short answer, we can’t! Unity must be based on truth and you cannot unite good with evil.

***Star Wars Mass at St. Bernard’s in Brooklyn! Good grief, we thought the era of clown, polka, Barney, jazz, balloon, etc. Masses was over, but apparently not. St. Bernard’s in Brooklyn advertised a “Star Wars” Mass for January 31st. Children were invited to come to the event dressed as their favorite characters from the popular series. The pastor, Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, obviously stung by internet criticism, defended the Mass in a written statement calling the 11:30 liturgy the “Family Mass” [Aren’t they all?] where “the children of the parish are invited to processes in with the priest and sit in the sanctuary [!!!] until the conclusion of the Homily.” He wrote that at the Family Mass “different scenes taken from the popular culture…are used to assist the celebrant relay the message of that week’s Gospel to the children.” [Huh? Isn’t the “popular culture” part of the problem?] Father goes on, “Star Wars…is a very popular film series…. The intention of this Mass is to…enhance the children’s understanding of the difference between good and evil and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. The children were invited to dress in costumes of characters…and participate in the same way they normally do at each Family Mass.”

Let’s set the scene. You are in the nave looking at the priest surrounded by an assortment of characters from Star Wars: Han Solo, Chewie, R2D2, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia…exactly how does this advance the children’s understanding of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? [not to mention the distraction! “Doesn’t little Johnny make a cute Jaba the Hut?”] Is anyone in the Church focused on the true Savior, Jesus Christ? Or are they thinking of Luke Skywalker as Savior of the Galaxy?

This is just one more example of showmen priests focused on Mass as entertainment. It is an abuse of the liturgy and an insult to the intelligence of children! Parents who go along with this need brain transplants!

***Australian Muslim Plans Terror by Kangaroo! Teenager Sevdet Besem was in a Melbourne courtroom January 28th charged with conspiracy to commit terrorist acts. Eighteen-year-old Besem along with four other teens, apparently inspired by ISIS recruiters, planned to attack and behead police on Anzac Day, the Australian/New Zealand equivalent of our Veterans Day. Knives and swords were found during raids on their homes. But Besem’s most unusual idea, discussed with his co-conspirators was to capture a kangaroo, fill its pocket with explosives, paint it with ISIS symbols, and release it on police. How they expected to convince the kangaroo to cooperate in the suicide mission was unclear. Despite sounding like a joke, the terrorist plot was deadly serious and Besem is being held without bail.

***Are Young Men Looking for Heroic Missions? Consider how many terrorist attacks involve young men and even young women. The Boston bombers were two young brothers, one a teenager. According to an article at the Huffington Post, “Two teenage young women of Bosnian Islamic background (15 and 17) traveled to Syria from Vienna, Austria planning to marry ISIS fighters ….the teenagers were attracted to ISIS by preaching at their local mosque where clerics supposedly told them that the only way to know true peace was to take part in the holy war.” This language particularly attracts young people from troubled families who are disaffected and looking for a purpose in life. What a calling: to fight a Holy War for Allah! Don’t little boys want to slay dragons and be superheroes? ISIS and other terror groups use that desire to recruit the young to battle the “Great Satan.” The youngsters can see themselves as members of “the ring” on a bold quest to fight Sauron and the Orcs.

***Heard about the Euthanasia Roller Coaster?
It hasn’t actually been build but the designer, Julijonas Urbonas, who worked for a time at an amusement park seems deadly serious. [Pardon the pun.] The coaster operates by sending the car through a series of loops that theoretically increase the G-forces to a point incompatible with life. A few extra loops are included to guarantee that no robust victims manage to survive. Riders die from cerebral hypoxia, oxygen deprivation to the brain. Urbonas claims the riders on his euthanasia machine will die "with elegance and euphoria," but doctors say they are more likely to die feeling severe nausea and vomiting. Sounds fun, eh? Urbonas comes from the same pool of death peddlers who tell us starving and dehydrating patients to death is a pleasant way to go.

***Will Women Have to Register for the Draft? Feminists may itch to be on the front lines, but do women really belong there? At the recent Republican debate Rubio, Bush, and Christie all said women should sign up for the selective service, i.e., be drafted in case of war. Rubio said, "[T]here are already women serving today in roles that are like combat…whose lives are in very serious danger. So I have no problem whatsoever…so long as the minimum requirements necessary to do the job are not compromised. But I support that. And, obviously, now that that is the case I do believe that selective service should be opened up for both men and for women in case a draft is ever instituted.” All three candidates made it sound like this is a right women are being denied rather than a civic duty. Drafting women not only threatens men in combat (Can you see a 130 pound woman carrying a 190 pound man off the battlefield?), but threatens the family (What wife wants her husband living in close quarters with another woman?) Girly guys may want to hide behind a woman’s cammies, but REAL MEN don’t! Ted Cruz addressed the issue at a town hall meeting saying, “I have to admit, as I was sitting there listening to that conversation, my reaction was, ‘Are you guys nuts? Listen, we have had enough with political correctness, especially in the military. Political correctness is dangerous. And the idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them into the military and put them in close combat, I think is wrong, it is immoral, and if I am president, we ain’t doing it.” #######

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