Why your parental & homeschooling rights are in danger

If Senator Obama wins the presidential election, especially if a liberal majority takes over in the Senate, we can expect the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Treaty to be brought up for ratification as soon as proponents (like Senator Clinton) believe it has enough support to pass. Since Madeline Albright signed the treaty on President Clinton's behalf while he was still in office, ratification by the Senate is all it needs to become the "law of the land."

From ParentalRights: If this treaty is made binding upon our country, the government would have the power to intervene in any child's life to advance its definition of "the best interests of the child."

The scenarios that could occur-and are occurring-as a result of this dangerous notion are both manifold and frightening. Under the UNCRC, instead of following due process, government agencies would have the power to override your parental choices at their whim because they determine what is in "the best interest of the child." Expect independent homeschooling to be outlawed and replaced by government school-at-home programs, where Bible-based curriculum and teaching any subject from a biblical perspective will be banned. Expect private schools to become government-run with the same restrictions. Expect the government to use overseeing & directing your homeschooling as an avenue to accuse you of false non-homeschooling allegations like abuse, neglect, etc., thereby having your children removed from you.

Please share this with friends who may not yet understand all that's at stake as we vote tomorrow.

For more information about threats to parental rights, visit Parental Rights and HSLDA.

Our Lady of America

ARCHBISHOP BURKE PROMOTES "OUR LADY OF AMERICA": His Excellency Raymond Burke, the Archbishop Archbishop Emeritus of St. Louis, has approved, and is actively promoting, the devotion to 'Our Lady of America.' Archbishop Burke is a canon lawyer and Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura . . .



A movement of great consequence has commenced for a definite response by the United States Catholic Bishops in response to private revelations which long ago received official Church recognition as having occurred in the United States. The revelations included apparitions of Our Lord and St. Joseph as well as St. Gabriel and St. Michael, as well as apparitions of The Blessed Virgin Mary as "Our Lady of America" to Sister Mary Ephrem (Mildred Neuzil), of the Precious Blood Sisters (1933-1979) who was later a Contemplative of the Indwelling Trinity (1979 - until death) . Sister Mary Ephrem, deceased on January 10th, 2000, said she was asked by The Blessed Virgin Mary to draw a picture according to the vision of Our Lady of America and have a statue constructed accordingly and placed after a solemn procession into the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington, D.C.. The Blessed Virgin Mary wishes to be honored in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at Washington D.C. as Our Lady of America. Our Lady says that if this is done, the United States of America would turn back toward morality and the shrine would become a place of "wonders."

The visions of Sister Mary Ephrem are both wonderful and terrifying. In essence, they call Catholic Americans to conversion by displaying purity in their lives. They call upon the U.S. Catholic Bishops to place a statue of 'Our Lady of America' in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. If these things are done, the visions promised that greater miracles than those granted at Lourdes and Fatima would be granted here in the United States. However, if these things are not done, the United States will be engulfed in a nuclear war.



Our Lady of America says:

"If my desires are not fulfilled much suffering will come to this land. My faithful one, if my warnings are taken seriously and enough of my children strive constantly and faithfully to renew and reform themselves in their inward and outward lives, then there will be no nuclear war. What happens to the world depends upon those who live in it. There must be much more good than evil prevailing in order to prevent the holocaust that is so near approaching. Yet I tell you, my daughter, even should such a destruction happen because there were not enough souls who took my warning seriously, there will remain a remnant, untouched by the chaos who, having been faithful in following me and spreading my warnings, will gradually inhabit the earth again with their dedicated and holy lives." - source

Considering the serious message of these visions, and the canonical approval of the visionary and devotion, 'The Catholic Knight' believes it to be necessary to make this known to my readers. The statue is currently on display at the John Paul II Cultural Center at Washington D.C. It has not yet made it to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, nor is there any significant evidence that Catholic Americans are converting to display purity in their lives. Some fifty years after the first visions given to Sister May Ephrem, the devotion to 'Our Lady of America' is still in its infancy stage, and her message to Catholic Americans remains virtually unknown. You can learn more about 'Our Lady of America' here, and here.

May Our Blessed Mother pray for all of us on this the Feast of All Souls!

Inspiration . . . never give up

God bless you Elisabetta!

Infanticide in America

Students For Life of America exposes Planned Parenthood admitting to continued infanticide, as defended by Barack Obama, with undercover footage from October 2008. This is a must see video where a nurse admits that babies are allowed to die.

http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?v=e46UqG8zSU

Thank you Amy!

This summer, after book blogging was patronized in the mainstream media, Amy from My Friend Amy made a suggestion that we celebrate book blogging. From that idea, Book Blogger Appreciation Week was born. Many of us have participated in interviews, contests, give-aways, and through awards; but, this would never have happened were it not for the dream, perseverance, planning, hard work and dedication of Amy. This has been a wonderful week and as members of the Book Blogging community, in one voice we want to thank Amy for all that she has done.

Amy, you are truly the Queen of Book Bloggers and we love you!

Booklady Goes Back to School

I have always been fascinated with the great Church Councils, but the one which interests me the most is the last and – in my mind anyway – the greatest, Vatican II.

Last night I started back to school, for the first time in many a year. Depending how you look at it, it’s been three years since I took the Spiritual Classics or twenty years since I completed my master’s degree. I wonder if I still know how to ‘go to school’. I know how to conduct school, prepare for school, prepare others for school, read, study up on a subject, teach a class, help someone else learn . . . guess I’ll muddle through.

The most important part of my new venture – of course – is the books! Here are the three books I’ll be reading. Just from a quick perusal of them, they won’t be any light reading. Wonder if I’ll be doing much blogging for awhile?!

At any rate, it is a subject which interests me very much and I hope to use the knowledge gained from this class to fill out my own understanding of my Church, its role in the world and the development of its relationship with other faith traditions; how the wisdom gained at and promulgated by the council changed the tide of history for Catholics, especially my own relationship with Jesus and others; why the council seemed to result in such devastating losses of religious and faithful and point out/widen a huge difference between the right and left within the Church and finally, what did the liturgical reform mean and where are we today?
Guess I don’t want much do I?

P.S. The wonderful thing about going to school at my age is having the freedom to go for the pure joy of learning. I'm only auditing the class. That means no papers, no tests and if I don't want to take any more classes after this, I don't have to.

Returning the Call

Nothing happens by accident with God. In fact, you can go so far as to say that everything which happens in our life is part of His plan—if not to lead us home to Him, then to bring another of His lambs safely back to the fold. If you believe that, and I do with my whole heart, then Life suddenly takes on a lustrous quality; it truly becomes a lode of luminosity.

When I visited Our Lady in Fátima, one of her favored homes, last year I was so focused on that marvelous opportunity I didn’t look ahead—or I temporarily forgot—that all with God is purpose. It would have been enough to me just to have seen Fátima, but no I was favored with a pilgrimage on the 90th Anniversary of the Final Apparition of Our Lady to the three Visionaries on October 13th 1917.*

Since then I have reflected on the times when I taught about Our Lady of Fátima to my own children as well as to my religious education classes. How many times did I show and watch movies about Marian apparitions with deep longing in my heart? A Marian Conference in Spokane in 1995 was the scene of mini-reconversion experience for me. I remember watching Gospa on a big screen with tears rolling down my cheeks.

Did Our Lord, through Our Lady, reward my devotion with that trip? Maybe. But I prefer to believe she begged her Son to fulfill a heart-felt prayer; she worked through the kindness and generosity of another of her beloved daughters, the dear friend I traveled with, Linda. In any event, I went, I saw and I was conquered.

That I thought was that. Silly me! Nothing has been the same in my life since. My dearest Heavenly Mother has been continuing to Grace my life as if the trip to see her wasn’t enough! Nor is there time or space to list – much less explain – the graces she has showered on me since. And all because I visited her?! When it was my dream fulfilled? Is this just a tiny foretaste of how Good God is? How He showers His favors on those He loves? I pray it be so!

Yesterday, the traveling statue of Our Lady of Fátima visited a local parish of the same name. It occurred to me when I first heard about Our Lady’s visit to Oklahoma that it was so wonderful–and even more special—because of my recent visit to see her.

Then I recalled the quaint old custom of ladies whereby one would visit the home of another in bygone days. This was known as ‘paying a call’. All true ladies paid and received calls. But even more importantly, when a lady received a call, she made sure to ‘return the call’.

When I saw Our Lady of the Rosary born aloft and carried into the sanctuary yesterday, my heart did a flip. I wanted to hug her. I was overjoyed. Instead I spent a quiet, loving day visiting with her. She did me a great honor in returning my call. Never mind that she made my trip overseas to see her possible in the first place or that God gives all good things. To me, it was a very special social call from one Lady to another. Indeed, the Lady of all ladies!

In Christ through Mary, booklady

* I wrote about that original visit here.

Dedicated to the lady who made my trip to Fátima so enjoyable and memorable, my traveling companion and friend, Linda.