Administration’s First Judicial Pick Considered “Worrisome”
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Even though the mainstream media is presenting President Barack Obama’s first judicial pick as a “moderate,” many say he’s anything but.
Blog
Blog Posts
Teens Taking Veterinary Medicine to Induce Abortions
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
An alarming new trend is spreading among in rural Wisconsin – drinking veterinary medicine used on large farm animals to induce abortions.
Obama Administration Signs Controversial UN Declaration
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The Obama Administration has signed on to a United Nations (UN) declaration calling for global “decriminalization of homosexuality,” a measure opposed by the Vatican as well as former President George W. Bush because it is a step toward outlawing religious opposition to the homosexual agenda.
European Union Goes “Gender Neutral”
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The European Union has instructed its Parliamentary staff to begin using gender-neutral language and cease using terms such as Mr. and Mrs., Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein, Senora and Senorita.
U.S. Experiencing a Baby Boomlet
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The year 2007 is destined for the history books. According to federal researchers, more babies were born in the U.S. in 2007 than in any year in the nation’s history, easily topping the peak during the baby boom years.
Politics May Force Gov. Sebelius to Sign Pro-Life Bill
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Politics may soon force the hand of pro-abortion Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to sign a bill that will require abortion clinics to provide patients with an ultrasound image and enable them to hear the heart beat of their fetus before undergoing an abortion. Supporters say the tactic convinces 90 percent of women to forego abortion.
Landscapes
My landscaping was ravaged by the last frost that hit the Tampa Bay area. I've done nothing about it, fearful that we might get one last blast.
Everything outside my windows looks dead. Brown and decaying. It is sad, though somehow strangely right, to have things dead-looking during Lent. It seems liturgically correct.
For me personally, the sad exterior of my home and the liturgical season are more than "strangely right." They are fitting. And perfectly match the landscape of my heart.
The past five Lents have been particularly poignant for me and have settled into my being like another self. Five years ago, during Lent, my son, Simon, was killed in a vehicular accident not long after he returned to the States from Iraq. Two Lents ago, my husband, Anthony, was in the last days of his life. Brain cancer. He succumbed to a coma on Easter Sunday morning and died three days later.
The lens of life turned brown then, like the shrubbery outside of my home.
And every Ash Wednesday, without a conscious thought to the past, brown comes back and paints the inner recesses of my heart in somber tones.
It's a funny thing about those shrubs, though. They don't tell the whole story. My limited vision sees only brown, but another color is working its way through them. Green.
Lent doesn't tell the whole story either. New life is coming. Resurrection.
And my heart's landscape is short-lived, too. Blossoms are on the horizon. Hope.
On my son's grave marker is the passage Revelation 21:5 -- "Behold, I make all things new." And so He does. My God takes brown and makes it shimmer with gold.
Easter is coming.
Pope Speaks Candidly to Reporters during Flight to Africa
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
As he embarked on the first leg of his historic trip to Africa, Pope Benedict XVI took the time to speak with reporters about a variety of issues ranging from his private life to the Church’s approach to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Austrian “Dungeon Dad” Pleads Guilty
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The 73 year-old Austrian man who fathered seven children with a daughter he kept confined in a basement “dungeon” pleaded guilty Wednesday to all charges against him.
Public Has Until April 9 to Comment on Conscience Protections
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Anyone wishing to voice their opinion about President Barack Obama’s decision to dump the Provider Conscience Clause – the regulations put in place by President Bush to protect doctors and medical facilities from having to perform medical procedures that violate their conscience – has until April 9 to do so.
