I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

I was recently privileged to be at a papal event, and to see Pope Benedict XVI from not too far a distance. One thing I noticed about the pontiff, is that he is a simple, humble man. Although there were great crowds gathered to greet him, he did not exhibit the persona of a rock star, and always made sure his comportment was pointing to Christ. I had the impression that here was a man who walked with God, not by some superhuman ability, but by a practice that is open to all of us: prayer. Deep prayer which unites one with God. And he called us all to prayer: silent prayer, personal prayer, liturgical prayer. For, he said, it is through prayer that we hear the Spirit leading us, that we receive direction and the courage to follow that direction, that a fresh wind fills us. So that then we can walk in the Spirit, with the Spirit, and be a light to the world.

"Take me for your model, as I take Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1 (TJB)

From an address given by Pope Benedict XVI at the welcoming celebration of World Youth Day in Sydney, July 17, 2008:

"I ask myself, could anyone standing face to face with people who actually do suffer violence and sexual exploitation 'explain' that these tragedies, portrayed in virtual form, are considered merely 'entertainment'?"

Lord, I am broken, fix me.
My ears are deaf, help me to hear.
My eyes are blind, help me to see.
My heart is hardened, help me to love.
Lord, reach out with your healing hand, and remake me in your image.

From the homily of Pope Benedict XVI during Mass at Nationals Park in Washington, DC April 17, 2008:

"In the exercise of my ministry as the Successor of Peter, I have come to America to confirm you, my brothers and sisters, in the faith of the Apostles (cf. Lk 22:32). I have come to proclaim anew, as Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Messiah, risen from the dead, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, and established as judge of the living and the dead (cf. Acts 2:14ff.). I have come to repeat the Apostle's urgent call to conversion and the forgiveness of sins, and to implore from the Lord a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church in this country. As we have heard throughout this Easter season, the Church was born of the Spirit's gift of repentance and faith in the risen Lord. In every age she is impelled by the same Spirit to bring to men and women of every race, language and people (cf. Rev 5:9) the good news of our reconciliation with God in Christ."

From a letter to legislators:

Wife, husband, child-these are not historical holdovers from a bygone era, but realities rooted in our human nature.

Commitment and sexual acts do not by themselves establish marriage-they must correspond to human nature, a reality discerned from observation and right reason. Applying this natural law, society has come to recognize that a parent should not marry their own child, that an individual should not marry their blood sibling, and that an individual should not have multiple spouses. Likewise, it shows us that an individual should not marry a member of the same sex.

Proponents of marriage between members of the same sex want us to ignore these realities of our human nature. But it is not without significance that our species has two sexes, male and female. That between these two sexes we observe differences, most obvious on a biological level, but on additional levels as well. That these differences are not contradictory, but complementary, and that from the natural biological complementarity of the sexes, new human life is brought forth. And of that new human life, we see that it is best nurtured and developed within the lasting union formed by its biological parents, who themselves grow and develop by this union. In this structure we call family, the child finds identity, protection, provision, and the inimitable loving care of a mother and a father. Proponents would have us ignore that this is the optimal environment to raise children, and that while practical considerations can sometimes prevent this from happening, it is a model we nevertheless recognize and strive toward, not away from. The nature of homosexual relations contradict these realities, and therefore marriage between members of the same sex is equally contradictory. The same can be said of bisexual relations, transgendered, foursomes, and other practices.

These are only a few of the reasons that I ask you to support legislation which protects the definition of marriage and family consistent with human nature, and oppose legislation which would cause the civil law to contradict human nature through marriage between members of the same sex, or its equivalent form, civil unions.

Recognize sin for what it really is: a way to strip you of grace, goodness, and happiness. It may come in different packages, it may carry various promises, it may appear a delight to the eyes and good for food, but it's simply a means to deprive you of life and wholeness.

The measure we use to give, is the measure with which we receive--you cannot receive the fullness of God, without a full gift of self. To the extent we withhold, we cannot receive, because we withdraw ourselves from God through a conscious decision. This is sin, and its attachment. The whole of Love invites us in, but our sharing in communion is in proportion to the degree we give ourselves completely. If we only knew the suffering it caused God, our Beloved--the passion--we would not sin.

Don't all laws 'tell someone what to do with their body'?

How does a mother have a right to kill her child, simply because it's her child?

How can the reproductive act between a man and a woman produce anything other than a human?

If an embryo is not truly a human person, what reason is there for an abortion?

Why do some folk say they don't know how human life starts? Did they not get the 'birds and the bees' talk?

Why do we have laws to protect unhatched bald eagles, but not unborn humans?

Why is the scientific fact that DNA uniquely identifies every human person, suddenly forgotten when we talk about humans in the embryonic stage?

How are zygote, blastocyst, embryo, newborn, infant, toddler, child, teenager, young adult, adult, and senior different?

How can personal choice trump an innocent baby's life?