Using Babies for Gluttony?

Most of us are familiar with Aborted fetal cell lines being used to manufacture vaccinations. If that detail is not morbid enough, it seems a company is using human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce "receptors" that function as a means to measure flavor.

In 2010, the pro-life organization wrote to Senomyx CEO Kent Snyder, pointing out that moral options for testing their food additives could and should be used. But when Senomyx ignored their letter, they wrote to the companies Senomyx listed on their website as "collaborators" warning them of public backlash and threatened boycott. Food giants Pepsico, Kraft Foods, Campbell Soup, Solae and Nestlé are the primary targets of the boycott, though Senomyx boasts other international partners on their website.

Senomyx website states that "The company's key flavor programs focus on the discovery and development of savory, sweet and salt flavor ingredients that are intended to allow for the reduction of MSG, sugar and salt in food and beverage products....Using isolated human taste receptors, we created proprietary taste receptor-based assay systems that provide a biochemical or electronic readout when a flavor ingredient interacts with the receptor."

Senomyx notes their collaborators provide them research and development funding plus royalties on sales of products using their flavor ingredients.

"What they do not tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors", stated Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director for Children of God for Life, a pro-life watch dog group that has been monitoring the use of aborted fetal material in medical products and cosmetics for years.

"They could have easily chosen COS (monkey) cells, Chinese Hamster Ovary cells, insect cells or other morally obtained human cells expressing the G protein for taste receptors", Vinnedge added.

In writing to their collaborators, it took three letters before Nestlé finally admitted the truth about their relationship with Senomyx, noting the cell line was "well established in scientific research".

After hearing Ms Vinnedge speak publicly on the problem, angry consumers began writing the companies. Both Pepsico and Campbell Soup immediately responded.

Shockingly, Pepsico wrote: "We hope you are reassured to learn that our collaboration with Senomyx is strictly limited to creating lower-calorie, great-tasting beverages for consumers. This will help us achieve our commitment to reduce added sugar per serving by 25% in key brands in key markets over the next decade and ultimately help people live healthier lives."

Campbell Soup was more concerned in their response: "Every effort is made to use the finest ingredients and develop the greatest selection of products, all at a great value. With this in mind, it must be said that the trust we have cultivated and developed over the years with our consumers is not worth compromising to cut costs or increase profit margins."

While Campbell did not state they would change their methods, still their response, gave Vinnedge hope. [Update: Cambell Soup is no longer in partnership with Senomyx.]

"If enough people voice their outrage and intent to boycott these consumer products, it can be highly effective in convincing Senomyx to change their methods", she noted. "Otherwise, we will be buying Coca-Cola, Lipton soups and Hershey products!"

Despite the cuteness of this angry baby picture, and my lack of ability to phrase a suitable title to this post... We should all be upset by the absolute ridiculousness of aborted children, and even more enraged about the use of those children for things such as vaccines and food. I'll take my clogged arteries and high blood pressure over food additives that were created through the help of aborted fetal cells. This is sick.

TFP Rally at Newport

While the TFP Brown University Video is down, I wanted to post another example of the typical responses the TFP receives while defending traditional marriage.

Read more about the Newport waterfront rally.

RCTV: Apologetics

Having access to RCTV premium content as a subscriber, I have been given permission to post occasional links to premium content. If you find value in the content, I recommend making a donation, or purchasing a subscription from RCTV.

The embedded video is the introduction class to Apologetics.



This program is from RealCatholicTV.com

We are not Taliban Catholics...

John Allen,

We are not Taliban Catholics. Your comments and defense of your use of the term should be examined. Stop embracing the noxious mentality of the National Catholic Reporter, and do something constructive with your writing ability.

Jimmy Akin writes:

...

Allen then recounts how he was politely taken to task by a member of the audience he was addressing and offers two defenses of his use of the term "Taliban Catholicism."

First, he says that he uses the terms "Catholic Lite" and "Taliban Catholicism" not to describe specific people but states of mind. Second, he says that he doesn't use them to refer to the left or right portions of the theological/political/whatever spectrum and that both exist on both sides of the spectrum.

These are pretty weak excuses to my mind.

Unless one has the linguistic bullheadedness of Humpty Dumpty, it should be recognized that words do not just have stipulative definitions where you get to use them the way you want to, with no thought to the real-world consequences.

...

But there’s an even more fundamental problem.

There is just no parity whatsoever between Weigel's term "Catholic Lite" (incorporating a reference to low-calorie food products) and Allen's own "Taliban Catholicism" (incorporating a reference to murderous thugs with whom we are at war).

It is as if Allen had used the phrase "Al-Qa'eda Catholicism" or "Nazi Catholicism."

Now matter how many Humpty Dumpty games you play with these terms, they are just going to generate more heat than light.

Allen is smart enough to know that.

Pro-Homosexuals at Brown University Respond to Peaceful TFP Rally with Violence

[Update -- 2011-06: Alternative video added at the end of the post.]
[Update -- 2011-03-31: YouTube removed the video of this campaign at Brown without any explanation. Will re-post video when an alternative copy is found. Be sure to read the article linked below... for a similar video at a different event see this web log post.]

TFP Student Action is a project of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property. Founded in 1973, the American TFP was formed to resist, in the realm of ideas, the liberal, socialist and communist trends of the times and proudly affirm the positive values of tradition, family and private property.

Last week on the Solemn Feast of the Annunciation TFP held a peaceful rally at Brown University to defend traditional marriage. Read more about the how the day went on the TFP Student Action website.

Brown student: "Don't take their flier. The Catholic Church is against it."

TFP volunteer: "If you're Catholic, you'd know what the Church teaches. The 10 Commandments didn't change."

Brown: "No! That's outdated. Religion is just for the masses."

TFP: "Well, I guess you agree with Karl Marx."

Brown: "If you talk to Father so and so, he'll tell you that he's in favor of same-sex 'marriage.'"

TFP: "If he does, then he's not faithful to the teachings of the Church."

Please see the video that follows:

The Incarnation of Our Lord

Luke Chapter 1
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God.
And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Catholic Encyclopedia: The Feast of the Annunciation
All Christian antiquity (against all astronomical possibility) recognized the 25th of March as the actual day of Our Lord's death. The opinion that the Incarnation also took place on that date is found in the pseudo-Cyprianic work "De Pascha Computus", c. 240. It argues that the coming of Our Lord and His death must have coincided with the creation and fall of Adam. And since the world was created in spring, the Saviour was also conceived and died shortly after the equinox of spring. Similar fanciful calculations are found in the early and later Middle Ages, and to them, no doubt, the dates of the feast of the Annunciation and of Christmas owe their origin.

Looking for a good sermon?

Are you looking for a good sermon to listen to the lent? How about a daily sermon to work into your spiritual exercises? Listen to the sermons at Audio Sancto.

Please listen to a sermon and share with friends, family, and even your parish priests.

Pray for our priests this Holy Lent. Offer up prayers and sacrifices for them.

Boy sneaks past security to see the Holy Father...

A young boy, eager to see the pope, made his was past "security" for a private audience.

When the boy appeared before the papal throne, the Pope briefly held the child’s head in his hands and exchanged a few words with him.

A few moments later the boy was politely asked by a smiling security official to return to his seat, which he did without incident much to loud cheers of an approving crowd.

Operation Odyssey Dawn has started...

The United States launched a military strike in Libya today.

The goal of the military coalition is to prevent further attacks by regime forces on Libyan citizens, officials said, adding that the coalition also wants to degrade the ability of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime to resist a no-fly zone being implemented.

Prayers and fasting.

News Links:
US leads 'Odyssey Dawn' initial attack on Libya
Coalition Launches Operation Odyssey Dawn
Operation Odyssey Dawn: U.S. Launches Military Strikes In Libya
U.S. Tomahawk Cruise Missiles Hit Targets in Libya

Super Moon Tonight!

You need to be heroic...

Pope Benedict XIV (not to be confused with XVI) writes:

In order to be heroic a Christian virtue must enable its owner to perform virtuous actions with uncommon promptitude, ease, and pleasure, from supernatural motives and without human reasoning, with self-abnegation and full control over his natural inclinations.

This is a continuation of what St. Thomas Aquinas has said:

Virtue consists in the following, or imitation, of God. Every virtue, like every other thing, has its type in God. Thus the Divine mind itself is the type of prudence; God using all things to minister to His glory is the type of temperance, by which man subjects his lower appetites to reason; justice is typified by God's application of the eternal law to all His works; Divine immutability is the type of fortitude. And, since it is man's nature to live in society, the four cardinal virtues are social virtues, inasmuch as by them man rightly ordains his conduct in daily life. Man, however, must raise himself beyond his natural life unto a life Divine: 'Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.'). It is, therefore, necessary to posit certain virtues midway between the social virtues, which are human, and the exemplary virtues, which are Divine. These intermediate virtues are of two degrees of perfection: the lesser in the soul still struggling upwards from a life of sin to a likeness with God — these are called purifying virtues; the greater in the souls which have already attained to the Divine likeness — these are called virtues of the purified soul. In the lesser degree, prudence, moved by the contemplation of things Divine, despises all things earthly and directs all the soul's thought unto God alone; temperance relinquishes, as far as nature allows, the things required for bodily wants; fortitude removes the fear of departing this life and facing the life beyond; justice approves of the aforesaid dispositions. In the higher perfection of souls already purified and firmly united with God, prudence knows nothing but what it beholds in God; temperance ignores earthly desires; fortitude knows nothing of passions; justice is bound to the Divine mind by a perpetual compact to do as it does. This degree of perfection belongs to the blessed in heaven or to a few of the most perfect in this life.

During our lives, and especially during this Holy Season of Lent, we have the opportunity to deny ourselves for love of God and for the sake of His kingdom. Saint Jerome says, "...we fast 40 days, or make one Lent in a year, according to the tradition of the apostles." We can join Christ as He fasted in the desert for 40 days.

St. Augustine says:

...by the due observance of Lent, the wicked are separated from the good, infidels from Christians, heretics from Catholics. Our Saviour fasted 40 days, not because he stood in need of it, as we do, to subject the unruly members of the body, which lust against the spirit, but to set an example for our imitation.

Holy Mother Church does not require us to fast completely like Christ did in the desert. However, Christ's example should give us encouragement to be heroic this Lent and throughout the year. St. Joseph, pray for us.

References:

• New Advent: Heroic Virtue
• Haydok Commentary Douay Rheims Translation: Matthew 4:1-4
• Audio Sancto: Lent: Fasting and Abstinence in the Tradition of the Church

Lord open my lips...

...So that my mouth may proclaim your praises.

The Apostle does not preach Christianity 'a la carte,' according to his own tastes, he does not preach a Gospel according to his own preferred theological ideas; he does not take away from the commitment to announce the entire will of God, even when uncomfortable, nor the themes he may least like personally. -Pope Benedict XVI

The preceding quote was given last week at an annual talk given by the Pope to his priests. The Holy Father said, "...priests must not water down the faith because people are made uncomfortable by it."

The Holy Father also went on to say:

In a world where people are curious to know everything, so much more should we be curious to know the will of God. what thing could be more interesting, more important, more essential for us than to know what God wants, to know the will of God, the face of God?

This message to priests is also relevant to the rest of the faithful. LifeSiteNews and Courageous Priest have more information on the Holy Father's talk.

Please watch today's Vortex:

Hope filled thoughts...

Last week we posted a RCTV video about Cardinal Burke's comments on Catholics loosing their Faith by making themselves the center of the Mass.

This weeks RCTV episode goes on to discuss the highly anticipated follow up document to Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 Motu Proprio. The video embed below provides some hope filled thoughts on possible expectations:

Economic Consideration...

Anyone who has read this blog in the past understands that our typical view on the world's economy is dreary. RCTV has recently posted a video on the subject:



While Mr. Voris may mention a tinge of keynesian economics in the video to support his premise, his overall point is sound, and should be taken into strong consideration.

Back in September of 2010 we posted a link to a video titled: "Cost of Abortion." As was noted in the above embedded Vortex episode some generous individuals have donated funds to RCTV in order to promote the "Cost of Abortion" video to the US House of Representatives, the US Senators, and the Canadian Parliament.

RCTV has links on their website on how you can also contact these officials to send them online links to the video. Please do this.

8.9 Earthquake - Tsunami

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake took place at 05:46 UTC. This has also resulted in Tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific and the West coast of North and South America.

Prayers and fasting.

Um... I think we should articulate?

Hat tip to K.M. who forwarded this web-log post: The Most Aggressively Inarticulate Generation?

USCCB says "virgin" means "young woman"

The New American Bible was revised, and has been released this month by the USCCB. I tend to read and study the Douay Rheims with the Haydock Commentary as a norm, but found myself interested in the "Sample Changes" listed on the USCCB's website. The changes made to Isaiah 7:14 has me really grasping for an understanding at what those in charge of the revisions are attempting to accomplish.

Now, I am not a biblical scholar in any way shape or form, so bear with me as I weave my way back in time through biblical versions. (I am certainly likely to skip important concepts and steps here... so if you want to make this short, skip to the bold words at the bottom of this post.)

2011 NAB: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel." [Why "young woman"... the USCCB states at the bottom of "Sample Change" - "The young woman: Hebrew ‘almah designates a young woman of marriageable age without specific reference to virginity. The Septuagint translated the Hebrew term as parthenos, which normally does mean virgin..." So if it normally means "virgin"... why not translate it as "virgin?"]

1970 NAB: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." [Seems the 70's had something right.]

1609 Douay Rheims: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." [Do we have a pattern?]

Latin Vulgate (Jerome): "propter hoc dabit Dominus ipse vobis signum ecce virgo concipiet et pariet filium et vocabitis nomen eius Emmanuhel" [I am not a Latin scholar]

Hebrew: "כן יתן אדני הוא לכם אות הנה העלמה הרה וילדת בן וקראת שמו עמנו אל׃" [Yeah... I have no clue... I just copied it from some website and started doing google searches for the different groups of characters. I am not a biblical scholar, and I am certainly NOT a Hebrew scholar!]

While this exercise in performing Scripture comparisons was fun, and even forced me to learn a smidgen of Hebrew... the effort really - doesn't - matter. The Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Dogma of our Catholic Faith. Since the Infallible interpretation of Catholic Church on Sacred Scripture does not and cannot conflict with this Dogma of our Faith... it is very odd that this revision was deemed necessary.

Blessing of the Ashes at a Tridentine Mass

Yesterday, Pertinacious Papist had a web-log post on the sermon given during the Ash Wednesday at his parish. I wish to quote the English translations that PP mentioned in the post:

Let us pray. -- O almighty and everlasting God, spare those who are penitent, be merciful to those who implore Thee; and vouchsafe to send Thy holy Angel from heaven, to bless + and hal+low these ashes, that they may be a wholesome remedy to all who humbly implore Thy holy Name, and who accuse themselves, conscious of their sins, deploring their crimes before Thy divine mercy, or humbly and earnestly beseeching Thy sovereign goodness: and grant through the invocation of Thy most holy Name that whosoever shall be sprinkled with them for the remission of their sins may receive both health of body and safety of soul. Through Christ our Lord.
R.: Amen.

Let us pray. -- O God, who desirest not the death, but the repentance of sinners, look down most graciously upon the frailty of human nature; and in Thy goodness vouchsafe to bless + these ashes which we purpose to put opon our heads in token of our lowliness and to obtain forgiveness: so that we who know that we are but ashes, and for the demerits of our wickedness are to return to dust, may deserve to obtain of Thy mercy, the pardon of all our sins, and the rewards promised to the penitent. Through Christ our Lord.
R.: Amen.

Let us pray. -- O God, who art moved by humiliation, and appeased by satisfaction: incline the ear of Thy goodness to our prayers and mercifully pour forth upon the heads of Thy servants sprinkled with these ashes the grace of Thy blessing: that Thou mayest both fill them with the spirit of compunction, and effectually grant what they have justly prayed for: and ordain that what Thou hast granted may be permanently established and remain unchanged. Through Christ our Lord.
R.: Amen.

Let us pray. -- O almighty and everlasting God, who didst vouchsafe Thy healing pardon to the Ninivites doing penance in sackcloth and ashes, mercifully grant that we may so imitate them in our outward attitude as to follow them in obtaining forgiveness. Through Christ our Lord .
R.: Amen.

Please take a look at some of the comentary that PP provides with these prayers: "Lent and the judgment of God"

Lose your Faith at Mass?

Can Mass ever be an occasion of sin? Could you lose your Faith by attending Mass? Cardinal Burke thinks so: "If we err by thinking we are the center of the liturgy, the Mass will lead to a loss of faith."

Please watch RCTV's Vortex episode titled: "Critical Mass"

Ash Wednesday - Holy Season of Lent 2011

"...In our sissified times, we now have two days of obligatory fasting: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. We now have eight days of obligatory abstinence: Ash Wednesday Good Friday, and all the other Fridays in Lent..."

"...To live a life of virtue, our passions need to brought into submission..."

"...Either we lead our passions, or our passions lead us..."

"...run your penances past a confessor..."

"...If you love our Lord, you have the Holy Season of Lent to prove it."

Take the time today to listen to "Lent: Fasting and Abstinence in the Tradition of the Church" at Audio Sancto.

Infallibly gain these graces...

Unite yourself to the to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and you infallibly gain the graces that you are in most need of. This 18 minute long Audio Sancto sermon, titled "The Mass: The Perfect Prayer of Petition", is a nice reminder of offering up ourselves during Mass.

Please listen to the audio here: The Mass: The Perfect Prayer of Petition