Same-sex "Marriage" Ruling Unmasks Movement

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) has issued the following statement about the August 4, 2010 decision to strike down California’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex “marriage” by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California:

In the name of equality, Chief Justice Vaughn Walker has ruled that California's constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman is unconstitutional and has “no rational basis” because it excludes same-sex unions.

In making the decision, Justice Walker has taken upon himself the task of defining marriage based on the faulty logic that marriage is defined by any committed relationship.

Marriage is not a mere form of relationship such as a friendship or a business partnership. Nor is it the legalization of a passion. It is a mutual self-giving between a man and a woman for the purpose of raising a family. Even if, for a number of reasons, this union may not result in children, it still is the only institution that allows children to grow naturally and be raised in normal conditions for their psychological and moral development.

According to Judge Walker, traditional marriage is "nothing more than an artifact of a foregone notion that men and women fulfill different roles in civic life." In dismissing any other criteria than equality, the judge denies the notion of this august union instituted by the Creator himself in its present form through natural law, and confirmed by Revelation, for the perpetuation of the species.

The ruling unmasks how the homosexual movement’s promotion of same-sex “marriage.” deprives marriage of its rational end, belittles a higher moral law and disregards the majority of California who hold marriage to be sacred. Americans must reject this decision will now be appealed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

A Message from a Bulletin

This was part of the Pastor's message found in a bulletin at a church on the East Coast.

“WHAT RETURN SHALL I MAKE

TO THE LORD?...?”

Upon consuming the Sacred Host at the Mass, the priest makes a private thanksgiving prayer from some verses of Psalm 115, which begins: “What return shall I make to the Lord,

for all that He has given to me?...” (Psalm 115:12). At the moment the priest is giving

thanks to God for himself, certainly, but he is also anticipating the thanksgiving of the whole assembly and speaking in their name, “What return shall I make to the Lord?...”

The answer is, everything and nothing.

Everything we have, from our mere existence, to whatever natural gifts and attributes we may possess, to whatever material resources we may own, is rightfully God’s. So, we can give Him nothing in return which is not rightfully His.

Clarity on this point is crucial when it comes to the support we are asked to give to the Church. Faithful Catholics are asked to give of their substance, and give generously, for the material needs of the Church.

By definition, it is sacrificial, because it is out of our substance and not just out of any surplus income that we are asked to contribute. By definition it is also a

pure gift which is offered primarily to God, and only secondarily to the parish, the diocese, or whatever branch of the Church’s apostolate.

And since our substance is 100% God’s to begin with, is it not humbling to us that He asks such a modest percentage for His portion in return?...

After 378 Years, NH Family Farm Goes up for Sale

What a shame!

DOVER, N.H. (AP) - In 1632, John Tuttle arrived from England to a settlement near the Maine-New Hampshire border, using a small land grant from King Charles I to start a farm.

Eleven generations and 378 years later, his field-weary descendants - arthritic from picking fruits and vegetables and battered by competition from supermarkets and pick-it-yourself farms - are selling their spread, which is among the oldest continuously operated family farms in America.

"We've been here for 40 years, doing what we love to do," said Lucy Tuttle, 65, who runs the 134-acre farm with brother Will. "But we're not able to work to our full capacity any longer, unfortunately."

Click here for the whole story

British Soldier Saved by Rosary Like Great-Grandfather!

A soldier who stood on a landmine and was shot in the chest in Afghanistan is convinced a rosary saved his life in exactly the same way as his great-grandfather towards the end of the Second World War.

Glenn Hockton, 19, who is now home from a seven-month tour of duty with the Coldstream Guards in Helmand Province, was on patrol when his rosary suddenly fell from his neck.

His mother Sheri Jones said today: 'He felt like he had a slap on the back. He bent down to pick up his rosary to see if it was broken. As he bent down he realised he was on a landmine.'

Glenn had to stand there for 45 terrifying minutes while his colleagues successfully managed to get to him.

Mrs Jones, from Tye Green, Essex, said she was physically sick when her son rang to tell her of his ordeal.

His great-grandfather Joseph 'Sunny' Truman also credited a rosary with saving his life in a World War II blast that killed six members of his platoon.

He was with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and after being captured towards the end of the war, he and other prisoners were forced to march away from the advancing Allied armies.

Mrs Jones, 41, recalled: 'He was walking across a field with half a dozen of his platoon. He bent down to pick something up and was the only one to survive a sudden bomb blast. He had picked up a rosary.'

Before Glenn was deployed to Afghanistan, she said he asked for a rosary to take with him.

His mother and stepfather Danyal Jones have also kept a bullet which embedded itself in Glenn's body armour when he was shot on a separate occasion. He was winded, but otherwise he was unhurt.

Glenn, a mortar man, is in hospital at the moment with broken ribs he suffered in a non-work related mishap.

Glenn joined the Coldstream Guards at 16 and was deployed at the end of last October.

Mrs Jones said: 'As a parent, it was the hardest thing I had to do because being 16 I had to sign to give permission for him to join the Army. It was too painful to see him leave Brize Norton for Afghanistan.

At home his sister Danyel, six, and brothers George, eight, and TJ, 17, worried for their big brother. Mrs Jones said: 'It was horrible for them.

'I couldn't watch the news because the children used to say: "Is Glenn on there?" each time they said another soldier had been killed.'

Glenn's duties involved patrolling and loading the mortars. He was based in Helmand Province, which has seen some of the worst fighting, and Kabul.

'He lost a couple of close friends out there," his mother added. 'He is a very private person. We don't really push him [to talk about it]. If he wants to tell us, he tells us.

'He has turned around and said: "When you're out there, you either kill or you are killed".

Glenn is based in Aldershot and is now training ahead of his next deployment.

His mother said the Army had changed her son's life since he left Notley High School at 15.

She said: 'He is a better person. He went in a snotty-nosed 16-year-old that knew everything, a Jack the Lad. The change in him is unreal. It is a good change. I am very proud of him.

'We went up to London to Horse Guards Parade where they did their welcome home march. It was the proudest day of my life.'

The First Rosary Rally Captain Wants You to Join Him

Written by Robert Ritchie

Around the turn of the eighteenth century in Rennes, France, a family named D’Orvilles presented a problem to Saint Louis de Montfort.

Mr. D’Orvilles complained to Saint Louis de Montfort that his house adjoined the city square where much sin and immorality took place. He said young people would come there at odd hours, sin and make so much noise that they would distract those in his household during the Rosary.

He asked the saint, “What could be done about this?”

“Make a niche in the façade of the wall that overlooks the square,” replied Saint Louis de Montfort. “Put a statue of Our Lady there, and pray the Rosary in front of her.”

“In the public square?” replied Mr. D’Orvilles.

“In the public square right in front of the image of Our Lady,” instructed the saint.

The day following the completion of the niche, Mr. D’Orvilles, his family and all the servants from his household, prayed the Rosary in the public square. His wife lead the mysteries while he stood guard with a whip to keep the aggressions of young hoodlums at bay.

While praying, many carriages went through the public square, and some friends even called out to him inviting him and his wife to party. At first he was tempted to hide his Rosary beads in his hand, but he conquered himself and held the Rosary high so that all could see that he was at prayer.

A strange thing happened. After saying the Rosary daily for some time, the public square Rosary became a curious attraction.

“People came in crowds to pray, as if some great church ceremony were taking place, and soon, the disorders in the square ceased.”*

Much of what happened in Rennes, France, is happening in America today.

The response to the Public Square Rosary Rally has been excellent. On October 16th, 5,000 Rosaries will be prayed in public because every city in the United States and in the world is in need of conversion.

Our Lady revealed at Fatima that God wishes to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as the solution for the world’s sins and impurity.

I’m inviting you to give public testimony to our divine faith and become a Rally Captain for Our Lady and to pledge yourself to her and the “Divine solution.”

This story of the D’Orvilles family is one of many examples where the power of the Rosary helped to transform public opinion. You can do the same, and it’s easy. Just take your Rosary, the sign we will send you, and then stand in a public spot on October 16th with family and friends and pray. That’s it!

When you decide to become a Rally Captain, and I pray you do, simply go to www.AmericaNeedsFatima.com and sign up on our Rosary Rally page devoted solely to receiving your pledge to Our Lady.

On the Web site, you’ll find more details and how we’ll help you have a successful, easy and fulfilling Public Square Rosary Rally on October 16, 2010. As a Rally Captain we will take a red rose to Fatima on your behalf this October. This is a small way to show our appreciation to you for becoming a Rosary Rally Captain by helping spread devotion to Our Lady each year.

Our Lady asked for prayer, penance and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners. The Rosary is the prayer. Standing in a public place is the penance and sacrifice. She’s waiting for your pledge to be a Rally Captain.

Together we can repeat history for the sake of America and help accelerate “The Triumph of My Immaculate Heart!” for the greater glory of Our Lady.

Thank you, and may God bless you!

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* Adapted from Eddie Doherty, Wisdom’s Fool (Bay Shore, N.Y., Montfort Publications, 1993), 214.