Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Teach your children well

Today's Civics Lesson... take them with you to vote!

 

Health Care... DMV Style

The folks at Catholic Vote   have done it again. This is great. This video was made in response to an actual public service announcement put together by the"Hollywood healthcare experts".  It is an ingenious spoof. 

HT: Mommy Life

 

A Bishop Shepherding His Flock

I wanted to share something that happened at Ryan's wake last night.  I looked up at the doorway and saw our newest bishop on Long Island, Bishop Peter Libasci walking in.  Now, by marriage, Mary Ellen is related to a pretty high ranking monsignor in our diocese, so I figured he must have called for the Bishop to pay a visit.  I went over to greet the Bishop, since I felt somewhat of a connection... as a young priest he was assigned to the parish I grew up in and his first funeral there was my mother's. He also confirmed my niece, while still a priest, with a special dispensation.  Last year, this time as a bishop,  he confirmed my daughter with this same niece as a sponsor.  Full circle!

The Bishop spent quite alot of time with the Barretts and at the end of the evening, after he had left, I spoke with the Monsignor and thanked him for arranging this visit.  He looked at me puzzled and said "I had nothing to do with that.  The Bishop said he had read in the paper that Ryan had wanted to be a priest.  All priests are entitled to a visit from the Bishop at their wake!"  Wow! 

When I met Bishop Libasci at the door he said to me "I just had to come and see the little priest."  Maybe because this is the year of the Priest, but this story really touched me and gives me incredible hope for the Church. Let's all continue to pray for our priests... new priests, seasoned priests, and future priests!

In Mary Ellen's Words...

In the very first hours after learning of Ryan's death, we were led to believe it was by drowning.  Please read, in Mary Ellen's own words, the events of the day to clarify some of the details.  Alice has been kind enough to post them here.

Donations In Ryan's Memory

The outpouring of love for the Barrett family has been amazing. Many people who don't know Mary Ellen, Dave and their family "in real life" have come to know and love them through the sharing  of Mary Ellen's gift for writing on the internet. All have been touched deeply by this family's tragedy.  Many are asking what they can do.

The Barrett family has requested that anyone who would like to make a memorial
gift in Ryan's name to please give to one of these two charities:

- http://www.autismspeaks.org/
There is a donation page at the website where you can opt to make a memorial
donation. By doing this, they will send the Barrett's an e-card so they can
acknowledge any gifts made in Ryan's memory.

OR

- You can make a donation to The Friar Suppliers* in Ryan's memory.
Checks can be made out to "Friar Suppliers" and mailed to:
Rich Garbe
108 N. Greene St.
Lindenhurst, NY 11757
Please include a note on the memo line that this is a donation in Ryan's memory.

*Friar Suppliers is a non-profit organization which is a fruit of our Friday Night Family Rosary group. People from all over the country send a monthly donation to the above address and volunteers buy food and supplies for the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.  The Renewal is made up of Franciscan Monks and Sisters who are totally commited to living a life of poverty and service to the poor according to the Rule of St. Francis.  Ryan had aspirations of one day becoming a Friar and often visited their friaries in the Bronx where he prayed with them and played music with them.

Please feel free to link to this page to spread the word. Thank you.

I am sad

I can barely believe I am typing the words that Ryan Barrett was found drowned on the annual father/son campout. My heart is breaking for his family who is so dear to ours. I just wanted to share a picture from last year's campout to show what a great group of Dads and sons this is.  Ryan is on the right wearing his favorite Indiana Jones hat.

Please pray for comfort for the Barrett family in the coming days, weeks , months.

 

My heart is overflowing with grief and I cannot write any more. I am off to try and close my eyes...

It is working...

Some of the more conservative talkers I listen to are saying the the phone calls, emails and letters from their constituents are having an impact on our representatives Washington.  I never considered myself much of an activist. Sure, I would occasionally sign an online petition if it was emailed to me, maybe make a phone call if I had time and remembered to do it.  To be honest, I have been very lazy in this area.  So, for anyone reading this who is like me, here is a link to a website  where you just type in your zipcode and up pops a listing of all your representatives... federal and state.  You can click on their names and go right to their homepages where you can contact them by email very easily.

No more excuses! The future of our country and our children is on the line!!!

A Touch of Class

How I wish this had turned out differently for the graduates of Notre Dame. How I wish our president would have  shown one tenth the class that Mary Ann Glendon has shown in politely declining to accept an honor from a Catholic University  so eager to turn  graduation day into a political debate. I am so disappointed at the scandal and division this has caused in our Church... all while Mr. Obama  sits back and enjoys the circus! 

Read the letter Mary Ann Glendon wrote to Fr. Jenkins here.   

Honk If You're a Right-Wing Extremist!

After reading the homeland security document  on the rise of right-wing extremism, it has been brought to my attention that since I am a pro-life citizen, unhappy with most of Obama’s policies, who believes our borders should be protected from those who wish to enter our country illegally … I may, in fact be one (right--wing extremist, that is!).    I felt after reading this, I needed to DO something.  Well, as luck would have it, there was a tea party happening not even ten minutes from my house… and as further luck would have it, some time which I thought was taken up unexpectedly freed up at the exact time of said tea party.  I convinced my daughter to join me on a mission to check this out. Initially I planned to just drive by.  But when I saw the protesters out there, I had an overwhelming urge to honk my horn, and roll down the windows with cheers of support.  The next thing we knew, Becky and I were in the thick of it!  It was great seeing so many people (my unofficial estimate would be about 400) on liberal Long Island standing together for this cause.  I snapped a few shots, but I couldn’t get the scope of the size of the party unless I had a wider angle lens, which I didn’t. 

This is a shot of Becky and me when we first got there. Notice how friendly law enforcement looks, they truly were!

 

This guy is mad as heck and he’s not gonna take it any more!

We ran into my nephew, Tom who is a small business owner and he really is mad as heck! He is already getting  killed with taxes and it is only just beginning!

 

I had to chase down the owner of this pooch and ask for permission to take his picture. I love the teabags!

 Well, I don’t know how much “change” this will bring. But the energy I felt tells me this is only just starting.   I haven’t had time to watch the news today, but I’m pretty sure there won’t be much coverage… correct me if I’m wrong. I didn’t see any local news reporters or media at this party at all.  There was tons of support from the passersby… especially the big guys driving the big  rigs… and trust me, you don’t want to get them mad!

Oh, The Irony

When I saw the headline, I had to read further to see if this was true!  It is true!  But what captured me most, was the irony... she knows nothing of Our Lady of Guadalupe, yet accepts the dubious honor of being bestowed with the Margaret Sanger award ... the highest honor given by Planned Parenthood. What the...?

 

 

Hillary Clinton leaves flowers for Our Lady of Guadalupe, asks ‘Who painted it?’

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton / Our Lady of Guadalupe

Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 27, 2009 / 04:59 pm (CNA).- During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” after asking who painted the famous image.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay.

Mrs. Clinton was received on Thursday at 8:15 a.m. by the rector of the Basilica, Msgr. Diego Monroy.

Msgr. Monroy took Mrs. Clinton to the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been previously lowered from its usual altar for the occasion.

After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!”

Clinton then told Msgr. Monroy that she had previously visited the old Basilica in 1979, when the new one was still under construction.

After placing a bouquet of white flowers by the image, Mrs. Clinton went to the quemador –the open air area at the Basilica where the faithful light candles- and lit a green candle.

Leaving the basilica half an hour later, Mrs. Clinton told some of the Mexicans gathered outside to greet her, “you have a marvelous virgin!”

This evening Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to receive the highest award given by Planned Parenthood Federation of America -- the Margaret Sanger Award, named for the organization's founder, a noted eugenicist. The award will be presented at a gala event in Houston, Texas.