BL. TERESA OF CALCUTA

Bl. Teresa of Calculta, Pray for Us!  Pray for the Poor! 

OVERHEARD AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AT PRAYER

As our Party gathered in North Carolina for the Democratic National Convention, each session was opened and closed with a prayer, including the closing benediction by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Each day there were also special prayer meetings for the delegates as well as various workshops and meetings for faith groups.

Here are some of the comments made during the Convention:


PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We draw strength from our victories, and we learn from our mistakes, but we keep our eyes fixed on that distant horizon, knowing that Providence is with us, and that we are surely blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on Earth.


SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL (Executive Director of NETWORK): Together, we understand that an immoral budget that hurts already struggling families does not reflect our nation’s values. We are better than that.


PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: While I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together, I’m far more mindful of my own failings, knowing exactly what Lincoln meant when he said, “I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.”


PROFESSOR STEPHEN SCHNECK (Catholic University of America): When I look at the policies outside of the abortion arena, when I look at things like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and community health centers and public housing programs, these are all programs that are proven to have a good impact in lowering the abortion rates in the United States


CHRISTINA FORRESTER (Christian Democrats of America): A lot of our values as Christians are about taking care of the least of these, it’s concerning the poor, immigration, caring for people with mercy so we’re looking at things like, in the context of mercy, compassion and that’s what the Bible really talks about and that’s what Jesus tells us to do.  


HIS EMINENCE METROPOLITAN NICHOLAS (Greek Orthodox Bishop of Detroit): Let freedom reign in our hearts so that we would…never fear to give shelter to the homeless and displaced, never fear to treat our neighbor as ourselves, and never fear to give dignity and opportunity — as in Detroit and elsewhere in America — to the struggling unemployed and less fortunate.

  SEN. HARRY REID (US Senate Majority Leader): I’m a Democrat because I am a Mormon.


TAYLOR HARTLEY (LDS Democrats): As I think about how we are to put upon charity above all other virtues, I then think to myself, Ok, which political party most closely follows the virtues of charity and compassion and clearly, it’s the Democratic Party.

OBAMA GOT HIS START ON CATHOLIC PAYROLL

BARACK OBAMA: CATHOLIC SOCIAL ACTIVIST

I think most readers here remember that Barack Obama got his start in 1986 as a community organizer in Chicago, working on a projected funded by the Catholic Church. He worked out of a Catholic rectory.

We here have always been immensely proud of this fact. We are getting a little help in reminding people of this fact from the right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly who it seems has her panties in a bundle over not only Obama's wonderful work as a Catholic financed community organizer, but their recent discovery that his travel expense checks were written off the Archdiocese of Chicago bank account.

Again, we could not be more proud of our President. As for the annoyance it brings Schlafly, oh well!

Sr. Simone Speaks to the Democratic Convention

NUNS ON BUS COMES TO CHARLOTTE!

Our friend, Sr. Simone Campbell addressed the Democratic National Convention last night.  For those who did not see or hear her amazing speech, below is a link to it.  Isn't it fantastic that the Democratic Party has invited a Catholic religious to actually speak to the Convention on issues rather than just limit religious figures to giving a prayer? 

Sister spoke beautifully about our responsbibility to all and gave strong support to the Catholic bishops' condemnation of the Paul Ryan Budget.  Sh eintroduced herself by saying "I'm one of the nuns on the bus,"  referring to the multistate bus trip a groups of Catholic religious sisters took to support the Catholic Church in its oppostion to the Paul Ryan budget plan.

In April, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an unusually strong letter opposing many of his proposals. They “stated that the Ryan budget failed a basic moral test,” said Sister Simone, saying that the cuts would harm families living in poverty.

“We agree with our bishops,” Sister Simone said, emphasizing her words slowly, adding, “And that’s why we went on the road.”


http://www.c-span.org/DNC/Events/DNC-Event/C3872415/

MORMANS FOR OBAMA!

ANOTHER FAITH GROUP ORGANIZING TO SUPPORT PRESIDENT OBAMA

To our fellow children of God who are members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, this blog commends you for the new organizing effort "Mormans for Obama." 

Yes, not all Mormans are supporting Romney.  At the Democratic National Convention yesterday the LDS Democrats gathered to show their support for President Obama.  The room at the Holiday Inn was packed to overflow. 

Among them was 53-year-old nurse practitioner Jennifer Meldau of South Carolina. She considers health care, education, and the environment to be her top causes. “Romney does not reflect my political beliefs,” she said.

Mormons for Obama have also mobilized on Facebook, where their page has roughly 300 “likes.”  Here is the Facebook link:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mormons-for-Obama/113491828735304

Their website is here:  http://mormonsforobama.org/

And don't forget, tonight at the Democratic National Convention, Sr. Simone Campbell will be speaking sometime after 8:00 pm EDT.

CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS AGREE

Protestant Ministers Join Catholic Bishops To Say Romney-Ryan Agenda is ‘Dangerous for America’

African American Ministers in Action, a national coalition of African American pastors, spoke out on Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan to be his running mate.

“Mitt Romney already had a dangerous agenda for America – especially Black America – and now he’s doubled down,” said Rev. Dr. Robert P. Shine, Vice-Chair of African American Ministers In Action. “Paul Ryan’s appalling budget proposal, if enacted, would strike an enormous blow to our social contract. It would absolve the very wealthiest of their obligations to give back to the country that supports them, while increasing the burdens on working people who are struggling to get by. It would rob from health care and food assistance and education to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. It would deny the least fortunate among us the opportunity to change their circumstances, while showering the most fortunate with tax cuts. These skewed priorities do not align with the teachings of Christ or with our highest American ideals.

“Like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, we believe that Paul Ryan’s vision for American ‘fails to meet… moral criteria.’ Now, Mitt Romney, in an effort to pander to the farthest of the far right, has adopted Ryan’s flawed vision as his own. We can’t afford to have Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the White House.”

From the Catholic Labor Network

What Do the Catholic Bishops Point to as Examples of Subsidiarity?  Labor Unions!

The thoughtful 2012 USCCB Labor Day Statement "Placing Work and Workers at the Center of Economic Life" gently admonishes the current generation of politicians, noting that "In the current political campaigns, we hear much about the economy, but almost nothing about the moral imperative to overcome pervasive poverty in a nation still blessed with substantial economic resources." And at a time when some wish to invoke "subsidiarity" as a justification to attack the social safety net, Bishop Blaire, writing for the USCCB, points out that "Unions are a sign of subsidiarity." Blaire continues, "Like other institutions, including religious, business and civic groups, unions sometimes fall short... when labor institutions fall short, it does not negate Catholic teaching in support of unions and the protection of working people... indeed, economic renewal that places working people and their families at the center of economic life cannot take place without effective unions."


Read the Bishops full statement here: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/labor-employment/labor-day-statement-2012.cfm


And a happy and blessed Labor Day.