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EMarshallBuckles
Member
| Joined: | Mon Nov 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rockville (Near Richmond), Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 618 |
| First Name: | Marshall | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Christian Church,Episcopal Church,Baptist denomination,learning about RCC |
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Posted: Fri Dec 28th, 2007 11:06 am |
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On December 28, each year, according to the church calendar, we remember the Holy Innocents killed by the wicked Herod who sought to kill Jesus. Sadly, they were not the only innocents killed through the ages both before and after. Horribly, humans have often engaged in human sacrifice, usually of children and young people in pagan religious rites. Children have also been killed in instances of child abuse. My wife is a Senior Child Protective Services Social Worker of over 30 years service now. She cannot and does not violate confidentiality, however, in a general, appropriate manner, I have been sadly aware of the huge amount of child abuse, neglect and even murder which too often occurs in a society supposedly as advanced and enlightened as ours. At one point, my wife even had to work with a case involving the occult, ritual sacrifice of a child here in our state, of all places. Also, in his Holy Innocents Day homily, during the Mass televised by Eternal Word Television Network, Father Mark Mary, a great preacher, remembered the millions upon millions of lives lost due to abortions. If our nation and world does nothing else, during our lifetime, we need to strongly focus on STOPPING the child abuse, the child murder and the abortions which take place in our world.
I pray, using a prayer found in the Book of Common Prayer, praying with all my heart: "We remember this day, O God, the slaughter of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem by order of King Herod. Receive, we beseech You, into the arms of Your mercy all innocent victims; and, by Your great might, frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish Your rule of justice, love and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever! AMEN!"
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Michael Ewing
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | Iowa USA |
| Posts: | 59 |
| First Name: | Mike | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Cradle Catholic, spiritually left the Church during late teens, dabbled ... |
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Posted: Fri Dec 28th, 2007 06:14 pm |
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Hi Marshall,
Amen to all that you are saying!!
Your wife is a brave woman for her line of work. She is a true servant. The two of you will be in my prayers. The strain her line of work must put on your marriage is hard for me to fathom, let alone the psychological impact it must have on your family. God bless you both!
I had, what I thought was, a really great reply written to this topic an hour or so ago, but when I went to post it, there must have been a "hiccup" of some sort as it was lost. I will be sure to copy and paste everything I prepare to post from now on, as this is the second time I have had this happen.
This very morning, I read in our local newspaper about a man who was arrested for having sexually abused a 7 year old girl. If someone is looking for proof that evil (and/or Satan) exists, nothing testifies to that fact greater than child abuse, in my opinion.
Sadly, we all know someone (whether we are aware of it or not), who have had child abuse touch their lives. This, to me, is a very disturbing issue, and I wonder if your wife has seen any trends develop over the course of her career, ie, things getting worse, etc. Any light that you or her could shed on this would be very much appreciated. Obviously, as you touched on in your message, there are concerns about confidentiality, and I totally respect those boundaries.
I believe there is a general lack of appreciation for the sanctity of human life, and I know this is not profound, but something we have been taught by our Church and by the Holy Spirit witnessing in our hearts (through what secularists would call "conscience"), and I believe we are experiencing a saturation, so to speak, of evil. I would venture that Marshall's wife, and anyone in the law enforcement field, could testify to the feeling that things are generally getting worse. I may be wrong, but I don't think that I am just paranoid or pessimistic. Anyone else?
You also touched on a topic near and dear to my heart, which is abortion. Even while I was away from the Church, experiencing a "liberal phase" (that's lame, but I can't think of anything else to call it), abortion was still something that I felt was fundamentally wrong.
I'm no anthropologist or psychologist, but I have to believe that the general "acceptance" of abortion by our society as a secular topic (I believe it is a spiritual topic, first and foremost), has influenced a deeper feeling that life is not as precious as we as Christians know it is.
What can we do about it? First of all, pray! Secondly, influence our family and children in the right ways by, among other things, clinging to the values of the Church. Thirdly, we can vote.
I am not here to prop up any candidates, nor am I affiliated with any political party, in fact, I am registered "undecided." I would just like everyone to consider what I believe to be a very important issue in choosing a political candidate to support. To me, where a candidate stands on abortion is critical, in and of itself, but also speaks volumes about that person's character. It brings to mind the Biblical metaphors about seeing whether someone "bears good fruit." To me, where a candidate stands on issues is more important than what he or she says they are going to do when they get into office. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words.
I am concerned, I guess, that Catholics may be losing sight of what we believe, and are letting media outlets and celebrity endorsements of candidates cloud our vision of what we believe and who we should vote for.
In fact, my local Catholic High School had Barack Obama speak this past week, as the Iowa Caucus is next week. While I respect the school for exposing people to many candidates, my fear is that people will miss the important issues and instead be swayed by false promises.
I have gone off on a huge tangent here, and for that, I apologize, but please pray, consider where the Church stands on specific topics (like abortion), and vote accordingly. What we say about the sanctity of life, both literally and figuratively (with our votes and our dollars spent), will echo through everything else we take part in.
Thanks for your message, Marshall. I appreciate you sharing that with us.
God Bless you all.
Mike Ewing
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"Jesus said to him : I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" - John 14:6
"Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up" - Gal 6:9
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JillD
Member
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Visalia, California USA |
| Posts: | 766 |
| First Name: | Jill | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | heathen, EvFree, Messianic, LC-MS, Catholic 2007 |
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Posted: Fri Dec 28th, 2007 07:31 pm |
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Stories of the abuse of children make me sick. There was one in the news today, a 2-year-old girl found murdered, floating in Galveston Bay, severely beaten by her mother and stepfather. 'Turns my stomach.
The irony is that one of the justifications for abortion was that it would decrease child abuse. If anything, it seems like it's increased. Even "wanted" children get abused.
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"I praise you, for I am wondrously made. Wonderful are our works! My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret." Ps 139
"Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men." Ps 140
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EMarshallBuckles
Member
| Joined: | Mon Nov 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rockville (Near Richmond), Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 618 |
| First Name: | Marshall | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Christian Church,Episcopal Church,Baptist denomination,learning about RCC |
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Posted: Wed Jan 2nd, 2008 01:12 pm |
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| Mike thank you so much for your prayers!! And I agree with the other things you said as well. By the way, while my wife's job has been stressful, I have always been very supportive of her, prayed for her and, if anything, the stress has drawn us closer. We also have a beloved, precious daughter who knows that she is dearly loved, treasured and she is well taken care of each and every day! Also, I too have written responses or original posts only to have them "go off into limbo", however, apparently there are some problems with the server which are being worked out. Oh well! I guess some writing practice doesn't hurt, ha, ha! Anyway, thanks again, Mike! May God bless you and yours!
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Michael Ewing
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | Iowa USA |
| Posts: | 59 |
| First Name: | Mike | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Cradle Catholic, spiritually left the Church during late teens, dabbled ... |
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Posted: Wed Jan 2nd, 2008 04:35 pm |
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Marshall,
Clearly you and your wife have your eyes on what's most important. Thanks for sharing your story, it's very inspiring!
Mike Ewing
____________________
"Jesus said to him : I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" - John 14:6
"Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up" - Gal 6:9
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