Quid Est Veritas?

Truth is not what it seems to be.  In order to be sure, one has to see the entire picture or narrative, which is unavailable.  What we read in newspapers, watch on TV, or perceive in the Internet is not necessarily true.  The phenomenon of fake news makes fools of many of us.  Doubt has become a virtue.

A 10-Mbps Internet speed was promised before upgrading my Globe broadband, and guess what is the actual speed.  From speedtest.net, present speed is 8.5 Mbps (49ms, 1.1 Mbps upload); and sometimes it's below 3 Mbps!  I heard in the news that President Duterte feigned an illness at least twice just to avoid eyeballing with US Pres. Obama.  What a childish stunt!

Truth is something good and positive; ally with it at all times.  Ultimately, as we struggle in life, we realize that God himself is the truth.  With patience, we'll know the veracity of things that come our way.  This is one reason why God prohibited us from judging others.  Respect all people at all times, even the obnoxious ones.  Just respect the universal human rights, at the least.

Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it. (Blaise Pascal)

Dumpsters, Bridges, and Children

This article was written by Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life

Some years ago, a phone call came into a Milwaukee police department. Children were throwing stones off of a bridge, the officer was told. When police arrived at the scene, they asked the children what they were throwing. The reply came, "Little people."

These children had discovered small grey containers that held the remains of aborted children. The containers had been thrown in the trash of a nearby abortion mill. "Little people" had become playthings, because the law taught the slightly older children well. What is disposable, after all, can also be used for play. Yet the children had not lost their straightforward honesty, and ability to call things by their names. These aborted babies were people.

My friend Monica Migliorino Miller, a professor, author, and pro-life activist, is also straightforward and honest. She writes of one of the times that she and other activists went to retrieve the bodies of some of our aborted brothers and sisters in Chicago. This effort eventually led to a burial service conducted by the Archdiocese of Chicago. Monica writes,

"When we pulled our cars slowly into the dark alley behind the Michigan Avenue Medical Center, rats scurried before our headlights, frightened by the noise of our intrusion. Our three-vehicle caravan parked in the alley off Monroe Street in downtown Chicago. We stopped in front of a loading dock upon which stood three garbage dumpsters and a filthy blue-colored trash barrel. ...We climbed onto the loading dock, opened the dumpsters, and began to search through the trash. I opened a red dumpster ... At the very bottom was a small, heavy cardboard box. It was about the size of two shoe boxes and was sealed in silver duct tape. I carefully cradled the box in my arms and placed it in the back seat of one of the cars. ...

"We drove to Joe Scheidler's garage to examine the contents of the box, first setting it on a table beneath a bright light. We all gathered around the table as Peter carefully peeled off the silver duct tape and opened the flaps of the box. Inside were small plastic "specimen" bags. Each bag contained the remains of an aborted baby with placenta and uterine tissue. We took the bags out and laid them on the table. There were forty-three of them in all which represented about three or four days worth of abortions at the Michigan Avenue Medical Center.

"Several bags were marked with the name of the aborted baby's mother, her age, the gestational age of the fetal child, the date of the abortion and a number. ...Despite the small size of the fetal remains, their tiny arms, legs, hands, feet, rib cages, spinal columns, eyes (floating free out of their sockets), bits of skull tissue and sometimes even an intact face were plainly visible through the plastic windows of the specimen bags."

Sometimes it takes dumpsters, bridges, and children to wake us up to the reality of what the "choice" of "abortion" really is.

Note: The photos of many of the children taken from the Chicago dumpster can be seen at www.priestsforlife.org/images.

This column can be found online at
www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2007/07-09-10dumpstersbridgeschildren.htm.

Fr. Frank's columns can be heard via podcast. See www.priestsforlife.org/podcast for more details.

Fr. Frank's columns can be listened to in MP3 format at www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2007/index.htm.

Are They Human?

Kidnapping, mass murder, mutilation, torture... the list goes on and on. All such things are utilized by terrorists. And to add insult to injury, such people do these abominable acts in God's name! No wonder some people shy away from religion. They are the purveyors of hell on earth, pure evil, evil incarnated. God forbid, if a friend or loved one is victimized by them, it'll be better that they killed them immediately. It would have been better than torture, including mental torture. If they kidnap someone and demands for ransom are made, just leave the victim's fate to God, because no matter what you do, they kill them. I just saw an episode of the TV series 24: whether the authorities give in to the demands is immaterial. They still do their heinous crimes. In that episode, a nuclear bomb detonated even if the demands are met. While this is fictional, it can very well happen; truth is always stranger than fiction.

In all news sources, it's glaring how people hate US President G.W. Bush. You know what? Who are the terrorists angry about? Bush. Who are the demons' enemies? God and his angels. I'm not equating the two, but you are known by your enemies. Bush is their whipping boy, but he is just the symbol. Behind Bush are many layers of policy makers, etc. To the dismay of other countries, the US does what it says. The US is willing to pay the price of war. I'm sad when soldiers die, but that is their calling... to die so that others may live. Locally in the Philippines, soldiers are faithful in their calling and die heroically. You know what? Their salaries are shamefully near the poverty line! Yet they persevere and stay. Many people leave the country and utter many insults to the country in general. It's okay to work abroad, but they should at least appreciate those who choose to stay. The soldiers choose to stay, and obviously it's not for the money. An acquaintance once pitied himself that he only received a few more pesos in his military benefits. He asked me why he's not resigning from the service. I told him it's not the money. And he agreed. Going back to the US soldiers, if they are afraid to die in battle, they are always free to resign. There are many opportunities in their country--lots of my Filipino folks are there looking and finding good high paying jobs.

Just a few days ago, our valiant Marines were looking for kidnapped priest Fr. Bossi in Basilan island in southern Philippines. They were ambushed by Islamic terrorists (Abu Sayyaf and MILF rouge elements), 14 of them. God bless their souls. And their ordeal didn't end there. The dead soldiers were mutilated and 10 were beheaded. Why? Are they human? Honorable warriors respect their fallen enemies. Obviously these evil men are not subject to any international conventions. In addition to such war atrocities, they also target doctors, journalists and other noncombatants. When Fr. Bossi was interviewed after being recovered, he said that he confronted his captors about their violence and that the Quran does not agree with what they were doing. Their leaders are more influential than the Quran! In the end the priest, who was born in Italy, just remembered the Mafia, saying that the kidnappers were mafia members. But the Mafia are better because they don't justify their actions by using God's name. The local terrorists are using God's name in vain!

The good in man is being perverted by these evil men. I'm afraid of the future of our children. God help us!

Portugal: Abortion Referendum

There was failure of the recent referendum in Portugal that should have legalized abortion. That's great but the results were not so good. Since only about 40% turned out to vote (below the required 50%), the anti-abortion side won. But among those who voted, about 60% were for legalizing abortion. I'm disappointed because if all practicing Catholics voted against legalizing abortions, then that would have been a very strong signal against preborn killing. Where are the people? Why didn't they vote? Although the vote was a failure, it shows that the culture of death has overwhelmed Europe. Perhaps the only remaining Catholic country in Europe is the Vatican (Holy See)! Everyone else allows abortions to exterminate our babies!

No wonder the traditionally Christian population of the First World is decreasing exponentially. The large families are becoming extinct. And you know what? Immigration from the Muslim world will one day overwhelm Europe and efforts to increase the population will be in vain.

The signs of the times are all over, but no one is listening. The prophets have spoken... What's our response?

Unborn: Human Being With Potential

People in the pro-choice side should realize what they are choosing when they opt for abortion. It's absurd to speak of choice when the choices are between murdering and saving. We don't have a choice to kill others for no reason at all. Self defense is legitimate; otherwise it's a crime.

Such people say that the unborn is not a person at all. They like to save the whale or the eagle rather than their fellow human being even if that person is still in his mother's womb. They say that the mass of tissues is just a potential human being. No! That so-called mass of tissue is truly a human being with potential! It becomes human at the time of conception (fertilization); it is at that time when the 46 chromosomes that contain all the genes of that human being come together.

The photo here is taken from Priests for Life website and everyone is encouraged to disseminate the images of aborted babies so that the secular media and the public in general will be informed of what's happening around us, and help in stopping abortions around the globe.

Freedom of Expression

Contrary to some people's views, freedom is not absolute. When that freedom already impinges on others (individually or collectively as in the state), then it should be controlled. As St. Peter said in his first letter (1 Peter 2.16 RSV), "Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God." Sometimes I shake my head, the people demanding freedom of expression just give lip service. If in the remote possibility that they become successful and take over the government, everyone will be silenced... goodbye, freedom! Look at China. The citizens can't even utter anything against their leaders; the Internet is censored! They can't even access the western news entities (e.g., BBC). Just think about this... before you join these mass actions...

We should follow St. Peter's warning in his second letter (2 Peter 2.19 RSV): "They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved."

Human Dignity

Nowadays we see the progress in technology and science, especially on the electronic field. A few days ago, a rocket blasted off to explore the ninth planet in our solar system--Pluto; one scientist was quoted as saying "the information we know about Pluto can be written on a postage stamp." Also recently, another space probe that gathered dust from a comet and from deep space came back; analysis will follow in the coming months. The society however has stagnated; no progress at all in the road to peace. Wars and social degradations continue, not different from what we read from history and even from the Bible.

"Kidnapping and hostage taking bring on a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims to intolerable pressures. They are morally wrong. Terrorism threatens, wounds and kills indiscriminately; it is gravely against justice and charity. Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity. Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations and sterilizations perfomed on innocent persons are against the moral law (cf. Denzinger-Schonmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum 3722)" CCC 2297.

Where is human dignity? When can we realize that we as humans are all brothers and sisters living in a small planet? When can we ban all crimes against humanity, crimes that only multiply the misery around? What's the use of all this progress if nobody can enjoy it? Is the answer, my friend, "blowing in the wind?"

Culture of Life

Two thousand five is now in the past, and we're looking forward to a good and fruitful 2006 ahead! Disappointments and sorrows may come (as always), but something good always emerges from it. "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose (Rom 8.28)." For many of us, life is a struggle, and we're unsure if the dawn is near, ...no idea at all. Life is worth defending and treasuring; it is precious.

The table below, from AfterAbortion.info, is placed here just to see where we are in the Life-Death spectrum. Of course we should belong in the Pro-Life Group, as should all people of good will (Pro-life involves all life issues, including banning the death penalty). A good reference material about this issue is David Reardon's Making Abortion Rare.

Group	Concerned About...	Believes Abortion is...
Pro-Life	Baby	Immoral
Anti-Abortion	Woman	Dangerous to women
Pro-Choice	Woman	Helpful to women
Pro-Abortion	Utopia	Needed for social engineering

Of course, in dealing with people contemplating on abortion, or those who have undergone abortion, we should maintain the virtue of compassion; we are not supposed to judge them. We are to love them and pray for them. Women who have been in similar situations before are presumably more effective in talking to them. We should understand the pain, anguish and stress these women endure. If for some reason the abortion pushed through, then we should commend them to the mercy of the Son of God, and help them in providing closure. To stress the point, we are not judging them, or else we will be judged ourselves.

Prayer to End Abortion

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the resurrection of your Son. I am ready to do my part in ending abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never to stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected, and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen! (see PriestsForLife)

In The Womb

One or two nights ago, I happened to switch to the National Geographic channel and watched this 2-hour documentary on the life of the baby in the womb.  From fertilization to the birth... it was wonderful.  It's a very excellent material for life (pro-life), and a mother who thinks of aborting her unborn child will think again and likely will abort the abortion.  I congratulate National Geographic for this show.  More power!

 

The photo of Therese below shows the elegance of the old photographs; I did it by using a program called PhotoStudio 5.5.  It makes you think of the good old days.  God bless you all!

On Human Rights

The term human rights is ever present in media in an aftermath of any rally, political or otherwise, especially if the attendees are dispersed by the police.  I believe in the right to free expression, but it has limits.  Other rights are there enshrined in the Constitution's Bill of Rights.  The most basic right however is the right to life (you can't express yourself fully if you're dead).  This is apparently ignored in the media.  Sometimes a well known personality is said to be a defender of human rights, and most of the time I'm disappointed with them.  Why?  When asked about the morality of abortion, they have no comment, or sometimes they say it's the mother's right to abortion because it's her body.  But how about the unborn child?  They have no rights at all!  I think U.S. law does not recognize the unborn as persons at all!

 

When asked about one's hero in human rights advocacy, several names are mentioned.  But the greatest human rights advocate was the late John Paul II.  The "right to life should be respected from conception up to natural death," he said.  Abortion and euthanasia are abominations, which should be outlawed.

 

The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in religious and moral matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of man.  But the exercise of freedom does not entail the putative right to say or do anything (CCC 1747).

 

Are you a human rights activist?  Defend life!

Prayer For the Fallen

Four years have elapsed and it seems the events of September 11, 2001 in New York are still fresh in our collective memory. I pray to our loving Father in heaven that the immediate victims' families and friends find consolation in the loving people around them, and that all those souls find eternal peace and happiness in his company. Although it occurred in the U.S., the crime was against the entire human race; least that we can do is not forget the incident. Surely the perpetrators of this heinous crime will be judged severely in the afterlife, but all, especially the state should give firm justice as soon as possible to at least offer closure to this dark day in recent history. Those behind this crime should be hunted down wherever they hide and placed behind bars for life!

These mind-less terrorists considered that attack as their trophy of success. Since then several terrorist attacks were perpetrated throughout the world by these agents of evil. And what's putting more anguish among all peace-loving people is their doing it for their religion, for Islam, for Allah. It's unthinkable to murder innocent people in the name of God! Several Muslims voiced their protests, claiming Islam is against terrorism. I just hope they won't get any sanctuary anywhere.

Just a few days ago, hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf states of the U.S. and hundreds died and thousands displaced from their flooded homes. The relief is slow in coming but it will surely come sooner of later. As with the other victims of man-made disasters, we pray for the repose of their souls and the consolation of those left behind.

Many pundits and relief workers compared the devastation to that of 9/11, in terms of scope of the involved area and the suffering it produced. But the big difference is that 9/11 was man-made; natural disasters are more easily accepted. But as is always said, life must go on. We pray for our fallen brothers and sisters...

From the Prayer of Commendation (Order of Christian Funerals):

Go forth, Christian soul, from this world
in the name of God the almighty Father,
who created you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,
who suffered for you,
in the name of the Holy Spirit,
who was poured out upon you.
Go forth, faithful Christian!
May you live in peace this day,
may your home be with God in Zion,
with Mary, the virgin Mother of God,
with Joseph, and all the angels and saints...

May you return to your Creator
who formed you from the dust of the earth.
May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints
come to meet you as you go forth from this life...
May you see your Redeemer face to face...(CCC 1020)