Why Jack and Jill Need A Catholic School

By Mark Henry, J.D.

During Catholic School Week, it is a good time to consider why Catholic parents should more seriously consider sending their children to Catholic schools.

It is without question that Catholic schools have historically had a singularly important impact in strengthening the Catholic community. Catholic schools were viewed in the 19th century as a primary means of fighting widespread anti-Catholic discrimination. The vital importance of Catholic schools was such that leaders of the Church in this era often espoused the view that Catholic schools were more important than the parishes themselves, an opinion echoed recently by in an article by New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. See, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, The Catholic Schools We Need, America Magazine, Sept. 13, 2010.

Studies have shown that Catholic school graduates differ from Catholic children not enrolled in parochial schools in four critical areas: 1) fidelity to Sunday Mass and a keener sense of prayer; 2) maintaining pro-life attitudes, especially on the pivotal topic of abortion; 3) willingness to consider a religious vocation, and 4) continued support for the local church and community, both financially and through service projects, for the balance of their adult lives. See, Mary Gautier, Does Catholic Education Make A Difference? National Catholic Reporter, Sept. 30, 2005.

In spite of the vital role Catholic schools have played in the Catholic community, enrollment in Catholic schools has dropped significantly over the last four decades. A number of Catholic educators have posited that economic factors have caused the cost of Catholic schools to be placed beyond reach of many Catholic parents. Other commentators argue that the replacement of religious sisters and priests with lay teachers who are generally less knowledgeable about Catholic teachings has made the case for Catholic schools less compelling.

While many explanations are offered for this decline, Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s diagnosis of the problem and prescription for revival of Catholic schools is enlightening.

In his recent article in America Magazine, Archbishop Dolan doesn’t mince words and places the blame on Catholics who have “disowned their school system, excusing themselves as in individuals, parishes or dioceses from any further involvement with a Catholic school simply because their own children are not enrolled there…” Archbishop Dolan also notes the impact of the aggressive secularization of American culture that undermines the commitment Catholics used to make to Catholic schools. Dolan goes on to say that “The truth is that the entire parish, the whole diocese and the universal church benefit from Catholic schools in ways that keep communities strong. So all Catholics have a duty to support them.”

In Arizona, where I live, many Catholic schools have been hurt by the increasing popularity of government funded charter schools. Over the years, increasing numbers of Catholic families have abandoned Catholic schools in favor of the free tuition offered by charter schools. A number of these charter schools do provide a good secular education. However, being government funded these schools are prohibited from providing religious instruction, including Catholic teachings, to their students.

The questions posed by this now unfortunately common anomaly – Catholic parents choosing government funded schools over Catholic schools – is whether this is best for our Catholic children?

I believe the answer to this question is a resounding no. As Catholic parents, we are the primary educators of our children. There is a big difference between entrusting our children to a secular school instead of a Catholic school.

According to the Second Vatican Council, Catholic parents have “the duty of entrusting their children to Catholic schools wherever and whenever possible and of supporting these schools to the best of their ability.” Second Vatican Council, Declaration on Christian Education, Sec. 8 (Oct. 25, 1965).

More recently, the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education stated that it is the duty of Catholic parents to “arrange and even demand for their children to be able to receive a moral and religious education and advance in their Christian formation to a degree that is abreast of their development in secular subjects.” Vatican Letter on Catholic Education, (Sept. 8, 2009).

As such, we Catholic parents should not take lightly our obligation to provide a Catholic education for our children.

On a personal note, I remember in my early years as a parent hearing the sermon of a local Catholic priest who, when pressed on why he stressed Catholic theology in his parish school, he proclaimed that “his job was to help get our children to Heaven not Harvard.”

The good news is that Catholic children have great options to attend academically excellent Catholic schools where they are taught faith and reason, rather than just reason alone which is what government funded charter schools and public schools are limited to.

A case in point is the school my younger children attend. Ville de Marie Academy (www.vdmschool.com) is a non-Diocesan school in the Catholic tradition located in Scottsdale, Arizona. The school is academically challenging, the children attend Mass weekly and they receive daily instruction in Catholic theology. Our teachers are knowledgeable about the Catholic faith and many have graduated from leading Catholic colleges like Thomas Aquinas College, Franciscan University of Steubenville and Christendom College. Our graduating seniors this year averaged over $75,000 in college scholarship awards. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.

It’s a great school where my children are being prepared to be successful in the important ways; spiritually, academically and socially.

Mark Henry is a Catholic attorney, writer and speaker. He can be reached at mthenrysaz@gmail.com

Catholic Subsidiarity and a Tea Party Manifesto

By Mark Henry

The mid-term elections are just around the corner and America is on the brink of a political sea change pushed by a populist Tea Party led movement which opposes the Obama administration's big government approach to governance.

With an angry citizenry poised to drain the political swamp, the big question which begs an answer is … In what direction will these newly elected politicians lead us?

The voting constituency pushing this populist firestorm is diverse and does not lend itself to convenient political labeling. However, there is a common thread running through this group which is that they are fed up with the big government/big business/big labor trifecta.

Clearly, this momentous political movement is known more for what it stands against, rather than what it stands for.

As such, there is an ideological vacuum in this popular uprising which needs to be filled.

"Leaders" of this rank and file driven movement would do well to fill this ideological void with a platform anchored to a solid unshakable cornerstone. What is needed is an ideology that transcends labels like Democrat, Republican or Libertarian yet is mindful of the shortcomings of these political parties.

What is called for is an ideology that seeks to advance the cause of the common man, rather than elites, and which respects life, family and liberty.

The Catholic doctrine of subsidiarity is precisely that ideology. If a Tea Party Manifesto is created, its cornerstone should be the time-tested Catholic doctrine of subsidiarity.

In the political context, the principle of subsidiarity states that political decisions and other matters generally should be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. The Catechism (Sec. 1882 - 1883) clearly instructs Catholics to look to subsidiarity to protect against excessive intervention by the state which threatens personal freedom and initiative. This principle safeguards the ideals of limited government and personal freedom and stands squarely opposed to the welfare state’s goals of centralization and bureaucracy.

In the broader social context, subsidiarity stresses the importance of the common good and the values of family, life and community.

In his 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II warned us that the welfare state undermined this core principle of subsidiarity. The welfare state discourages human initiative and results in an excessive increase of public bureaucracies. This results in an enormous increase in spending by a government whose goal is to achieve its own statist agenda rather than to serve the public.

A growing number of reform minded politicians understand the relevance and importance of subsidiarity in dealing with the challenges of the day.

A fine example is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie whose efforts to fend off a state bankruptcy by shrinking state government are grounded in the principle of subsidiarity. Chris Christie's efforts to pare down the size and expense of government is a modern day profile in courage. Governor Christie’s reform efforts have provoked the ire of government employee unions who are resisting even modest cutbacks in employee benefits.

Christie’s crusade to reign in excessive government spending is also attracting attention nationwide as our nation’s financial crisis worsens and taxpaying citizens see that the cost of government just keeps on rising.

Before Chris Christie recently stormed onto the political scene, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum publically proclaimed the virtues of subsidiarity in his books, speeches and in the corridors of the Capitol.

Similarly, the lawsuits filed by 20 states to oppose Obamacare as an unprecedented encroachment by the federal government over the rights of private citizens are further examples of subsidiarity in action.

America would do well to select its future leaders from these individuals and others whose political ideologies are grounded on the core Catholic teaching of subsidiarity.

The results of the upcoming mid-term elections will likely be encouraging for politicians whose style of governance, whether they realize it or not, reflects bulwarks of subsidiarity like limited government and the common good. On the other hand, political leaders of both major parties who govern contrary to these principles do so at risk of shortening their own careers.

The large and still growing number of people who have joined together to evict the political ruling class include Tea Partiers, Libertarians, Conservative Republican, Reagan Democrats and many others who have suffered in this economic downturn. This is a diverse group indeed and for it to have long-term staying power this reform movement will need to come together on common ideological grounds. This common ground will not be found in the worn out policies emitting from the smoke-filled back rooms frequented by the elites who currently dominate American politics, both Republican and Democrat.

Instead, the ideology needed to unify this diverse reform minded movement needs to be based on the common good and respect for family, life, liberty and local community. These are time tested authentic values that people of good will can and should agree on. Subsidiarity is manifested in these commonly held values. These values must be the common ground upon which reform minded Americans can unify to recapture America and restore our country to greatness.

Subsidiarity is the ideological light on the path that our leaders need to follow to lead America out of these challenging times.

Without a doubt, subsidiarity was made for times such as these.

Tea Party Turning RINO’s Into Endangered Species

By Mark Henry

If there was any doubt that Tea Partiers have moderate Republicans in their crosshairs, those doubts were decisively removed by the GOP primary election results last night.

Tea Party backed candidates swept the GOP primary last night, emerging victorious over GOP Party backed candidates in Delaware and New York.

Christine O’Donnell’s upset win over moderate Michael Castle in the U.S. Senate primary in Delaware was particularly surprising. Mr. Castle, a former two-term Republican governor in blue-state Delaware was comfortably ahead in the polls until recently. Christine O’Donnell, a former abstinence counselor, was endorsed by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party mobilized behind O’Donnell to carry her to victory in the GOP primary.

In New York, Carl Paladino plowed through GOP establishment candidate Rick Lazio on his way to winning the Republican gubernatorial primary. Most pundits are attributing Paladino’s victory to an anti-Albany Tea Party supported effort over Rick Lazio who was backed by the New York GOP establishment.

With last night’s GOP primary wins, the Tea Party movement juggernaught continues with an increasing number of RINO’s notched in it’s belt. Moderate Republican U.S. Senators Arlene Specter (PA), Robert Bennett (UT) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) are now former Senators thanks largely to grass roots Tea Party efforts.

The Tea Party movement’s success is attributable at least in part to a growing constituency of citizens who are fed up with all things big, whether it be big government, big business or big labor. More and more voters are waking up and realizing that entrenched political incumbents no longer serve the best interests of the common man. Tea Party activists believe that elected officials have elevated themselves to an elite ruling class that is little concerned with the plight of common man.

As a bottom up grass roots political movement, the Tea Party has so far resisted efforts to ideologically stifle its members enthusiasm by developing a comprehensive party platform. However, the time is coming when this growing political phenomenon will have to develop ideologically, while retaining the “no” to big government plank as a cornerstone.

If you scratch the surface of the Tea Party, the core Catholic social teaching of subsidiarity emerges. This principle states that as a general rule political decisions and other matters generally should be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Subsidiarity as a socio-political principle has weathered the test of time while competing ideologies like socialism and statism have been disproven and should have been relegated to the junk pile of failed ideas.

When you think about it, the Tea Party movement could do no better than to embrace the time tested principle of subsidiarity as the foundation to support its cornerstone philosophy of opposition to big government.

Nine Days That Changed The World - Come Holy Spirit And Restore America

by Mark Henry

Recently, I was greatly inspired seeing the new documentary "Nine Days That Changed The World". Narrated by recent Catholic convert Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista, it is a fascinating story about the life of Pope John Paul II and the singularly significant role the Pontiff had in toppling the communist empire of the Soviet Union.

The movie also noted the collaboration between the Pope and President Ronald Reagan and other courageous political leaders who realized how important was the battle for faith and against totalitarianism that was being fought in Poland in the 1970's and 1980's.

One of the most riveting scenes in the movie occurred when Pope John Paul II addressed an enormous crowd of his Polish countrymen. At one point, the Pope began to pray in a way I have never seen before as he supernaturally invoked the Holy Spirit by chanting "Come Holy Spirit, Change This Land". While the Pope fervently prayed to the Holy Spirit to save Poland, the one million or so Polish faithful spontaneously began to sing a traditional Polish song which honored Christ their savior. It was one of the most moving things I have ever seen or expect to see.

Pope John Paul II's visit to Poland strengthened the faith of his countrymen, unified the country and emboldened them to take on the corrupt communistic regime. Once the Polish people came together in prayer, Poland was a changed country and the days of communism were numbered.

The movie is a powerful testament to what a faithful leader can do to lead a country to victory over an all powerful adversary - the Soviet Empire - all without firing a shot.

While Nine Days That Changed The World tells of an epic struggle between faith, freedom and totalitarianism that occurred decades ago and an ocean away, it is a story which is deeply relevant to the crossroads America is currently facing.

According to recent polls, Americans are worried like never before about the state of our country. We are concerned about our current political leaders who are pushing us headlong towards socialism and totalitarianism. This is a failed ideology which did not work in Europe and resulted in upheaval and popular revolt in Poland and other countries of eastern Europe.

We Christians are particularly troubled by a culture that has embraced moral relativism and rejected the fundamental Christian values America was founded on.

We are troubled by what is happening in the halls of Congress where free spending politicians are bankrupting our country with policies which favor the majority party's voting constituencies and hurt almost everyone else, including the working class and the poor.

We are troubled by an out of control judiciary which routinely overrides the will of the people, ignores the rule of law and the Constitution and enables elite judges to cavalierly reject the most fundamental building block of society; marriage between a man and a woman.

Like many Americans, I look around and wonder where is the America that Ronald Reagan described as a shining city on a hill whose beacon light guides freedom loving people everywhere?

It is becoming more and more apparent that America as we used to know it will not survive without people of faith going to their knees and praying for divine intervention.

But how could this happen to America? This is a question that more and more Americans are asking.

The small businessman who works 60 - 70 hours a week just to feed his family asks it.

The retired person who has worked a lifetime and has seen his retirement cut in half asks it.

The elderly, sick and handicapped ask it as they grapple with a federal takeover of health care which will ration health care based on a soulless utilitarian yardstick that restricts health care to those who need it the most.

Young people ask it when they graduate from high school and college only to find there are no jobs.

Hard working Americans and the unemployed ask it as they realize that the American dream has been stolen by an elite cabal of big government, big labor and big business interests.

Christians ask it as they wonder about a President who proclaims that Muslims have a right to build a mosque on hallowed land at ground zero. This comes from a president who claims that America is not a Christian nation and who dismissed Christians as people " who cling to their religion."

America is at a historical crossroads. A solid majority of Americans are troubled by the country's slide towards socialism, moral relativism and economic collapse.

However, like the oppressed people of Poland, we Americans need to come together in prayer to save our country. It is not too late to restore the shining city on the hill. But we do need to appreciate the lessons of history since as Sir Edmund Burke said those that do not know learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

One of the significant crossroads depicted in the Nine Days movie was when the Polish people came together to hear Pope John Paul II speak and they suddenly realized that they greatly outnumbered their opponents, the atheistic communists. This realization was a turning point for the Polish people who realized that not only did they not need to be afraid but that it was the communist leaders who should be afraid. In so doing, the people of Poland embraced one of Pope John Paul II's most well known spiritual prescriptions that people of faith "Be Not Afraid".

As in Poland, Americans should be encouraged by the fact that the moral and economic difficulties we are facing are the handiwork of an elite that is relatively small in numbers. A recent online article in the American Spectator entitled "America's Ruling Class - and the Perils of Revolution" describes who this elite ruling class is and how opposed they are to traditional American values like faith in God, freedom and limited government.

This article also notes the somewhat reassuring fact that the elite ruling class is a distinct minority - approximately one-third of all Americans. As such, we do not need to be afraid of this elite minority but we do need to react to the threat they pose to us and our country.

Like the downtrodden but faith-filled Poles who confronted their communist adversaries, Americans need to boldly step out to recapture our country from the clutches of those who cling to morally bankrupt and historically disproven ideologies like moral relativism, atheism, socialism and the like. In order to do so we must begin, like our Polish brethren, by getting down on our knees and invoke God's providence to save America.

Make no mistake, the task ahead of those who would seek to restore America is daunting indeed. We are witnessing an accelerating attack on America's moral, economic and political foundations that is unprecedented. And we did not get here overnight. But the hour is late because a democracy which embraces moral relativism and rejects traditional values like faith in God, traditional marriage and respect for life is living on borrowed time.

There is a strong feeling of unease and discontent which is percolating among Americans. More and more of us are awakening from our slumber and are committing to take bold action to recapture America. It is imperative that the Christian community close ranks in solidarity and "be not afraid" to confront and oppose the elite ruling class who would continue to lead America down the slippery slope we have traveled for some time now. We need to take heart in scripture which tells us that "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me". Philippians 4:13

In this grave time for America, the effort to restore America must begin with Christians getting down on their knees and fervently praying for God's blessing in the battle that is being waged for America. We would do well to follow Pope John Paul II's example of invoking the Holy Spirit to save his homeland of Poland. A good starting point would be for all Christians to pray unceasingly "Come Holy Spirit and Restore America.' It worked in Poland and it will work again in America if we follow the example of our faithful Polish brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pray It Forward – Melanie Pritchard’s Miraculous Recovery

by Mark Henry

It all started out 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning when Melanie Pritchard texted my wife Tina telling her that she was going into labor and “asking for prayers”. Little did we know how much Melanie would soon need prayers and how a digital juggernaught of prayer would soon be unleashed to save the life of Melanie and her new born daughter, Gabriella Cecilia.

Right after we returned from morning Mass, Melanie’s friend Meghan called Tina in tears telling us that Melanie’s heart stopped during delivery and she desperately needed our prayers.

During the frantic drive to the hospital, my wife was distraught. She loved Melanie like a younger sister. In her own eyes, Melanie’s greatest accomplishments are being a loyal wife to her husband Doug and dutiful mother to her son Brady. To the public, Melanie is a nationally known pro-life speaker and the founder of the Foundation For Life And Love (lifehttp://foundationforlifeandlove.org) an educational organization that seeks to preserve and promote the dignity and sanctity of human life at all stages. Melanie is the former Education Director for Arizona Right To Life.

Melanie is much in demand as a vibrant speaker to youth and adult groups on pro-life issues, modesty and chastity. Melanie and her husband Doug teach marriage preparation classes for the Diocese of Phoenix using Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body writings. Melanie’s Catholic spirituality is steeped in the Culture of Life and thoroughly imbued with the teachings of Pope John Paul II.

My wife first became acquainted with Melanie when Melanie graciously agreed to serve, without pay, as a virtues coordinator in a modesty and chastity apostolate Tina runs. Melanie is a mentor of countless young Catholic girls, a fabulous role model of motherhood, chastity and modestly and treasured by the pro-life community in Phoenix and beyond.

In the dreadfully long drive to the hospital, we felt helpless and wondered what could we possibly do for Melanie? Well, let’s pray a decade of the Rosary. We also prayed to Pope John Paul II that he would intercede for a miraculous healing of Melanie, a prayer that we and countless others would invoke many times over the next 48 hours. After our drive time prayer, we still had quite a bit of time before reaching the hospital so we started calling everyone we knew, requesting fervent prayers and that they “pray it forward” however they could.

I called contacts I had in Catholic media, both new and traditional. Fortunately, I got through to close friends at Immaculate Heart Radio, St. Joseph Communications and other Catholic media outlets who faithfully responded and immediately started broadcasting prayer requests for Melanie on the radio, internet and other media. Of course, Melanie’s friends and family had already started prayer requests of their own and impassioned pleas for prayers were made to many convents, monasteries and religious orders.

Very quickly news of Melanie’s critical condition spread like a digital wildfire with “prayer for Melanie” requests now going “viral” online. The pray it forward juggernaught to save Melanie had begun in earnest with many specifically praying for Pope John Paul II’s intercession to save the life of his loyal spiritual daughter, Melanie.

When we got to the hospital, the news was worse than we thought. Melanie had suffered an amniotic embolism and there was massive internal bleeding. Her heart had stopped again, twice, and they were rushing her into surgery again. There was a real likelihood of heart and kidney failure. I learned later that the medical condition Melanie was experiencing was usually fatal.

There was some good news, however, which was that Melanie and Doug’s new born daughter Gabriella Cecilia was healthy after her emergency C-Section delivery. Additionally, Melanie’s brother Larry, a renowned heart surgeon, was on the scene and keeping a keenly trained medical eye on everything.

Melanie somehow made it through surgery but then suddenly took a turn for the worse. Fr. John Muir, a childhood friend of Melanie and Doug, arrived at the hospital and administered the last rites to Melanie. Melanie’s husband Doug was told that Melanie was slipping away and it was time to say his final goodbye to Melanie, the love of his life. Shortly thereafter, Melanie’s parents and sisters also proceeded to Melanie’s bedside to bid her goodbye.

By now, legions of prayers were storming heaven from Melanie’s bedside, from the local community and throughout the country as well. Prayer vigils were organized at a number of Phoenix parishes and all the way across the country at a Theology of the Body conference in Philadelphia they took a break to pray for Melanie’s healing.

Inspirational stories of personal faith conversions of those hearing and reading about Melanie’s faithful fight for life started coming in. Melanie’s friend Brooke told us about the man in the Midwest who had never attended Church but read the email appeal for prayers for Melanie and was so inspired that he went in to the nearest Church to pray. Brooke’s sister, Meghan, told us of the security guard at the hospital who was a lifelong Catholic who had never been to adoration before but open hearing of Melanie he went to the adoration chapel and spent the night on his knees, in prayer. Father John Parks excitedly told us about the long confession lines after the prayer vigil for Melanie at Mt. Carmel Parish in Tempe, Arizona.

Throughout the country, a rising multitude of prayers were rising up for Melanie and her family. The sheer magnitude of this prayer groundswell first became apparent to me when one of Melanie’s younger tech savvy friends excitedly exclaimed that “Prayers for Melanie” made the “Top 100” on Twitter. I am told that Twitter has one-quarter of a billion visitors, so being in the Top 100 is pretty amazing.

At the hospital, Melanie’s husband Doug, her parents Jim and Sherry Welsch and their other children exhibited a degree of faith and fortitude that was hard for me to fathom. Looking back now, I realize that they were being spiritually lifted up in this most difficult of times by the chorus of prayers being offered for them by rapidly increasing numbers of Catholic faithful throughout the country. .

Something that really stood out to me was Melanie’s father Jim’s reply when I asked him how he was doing. This was after Melanie’s third heart attack and her life was ebbing away. He replied that he loved his daughter dearly, that he was praying for her recovery but the most important thing was that if God was calling Melanie to heaven then he would accept God’s will. To me it was a supernatural manifestation of faith, one that God just could not ignore.

Every hour, against all odds, Melanie continued her fight for life. The fact that she survived emergency surgery Thursday night stunned and amazed a hospital nurse who was in the operating room when Melanie was being operated on. When this nurse returned to work Friday morning, she exclaimed to Melanie’s family that Melanie was a “walking miracle.”

When we returned to the hospital Friday morning, we were astounded to see Melanie awake, talking and pushing a walker around and determined to get out of the hospital so she could resume taking care of her family, especially her new born daughter Gabriella. Many who were there in the hospital and witnessed Melanie’s amazing recovery were starting to realize that God had abudantly answered the fervant prayers of His faithful.

It is above my spiritual station in life to discern whether Melanie’s recovery is a miracle or not. What I do know is that she has survived against overwhelming odds and that the coming together of such a large and diverse nationwide community to pray for her Melanie’s healing is an amazing thing to behold.

Interestingly enough, it appears that the cause of Pope John Paul II’s canonization has been delayed since Sister Marie Simon-Pierre’s previously thought miraculous recovery from Parkinson’s disease may have been premature with the recurrence of Sister Marie’s medical condition. If this is true and the postulators for John Paul II’s cause are one miracle short they may need to look no further than what just happened to Melanie Pritchard here in Phoenix. If a faithful pro-life Catholic mother, wife and leader like Melanie Pritchard could advance the canonization of her spiritual mentor John Paul II, it would be fitting indeed.

Mark Henry is a Catholic writer, author and speaker. He can be reached at mthenrysaz@gmail.com

Obama’s Oval Office Address Fails To Address Oil Spill Crisis

by Mark Henry

The Gulf Oil Spill is an unprecedented environmental catastrophe that presented President Obama an opportunity to show executive leadership and reassure Americans that the federal government is doing all it can to stop the hemorrhaging of oil into the Gulf.

By almost all accounts, President Obama’s Oval Office Address failed to achieve this objective. Obama was roundly criticized by leading liberal media pundits and conservative commentators alike. President Clintons Media Advisor David Gergen stated that this was Obama’s last opportunity to take control of the gulf oil spill problem and that he fell short of it.

Interestingly, some of the most vocal criticism came from liberal media stalwarts like Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. The criticized President Obama’s speech for being “Carter like”, lacking in executive command and directionless.

Obama’s address had a military-like tones using terms like “battle” and “siege”. Perhaps this is part of the President’s newly adopted “get tough, be emotional” demeanor to counteract criticisms that he is too detached and unemotional. What is clear is that Obama’s anger was directed at BP and the oil industry as the President stated emphatically that BP will pay for damage sustained in the Gulf.

Getting angry about the oil spill is natural and of course BP will be liable for actions that caused this catastrophe. Federal law already imposes liability on companies like BP for oil spills. However, the extent of BP’s liability should be resolved through the rule of law, not by Presidential fiat. Such autocratic Presidential behavior may pass muster in Venezuela but that has not been the American way, at least until lately.

Many commentators felt that the President’s address focused too much on casting blame for the Gulf oil spill crisis. Americans wanted the President to explain that the federal government was doing all it could do to stop or at least stem the flood of oil into the Gulf. In his Oval Office Address, President Obama failed to do this and disappointed the vast majority of Americans.

What disappointed many viewers - of all political persuasions – is that we are now 60 days into the greatest oil spill in U.S. history and the President was not able to tell us that the federal government has a plan to stop the oil from flooding into the Gulf.

What President Obama did tell us is that this catastrophe reveals a need for a new energy policy. This prompted many conservative critics to complain that Obama was taking advantage of the crisis to promote the controversial “cap and trade” legislation which is stalled in the U.S. Congress.

In arguing for a new greener energy policy, Obama erroneously asserted that we are running out of places to drill for oil. However, critics cited a June 30, 2008 stated that America has enough untapped oil reserves to supply 300 years of America’s demand for oil. These reserves are nearly three times more than the reserves held by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations. The problem is that Democratic Party policies catering to demands of environmental extremists have made most of these reserves off-limits to drilling.

Essentially, Obama used the “running out of places to drill” canard – a problem which his party created - as a pretext to call for yet another new government program; a new energy policy. Many viewers of Obama’s speech feel that much of the script came right out of the community activist play book; agitate people about a problem, be vague about real solutions but do come up with a big government program to “administer” the problem.

Obama’s approach reflects a belief that every crisis has a silver lining that can be exploited to achieve political goals that would otherwise be unattainable. This approach was used by Obama with the recent federal take over of health care. Recall that spiraling health care costs as well as the need to improve access to health care were the pretexts for nationalizing the health care insurance industry. Fast forward to the present oil spill crisis which presents a dual opportunity to push for cap and trade policy and subjugate BP and the oil industry to more federal control.

In short, Obama’s Oval Office address was a historic disappointment that left many Americans of all political stripes wishing that the President would have focused on solving the continuing Gulf oil spill crisis rather than engage in spirited finger pointing. It was also an inopportune time to push the controversial cap and trade legislation under the guise of a new greener national energy policy. Mr. President, it is time to table cap and trade start working seriously on the real environmental crisis; the flood of oil into the Gulf.

Solving serious national problems requires experienced executive leadership rather the community activist leadership style. Without it, our pristine gulf coast environment will continue to needlessly suffer more than it has to.

A Tribute To Dad, Old Glory And God

By Mark Henry

On this Memorial Day, we are called to honor and remember those who have served our country. We must never forget that the freedom we take for granted is not free and comes with a heavy price. It is also a time to remember that we are one nation under God and we honor those in the military who sacrificed to keep it that way.

While all Americans need to be thankful for the service of our military veterans, there are those among us who owe a particular debt of gratitude to family members who served in the armed forces.

This Memorial Day is particularly significant for my family since my father, a veteran of WWII and the Korean War, was interred this week at Punchbowl National Cemetery in Hawaii. My father was one of a whole generation of young men who were pressed into military service when WWII broke out. Since Dad was not keen to fight in the trenches, he opted to enroll in flight training school to become a Marine aviator. Barely meeting the pilot minimum age requirement of 18, he went on to flight training school and was rushed into air combat in the Pacific.

By military standards, Dad had a successful tour of duty as he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross among other wartime citations and awards. However, Dad never liked to talk much about his experiences in the war. In fact, the Catholic chaplain at my father’s memorial service this week nailed it when he said that if my father were here he would say he did nothing special, nothing but his duty.

My father’s memorial service last week was with "military honors" and was a deeply moving experience. Since I never served in the military, I had no idea what I was in for. Seeing an honor guard of seven Marine soldiers firing their rifles into the air three times was awe-inspiring. The ceremonial playing of taps by a lone bugler, followed by eight additional Marine honor guards presenting the American flag to me as the next of kin was an unforgettable experience.

Many Americans do not realize or appreciate the deep Christian symbolism which is reflected in the flag presentation ceremony at a military funeral. The honoring of God in the presentation of the American flag was personally comforting and surprising in this age where our federal government seems so determined to remove any semblance of Christian faith from the public square.

Each individual fold of the flag has symbolic significance, with a number of folds honoring God and traditional Christian values. At my father’s service, the flag was folded thirteen times by eight Marine honor guards, standing in two rows of four honor guards each.

The first fold of the flag is a symbol of life. The second fold of the flag is a symbol of a belief in eternal life. The fourth fold of the flag represents man’s fallibility, man’s need to trust in God and the importance of turning to God for His divine guidance in times of war and peace.

The twelfth fold of the flag symbolizes eternity and glorifies God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The thirteenth and last fold of the flag reveals the stars on the flag and symbolizes the United States' national motto, “In God We Trust.”

My father’s military memorial service, especially the flag presentation ceremony, was an experience that will live with me all my days. However, what made Dad’s memorial service not just moving but spiritually significant was realizing how different events in my father’s life, like the ceremonial folding of the American flag, manifested God’s providence and led my father inexorably closer to God.

Earlier in his life, my father never seemed to have too much of an interest in his faith. While he occasionally joined the family for services on holidays and other occasions, it seemed more in his character, as the battle hardened Marine combat pilot, to be the breadwinner, disciplinarian and sports coach rather than spiritual leader of the family. While the Lord may have called Dad, he was not yet willing to listen and the Lord's call fell, for the moment, on deaf ears.

However, during his final years my father’s worsening physical condition provided him a timely opportunity to reflect on his life, his accomplishments, his regrets and also his gradually awakening desire to come closer to Christ.

During this stage of Dad’s life, his numerous hospitalizations required that we, his family, “stand guard” at his bedside and literally defend his life. I believed it was the least we could do in return for all Dad did for us and his country. The need for this was clear as each time Dad was hospitalized the hospital staff tried to convince us that Dad was dying and it was futile and pointless to insist that he received life-sustaining care like food and water intravenously. According to the hospital staff, the better thing to do was to medicate him, not provide him nutrition and hydration and let him die.

Essentially, the hospital staff wanted us to agree that Dad could be euthanized. Fortunately, we resisted the unrelenting pressure of the hospital staff to terminally sedate Dad and each time Dad walked out of the hospital on his own.

While I did not realize it at the time, I eventually came to appreciate the eternal spiritual significance of the battle that we were waging for Dad. He needed just a little more time for God’s loving arms to embrace him. Had the hospital had its way and been able to euthanize Dad, he may not have come back to Christ and his soul could have been lost forever.

After Dad was discharged from the hospital for the last time, he sat down with me and the final and most joyous chapter of his life unfolded. I remember it well, after having lunch with my father and returning to his apartment we sat down and he asked me to tell him about my faith in Christ! Hearing his request brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. Dad had now unfolded the first and second folds in the flag, he was acknowledging the importance of life and eternity.

This conversation with my father was the first in a sequence of memorable events that ended with Dad accepting Christ as his Lord and Savior. Soon enough, Dad began attending church services with us. He also started a daily prayer life, sometimes on his own and sometimes with friends of his who also had been encouraging him to renew his Catholic faith.

The Lord’s plan for my father was finally unfolding before my very eyes. By now, my father’s failing health made it apparent that he may not have long to live. He was now at the fourth fold in the flag and had recognized his own fallibility and his need to turn to God in this most difficult of times.

All to soon, Dad was admitted to the hospital for the last time and he took his final step of spiritual reconciliation - he confessed his sins to the hospital Chaplain and received the last rites. Dad was now unfolding the final folds in the flag where he recognized the need to reconcile with God, to glorify Him and to trust in His saving grace. Within twenty-four hours, the Lord tenderly reached out and took Dad home.

My father’s memorial service at Punchbowl last week was a tribute to a man, his service to country and his Catholic faith. Like the faith inspired folding of the American flag, Dad’s life journey was a testimony to the values of life, honor and God’s providence. My father, the prodigal soldier, finished faithful which was God’s plan for him all along. Semper Fidelis, Dad.