We Are Catholic AND American: "But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” -Book Of Josue 24:15

To appear seemingly harmless, Kwanzaa deploys many politically correct multiculturalist euphemisms to mask its true intentions.  Kwanzaa, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, author and scholar-activist is a Marxist, Black Liberation Theology Socio-Political event with a forty-five (45) year history.

November 30, 2011

Principal

And

Music Teacher/Choral Director

Cornwall-on-Hudson Elementary School

234 Hudson Street

Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York 12520

Re: Notice of Withdrawal from Winter Concert, Kwanzaa Activities, for Erin Kelly.

Dear Principal and Choral Director:

Please be advised that my daughter, Erin Kelly 4^th Grade at Cornwall-on-Hudson Elementary School will not be participating in the school’s officially sanctioned ‘”Winter Concert” scheduled for December 14, 2011 and I am formally requesting her exemption from participation in any other program(s), event(s), celebration(s) or other unstated activity that includes Kwanzaa.

In an email reply I received from Choral Director dated Tue 11/22/2011 12:38 PM of which you were a cc recipient Choral Director stated:

“In the public school venue, it is our obligation as Music Teachers to include all celebrations & observances in our programs, as we have students here that are from many diverse backgrounds.”

As a Catholic Family with our daughter in the Public School System, we invoke our right(s) not to participate in the endorsement/celebration/propagation/worship of a Radical Religious Theology (Black Liberation Theology) of Intolerance, Hate that Advocates Violence towards Christians and Jews: Kwanzaa.

As an American Family with our daughter in the Public School System, we invoke our right(s) not to participate in the endorsement/celebration/propagation/worship of a Radical Marxist Political Ideology with the end goal of the indoctrination of our children in addition to the violent overthrow of our Republic and its Constitutional form of Government: Kwanzaa.

It is our desire and sincere wish that this letter settles the matter and that there is no need for our retention of counsel.

We look forward to your letter of confirmation of receipt of this correspondence and your compliance with our request(s).

Respectfully,

Greg Kelly

Related Posts:

Christian persecution in the USA?

Why Catholics Should Not Participate in Kwanzaa: The Daniel Standard

Why I am Pulling My Daughter From Public School “Winter Concert” Kwanzaa

KWANZAA:  Legitimate Religious Holiday or Political Marxist Agenda?

The Kelly's...Keeping Christ in Chritsmas!

Let us boil this right down to the bone avoiding all the traps of worldly and secular distraction, misdirection, compromise and apathy.  We live in a Post Christian – Neo Pagan world and to believe this has not affected our faith and/or our church is to be blinded by the god of this world.

When Catholics own our narrative, it prohibits others from defining individuals, organizations, businesses in unfavorable terms.   To be effective our narrative must be an honest reflection of the core principles, beliefs of the Catholic Church and make the ‘who, what, when, where, why and how ‘easily identifiable. -Greg Kelly

We have allowed even participated in the hijacking of the Catholic Narrative by The World so much so that Christmas has replaced Easter Sunday (Resurrection Sunday) as the Holiest day of the year all the while diverting our attention away from the true meaning of Christmas, the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ with perversion of The Truth by winter concerts, light displays rife with, materialism, paganism, moral and cultural relativism, diversity and tolerance.

Let me be very clear on this point anything, event or person that is not pointing to Jesus at Advent/Christmas is a perversion of The Truth.

Santa Claus is a perversion of St. Nicholas who by his life, deeds and words pointed to Jesus Christ while Santa Claus while seemingly harmless has secularized Christmas transforming it into the materialism horrors that we see on Black Friday and the human suffering caused by the overspending and massive accumulated debt by those least able to afford it creating an explosive economic slave class, destroying families.

For Catholics it is important not to participate in Christmas or winter or holiday events, however innocuous they may appear that have any other agenda beside pointing to and glorifying Jesus Christ.  To do so is a direct endorsement of the opposing agendas that in most cases are hostile to, in direct opposition to the Catholic Narrative.

How do we as Catholics deliver the Catholic Narrative on Christmas?  With two of the most powerful words available to humanity: Divine Mercy.

Give Divine Mercy gifts of substance.  Toys, games are used for short periods, break, lost or stolen and the children rarely remember receiving the gift or that they received it from the Divine Mercy of Jesus, remember like St. Nicholas Divine Mercy points to Jesus.

People remember every time they put on a warm coat, or have other clothing items (donate small or gently used, unused presents of clothes) to wear.  For those that are hungry a simple meal, sharing your company with the single mom and her children deserted by her husband or the widower trying his best to raise his children after his wife died.  Veterans Hospital, Nursing Homes and Children’s Hospitals are great places to visit on Christmas Day giving of yourself with the lonely, abandoned, sick and yes the dying, showing them the Face of Jesus through small acts of Divine Mercy…This Is Christmas.

About:

Greg Kelly Partner K2 Global Communications LLC

Greg Kelly is a combat veteran having served in the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant in the “America’s Guard of Honor”  82nd Airborne Division (Grenada) and “Second-2-None” 2nd Infantry Division (Korea).

His professional experience includes specializing in public relations, international relations, public/government affairs, corporate communications, and relationship building from the local-to-international level. He has worked as an assistant to Benjamin A. Gilman, former Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a member of Congress from 1973 to 2003. He is also the former Manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising for the Korea National Tourism Organization where his duties included speech writing for senior Korean government officials and establishing and maintaining working relationships with various foreign and domestic companies, government agencies and media outlets.

Mr. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Potsdam where he majored in political science and minored in communications.

Memberships: ALL-AMERICAN MEMBER 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION ASSOCIATION

Mr. Kelly resides in the Hudson Valley, married with one daughter.

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

“But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”-Book Of Josue (Joshua) 24:15

Our Why I am Pulling My Daughter From Public School “Winter Concert” Kwanzaa for the most part elicited the expected responses  from proponents of Political Correctness, Multiculturalism, Marxism, Black Liberation Theology, Moral and Ethical Relativism.

The responses that gave us pause and the impetus to follow up with this post came from the heretical 1960-70’s liberal apostasy movement adherents still present within the Catholic Church today.

To begin our readers must fully grasp the fact that Kwanzaa is not a religion nor is it a cultural movement, although it does camouflage itself as so when it is to its benefit to do so.  Kwanzaa is a political movement, Black Liberation Theology Marxism to be exact. A tool used in the public arena, government (public) schools to indoctrinate our children in the battle for their minds and for us Catholics…their Souls.

The goals of the Radical Marxists of Kwanzaa are to remove Christ and Christianity from society to be replaced with the Worship of Self and Man with Government as god.  In cases where this is not attainable they seek to subordinate Jesus, Christmas and Christianity through Diversity and Social Justice programs.

To appear seemingly harmless, Kwanzaa deploys many politically correct multiculturalist euphemisms to mask its true intentions.  Kwanzaa, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, author and scholar-activist is a Marxist, Black Liberation Theology Socio-Political event with a forty-five (45) year history.

What are we as Catholics to do?

Daniel offers us an excellent Faith Action Model in as much as while in captivity he received an education (government school) learning the attributes of his enemies yet remaining faithful to God.  Daniel drew the line at participating in official, sanctioned and mandated events, ceremonies, celebrations and practices because it would have been idolatry, worshipping false, government-sanctioned gods.

For Catholics that find themselves in government (public) schools Kwanzaa as well as other anti-Christian curriculums will be taught.

It is the moral and ethical duty of Catholic parents to teach their children before they are exposed to and indoctrinated by proponents of Political Correctness, Multiculturalism, Marxism, Black Liberation Theology, Moral and Ethical Relativism, their Catholic Faith.

Secondly, it is the duty of Catholic parents not to allow their children to participate in events such as ‘Winter Concerts’ that  are not direct celebrations of the Birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Christmas) and/or The Festival of Lights (Hanukah) or includes any promotion/celebration of Kwanzaa in any manner.  Recall Daniel would not eat the meat sacrificed to the idols, to allow Catholic children to participate in such events as the ‘Winter Concerts’ takes away from Christ and Christmas at which point our children are engaged in worshiping idols, false gods,  through readings/song/dance/costumes, the god of the Radical Marxists of Kwanza:  Self and Man with Government as god.

References:

Ten Commandments:

[2] I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. [Exodus 20:2] [Latin] [3] Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.

First Epistle Of Saint Paul To Timothy:

Now the Spirit manifestly saith, that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils, [1 Timothy 4:1] [Latin] [2] Speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their conscience seared,

Second Epistle Of Saint Paul To The Corinthians:

And no wonder: for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light.

Epistle Of Saint Paul To The Romans:

And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God

Gospel According to Saint John

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. [John 8:44] [Latin] [45] But if I say the truth, you believe me not.

Book Of Deuteronomy

Lest perhaps there should be among you a man or a woman, a family or a tribe, whose heart is turned away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations: and there should be among you a root bringing forth gall and bitterness.

About:

“But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” -Book Of Josue (Joshua) 24:15

Greg Kelly is a combat veteran having served in the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant in the “America’s Guard of Honor”  82nd Airborne Division (Grenada) and “Second-2-None” 2nd Infantry Division (Korea).

His professional experience includes specializing in public relations, international relations, public/government affairs, corporate communications, and relationship building from the local-to-international level. He has worked as an assistant to Benjamin A. Gilman, former Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a member of Congress from 1973 to 2003. He is also the former Manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising for the Korea National Tourism Organization where his duties included speech writing for senior Korean government officials and establishing and maintaining working relationships with various foreign and domestic companies, government agencies and media outlets.

Mr. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Potsdam where he majored in political science and minored in communications.

Memberships: ALL-AMERICAN MEMBER 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION ASSOCIATION

Mr. Kelly resides in the Hudson Valley, married with one daughter.

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

As a Catholic Family Christmas is a Holy and Historical Event for us as is Hanukah for our Jewish Brothers and Sisters with both celebrations being thousands of years old.

To appear seemingly harmless, Kwanzaa deploys many politically correct multiculturalist euphemisms to mask its true intentions.  Kwanzaa, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, author and scholar-activist is a Marxist, Black Liberation Theology Socio-Political event with a forty-five (45) year history.

About:

Greg Kelly is a combat veteran having served in the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant in the “America’s Guard of Honor”  82nd Airborne Division (Grenada) and “Second-2-None” 2nd Infantry Division (Korea).

His professional experience includes specializing in public relations, international relations, public/government affairs, corporate communications, and relationship building from the local-to-international level. He has worked as an assistant to Benjamin A. Gilman, former Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a member of Congress from 1973 to 2003. He is also the former Manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising for the Korea National Tourism Organization where his duties included speech writing for senior Korean government officials and establishing and maintaining working relationships with various foreign and domestic companies, government agencies and media outlets.

Mr. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Potsdam where he majored in political science and minored in communications.

Memberships: ALL-AMERICAN MEMBER 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION ASSOCIATION

Mr. Kelly resides in the Hudson Valley, married with one daughter.

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Kelly's...Keeping Christ in Christmas!

November 22, 2011

Music Teacher/Choral Director

Cornwall-on-Hudson Elementary School

234 Hudson Street

Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York 12520

Re: Erin Kelly/Winter Concert Program.

Dear Music Teacher/Choral Director :

My daughter, Erin Kelly, informed me yesterday that she is going to be required to wear a Kwanzaa related garment in addition to celebrating Kwanzaa itself in the course of performing at the Winter Concert on December 14, 2011 at 1900hrs.

I respectfully request that my daughter be removed from any part of the Winter Concert that is not a direct celebration of the Birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Christmas) or The Festival of Lights (Hanukah).

As a Catholic Family Christmas is a Holy and Historical Event for us as is Hanukah for our Jewish Brothers and Sisters being thousands of years old.

To appear seemingly harmless, Kwanzaa deploys many politically correct multiculturalist euphemisms to mask its true intentions.  Kwanzaa, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, author and scholar-activist is a Marxist, Black Liberation Theology Socio-Political event with a forty-five (45) year history.

If Erin cannot be removed from selected portions of the program that do not celebrate Christmas or Hanukah, please inform me so I may withdraw her from participating in the Winter Concert entirely.

Respectfully,

Greg Kelly

About:

Greg Kelly is a combat veteran having served in the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant in the “America’s Guard of Honor”  82nd Airborne Division (Grenada) and “Second-2-None” 2nd Infantry Division (Korea).

His professional experience includes specializing in public relations, international relations, public/government affairs, corporate communications, and relationship building from the local-to-international level. He has worked as an assistant to Benjamin A. Gilman, former Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a member of Congress from 1973 to 2003. He is also the former Manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising for the Korea National Tourism Organization where his duties included speech writing for senior Korean government officials and establishing and maintaining working relationships with various foreign and domestic companies, government agencies and media outlets.

Mr. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Potsdam where he majored in political science and minored in communications.

Memberships: ALL-AMERICAN MEMBER 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION ASSOCIATION

Mr. Kelly resides in the Hudson Valley, married with one daughter.

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

ST THOMAS OF CANTERBURY YOUTH GROUP...GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE!

We would like to congratulate the St. Thomas of Canterbury Youth Group for its hard work and dedication hosting its Blood Drive before the start of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This is the time of year when available blood supplies drop off but are in highest demand.

For our Hudson Valley readers there is still time to donate the gift of life!

11/21/2011 4:00PM -to- 8:30PM

St. Thomas of Canterbury (Former School Gym)

336 Hudson St.

Cornwall-on-Hudson , New York 12520

Donating blood is literally giving the gift of life. Each day, patients in our regions need close to 2,000 people a day to roll up their sleeves to give the gift of life. There is simply no substitute for voluntarily donated blood. Without volunteer donors, our community would not have an adequate community blood supply.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Why should someone donate blood?
A. Close to 2,000 donations are needed each day in the New York/New Jersey community for patients who require a life-saving blood and/or platelet transfusion. Those in need include cancer patients, accident, burn or trauma victims, patients undergoing surgery or a transplant, newborn babies, etc.

Q. Who can donate blood or platelets?
A. Nearly anyone age 17 (16 with parents’ written permission) to 75*, who weighs a minimum of 110 pounds and is in good health can safely donate blood. There are some reasons and conditions that may permanently or temporarily defer someone from donor eligibility, but far more people are eligible to donate than actually do donate.
*People age 76 and older can donate if they meet all donor eligibility requirements and they present a doctor’s written permission note.

Q. Do donors need IDs to donate?
A. Yes. New York Blood Center cannot take your donation without first seeing a form of identification with either your photo or your signature.

Q. How long does the donation take?
A. The donation procedure, which is performed by a trained technician, takes about 10 to 12 minutes. But it also takes time to fill out the donor registration form, to have a donor history/mini medical exam and to enjoy some refreshments following a donation. We suggest you allot 45 minutes to 1 hour to donate blood. Donating platelets can take longer.

Q. What will happen when someone donates blood?
A. You will be asked to provide some basic information (name, address, birthdate, etc.) as well as a number of health history questions on a registration form. Then we measure your pulse rate, temperature, hemoglobin content and blood pressure to determine your donor suitability.

Q. How will someone feel after they donate?
A. Most people feel great and especially if they know what to expect, eat properly before their donation and drink extra fluids for 48 hours following their donation.

Q. What happens to blood after it’s donated?
A. All donated blood, even donations from repeat donors, are tested for blood type, hepatitis, HIV, syphilis and other transmissable diseases. Blood may also be separated into various components (such as red cells, platelets or plasma) so each donation can help several people.

Q. Can someone gets AIDS by donating blood?
A. No. You cannot get any transmissable disease, including AIDS, by donating blood. The materials used for each donation (including the needle) are sterile, disposable and used only by a single donor.

Q. How often can someone donate blood?
A. People can safely donate blood every 8 weeks.

Q. How often can someone donate platelets?
A. People can safely donate platelets every three days or up to 24 times a year.

Q. Is there anything special someone should do before they donate?
A. All potential donors of whole blood or platelets should eat at their regular meal times and drink plenty of fluids before donating. Donors who only give platelets may not take aspirin or products containing aspirin, for 72 hours prior to donating.

Q. Are there any travel or prescription medication restrictions that can affect someone’s eligibility to donate?
A. Yes there are many. Please call 1-800-688-0900 for the most up-to-date information on medical eligibility to donate blood or platelets.

Q. Can someone donate after receiving a vaccination?
A. Depends on what the vaccination was for and deferral times will vary. Please call 1-800-688-0900 to learn about a specific and/or recent vaccination.

Q. Does donating blood hurt?
A. The needle insertion feels like a little pinch and other than that most donors feel no discomfort.

Q. Do people have blood to spare?
A. Yes. Most adults have between 8 to 12 pints of blood and can easily spare a pint. Volume is replaced within 24 hours and red cells are replaced within 4 to 8 weeks after donating.

Q. Is there a substitute for donated blood?
A. No. All transfusions in this country are a result of the 8 million volunteer blood donors in the United States. But the demand for transfusions is increasing as the population ages and more sophisticated medical care and surgeries, requiring transfusion support, become more commonplace.

Q. Can’t blood be frozen for use anytime?
A. Some rare red cells are frozen for emergency use but thawing them is costly, requires special staff and equipment and then must be transfused within 24 hours. So a fresh supply of blood is really what’s best.

Q. Doesn’t donated blood last forever?
A. No. Donated blood is perishable just like milk. Red cells last for 42 days; platelets last for 5 days; plasma can be frozen for up to a year.

Q. What is a “rare” blood type?
A. Some people have fewer antigens (proteins on their Red Blood Cells) than others. Determining which of these proteins are absent from a person?s Red Blood Cells is involved in blood typing beyond the more familiar A, B O and Rh. In addition to their identifying rare blood types, we specially code these rare donated units so they are easily found for patients who also have these rare blood types.

Q. Why should a donor fill in the ethnicity box on the donor registration form?
A. Blood types and antigens are inherited, just like eye and hair color. Searching for very precise transfusion matches can be like looking for a needle in a haystack, so it makes sense to begin with donors of the same ethnic or racial background as the transfusion recipient. Therefore indicating one’s race and ethnicity on the donor registration form is very important.

Q. Is every donation used by a hospital patient?
A. Nearly every donated pint of blood is transfused to a patient in need. Some units may test positive for certain infectious diseases and are discarded to protect patients and some units may be used for research. But very few acceptable units ever outdate, or expire, before they are transfused.

For more information visit: http://nybloodcenter.org/index.jsp

About:

Greg Kelly is a combat veteran having served in the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant in the “America’s Guard of Honor”  82nd Airborne Division (Grenada) and “Second-2-None” 2nd Infantry Division (Korea).

His professional experience includes specializing in public relations, international relations, public/government affairs, corporate communications, and relationship building from the local-to-international level. He has worked as an assistant to Benjamin A. Gilman, former Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a member of Congress from 1973 to 2003. He is also the former Manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising for the Korea National Tourism Organization where his duties included speech writing for senior Korean government officials and establishing and maintaining working relationships with various foreign and domestic companies, government agencies and media outlets.

Mr. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Potsdam where he majored in political science and minored in communications.

Memberships: ALL-AMERICAN MEMBER 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION ASSOCIATION

Mr. Kelly resides in the Hudson Valley, married with one daughter.

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Little Nellie of Holy God (1903 - 1908)

Over the course of this past weekend while compiling news resources on Western Civilization in relation to current global political-economy and on the state of society as a whole   How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill came to mind.  Yes I am aware of the Global Pusher’s (IMF) Ireland outlook but what I believe is that the Global Pusher (IMF) is not aware of who the Irish are.

And yet . . . Ireland, a little island at the edge of Europe that has known neither Renaissance nor Enlightenment–in some ways, a Third World country with, as John Betjeman claimed, a Stone Age culture had one moment of unblemished glory. For, as the Roman Empire fell, as all through Europe matted, unwashed barbarians descended on the Roman cities, looting artifacts and burning books, the Irish, who were just learning to read and write, took up the great labor of copying all of western literature–everything they could lay their hands on. These scribes then served as conduits through which the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures were transmitted to the tribes of Europe, newly settled amid the rubble and ruined vineyards of the civilization they had overwhelmed. Without this Service of the Scribes, everything that happened subsequently would have been unthinkable. Without the Mission of the Irish Monks, who single-handedly refounded European civilization throughout the continent in the bays and valleys of their exile, the world that came after them would have been an entirely different one–a world without books. And our own world would never have come to be.

 

Not for a thousand years–not since the Spartan Legion had perished at the Hot Gates of Thermopylae had western civilization been put to such a test or faced such odds, nor would it again face extinction till in this century it devised the means of extinguishing all life. As our story opens at the beginning of the fifth century, no one could foresee the coming collapse. But to reasonable men in the second half of the century, surveying the situation of their time, the end was no longer in doubt: their world was finished. One could do nothing but, like Ausonius, retire to one’s villa, write poetry, and await the inevitable. It never occurred to them that the building blocks of their world would be saved by outlandish oddities from a land so marginal that the Romans had not bothered to conquer it, by men so strange they lived in little huts on rocky outcrops and shaved half their heads and tortured themselves with fasts and chills and nettle baths. As Kenneth Clark said, “Looking back from the great civilizations of twelfth-century France or seventeenth-century Rome, it is hard to believe that for quite a long time–almost a hundred years–western Christianity survived by clinging to places like Skellig Michael, a pinnacle of rock eighteen miles from the Irish coast, rising seven hundred feet out of the sea.” -Excerpt from How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill

Today being the Presentation of Mary  makes for a special day to attend daily Mass on many levels and for many reasons.  I am very blessed to be able to attend daily masses with homilies given by Fr. Dennis M. Dinan of St. Thomas of Canterbury, R.C. in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York with today not being an exception.

It is sometimes difficult for modern Westerners to appreciate a feast like this. The Eastern Church, however, was quite open to this feast and even somewhat insistent about celebrating it. Even though the feast has no basis in history, it stresses an important truth about Mary: From the beginning of her life, she was dedicated to God. She herself became a greater temple than any made by hands. God came to dwell in her in a marvelous manner and sanctified her for her unique role in God’s saving work. At the same time, the magnificence of Mary enriches her children. They, too, are temples of God and sanctified in order that they might enjoy and share in God’s saving work. -Comment from Presentation of Mary  Saint of the Day, AmericanCatholic.org

Fr. Dinan reminded me of a great Irish Warrior Saint that I had heard about many years ago… Little Nellie of Holy God (1903 – 1908).  Little Nellie it would seem had been marked by God to save mankind from itself with the faith of a child.

The Sisters were very amazed that little Nellie would often think about Holy Communion.  “Mother,” she said to her nurse one morning, “go to Mass, and get Holy God, and come back to kiss me.  Then you can go back to the chapel again.”  The nurse would always go back to kiss Nellie, after receiving Holy Communion.  Nellie longed for this, the nearest approach she could have to Holy God, and received a great deal of happiness from the fact that she could be so close to Holy God.

One day the Blessed Sacrament was exposed on the Altar. The Nurse carried Nellie down to the chapel.  It was the first time the little girl had ever seen the Monstrance.  With her eyes gazing at the Monstrance, little Nellie whispered, “There He is!  There is Holy God now!” From then on, she always knew when the Blessed Sacrament was taken out of the Tabernacle for Exposition.  Knowing this, she would say to the Sisters, “Holy God is not in the lock-up today.  Take me down to Him.”

The Child Jesus knew that Nellie was tired of lying in her bed alone, all day long, so He used to come and visit her.  One day He gave her a flower, another time He danced for her and sometimes He just came to visit and talk to her.  Little Nellie loved every minute that the Child Jesus spent with her.

As time went on, the Sisters felt more and more that there was something special about little Nellie, because she was always asking for Holy Communion.  They asked Fr. Bury to talk with the little girl, in order to find out if she really knew enough about receiving Holy Communion.  The priest asked her a number of questions and then said, “Tell me Nellie, what is Holy Communion?”  To this the child replied,  “It is Holy God.  It is He who makes Nuns and everybody else happy!”  Truly it was the Jesus, who helped little Nellie, to give the priest such a wonderful answer.  Now the Fr. Bury felt sure that Nellie had reached the use of reason, even though she was so very young.  He knew that the little girl understood that Jesus was present in the Blessed Sacrament, and that she loved Him.  Right after speaking with little Nellie, he reported the matter to the Bishop of Cork. The Bishop then gave his permission for the child to receive Holy Communion. Read her full story here: Little Nellie of Holy God (1903 – 1908).

Who would have ever thought that after one hundred and three years a four-year-old Irish Warrior Saint would be following in a long line of Irish Greats…Saving Humanity from Itself.

About:

Greg Kelly is a combat veteran having served in the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant in the “America’s Guard of Honor”  82nd Airborne Division (Grenada) and “Second-2-None” 2nd Infantry Division (Korea).

His professional experience includes specializing in public relations, international relations, public/government affairs, corporate communications, and relationship building from the local-to-international level. He has worked as an assistant to Benjamin A. Gilman, former Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a member of Congress from 1973 to 2003. He is also the former Manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising for the Korea National Tourism Organization where his duties included speech writing for senior Korean government officials and establishing and maintaining working relationships with various foreign and domestic companies, government agencies and media outlets.

Mr. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Potsdam where he majored in political science and minored in communications.

Memberships: ALL-AMERICAN MEMBER 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION ASSOCIATION

Mr. Kelly resides in the Hudson Valley, married with one daughter.

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

THE DIVINE MERCY

You will hear from most government and news sources, businesses, even your friends and family that the hour is dark and dour but as a Catholic Businessman, I emphatically state that it is not!  We Catholics are living in great times of Light, Mercy and Blessing if we choose to open our eyes to recognize it, open our hearts to live it.

I was preparing this post for the beginning of the 2011 Thanksgiving Week with an extension into Christmas 2011 when I read the Magis Ignatian Reflection:

As a general rule, we do not give the best to God.  For prayer, we give the time when we are falling asleep, or the few moments we can snatch in the course of the day.  To the Church, we give what remains after our necessities and amusements have been secured; to God’s poor, we give what we no longer need.  We do not tell our firstborn or our best and brightest to offer their lives to God’s service.  There are exceptions to this rule, of course, and if I were to write these words in condemnation, I too would stand condemned.  Take it, then, as an observation: God must generally make do with our leftovers. -Excerpt From Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, memorial by from Dr. Sam Conedera, SJ 21 November, 2011.

Yes there is an economic crisis, elevated levels of poverty, division (Class Warfare Politics), fear, frustration, racial and religious hatred (Race Bait Politics), natural disasters, man-made disasters, etc.

What If  all of these dark and dour circumstances and events were allowed ?  Allowed so that We Catholics call to remembrance Whose We Are?   Our Task to Be The Light, Salt of The Earth, reaching beyond ourselves through The Divine Mercy (Jesus) with Our Best instead of as Dr. Sam Conedera put it: “God must generally make do with our leftovers.”

What are the Works of Mercy?

Corporal Works

•     Feed the Hungry
•    Give drink to the thirsty
•    Clothe the naked
•     Shelter the homeless
•      Comfort the prisoners
•      Visit the sick
•      Bury the dead

Spiritual Works

•                Teach the ignorant
•                Pray for the living & dead
•                Correct sinners
•                Counsel those in doubt
•                Console the sorrowful
•                Bear wrongs patiently
•                Forgive wrongs willingly

(Source: The Divine Mercy Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M)

In these dark and dour times, We Catholics are not to retreat but are to be the leaders, leaders of Salt and Light right in our own communities, for our neighbors…We are to be THE DIVINE MERCY.

The second dynamic of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Divine Mercy 2011 comes in the form of a Q & A response by Robert Stackpole, STD, Director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy titled:

How To Give Thanks As Faustina Would

If St. Faustina were to celebrate Thanksgiving with us today, what things would she be especially thankful for?

Perhaps most surprising of all, St. Faustina even gave thanks to the Lord for the many crosses she suffered, even when she did not understand why He permitted them to happen to her or how they might play a part in His merciful plan for her life. I am filled with awe and wonder when I read Diary entry 343, and all the sufferings she gave thanks for, with complete trust in Jesus (whereas I usually grumble, or even get discouraged, when I have to suffer such things!): -Excerpt from How To Give Thanks As Faustina Would by Robert Stackpole, STD, Director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy

ST. FAUSTINA www.thedivinemercy.org

Especially this Thanksgiving and Christmas, throughout the year of 2012 we ask our Catholic Brothers and Sisters to be Leaders of Divine Mercy, sources of Salt and Light for this dark and dour world.

Resources and Please Support the Works of:

THE DIVINE MERCY

AmericanCatholic.org

The MAGIS Center for Catholic Spirituality

About:

Greg Kelly is a combat veteran having served in the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant in the “America’s Guard of Honor”  82nd Airborne Division (Grenada) and “Second-2-None” 2nd Infantry Division (Korea).

His professional experience includes specializing in public relations, international relations, public/government affairs, corporate communications, and relationship building from the local-to-international level. He has worked as an assistant to Benjamin A. Gilman, former Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a member of Congress from 1973 to 2003. He is also the former Manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising for the Korea National Tourism Organization where his duties included speech writing for senior Korean government officials and establishing and maintaining working relationships with various foreign and domestic companies, government agencies and media outlets.

Mr. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Potsdam where he majored in political science and minored in communications.

Memberships: ALL-AMERICAN MEMBER 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION ASSOCIATION

Mr. Kelly resides in the Hudson Valley, married with one daughter.

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Caroline Purr...Power, Heart and Soul

Problems in our World. We are all Brothers and Sisters! Let’s work together and save our Planet!

New York, New York – Caroline Purr released her newest song/video: We’ll Find A Way 2011.  Purr, a fixture on the New York City music scene, reminds us all to think beyond ourselves, encourages her audience to get active, use the song/video to highlight problems in the world today and be the inspiration to fix them.

“Caroline Purr has always lay bare, shown us the enormity, of her soul through her music. Whenever I hear Purr, I am always amazed at her provocative originality, intensity, power, range, depth of talent.  To experience Purr live on stage is without question one of those magical music moments in your life not soon forgotten.” – Radio Icon Zach Martin

Caroline Purr We’ll Find a Way 2011:  Full Press Release (With Video)

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.