Libera -- "Gloria"

A Homily by Father Franklyn M. McAfee - "As for Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord"

Homily of Reverend Franklyn M. McAfee, D.D.

Pastor Emeritus

St. John the Beloved Catholic Church

McLean, Virginia

October 12, 2008

Sir Kenneth Clark's "Civilisation: The Light of Experience"

In this eighth episode of Lord Clark's "Civilisation" series, he examines the revolutionary change in thought that replaced Divine Authority with experience, experiment and observation.

Officials Think SC Civil War Flag Found In Iowa

From the Chicago Tribune

Researchers seem to have solved the mystery of what happened to the "Big Red" flag flown by Citadel cadets when they fired on a ship trying to resupply Fort Sumter three months before the Civil War.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports a 10-by-7-foot flag with a large white Palmetto tree and a white crescent on a red field has been located in storage at an Iowa museum.

Researchers think it is the same flag that flew over Morris Island when cadets fired on the supply ship Star of the West, forcing the ship to turn away, in January of 1861.

The Civil War began that April with a Confederate bombardment of Union-held Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

The Citadel adopted a replica of the red flag as a spirit flag almost 20 years ago. But it was unclear what happened to the original.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Americans Becoming More Po-Life; 42% Don’t Know Obama’s ‘Pro-Choice’

A new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center has found declining support for legalized abortion and widespread ignorance of President Barack Obama’s position on the issue. 45% of Americans-- and 45% of Catholics-- believe that abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, while 47% of Americans-- and 45% of Catholics-- believe that abortion should be legal in most or all cases. In 2007-8, 41% of Americans and 42% of Catholics were pro-life, while 54% of Americans and 53% of Catholics said abortion should be legal in most or all circumstances.

Catholics who attend Mass weekly are now pro-life by a 67%-26% margin (compared to 57%-36% in 2007-8).

Remarkably, 42% of Americans-- and the majority of moderate and conservative Democrats-- do not know that President Barack Obama is “pro-choice.”

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Support for Abortion Slips (Pew Research Center)

US Homeschooling Hero Close to Death

From LifeSiteNews
By Hilary White

A major figure in the worldwide effort to provide legal protection for homeschoolers is seriously ill with complications related to multiple sclerosis. The family and colleagues of Chris Klicka, an attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), said he is not likely to return to his Virginia home and are asking for prayers after Klicka became critically ill with infections and problems with blood pressure.

Klicka's condition has been deteriorating since late August, as he has lost more mobility and the ability to swim, walk or stand, according to family members. On Saturday, September 26, his wife Tracy Klicka wrote on the family's blog of her husband's desire to attend a national homeschooling conference to "say goodbye ourselves to these dear homeschool leaders and friends."

Klicka was taken to the emergency room of a hospital in Colorado Springs on Friday in critical condition. On Sunday, with her husband in the ICU at St. Francis Medical Center, Tracy Klicka wrote, "Chris is close to going home [to God] we believe. He is fairly unconscious, non-responsive and has had no nutrition since Thursday except hydration and electrolyte and glucose supplementation."

"With almost complete certainty, he will not be coming home to Virginia."

Yesterday, Tracy wrote that Chris's condition had stabilized and the fluid on his lungs had reduced and he is being moved into home hospice care with a local family.

Klicka is Senior Counsel of the HSLDA as well as Director of State and International Relations. As such he has become a leading figure in the fight for families from Europe who face the removal of their children and even arrest and prison sentences by governments. He is also the author of several books including Home Schooling: The Right Choice, The Heart of Home Schooling, and his latest book, Home School Heroes.

On the family's blog CaringBridge, Klicka's family said they have been "overwhelmed" by the responses from supporters and that they are grateful for the inquiries about financial donations.

The HSLDA is the world's leading non-profit legal defense organization for homeschooling families and represents thousands of such families in the US and Europe. The group has spent years lobbying in Washington and at the state level for the rights of homeschoolers under the US constitution and through affiliation with European groups for those who operate in countries where homeschooling is under threat.

To make a financial contribution:
Christopher Klicka
6779 Riley Rd.
Warrenton, VA 20187

Or click here.

A Homily by Father Franklyn M. McAfee - "The Beauty of Religious Life"

Homily of Reverend Franklyn M. McAfee, D.D.

Pastor Emeritus

St. John the Beloved Catholic Church

McLean, Virginia

September 21, 2008