Matt C. Abbott
Bravo, Father Joseph Klee!; The touching story of the Storey family; Prayers for Paul Likoudis
By Matt C. Abbott
The following report (slightly edited) was written by Father Joseph Klee, a priest of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio:
A reader informed me about John Paul Storey, the special needs son of devout Catholic parents Jill and Patrick Storey.
From Azalea Charities:
Please pray for veteran Catholic journalist and family man Paul Likoudis, who has been diagnosed with colon cancer and faces some difficult months ahead.
Paul, news editor of The Wanderer for the last 30 years, has taken lots of flak for his bold reporting on clergy corruption and magisterial dissent, even being called "evil" by disgraced Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland. (Paul can wear that as a badge of honor, as far as I'm concerned.)
He can be reached at paullikoudis@[no spam]empacc.net.
© Matt C. Abbott
March 27, 2014
The following report (slightly edited) was written by Father Joseph Klee, a priest of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio:
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Well, the first attempt at a new initiative is often met with limited participation. Sometimes it takes a few times, or a few years, before it catches on. I do understand that all of the people fighting the good fight – the unpopular or 'less interesting' causes – are spread really thin and can't do everything. I understand that they/we must choose our battles.
So, I would guess that this was the case with the 'St. Joseph Crusade for Marriage' on Saturday, March 22. (This was a series of rallies sponsored by the noble America Needs Fatima apostolate that has been extremely successful in promoting thousands of local rosary rallies in towns and cities across the U.S. every October).Nevertheless, in the end, the event was a hands-down success! How can I say this? By the indisputable criterion of any Catholic counter-cultural initiative, namely, zat zee polize zhowed-up!
However, given the urgency of the marriage situation in this country, I can't think of too many greater priorities, other than the seemingly-endless fight against the abortion holocaust. The forces of darkness are bent on destroying marriage, and so many alleged supporters of marriage seem to have given up. They seem to think the evil one has won this battle, with state after state permitting the destruction of marriage.
Anyway, despite significant advertising of this campaign – via Facebook, email, an article in the Diocese of Columbus' Catholic Times, mentions on St. Gabriel Catholic Radio, and in local parish bulletins – I was the only one attending this rally, at the very heavily-travelled intersection (the 'Five Points' intersection of five streets in Upper Arlington in Columbus), at least until late in the noon hour that this rally was held.
Actually, one semi-incoherent man, wearing dark sunglasses, stopped to share a Fundamentalist tract with me and invited me to his small non-denominational church. I kindly declined, but rather invited him to the fullness of Christianity, namely, the Catholic Church.
Finally, an old friend of my dad arrived, and with a wry smile quoted Our Lord that '...the harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few' (Mt. 9: 37), whereupon I countered, 'Yeah, practically non-existent!' and then asked him if he wanted to convert me away from my cassock-wearing, rigid Catholicism(!) He said no, and so we then unfurled our impressive 3' x 10' banner with the bold message 'GOD'S MARRIAGE = 1 MAN + 1 WOMAN' and began our prayers and songs, invoking St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Mother and foster-father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many people driving by gave affirming toots of their horns, and we had a few of the predictable raspy-voiced (shades of the soundtrack of the movie The Exorcist) denunciations hurled at us ... then the cops arrived. I was chatting with the daughter of an old friend of my parents, who had just arrived to offer her kind praises, when an officer asked her if she'd been the one who had called to complain. She said no, that she was in support, whereupon the officer – with a grin; I daresay he was on our side – said, 'A woman called to complain that she was offended with their exercising their constitutional rights.' We chuckled, and I responded that the officer should've suggested she move to Russia(!)
Oh well. There's always next year. Although I don't know how much longer Our Lord will be allowing this globe to keep spinning and for man to keep mocking Him.
A reader informed me about John Paul Storey, the special needs son of devout Catholic parents Jill and Patrick Storey.
From Azalea Charities:
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Azalea Charities Organization has been operating in the Northern Virginia area serving the local charities, as well as Aid for Wounded Warriors, for over 15 years. One of their current projects is The John Paul Storey Project, a fundraising campaign to build a home addition for the Storey family of Culpeper, Va., to help them with the long-term care of their special needs child.
John Paul Storey was born with a rare condition called thrombocytopenia-absent radius (TAR) syndrome (Thrombocytopenia-absent radius syndrome affects fewer than one of every 100,000 newborns, according to the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center at the National Institutes of Health) and requires a lifetime of special care....
John Paul is the fifth son born to Jill and Patrick Storey. As a child with TAR, he has abnormally short arms and is missing his radius and ulna bones. His right leg is fixed with no joint separation at the knee. He is an adorable baby born into a loving family who is prepared to give him the care he needs to live a happy life.
The Storeys found out their child had TAR before he was born. Jill and her husband, both 34, decided emphatically against terminating the pregnancy and consider themselves blessed with a son whose unique individuality will become an integral part of their family lifestyle.
Jill and Patrick didn't really know how the other children would be with their new brother, but he has been fully accepted by his four brothers as just another member of the family. Quoted from the jconline.com article on March 2, 2014, 'The children have moved us to be more compassionate and loving,' Patrick said. 'It's pretty amazing to see the way they have reacted with such pure love....
Please pray for veteran Catholic journalist and family man Paul Likoudis, who has been diagnosed with colon cancer and faces some difficult months ahead.
Paul, news editor of The Wanderer for the last 30 years, has taken lots of flak for his bold reporting on clergy corruption and magisterial dissent, even being called "evil" by disgraced Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland. (Paul can wear that as a badge of honor, as far as I'm concerned.)
He can be reached at paullikoudis@[no spam]empacc.net.
© Matt C. Abbott
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