This is a good video, so I thought I would share it. Unless you're living under a rock (and even then, most likely) you realize we're in an election year. It's our duty as citizens and as Christians to vote according to what we know to be the tried and true values put forth by our Christian faith. Our culture suggests that when we stand up for marriage as defined by God (between one man and one woman until death) or for the sanctity of life (opposition to abortion, contraception, and euthanasia) we are seeking to stifle the freedom of those suffering from same sex attraction or of women.

Nothing is farther from the truth. In respecting life, marriage, and religious freedom we are caring deeply for all people and their freedoms to do the good. True, holy, deep joy and happiness are not to be found in entertaining every sinful desire that wells up within us. We do not have to be slaves to things like homosexual desires or selfishness which leads to things such as abortion or the use of contraception. Letting these rule our lives never leads to true happiness. They are not healthy for those involved, for their families, or for society as a whole.

God's plan for marriage, freedom, and life is right and best. When we examine God's plan with logic and reason unclouded by prejudice, it makes sense. Let's vote to protect our freedom to live according to this plan. It's the holy and patriotic thing to do.

God Bless,
Fr. Jason

This morning I was reading a bit from Thomas Merton's New Seeds of Contemplation, when I came across the following insightful quote and felt compelled to share it:

It should be accepted as a most elementary human and moral truth that no man can live a fully sane and decent life unless he is able to say "no" on occasion to his natural bodily appetites. No man who simply eats and drinks whenever he feels like eating and drinking, who smokes whenever he feels the urge to light a cigarette, who gratifies his curiosity and sensuality whenever they are stimulated, can consider himself a free person. He has renounced his spiritual freedom and become the servant of bodily impulse. Therefore his mind and his will are not fully his own. They are under the power of his appetites.... [Fr. Jason: This is why Catholics give things up in Lent and on Friday, etc. It helps us grow in true freedom.]

In general, it can be said that no contemplative life is possible without ascetic self-discipline. One must learn to survive without the habit-forming luxuries which get such a hold on men today....

I am certainly no judge of television, since I have never watched it. All I know is that there is a sufficiently general agreement, among men whose judgement I respect, that commercial television is degraded, meretricious (apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity) and absurd. Certainly it would seem that TV could become a kind of unnatural surrogate for contemplation: a completely inert subjection to vulgar images, a descent to a sub-natural passivity rather than an ascent to a supremely active passivity in understanding and love. It would seem that television should be used with extreme care and discrimination by anyone who might hope to take interior life seriously.

Amen to that! Now, if you like to watch t.v., don't think I'm looking down on you while quoting this. I like this quote because it reminds me of something of which I, myself, needed reminding. To grow in our relationships with God at all we need to become less attached to the things of the world. These things are good (God did not create junk) and here for our use, but they are not the goal of our lives. God is our goal, not comfort, wealth, ease of life, etc.

Likewise, freedom is not some mere lack of restraint to do whatever one pleases at any moment. Rather, true freedom is the ability to do the good. Merton explained in this passage how we are not truly free if we are enslaved to our passions, if we are addicted to television or alcohol or tobacco or pornography or whatever it might be.

We should all strive to be truly free so we can know and love God. Only then will be be truly happy.

-Fr. Jason

On the last day of my retreat at Assumption Abbey in Richardton, ND, I set my phone on the windowsill to record the sunrise. This is the result, in a quick time lapse.

Maybe I should try this with a real camera some day.

-Fr. Jason

On March 23rd (last Friday) at noon, an estimated 61,000 people met at rallies in 133 different cities to protest the government's "HHS Mandate." Pictured above is the crowd gathering at the North Dakota State Capitol. I'm told about 700 people attended the rally in Bismarck.

This "mandate" is part of the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" that, if it stands as it does (as a law) will violate our freedom of religion as guaranteed in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This freedom is the very first of the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, and we must now fight to protect it.

Under this law, as I understand it, all employers who provide insurance for their employees must provide policies that cover contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs such as those "morning-after pills" (yes, they do work by causing very early abortions in some cases, contrary to what the drug advertising and literature says) and sterilization surgeries free of charge, without a co-pay, to women who want them. The current administration is arguing that these drugs and services constitute a "right" that women have, something necessary for their health (sorry, but fertility and pregnancy are not a disease).

The Obama administration has made a so-called "compromise" in which the policies paid for by religious employers (who is the government to say who counts as a "religious" employer?) will not cover these services, but that the insurance companies themselves will provide them. This is stupid. Where does the insurance company get their money? From the money employers and/or employees pay in premiums. Therefore, we're still forced to provide these drugs and services against our will.

What's more, if you're a pro-life owner of a technology business who disagrees with contraception (as is your right in the constitution) for whatever reason, sorry--the government says you must provide it for your employees. How insulting is that!? If you're a church, the government will pretend to let you practice your faith outside of your worship services. But if you're just joe-schmoe religious guy running a company, you are required to check your faith at at the door when you leave worship on Sunday. What we believe, whether we're employed by a church or religious group or not, should affect on how we live our lives in the world! Be wary of the administration's trend of diminishing our "freedom of religion" to a mere "freedom of worship" that keeps our faith locked inside our churches and limited to Sunday mornings.

Also, under this law, you cannot choose simply to have no insurance. If you do, you will face penalties. The government is attempting to force us to buy insurance products we may not want or face huge penalties that get worse as the years go on.

This image is almost a sidenote. Without getting into a whole different topic (though related to this blog post) I can't discuss is sufficiently. But of all the signs I saw at the Bismarck rally, this one is probably my favorite. How crazy that we must have a protest sign that says "TRUTH EXISTS?" Objectively, there is a right and a wrong. Morality is not all relative and a matter of opinion.

Religious freedom is a right given us by our Creator, not by our government. Pray, fast, and write your representatives! Use your vote in the upcoming election. Don't stand idly by, indifferent, or uneducated about this issue. It's not just about contraception, it's about religious freedom. It's about the government telling you when and where and how you can let your faith impact the way you live your life.

Thank you to Deacon Joe Krupinsky for providing the first three photos in this post.

In Christ,
Fr Jason Signalness

Tomorrow Jesse and I are off on our next bicycle trip. This time, we're riding the sixth section of the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route, which will take us from Baton Rouge, LA, to near Niceville, FL. We will pedal roughly 400 miles on this trip. You can follow our progress and see real time updates from along the route by visiting http://jsignal.com/trip_gps/sotier6.html.

Pray for our safe travel.

-Fr. Jason