Sunday, December 20, 2020

The Star of Bethlehem


Regarding the Christmas Star appearing this year on 
 December 21st:  Take a deeper look at how amazing is this occurrence in the year 2020.

In the year when Jesus was born, there was violence, chaos, political and social unrest. It was dark. The Magi found him by way of the star, which was the "meeting" of 3 stars: Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. They followed the star until it rested on where he was and they began to worship him. In a time when it was dark, Light was brought in to our world. Jesus stepped in to the chaos and brought peace.

Fast forward to this year, 2020. It's a time of violence, chaos, political and social unrest. It is dark. Winter Solstice, December 21st, being a time where the day is the shortest and night is the longest...it's literally the "darkest day" and is the beginning of what most would say the cold, dark winter season.

But on the darkest day this year, Jupiter and Saturn meet, giving us the Christmas Star! How fitting...that in the moment of time during the Christmas season that we get to see this beautiful reminder...that even in the darkest of times...Light will, and has, stepped in. In our chaos He is there. In our darkest time, He is there. He brings Light, and makes all things new.

So as we look out on Dec 21st for the Christmas Star, may we all be reminded of His power, and His Light that he brings for all mankind. He is perfect at stepping into chaos and bringing it into peace.  


- Deacon Al Graham

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Pray for Election Integrity in our Nation

 November 10, 2020

Mobilizing A Prayer Army

Integral to the survival of this Republic is the integrity of its voting process. People are entitled to the confidence that their votes will not be cancelled by fraudulent votes. While we work to this end in this election, we must petition God. Please consider the following message sent from our friend and former Presidential candidate Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann.


Photo Credit: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

In the aftermath of the election, what is going on in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada is nothing short of wicked. [Update: Just today Trump has moved within 1 point in Arizona.] Our prayers are availing much! It is now up to the Body of Christ to step up.


WHAT IF we mobilize a mighty intercessory prayer army to storm the gates of heaven on behalf of the voters of these states? 


If God has chosen to pronounce judgment on our nation and let it fall under the weight of its own wicked devices, then so be it. I can rest in Him knowing that I left it all on the battlefield.


The prayer strategy is simple. Join us in praying through the prayer petitions below. Then, forward this email to at least 10 friends who are prayerfully concerned about this nation and the integrity of our electoral system. The original distribution was to 20 prayer warriors. In only 6 generations of forwarding this letter, it has the potential to reach 20 million prayer warriors!


And this is the confidence we have toward Him, that if we seek anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:4)


Will you join us in praying over these 5 STRATEGIC PRAYER POINTS and forwarding this email to other people who are prayerful concerned about our nation?


PRAYER POINT ONE: Expose and hold accountable those who practice the seven things God hates and He says are detestable to Him: According to Proverbs 6:16-17, There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

1. haughty eyes  2. a lying tongue  3. hands that shed innocent blood  4. a heart that devises wicked plans  5. feet that are quick to rush into evil  6. a false witness who pours out lies  7. a person who stirs up conflict in the community.


Heavenly Father, we humbly ask that in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada, please silence every lying tongue and convict the hearts of those who devise wicked plans intended to invalidate and nullify the expressed will of the voters. Stop those who would be quick to rush into evil. Expose and silence every false witness who utters lies and operates in deceit. Thwart the efforts of every person who attempts to stir conflict within their community."


PRAYER POINT TWO: Expose all wickedness intended to steal, kill and destroy the electoral process in these battleground states.


Heavenly Father, we humbly ask that in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada that you "reveal deep and hidden things. You know what lies in darkness. Light dwells with You.” (Daniel 2:22) Please bring to light and expose every lie, deceit, deception, misrepresentation and illegal act intended to “steal, kill and destroy" the electoral process and the expressed will of the citizens and these states. (John 10:10).


PRAYER POINT THREE: Frustrate those who seek to steal, kill, and destroy electoral integrity and authentic, accurate vote counts in these battleground states.


Heavenly Father, please “Frustrate the plotting of the shrewd so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise or attain success." May no weapon formed intended to steal, kill and destroy the authentic, accurate vote count and expressed will of the people in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada be allowed to prosper." (Isaiah 54:17).


PRAYER POINT FOUR:  Frustrate and thwart the plans of those who attempt to sabotage the state’s election laws and subvert the expressed will of the people.


Heavenly Father, please “Capture the wise by their own shrewdness and quickly thwart the advice of the cunning” (Job 5:12) whose intention is to sabotage and subvert state and federal election law and the expressed will of the people in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada. "Hold them guilty O LORD, by their own devices let them fall.” (Psalm 5:10)


PRAYER POINT FIVE: Psalm 5 for protection and favor for President Trump:


Heavenly Father, please “Give ear to President Trump’s words, O LORD, consider President Trump’s groaning. Heed the sound of his cry for help, His King and His God. For to You does he pray. In the morning O LORD, you will hear his voice; in the morning he will order his prayer to you and eagerly watch. For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You. The boastful shall not stand in Thy sight. You hate all who do iniquity. Destroy those who speak falsehood. You abhor the man of bloodshed and deceit. But as for President Trump, by Your abundant lovingkindness, he will enter Your house. At your holy temple he will bow in reverence for you. Lord, please lead President Trump in Your righteousness because of his foes. Make his way straight before him. There is nothing reliable in what they say; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, O God, by their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out for they are rebellious against You. But let President Trump take refuge in You and be glad. Let him ever sing for joy. May you shelter him. May he who loves Your name exult in You. Bless President Trump, O LORD. Surround him with favor as with a shield.


Heavenly Father, please give supernatural wisdom, strength and discernment to the President and his advisors regarding how to navigate the road ahead.


In the Mighty Name of Jesus! Amen.

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Biden is Not a Practicing Catholic

By Father Kevin M Cusick

Joe Biden is not a practicing Catholic. And practicing Catholiccannot vote for Biden for President in good conscience.

A Philadelphia basement blogger, among others, has pronounced negativelyas usual, on a recent tweet by Bishop Tobin calling Biden’s Catholicity into question after he announced his fellow Planned Parenthood ally Kamala Harris as thpick for VP.

Bishop Tobin tweeted, “Biden-Harris. First time in a while that the Democratic ticket hasn’t had a Catholic on it. Sad.

The blogger subtweeted Bishop Tobin’s remark with this rejoinder:

“While the sentiment expressed by Providence bishop  one of the few US prelates who’s disclosed his party registration  is popular with conservatives, a hierarch has no authority to judge the status of a member of the faithful outside his jurisdiction.

Wrong again, basement blogger.

Yes, Bishop Tobin could have avoided the obvious difficulty of making it sound like he’s calling Biden’s baptismal status into question. Those without a contrarian agenda, however, are willing to fill in the blanks and give Bishop Tobin credit for his point, which is that being Catholic does not entail merely being baptized and confirmed. It also doesn’t mean going through the motions of receiving Communion.

No, being Catholic means in fact abstaining from Communion if one is in need of making public reparation for public scandal against the faith and morals of the Church. This in addition toof course, sacramental Confession.

Bring Catholic means full assent with the intellect and will to all the truths the Church teaches in matters of faith and morals. This Biden very publicly and with great frequency has not done for many years.

Whether or not a baptized Catholic has been absolved through sacramental Confession we cannot know unless the individual concerned chooses to speak about it. It is not of this matter of the internal forum that Tobin speaks.

Biden’s long-term advocacy of abortion on demand, his connivance in a number of evil choices as vice president during the Obama presidency, and his officiating over a same-sex “wedding” at the vice presidential residence are just some of the reasons that Biden is not a Catholic in the most fundamental sense.

Calling oneself Catholic is nothe same as being Catholic. In politics, however, mercurial superficiality is the stock in trade.

Take Kamala Harris for example, who supported women making sexual misconduct claims against Biden until she was offered aopportunity to gain power as potential vice president. Now those charges don’t seem to be an issue at all.

Bishop Tobin has a duty to speak out in matters that affect his people and their moral choices. A national election involves his people as well as those of every other bishop.

It is well known that a majority of US bishops are Democrats.Hence the blogger referred to above, who panders to the bishops, expresses obvious supercilious disgust when comes to “conservatives. If the blogger is liberal or progressive, also in betrayal of the Catholic Faith, it would not surprise.

Many Catholics were traditionally Democrats from the days of Kennedy. But many, however, did not leave the party when the party left them.

Catholics who have let Church teaching guide them in matters of the sanctity of life and the unchanging nature of marriage between one man and one woman, realized they could no longer affiliate with the Democratic party because the party left them with no other choice.

This is not to say that the Republican party gets a pass. Nowhat it means is that some Catholichave made the decision to now register as Independent, if they affiliate at all.

The Catholic blogosphere is overrun with Democrat shills who play clever games like confusing the apples of abortion with the oranges of capital punishment. False prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing exploit the poor general state of catechesis to spread lies.

So many Catholics today fall for evil peddled by wolves in sheep’s clothing, false prophets, simply because they are unable or unwilling to make distinctions.

 

There is a distinction in Catholic teaching between abortion and capital punishment. It’s based on truth. Truth doesn’t change, therefore no human person is able to simply gloss over that distinction without departing from the fullness of truth and, at the same time, taking a step further away from fullness of life in Jesus Christ.

 

We can agree that society’s right to self defense is not inadmissible while insisting that imprisonment be used in worst cases rather than capital punishment. This while teaching that “legally” killing an innocent unborn child is, unlike capital punishment, always an abominable crime and mortal sin.

 

Such confusion between these different moral cases is cleverly weaponized by political operatives to garner votes for evil men.


So-called progressive and enlightened” views leave certain bloggers and their fellow travelers feeling superior to the rest of men. What they in fact do is merely ape the opinions and agenda of the enemies of the Church and of Christ. Who’s not Catholic now?

 

Interesting how a certain segment of the Catholic commentariat is ever allergic to firm and muscular Catholic teachingparticularly in matters of faith and morals.

 

It is Bishop Tobin’s God-given job, and that of every bishop, to guide their Catholic people in making morally upright choicesTobin is one of the few bishops who takes his job seriously enough to do it while risking social opprobrium.

Long gone are the days when popularity was assumed part of the episcopal job description. national election involves the people in every diocese of the country. Bishop Tobin and every bishop are therefore called upon to make judgments and offer guidance for the upcoming election when it involves avoiding evil and cooperation in scandal against the Faith. This does not jeopardize the Churchs tax-exempt status as many are quick to claim.

You can make a point about Biden being Catholic: yes, he was baptized, and no doubt received first Communion and ConfirmationBishop Tobin knows that as do most. Biden has made clear he was raised Catholic.

But that’s not the point. Being baptized and Confirmed ionly part of being Catholic. The rest involves responding to grace and living in a state of grace

It appears as though Biden receives Communion often publicly. That does not make him, or anyone else, in and of itself a practicing Catholic. Receiving Communion when not in a state of gracethat is, in a state of mortal sin, cannot save a soul. Doing such is sinning further. Add to that the scandal and it only makes matters worse.

The point is that Biden is not a Catholic in good standing. No bishop can make him one. Anno bishop can deny the truth that Biden has committed public scandal against the faith and morals of the Church. Only by publicly renouncing his public acts and words of scandacan Biden truly return to the Catholic fold.

We all pray for the day.

Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Letcontinue the conversation on Parler, the new free speech social network, where youll find me as @FatherKevinMCusick.