The Catholic Monitor

May, 2008 Dear friends, This month, I would like to share a few thoughts on gratitude. In a time of struggle—which is the situation for all those who seek to follow Jesus wholeheartedly—it is easy to get endlessly distracted and anxious about “survival.” For Christians this can translate into survival for the sake of doing good in the world. The motive is good, but the anxiety is not. Indeed it is a symptom of a flaw in the root of one’s relationship with God as Father. In any event, that is the case with me. The past month, I have been hearing in prayer a gentle but persistent word: “All good things are given from above.” And: “Patience.” Yes, we must work on, often with little promise of success in worldly terms. If we do so, many interior qualities are strengthened, such as patience, perseverance, longsuffering—and even wisdom. One can know this in the mind. But it is not so easy to integrate this knowledge with the deeper movements of the heart and soul. But how does the integratio...

By Fred Martinez Before he died, Pope John Paul II said homosexual marriage and the gay agenda are part of "a new ideology of evil perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man." The majority of the California Supreme Court stands for the "new ideology of evil,” which will lead America in stages to become a new Sodom and Gomorrah. As Justice Scalia said against Lawrence v. Texas, the so-called Texas sodomy case: “[It] effectively decrees the end of all moral legislation.” The California Court’s ideology is in direct opposition to the Judeo-Christian God and His Ten Commandments. The other world religions, even the straightforward atheists or sinners are not part of the "new ideology of evil.” Deceptive anti-moral terrorists who are at enmity with God and His moral law are the ideologues. These fakes whose advertising jingle is “tolerance,” will not tolerate tradition morality. They’re only tolerance is unbor...

By Fred Martinez The Population Research Institute (PRI) has found that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry are targeting Catholics as well as minorities especially the third world people here and globally according to Ginny Hitchcock, the West Coast Representative of Population Research Institute. On a worldwide basis, with the encouragement of the conservative members of the US Congress, she said that Steve Mosher and PRI are carrying out wide-ranging field research among Catholic populations in the developing world. PRI has found that the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s population control is frequently used to "subdue" Catholic populations at the expense of basic aid and economic development. "We're building on our reputation and relationship with strong pro-life members of Congress, and Catholic leaders abroad, to support human rights and to defend the Catholic faith and the rights of Catholic families throughout the world," PRI Presid...

Poll: Big Shift Among Practicing and Non-Practicing Catholics After Papal Visit -- More Likely to Vote, Better Understand Church Teaching, and Say Trip Met or Exceeded Expectations NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- New polling data released today by the Knights of Columbus shows that Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States in April produced a sharp jump in the proportion of American Catholics with a more positive view of the pope following his trip. The information released today provides data specifically about Catholics, and is a companion to the analysis released last week about the views of Americans generally. The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion interviewed 1,013 adults nationwide, and the survey results issued today are from an over sample of an additional 502 Catholics nationwide, and are statistically significant at ±4.4%. All polling was done between April 22 and April 29, 2008, immediately following the pope's return to Rome. Of partic...

Both evangelicals and Catholics need a long time pro-life VP before they fully back McCain. If he picks someone who is questionable on abortion like Romney, whom most long time pro-lifers distrust, he probably can't win. Fred McCain, Huckabee and the Evangelicals By Robert D. Novak WASHINGTON, D.C. -- John McCain, who has spent the last two months trying to consolidate right-wing support as the Republican candidate for president, has a problem of disputed dimensions with a vital component of the conservative coalition: the evangelicals. The biggest question is whether Mike Huckabee is part of the problem or the solution for McCain. An element of the Christian community is not reconciled to McCain's candidacy but instead regards the prospective presidency of Barack Obama in the nature of a Biblical plague visited upon a sinful people. These militants look at former Baptist preacher Huckabee as "God's candidate" running for president in 2012. Whether they can be wri...