Our Eleventh Monday for Obama

But God says to the wicked:

"But how can you recite my commandments

and take my covenant on your lips,

you who despise my law

and throw my words to the winds . . .

. . . You do this, and I should keep silence?

Do you think that I am like you?

Mark this, you who never think of God,

lest I seize you and you cannot escape . . ."

Our God will come and will not keep silence;

before Him there is a consuming fire,

and round about Him there is a raging storm.

He calls the heavens and the earth from above

to witness the judgment of His people.

from Psalm 50

Office of Readings

Monday of the Third Week

in Ordinary Time

Please pray for Barack Obama, and pray for us all.

I Have a Dream...

But first, here are a few things I've been ruminating on since the inauguration, or is it The Inauguration? Or even, perhaps, The Coronation?

• What was up with the really long trumpets that had fancy banners hanging from them, depicting somebody's coat of arms? Were they loaned by Queen Elizabeth? Have we used those at every inauguration and I've just missed them?
• Am I the only one made uneasy by the fact that the star of The Inauguration drew a crowd very comparable to say, the Pope? And that so many people in the crowd were reacting as if they were seeing the Holy Father (tears streaming down their faces)? That these same people have put the kind of hope in the man Obama that is usually reserved for the Vicar and personal ambassador of Jesus Christ?
• Do the words "Put not your trust in princes" come to anyone else's mind but mine?
• Does anyone honestly think, with expectations and anticipation this high, that President Obama has anyplace to go but down? And it's such a long, long way down.
• Why is it that when George Bush talks tough, he's jeered as a cowboy, but when Barack Obama uses almost identical words, the crowds cheer him as if he were king?
• Why is it that when George Bush invokes the Almighty, and speaks defiantly of our faith, he is demonized, but when Barack Obama uses almost identical words, he is rhapsodized? (I know I'm not imagining this part, because Jon Stewart on The Daily Show has already put them in side-by-side videos on last night's show.)

Please observe carefully that I mention these things not as a criticism of President Obama, who surely had no involvement in the selection of trumpets, and can't be held completely responsible for the fact that he makes people cry. It's the reaction of the world that makes me uneasy.

Which brings me to my dream.

I have a dream. . . that one day, we will have a president who will use his incredible charisma and eloquence, his incredible influence over Hollywood, the rest of America, and the world at large, to persuade us all that we need to re-think our belief that killing people is ever a good solution to a problem, and that this especially includes children and other innocent people, not just convicted murderers and terrorists. I have a dream. . . in which that president will be Barack Obama.

Please pray for President Barack Obama.

A Liberal's Definition of Abortion

"I have always frankly admitted that abortion is murder, the extermination of the powerless by the powerful ... Abortion results in annihilation of concrete individuals and not just clumps of insensate tissue.

"I have never understood the standard Democratic combo of support for abortion and yet opposition to the death penalty.  Surely it is the guilty rather than the innocent who deserve execution?"

-- Camille Paglia

click here for the entire article; scroll to page four for these quotes on abortion| Salon

Another Monday for Obama

Another Monday, another day of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for the conversion of Barack Obama. Of course, this is the day before he is anointed Messiah and Savior of the United States of America, the day of celebration which has been named, ironically, "We Are One."

It certainly did not seem to me that We Are One this past Saturday, as I walked in our local March for Life. As we walked past the more notorious of our city's two abortion facilities, there were colorful balloons festooning the parking lot and a big banner reading "For Abortion Call 1-800-" whatever. For your killing convenience, there is a 1-800 number. Then there were the signs: "Pro-Faith, Pro-Family, Pro-Choice" (killing your children is pro-family?). "CHRISTIAN TALIBAN" (I think that was supposed to be us; we are like the people who execute women for learning to read and who use children as human shields). "CHRISTIAN BULLIES" (I think that was supposed to be us, too, although we processed silently while they had a team of three attractive and hip-looking young people standing on the corner jeering and taunting us as we passed). My personal favorite, though was "GOD IS PRO-CHOICE." Is that the same God who commanded us not to kill? Who told us to let the little children come unto Him, to welcome them in His name? Who told us that He set before us life and death, blessing and curse, and urged us to choose life? Are these people out of their minds? They are actually saying that they are doing God's will? This is surely insanity. The saddest part of all is these were --it's hard to even say it -- our brothers and sisters in Christ. They honestly believe they are performing a work of mercy through the killing of children. May God have mercy on their souls, for surely they know not what they are doing.

"Because you have rejected the command of the Lord, He, too, has rejected you as ruler."

-- words of Samuel, the priest, to Saul, the King of Israel
I Samuel 15:23

Please pray for Barack Obama.

Obama's Negro Project

Margaret Sanger would have been ecstatic.  From the grave she has managed to help a black man into the White House, so that he can support her Negro Project by signing the FOCA as his first official act (at least that was the plan before the economy took a nosedive; it may have to wait in line a little while).

P.S.  If you voted for Barack Obama and you don't know what FOCA stands for, shame on you.  After all, he said himself it was the first thing he would do. 

BlackGenocide.org | The Negro Project

Finally: A Little Coverage By the MSM

US News & World Report featured some coverage of the Pro-Life movement demanding  the attention of the President-elect.  I am amused that the writer was struck by how respectful the comments were, and that he surmised this was so because of Mr. Obama's ability to bring out the best in folks, as opposed to the fact that so many of the Pro-Lifers are Christians and this is what living the Gospel of Christ looks like.

Pro-Lifers Inundate Obama Website With Comments - God & Country (usnews.com)

Our Best Response

So today is our eighth Monday for Obama. (Yes, I skipped posting for a couple of weeks because of the holidays, but I did not skip the prayers.)

Here's an appropriate quote for us from George Weigel:

"...the Church in America anticipates at least four years of grave challenge in its living of the Gospel of life. The best response to that challenge is for each of us to become the saints our baptism calls us to be."

Monday, January 19, will be our tenth Monday for Obama, and I plan to run my Monday straight through Tuesday, January 20, Inauguration Day. But I will also be praying for Rick Warren as he prepares to deliver the inaugural invocation. I think it's an encouraging sign that Mr. Obama selected him, and I pray that Rev. Warren will be given an extra dose of eloquence on that fateful day.

Don't forget: saints are known mostly for their prayer.