Letter From the President
Dear Friends,
Have you ever had the opportunity to share some really good thoughts, but like a puzzle already put together, not remember exactly where each piece came from? Well, that’s what I am going to do now. There is so much to say and yet I cannot remember the sources of all these thoughts.
It would seem that everyone is puzzled by the crazy times in which we live, especially with an election looming. So what are we to do? What can we do?
God has known for all eternity that we would be facing these questions and challenges at this time. It is for that reason that He has sent His mother to be a bright light for us.
Mother Mary has been appearing for centuries to warn us about the dangers of these times and of the remedy of the Rosary. In fact, she appeared at Lourdes in 1858 as Our Lady of the Rosary and she asked us to pray the Rosary every day. It is what St. Padre Pio, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta and many other saints have called “the weapon”, for there is no prayer that will go unanswered if we pray the Rosary. It has been given special efficacy for these times.
Again at Fatima in 1917, Our Blessed Mother asked us to pray the Rosary, pray and fast for the souls in Purgatory and in reparation for sinners. Are we remembering these requests?
The Rosary was given to us as the 150 psalms for lay people. When we pray the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries, we have the opportunity to meditate on the mysteries of our salvation. It is such an amazing gift. And of course, St. Pope John Paul II added the Luminous mysteries.
Then at Garabandal from 1961-1965, Blessed Mother warned us to wake up: that the cup was filling up and if we did not straighten out, a worldwide chastisement would result. She included priests, bishops and cardinals in this warning. (Two commissions convened by bishops of Santander, Spain did not find anything deserving of ecclesiastical censure or condemnation. Bishop del Val stated that the message of Garabandal was “important” and “thelolgically correct.”
– taken from EWTN)
Apparitions followed in Akita from 1973-1981. These approved messages to Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa are warnings of a worldwide chastisement. “As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity The only arms which will remain for you will
be the Rosary and the Sign left by my Son.” (Akita is approved and brings the same messages of prayer, conversion, penance and warning to get back to God.)
Now, since 1981, at Medjugorje which was widely held as authentic by Fr. Gabriel Amorth and many others, Mary has been calling us to prayer, fasting, conversion, penance and the warning of chastisements. These alleged apparitions continue daily. (Medjugorje, while not yet officially approved is in the neutral category of not being approved but also not being condemned. Often apparitions are not fully approved until they have concluded.)
These are the most widely known apparitions, and yet Mother Mary has been appearing all over the world.
Lucia of the Fatima apparitions had said that there were three major offenses to God: abortion, the sexual revolution and the final one, the attack on marriage and the family.
How long can we offend God and expect him to protect us?
And what about The Divine Mercy Devotion? St. Faustina was told that The Divine Mercy Devotion is to prepare the world for the Second Coming of Christ.
Are we listening? Are we praying the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy every day?
It was said that a spark would come out of Poland. Is the Divine Mercy Devotion the Spark? Or St. Faustina and St. Pope John Paul II with God’s call to mercy?
There is no sin that can’t be forgiven and remedied with God’s Mercy. God Himself is trying to wake us up. He wants to pardon us and keep us in relationship with Him. In fact, He told St. Faustina that He will first come as a God of Mercy before He comes as a God of Justice.
While we are still in the Year of Mercy, let us turn our hearts to God, thank Him for all our blessings, and frequent the sacrament of Reconciliation. Jesus is calling us. We need to answer.
It has been said in the Diary of St. Faustina, that when God looks at the earth and all of us, He looks at His Son crucified for our salvation who is between the Father and the earth as the Father looks to us.
Finally we acknowledge La Salette which took place on September 19, 1846 to Maximin Giraud (age 11) and Melanie Mathieu (age 14) on a mountain near the town of La Salette. The basic messages that day were for us to return to honoring the Lord’s day and also to cease the blasphemy of taking God’s name in vain.
These messages are very important today as well, because Sunday has become like any other day in our society and everywhere you go or whatever you watch on TV you may very well hear God’s name taken in vain.
We recall these messages of La Salette not only to call
attention to the seriousness of getting back to God and putting Him once again in first place, but also in memory of Fr. Joe Whalen, MS who had the particular charism of reconciliation. Fr. Joe loved to
come to our conferences. We loved having him. Many of you will remember him.
Fr. Joe passed away on August 8, 2016 at the age of 93.
He was always so proud to be a Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette, the only priestly community founded directly by Our Lady Blessed Mother.
So what is my point?
There are so many scandals and lies surrounding this election. What are we to think?
There are five non-negotiable issues which were sent to me by Fr. Mark. We are including this information below for you to pray and ponder as you make your choices.
We are also including a link below to a homily which will be thought provoking as to the major issues that our country will be facing depending on the outcome of the election.
Never has so much been on the line. We cannot afford to neglect voting. We have been so blest to live in America!
Let us pick up our rosaries and pray them every day. Thanks and God bless – Therese
Our Lady of Fatima, Immaculate Heart of Mary
We are grateful to Richard George of RLGeorge.studio for permission to use this image. You can find more information at rl@rlgeorge.studio and by calling 316-285-0733.
Remember, our conferences are always during the first weekend in August. You can already make note of the conference for August 3-6, 2017.
Five Non-Negotiables Issues
There is a hierarchy of truths in Catholic Social teaching. Defending innocent human life, protecting marriage and concern for the poor are at the top of it. To not compromise on these positions is not (contrary to what some may assert) to engage in “single issue” politics. Rather, it is to judge all other important issues through a lens of truth and a genuine concern for the “common good” of all.
Catholic Online – www.catholic.org
Based on Church teachings, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Papal Encyclicals, and issue papers from the Office of the Doctrine of the Faith, the following five issues concern actions that are intrinsically evil and must never be promoted by the law.
Intrinsically evil actions are those that fundamentally conflict with the moral law and can never be performed under any circumstances. It is a serious sin to deliberately endorse or promote any of these actions, and no person who really wants to advance the common good will support any action contrary to the
non-negotiable principles involved in these issues.
1. Abortion
The Church teaches that, regarding a law permitting abortions, it is “never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it” (EV 73). Abortion is the intentional and direct killing of an innocent human being, and therefore it is a form of homicide. The unborn child is always an innocent party, and no law may permit the taking of his life. Even when a child is conceived through rape or incest, the fault is not the child’s, who should not suffer death for others’ sins.
Another sub-set issue within this subject area that is non-negotiable pertains to Human Reproductive Technologies, which includes the Church’s position against Contraception, In-Vitro Fertilization and Sterilization.
2. Euthaniasia
Often disguised by the name “mercy killing;’ euthanasia is also a form of homicide. No person has a right to take his own life, and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person. In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person (cf. EV 73).
3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Human embryos are human beings. “Respect for the dignity of the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo” (CRF 4b). Recent scientific advances show that medical treatments that researchers hope to develop from experimentation on embryonic stem cells can often be developed by using adult stem cells instead. Adult stem cells can be obtained without doing harm to the adults from whom they come. Thus there is no valid medical argument in favor of using embryonic stem cells. And even if there were benefits to be had from such experiments, they would not justify destroying innocent embryonic humans.
4. Human Cloning
“Attempts … for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through ‘twin fission,’ cloning, or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union” (RHL 1:6). Human cloning also involves abortion because the “rejected” or “unsuccessful” embryonic clones are destroyed, yet each clone is a human being.
5. Homosexual “Marriage”
True marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Legal recognition of any other union as “marriage” undermines true marriage, and legal recognition of homosexual unions actually does homosexual persons a disfavor by encouraging them to persist in what is an objectively immoral arrangement. “When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time ina legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral” (UHP 10).
Reference Resources:
CCC = Catechism of the Catholic Church
CPL = Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Notes on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life
CRF = Pontifical Council for the Family, Charter of the Rights of the Family
EV = John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, (the Gospe1 of Life)
RHL = Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation
UHP = Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons
WRHC = Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles
Fr John Lankeit Election voting from St. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix.
Angel Thomasina
Prayer of Bindng to Jesus Christ
from Missionaries of the New Evangelization.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I bind myself in every way to Almighty God and I plead the Precious Blood of Jesus over every aspect of my life.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind my mind to the mind of Christ.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind my will and desires to God’s Divine Will and to His purposes for my life.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind my health to the Lord’s power over all that is physical.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind myself to the Truth of God and to the Love of God.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind my family’s needs to God’s unlimited resources.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind my future to God’s infinite Wisdom and Design for my life.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind my body to the Resurrection life of Jesus.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind my spirit, mind and soul to the Blood of Jesus.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind myself to the Word of God, which will renew my mind and set me free.
And Heavenly Father, in the Name of Your Son Jesus Christ, I bind my heart to Your Heart. In Jesus Christ I pray.
Amen
The Akita Prayer
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Thy Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father pleading for the coming of His Kingdom.
Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as Thou wilt for the glory of the Father and salvation of souls.
Most Holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Thine Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Thy special child.
Amen
Fatima Decade Prayer
(reqested again at Akita)
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of Thy mercy.
Amen
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
St. Michael the Archangel,
Defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, cast into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
Prayer to St. Thomas Aquinas
Dear St. Thomas Aquinas,
We are pleased and privileged to carry your name as the St. Thomas Aquinas Society. We ask you to watch over us, inspire us and assist us in our work for the glory of God.
Please guide us, especially as we begin the planning of our 20th. conference.
We pray that many will come and that their hearts will be enlivened in the Spirit of God.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen
