Sunday, March 30, 2014

How the Obama Administration Completely Contradicted Themselves in the Hobby Lobby Case

This afternoon, I listened to the last half of the oral arguments on C-SPAN from the Hobby Lobby case where the owners of Hobby Lobby are trying to be exempted from having to pay for abortion-inducing contraceptives (are we really at this point in America?)

Apologies to my siblings for stopping on the channel and watching it for a half hour, but there are two other TV's in the house.  

I wanted to share an observation about how the Obama Administration completely contradicted itself in a major way.  

In granting a false compromise a year or so ago, the Obama Administration said:

"We'll make the insurance companies buy the contraception so that companies who have objections won't feel bad." (paraphrasing)


Everyone who has taken Econ 101 knows that Obama's plan is the same thing as the employer paying for the contraceptive, but the Obama administration said, and this is really important: 

"By providing contraception, the insurance company will save money in the long run by reducing costs (presumably they are referring to their fantasy of "less unintended pregnancies - completely debunked by science) in the long haul and balancing out, so there would be no costs to the original employer." (paraphrasing)

Now...to this week's Supreme Court case.  Follow it closely:



JUSTICE BREYER: Then [Hobby Lobby’s lawyer] says there is a less restrictive way, and the less restrictive way is the government pays for [the contraception].  Says it wouldn't cost much...I want to hear your precise answer to that kind of argument.

(Obama lawyer) VERELLI: you're talking about a very open­ended increase in the cost to the government.  Now, we don't know how much that cost would be... I can't tell you what that ­­ what that increased cost is going to be, but it could be quite considerable.

JUSTICE ALITO: I was taken by your answer.  I thought it was the government's position that providing coverage for the full range of contraceptives and other devices and drugs that are covered here is actually financially neutral for an insurance company, that that reduces other costs that they would incur.  (can I get a boo-yah!)


Justice Breyer saves the day and changes the conversation, thus preventing Mr. Verelli from having to answer the question 


This is hugely important because it undermines one of the Obama Administration's largest contentions in the exemption debate.  When the Obama Admin is talking about insurance companies, paying for contraception supposedly saves that company money.  When it is the government who is paying for contraception, the government (who is in the insurance business) will lose a ton of money???

Putting aside the fact that of course it would be wrong for the government to provide contraception, the Obama administration still completely contradicted themselves in this case.

Busted

The Singing Nun: The Rest of the Story

I saw the story of the singing nun a few weeks ago that went viral.  Thanks to Joseph Lehner for passing the rest of the story on to me.  Here's an interview with Sister where she shares her awesome story and sings another song.

NOTE: click on the YouTube sign at the bottom right corner of the video screen.  When it pops up in Youtube, click the "CC" button in the same corner to turn on the English closed captioning

Friday, March 28, 2014

Great Story Out of Brazil, IN

This past week, Amy Reynolds, a young woman on fire with the Lord in our little town of Brazil, IN, pulled off an amazing "alternative spring break" with about 70 young adults working on local mission projects throughout the city.  Each morning began at our parish, and the young people ate a breakfast here and had a devotional before heading out to do great work.  The young people cleaned up the streets, worked in food pantries, helped care for toddlers at the YMCA, and hundreds of other awesome activities. 

Here is an article about the week: (click here to read the story)

I went out as a chaperone on one of the days and pushed a broom to help clean up US 40 through town.  We had a blast, and we had a lot of good honks from people driving by.  Below is a photo of me leading my group to our site.  Our motto for the day was "follow the broom!"

"follow the broom!"

Kids are in the news a lot for doing the wrong stuff, but there are a TON of great kids out there who are doing amazing things as well. 

Great job Amy for pulling off an amazing week!



From Jeremiah 1: 6-7

Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “I do not know how to speak. I am too young! 

But the LORD answered me,

"Do not say, “I am too young.”  To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak."












Thursday, March 27, 2014

Totally Excited to Announce My Book Being Sold Online

I am a huge proponent of local Catholic bookstores, and we have a great one that has popped up in Indianapolis.  The Celtic Cross Catholic Bookstore is an amazing little piece of Heaven on 86th street, and is worth a visit.

The Celtic Cross also has an online catalog, and they have agreed to sell my book online.  I am really thankful for this partnership.  Please support their efforts by either visiting their store in person or shopping their EXTENSIVE online catalog. 

If you go to their store, they have free high quality coffee!  What's not to love? 

Click here to go straight to the link where you can purchase my book from them.

I have some other partnerships with them over the next few months that I'll be announcing as well.

The World Premiere of "The Third Way"

The documentary I've been working on for a year and a half will be premiering at AMC Showplace 17 Theater in Indianaplis on Friday, April 25th.  You can reserve a seat by clicking here

The crew and some of the cast will be there to talk about the making of the film and answer questions as well.  Spread the word, and we hope to see you there!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

The Mud and Muck of Meribah and Massah



And the way we "delayer" and allow the crust to be knocked off - the Sacrament of Confession!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Killing

An excerpt:

"But the hardened old
and the hard-hearted young, although at odds
from the first morning, cursed him with one curse, 
Having prayed for a Rabbi or an armed Messiah
And found the Son of God.  What use to them
Was a God or a Son of God?  Of what avail 
for purposes such as theirs?"

by Edwin Muir
(From Appendix IV: Poetry, from the Liturgy of the Hours)


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The film formerly known as "Unnatural Law" is now "The Third Way"

I am totally pumped up for our film that will be coming out on Divine Mercy Sunday - "The Third Way"!!!  After screening it with several groups, we had two realizations

1) The film is AMAZING and is going to change hearts
2) A better title would only help us in our goal of reaching as many people as possible.

PLEASE click HERE to like us on Facebook to get IMPORTANT and INSIDE information as the film's release nears.  We will have some EXCITING offers (that's all I can say for now).

Keep us in your prayers!


Lent

By Laura Tesdahl from Brownsburg, IN






















Laura maintains a wonderful art gallery/framing shop in Brownsburg.  Click here to visit their site

Friday, March 7, 2014

"I Want a Quarterpounder Today! I Wish I Weren't Catholic!"

Just watch the first five minutes of this video as a reminder of how awesome the Church is.  I watched this today and was crying like a baby.  The crazy thing about this video is that these people didn't even know whom they were cheering for! 

Happy Lent!


Thursday, March 6, 2014

Chesterton on Christ and Marriage




The freethinker frequently says that Jesus of Nazareth was a man of his time, even if he was in advance of his time; and that we cannot accept his ethics as final for humanity....Whatever else is true, it is emphatically not true that the ideas of Jesus of Nazareth were suitable to his time, but are no longer suitable to our time. Exactly how suitable they were to his time is perhaps suggested in the end of his story...it is extraordinary how very little there is in the recorded words of Christ that ties him at all to his own time....

So it is in this case of the sacrament of marriage. We may not believe in sacraments, as we may not believe in spirits, but it is quite clear that Christ believed in this sacrament in his own way and not in any current or contemporary way. He certainly did not get his argument against divorce from the Mosaic law or the Roman law or the habits of the Palestinian people. It would appear to his critics then exactly what it appears to his critics now; an arbitrary and transcendental dogma coming from nowhere save in the sense that it came from him. I am not at all concerned here to defend that dogma; the point here is that it is just as easy to defend it now as it was to defend it then. It is an ideal altogether outside time; difficult at any period; impossible at no period. In other words, if anyone says it is what might be expected of a man walking about in that place at that period, we can quite fairly answer that it is much more like what might be the mysterious utterance of a being beyond man, if he walked alive among men.


G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man (the chapter title - "The Riddle of the Gospel")

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

HILARIOUS! - The Bad Analogies of Saint Patrick

Thanks to Fr. Peter Marshall for introducing me to this hysterical video!

After a homily on Trinity Sunday a few years ago, my Dad confessed that I had lost him.  He asked, somewhat jokingly, why I didn't just use the three leaf clover.  I told him "because it is a heresy."  These guys make the point about the problem with the three leaf clover much more humourously!

Enjoy!


Monday, March 3, 2014

Cecile Richards' Disastrous Interview




Getting a little uncomfortable Cecile? Never been asked a tough question by the media before because they all give you a pass? Welcome to grown up world where people have to answer real questions.