“The world has never had a good definition of the word ‘liberty.’ The American people just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty. But in using the same word, we do not all mean the same thing. “What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling seacoasts — these are not our reliance against tyranny. Our reliance is in the love of liberty, which God has planted in our bosom. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own door. “At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? “Never. “All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, could not, by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer that if it ever reach us, it must spring from amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be the authors and finishers. “As a nation of free men, we must live through our times or die by suicide. Let reverence for the law be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in the schools, in the seminaries and in the colleges; let it be written in primers, in spelling books and almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls and enforced in courts of justice; and in short, let it become the political religion of the nation. And let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly at its altar. And let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence, trusting that in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security. “Let us not be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Though these words are from the 1800’s I think they are still very important to remember and can be applied to the events and struggles that we face in today’s world. Though we are a country of diversity and differing opinions we are bound together in unity that we have the ability to express ourselves in many ways but when people reach the point that this freedom of ours causes disharmony and we are split and divided as Americans we can only help but to usher in the seeds of our own destruction. So regardless what side you may fall on of the many different views from the war in Iraq to the issue of when life actually starts to the ecology in our search for natural resources. Remember that we are unified in our own diversity but we should never be so petty as Americans to portray our diversity as our image to those abroad. Be united in our freedom of choice but not divided in our difference of opinion.

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Its never easy to predict what changes could be in the future when a shift in power occurs so suddenly. I can only hope that the measures taken for Isreal and Palestine peace initiatives will not be lost.

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Life has been very good this last year and a half though I cannot say it was what I expected or had planned but that is always the great thing that a person cannot predict nor always plan thier course. I cannot claim these days to be an example of the by the book Catholic though it is also very true that my faith is still present and strong.

In short I hope to make the time to start posting and responding again but these postings and responses will most likely not mirror what I would have written a year ago. Of course that gets back to the title “What never changes”. This I am sure would have a different responsive from everyone for life is ever changing and presenting new information that we use to form ourselves.

I want to wish everyone a Happy and Blessed New Year to come and I hope that everyone has the faith to let the changes of life make them stronger

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Hopefully he will stop by and say Hi to us and bestow us with some of his thoughts on what we are saying here.

I welcome him to drop by and hopeful tell others of our site to promote our Positive Catholic Attitude.

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Communion Mom Looks To VaticanBRIELLE, N.J., Aug. 19, 2004

Mom Mad At Church

Haley Waldman in her first Holy Communion dress (Photo: CBS/EARLY SHOW)Church doctrine holds that communion wafers must have at least some unleavened wheat, as did the bread served at the Last Supper.

Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman on the Early Show (Photo: CBS/EARLY SHOW)

Mother and daughter (Photo: AP)

(CBS/AP) An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a rare digestive disorder and cannot consume wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained none, violating Catholic doctrine. Now Haley Waldman’s mother, Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, is pushing the Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican to make an exception, saying the girl’s condition — celiac sprue disease — should not exclude her from participating in the sacrament, in which Roman Catholics eat consecrated wheat-based wafers to commemorate the last supper of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion. Haley’s first communion was a magical event, other than having to wear a dress, which the tomboy hated, it went off without a hitch. Then her mother found out that church officials invalidated her daughter’s sacrament, reports CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin. “In my mind, I think they must not understand celiac,” said Pelly-Waldman, 30. “It’s just not a viable option. How does it corrupt the tradition of the Last Supper? It’s just rice versus wheat.” It’s more than that, according to church doctrine, which holds that communion wafers must have at least some unleavened wheat, as did the bread served at the Last Supper. The Diocese of Trenton has told Waldman’s mother that the girl can receive a low-gluten host, drink wine at communion or abstain entirely, but that any host without gluten does not qualify as Holy Communion. Pelly-Waldman rejected the offer, saying even a small amount of gluten could harm her child. Gluten is a food protein contained in wheat and other grains. “This is not an issue to be determined at the diocesan or parish level, but has already been decided for the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world by Vatican authority,” said Bishop John M. Smith. “Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist,” Smith said in a prepared statement released by the diocese. Celiac sprue disease, an autoimmune disorder, occurs in people with a genetic intolerance of gluten. When consumed by celiac sufferers, gluten damages the lining of the small intestine, blocking nutrient absorption and leading to vitamin deficiencies, bone-thinning and sometimes gastrointestinal cancer. Some Catholic churches allow the use of no-gluten hosts, others don’t, according to Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, a Studio City, Calif.-based support group for sufferers. “It is a dilemma,” said Monarch. “It is a major frustration that someone who wants to follow their religion is restricted from doing so because some churches will not allow it.” “It is an undue hardship on a person who wants to practice their religion and needs to compromise their health to do so,” Monarch said. Haley Waldman, a shy, brown-haired tomboy who loves surfing and hates to wear a dress, was diagnosed with the disorder at 5. “I’m on a gluten-free diet because I can’t have wheat, I could die,” she said in an interview Wednesday. Last year, in anticipation of the Brielle Elementary School third grader reaching Holy Communion age, her mother told officials at St. Denis Catholic Church in Manasquan that the girl could not have the standard host. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Stanley P. Lukaszewski, told her that a gluten-free substitute was unacceptable. But a priest at a nearby parish contacted Pelly-Waldman after learning about the dilemma, volunteering to administer the sacrament using a gluten-free host. She said she won’t identify the priest or his parish for fear of repercussions from diocese. On May 2, Waldman — wearing a white communion dress — made her first Holy Communion in a ceremony at the priest’s church. Her mother, who also suffers from celiac and had not received communion since her diagnosis four years ago, also received. But last month, the diocese told the priest that Waldman’s sacrament would not be validated by the church because of the substitute wafer. “I struggled with telling her that the sacrament did not happen,” said Pelly-Waldman. “She lives in a world of rules. She says, ‘Mommy, do we want to break a rule? Are we breaking a rule?'” Now, the mother is seeking papal intervention. She has written to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, challenging the church’s policy. “This is a church rule, not God’s will, and it can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of the people, while staying true to the traditions of our faith,” Pelly-Waldman said in the letter. For her part, Pelly-Waldman — who attends Mass every Sunday with her four children — said she is not out to bash the church, just to change the policy that affects her daughter. “I do believe that the church can grow and change to meet the needs of the people and now we need to show them that there is a need,” Pelly-Waldman said.

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