﻿<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>randomcollegestudent's Xanga</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/</link><description>Latest Xanga weblog from randomcollegestudent</description><language>en-us</language><ttl>60</ttl><image><title>The Weblog Community</title><url>http://s.xanga.com/images/xangalogobutton.gif</url><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/</link></image><item><title>Fr. Wang Zhong, another brother in chains</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/628720747/fr-wang-zhong-another-brother-in-chains/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/628720747/fr-wang-zhong-another-brother-in-chains/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 24 Nov 2007 05:02:40 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;A title="" href="http://www.asianews.it/files/img/China-flag.gif" rel=lightbox target="_new"&gt;&lt;IMG alt="" src="http://www.asianews.it/files/img/size2/China-flag.gif" align=left border=0&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;SPAN class=articolo_inside&gt; &lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;Rome&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt; (AsiaNews) – Fr Wang Zhong, from the diocese of Xiwanze (Hebei), was sentenced to three years in prison for organising the celebrations of the consecration of a church in Guyuan. &lt;EM&gt;AsiaNews&lt;/EM&gt; received a copy of an unofficial transcript of the trial. It indicates that a valid building permit was issued by the Religious Affairs Bureau for the construction of church. But it also says that Father Wang was an underground priest, unaffiliated with the state-sanctioned China Catholic Patriotic Association (CCAP).&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;The diocese of Xiwanzi (Hebei) is part of the underground Church. It has about 15,000 members and is located some 260 km north of Beijing, not far from the border with Inner Mongolia.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;In this area for months the police have waged a campaign against priests and bishops from the underground Church, on the instigation of the CCAP.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;The diocese’s auxiliary bishop, Mgr Yao Liang, disappeared into police custody on 30 July 2006; another 20 faithful and 2 priests are also in prison.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;Father Wang was arrested on July 24, 2007 and taken away along with two other priests who had found shelter at the residence of a Catholic family in Xilinguole (Inner Mongolia).&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;After his arrest he was kept in total isolation with no visitation rights.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;His trial opened on 29 October 2007 in Kangbao, Zhangjiakou district (Hebei). &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;Catholic faithful who attended the proceedings in the courtroom said that Father Wang, 41, was “in good physical conditions despite his long beard. He seemed a bit weak though but faced the ordeal with courage and a smile on his face.”&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;Charges against him were finally made public at the trial. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;He is accused of organising an unlawful meeting (celebrating the consecration of the Guyuan church which is devoted to the Holy heart), and using the official seal of the parish (which in China is legally equated with a valid signature) without the permission of state authorities.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;The facts are that the church in Guyuan was built with the right permit and paid for by the faithful themselves who raised the money over a two-year period. Those who could not make a financial contribution offered their own labour.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;Some 7,000 people, including underground 21 priests and a bishop took part in the 18 July 2006 ceremony of consecration.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;Father Wang’s defence attorney at the trial noted that “the new church and its consecration where approved by Zhangjiakou authorities. The permit issued by them was presented as an exhibit at the trial. The local Religious Affairs Bureau and United Front Work Department even contributed about 1000 yuan (US$ 140) to the construction. All of this evidence is in the parish registry.” Hence in the lawyer’s opinion, there is sufficient evidence to show that the “meeting was not illegal.” &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;As for the seal used, he noted that it “as parish church property (its top read ‘Parish Church Affairs’), it was an internal Church matter and was not an official seal. At the centre it sports a sign of the cross rather the five-pointed star which symbolises the Chinese government.”&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;An eyewitness even testified that the “seal was made with the permission of the deputy director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, which comes under the Religious and National Affairs Bureau. Thus Father Wang could not be guilty.”&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;However, the prosecution called a policeman to the stand to say that consecration celebrations had caused local traffic problems. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;But according to the unofficial transcript, “everyone knows that the church is located in an isolated area, far from the main road, and that it has a big parking area.”&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;In his final plea, Father Wang’s defence attorney said that the charges were unfair and baseless, founded on “false testimonies.”&lt;SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;Before sentencing the judge suspended the trial in order to confer with the authorities.&lt;SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;After two days of discussion involving the political commissar (an influential member of the Communist Party) and representatives of the United Front and the Religious Affairs Bureau, no decision was taken. The judge turned instead to higher authorities for advice.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;The trial was resumed on November 14. More than 200 of Father Wang’s parishioners were present. But the session lasted only 10 minutes during which the judge sentenced the priest to three years in prison for organising an unlawful meeting.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;The defence attorney protested at the decision and said he would appeal.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;Parishioners tried to get close to the priest, but police agents removed him from the courtroom right away and took him away by car.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;The unofficial transcript made by some of the faithful present at the trial ends on some thoughts. It says that “this unjust sentence shows that there is no justice in China. On the one hand, they say there is religious freedom; on the other, Church members are arrested or done away with.”&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;“This unlawful sentence is a slap in the face of [President Hu Jintao’s] much-vaunted ‘harmonious society.’ Father Wang is but a helpless lamb that can be easily slaughtered, whilst the real criminals get away with facing the law.”&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;In the end what happened to Father Wang seems to confirm the idea that the Religious Affairs Bureau is engaged in a full-blown “normalisation” campaign against underground Churches in order to force them to register with the CCAP as the only way to carry out their ministry.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN&gt;But as Benedict XVI pointed out in his Letter to Chinese Catholics the CCAP is an entity “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/628720747/fr-wang-zhong-another-brother-in-chains/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Friday, March 09, 2007</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/575755198/item/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/575755198/item/</guid><pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:17:36 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;We need this guy.&amp;nbsp; If you care about the welfare of the Commonwealth of Virginia (and happen to be in agreement with the work of Bob Marshall), please read this and ask people you know in Manassas to work on his campaign.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;This is a&amp;nbsp;forward I got by email (and probably in the mailbox back in Swoope, VA, also).&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Mr. Woodard,&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;I desperately need your help and prayers to stay in office because not only are &lt;BR&gt;abortionists mad at me, my own Republican leadership is annoyed because I put everyone on &lt;BR&gt;record with my hardball parliamentary maneuvers.&amp;nbsp; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;You see, I managed to secure a first-time ever recorded vote in the House of Delegates &lt;BR&gt;since the 1973 Roe vs. Wade case on the main principle of the right to life movement, &lt;BR&gt;namely to protect all children in the womb from the very beginning of human life.&amp;nbsp; (See HB &lt;BR&gt;2797&amp;nbsp; &lt;A class=m1 href="http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+sum+HB2797" target=_blank&gt;http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+sum+HB2797&lt;/A&gt;)&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;Here is how the Washington Post (2-6-07) put it:&lt;BR&gt;â€œBut Marshall succeeded in getting to the House floor the bill to protect fertilized &lt;BR&gt;eggs and fetuses, which abortion rights advocates say would have amounted to a state ban &lt;BR&gt;on abortion. Last week, the Privileges and Elections Committee voted 12 to 7 to approve &lt;BR&gt;the legislation, which says that "life begins at the moment of fertilization" so &lt;BR&gt;the "Constitution of Virginia is vested in each&amp;nbsp; . . . human being from the moment of &lt;BR&gt;fertilization." &lt;BR&gt; When the bill came up for debate Monday, Republican leaders tried to have it sent back to &lt;BR&gt;committee. Besides avoiding a contentious floor debate, they hoped to shield some &lt;BR&gt;delegates from having to take a recorded vote on the issue. &lt;BR&gt; But Democrats, who see protecting abortion rights as a possible issue in this year's &lt;BR&gt;legislative elections, joined a dozen conservative Republicans to defeat the motion to &lt;BR&gt;return it to committee. Democrats then forced a recorded vote on the bill, which was &lt;BR&gt;defeated 53 to 43.â€&amp;nbsp; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;I probably cannot count on much help from the Republican Party in Richmond.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;That is why I need your financial help and prayers.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;My web site allows you to make a contribution (&lt;A class=m1 href="http://www.delegatebob.com/index.cfm" target=_blank&gt;http://www.delegatebob.com/index.cfm&lt;/A&gt;) and &lt;BR&gt;also lets you know about the broad range of bills I have introduced and my laws which have &lt;BR&gt;passed over the years (&lt;A class=m1 href="http://www.delegatebob.com/index.cfm" target=_blank&gt;http://www.delegatebob.com/index.cfm&lt;/A&gt;).&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;This year, for example, I sponsored laws that passed and which set up a state commission &lt;BR&gt;on Immigration, continues the Stem Cell Study Committee which I chair, lets localities &lt;BR&gt;establish electric power transmission corridors so power companies will not have to take &lt;BR&gt;private homes for big electric transmission lines, grants a tax break for handicapped or &lt;BR&gt;senior citizens and other laws. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;Please visit my web site and make an on-line contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more &lt;BR&gt;if you can afford it&amp;nbsp; &lt;A class=m1 href="http://www.delegatebob.com/index.cfm" target=_blank&gt;http://www.delegatebob.com/index.cfm&lt;/A&gt;.&amp;nbsp; There are no donation limits, &lt;BR&gt;and business or personal donations are allowed under Virginia law.&amp;nbsp; Or, if you like, you &lt;BR&gt;may send a check to me (Friends of Delegate Marshall) at PO Box 421, Manassas, VA 20108.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;I appreciate your help and support.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt; &lt;BR&gt;Delegate Bob Marshall&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;PS Virginia Planned Parenthood takes my HB 2797 as a threat to abortion on demand (&lt;A class=m1 href="http://www.delegatebob.com/index.cfm" target=_blank&gt;http://&lt;BR&gt;www.delegatebob.com/index.cfm&lt;/A&gt; ).&amp;nbsp; In politics, you know someone by the enemies they make. &lt;BR&gt;Please pass this on to a friend.&amp;nbsp; Thanks again.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;Paid for and authorized by Bob Marshall &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Que Ustedes reciban bendicciones en abundancia.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/575755198/item/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Mission Trip Video</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/574163493/mission-trip-video/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/574163493/mission-trip-video/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 03 Mar 2007 00:55:18 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efKT1Tp_ors" target="_new"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efKT1Tp_ors&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;This is a link to a 6-minute video that a friend of mine from North Carolina put together.&amp;nbsp; I am not in any of the pictures or video, because I was studying Spanish in Nicaragua when this was filmed in July of last year.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I hope you enjoy it.&amp;nbsp; If you want to come down for a visit, we´ve got room (if nowhere else, there´s usually floor space).&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/574163493/mission-trip-video/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>another request</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/565618611/another-request/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/565618611/another-request/</guid><pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:48:52 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;Howdy all!&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;I´m writing from hot, sunny Comayagua, with another petition.&amp;nbsp; Our mission (the Missioners of Christ)&amp;nbsp;runs some catechism and discipleship classes for children and young people, along the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (Fr. Groeschel´s order).&amp;nbsp; We´ve seen a lot of young people grow&amp;nbsp;tremendously&amp;nbsp;in their relationship with God, and&amp;nbsp;in the Faith, and this even amidst so much darkness—i.e. terrible influences from every side—and so much confusion—e.g. well-meaning Protestants, Mormons, and Jehovah´s Witnesses have met with enormous success here.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;As I´ve mentioned in previous notes, there´s plenty of work of all sorts to be done in the Church in &lt;?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /&gt;Honduras.&amp;nbsp; But right now, we need special help.&amp;nbsp; Some of the girls we teach and work with are living in situations of abuse.&amp;nbsp; They need to get out of their houses, and we want to help send them to a local Catholic boarding school.&amp;nbsp; We´ve discussed other ideas,&amp;nbsp;and this really is their only decent option.&amp;nbsp; But it is not going to be a possibility unless they have people helping them to&amp;nbsp;pay their monthly tuition fees ($40-$120/month).&amp;nbsp; And some of them are being offered free tuition from local evangelical church-schools, where they would certainly receive persecution for being Catholic, and might lose the Faith.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;We are also helping to pay for the uniforms and school supplies of kids in our catechism and discipleship programs who attend public schools.&amp;nbsp; Many families in our neighborhood cannot afford the $75 it costs at the beginning of each year for uniforms, books and school supplies.&amp;nbsp; Thus, many children do not make it to middle school, and so the cycle of poverty continues.&lt;?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;I don´t want to beg, but I guess that´s what I´m doing.&amp;nbsp; Please help these kids.&amp;nbsp; A little goes a long way here, and gives kids a lot of opportunities that they wouldn´t have otherwise.&amp;nbsp; In helping our brothers and sisters here, it´s often the difference between a broken life and a good, godly life.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;Regardless of whether you can help financially, please pray for the children we work with.&amp;nbsp; Perhaps you can offer your Friday fast this week&amp;nbsp;for the Body of Christ in Honduras.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;If you´re interested in receiving&amp;nbsp;pictures and biographies of some of the young ladies we especially need to help, or for more information of any sort about the work I´m doing with the Missioners of Christ and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, write me at &lt;A href="mailto:joe_catholic@juno.com" target="_new"&gt;joe_catholic@juno.com&lt;/A&gt;, or Jenny Perone (our sponsorship program coordinator)&amp;nbsp;at &lt;A href="mailto:jperone@missioners.org" target="_new"&gt;jperone@missioners.org&lt;/A&gt;.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;Grace and peace be with you.&amp;nbsp; And Happy Feast Day of the Conversion of Saint Paul!&amp;nbsp; May God&amp;nbsp;make&amp;nbsp;us to&amp;nbsp;see as clearly and to&amp;nbsp;work as&amp;nbsp;passionately as did St. Paul.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/565618611/another-request/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Sunday, December 24, 2006</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/558320687/item/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/558320687/item/</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Dec 2006 12:54:51 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;I went to bed early Friday night, slept all day yesterday, and went to bed early last night.&amp;nbsp; 24 hours of sleep.&amp;nbsp; Praise God.&amp;nbsp; I was the sickest I´ve been since the first few days I was here back in June.&amp;nbsp; Besides the symptoms I have to deal with related to my near-syncope condition (exhaustion, dizziness, and a weak stomach due to all the coffee I have to drink to get through a day), I´ve been doing relatively well down here.&amp;nbsp; Thanks be to God.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;So much good stuff has been happening the past several weeks:&lt;BR&gt;1. EJE (Equipo Juvenil de Evangelización--Youth Evangelization Team) and their monthly class with Fr. Harold, which draws about 20-25 college-age kids each month, for three hours of intensive Bible study, then an hour of apologetics study or personal Bible study (Lectio Divina), then dinner, followed by a couple hours of prayer and worship.&amp;nbsp; It´s a beautiful time, all held in the Friars´ &lt;EM&gt;convento&lt;/EM&gt; (in Spanish, at least here, friars live in convents, and nuns live in monasteries)&amp;nbsp;.&amp;nbsp; These young people are going to do so much for the Body of Christ in the coming decades.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;2. Retiro de Liderazco (Leadership Retreat)--about 75 people, mostly college-age, came to Casa Guadalupe (the humongous U.S.-style ministry center of the Friars) for a weekend to learn about leading various types of ministries in their parishes.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A lot of the folks from EJE helped us out for this.&amp;nbsp; This was in mid-November, before the Chapel area of Casa G. was ready.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;3. Thanksgiving dinner (Fiesta del Día de Acción de Gracias)--A couple dozen families from the barrio (neighborhood) came to Casa Guadalupe for a big Thanksgiving feast.&amp;nbsp; I imagine very few of them had never seen cranberry sauce before.&amp;nbsp; It´s something I feel a bit strange about, making such huge volumes of food, as it´s more food than a lot of these people have ever seen in their lives, and richer.&amp;nbsp; But Carol (who heads up the Missioners of Christ community down here)&amp;nbsp;feels we should give our best to the poor, physically as well as spiritually.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;4. Retreat in El Florida (a mountain area on the border of El Salvador, about 3 hours by car)--300 young people came, and a great many&amp;nbsp;of them walked an hour or two each morning to get there, and each night to go home.&amp;nbsp; Padre Maximiliano (Fr. Max) has not been ordained for a year, and has already 56 villages for his parish.&amp;nbsp; I don´t think he sleeps very much.&amp;nbsp; He was overjoyed during the retreat, and afterwards, at teh fruits borne out in the lives of the young people.&lt;BR&gt;I wasn´t able to attend (somebody had to stay home, and it certainly would have exhausted me thoroughly because of all the walking required), but I was told that the Holy Spirit worked powerfully there.&amp;nbsp; Lives changed, the faith of many strengthened, and young people raised up as spiritual leaders in their communities--and this is happening&amp;nbsp;where leaders are needed, thanks be to God.&amp;nbsp; Fr. Max can only get around to each village about 5 times a year, sometimes only twice a year--and that´s a better job than many Honduran priests in similar situations.&amp;nbsp; The retreat was led by the Missioners, EJE folks, and a few contacts on Fr. Max´s side.&amp;nbsp; Prayer, teaching, praise and worship, Mass, adoration,&amp;nbsp;and a Eucharistic procession&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;5. Friars´ monthly food handout--There are over 100 families in the neighborhood that receive help from the Friars each month.&amp;nbsp; A sack filled with rice, beans, sugar, salt, and oil.&amp;nbsp; They´ve also all recently received a Bible.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Br. Damiano,&amp;nbsp;a very&amp;nbsp;cool fellow, who has become a very Franciscan friar, is in charge of this ministry of the Friars.&amp;nbsp; He was in his late-20´s, living the American dream (money, women, a beautiful Harley that he worshipped), when he visited Assisi and was profoundly converted.&amp;nbsp; Then he found the Friars in New York, and he´s been down here the past three years, being an apostle to the poor.&amp;nbsp; He is out most days visiting different families, talking and praying with them, and encouraging them in the Faith.&amp;nbsp; And needy people come to the Friars´ convent every day,&amp;nbsp;usually asking&amp;nbsp;for Br. Damiano.&lt;BR&gt;As it happened, I was terribly dizzy the morning of December´s food handout, so I couldn´t help out.&amp;nbsp; But what happens is that everybody gathers in the Friars´ chapel (it´s very crowded--I´m glad they don´t have to worry about fire code restrictions down here yet), there is praise music for a bit, the Rosary, and a talk by one of the Friars.&amp;nbsp; The children leave during the talk to go do some craft or coloring project in a classroom-ish area in the convent.&amp;nbsp; Then families come in one by one to receive their sacks of food.&amp;nbsp; A couple Missioners, a Friar, and a few kids from the catechism classes fill up the sacks, and the mothers go their happy way back home with a huge sack on the their heads (only a couple fathers come, disabled men--on an indirectly related note, it´s surprising to find a&amp;nbsp;man with his wife and his own&amp;nbsp;children here--the situation is incomparably worse even than in the States).&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;6. Mountain mission to El Florida--The retreat I mentioned above was the culmination of 3 1/2 weeks of missioning throughout a number of villages in the El Florida area.&amp;nbsp; The team consisted of Andrew (the only gringo who went), Meynor, Daniel (a 17-year-old guy, very mature, probably going to be a priest), Ana and Juan Carlos (two more EJE folks).&amp;nbsp; I can´t remember if anyone else was there the whole time, but a few other people were there for the retreat and for several more days of missioning afterwards--Alyson, Isis, Lorena, and Lenin (the oldest guy on the team--he turned 25 the day he got back from the mission--he&amp;nbsp;intends to be a missionary).&lt;BR&gt;Everybody who went on the mission was greatly strengthened in the Faith, to see the faith of the people, many of whom did not know how to read, and therefore did not have the blessing of being able to read the Bible, but who received the Word of God enthusiastically when they gathered together on Sundays for the Proclamation of the Word, and for the preaching and sharing by the local delegate of Fr. Max.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The people are often&amp;nbsp;overjoyed when Fr. Max comes to celebrate the Eucharist with them, to teach the Word of God and encourage them in the Faith.&amp;nbsp; But so much work must be done for these people to be able to live the Faith more fully.&amp;nbsp; More teaching and discipleship is needed, and more priests.&lt;BR&gt;Everywhere the team went, they set up youth groups, at the request of Fr. Max.&amp;nbsp; Fr. Max has a burning desire to&amp;nbsp;see his generation changed (he is 28), and is working zealously to that end.&amp;nbsp; If we don´t,&amp;nbsp;Evangelical&amp;nbsp;groups, as well as the Mormons and Jehovah´s Witnesses, are going to bring these people to conversion, but not with the fulness of the Gospel message.&lt;BR&gt;The team got back safe and healthy and in joyous spirits, having been sick very little, praise be to God, despite the cold and exhaustion and all manner of unsafe-looking food and drink.&amp;nbsp; And they had very much to share about the work they had seen God do.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;7. I really will finish this at some point.&amp;nbsp; No, really.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/558320687/item/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Planned Parenthood--America´s Sex Retailer</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/552508126/planned-parenthood--america%c2%b4s-sex-retailer/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/552508126/planned-parenthood--america%c2%b4s-sex-retailer/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 02 Dec 2006 18:03:35 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;December 2, 2006&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;It's the holiday season and retailers all across the country are scurrying to attract shoppers into their stores. The super sales on "Black Friday" have given way to price cuts and free giveaways as the giant chains go after every customer they can get.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion chain and one of the biggest drug chains in the country, is no exception. In a brazen move to promote sexual activity, many Planned Parenthood-affiliates across the country are giving away a free Plan B "emergency contraceptive" kit to anyone who comes to their facilities and asks for one on December 6, 2006.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Because the Food and Drug Administration has approved over-the-counter sales of Plan B for people 18 and older, these products can be given out at will. If you are under 18, Planned Parenthood is also encouraging you to come in and get one and implies there will be very little hassle.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Although most news stories reporting on this event talk about women getting the kit, men can also go in and get it. In fact, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri has a flier with the headline, "MEN GET FREE EC? YES."&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Now we know that many teenage girls under 18 are in sexual relationships with men over 18. Some are consensual and some are abusive. A number of the "consensual" relationships are actually statutory rape because of the age of the girl. Yet here is Planned Parenthood advertising that men over 18 are welcome to come in and pick up a free Plan B kit. Clearly this will enable these men to continue abusing and raping these girls with an increased perception that they will not get pregnant.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;You might ask why Planned Parenthood is conducting this promotion. What does it have to gain? Planned Parenthood says the promotion is "in celebration of the FDA approving over-the-counter status of Plan B." But the real answer lies in the following two facts.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;First, Planned Parenthood normally sells Plan B for significantly more than what it pays for it. Planned Parenthood has an arrangement with Barr Pharmaceutical that allows Planned Parenthood to purchase each Plan B kit for $4.25. A survey of Planned Parenthood affiliates shows that the average price Planned Parenthood charges for each kit is between $25 and $30. Thus, if Planned Parenthood can sell an additional Plan B kit to one of every six people who come for the free kit, it will cover all its costs.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Second, although Planned Parenthood felt that the over-the-counter approval of Plan B would send sales skyrocketing, this has not happened. In fact, on November 26, in Trenton, New Jersey, The &lt;EM&gt;Times&lt;/EM&gt; ran a story headlined: "OTC sales slow for morning after pill." Thus, like any good retailer, Planned Parenthood is running this free giveaway promotion to get more people interested in this product — which Planned Parenthood sells at a significant markup.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Although this promotion is being held across the country, not every Planned Parenthood affiliate is participating. Planned Parenthood is a federation of 117 separate affiliates that are each independently incorporated and must follow overall standards imposed from the national office. However, like many other franchise operations, the independent affiliates can choose whether or not to participate in promotions such as this.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Some affiliates are more reluctant than others to give up even a little bit of profit. For example, in Dallas, Planned Parenthood of North Texas is limiting the free giveaway to "new patients only" and these new patients "must receive an initial exam to take advantage of the free EC." This insures that it will at least get a new customer on board, plus a fee for the initial exam, for the $4.25 each kit given away will cost it.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Planned Parenthood has recently announced plans to become more aggressive in pushing what it considers the positive aspects of its operations. Obviously, this marketing campaign is designed to drive people into its stores and to increase its income and profits. After all, the $272 million it gets from the United States taxpayers just isn't enough to cover all the sex programs it wants to push.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Planned Parenthood likes to portray itself as a healthcare organization, but the fact is that it is just a sex retailer. It makes money from the sale of birth control, abortions and other sex-related products. "Oh, no," Planned Parenthood will protest, "we charge on a sliding scale fee." Yet whatever the scale is, it resulted last year in the organization achieving a profit of $63 million. Over the last 19 years it has made a profit every year, with the total profit now standing at $649.6 million.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Now the organization has come up with this free giveaway to drive up customer traffic and, Planned Parenthood hopes, kick-start the sale of Plan B, while further increasing Planned Parenthood profits.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Over the course of the last month, Planned Parenthood has sent two communications to its supporters that specifically identify American Life League as its chief opponent. With Planned Parenthood targeting our young people (70% of its birth control customers are under the age of 25) and killing our preborn children (255,015 in 2004), American Life League will continue to oppose Planned Parenthood until the organization is forced to close its doors because it can't get to our children or our money.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Jim Sedlak is vice president of American Life League. Jim is known worldwide as an expert on Planned Parenthood and has authored books and articles about Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Jim is also a regular guest on TV and radio shows.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class=copyright-footer&gt;(This update courtesy of the &lt;A href="http://www.all.org/" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;American Life League&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;.)&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=copyright-footer&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=copyright-footer&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=copyright-footer&gt;This is rather depressing.&amp;nbsp; However, far more upsetting to me, was an incident of a few days ago.&amp;nbsp; My friend Normando came by, and I saw that he had some pamphlets with him on contraceptives (&lt;EM&gt;anticonceptivos&lt;/EM&gt;).&amp;nbsp; I asked to see them--he had just gotten them that morning during class, if I remember him correctly.&amp;nbsp; They were instruction pamphlets on how to use condoms (&lt;EM&gt;condones&lt;/EM&gt;), with clear instructions and drawings.&amp;nbsp; I looked on the back of one of the pamphlets.&amp;nbsp; Red Cross of Honduras (&lt;EM&gt;Cruz Roja Hondureña&lt;/EM&gt;), Educational Cooperative of Honduras, some other organization, and &lt;EM&gt;La Iglesia Episcopal&lt;/EM&gt;.&amp;nbsp; That was more depressing than seeing this article about Planned Parenthood.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=copyright-footer&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=copyright-footer&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/552508126/planned-parenthood--america%c2%b4s-sex-retailer/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Friday, December 01, 2006</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/552185639/item/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/552185639/item/</guid><pubDate>Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:34:31 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;From a note to a friend working at an orphanage in northern Honduras.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Here are the pictures of Gandhi.&lt;BR&gt;Jenny and I&amp;nbsp;went to Mass at the Missionaries of Charity this morning, with Daniel and Frai Pablo, and&amp;nbsp;another Friar visiting and working on construction.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The MoC´s are so beautiful, and so joyful.&amp;nbsp; There are only four of them there right now, because one sister from northern India has gone home to visit her family (for the first time in 10 years), and another is with a house in Tegucigalpa that only had three sisters.&amp;nbsp; The other Indian sister--I can´t remember her name--is still heading things up here.&lt;BR&gt;Jenny and I are the only ones here this weekend, though there will certainly be plenty of folks passing through.&amp;nbsp; The rest are all headed to El Florida, to give a retreat for 250-300 youth.&amp;nbsp; Please pray for them, and ask others&amp;nbsp;there at the Finca to do the same.&amp;nbsp; This is the first retreat the pastor has gotten to have in his parish (which covers 56 aldeas).&amp;nbsp; A lot of youth are walking an hour or two each morning and night to attend.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Alright, I´ve gotta get to work.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Grace and peace,&lt;BR&gt;Joseph&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;P.S.&amp;nbsp; Beau is an awesome guy.&amp;nbsp; What a blessing he must have been at the Finca.&amp;nbsp; He is going to be an incredible priest.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;"...beauty&amp;nbsp;will&amp;nbsp;save&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;world"&lt;BR&gt;--Fyodor&amp;nbsp;Dostoevsky,&amp;nbsp;The&amp;nbsp;Idiot&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/552185639/item/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>call D.C.</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/551771827/call-dc/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/551771827/call-dc/</guid><pubDate>Thu, 30 Nov 2006 03:39:24 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;Hearings for H.R. 552 The Right to Life Act (www.righttolifeact.org) are scheduled for Dec. 12.&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;But there's a push to close this session of Congress before Dec. 12.&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;Please contact the Capitol switchboard, ask for Reps. Hastert and Boehner, and tell their offices that you do not want them to close this session of Congress until hearings have been held on The Right to Life Act.&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;The capitol switchboard number is 1-202-225-3121.&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;Please call now (unless it´s after hours and you´re not able to leave a message--in which case you should call back during work hours).&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Also, we went over to the Ramirez´s house tonight for dinner.&amp;nbsp; Rosa, the mother, is a beautiful example of Christ´s love.&amp;nbsp; She has four children who live with her, three of whom are mentally and physically handicapped.&amp;nbsp; They can´t walk, and can do very little for themselves, but Rosa loves them, and they are happy.&amp;nbsp; Two of them are twins, and turned sixteen today.&amp;nbsp; We brought barbecued chicken and watermelon and chocolate cake and strawberry ice cream.&amp;nbsp; A bit much, perhaps, but we wanted to show them our love, and to &lt;EM&gt;dar animo&lt;/EM&gt; (give spirit/encouragement) to Rosa and the kids.&amp;nbsp; Rosa feeds and bathes and loves them all day long, every day.&amp;nbsp; There is no man in the house, so they have to beg from the Friars, and from us--and perhaps from others.&lt;BR&gt;Somebody from our house regularly goes over to their house for physical therapy sessions with the children, and they are making progress.&amp;nbsp; The oldest, Sady, is able to walk without much help now, which is incredible.&lt;BR&gt;Please pray for the Ramirez´s, that God will use this family for His Kingdom.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Also, something's cool going on in Wisconsin: &lt;A href="http://www.prolifewisconsin.org/ProtectPreborn.htm" target=_blank&gt;&lt;FONT face=Arial color=#346da2&gt;http://www.prolifewisconsin.org/ProtectPreborn.htm&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Jesus, Jesus, take my heart and never give it back to me.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;BR&gt;--St. Crispin of Viterbo&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/551771827/call-dc/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Tuesday, November 28, 2006</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/551198193/item/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/551198193/item/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:55:12 GMT</pubDate><description>So much is happening.&amp;nbsp; So much worth sharing.&amp;nbsp; Soon.&lt;BR&gt;Pray for us, for the Body of Christ, Her unity and health and saltiness here in Honduras.</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/551198193/item/#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>regarding  Mr. Allen</title><link>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/538264487/regarding--mr-allen/</link><guid>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/538264487/regarding--mr-allen/</guid><pubDate>Sun, 15 Oct 2006 15:18:02 GMT</pubDate><description>If you live inVirginia, you probably shouldn´t vote for George Allen, either&amp;nbsp;on this&amp;nbsp;Nov. 7, 2006 for re-election&amp;nbsp;as US Senator, or in 2008 if he decides to run for President.&amp;nbsp; If you demand that a candidate, for whatever office, actually be pro-life, you can do what a lot of people are doing, which is to write "Pro-Life Rita" in the ballot.&amp;nbsp; Rita is not a candidate, of course, but the idea is to get people recognizing that there is a large contingent that refuse to vote for a candidate with a wishy-washy platform regarding pre-born lives.&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;For your information, Bob Goodlatte cosponsored the Congressional Right to Life Act.&amp;nbsp; And he´s a pretty nice guy.&amp;nbsp; Not the best haircut in the world, but nevertheless, I´d recommend you vote for him.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;EM&gt;It was revealed on &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title="August 8" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_8" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;August 8&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;, 2006 that Allen owned stock in Barr Laboratories Inc., the only American maker of the Plan B "&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title="Morning after pill" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_after_pill" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;morning after pill&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;", an &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title="Emergency contraception" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_contraception" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;emergency contraceptive&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt; that is supposed to prevent &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title=Pregnancy href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;pregnancy&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt; if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. The Webb campaign criticized Allen for holding stock in a company that makes a product that many of his supporters oppose. Allen responded by saying that he holds the stock because Barr Labs has created jobs in Virginia, and by pointing to his consistently &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title=Pro-life href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro-life" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;pro-life&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt; voting record.&lt;SUP class=reference id=_ref-42&gt;&lt;A title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Allen_(U.S._politician)#_note-42" target=_blank&gt; [52]&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt; Consistent with his ownership of stock in Barr Laboratories Inc., Allen supports &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title="Abortion debate" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_debate" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;abortion&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt; before &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title=Viability href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viability" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;viability&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt; (as well as for people resulting from incest, rape and &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title=IVF href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IVF" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;IVF&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;, and before (rather than during) a medical procedure is performed on the mother (see &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title="Double effect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_effect" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;double effect&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;), and who have a gross fetal abnormality) &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A class="external autonumber" title=http://www.rnclife.org/faxnotes/2006/apr06/06-04-07.html href="http://www.rnclife.org/faxnotes/2006/apr06/06-04-07.html" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;[6]&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;EM&gt;&lt;/EM&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Allen married Anne Patrice Rubel in June 1979, and he divorced her in 1983. Allen remarried Susan Brown in June &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title=1986 href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;1986&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt; and the couple have three &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title=Child href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;children&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;: Tyler, Forrest, and Brooke. The Allens are residents of &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title="Mount Vernon, Virginia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vernon%2C_Virginia" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Mount Vernon&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;, &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A title=Virginia href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia" target=_blank&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Virginia&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;EM&gt;&lt;/EM&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Maybe I shouldn´t make my blog gossip-ey, but I´m pretty sure various of you who live in Virginia are actually interested in having this information.&lt;/DIV&gt;</description><comments>http://randomcollegestudent.xanga.com/538264487/regarding--mr-allen/#firstcomment</comments></item></channel></rss>