Funding Ban on Abortion Providers Introduced

National Catholic Register (www.ncregister.com) reports that Rep. Marsha Blackburn introduced a bill prohibiting the allocation of government funds to groups that perform abortion. This is interesting! In the USA, they are undoing the damage.. here in the Philippines we are harnessing a destructive culture.

WASHINGTON — Within the first days of the 113th U.S. Congress, legislation has been introduced to block federal funding of organizations that perform abortions.

A new bill, introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., prohibits the allocation of Title X family-planning funds “to any entity” that performs the procedure.

“As a woman,” Blackburn said in a Jan. 4 press release announcing the legislation, “I believe America deserves better.”
“America shouldn’t celebrate abortion, and our taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood, who profit from the destruction of human life with taxpayer money,” she asserted.

“It’s fiscally irresponsible and morally indefensible.”
Blackburn is the vice chair of the committee that oversees Title X of the Public Health Service Act. Title X provides federal funding for family planning and similar services, including contraception, natural family planning, infertility counseling, cancer screening and other services.

According to information posted on the Health and Human Services website, “Section 1008 of the act, as amended, stipulates that ‘none of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.’”
While Title X does not directly allocate funds for abortions, many pro-life groups have voiced concerns that program funds given to abortion providers allow them to direct more money towards abortions.

The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act would ensure that such funds do not promote abortion, even indirectly. The bill provides an exemption for hospitals and would not reduce the total amount of funds available for family-planning services.
The proposed legislation resembles efforts at the state level, including a bill passed in 2011 in Texas, following lawsuits of alleged Medicaid fraud against Planned Parenthood in the state. The law went into effect Jan. 1, 2013.

The new Texas law bars organizations that provide abortion services from receiving state funds from the Texas Women’s Health Program. A district judge recently rejected Planned Parenthood’s request for a temporary restraining order against the legislation.
As a result of this defunding, the Obama administration cut off federal money to the Texas program, claiming the new law reduced women's choices in health care. However, according to the Texas Health and Human Services website, “There are five family-planning clinics and more than 70 individual physicians in the program” for every clinic that does not qualify under the new law.

Similar measures denying state funds to abortion providers are under way in Indiana and New Hampshire.

The new federal bill is the House's second attempt to pass the Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, though there are some changes to language and definitions within the proposed legislation. A previous bill was introduced in January 2011 by former Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., but was dropped later that year.

Heartbeat of God

A lady doctor was fond of letting little kids listen to their heartbeat during their check-up. She loved seeing their face light up when they hear the thump of their own hearts from the stethoscope. In one of those usual routine, the question from a little boy touched the pediatrician the most. As he listened to his heartbeat, he looked at the physician in the eye and asked: “Is that Jesus knocking?”

          Heartbeat is a sign of life. It is an indicator that the human body is pulsating with energy. It came to me as a surprise that it is actually electricity that makes the heart beat. The cardiac conduction system generates a small electric current through a group of muscle cells in the walls of the heart allowing blood to flow in one direction with each heartbeat. About 2,000 gallons of blood energizes the human body every day. And by the time a person reaches 70 years old, his heart has made more than 2.5 billion heartbeats. Isn’t that amazing? Every waking day is a continuous miracle!

          Coming from the Christmas experience, we continue to reflect on the mystery of Jesus. John’s gospel begins with this prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word is characterized as transcendent, distant, really far. But at one moment in time the evangelist confirms: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The once-distant Word, through whom all things were made, became close. John became Jesus’ friend. He saw him, heard him; he was Jesus’ witness. Yet it was all God’s own initiative.

It would be impossible for man to reach God; it is God who reached-out to find him. He made himself known. He gave us a glimpse of his mystery. He disclosed himself in person – in Jesus! From the letter to the Hebrews we read: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. When Jesus was born, God’s heart started to beat. Mary and Joseph listened to his heart. It was the heart of a little child, small and helpless. But that heart already contained the whole world. It was beating with compassion. It started to hear the cry of a world lost.

Before Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger  became Pope (now Benedict XVI), he addressed the Catechists and Religion Teachers on 12 December 2000 during the Jubilee of Catechists. He spoke about the New Evangelization: Building the Civilization of Love. He taught that “human life cannot be realized by itself. Our life is an open question, an incomplete project.. the unum necessarium (one thing necessary) for man is God.”

The heartbeat of Jesus made the impossible, possible. He was able to synchronize in his person the contradictions that existed between God and man. He made the invisible visible while allowing the finite to cross the boundaries of infinity. He became mortal to give us license to assume immortality. His coming down is our stairway to heaven. This very revelation confused the brightest of mortals. God knows how to impart learning to mere children and hide it from the clever. Indeed, God’s foolishness is wiser than man’s wisdom.

          The fresh insight of a little boy in the vignette gives way to faith: our heart’s heartbeat is a gentle knock from Jesus. This symbolism has long been employed by artists. In St. Paul’s Cathedral, London a life-size portrait hangs entitled “The Light of the World” painted by the famous English artist William Hunt in 1853. This allegorical painting shows Jesus preparing to knock on an overgrown and long-unopened door, illustrating Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me".

According to Hunt: "I painted the picture with what I thought, unworthy though I was, to be by Divine command, and not simply as a good Subject.” The door in the painting has no handle, and can therefore be opened only from the inside, representing "the obstinately shut mind." Man’s folly makes the door of his heart shut. In his self-sufficiency, he thinks he can do without God. It is only humble faith that makes his assent to the truth that he is nothing without God. In the meantime Jesus continues to knock like an avid lover. And every heartbeat of the human heart is a gentle reminder of God’s power over his life as well as His immense patience over his continued obstinacy.

(This article also appears in Cebu Daily News - January 06, 2013)

         

Bitoon Sa Langit

Mother of God is Mary's highest title and the source of all her other titles and roles in the Church. From all eternity, God chose the Virgin of Nazareth to be the Mother of His Son. With her "fiat" at the Annunciation, she became the Theotokos, the Mother of God (CCC no. 495). At Calvary, God, in the person of Christ, gave His Mother to all mankind as our spiritual Mother, so that through her we might come to Him, as through her He came to us. 

In A.D. 431, the Council of Ephesus defined as Catholic dogma that the Blessed Virgin is the Mother of God (Theotokos – in Greek “God-bearer”); the Council also reasserted the teaching of the truth that there is but one divine person in Christ. 

I would like to give homage to our Blessed Mother through an original composition.

BITOON SA LANGIT

Sa akong pagpanaw ning kalibutan.

Subay sa baybayon nga mabugnaw.

Gitan-aw ko ang langit; hanap ug mangitngit.

Apan ikaw, Maria, ang bitoon sa langit.

Layo pa ug lisod ang padulngan.

May bukid pa ug dagat nga agian.

Walog kini sa luha, kasakit ug kaguol.

Apan ikaw ang nag-una sa akong pagtikang.

Refrain:

Ikaw baya, Maria, ang bitoon sa langit

Kahayag ka paglaum ning

Maluibong kaliwatan

Ikaw ang katuman sa mga saad sa Diyos.

Maaghop, mahigugmaong

Birheng Maria.

Karon ako kanimo modangop.

Kalipay ug kasakit ihalad ko.

Giyahi ako kanunay latas ning pagsulay.

Aron ako makasunod sa lakang ni Hesus.

(Refrain)

English Translation:

As I journey through this world

Along the fresh shoreline

I look towards heaven – dark and uncertain

But You, O Mary, is the star of heaven

My path is still long and difficult,

Crossing through mountains and seas.

It’s a valley of tears, sadness and pain.

But You accompany me in each of my step.

Refrain:

You are, O Mary, the star of heaven

You are my light and hope

In this very treacherous generation

You are the fulfillment of God’s promises

Most clement and loving

Virgin Mary

Now to You I turn.

Offering my every joy and pain.

Guide me always in every challenges

That I may follow the footsteps of Jesus.

Mary Mother of God

Happy New Year! Let us end this year 2012 in thanksgiving. We are still alive.  End of the World did not come as predicted and life goes on. Let us entrust this year to God as we pray for more blessings and graces for ourselves and our family members.  We start this New Year with the Solemnity of Mary – Mother of God. We allow Mary to accompany us & teach us:

On June 14, 2011: TV Patrol reports that Mommy Dionesia showed to the media her P1-million Hermes bag. The orange Hermes bag was a gift from boxing champ and Saranggani Congressman Manny Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee for Mommy D's 62nd birthday last May 15. Those were happy times!

When Manny lost to Juan Manuel Marquez  recently, she was so upset! Boxing experts have many explanations of his defeat. Some say  it was a “lucky punch.” Others – lack of preparation; lack of sleep. Mommy D’s explanation is the most unique: “He forgot his roots when he left behind his rosary.. We cannot live without a Mother!” This is, of course, her personal opinion; not the official teaching of the Church.

It is clear, though that she is special to Manny simply because she is his mother. Sya ra jud maka-kasaba kang Manny. Kay mama lagi! (Only she can scold him. Just because she is his mom).

Mary has a role far greater. She is a chosen vessel. In the words of John Paul II (Redemptoris Mater): “Mary has a special and precise place in the plan of salvation.” She is truly blest! In the words of the English poet, William Wordsworth describes Mary as “Our tainted nature’s solitary boast” (Poem - The Virgin)

Why give so much importance to Mary? Protestants claim: we are making her a “goddess” – we are worshiping her! Let us make a Basic Theological Distinction:

Adoration, known as latria in classical theology, is the worship and homage that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the worship of the Creator that God alone deserves.

Veneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor due to the excellence of a created person. This refers to the excellence exhibited by the created being who likewise deserves recognition and honor: Example - awarding of academic awards for excellence in school or the awarding of the olympic medals for excellence in sports. There is nothing contrary to the proper adoration of God when we offer the appropriate honor and recognition that created persons deserve based on achievement in excellence

St. Thomas Aquinas points out: to give honor to the saint who excelled in loving union with God is to honor God himself. We give glory to God when we honor the saints (who gave them the grace to be holy).

A special level of veneration, classically called hyperdulia, is ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a special veneration of Mary and remains completely different and inferior to adoration that is due to God alone but it is superior and higher than devotion given to all other saints and angels.

"Mariolatry" or Marian idolatry: Adoration to Mary has never been and will never be part of authentic Catholic doctrine

3 Reasons why Mary deserves a unique & higher devotion than all Saints & Angels:

First of all, Mary was granted by God a fullness of grace. From the greeting of the Angel Gabriel in the words, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28), we get an indication of God's special gift to Mary at the moment of conception. Mary received God's gift of being free from Original Sin from the first instant of her conception, preparing her to be the fitting Mother of the Word made flesh. This unique gift was given only to her; the rest of us have fallen nature. Hence we declare her Immaculate Conception.

Note: When 14 year old Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 asked the “small young lady” wearing white with a blue girdle around her waist what her name was, she answered: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” This was 4 years after Pope Pius IX declared this as a dogma in December 8, 1954.

All the other saints, have their limits due their fallen nature. Even St. John the Baptist, who was sanctified in the womb (according to tradition), started with a fallen nature. But St. John was not conceived with a nature like the Blessed Virgin's nature, a nature free from all stain of sin. Mary's fullness of grace rightly calls for special recognition and devotion

Secondly, and most significantly, Mary alone had the privilege of being Mother of God the Son, Jesus Christ. The theological term is theotokos, which is Greek for "the God-bearer." Giving flesh to the "Word made flesh" grants Mary an excellence and a dignity beyond any other creature. We can imagine the intimate union and the spiritual effects of having God physically present in us for nine months and of giving Jesus His human nature. Because Mary as true Mother gave to Jesus what our mothers gave to us, a nature like her own, she is rightly the Mother of God. Because she is full of grace and Mother of God, we have always believed in her perpetual virginity. She is the ever-virgin.

The third reason for an exalted devotion to the Mother of Jesus is Mary's perfect obedience to the will of God throughout her life on earth. Mary's fiat, her YES to the will of God, was her response to God's will and not only at the Annunciation (cf. Luke 1:38) but throughout her earthly life. Her most dramatic YES was when she was standing at the foot of the Cross of her Son (Jn 19:25f). Obedient until the END..

In Luke 11:27-28 a woman in the crowd (filled with amazement kang Jesus) exclaimed: Kabulahan sa imong Mama – blest is the womb who nursed. But Jesus instead pointed out: Mas bulahan si Mama because She listened and obeyed God’s Word.

She is the perfect model of all Christian virtue. She is the model of Christian discipleship. Thus we say: Ad Jesum per Mariam (To Jesus through Mary)!

Since God has willed that the Blessed Virgin has such an important role in the work of God becoming man and saving the human family, devotion to Mary then is not arbitrary nor is it extraordinary. Devotion to Mary is, rather, an ordinary part of the Christian journey to Christ and eternal salvation (St. Louis de Monfort).

Last Story: I was told that Msgr. Sonny Ramirez brought a group of Filipinos for pilgrimage in Medjugorje on May 1986. It was some months after the EDSA Revolution in the country. Oone of the visionaries told him that when Mama Mary appeared to them, she scan the great crowd of pilgrims. When she saw the Filipino group, she stopped. Then  she was told by  the Blessed Mother: “Tell the Filipinos that they have a special place in my heart!”

If we have a special place in the heart of Mary, don’t she deserve to have a special place in our hearts also? In this Year of Faith – we allow Mama Mary to accompany us and teach us!

Happy New Year everyone!