In 2024, the U.S.A. is in grave danger, having drifted far off the course of its 1776 Christ-centered charter. Thus, we must pray,(hence our site's name, "Holy Family, help us!"), and take the corrective action that our Faith requires us to take.

This site was designed and built by lay members of the Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Pittsburgh in order to provide the knowledge, information, and means needed to enable people in all States of the Nation to help bring our Nation back to God. Recommended (on the website of Life Site News) by Bishop Joseph Strickland and Life Site News, our site continues to stress the need for the implementation of the guidance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ("USCCB") especially in regard to the issue that the USCCB emphatically states is "our pre-eminent priority", abortion. Link to this MISSION, below. The site provides:

links to USCCB flyers that need to be read by all Christians before the election, for proper conscience formation;
Presidential Candidate Comparison - compiled by Pennsylvania and Virginia Catholic Conferences for 2024 Election; and
Comparison of the two parties' platforms and links to articles of trustworthy news agencies reporting on the facts of the candidates' records and positions.

In the long term, this site is designed to help people to grow in their Christian Faith; provide viable ways to fulfill our calling to augment Faith with Works of Mercy; and form our families as "domestic churches". For today's pressing needs, it provides:

a simple, effective action plan that you can easily implement in your parish, in strict compliance with the USCCB website guidance, to help stop the sin of our nation that is most grieving God, the slaughtering of children in the womb, restoring our nation to be "doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord" (cf. 2nd Chronicles 29:2) before it's too late.
Six additional actions you can easily take to strengthen our nation and help bring it back to God,
a means for you help others acquire the knowledge and information that is needed to make sound voting decisions,

After reading the introductory content that follows, link (or scroll down) to "Learning from our History", a brief timeline of the U.S.A. from 1776 to 2024, illustrating the dire need for our nation to return to the Christian values and morals that caused our fledgling nation to grow and flourish. This is essential for curing today's culture of self-centeredness that is leading to our nation's death as the republic defined by the Constitution, its Amendments, and the Declaration of Independence.

Our Mission is to deliver the guidance of the USCCB, conveying true Catholic Church teaching, applicable to all Catholics and Protestants, enabling all to put this knowledge into action:

The USCCB flyer, Priorities at the Polls, needs to be in the hands of every Christian. It states:

 “The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives destroyed.”

 ”Inviolable human dignity is present in each person from the moment of their conception.”

 “Abortion is an intrinsic evil, meaning that it is never permitted or morally justified.”

 “Many political leaders work actively to increase access to abortion. Some falsely describe it as health care and even as a basic human right. People of good will must boldly stand up against this intrinsic evil.”

 “We must do what we can to … ensure that unborn children are fully recognized and protected by our laws.”

This is reinforced by the USCCB flyer, USCCB Respect Life Month Statement, October 2024 by Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge, stating, “We must renew our commitment to work for the legal protection of every human life, from conception to natural death, and to vote for candidates who will defend the life and dignity of the human person.”

Acknowledging that neither political party and few candidates are perfectly aligned with the above true teaching of the Church, our site cites reliable sources all attesting that, under such circumstances, a Christian is morally obligated to vote, and to vote in such a way to lessen evil.

For a good review and overview of our site, link to the website of LifeSiteNews for the October 11th article: "New website launches pre-election program encouraging Catholics to vote for life":

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-website-launches-pre-election-program-encouraging-catholics-to-vote-for-life/

How to use this site:

Link to our TABLE OF CONTENTS (also reached by scrolling down on this page) for an overview of the content of each of our seven pages

With only one exception, links in green and blue only take you to other sections of this site. The exception is our RESOURCES page, where all links are to other sites and each site is identified.
Throughout this site, links in red take you to other sites. Each site is identified at the link or in the link.
After linking to other site sections or other sites, click the back arrow ( < ) at the top left of your screen to return to where you clicked on the link.
To return to the top of a page, click on the ^ symbol at the bottom right.
Each site section in each of the eight pages has a unique url, enabling you to copy the url and send someone a link to a specific section, to inform them and/or foster fruitful dialogue. On your phone, just use the "send" arrow to email or text a link to the selected section.

While this site does not promote any political party or candidate, it does share facts, knowledge, and true Catholic Church teaching to enable people to see how they need to vote as true Christians.

This site is "live", updated frequently with new content. Link to our NEW CONTENT LOG (appearing at the bottom of this page) to learn which site sections have new content, with the date content was added.

Our last update was October 24.

We are constantly watching for important news articles and other good articles and typically add links to them on this site on the same day of their publication or the following day. We recommend the sources listed on our RESOURCES page and encourage you to go directly to these sources or subscribe to them.

For links to the latest news and articles, use this link to our "LATEST NEWS & ANALYSIS" section on our RESOURCES page.

We welcome suggestions for new content and links to content from faithful Judeo-Christian believers in all fifty States of the U.S.A. Send your input and comments to Input@HolyFamilyHelp.us

Make our site your site. Our site looks homespun because we place all our effort into delivering truth and facts without gloss, gratis, as a "labor of love". (Recall that the Declaration of Independence also looks homespun, which does not decrease its value.)

Our site’s name is a simple, powerful prayer, Holy Family, help us.*

The Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the timeless model for all families, will help us in our mission to restore our families to be true "domestic churches" and restore our country to be "one nation under God", if we pray and put our Faith into action. Join us in praying:

Jesus, our Lord and Savior, as we repent and make reparation for our sins and our nation's sins, forgive us, and save us.
Mary, our mother, and model for all women, intercede with your Son, Jesus, for us.
Saint Joseph, model for all men, intercede with your foster Son, Jesus, for us.

Join us in daily praying the Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe (by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke): https://novena.cardinalburke.com/ Link to this prayer on our FAITH page.

Link to our FAITH page for a selection of powerful prayers and links to resources to help you to pray.

Before turning to our WORKS page for actions you can easily take, starting now, to help bring our nation back to being under God, first read the brief sections below to see the Scriptural basis for these actions.

* To our Protestant Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Just as we ask friends to pray for our intentions, such as the recovery of a sick child, so we ask people in Heaven (a.k.a. saints) to pray to God ("intercede") for our intentions. We especially go to Mary and Joseph, whose closeness to Jesus continues in Heaven (as is evidenced by many Marian apparitions over the centuries).

Our site is for men and women of all ages. The "MANUAL FOR MEN" by Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop Emeritus of Phoenix, links the roles of men and women, stating, “God assigns the dignity of every woman as a task to every man”. This good bishop's call to men will lead women to share our website with husbands, sons, brothers, and friends. The Manual for Men further states:

"Men, do not hesitate to engage in the battle that is raging all around you, the battle that is wounding our children and families, the battle that is distorting the dignity of both women and men. This battle is often hidden, but the battle is real. It is primarily spiritual, but it is progressively killing the remaining Christian ethos in our society and culture, and even in our own homes.

The world is under attack by Satan, as our Lord said it would be (cf 1st Peter 5:8-14).

As our fathers, brothers, uncles, sons, and friends fall away from the Church, they fall deeper and deeper into sin, breaking their bonds with God and leaving them vulnerable to the permanent fires of hell...

A throw-away culture cannot withstand the new life and light that constantly radiates from Christ. So, I call upon you to open your minds and hearts to Him, the Savior who strengthens you as you step into the breach!”

To buy this highly recommended book, published in 2017, and for a 15-page preview ("Sneak Peak"), link to the publisher: Tan Books.

Bishop Thomas Olmsted's Manual for Men further states:

"Marriage in Christ is not merely a human endeavor. It is higher; it is a “great mystery”… In the Sacrament of Matrimony, human love is caught up in the infinite and eternal love of God. This is the glory, men! Called to marriage, you are called to be as Christ to your bride."

Our FAMILY page provides trustworthy resources to help build strong marriages and Christ-centered families.

In 2017, Bishop Thomas Olmsted's Manual for Men also warned us about the destructive advance of "gender ideology":

"The rapid advance of “gender ideology” has infected societies around the world. This ideology seeks to set aside the sexual difference created by God, to remove male and female as the normative way of understanding the human person and, in its place, to add various other “categories” of sexuality. This ideology is destructive for individuals and society, and it is a lie. It is harmful to the person and, therefore, a false concept that we must oppose as Christians. At the same time, however, we are called to show compassion and provide help for those who experience confusion about their sexual identity. “When God is forgotten, the creature itself becomes unintelligible.”

Our FAMILY page provides resources for protecting your children from these evils by making your family a domestic church.

Our “WORKS” page addresses these and other evils, outlining actions you can take to combat this evil.

In the following frame is a selection of just a few of the dozens of God's warnings in the New Testament and Old Testament, telling us that it is absolutely necessary for each of us to augment Faith with works. Preceding the quotations from sacred scripture (listed in reverse chronological order) are Jesus's stern words to Saint Faustina in 1935, warning us that if we neglect to perform works of mercy, we will not obtain God's mercy on the Day of Judgment. In stating this, Jesus is reiterating his warning, "the ruin of that house was great" (Luke 6:49). For two eye-opening glimpses of how bad ruin that is "great" can be, link to Hell is real on our FAITH page, and read recent divine revelations confirmed to be authentic by the Roman Catholic Church. Then, after reviewing the content below, go to work: WORKS

"Arise and be doing! The Lord be with you!"

This is the command of King David, directing his son, Solomon, to build the Temple, "a house for the Lord, the God of Israel", as recorded in the Old Testament book, 1st Chronicles (22:16).

In the highly recommended book, "Bible in a Year", Editor Tim Gray comments as follows:

"So many of our faults lie in not doing, rather than doing...David, like a good father, warns his son against such procrastination and heartily encourages him to do what God wants: build the Temple. David declares. "Be strong, and of good courage. Fear not. Be not dismayed" (1 Chronicles 22:13)

The Lord can accomplish great things through us, but we must be willing to stand up and act when the time comes. We must follow Wisdom when she calls in order that we might "dwell secure" (Proverbs 1:33)...

In what ways should you "arise and be doing"?"

We built this website to help you to help others to answer this question.

The "Bible in a Year" content above is copied from June 27th Bible readings and comments. To buy this excellent book, link to the publisher: Augustine Institute.)

You can also get this great book as an app on your phone!

Our site is organized in seven pages as listed below, with content applicable to all men and women. Use the seven tabs at the top of each page or the links below.

HOME: This important introduction to the site is followed by a brief timeline of U.S.A. history to enable people to recall and appreciate the Faith-based culture of our nation at its 18th Century founding and during its resulting astounding growth and success in the 19th and 20th Centuries, illustrating the dire need for us to bring our nation back to being one of strong Christ-centered families.
FAMILY: The nuclear family is the building block of healthy nations. We need to restore the family to be a domestic church. The FAMILY page provides links to resources for direction and help.
FAITH: Our nation was founded by Christian men and women who lived their Faith. We need to get back to being Christ-centered - as individuals, as families, and as a nation. This means having FAITH and praying. Here, you find trustworthy resources to help you deepen your relationship with God and discern what God is calling you to do, in the short term and long term.
WORKS: Our Faith requires us to take action. “Faith apart from works is dead”, Saint James warns us (James 2:26). This page lists seven good works (actions) every Christian can easily undertake - right now and in the longer term. The first pressing action is to spark the parish-based pre-election education program that is laid out on the WORKS page, to give your fellow church members access to vital information they need to be empowered to vote as true Christians, fully compliant with the directions of the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). In addition, perform works of mercy through donations or volunteer work to support local agencies helping to save the lives of unborn children who are at risk of death by abortion - by helping their mothers and, when possible, their fathers.
ABORTION: Especially in this election, abortion is a critical issue. This page educates people, informing them as to true Catholic Church teaching and the facts of medical science, enabling them to see the horror that abortion actually is, i.e., the violent taking of a helpless person’s life, a person made by God in His image, loved by Him. God has a wonderful purpose and plan for every soul.
VOTE JUSTLY: This page includes a comparison of the two political parties’ platforms, issue by issue, along with documentation of the records and positions of the Presidential candidates, stating facts ignored by (or misreported by) the mainstream media. The facts presented enable people to make fully informed decisions, voting for government representatives who, truly representing Christians, will work to bring our nation back to God. This page also helps you to register to vote, find polling stations, and help at polling stations.
RESOURCES: Our seventh page provides links to reliable resources to use to get facts, truth, and good analyses by authors with Christian values and a Christian world view.

Learning from our History: The Timeline of the U.S.A.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men* are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The United States' Declaration of Independence, in Congress, July 4, 1776

* The word "men", in the 18th Century, meant "mankind", i.e., the human race, men and women.

When you vote, you are voting for the culture and society in which you, your children, and your grandchildren will live in the future of the United States of America, as determined by the laws enacted by the representatives your vote selects, the judges they appoint, and the extent to which laws are enforced. After acquiring the knowledge you need to vote wisely, cast your vote as needed to return our nation to being under God in the form specified by our Founding Fathers in 1776, avoiding any course taking us away from the principles of the Bible, the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

In the troubling events and trends of these times, we are seeing the underlying conflict referenced by Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: “We are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, … against the spiritual hosts of wickedness… Pray at all times” – Ephesians: 6:11/12 & 18

In addition to praying, we can apply a good universal procedure for fixing something that was once good and functional and has become broken and dysfunctional. Here are the four simple steps:

Review American history to remind ourselves what made our nation good and caused the U.S.A. to flourish.
Using this point of reference, diagnose what ails our nation today.
Apply this knowledge to prescribe what needs to be done to bring us back to our original healthy state.
Based on this insight, make wise voting decisions to elect representatives who, based on their records and positions, will do the work needed to bring our nation back on course.

Let's begin our analysis:

From 1776 and through our nation's first 175 years, into the 1960's, we were on the right track, as was proven by our phenomenal growth from a collection of thirteen tiny, weak British colonies in 1776 to the world’s most powerful and most successful nation by the early 20th Century. As we grew up, we learned and matured, applying the principles embedded in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to create amendments to the Constitution faithful to these documents.

What was the source of our nation's strength, leading to our ever-increasing success through our first 175 years?

From 1776 to the 1960's, the essential "ingredients" of American society were as follows:

• Americans were Faith-filled, moral and religious. They went to church regularly, read the Bible and prayed. As late as the 1960's, when Billy Graham or Bishop Fulton Sheen stated, "The Bible says ...", people listened and paid heed.

• America was a nation of strong families, each founded on the marriage of a man and a woman, the family's father and mother. Marriages lasted "until death do us part". Divorce was a rarity. The family was like a little church and a school in which children learned their parents’ Christian Faith and morals and learned that growing up meant taking on responsibilities and earning one's living, either as a homemaker or by working on the family farm, in the family business or in another business.

• Immigrants to America followed an orderly process prescribed by law. They respected and complied with our laws.

• In American society, "abortion" and "birth control” did not exist, because, for Christians, the "marital act" was (and is) a life-creating act within a marriage, a husband and wife committed to each other for life. As the Bible teaches, this was understood to be part of God's beautiful plan when He created man and woman, with the commandment to "be fruitful and multiply". Today's disordered perception of “sex" as casual, non-life-giving recreation between two persons without any lifelong commitment to each other was unthinkable, as was the resulting distorted thinking that a "marriage" could occur between two persons of the same sex.

• The role of government in people's lives was limited and minor. People relied on themselves, their families, their church communities and God. They had no desire to be dependent on some "big government". As the Bible taught, stating God's laws, people directly helped their neighbors in their communities, as did the churches.

____________________

With this Faith-centered, family-centered culture, and by strictly applying the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the nation grew bigger and stronger:

In 1863, in Gettysburg, during a prior period of nation-wide grave danger , President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom… Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth”. In 1865, thanks to the principles and determined leadership of President Lincoln, slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In 1870, the 18th amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote.

In 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote.

In 1954, after the United States of America had used its great power to liberate Europe and the Far East from evil dictatorships, the words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance by an act of Congress*, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” In signing this into law, President Eisenhower stated, “These words will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded.”

* as requested of President Eisenhower by the Knights of Columbus

In 1964, segregation was legally ended by the Civil Rights Act, thanks largely to the great leadership of Reverend Martin Luther King (pictured in this photo).

In 1965, the Voting Rights Act overcame legal barriers at the state and local levels that had prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment.

Since the 1950's, what has caused our nation to deteriorate into its 21st Century state, culminating in the ugly violence and lawlessness in American cities in 2020?

Clues to the answer to this question are found in our nation's founding fathers' 18th Century warnings that now appear, eerily, to be prophecies that are being fulfilled in the 21st Century. They point to the root causes of today's society's sickness:

George Washington warned that "national morality could not prevail in exclusion of religious principle".

John Adams warned that “our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people”

Samuel Adams foresaw the next logical step to the above concerns of his fellow Founding Fathers: If people were not moral and religious, there would be a loss of principles, and so he gave us the dire warning, “a general dissolution of principles … (would) overthrow the liberties of America”.

Did Samuel Adams have a premonition of the lawless 2020 looting and violence in Seattle and Portland, clearly the result of a "general dissolution of principles"?

If the above list of "ingredients" of American society before its drastic decline is used as checklist to evaluate American society in the 21st Century, the differences between "then" and "now" are stark, like "day and night".

How do we get back on the right course and save our nation?

If you believe that the solution to today’s distress and division is to return to the Christian Faith of the founders of our nation, with our children taught to be God-centered, not self-centered, this means voting for leaders who put God first; who pray; who will appoint judges who honor the U.S. Constitution and the principles of the Declaration of Independence. In brief, a leader is needed who will lead America back to God, selecting Administration team leaders who are aligned with this mission.

After reviewing the facts on the key issues, the parties and the candidates, ask yourself which candidates will work to bring our nation back to God. Share this site with family members, church members and co-workers.

To learn more about the history of our nation, use the links below.

Link here PragerU to a 5-minute video (on the website of Prager University) illustrating that the U.S.A. was founded on God's laws and is dependent on God's laws and on our citizens' practiced faith in God.

To learn more about our nation's founding and history, visit the U.S. Government's website of the National Archives, where you can find copies of America's founding documents: National Archives - America's Founding Documents

Studying the origin of the name of our country provides insight into the rationale underlying the electoral college method of electing the President of the United States (instead of a nationwide popular vote). Recall that our country was the union of thirteen independent colonies of the British Empire, each with its own Governor. The first motto of the United States of America was “E pluribus Unum”, Latin for “Out of many, one”. Our nation was formed out of:

many unique States, with different identities, economies, interests and other characteristics
many religious beliefs, from Quakers and Puritans to Roman Catholics and Jews
many ethnic backgrounds, English, German, French and African

Into one united nation:

United in...

respecting each State’s unique identity and differences

respecting people’s differing religious faiths, with religious liberty

...granting equal rights to all people, laying the foundation for the later inclusion of people of African-American ethnic background through President Lincoln's abolition of slavery in 1865, followed by the granting of voting rights to women in 1920 and the removal of segregation barriers in 1964.

Link to our WORKS page for reliable truth-telling news sources and for links to sound analyses of the nation's current crisis - from a Christian perspective.

Link to our FAITH page for powerful prayers. Our prayers for our nation are essential. Join us in praying for our nation's return to its foundation of being "one nation under God", adhering to the U.S. Constitution and the tenets of the Declaration of Independence.

NEW CONTENT LOG:

October 22: added Archbishop Viganò endorses Trump, tells Catholics abstaining ‘means allying oneself with the enemy’ - LIFE SITE NEWS