Monday, June 29, 2015

THE PATIENTS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE ASYLUM


Imagine walking to the roof of the apartment building you reside in, on a bright clear day with a light breeze. When you open the door to the roof you see a blue sky. All seems right in the world. Then you notice a young woman standing at the edge of the building looking down.

Your first thought is to make sure she is alright. As you approach she notices you and you see tears in her eyes. You realize she is distraught and about to end her life.

You could just turn your back on her, thinking to yourself, it should be her right, it's none of my business, if she wants to kill herself. But then you realize she must not be thinking clearly. So, you try to help draw her away from the edge of the roof.

Then you hear faint shouts from below. As you focus you realize people are telling her to jump.

She jumps to her death ending her life.

You hurry down to the street to confront these people. They say it is her right to do what she wants with her life.  You are amazed that anyone could think this!

You try to reason with them. You share that instead of letting people hurt themselves, even if they think that they will feel better, the loving, courageous option would be to help them see reality and live a better life. It is better to be a support and help them out of their misguided thinking than to just turn your backs on them.

PART II
Some time later, sitting at home, you see in the news that the Law of the land now says people who wish to jump off a roof are allowed to do so. Unbelievable! The Law goes further than to give people the right to jump off any building they choose. The Law states that all buildings need to allow access for people desiring to jump off. Regardless of how you feel, people must be allowed access to each building or you will be fined, imprisoned and labeled a bigot.

You sit in your cozy living room thinking this new Law is awful, but then you realize it doesn't really affect you personally. You do not own any buildings. So the Law can not force you to allow people to jump off your roof.  An odd thought comes to mind... you should look up more often when walking down the street.

Think of this scenario in light of the most recent decision of The Supreme Court on Same Sex Marriage.

There are people in this world that care so much for others, even total strangers, that they would rather attempt to help them then allow them to hurt themselves. I pray everyday for God's Grace to be one of these people.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

WHEN DOES CHRISTMAS START & FINISH?

Each year I get a bit perturbed by the Christmas 'holiday'. We all have the good and bad memories of Christmases past. However that is not my present beef. I get upset with Christians, in general, and Catholics in particular, because no one, seems to know when Christmas actually starts (Christmas Day) and when it is over (Baptism of the Lord).

Most people; including Christians, seem to think Christmas starts on "Black Friday" the day after Thanksgiving and it ends the day after Christmas. The time people think is Christmas is actually closer to Advent. Advent is a time of preparation for the Christmas Holy Days. Years ago Advent, as a time of preparation, was more like Lent in fasting, alms-giving and prayer. Instead society has convinced everyone that Advent is a time for partying and is the actual Christmas Season. We Christians just bow to the merchandising and the goodies and celebrate for roughly a month before Christmas, ending on the day after Christmas.

I admit I am also responsible. I used to put up my tree and decorations a day or two before Christmas. Now I cave in usually a couple of weeks before. I try to do some Fasting, but truth be told, I do not accomplish much. So, in this article I am not trying to point a finger. I am merely trying to inform.
One year I was thinking about the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas". I started thinking there must be, at least, Twelve Days to Christmas. That would bring us from Christmas Day to The Epiphany (January 6). With a little research I found the liturgical season of Christmas ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Now to my beef. If I, or anyone for that matter, say  'Merry Christmas" to you the day after Christmas or even the week after Christmas you should not look at me like I just stepped off a spaceship, rather you should say a hearty Merry Christmas in return.

More importantly, we should not just skim over Advent with no effort. I always tell people who come to our Annual Catholic Charismatic Conference in Orlando (www.orlandocharismatic.net), that you get out of it what you put into it. Advent is part of our Liturgical Calendar for the Reason for the Season, that being Christ. To help draw us closer to Jesus Christ. Give an effort, attend daily Mass, a Parish Mission, receive The Sacrament of Reconciliation or give up something, maybe fruitcake for Advent. I hope your smiling. Make an effort and God's Grace will Anoint you.


Friday, October 19, 2012

Can I Stand For Obama AND For Gods' Word?

Can I Stand For Obama AND For Gods' Word?

Hello, I was hoping that the subject line would get your attention!

My conscience has been bothering me lately.  It has been asking me what have I done to encourage others to vote in a manner consistent with the standard of God’s Truth.   Sadly, it seems clear that I have bitten into that lie that religion and politics do not belong in the public arena.  Yet if I am a Believer, I must be compelled to share the Good News and stand up for Truth.  This email is one of the things I can do.  I am sending it to all on my contacts list who know me as willing to stand for what I believe.

This is Richard’s Condensed Version of Truth: God is Love.  Before time, space or matter existed, He conceived in His mind the life of every human that would come into existence.  And from that moment, He loved us!  Then out of this love for us, He created the cosmos that there may be a place and time for us to come into being –that we may come to know and love Him, that we may be loved by Him, become like Him, and then, love one another.

This is the reason of all that is.  Everything else is just part of the mix, part of the mystery of God’s Plan.  God’s love for His Beloved is the foundation of Truth, the Universal Purpose.  It is the cause of our being; what holds us in existence, and is the fullness of our destiny –if we choose to love Him (For love always demands a choice.)  Love demands freedom, therefore, we must be free to be unloving.  Free Will comes at the cost of an All Loving God allowing evil to exist.

Thus the stage is set.  Good will be at war with Evil until the end of our time, when Christ will return, and all will be judged on how we fought in this war, on the choices we made in God’s grace of freedom.  15 If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.  16 He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.  17 Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given.” (Sirach 15:15-20)
War is hell, and politics is both.  To dismiss politics, because it is dirty, is to leave the fight.  We are all needed & called into battle, but we must keep our focus.  Distractions are everywhere & most are legitimate battles in need of attention, but the real war is between Good & Evil, Life & Death. 

Today, our nation is in the throes of a battle that is unprecedented.  Our nation is in danger of losing its soul, of spurning its Judeo-Christian heritage in an attempt to embrace death and depravity.  [Warning: If you read beyond this point, you may be in danger of losing any warm & fussy feelings that might have been associated with me.]  Our 2-party system is in critical condition, both parties have potentially fatal injuries, but one of them appears to be mortally wounded.

Here’s the scenario: You find yourself in a vast open field and there is a raging bull 3oo yards in front of you.  100 yards on your left and right is a person calling to you saying they can help you.  The one on the right doesn’t appear like much of a super hero.  The one on your left is waving a huge red flag.  The bull is charging.   How much time do you want to take to ponder the plusses and minuses of your decision?  My friends, I believe our Democratic Party has gone AWOL.  Not only do they seem clueless about being exposed, but they are waving a red flag to get our attention.

Why would a party seeking to represent what is best for America nail down as a foundational plank, the call for the right of a woman to kill the baby in her womb?  (Obama went even farther by voting to kill the baby that was born from a botched abortion.)  Or why lay down as a plank the call to treat the homosexual lifestyle as a protected status in our society?  Or fight to redefine marriage which is the foundation of the family which in turn is the foundation of life and society?  Why would the majority of its representatives fight to have God removed from its platform?  Why would this party be one of the biggest drivers of racism by insisting on segregating humanity by the color of their skin, by relentlessly using terms like “Black” or “People of Color”, when in Truth there is only one race –the Human Race?   Can our real world get any Crazier?   Yes we can!  And the bull is charging.

I am a Catholic, so I say this with a deep sense of pain,  54% of the Catholic vote chose Obama, the man who is the champion of this insanity.  Our faith says that God’s Word is the Unchangeable Truth.  It unambiguously calls out murder and  homosexuality among the darkest sin, an abomination, yet, over half of us voted for an Obama Nation.  What is even more scary to me, is the number of our priests who still are registered as Democrat.

I can understand voting for a Democrat because they are a person of integrity and competence.  But in today’s world, I cannot understand how one could vote for a person because that person is a democrat.  And given the brazen identification of the Democratic Party with values diametrically opposed to those revealed in Scripture, I cannot see how any Christian can now identify themselves with as allied with them.  In fact, we should be actively exposing those heretical planks with such a fury that the Democratic Party will renounce them and return to nurturing values that all faiths can embrace.   And I am sick of the lame justifications referencing issues like Republicans are for war, or capital punishment or against immigration.  Are these part of the Republican party’s plank, is this what they identify as foundational?  No!  Even if they did, how would that override the injustice of killing 50 million innocent babies since Roe vs Wade?  Or of undermining family, the foundation of society?   And now, they are even attempting to take away our religious freedom and force us to pay for what we believe to be evil.  The time is upon us where every vote must be based on whether the candidate is a person of integrity, whose life mirrors what he says, and says what is compatible with the Mind of God.

This is a pivotal election.  One man is now in the position to take us into a darkness that will take generations to recover from, if it is possible at all.
How can one president control the destiny of our country? Try this on for size:   Cause a furor by grid locking legislation, with the simple strategy of insuring that his party's majority leader of the senate, by merely not bringing up to the floor for a vote, any legislation that is contrary to the President's agenda; while simultaneously ensuring his minority leader in the House pushes legislation that promotes his agenda, and resist everything that does not, but whatever is passed by the house is condemned to failure just by Senator Reid not bringing it forward for a vote!  The president then issues executive orders that bypass congress, all under pretense of protecting America, using the "Urgency of this Emergency".  This is sealed, by doing whatever is necessary to survive into the lame duck term, where he can appoint a majority of liberal activist Supreme Court justices, who will for their entire life, will hand down decisions that will redefine both, the meaning and limits of our constitution, of what our country deems worth protecting.  This is not a conspiracy theory, this is in play already.

Anyone who says this president has been ineffectual in his 1st term, has been just watching the news and not watching what irreparable changes are being inflicted upon our nation -all without the consent of the majority of our elected legislators, not to mention, the majority of American values.

And to blame Obama for what is happening is about as smart as blaming a starving dog for eating our steak when we turned our back on it. That dog was just being a dog.  We knew it was not in his nature, to not eat what did not belong to him, when we turned our back on that steak.  You see, WE THE PEOPLE knew what Obama stood for (what his record was, what his ideology was, who his friends were, how he was intrinsically intertwined with a radical socialist community committed to values alien to our founding fathers, and to our Judeo Christian roots) when we voted him into office. A dog will be a dog because that is his nature. Obama will be Obama, because that is what the nature of his character is.

It is WE THE PEOPLE who are responsible for putting into office the people we choose to represent us. Yes, we may be fooled sometimes, but Obama, Reid & Pelosi had a clearly established record (which is the unbiased reflection of their character and values.) The 54% of Catholics who voted for Obama had no responsible excuse for not knowing that he was an activist committed to the pro-choice agenda. Or, that he was in league with the current forces to undermine the family unit by redefining marriage and by redefining the depravity of homosexuality into a constitutionally protected status. Nor was there any reason not to know that his pastor of 20 years, who he considered his mentor, was a racist who espoused hatred for America and the Jewish nation. Nor was there any reason not to know the extraordinary disconnect between what he, Obama, said and what he did. All of this was a matter of history.

God gave us a steak, when America came to be founded as a nation, where its people could freely live their lives within the context of their Judeo-Christian values. We live in a present darkness, where what is good is being called bad, and what is bad is being called good, and where only the silly would entrust their lives into The Way of a personal and loving God. There are dogs waiting to eat our steak  -our gift from God, when we turn our backs on His Values and elect people to represent us who openly support what is abhorrent to Him.

WE THE PEOPLE need to take responsibility for the sins of our nation. We need to become a people who are committed to His Truth, to never compromising it for what is expedient, but rather demanding it the more so as it comes under attack.  Let us fervently pray for the gift of repentance, personally and nationally.  Let us vote with the Mind Of God.   May His Spirit lead us to a vote that is not blinded by words, but rather, is based on His Word.   –Richard Swiderski

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Senator Obama Is Not A Catholic Voter's Choice

Senator Obama Is Not A Catholic Voter's Choice

"Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." John 7:24

Senator Barack Obama is not a loving, caring Christian. His voting record and his stance on important issues show his true, selfish, nature.

from Senator Obama's web site:
http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060628-call_to_renewal_1/



"I think that we should put more of our tax dollars into educating poor girls and boys. I think that the work that Marian Wright Edelman has done all her life is absolutely how we should prioritize our resources in the wealthiest nation on earth. I also think that we should give them the information about contraception that can prevent unwanted pregnancies, lower abortion rates, and help assure that that every child is loved and cherished." (This statement shows a lack of caring and love for the poor. For more informatio: Physicians For Life)



"But the reason the doctor was considering not voting for me was not simply my position on abortion. Rather, he had read an entry that my campaign had posted on my website, which suggested that I would fight "right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman's right to choose.""
(Again, showing a lack of love for women.)

(This is a man who cares for... what(?), certainly not love of his fellow man.)
---

also from page: http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060628-call_to_renewal/



"But what they didn't understand, however, was that I had to take Mr. [Alan] Keyes seriously, for he claimed to speak for my religion, and my God. He claimed knowledge of certain truths.



Mr. Obama says he's a Christian, he was saying, and yet he supports a lifestyle that the Bible calls an abomination.



Mr. Obama says he's a Christian, but supports the destruction of innocent and sacred life.

And so what would my supporters have me say? How should I respond? Should I say that a literalist reading of the Bible was folly? Should I say that Mr. Keyes, who is a Roman Catholic, should ignore the teachings of the Pope?



Unwilling to go there, I answered with what has come to be the typically liberal response in such debates - namely, I said that we live in a pluralistic society, that I can't impose my own religious views on another, that I was running to be the U.S. Senator of Illinois and not the Minister of Illinois."


(So, Senator Obama admits that he is for a "lifestyle" that is opposed to the "Bible" actually a lifestyle opposed to LOVE and that he is opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church.)

---
http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm


from Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008:



"Undecided on whether life begins at conception
Q: Do you personally believe that life begins at conception?
A: This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on. I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don't presume to know the answer to that question. What I know is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates."
---
http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm

Expand access to contraception; reduce unintended pregnancy
AT A GLANCE
Reproductive Choice: Obama has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving a women's right to choose under Roe v. Wade a priority as president. Obama also supports expanded access to contraception, health information and preventive services to reduce unintended pregnancies.
OBAMA'S PLAN
Protecting a Women's Right to Choose: Obama will make safeguarding women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority. He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn that decision.
Reducing Unintended Pregnancy: Obama will work to reduce unintended pregnancy by guaranteeing equity in contraceptive coverage, providing sex education, and offering rape victims accurate information about emergency contraception.
OBAMA RECORD
Throughout his career, in both the Illinois Senate & the US Senate, Obama has stood up for a women's right to choose, consistently earning 100% ratings from pro-choice groups.
Source: Campaign booklet, "Blueprint for Change", p. 35-36 Feb 2, 2008

Rated 100% by NARAL on pro-choice votes in 2005, 2006 & 2007
Sen. Obama received the following scores on NARAL Pro-Choice America's Congressional Record on Choice.
2007: 100 percent
2006: 100 percent
2005: 100 percent

Voted against banning partial birth abortion
---
on Homosexuality
(He actually misuses the Bible!)

While, on his own web site, he states that people should use non religious support for their stance and then he changes his own stance by using, excuse me, I mean he changes his own position by "MIS"using the Bible to prove his point!
from his web site: "This brings me to my second point. Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all."
(It is a hard thing for me to trust a man who can not follow his own advice.)

from Catholic news agency:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11991

""I don't think it [a same-sex union] should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state," said Obama. "If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans.""



(ME - Philip Turgati - www.iamonetruth.com)
If the Senator cared at all about those that consider themselves homosexual he would tell them the truth, in a loving, caring way. That being, that while a man can love a man and a woman can love a woman, erotic love between them is unnatural by simply looking at nature. While the bodies of men and women were naturally meant to compliment one another... that isn't the case with the gay orientation. It is simple "common sense". Something that seems to be sadly lacking in a selfish world.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Is Tolerance Love?

“So you must realize that the LORD, your God, disciplines you even as a man disciplines his son.” [Deuteronomy 8:5]

“for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” [Hebrews 12:6]

I just read in an article about Dion DiMucci, some of you remember, Dion and The Belmonts, “The Wanderer” & “Run Around Sue”, about him coming home to God in The Catholic Church.

I quote the article and Dion;

“The story of DiMucci’s rise and fall, conversion and return to the Catholic Church is rare in American popular culture in that on the way back he didn’t stop at the celebrity church of tolerance.

Some of these people worship at the altar of tolerance. They say that means you love people. But it’s not love. To me, the grown-ups tell you what’s wrong. Real grown-ups will disapprove of something their kid does but loves him totally,” DiMucci said.”

(end from article in “The Catholic World Report” March 2008)

People will say on hearing the Scripture; “for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines”, “I want the love but not the discipline”. However, they are mistaken the love is the discipline… they are one and the same… inseparable.

Discipline leads to “obedience”.

I hear all the time how people have a “problem with the Catholic Church”, they claim that their problem isn’t with God, because The Church gives them God’s Laws in easy and not-so-easy to digest sound bites. I hear this from those within The Church and those outside equally.

St. Paul would disagree, when he uses the term in his Letter to the Romans chapters 1 & 16, “obedience of faith”. He starts his Letter with this term and to make sure his children do not forget ends his teaching with it. [Romans 1:5 & 16:26]

Faith in God means that we believe He loves us and it means that we are disciplined.

By the way, thank you for reading my blog and web site and I would like to wish everyone a

Thursday, March 20, 2008

On Senator Barack Obama & Race

March 20th, 2008
A good friend sent me an email with a link to Sen. Obama’s speech on Race in America.

I sent the following reply.



Hi! It is always good to hear from you.



I appreciate the email. It takes some courage to stand up for what we believe is right.
While I listened to the whole speech as best I could, I could not help seeing the direct correlation of Senator Obama’s issue on race and that of abortion.



He started his speech with our Nation’s “Founding Father’s” and the drawing up and signing of The Declaration of Independence. Declaring our Nation’s freedom from the oppression of the mighty power of England. We had no voice, under their yoke.



He mentioned, something that I didn’t know, that being, at the drawing up of “The Declaration” our Founding Fathers put off the question of slavery for 20 yrs. Many hearing his remarks would think that was a mistake.



That reminded me of the signing of Roe Vs. Wade. The Supreme Court put off the question of when human life begins.



Common Sense would dictate that the Justices should have answered that question first. Then, once the issue is clear, they can make an informed decision.



His speech was on Race in America. I found many of his remarks “fit” the abortion issue. I will only share a few here. Sen. Obama stated; “Race is an issue that we [America] simply can not ignore!”



Common Sense would say; “Abortion, that is, the plight of the unborn, is an issue that America can simply not afford to ignore!”
Just because Americans have the POWER to claim that a whole “class” of human beings are not human and do not deserve to live, that fact, does not give us the right to do so!



Sen. Obama draws his speech to a close by quoting a teaching of “the religions of the world”; “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you!”



I agree.