In follow up to yesterday’s post, here is a link to the full statement of the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). In part it states:

The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see at this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.

…

The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected.

Earlier this week, Cardinal Francis George, the Archbishop of Chicago, spoke out against Barack Obama’s position on abortion. According to one news report, the Cardinal said  that all Americans should “rejoice” that a country that once tolerated slavery had elected a black man as the 44th President of the United States. The article went on to say that the Cardinal “notched up the pressure on the pro-choice President-Elect by comparing the treatment of the unborn today with that of black slaves in pre-Civil War America.” Cardinal George said:

If the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, that African Americans were other people’s property and somehow less than persons, were still settled constitutional law, Mr Obama would not be President of the United States

Today, as was the case 150 years ago, common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good. The common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society when those waiting to be born can be legally killed at choice.

Check out the full article on Catholic.org.

My family and I attend St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, so when I was in our local Catholic bookstore recently, I picked up a coin featuring an image of that saint. St. Catherine is the patron saint of several causes, including firefighters, nurses, sick people, and a few other things as well.

Based on the typo on the coin I bought (see the picture), I think we can adopt her as the patron saint of Toyota minivan drivers as well (Sienna, as opposed to Siena).

An online resource explains patron saints for us:

Patron saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of life. These areas can include occupations, illnesses, churches, countries, causes — anything that is important to us…

Recently, the popes have named patron saints but patrons can be chosen by other individuals or groups as well.

So I’m unofficially naming St. Catherine of “Sienna” as the patron saint of minivan drivers, especially of Toyota Sienna drivers. My family drives a Sienna, as do quite a few other parishioners and parents who bring their kids to our parish school. Every time we get behind the wheel, we can reflect on her life and ask her to pray for us!

Thomas Peters has launched a video blog (or “vlog”) American Papist News, which has two pilot episodes available for viewing. It is describes as “an upbeat week-in-review of news, politics, and culture, along with commentary and interviews, all from a uniquely Catholic perspective.”

View the pilots below or at on the AmP News site:

Today is known as Reformation Day among Lutherans because October 31, 1517 was the date Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses — a date that historians consider to be the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

When I was a Lutheran (from my early 20s until my late 30s), I read the Augsburg Confession, which is the primary confession of faith for Lutherans, as well as the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, written in response to Catholic objections to the Augsburg Confession. I must admit that in reading these two documents, I did not understand why the Catholic Church objected to them. I had to deduce what the Catholic position was through the arguments made in the Apology.

Fortunately, I eventually was able to find the “missing link” — the Catholic rebuttal to the Augsburg Confession which prompted the writing of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession. This document is known as The Roman Confutation against the Augsburg Confession and is available from the Lutheran Project Wittenberg. If you are curious why the Church said “No” to many of the Lutheran positions back in the 16th Century, I encourage you to read this document (available as a free PDF). It’s only 24 pages, and it proved to be a powerful influence on me becoming a Catholic. If you’d like to study it alongside the Lutheran documents, both the Augsburg Confession and the Apology are part of the Book of Concord, also available as a free PDF online.

ChurchYear.net has a nice entry about All Saints Day that gives a solid overview of the holy day: “All Saints Day is when the Church commemorates all saints, known and unknown. The eve of All Saints is known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween. All Saints Day is November 1.” I also like the section answering the objection, “Isn’t Celebrating All Saints Day Idolatry?” Enjoy!

Oh, and although All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation, since it falls on a Saturday this year, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated (see the article “About Holy Days of Obligation“).

I just saw an ad for this on another Catholic blog: www.thepopescologne.com

So…if I wear this, will women find it attractive? Or will it make them stay away and therefore create a celibacy-ensuring aura? You know, kind of like the opposite of TAG body spray?

Taylor Marshall offers his list of the “Top Ten Things to do for a Catholic Halloween” on his blog Canterbury Tales. (Thanks to JH at Opinionated Catholic for this link.) I found Taylor’s points interesting and refreshing:

There are many Christians who have written off Halloween as some sort of diabolical black mass. It’s the vigil of a Christian holy day: All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints Eve. Has it been corrupted by our culture and consumer market? You bet. However, Christmas has also been derailed by the culture. Does that mean that we’re going hand over Christmas? No way! Same goes for Halloween. The Church does not surrender what rightfully belongs to her - she wins it back!

I’ve been exposed to some people who want to do away with celebrating Halloween entirely. And while I understand their concerns, I don’t share them. I think that Halloween, in general, is a harmless party where kids can dress in costumes, have a little fun, and get free candy.

Have fun out there and stay out of trouble!

Dan Magill’s column from earlier this week in the Athens Banner-Herald offered some neat history on the UGA vs LSU series, which began in 1928 (or as the old timers say, “19 and 28″).

I’m hoping that today’s game will be Georgia victories, like our last two meetings (2004: UGA won 45-16 in Athens; 2005: UGA won 34-14 in the $EC Championship). But I think today will be a close one. I’m sure this might prompt some smack talkin’ from LSU-fan James H. at Opinionated Catholic, but I just had to do this quick post and say…GO DAWGS!

The Alive and Young blog has a great weekly feature called Not Said By Jesus Sunday. This week’s installment is a gem:

Glad to know there won’t be a scantron test to enter heaven!