Ave Maria!

The swearing in of a Democratically-controlled Congress in 2006 was a setback for the Culture of Life. Today’s public assault against the virtue of chastity and the sanctity of family life began in 1965 with the Supreme Court case of Griswold vs. Connecticut that legalized contraception. Ever since then, emotions have trumped right reason in the public discourse. Without a total conversion of our own hearts, others will never see the light of truth, and the slaughter of innocents, the trivializing of sexuality, and the emptiness of our cultural experience will continue. In this program, Fr. Angelo and Corinn touch on all the consequences of electing a party whose foundation rests on the principles of the Culture of Death.

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The post Video – Fr. Angelo – Face of Pro-life#3: The March of the Culture of Death first appeared on AirMaria.com.

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This is a special AIRMARIA report on the status of religious liberty in America, relative to the ongoing push on the part of the homosexual lobby for full same-sex marriage in Connecticut. Last year same-sex civil unions were legalized by the state assembly with an amendment defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

In Connecticut, same-sex couples already have all the rights and benefits of married people, just not the name “marriage.” This year they are back for what they call “equality,” but in reality the legalization of same-sex marriage in Connecticut will only codify the defense of traditional marriage as a form of discrimination.

Witness the erosion of your religious liberty! This assault will not stop at the state line. The same-sex marriage lobby wishes to challenge the federal Defense of Marriage Act. This affects you, no matter where you live in America.

On March 26, Brian Brown, Executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, testified before the judiciary committee of the state legislature in regard to raised House Bill 7395: An Act Concerning Marriage Equality. He was grilled on the question of commitment to civil rights and his religious convictions. Brian defended both traditional marriage and religious liberty in an eloquent and courageous way. He continues to be attacked on the FIC blog. In this video Brian also tells us what we can do to protect religious liberty.

Don’t underestimate this attack on religious liberty. This has implications for us all. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League has picked up on the threat and is bringing it to national attention. This video is a good synthesis of what happened last Monday.

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The post Video – News #1 – Religious Liberty Under Fire first appeared on AirMaria.com.

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“In order to push same-sex marriage, you have to deny that children do best in a home with both a mother & a father.” On this episode, Corinn talks with Peter Wolfgang, Director of Public Policy for the Family Institute of Connecticut, on this mission of the FIC and their current battle against same-sex marriage. Mentioned in the discussion is how the same-sex marriage agenda is fueling attacks on religious liberties in Boston, Minnesota, England, Canada, & Sweden, & how it’s effecting what are children are being taught in school. “Children are not mere creatures of the state,” was the decision passed down in a famous 1920s Supreme Court case (Pierce vs. Society of Sisters), & yet Peter explains how in the Boston school system today, the Constitution & parental rights are being subverted in the name of teaching our children sexual immorality. Such is always the case when “the State” deifies itself & vilifies Christ & His followers.

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The post Video – Face of Pro-Life #7: The Fight Against Same-Sex Marriage first appeared on AirMaria.com.

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The FI news team covered the pro Marriage Rally held at the Connecticut State Capital yesterday Morning which was organized by the Family Institute of CT. Over 300 people took time off work to give support for keeping the traditional definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. This is in spite of the fact that the bill to redefine marriage had already been defeated! The pro gay marriage group also had a gathering at the same time and only turned out about 16 people! This rally of families on a gloriously beautiful spring day was a great celebration of the defeat of this bill, and sent a powerful pro family message to the CT legislature and to National and State legislatures across the US. But prayers are still needed.

Ave Maria!

The post Video – F.I. News #18: Pro-family, Rally CT State House, 23rd May 2007 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

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Fr. Angelo commenting on an article in the City Journal about the high rate of fatherlessness in Newark, New Jersey which has reached epidemic proportions and the corresponding high rate of crime explains the need for Fathers in society and for men to take back their position in family and society as father figures. But why aren’t more people talking about this very obvious need? Listen to Father’s impassioned plea for men to speak up and Stand Fast!

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The post Video – Fr. Angelo – Standing Fast #14: High Fatherlessness High Crimerate first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080624 ( 15min) Play – The Holy Family is the basis for all true family life. Listen to Fr Bonaventure’s masterful explanation of the St John the Baptist’s defense of matrimony.
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The post Jun 24 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: The Birth of St. John the Baptist first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080705 ( 11min) Play – At this funeral Mass for Thom and Marc Girard at St. Mary’s Church in Baltic we learn of the power of faith in the resurrection to give hope in the face of such loss. Thom was faithful to God and family, truly living his vocation as Father, husband and Knight of Lepanto and imbued this faith to his family. Marc, Thom’s eldest son, received from this faith the desire to give himself to God as a Knight of Lepanto and as a friar here in the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, planning on entering this August. Through this faith he had the strength to try to save his Father and his family had the strength to endure this tragedy with calm and hopeful joy. Fr. Angelo reads part of the Knights of Lepanto induction ceremony which Thom wrote (really a first draft) knowing that his son Marc will be the first to go through the new ceremony last May at the Knight’s Encampment. Farewell, good knights. Farewell, good friends.
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The post Jul 05 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Funeral Mass for Thom and Marc Girard first appeared on AirMaria.com.

The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships.

The fulfillment of this duty has always posed problems to the conscience of married people, but the recent course of human society and the concomitant changes have provoked new questions. The Church cannot ignore these questions, for they concern matters intimately connected with the life and happiness of human beings.

Faithfulness to God’s Design

13. Men rightly observe that a conjugal act imposed on one’s partner without regard to his or her condition or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife. If they further reflect, they must also recognize that an act of mutual love which impairs the capacity to transmit life which God the Creator, through specific laws, has built into it, frustrates His design which constitutes the norm of marriage, and contradicts the will of the Author of life. Hence to use this divine gift while depriving it, even if only partially, of its meaning and purpose, is equally repugnant to the nature of man and of woman, and is consequently in opposition to the plan of God and His holy will. But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator. Just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, and with more particular reason, he has no such dominion over his specifically sexual faculties, for these are concerned by their very nature with the generation of life, of which God is the source. “Human life is sacred?all men must recognize that fact,” Our predecessor Pope John XXIII recalled. “From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God.”

Consequences of Artificial Methods

17. Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings?and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation?need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.

Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.

The post July 25th: The Anniversary of a Prophetic Encyclical first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080816 ( 11min) Play – On this feast of St Steven of Hungary Fr. Angelo preaches on the need to take responsibility for our actions and also how these actions effects others especially our children.
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The post Aug 16 – Homily – Fr Angelo: St Steven of Hungary first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #081011 ( 33min) Play – On the first morning of our Fall Encampment for the Squires and Knights of Lepanto we have the honor of having Fr. Pablo Straub as a guest preacher. He gives a profoundly stirring homily on Catholic Men and Fatherhood but starts with the Divine Motherhood of Mary as mentioned in the Gospel and so covers the full spirituality of families.
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The post Oct 11 – Homily – Fr Pablo Straub: Catholic Men first appeared on AirMaria.com.