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America’s Public Prayer . . . The Thanksgiving Proclamation

November 28, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on America’s Public Prayer . . . The Thanksgiving Proclamation

By LAWRENCE P. GRAYSON Thanksgiving is the time when America’s religious roots and traditions are publicly displayed. While we think of feasting at tables filled with food and drink, and imagine the Pilgrims in Plymouth Colony inviting neighboring Indians to join them to celebrate a plentiful harvest, Thanksgiving Day has a much more religious meaning. It was not uncommon in the 17th and 18th centuries for individual colonies to set aside days for prayers of gratitude to our Lord. In 1671, the governing council of Charlestown, Mass., proclaimed June 29 “as a day of Solemn Thanksgiving and praise to God for such His Goodness and Favor.” Annually from 1777 through 1784, as the American colonists fought for their independence,

The Gratitude Attitude

November 27, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on The Gratitude Attitude

By REY FLORES Thanksgiving Day is upon us once more, with the idyllic visions of family get-togethers, golden-brown turkeys on our tables, and meaningless college football games on our giant TV screens. “Happy Thanksgiving” or the silly “Happy Turkey Day” greetings fill the air, while Charlie Brown and his pilgrims quickly make way for the familiar instrumental sounds of Vince Guaraldi’s Christmastime Is Here. While I myself couldn’t care any less about college football, I do wax nostalgic about the other trappings of this holiday, particularly the goodies on the table. However, what I hate now is how the retailers have scrapped Black Friday altogether and now start their obnoxious “First Day of Xmas Shopping” on Thanksgiving Day. As a…Continue Reading

Sinister Shadows In UN Human Rights Council

November 26, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on Sinister Shadows In UN Human Rights Council

By JOHN J. METZLER UNITED NATIONS — You can’t make this up. In recent elections for the UN’s 47-member Human Rights Council (UNHRC), some of the winners of the coveted seats are, ironically, the countries who are among the major global human rights transgressors. This hypocrisy evokes the old adage of the foxes guarding the henhouse, or of Tony Soprano chairing a Senate subcommittee on organized crime. Here’s the setting. Sixteen countries were running for 14 seats on the Geneva-based council tasked with monitoring and reporting on the pulse of human rights worldwide. As is usual in the UN, the countries were competing in regional groups for the two-year tenure. So, for the African group, there are Algeria, Morocco, Namibia,…Continue Reading

Nixon And Kennedy: The Myths And Reality

November 25, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on Nixon And Kennedy: The Myths And Reality

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Had there been no Dallas, there would have been no Camelot. There would have been no John F. Kennedy as brilliant statesman cut off in his prime, had it not been for those riveting days from Dealey Plaza to Arlington and the lighting of the Eternal Flame. Along with the unsleeping labors of an idolatrous press and the propagandists who control America’s popular culture, those four days created and sustained the Kennedy Myth. But, over 50 years, the effect has begun to wear off. The New York Times reports that in the ranking of presidents, Kennedy has fallen further and faster than any. Ronald Reagan has replaced him as No. 1, and JFK is a fading…Continue Reading

Pope Francis . . . Leads The Church In Line With His Predecessors

November 24, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on Pope Francis . . . Leads The Church In Line With His Predecessors

By PAUL LIKOUDIS Some conservative or so-called traditional Catholics have been grousing since the election of Pope Francis that he is steering Catholics away from positions strenuously defended by his two Predecessors, courting favor with the media by downplaying Church doctrine, giving the appearance of abandoning Church teaching on faith and morals, waving the white flag in the culture wars, expressing left-wing views on the predations of international finance and capitalism’s failures. A “reality check” on these claims is in order.

Pope To Conference On Evangelizing The Americas… Dare To Reach The Fringes That Need To Feel God’s Closeness

November 23, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on Pope To Conference On Evangelizing The Americas… Dare To Reach The Fringes That Need To Feel God’s Closeness

VATICAN CITY (ZENIT) — Here is a translation of the video message sent by Pope Francis to participants in a conference on evangelizing the Americas, sponsored by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the Knights of Columbus. The conference was at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City from November 16 to 19. ZENIT translated and published the message; all rights reserved. +    +    + Dear Brothers and Sisters, I greet you very cordially, who are participating in this pilgrimage-meeting, organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, under the protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In addition to

First Teachers… Don’t Go Wobbly On Common Core

November 22, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on First Teachers… Don’t Go Wobbly On Common Core

By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK In the October 24 edition of First Teachers, we published comments from Dr. William Snaer on the standards that are called for as part of the federal government’s Common Core program. Snaer is a retired pediatric dentist who has written on a variety of topics in The Wanderer. Dr. Snaer believes there has been “careless piling on directed at Common Core energized by a mix of conspiracy types.” He argued that Common Core’s attempt to establish standards for our schools — which Snaer maintains “evolved in large measure from the work of E. D. Hirsch Jr.” in 1987 in his book, Cultural Literacy — “deserved better treatment, especially from those who hold to the

While Warning Against Harsh Language… Phoenix Paper Portrays Bishop As An Anti-Semite

November 21, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on While Warning Against Harsh Language… Phoenix Paper Portrays Bishop As An Anti-Semite

By DEXTER DUGGAN PAYSON, Ariz. — The host for my overnight stay in this mile-high Arizona mountain town asked if I wanted to read the Phoenix New Times cover story about the Phoenix Catholic Diocese’s Bishop Thomas Olmsted. The October 24 issue of the free weekly was on the dinner table. The article was typical of a liberal war against the Church, despite the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ compliantly liberal political stands. Only total surrender by the Church on morality, too, will win a ceasefire. The weekly’s illustration rendered Olmsted in bright red vestments, clutching a crosier that had been rammed through a Star of David, impaling it. Atop Olmsted’s crosier was the depiction of an unborn baby. The…Continue Reading

McCain, Flake . . . Obama Isn’t The Only Pol Walking On The Edge

November 20, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on McCain, Flake . . . Obama Isn’t The Only Pol Walking On The Edge

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — Coming from the Hawaiian island chain formed by volcanoes, Barack Obama might be able vividly to visualize walking on the edge of one of the lava-spewing infernos. Because that’s about where he has put himself on the edge of public outrage by his defiant, bold lies drastically hurting every American’s life and welfare. Did Obama expect people to remain mute and passive? If he were capable of courtesy to other politicians, Obama might warn them about the political fire they’re playing with when they, too, deceive and snub voters. Arizona’s two U.S. senators, shifty Republicans John McCain and Jeff Flake, richly deserve a warning

God Is Everywhere

November 19, 2013 Frontpage Comments Off on God Is Everywhere

By DONALD DeMARCO Fr. Vincent McNabb, OP, is not exactly a household name. He is hardly known among Catholics today. Even those who are familiar with the Catholic Tradition may recognize his name but little else. This is a situation that cries out for rectification. He was born in Ireland in 1868, became a Dominican priest in his 23rd year, and passed from the earth in 1943. He was the tenth of eleven children. His book, Eleven Thank God!, which he dedicated to his mother, is a great apologia for the large family. G.K. Chesterton expressed some nervousness about writing the introduction to Fr. McNabb’s book, Francis Thompson And Other Essays. He feared that if the humble Dominican read Chesterton’s…Continue Reading