Real Catholic Blog

A nefarious group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which prides itself on stopping prayers from opening meetings of city councils and Nativity scenes in public areas in the grossly misunderstood name of the First Amendment, a group that bullies God loving organizations and Christians, now has set its sights on what it must think is its biggest fish yet: The U.S. Postal Service.

The USPS has a new stamp in honor of Mother Teresa, but the atheist group has set about to stop its issuance. In its efforts, not surprisingly for this group and others like it, it has taken to spreading lies and anti-Catholic propaganda. According to CatholicVoteAction.org’s Brian Burch:

A group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation is now spreading lies about Blessed Mother Teresa accusing this holy nun of having a ‘darker side,’ and calling her a ‘polarizing Roman Catholic figurehead.’

The stamp’s release date is scheduled for August. But we have no time to wait. CatholicVoteAction.org has established an online petition — StampOutBigotry.com — to Postmaster General Jack Potter to encourage the USPS to stick to its schedule and not bow to pressure from this anti-Catholic group. Click here to sign it!

But what’s behind the atheists’ real motivation to stop this stamp? After all, we heard nary a peep from them when stamps honoring Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were issued. Both were religious figures. Dr. King, in particular, proudly cast his movement in the most Christian of terms and it fostered a groundswell of Catholics and Christian denominations to his side.

Maybe, as Mr. Burch suggests, it’s because Mother Teresa was an outspoken proponent of the unborn. He cites her closing quote at the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast:

From here, a sign of care for the weakest of the weak — the unborn child — must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for. God bless you!

Please stand up for Mother Teresa’s memory and all she did for the Faith. Sign the petition and do your part in your daily life to counter groups who try to impose their secular beliefs on the unsuspecting in our country. Then, in August, buy lots of Mother Teresa stamps!

The proposed Mother Teresa stamp. By getting it issued , we can stamp out another case of anti-Catholic bigotry.

This was the real controversy of the weekend: Henry Knox, an appointee to President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, said Pope Benedict XVI a is “hurting people in the name of Jesus” because he upholds Catholic teaching against birth control, pre-marital sex and homosexuality. It prompted a segment featuring Thomas Peters and Brent Bozell on Sean Hannity’s Fox News Channel show Friday night. 

According to an April article at CNS.com, Knox is:

a self-professed Christian who holds that the New Testament’s teaching that homosexual behavior is unnatural and wrong —which is found in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans — “is not true.”

(He) has also said that Obama’s decision to invite the Rev. Rick Warren to say a prayer at the Inauguration “tainted” the ceremony and that Pope Benedict XVI is a “discredited leader.”

Knox (is) a professed gay Christian who is director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual rights group. …

Here’s the video from CNS.com of Knox’s more recent comment lie about the Pope. When confronted with the Truth, he sticks to his slander. It’s time President Obama, who claims to want friendly relations with the Vatican and Catholics, put an end to appointing people such as Knox to his administration. It’s another example of how leftists use the power of government to try to shut down and shut up people, through discrediting them, people who have a different point of view.

Hint, Mr. Knox: The Pope isn’t interested in your politically intolerant governance. He’s perpetuating the Truth of God. You might not agree, but your tactics won’t work.

Another radical leftist, homosexual activist in the Obama administration: Henry Knox takes every chance he gets to disparage Pope Benedict for upholding the Truth.

Catholics Come Home posted the video below on its YouTube Channel. It’s entitled, “The Bible proves Catholic beliefs that most protestants deny.” Although it is short, it is powerful, and debunks a few of the primary objections some protestants have toward Catholicism.

Of course, the fact that Catholic teaching comes from the Bible (and not from “some old men in Rome”) should not come as a surprise to anyone. Still, some people (Catholic and protestant) have been conditioned to believe otherwise. But, the fact is, every teaching of the Catholic Church is grounded in Scripture. Otherwise, we could not be one, true, apostolic, universal church. As CCH explains, the video proves Catholic teachings, using Biblical passages, that most protestants deny, including: 

Peter was the first Pope, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Confession, The Bible alone is not sufficient, and justification by faith and works.

It should be noted that Catholics do consider protestants our separated brothers and sisters. And anyone who is Baptized “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” and believes in Jesus Christ is considered a Christian. But it is within the Catholic faith that the fullness of God’s revealed truth is found.

This video is a great primer on apologetics. Always remember, everything we believe is the Truth and it is the Truth because it is directly from Scripture. 

With those words, a college student taught something to a worldly, famous, immensely successful Washington journalist. It was the late 1990s when Robert Novak — a political conservative, born a Jew, but who lived as an agnostic for for 50 years — came to God and accepted the Catholic faith. Yesterday, he died of the brain cancer diagnosed about a year ago.

His journey to faith is an interesting story (see CNA via Catholic Online), more compelling than the political news about which he wrote for decades. After nearly dying in the early 1980s, a friend gave him some Catholic literature. But it wasn’t until several years later when his non-Catholic wife prevailed upon him to attend Mass with her at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. The celebrant of that Mass was a former lawyer, advisor to a high-ranking senator — and source for his widely read column. Mr. Novak continued attending Mass for next few years, but his self-confessed turning point occured at a dinner at Syracuse University where he met a student wearing a cross on her necklace. He asked if she was Catholic. She replied, yes, then asked if he was.

When he said he wasn’t, but that he attended Mass regularly, she said, “Mr. Novak, life is short, but eternity is forever.”

He then entered the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and he was baptized Catholic at Saint Peter’s in 1998. His wife, Geraldine, also became Catholic. Mr. Novak maintained that his conversion to Catholicism was the most profound aspect of his life; he recognized the legitimacy of the True Faith and believed the power of the Holy Spirit was revealed to him through the coincidences that led him to his conversion

* * * * *

That college student did something wonderful that day in Syracuse. She spoke her faith and challenged a famous man without hesitation in order to save his soul. I was at a political breakfast recently where the speaker, a non-Catholic Christian and radio talk show host, began his talk with a question:

How many of you are not afraid to approach a stranger and begin talking religion and politics?

Perhaps three or four hands went up. He asked what was wrong with the rest of us. The two most important things in life, he said, are our relationship with God and how His will is carried out on Earth. We easily slide into conversations about sports, entertainment, the weather, work, whatever. But how many people have the courage to speak their convictions in order to save a soul.

Would you save a life if you could by convincing someone to stop smoking or abusing alcohol or eating food detrimental to a particular physical condition? Yes, I’m sure. But saving a soul?

Yet, that  is what Jesus has charged us to do. We hear His ageless commandment echoed every week (or day) at the end of Mass: “Let us go forth to love and serve the Lord.”