Saturday, April 30, 2016

Transgenderism: A Pathogenic Meme

The idea that one’s sex is a feeling, not a fact, has permeated our culture and is leaving casualties in its wake. Gender dysphoria should be treated with psychotherapy, not surgery.
For forty years as the University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School—twenty-six of which were also spent as Psychiatrist in Chief of Johns Hopkins Hospital—I’ve been studying people who claim to be transgender. Over that time, I’ve watched the phenomenon change and expand in remarkable ways.

A rare issue of a few men—both homosexual and heterosexual men, including some who sought sex-change surgery because they were erotically aroused by the thought or image of themselves as women—has spread to include women as well as men. Even young boys and girls have begun to present themselves as of the opposite sex. Over the last ten or fifteen years, this phenomenon has increased in prevalence, seemingly exponentially. Now, almost everyone has heard of or met such a person.

Publicity, especially from early examples such as “Christine” Jorgenson, “Jan” Morris, and “Renee” Richards, has promoted the idea that one’s biological sex is a choice, leading to widespread cultural acceptance of the concept. And, that idea, quickly accepted in the 1980s, has since run through the American public like a revelation or “meme” affecting much of our thought about sex.
The champions of this meme, encouraged by their alliance with the broader LGBT movement, claim that whether you are a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, is more of a disposition or feeling about yourself than a fact of nature. And, much like any other feeling, it can change at any time, and for all sorts of reasons. Therefore, no one could predict who would swap this fact of their makeup, nor could one justifiably criticize such a decision.

At Johns Hopkins, after pioneering sex-change surgery, we demonstrated that the practice brought no important benefits. As a result, we stopped offering that form of treatment in the 1970s. Our efforts, though, had little influence on the emergence of this new idea about sex, or upon the expansion of the number of “transgendered” among young and old.

Olympic Athlete Turned "Pin-Up" Girl
This history may clarify some aspects of the latest high-profile transgender claimant. Bruce Jenner, the 1976 Olympic decathlon champion, is turning away from his titular identity as one of the “world’s greatest male athletes.” Jenner announced recently that he “identifies as a woman” and, with medical and surgical help, is busy reconstructing his physique.
I have not met or examined Jenner, but his behavior resembles that of some of the transgender males we have studied over the years. These men wanted to display themselves in sexy ways, wearing provocative female garb. More often than not, while claiming to be a woman in a man’s body, they declared themselves to be “lesbians” (attracted to other women). The photograph of the posed, corseted, breast-boosted Bruce Jenner (a man in his mid-sixties, but flaunting himself as if a “pin-up” girl in her twenties or thirties) on the cover of Vanity Fair suggests that he may fit the behavioral mold that Ray Blanchard has dubbed an expression of “autogynephilia”—from gynephilia (attracted to women) and auto (in the form of oneself).

The Emperor’s New Clothes
But the meme—that your sex is a feeling, not a biological fact, and can change at any time—marches on through our society. In a way, it’s reminiscent of the Hans Christian Andersen tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes. In that tale, the Emperor, believing that he wore an outfit of special beauty imperceptible to the rude or uncultured, paraded naked through his town to the huzzahs of courtiers and citizens anxious about their reputations. Many onlookers to the contemporary transgender parade, knowing that a disfavored opinion is worse than bad taste today, similarly fear to identify it as a misapprehension.
I am ever trying to be the boy among the bystanders who points to what’s real. I do so not only because truth matters, but also because overlooked amid the hoopla—enhanced now by Bruce Jenner’s celebrity and Annie Leibovitz’s photography—stand many victims. Think, for example, of the parents whom no one—not doctors, schools, nor even churches—will help to rescue their children from these strange notions of being transgendered and the problematic lives these notions herald. These youngsters now far outnumber the Bruce Jenner type of transgender. Although they may be encouraged by his public reception, these children generally come to their ideas about their sex not through erotic interests but through a variety of youthful psychosocial conflicts and concerns.
First, though, let us address the basic assumption of the contemporary parade: the idea that exchange of one’s sex is possible. It, like the storied Emperor, is starkly, nakedly false. Transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men. All (including Bruce Jenner) become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they “identify.” In that lies their problematic future.
When “the tumult and shouting dies,” it proves not easy nor wise to live in a counterfeit sexual garb. The most thorough follow-up of sex-reassigned people—extending over thirty years and conducted in Sweden, where the culture is strongly supportive of the transgendered—documents their lifelong mental unrest. Ten to fifteen years after surgical reassignment, the suicide rate of those who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery rose to twenty times that of comparable peers.

How to Treat Gender Dysphoria
So how should we make sense of this matter today? As with any mental phenomenon, what’s crucial is noting its fundamental characteristic and then identifying the many ways in which that characteristic can manifest itself.
The central issue with all transgender subjects is one of assumption—the assumption that one’s sexual nature is misaligned with one’s biological sex. This problematic assumption comes about in several different ways, and these distinctions in its generation determine how to manage and treat it.
Based on the photographic evidence one might guess Bruce Jenner falls into the group of men who come to their disordered assumption through being sexually aroused by the image of themselves as women. He could have been treated for this misaligned arousal with psychotherapy and medication. Instead, he found his way to surgeons who worked him over as he wished. Others have already commented on his stereotypic caricature of women as decorative “babes” (“I look forward to wearing nail polish until it chips off,” he said to Diane Sawyer)—a view that understandably infuriates feminists—and his odd sense that only feelings, not facts, matter here.
For his sake, however, I do hope that he receives regular, attentive follow-up care, as his psychological serenity in the future is doubtful. Future men with similar feelings and intentions should be treated for those feelings rather than being encouraged to undergo bodily changes. Group therapies are now available for them.
Most young boys and girls who come seeking sex-reassignment are utterly different from Jenner. They have no erotic interest driving their quest. Rather, they come with psychosocial issues—conflicts over the prospects, expectations, and roles that they sense are attached to their given sex—and presume that sex-reassignment will ease or resolve them.
The grim fact is that most of these youngsters do not find therapists willing to assess and guide them in ways that permit them to work out their conflicts and correct their assumptions. Rather, they and their families find only “gender counselors” who encourage them in their sexual misassumptions.

Those with Gender Dysphoria Need Evidence-Based Care
There are several reasons for this absence of coherence in our mental health system. Important among them is the fact that both the state and federal governments are actively seeking to block any treatments that can be construed as challenging the assumptions and choices of transgendered youngsters. “As part of our dedication to protecting America’s youth, this administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors,” said Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to President Obama.
In two states, a doctor who would look into the psychological history of a transgendered boy or girl in search of a resolvable conflict could lose his or her license to practice medicine. By contrast, such a physician would not be penalized if he or she started such a patient on hormones that would block puberty and might stunt growth.
What is needed now is public clamor for coherent science—biological and therapeutic science—examining the real effects of these efforts to “support” transgendering. Although much is made of a rare “intersex” individual, no evidence supports the claim that people such as Bruce Jenner have a biological source for their transgender assumptions. Plenty of evidence demonstrates that with him and most others, transgendering is a psychological rather than a biological matter.
In fact, gender dysphoria—the official psychiatric term for feeling oneself to be of the opposite sex—belongs in the family of similarly disordered assumptions about the body, such as anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder. Its treatment should not be directed at the body as with surgery and hormones any more than one treats obesity-fearing anorexic patients with liposuction. The treatment should strive to correct the false, problematic nature of the assumption and to resolve the psychosocial conflicts provoking it. With youngsters, this is best done in family therapy.
The larger issue is the meme itself. The idea that one’s sex is fluid and a matter open to choice runs unquestioned through our culture and is reflected everywhere in the media, the theater, the classroom, and in many medical clinics. It has taken on cult-like features: its own special lingo, internet chat rooms providing slick answers to new recruits, and clubs for easy access to dresses and styles supporting the sex change. It is doing much damage to families, adolescents, and children and should be confronted as an opinion without biological foundation wherever it emerges.
But gird your loins if you would confront this matter. Hell hath no fury like a vested interest masquerading as a moral principle.

by 
Paul McHugh, MD, is University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is the author of The Mind Has Mountains: Reflections on Society and Psychiatry.

Friday, April 29, 2016

Pope Francis and the Family

Why do I love Pope Francis so much????
Because he understands the mess the family is in and he loves us anyway; just like Jesus!!!
Vancouver Diocesan CWL's photo.

Spectacular message of Pope Francis. "There is no perfect family. We don't have perfect parents, we are not perfect, we don't get married with a perfect person nor do we have perfect kids. We have complaints of each other. We were disappointed to each other. Therefore, there is no healthy marriage or healthy family without the exercise of forgiveness. Forgiveness is vital to our emotional health and spiritual survival. Without forgiveness the family becomes a theatre of conflict and a bastion of grievances. Without forgiveness the family gets sick. Forgiveness is the sterilization of the soul, the cleaning of the mind and the liberation of the heart. Who does not forgive has no peace of soul nor communion with God. The pain is a poison that intoxicates and kills. Save a wound of the heart is a self-destructive gesture. It is autophagy. Who does not forgive sickens physically, emotionally and spiritually. That's why the family has to be a place of life and not of death; territory of healing and not of disease; stage of forgiveness and not of guilt. Forgiveness brings joy where sorrow produced pain; and healing, where pain caused disease." ~Pope Francis.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Former Planned Parenthood official tells students about abortion's reality

Please share this as much as possible with friends, family, prayer groups, clubs, website and where ever you can.
Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood
employee of the year who has become an
outspoken pro-life advocate, is pictured in a 2011 photo.
Johnson told Georgetown University students April 20 that even
the most strident abortion provider can have a change of heart.
(CNS photo/Jose Luis Aguirre, Catholic San Francisco)
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood employee of the year who has become an outspoken pro-life advocate, told Georgetown University students April 20 that even the most strident abortion provider can have a change of heart.

"I'm standing in front of you today as a testament to the power of conversion. No one is beyond the power of conversion. No one is beyond the power of Christ," Johnson said.

Her address -- attended by nearly 100 people -- came just hours after a controversial lecture on the Jesuit campus by Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood.

Noting that the president of the largest abortion provider was invited to speak at the Catholic university, Johnson said, "I keep thinking, I keep believing and I have faith that one day instead of me standing here speaking on defending the sanctity of human life, it will be Cecile Richards standing here."

Michael Khan, a sophomore at Georgetown and president of the university's right-to-life chapter, criticized Georgetown University's defense of having Richards deliver a lecture on campus as an issue of academic freedom and free speech.

"Cecile Richards is not an academic. She is an activist," he told the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Washington Archdiocese. "Even if you believe in open dialogue (on the issue of abortion), she brings noting substantive to the table. I am disappointed in Georgetown's leadership for allowing her (Richards) to speak unchallenged."

Thursday, April 21, 2016

So what is the Liturgy of the Hours?

 NOT *just* for Priests, Religious or Clergy ..... 


Are the Faithful also required to pray the Divine Office? No, but when they do, they join with the entire Church throughout the world in its common prayer, sanctifying the day and night, giving praise and worship to God in a rich and beautiful tradition of our Catholic heritage. We are all one in the Body by virtue of our Baptism.. how wonderful to join with those around the world with the same words, at the same time, praising our glorious Triune God! 

The celebration of the Divine Office, as an act of the whole Church, even when prayed in solitude, enjoys Christ’s presence in those gathered. The Liturgy of the Hours, like the Mass and other liturgical celebrations of the Church, are sacred acts of the whole Church and of Christ present in the Church. The Eucharist and the Divine Office belong to the whole Church, to all those who by reason of their baptism share in the life of Christ.
Christ, therefore, is truly present when the Divine Office is celebrated, especially so in the Psalms and other scripture texts. We take it for granted–in the sense that we in fact believe–that Christ is present in the Eucharist, but sometimes we need reminding that Christ is also present in the Liturgy of the Hours.
The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the whole People of God. In it, Christ himself “continues His priestly work through his Church.” His members participate according to their own place in the Church and the circumstances of their lives. The laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office either with the priests, among themselves, or individually.
The celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours demands not only harmonizing the voice with the praying heart, but also a deeper “understanding of the liturgy and of the Bible, especially of the Psalms.”

The hymns and litanies of the Liturgy of the Hours integrate the prayer of the psalms into the age of the Church, expressing the symbolism of the time of day, the liturgical season, or the feast being celebrated. Moreover, the reading from the Word of God at each Hour with the subsequent responses or troparia and readings from the Fathers and spiritual masters at certain Hours, reveal the deeper meanings of the mystery being celebrated, assist in understanding the psalms, and help one prepare for silent prayer. The lectio divina, where the Word of God is so read and meditated that it becomes prayer, is thus rooted in the liturgical celebration.
The Liturgy of the Hours, which is like an extension of the Eucharistic celebration, does not exclude but rather (in a complementary way) calls forth the various devotions of the People of God, especially adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament.

The worship “in Spirit and in truth” of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the “living stones,” gathered to be “built into a spiritual house.” The Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual Temple from which the source of living Water emanates. Incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, “we are the temple of the living God.”

Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Two, Section One, Chapter Two.
http://catholic-link.org/

Audacity and other graces…

John 21:17 [Jesus] said to [Peter] the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’”
 
What a Lent! What an Easter! We mourn with the world the death of Mother Angelica, and at the same time we rejoice in the glorious sign of her passing on the Day of Resurrection. All glory and praise to our risen Lord!
I felt this Lent and Easter were significant in ways we cannot understand. I was given some little hints to that effect, which I would like to share here.
First of all, Lent was a time of severe trial for so many—in the world, in the Church, and likely in each of our circles of acquaintance, including mine. One of my sisters has a saying when one of us has a trial during Lent, as often happens: “Aahh…Lent!” Faithful Christians in general, and penitents in particular, must not shy away from the cross during Lent. Our time on the cross with Christ is a treasure whose value we will only appreciate in the next life. When you hang with Jesus, you hang on the cross. Just ask Mother Angelica.


Next came the Triduum. As parish secretary and, besides the priest, the sole employee in our small parish office, and as one also involved in music ministry, I often have plenty of reasons to be distracted during the Triduum. Yet, this year I felt called to enter the Triduum with sharpened focus. To really pay attention. In fact, as I rested Saturday afternoon so as to be more alert for the Vigil, I had a brief dream in which I was so distracted at Mass that I was spilling the Precious Blood all over the place! It was very a very upsetting dream, but certainly the point was made!

On Holy Thursday, at the time of consecration during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, I was given an insight into the absolute tenderness with which Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist. What a night it was for him! It is impossible to know the true significance of everything he did that night. We know that institution of the Holy Eucharist was his parting gift to his Apostles and to all believers to the end of time. The Apostles could not possibly have known the implications of this incredible gift. Jesus knows, and he also knows how few of us will really appreciate what the Eucharist means. He gives himself to us anyway—so tenderly.
For me this year, the tenderness I felt at the words of consecration at the Lord’s Supper moved me in a new way. Jesus had laboured and prayed, and came up with this way to ensure that he would be with us all in a material way to the end of time. He was thinking of not just his Apostles that night, but of all of us, down through the ages, loving each one of us as if we were the only one to ever receive him into our hearts. What tenderness! What a gift! Thank you Jesus! The next time you are at Mass, imagine the words of consecration spoken with that kind tenderness directed at you. I guarantee, you will be moved.

Then on Good Friday I was praying for a soul and asking that they not die in their sin. I had an exchange with our Lord that I will attempt here to put into words. Me: “Lord, please do not let them die in their sin.” He: “Should they not die as they have lived?” I was taken aback by this seemingly harsh reply, but then I remembered the Year of Mercy, and it made me bold, audacious even. Me: “Lord, that would satisfy your justice, but as this is the Year of Mercy, I make an appeal to your Mercy and ask that this person not die in their sins.” I felt at that point I had passed a test and that my prayer would be granted. I felt that my audacity had pleased him, that he would reward my audacious trust in His never-failing mercy. Sweet Lord, what a grace that was!

Earlier in the month I had been given an image of weak souls as a baby birds that have no power of their own but can only survive by being fed by others. I felt that those of us who have faith, imperfect as it is, are like the mother and father birds that fly back and forth from the nest bringing filthy worms for the weak infants. Our efforts amount to no more than filthy worms, even on a good day, but by the grace of God, our meager efforts help strengthen those weak, homely, hatchlings and turn them into fledglings. If we keep up our efforts, one day they are strong enough to fly off on their own. It was a powerful image that was clarified for me through Good Friday’s lesson in audacity.
Powerful graces are available to us in ever-new ways dear friends! Have confidence! Be audacious! Do not give up, but keep digging in the dirt for those worms, and no matter how pitiful your offering may seem to you, do not discount it, for all is grace. All.
No one was more audacious than Mother Angelica. She once said, “Boldness should be the eleventh commandment.” At another time she said, “Guts is the eighth gift of the Holy Spirit.” Amen, Mother Angelica. Pray for us!

And lastly a prayer for the Year of Mercy…
O my Jesus, in the Divine Will I offer You all the unused shards of suffering, including my own, all those treasures discarded from the time of the fall of Adam and Eve to the last man. I offer them as a spiritual bouquet through the Flame of Love of our Immaculate Mother in reparation to the Holy Trinity for all sins ever committed, for the conversion of all those whose hearts are far from You, for the fire of pure love to be ignited in the lukewarm, and for all the intentions of those here and in my spiritual territory. Jesus and Mary I trust in You. Take care of everything, and everyone. May this Jubilee Year of Mercy bear abundant fruit for the Kingdom. May Your Kingdom come and come quickly! Amen.

by Janet Klasson

Monday, April 18, 2016

Wow Eucharistic #Miracle in Poland approved by Bishop proven by DNA testing


ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BISHOP OF LEGNICA
On the Eucharistic Miracle in St. Jack Parish in Legnica
(translated from Polish)

Sisters and Brothers in Our Lord Jesus Christ!

As The Bishop of Legnica I hereby announce to the public and inform about an event that took place
in the parish of St. Jack in Legnica which has the signs of the Eucharistic miracle. On 25th December, 2013 during the distribution of the Holy Communion, a consecrated Host fell to the floor and then was picked up and placed in a water-filled container (vasculum). Soon after, stains of the red colour appeared. The former Bishop of Legnica, Stefan Cichy, set up a commission to observe the phenomenon. In February 2014, a tiny red fragment of the Host was seperated and put on a corporal. The Commission ordered to take samples in order to conduct the thourough tests by the relevant research institutes.

In the final announcement of the Department of Forensic Medicine we read as follows: In the histopathological image, the fragments of tissue have been found containing the fragmented parts of the cross striated muscle. (...) The whole (...) is most similar to the heart muscle with alterations that often appear during the agony. The genetic researches indicate the human origin of the tissue.

In January this year I presented the whole matter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican. Today, according to the recommendations of the Holy See, I ordered the parish vicar Andrzej Ziombro to prepare a suitable place for a display of the Relic so that the faithful could give it the proper adoration. Hereby, I also ask for providing the visitors with information and conducting the regular teaching that could help the faithful to have the proper attitude to the eucharistic cult. I also command to form a book to register all received benefits and other miraculous events.

I hope that this will serve to deepen the cult of the Eucharist and will have deep impact on the lives of people facing the Relic. We see the misterious Sign as an extraordinary act of love and goodness of God, who comes to humans in ultimate humiliation.

I cordially ask for your prayer and I bless you

+ Zbigniew Kiernikowski

The Bishop of Legnica

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Eric Clapton, the Blessed Mother and Hope

I feel so blessed today to have experienced the music of the transformation of one of our own, Eric Clapton.
We lived through the same highs and lows of life with Eric Clapton. He is of my and many of your own generation. The culture of what we thought was freedom  that for him and for most; collapsed into tragedy. His message his music is one of HOPE for all who are in despair. Pure proof that God is with us.

Praying always,
~Margaret of Souls for Jesus

St. John Paul II called Our Lady of Guadalupe the Mother of Hope. Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessings. Despair is the absence of hope. Let us never be hopeless! No matter how deep we have fallen with the darkness closing in, there is always the light ray of hope that the Blessed Mother will hear our prayer.

Eric Clapton, three-time inductee to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, looked back on what he called “the absolute squalidness of my life” as an alcoholic. In the midst of his suffering, he wrote a song called Holy Mother.

The song sounds like a prayer from someone who acknowledges his need for help and direction from God and makes a plea to take away his pain and bring him peace.
In his memoir, Clapton: The Autobiography, Clapton wrote, “I found a pattern in my behavior that had been repeating itself for years, decades even. Bad choices were my specialty, and if something honest and decent came along, I would shun it or run the other way.”  But, then he came to a rock-bottom moment that he had in rehab.

"It was like a moment of clarity when I saw the absolute squalidness of my life at that moment. I began to write a song called Holy Mother, in which I asked for help from a divine source, a female that I couldn’t even begin to identify. I still love that song, because I recognize that it came from deep in my heart as a sincere cry for help.”

He wrote, “I was in complete despair. In the privacy of my room, I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether . . . and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered. Within a few days I realized that . . . I had found a place to turn to, a place I’d always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in. From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night, to express gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety.”

In his song Clapton pleads, “Holy Mother, hear my prayer. Somehow I know you’re still there. Send me please some peace of mind. Holy Mother, hear my cry. I felt the anger running through my soul. All I need is a hand to hold.”
Here are the lyrics to the song:

Holy Mother, where are you?
Tonight I feel broken in two.
I've seen the stars fall from the sky.
Holy Mother, can't keep from crying.

Oh I need your help this time,
Get me through this lonely night.
Tell me please which way to turn
To find myself again.

Holy Mother, hear my prayer,
Somehow I know you're still there.
Send me please some peace of mind;
Take away this pain.

I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait any longer.
I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait for you.

Holy Mother, hear my cry,
I've cursed your name a thousand times.
I've felt the anger running through my soul;
All I need is a hand to hold.

Oh I feel the end has come,
No longer my legs will run.
You know I would rather be
In your arms tonight.

When my hands no longer play,
My voice is still, I fade away.
Holy Mother, then I'll be
Lying in, safe within your arms.
May we always turn to our Holy Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Mother of Hope, in faith and confidence that she will intercede for us, hear our plea to take away our pain and bring us peace, as she did for Eric Clapton.
Here is a beautiful presentation of the song by Eric Clapton and Luciani Pavarotti with a children’s choir.

Dan Lynch Apostolates promoting devotion to
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Jesus King of All Nations,
Our Lady of America and Saint John Paul II

144 Sheldon Road, St. Albans, VT 05478
Phone: 802-524-5350
Visit our website at www.JKMI.com
E-Mail Us at JKMI@JKMI.com
The Dan Lynch Apostolates’ Facebook Page

May Our Lady of Guadalupe keep you under the mantle of her protection and
may the Reign of Jesus King of All Nations be recognized in your heart!

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Desire of the Everlasting Hills

 Please click the link below to view a well done and controversial topic giving better insight into one of today's most prevalent and heart-wrenching journeys in this world and how to best deal effectively with this most difficult lifestyle.

https://vimeo.com/101135437
Three intimate and candid portraits of Catholics who try to navigate the waters of self-understanding, faith and homosexuality.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Temptations to Sin

I have been asking Jesus, why are so many women being raped, children suffering from terrible sexual encounters with older people even relatives. I read an article about the horrible suffering of women and children in Africa which I post another time. Jesus has been teaching me about the grave effect pornography has had on our culture. Most especially women and children. If you notice when you turn on the television or go to the beach or elsewhere you will see men in the same old, same old suite and tie or weather related clothing. Not so for women. Jesus says women dress inappropriately because they are competing in a society that compares itself to what used to be called pornography. The changes started in the early fifties and blossomed in the early seventies when the laws governing the pornography industry changed to make it no longer an offense. The mode of teaching our children about human sexuality in group sessions by perfect strangers breaks down the modesty barriers for them as well. 

Jesus has requested that we 'pray for modesty to return to our culture'. 
God is watching and caring for all of our needs.
 ~Margaret of Souls for Jesus


Matthew 18:1-9

True Greatness

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Temptations to Sin

 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block (sin) before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks (sin)! Occasions for stumbling (sin) are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block (sin) comes!
 ‘If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Importance & Dignity of Motherhood

This video is very important. We need to listen and then say, shame on us, for having to be taught by women from another culture how important the life of Mother and child are. How important family is. God bless these strong women for not trading their dignity for social and material betterment. ~Margaret of Souls for Jesus



Thursday, April 7, 2016

A Poem : "Trip to Haiti"

Over the Divine Mercy weekend I had the pleasure of an invitation to the home of a dear friend from Massachusetts.  It was a special gathering of close friends in the faith to honor and pray for the life of their young son who passed away 2 years ago.  

While at the house I was able to catch up with an old friend who is a talented poet. I asked her to send me a few poems. This one is of her observations while on a Mission trip to Haiti. It seemed appropriate for this mission  to women. As women from a privileged country leading privileged lives we can learn so much from the joy of impoverished women. ~Margaret of Souls for Jesus 


Trip to Haiti


Leaving one land for unfamiliar soil

Packed with people dashing about
Old trucks, cars, noisy cycles rush to toil
Charging forward, horns beep and shout
Mounds of vendors’ goods clutter the streets
Side by side for miles like beads on a string
Women balancing heavy loads move on steady feet
Chickens, papayas, mangos stacked in neat piles
Hot day after day unfolds in this way
Poverty abounds under cotton candy sky
Needs scream of hardships for man and beast
The heart is disturbed, the mind questions why
As pigs, donkeys, cows, and goats
Roam about dressed in different coats
Shacks with tin roofs small in size
Slant and sag in flimsy layers
Folks mill around from early sunrise
Moving through life with all its cares
Skinny dogs standing low move slowly to and fro
Why do such burdens continue to soar
Where is a better life for our sisters and brothers
Few so comfortable while many so poor
Change is needed for children and mothers
Worthy to be fully alive, not just survive
One can’t prepare for conditions so dire
Observing the life of poverty this deep
A taste of this culture sets the soul on fire
The troubled heart begins to weep
Truth alone makes justice known

A contrast so great in rough roads and alleys
In unclean rivers and dump like debris
As great beauty shines in mountains and valleys
In blue green waters of a calm sea
With poverty gone, in fullness of time, a new day will dawn
Though Haiti may appear God forsaken
I see Him in joyful spirits and faces
In their neat dress, sense of dignity
His gift of grace for every race
God is truly present, faithful is He
Missionaries serve those among the least
Bringing new hope in the name of love
With faith richer than the greedy who feast
Blessings are showered upon this land
The master holds His people in His hands
Leaving this sacred experience, shared as one
The heart’s deepest feelings come alive
Its early morn along the busy roadside
Youngsters in uniforms off to learn and thrive
Never alone, holy angels forever protect and guide



Rose Gallagher
June 12, 2014

St. Marks Mission Trip
4-24-14 – 5-5-14
Sutton, MA

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Ninth Day of the Divine Mercy Novena:

Intention: Today bring to Me SOULS WHO HAVE BECOME LUKEWARM, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: ‘Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.’ For them, the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy.
Novena Prayers: Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love, let these tepid souls, who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy.
Amen.
Divine Mercy Chaplet

Friday, April 1, 2016

Divine Mercy For America


Divine Mercy
On this episode of "Mic'd Up," Michael Voris explores the Divine Mercy devotion. Guests include Joan and Dave Maroney of Mother of Mercy Messenger, Robert Allard of the Apostles of Divine Mercy, Fr. Louis Guardiola of the Fathers of Mercy, and Yves Jacques of the Michael Journal.

 Click the link below to view the video:
https://vimeo.com/user32581501/review/160088132/00581ad8c4
 VERY Important message/info on Divine Mercy Devotion particularly in light of the signs of the times and this Jubilee Year of Divine Mercy ... NOTHING is coincidence, believe me!

Eighth Day of the Divine Mercy Novena:

Intention: Today bring to Me THE SOULS WHO ARE DETAINED IN PURGATORY, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice. Novena Prayers: Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion.
Amen.
Divine Mercy Chaplet