What Happens in Heaven

I have talked about this with a friend of mine. While we pray for need, how often do we actually pray in thanksgiving for the gifts that we receive?

I Love this...WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen, and it really puts things into perspective..

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.'

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section..

The angel then said to me, 'This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.. 'I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of avery small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. 'This is the Acknowledgment Section,' my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed 'How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked.

'So sad,' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments .

''How does one acknowledge God's blessings?' I asked.

'Simple,' the angel answered. Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.

''What blessings should they acknowledge?' I asked..

'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overheadand a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy .

''And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity..

''If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day ..

''If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.

''If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.

''If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare .

''If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair.

'Ok, what now? How can I start? If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

ATTN: Acknowledge Dept.: 'Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and forgiving me so many wonderful people to share it with.

If you have read this far, and are thankful for all that you have been blessed with, how can you not send it on????

I thank God especially for all my family and friends!!

Urgent: Pro-Life Action Needed!

It is getting serious. I have been receiving emails from sources that I trust (Knights of Columbus and Priests for Life) stressing the seriousness of the health care legislation that is currently before Congress. It seems that the health care reform bills now being finalized in Congress will result in federally mandated abortion coverage by nearly all health plans, recruitment of abortion doctors into local health networks, and the nullification of many state laws that place reasonable limits on abortion, unless Congress explicitly excludes abortion.

Just last week, a Senate panel voted to include abortion coverage. Check out the story here…
Senate Panel OKs Abortion Coverage in Health Care Bill, Senator Forced to Admit

And congress is trying to rush this through. Only we can stop them. They need to hear from each and every one of you! That’s why I am urging a grass roots effort to stop this. Please follow the link below and call or write your Senators and Congressmen, even if they are pro-life. Tell them that you want abortion to be explicitly excluded in any health care reform bill. It is important to let them know how you feel. Please do this today or it may be too late.

Did you see Fox News Sunday this past weekend? White House Budget Director Peter Orszag was a guest on the show. He said that he could not rule it out that no taxpayer money will go to pay for abortions.

WALLACE: Are you prepared to say that in a government public-funded, taxpayer-funded public health insurance plan that no taxpayer money will go to pay for abortions?
ORSZAG: I think that that will wind up being part of the debate. I am not prepared to say explicitly that right now. It's obviously a controversial issue, and it's one of the questions that is playing out in this debate.
WALLACE: So you're not prepared to rule out...
ORSZAG: I'm not prepared to rule it out.




Here’s what the Knights of Columbus said in an email that I received today.

Urgent Pro-Life Alert
July 22, 2009

Abortion mandate in health bill

The healthcare reform legislation currently before Congress contains an abortion mandate that is a grave threat to human life. The bill's language will result in federally mandated abortion coverage by nearly all health plans, recruitment of abortion doctors into local health networks, and the nullification of many state laws that place reasonable limits on abortion.
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has called this legislation the "largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade."

We urge you to write to your senators and congressman today. Click here where you can learn more about the health legislation and send a message to your two senators and congressman.

To read a letter from 19 House Democrats who insist they will not support a health bill unless it explicitly excludes abortion, click here.

Time is of the essence as congressional leaders want to pass the bill in the Senate and House by the end of July.

A coalition of prominent pro-life leaders have arranged a Stop The Abortion Mandate live webcast for the public this Thursday, July 23rd, 2009, at 9 PM Eastern (8PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific).

Please go to www.stoptheabortionmandate.com to register.

Pujols: To Walk or Not to Walk?

Hey baseball fans, here’s a question for you. Most of you who know me know of my love of baseball, especially the St. Louis Cardinals. If you are a true baseball fan, you are aware of Albert Pujols and the great year he is having. My question is why do so many teams let him beat them? Why don’t more teams pitch around him and walk him intentionally? Take their game last night for instance. Pujols came to bat in the 8th inning with the Cardinals down 3-0. The bases where loaded and two out. The book says you pitch to him which is what the Reds did. The result was a grand slam home run and the Cards led 4-3. If you are the Reds, why not walk Pujols? Even though you walk in a run, you still have the lead, and then take your chance on the next hitter, in this case Ryan Ludwick. Ludwick isn’t near the hitter that Pujols is, and Ludwick hasn’t been hitting the ball well for the month of June, a weak .200 batting average with just 3 home runs. You get Ludwick out and you escape with a 3-1 lead. Will we ever see something like this, a team giving Pujols the free pass, even though it would mean walking in a run? I’m glad a team hasn’t done this yet because I really like seeing Albert bat with men on base. Oh, by the way, the Cardinals ended up winning the game 7-4.

A Question for Obama

Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there!

While watching the news this morning I saw a clip of Barack Obama talking about Father's Day. In it, he said, “We need fathers to recognize that responsibility doesn't just end at conception."

The line was from a Father's Day speech that he gave in 2008. But with Obama he has a tendency to say one thing and do something else. In another speech that Obama gave to Planned Parenthood while he was running for President, he said, "The first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act."

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has a question for Obama in a 30 second television ad that begins with a clip of Obama's Father's Day speech. In the ad, Perkins is holding his son, Samuel in his arms. He asks Obama, “If, as you say, fatherhood begins at conception, when does life begin?”

I would also like to hear his answer to the question because when I first heard the clip I had the same response as Perkins did. But I am afraid we already know the answer. Seems like actions speak louder than words. As a Senator, Obama has voted against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which would have protected from infanticide those children who survive abortion attempts. As a Senator and as President Obama has voted and authorized the spending of US taxpayer dollars here and overseas. Obama is right on his way to making good on his promise to Planned Parenthood. And if he has his way in the upcoming health care debate it wouldn't surprise me to see government mandate the Freedom of Choice Act calling it health care.

Sports Bits

NCAA Football – Florida was crowned National Champions based on their record and 24-14 victory over Oklahoma in the National Championship Game. Not to take anything away from Florida, but I am still not convinced that the system used is the best method to pick a National Champion. Who’s to say that Florida was any better than USC or Utah? USC had the same record and Utah was undefeated. I like many believed that both had legitimate claims at least to a share of the title. Wouldn’t a better way to choose a champion be through a playoff system such as an 8 or 12 team bracket. I would much rather see the argument be who’s number 8 and who the number 9 team is that didn’t get a chance to play for the championship………………National Signing day is past and according to Rivals.com the Ohio State Buckeyes had the third best recruiting class in the nation. Other Big Ten Teams: (7) Michigan, (16) Michigan State and (25) Penn State. In the Big 12: (5) Texas (13) Oklahoma (22) Texas A&M (28) Nebraska, (31) Kansas, and (95) Kansas State.

NFL Football – The Super Bowl this year was just that. Super! Although KC is my favorite team, I have enjoyed watching the Steelers since Terry Bradshaw and the days of the “Steel Curtin”. Those teams were good offensively but it was the defense that carried them. It looks like they have that formula back again. I was one of many that jumped on the Arizona Cardinals bandwagon during their playoff run. Warner, Fitzgerald and company and their high octane offense were fun to watch. But in the end they made too many mistakes and the Steelers defense prevailed……………….Speaking of the Cardinals, the Kansas City Chiefs should have a new look in 2009. The move to replace Carl Peterson was past due. One has to like the move to bring in Scott Pioli. Kansas City fans will be hoping that he can duplicate the successes he had in New England. I don’t know enough about Todd Haley other that what I saw during the NFC Playoffs and the Super Bowl, however his Cardinals were 4th in overall offense in the NFL last season. Maybe this will be just what the Chiefs offense needs to get well. It will be interesting to see who they bring in as assistant coaches and which players stay.

NCAA basketball – At the beginning of the season I said that KU at times would be fun the watch and at other times it would be difficult to watch them. This week we saw both. On Monday at Missouri, it was their game to win and they blew the lead. On Saturday, even though it wasn’t pretty, it was their game to lose and they managed to take advantage to some breaks and pull out the victory. This team is young and inexperienced. That being said they have some talent in the right spots, but don’t have the depth that they have had in the past. The last 6 games will be a good warm up going into the post-season. The game at Oklahoma will be the most difficult and an almost certain loss for the Jayhawks.
The games at home against Nebraska, Missouri and Texas won’t be easy. I could see KU going to the sweet 16 this year but not much further. A repeat of last year is definitely not in the works this year……….Sorry K-State fans but you will have to wait at least one more year to go dancing. Your strength of schedule is too weak. A win over the Jayhawks might have saved your season. I thought your season was finished after the embarrassing loss at Nebraska, but the Cats finally got it rolling with key wins at home against Missouri and on the road at Texas. The Purple could still salvage the season if they win out the remainder of their games including a home game with Missouri.…………..Wichita State is finally starting to show some hope and potential of what they might be under Greg Marshall. They could finish in 5th place in the Valley which is saying a lot with the start they had to the season. They have some good young talent and plenty to look forward to for next year……………….Have you noticed the emphasis on swinging elbows lately? One thing I noticed is that the defensive players tend to guard so close so when a player pivots or swings his body, the elbows follow making it look more violent than it really is.

Baseball – With just two returning starters and 14 lettermen, this will be the least experienced team that WSU fans have ever seen. If these guys can show some hope early, an attractive home schedule against Pepperdine and Long Beach State might be fun………….”Pitchers and catchers report” are the four words that a baseball fan looks forward to all winter long. Saturday, February 14th was that day. Forget the ground hog, for a baseball fan, it means that spring has sprung. The Cardinals have a lot of question marks. (1) The biggest is the health of Chris Carpenter. Carp has pitched only 21 innings over the last two seasons. There will be a lot of tests on his arm this spring. (2) Albert Pujols had off-season elbow surgery. Will he be ready for opening day? (3) Troy Glaus had off-season shoulder surgery. It has already been announced that he won’t be ready for opening day. Who will fill if for him till he’s ready to return? (4) The Cards released Adam Kennedy last week. Who will be the second baseman? (5) The team still hasn’t signed a closer. Who will be the man out of the bullpen in the 9th inning? Should be a fun spring keeping it all straightened out. Keep posted.

Joe the Plumber and the American Dream

Joe the Plumber has a dream, and (The Liberal Democratic Machine) Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and the media are trying to take away his American Dream. Instead of facing the question that Joe, Sam, or whatever his name is, they are trying to dig up dirt on Joe. It’s not important what his real name is, if he has licenses, or how much his back taxes are. And why did Obama and Biden question how much money he makes as a plumber?

What they are doing is avoiding the answer to Joe’s question. That’s because Obama’s answer paints him as a modern-day Robin Hood. He wants to rob from the rich and give to the poor. Obama said, “I want to make sure that everybody who is behind ya, that they have a chance for success too. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everyone.”

That, my friends, is socialism. What he wants is income redistribution. What he forgets is that everyone does have the same chance for success. We are all entitled to an education. In America we can choose the career path that we want. The American Dream is belief that allows all of us the chance to achieve our goals in life through hard work. And now Obama wants to penalize the people who make the right choices and make the most of them. He wants to take away that dream. When you do that, you take away the incentives people have to produce?

The danger with this is that Joe and all the other people out there with dreams will get upset that government is taking too much of their money and they have to work too hard to make even more money. They will throw their hands up in the air and say enough is enough. They will come over to the other side and take money from the government. For those who say that won’t happen. Think again. It happened this week when Hawaii decided to drop the only state universal child health care program in the country. Families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.
"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free," said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. "I don't believe that was the intent of the program."

Obviously, there will always be people who will slip between the cracks but, there is already a system to take care of these people. There are government programs and private charities in place to help these people. What Obama wants is welfare for the middle class by taking away from the people who already pay the most taxes. Did you know that 86% of all federal income taxes are paid by the top 25% of income earners? Infact, the top 50% pay 97% of all taxes. The top 1% pays 39% of the taxes. And Obama wants to take more from them. Of the people he wants to give this money to, 40% do not pay taxes. There is a better way. The tax cuts by George Bush actually increased revenue. The increase in taxes to the top 5% that Obama wants could hurt the people that Obama wants to help forcing the small business man to cut costs and jobs.

This country was built on the dreams of people like Joe the Plumber. Its people like Joe who purchase the small businesses that give you your job. If we elect Barack Obama to raise taxes on these people, who will be there to hire you? Have you ever gotten a job from a poor person?

Rebutting the ‘Catholic but…’

The following is Bishop Olmsted’s column from The Catholic Sun for Lent 2004 (March 18, 2004 Issue). It is a great article that is as timeless today as it was back when it was written. It is our daily ‘how to’ guide for living our lives as Catholics. It should be a way of life, not just during Lent but for every day.

Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix

© Copyright 2004-2008 The Catholic Sun. Reprinted with permission. Visitwww.catholicsun.org.

“I am a Catholic businessman but I don’t let the Church influence what I do at the office or in the boardroom;” but Jesus says (Mt 7:21), “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

“I am a Catholic politician but I don’t let my Catholicism impact on how I vote or what legislation I promote;” but Jesus says (Mt 7:26-27), “Everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

“I am a Catholic physician but I don’t let my faith mold my decisions regarding abortion, contraception, or other medical practices;” but Jesus says Mt 5:37), “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

“I am a Catholic talk show host but I don’t let the Church inhibit my right to say whatever I want on the air;” but in the Letter of James, God says (2:17) “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

“I am a Catholic priest but I don’t let Magisterial teaching keep me from dissenting from moral or doctrinal points nor let it limit my own ‘pastoral solutions’;” but at ordination each priest professes a solemn oath, “I believe everything contained in God’s Word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the Church… I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by the Church definitively regarding teaching on faith and morals.”

Lent is the time to kick the “Catholic but...” out of our own daily lives. It is the time to expunge rationalization from our minds and to root out compromise from our hearts. Lent is the time to say a determined “No” to the temptation to water down our faith for personal gain. It is the time to say a much larger “Yes” to Jesus and His Gospel of Life. Lent is the time for Totus Tuus, the time to renew our commitment to love God with all our mind and heart and strength.

The “Catholic but…” syndrome stands in direct contradiction to Jesus’ clear and unequivocal demand (Mk 8:34-36), “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”

The “Catholic but…” syndrome is not without precedent in history. The fact that Jesus Himself directly and frequently opposed such rationalization shows its prevalence 2000 years ago. How often we are tempted to separate what we do in Church from what we do at home, to isolate what we believe from how we vote or what we do at work or at leisure. How easily we can compartmentalize our lives, thus keeping our adherence to Christ from shaping all that we say and do. This is why the formation of conscience holds such a pivotal role in our effort to grow to full maturity in Christ.

Each Lent, the Church urges us to rekindle our love for Jesus and to take a closer look at how completely we are taking up the Cross that fidelity to Him entails. This means we need to examine our consciences, and to insure that they are formed on the solid foundation of the Gospel.

During these 40 days before the Easter Triduum, the Father shines new light upon our souls so we can discover (or rediscover) the essential connection between truth and freedom, and between faith and culture. When freedom is detached from truth, objectivity goes out the window, relativism reigns, and ethical chaos gives rise to the “Catholic but…” It becomes impossible to establish right from wrong, good from evil. The pursuit of holiness is thrown off course.

To take the time, then, during Lent to form our consciences more fully in accordance with objective truth (known from God’s Revelation and the natural law) not only brings wholeness and integrity to our personal lives; it also makes it possible for us to bring healing and reconciliation to society. Let us take advantage, then, of this Lenten season 2004 to engage seriously in the pursuit of truth and freedom. Here are some concrete suggestions for doing so:


Ask the Holy Spirit for His gifts of courage and understanding, humility and right judgment.
Consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church to find clear teaching about the moral conscience and its correct formation (See paragraphs #1776-1802).
Consider your own family situation, your work and your civic duties, and then ask: “Do I live my whole life as a vocation and a mission from the Lord?”
Carve out a few days for a spiritual retreat or at least set aside half a day to go apart from everyday life and examine, with God’s help, how you are integrating the gift of faith in all dimensions of your life. On the first day of Lent each year, the Lord says to us through St. Paul (2 Cor 6:2), “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Now is the time to rebut the “Catholic but…” It is the time to say “Yes” when we mean “Yes,” and to say “No” when we mean “No.” Lent is the time to profess our Catholic faith with gratitude and to put every part of it into practice.