pro-life
Runways to God
May 28, 2010
Today is the Ember Friday after Pentecost. As I sometimes do when I can’t get to Mass, I read the propers and then turn to Father Paschal Botz, O.S.B.’s book, Runways to God: The Psalms As Prayer
Father Paschal was a monk of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota who was heavily involved in the development of the Short Breviary (1962), and whose writings on the liturgy, scripture, and spiritual life are well known from the early liturgical movement in the United States (pre-Vatican II) before it went off the rails. A dear Benedictine priest gave me this book and I treasure it as the best contemporary commentary on the Psalms I have seen.
Today’s Introit is from Psalm 70 (71), verses 8, 23, 1, 2. In the Traditional Mass verses and texts were often rearranged for emphasis on the theme of the feast or liturgical season, often with alleluias inserted. It reads:
Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, alleluia, that I may sing, alleluia; my lips shall rejoice when I shall sing to Thee, alleluia, alleluia. In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be put to confusion: deliver me in Thy justice, and rescue me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Let my mouth…
You might remember the “let me never be put to confusion” from the last line of the great early Christian poem, the Te Deum Laudamus which the Church sings today at major celebrations and on Sundays in the Divine Office. Father Paschal’s commentary on the entire Psalm could not be more relevant for the pro-life issues the sick and elderly face today. Here are some excerpts:
Rock of the Aged
Many a phrase in this Psalm is known to us from other Psalms. That is as we expect from an elderly author who lived all his life in fidelity to the Lord. Sheer, unbounded praise alternates with acts of trust, even as the Psalmist repeatedly begs for divine help more insistently with the advancing years. God is his Rock of refuge and strong fortress from the womb to the tomb. His venerable gray hair, however is also the occasion for new trials, recriminations of accusers, and there is no lack of enemies, those who watch to take advantage of him. Old age is not serene and quiet, respected for wisdom of experience, but its spent strength changes over to new anxieties.
There are those who pounce on the aged and take advantage of their weakness. The shadows lengthen with the years, as “many sore troubles” crop up, not least of all from oppressors of the elderly, even the criminally violent. We think here of the “mercy killers” for whom life is cheap, “cruel men” without humane feelings. While the life span of men and women is growing, so are the enemies who consider advanced age useless. This is the meaning of verse 7: “I have been as a portent to many,” a sign of evil and an easy target. Failing health is a sign of age, but the author’s faith grows the stronger.
Hope and trust are the music of the years. Total dependence on God is the childlikeness of the Gospel. Trust and confidence is the greatest heritage that old people can pass on to the young. To proclaim God’s deeds, His might and victories to the young is the glory and dignity and sanctity of declining years. The simple fact that God takes good care of those who live by faith is enough. This is music to the young generation. The Psalmist speaks of the harp and the lyre, with which the elderly count their blessings “without number” (v. 15). God is always near and brings new comfort.
We are grateful for this inspired hymn of praise in Israel’s repertoire of prayer, as it rejuvenates old age. Just as the coming of the infant Jesus fulfilled all the hopes of Simeon and Anna (Lk. 2: 22ff., 36ff.), so He does in the Holy Anointing not only of the sick but also of the aged. He takes over their suffering, their whole lives. Older people could spend much more time singing the praises of the Lord, cultivating the memory of God in devout recollection. They could be renewed in their comeback from the depths (v.20) and rise above their enemies, they could experience a blessedness that exceeds their wildest dreams of health and strength and security. Such is the foretaste of the resurrection, for “all generations to come.”
Considering Father Paschal’s comments, good questions to ask are, do I do enough to proclaim God’s might and victories to the young? Am I setting a good example of faith and trust in God? Do I speak of the blessings God has given me rather than complaining about my woes? Do I include God in all my daily activities – walk with Him in the garden? We can be witnesses to God’s love and mercy until we draw our last breath.
Judaism and the Holocaust – St. Edith Stein
April 28, 2010
During a recent trip to the Dallas area I had occasion to purchase Roy Shoeman’s excellent book, Salvation Is from the Jews: The Role of Judaism in Salvation History
As many contemplatives do, Carmelite nun Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (what a prescient choice of name in religion that was!) kept notes on insights she obtained during prayer. As a Jewish convert to Catholicism, she saw what the Nazis were doing to the Jews in light of the Cross. She wrote of a prayer she made during a holy hour in the convent:
I spoke with the Savior to tell him that I realized it was His Cross that was now being laid upon the Jewish people, that the few who understood this had the responsibility of carrying it in the name of all, and that I myself was willing to do this, if He would only show me how. I left the service with the inner conviction that I had been heard, but uncertain as ever as to what “carrying the Cross” might mean for me.
Later she wrote:
I understood the Cross as the destiny of God’s people, which was beginning to be apparent at the time (1933). I felt that those who understood the Cross of Christ should take it upon themselves on everybody’s behalf…. Beneath the Cross I understood the destiny of God’s people.
St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) 1938 passport photo
All religious write a final testament and St. Teresa Benedicta’s spirituality is evident in hers, penned in 1939:
I joyfully accept in advance the death God has appointed for me, in perfect submission to His most holy will. May the Lord accept my life and death for the honor and glory of His name, for the needs of His holy Church — especially for the preservation, sanctification, and final perfecting of our holy Order, and in particular for the Carmel of Cologne and Echt — for the Jewish people, that the Lord may be received by His own and His Kingdom come in glory, for the deliverance of Germany and peace throughout the world, and finally for all my relatives living and dead and all whom God has given me; may none of them be lost.
She was, with her sister Rosa and a train transport composed entirely of baptized Jews, murdered at Auschwitz.
When reading her words I could not help thinking of the condition of our nation today – the blatant attacks on human life by those in power, the war on marriage and the family waged by perverted souls and government bureaucrats, the corruption of the power elite, and all those who become co-operators in the various evils designed to separate man from God, for that is the final goal of the Enemy. The similarities between the leaders and supporters of Nazi Germany and America’s leaders and their supporters today are much too close in spite of the vigorous denials given voice by the press.
As St. Edith Stein did in her day, do we understand what our society is doing and becoming in the light of the Cross? Underneath all the ideologies of the day, the war is between man and the principalities and powers as St. Paul wrote in Eph. 6:12. A reversal of the path our most powerful leaders are currently on calls for extreme sacrifice. Are we ready as St. Edith Stein was to “joyfully accept in advance” what God has chosen for us to suffer, even death, for the salvation of souls, for our country, for the conversion of sinners?
Obamacare and Euthanasia: The Plan
April 8, 2010
Will it be the blue pill or the red one?
Today we met with our insurance agent because I received notice that my supplemental Medicare policy was going up $40 a month. No way is that in the budget. When he came over he told us about an all-day meeting he attended yesterday on the Deathcare bill Congress just foisted on all of us while exempting themselves and all federal employees. Among the many evils of the bill, he said that by 2015 Medicare will no longer pay for Home Health Care, Hospice Care, or “swing beds” – that is when someone has a major operation and can’t go home right away but must go to a nursing home for some days. It seems that people will be expected to pay for these things with some kind of private insurance, yet everything in the bill is designed to drive private insurance out of business. Moreover, few will be able to afford the premiums. Without these services, many, many, many people will die. It may not be euthanasia outright, but it is still going to lead to death by denial of care. Eventually we will be forced to submit to being murdered. I wonder how long it will take for all the people clamoring for free health care to find out that not only is it not free, they aren’t going to have access to what they need in the first place.
Pray, pray, pray for the deliverance of our country.
When Depression Just Won’t Go Away
April 8, 2010
On February 11, 2010 I wrote about a holistic approach to treating depression where I presented a combination of actions one can take to feel better without going on anti-depressants. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that “depression is the leading cause of disability as measured by YLDs (years living with disability) and the 4th leading contributor to the global burden of disease (DALYs) (disability adjusted life years) in 2000,”[1] continuing examination of approaches beyond the holistic is warranted for those who can’t beat depression with a natural approach.
The use of anti-depressants is often part of a comprehensive approach to treating chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune diseases since struggling with these problems takes a toll physically and mentally, often disrupting brain chemistry in addition to the other problems the disease brings. All anti-depressants carry “black box warnings” and none are without side effects. For some people they just don’t work. However, there is hope and before turning to electroconvulsive therapy two other approaches may provide the relief other avenues have not.
Recently I saw a television program about vagus nerve stimulation which provided relief for treatment-resistant depression. Originally approved for treatment of epilepsy, VNS involves intermittent stimulation (typically 30 seconds on, five minutes off) of the left cervical vagus nerve delivered via the VNS therapy system. Epileptic patients who were treated with this therapy started reporting that their depression was lifting not long after starting treatment. Doctors began researching this positive side affect and cannot say exactly why this approach works, but in case after case when at least two antidepressants have failed, VNS works. It does require invasive surgery, however. For more information, visit the site in the link above.
There may be an even better treatment than VNS, however, and that is Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES). Currently significant research is being conducted on the use of this approach which shows it works well for many patients. CES is a non-invasive treatment, and each individual must discover for himself the right length of time and frequency for using the stimulators. As with VNS, no one really knows exactly how CES works, only that it does and is safe. In clinical studies CES has been shown to normalize the electrical output of the brain as well as increase the body’s serotonin and beta endorphin levels. Both VNS and CES devices are FDA approved.
[1] http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/depression/definition/en/
Depression treatment links: http://www.depressiontreatmentnow.com/depression_treatment_links.html
Suffering and Holiness
March 16, 2010
In the February 2010 issue of Inside the Vatican Robert Moynihan wrote on this subject - that suffering and the cross is “a mystery hidden at the heart of the faith which we must not minimize.”
Agony in the Garden, c.1587, Jacopo Ligozzi (b. 1547, Verona, d. 1627, Firenze), oil on panel, private collection
He points out that “since the Second Vatican Council, when many have rightly stressed that Christians are ‘a Resurrection people,’ but wrongly neglected that…we are a ‘crucifixion people’ with all that implies,” we have, as Catholics, minimized this great mystery. The overwhelming “happy talk” from many pulpits has resulted in a failure by many to comprehend the salvific value of suffering as Pope John Paul II wrote about in Salvifici Dolores. (If you have not read the Pope’s Apostolic Letter, click on the title and you will go to it on the Vatican web site. It is excellent.)
In his editorial, Moynihan quotes New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan on the condition of Haiti:
Haiti is the broken, bloodied body of Christ….Yes, we all have a share in the Resurrection, but as a race redeemed, we also sometimes take part in His Passion. Christ scourged. Christ crucified.
Somehow suffering frees us from worldly attachments if we adopt the right disposition. As we discover our lack of control over our worldly plans and desires, if we submit to God and embrace what He sends us no matter how burdensome, if we fix our eyes on the cross, we see more clearly our dependence on God in a rightly ordered way. He is the one who will deliver us and not we ourselves. This ascent into truth, as it were, is an ascent into holiness if we learn to desire what God wants for us.
It’s easy to forget in the midst of pain and frustration that God wants only our good and that every obstacle He sends us is a sign of love and an opportunity to train our wills and hearts to desire “Thy will be done.” A great good and a great privilege is to be invited by Christ to ascend the cross with Him, to offer up our sufferings with His for the redemption of souls. Let us carry this message of hope to those who have never heard of this way of thinking, that they may find the purpose in their pain and the special place they have in God’s plan.
Archbishop Chaput on the Health Care Bill
March 15, 2010
A HT to Father Zuhlsdorf over at What Does the Prayer Really Say? for alerting us to Archbishop Chaput’s latest column on the health care (or is it death care?) bill. From the Denver diocesan site we have his letter which will be published in the March 17 Denver Catholic Register. Please send this on to every Catholic and pro-life person you know.
This is a good week to fast, pray and suffer so that God will intervene and this bill will not pass. Stupak’s 12 are down to 5 and many “deals” (bribes?) are being cut behind closed doors. Meanwhile, God bless Archbishop Chaput for his outspokenness. The emphases in the text are mine.
Archbishop Chaput of Denver
The Senate version of health-care reform currently being forced ahead by congressional leaders and the White House is a bad bill that will result in bad law. It does not deserve, nor does it have, the support of the Catholic bishops of our country. Nor does the American public want it. As I write this column on March 14, the Senate bill remains gravely flawed. It does not meet minimum moral standards in at least three important areas: the exclusion of abortion funding and services; adequate conscience protections for health-care professionals and institutions; and the inclusion of immigrants.
Groups, trade associations and publications describing themselves as “Catholic” or “prolife” that endorse the Senate version – whatever their intentions – are doing a serious disservice to the nation and to the Church, undermining the witness of the Catholic community; and ensuring the failure of genuine, ethical health-care reform. By their public actions, they create confusion at exactly the moment Catholics need to think clearly about the remaining issues in the health-care debate. They also provide the illusion of moral cover for an unethical piece of legislation.
As we enter a critical week in the national health-care debate, Catholics across northern Colorado need to remember a few simple facts.
First, the Catholic bishops of the United States have pressed for real national health-care reform in this country for more than half a century. They began long before either political party or the public media found it convenient. That commitment hasn’t changed. Nor will it.
Second, the bishops have tried earnestly for more than seven months to work with elected officials to craft reform that would serve all Americans in a manner respecting minimum moral standards. The failure of their effort has one source. It comes entirely from the stubbornness and evasions of certain key congressional leaders, and the unwillingness of the White House to honor promises made by the president last September.
Third, the health-care reform debate has never been merely a matter of party politics. Nor is it now. Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak and a number of his Democratic colleagues have shown extraordinary character in pushing for good health-care reform while resisting attempts to poison it with abortion-related entitlements and other bad ideas that have nothing to do with real “health care.” Many Republicans share the goal of decent health-care reform, even if their solutions would differ dramatically. To put it another way, few persons seriously oppose making adequate health services available for all Americans. But God, or the devil, is in the details — and by that measure, the current Senate version of health-care reform is not merely defective, but also a dangerous mistake.
The long, unpleasant and too often dishonest national health-care debate is now in its last days. Its most painful feature has been those “Catholic” groups that by their eagerness for some kind of deal undercut the witness of the Catholic community and help advance a bad bill into a bad law. Their flawed judgment could now have damaging consequences for all of us.
Do not be misled. The Senate version of health-care reform currently being pushed ahead by congressional leaders and the White House — despite public resistance and numerous moral concerns — is bad law; and not simply bad, but dangerous. It does not deserve, nor does it have, the support of the Catholic bishops in our country, who speak for the believing Catholic community. In its current content, the Senate version of health-care legislation is not “reform.” Catholics and other persons of good will concerned about the foundations of human dignity should oppose it.
This bill is not about health care. Bottom line: it is about the government deciding who gets to be born, how long we will live, and when we will be forced to die. I thought that was God’s job.
New Items
#1 Based on what some bloggers whom I respect are doing, I added the Google Friend Connect to my sidebar. I may add another gadget associated with it in the future, too. For now, though, this about stretches my capacity to deal with new things and see how they work. Sign in on the gadget if you wish.
#2 Helium is a kind of writers’ “co-op” which I joined just before Christmas so I can write articles that interest me, especially ones that would be longer than what I want to have at my blog or subject matter that doesn’t quite fit here. I’m keeping blog articles short enough to allow for people’s busy schedules, except for an occasional “rant” when I just can’t restrain myself on some pro-life issue. Here are links to the titles I’ve written to at Helium. You may see other people’s articles under the same title, too. If so, just scroll down the list to find mine.
1. The Five Precepts of the Church
2. What is Catholic Mental Prayer?
3. How to Engage in Catholic Mental Prayer
This world boasts an unconscionable amount of media dreck yet the media is exactly where we need to be to bring Christ to others. Pope John Paul II encouraged us to use contemporary technological methods to reach the masses and so I’m doing my little part. If you like my articles there, please pass the site information on to others or link to them in your blog posts. I don’t get paid to write articles, but according to Helium’s rules I can earn money by meeting certain criteria which is way too complicated to get into here. No, I won’t get rich writing for Helium.
#3 For over ten years now I’ve been writing a monthly newsletter about the Traditional Mass movement and Catholic tradition, but only those from July, 2006 on are available on the web. If I can remember to do so, I will include the link each month to the Una Voce Arkansas Ozarks Regional Newsletter. When you get to the web site, scroll down the page for the latest newsletter. If you like it, you can subscribe from the UVAO site and I’ll put you on the regular mailing list. Right now, all articles are in Microsoft Word format. At some point, I hope to be skilled enough to put them into PDF format and still meet my layout standards.
St. Isidore of Seville, Murillo
#4 The Observation Service for Internet, who drew it’s mission from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, researched the Internet and related technologies to select a patron saint that best reflects the concerns and ideals of computer designers, programmers and users. The saint chosen by the Observation Service for Internet was Saint Isidore. “The saint who wrote the well-known ‘Etymologies’ (a type of dictionary), gave his work a structure akin to that of the database. He began a system of thought known today as ‘flashes;’ it is very modern, notwithstanding the fact it was discovered in the sixth century. Saint Isidore accomplished his work with great coherence: it is complete and its features are complementary in themselves. — From St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Picayune, Mississippi.
St. Isidore, pray for me!
Finally, a Tighter Directive from Catholic Bishops on End-of-Life Care
January 4, 2010
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote its usual one-sided whine in covering a November 17th mandate from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide nutrition, hydration, and medication to patients who are in a “presumably irreversible conditions … who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care.”
The bishops voted to revise the guide, Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, at their November general assembly in Baltimore. The bishops’ previous guide predated Pope John Paul II’s 2004 address to the International Congress on “Life- Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” and the August 2007 Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration issued by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.
All Catholic health care institutions and workers have been notified of the new mandate. Whether any will attempt to get around it remains to be seen, but predictably, Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, which advocates for the right of terminally ill patients to make life-or-death decisions is making false accusations about the mandate without, apparently, having read it. She claims that these directives are in conflict with legal instructions from patients or their families and will apply to everyone. The answer to the first is “Maybe”, to the second, “No.” The work-around stated as hospital policy, that someone or their surrogate who insists on starving and dehydrating the patient to death will be moved to another institution is not acceptable. Not surprising from someone who is in the business of killing.
However, Lori Dangberg, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Catholic Health Care, which represents California’s 55 Catholic hospitals made a disturbing statement. She is quoted in the article as saying that if a situation was unresolvable, the hospitals would find some other way to accommodate the person. How do you find a moral way of accommodating a person who wants to commit suicide or a family that wants to murder a member? What about the fifth commandment do people not understand?
The bishops wrote:
The moral teachings that we profess here flow principally from the natural law, understood in the light of the revelation Christ has entrusted to his Church. From this source the Church has derived its understanding of the nature of the human person, of human acts, and of the goals that shape human activity…
28. Each person or the person’s surrogate should have access to medical and moral information and counseling so as to be able to form his or her conscience. The free and informed health care decision of the person or the person’s surrogate is to be followed so long as it does not contradict Catholic principles…
The Church’s teaching authority has addressed the moral issues concerning medically assisted nutrition and hydration. We are guided on this issue by Catholic teaching against euthanasia, which is “an action or an omission which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated.”[38] While medically assisted nutrition and hydration are not morally obligatory in certain cases, these forms of basic care should in principle be provided to all patients who need them, including patients diagnosed as being in a “persistent vegetative state” (PVS), because even the most severely debilitated and helpless patient retains the full dignity of a human person and must receive ordinary and proportionate care…
58. In principle, there is an obligation to provide patients with food and water, including medically assisted nutrition and hydration for those who cannot take food orally. This obligation extends to patients in chronic and presumably irreversible conditions (e.g., the “persistent vegetative state”) who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care.40 Medically assisted nutrition and hydration become morally optional when they cannot reasonably be expected to prolong life or when they would be “excessively burdensome for the patient or [would] cause significant physical discomfort, for example resulting from complications in the use of the means employed.”[41] For instance, as a patient draws close to inevitable death from an underlying progressive and fatal condition, certain measures to provide nutrition and hydration may become excessively burdensome and therefore not obligatory in light of their very limited ability to prolong life or provide comfort.
59. The free and informed judgment made by a competent adult patient concerning the use or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures should always be respected and normally complied with, unless it is contrary to Catholic moral teaching.
37. See Declaration on Euthanasia.
38. Ibid., Part II.40. See Pope John Paul II, Address to the Participants in the International Congress on “Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” (March 20, 2004), no. 4, where he emphasized that “the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act.” See also Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration” (August 1, 2007).
41. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Commentary on “Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration.”
The new mandate is a much better document, emphasizing the importance of a properly formed conscience, compassionate about families faced with tough decisions, and clear on Catholic moral teaching. However, a key piece to the puzzle concerning implementation is the elephant in the living room: lack of catechesis on end-of-life issues at the parish and diocesan level. Some Catholics are very fortunate to have bishops who are vocal about pro-life issues and publish steady, authentic teaching in their diocesan media. But the priest has to stand up in the pulpit and tell the entire congregation what the Church teaches and why on these issues and do it often because of the pro-death atmosphere we breathe every day.
Support at the parish level for families in troubling circumstances is also a necessity. Everywhere we must have a loving and caring approach to help people realize that what seems to be the greatest calamity is instead a gift from God and murder has no place in the heart of the Christian.
The Chronicle’s so-called journalism contained no quotes from Catholic medical personnel nor Catholic institutions who view this mandate as a boon and why. Nor did they present any quotes from pastors who support the mandate and how the mandate helps people deal more peacefully with end-of-life decisions. Clearly, from the article, it appears that this is another “bash the big, bad bishops” slant.
Click on the links provided above to read the article and to read the bishops’ document. You can order the document from the USCCB publications page on line.
Please join me in my nine month rosary novena for our country and conversion of those who are pro-death.
A Rosary for Our Country
Today I prayed an extra rosary that our nation be delivered from the pro-death powers governing our country. Over the past few days my mind has seen hordes of dead – not just babies, but disabled people of all ages and the elderly. The implications for life if Congress passes any form of the health care bill they are wrangling over are dim, dim, dim. It’s not only abortion, it’s the denying of livelihood to so many Americans through policies that pander to special interest groups. Terrible poverty, anarchy, and despotism with the attendant cruelty of such a world is all too close. It’s all a continuum. A demonic darkness pervades this country at every level of government, but especially Capitol Hill. If we lose our moral authority through pro-death laws, we can no longer offer hope to the suffering elsewhere on this planet.
This morning, I understood that I was to devote more prayer and sacrifice to our country’s situation. Since today is Friday, I took the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary to Our Lady and asked her to crush the head of Satan – to put the screeching demons to flight. I cannot go out to demonstrate anymore, I have written letters, sent emails, and done what I can from the temporal angle. Now what is left is penance and prayer.
Agony in the Garden, 1465, Donatello, bronze, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence
Agony in the Garden: Dear Mother Mary, Jesus suffered a terrible agony in Gethsemane with no one beside Him except the angels. He knew the pharisees were out to kill Him. He sweat blood for us. We are your children. Please Mother Mary, do not let the demons of hell continue to inspire the evil directed at America through the power-drunk politicians who seek to destroy the nation and make it into something it was never founded to be. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Scourging at the Pillar: Dear Mother Mary, Jesus was scourged almost to death while the sadistic Roman guards laughed and the Pharisees and High Priests gloated. His blood was poured out everywhere. Please, dear Mother Mary, gather your children, we the brothers and sisters of Jesus, and ask your loving Son to stay the hands of those who would have our blood and our livelihood. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Crown of Thorns, c. 1510, Cranach, Lucas the Elder, oil on lime panel, private collection
Crowning with Thorns: Dear Mother Mary, with a cruelty beneath that of the animal kingdom and worthy only of the hateful demons of hell, the Roman guards pressed a crown of sharpest thorns into the head of your Son and our Brother. They shoved a reed into His hand and threw a red cloak about Him while mocking His Kingship. Please, Mother Mary, we are your sons and daughters, too. Ask our dear Jesus to stay the hands and tongues of those who mock life and the dignity of all man with their plans to strike down the poor and helpless and continue the genocide of races. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Carrying of the Cross: Dear Mother Mary, you followed Jesus as he carried his heavy cross through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. You saw the people curse and spit on Him. You saw the soldiers beat Him when He fell. You saw little mercy toward Him except for Veronica. Please, Mother Mary, for the sake of the suffering of your Divine Son, ask dear Jesus to give His followers the strength to remain on the narrow path of life and to defeat the demonic forces that would go against the natural law of God. Plead with Him to stay the hands that would lay burdens upon our backs so heavy that we will fail under their load. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Crucifixion, 1503, Cranach, Lucas the Elder, pine panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord: Dear Mother Mary, you saw and heard it all – the hammering of the nails, the thump and jolt of the cross as it sank into its hole. You saw the soldiers gambling to win your Son’s clothes. You heard the mocking of the crowd and more gloating from the Scribes and Pharisees. You heard him cry out from the Cross. You accepted us as your children when He gave you to us as our Mother before He died. Please, Mother Mary, ask your Son, Jesus, to come to our aid in this time when so many lives are threatened by the greedy and pompous who live by the dictatorship of relativity. Plead with Him to stay the hands of those who would have us die because they believe we are unworthy of life. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Something Wonderful to Be Thankful For
From all the verifiable stories of people who have emerged from so-called comas and who report being able to hear everything going on around them, we should be very careful not to allow them to be starved and dehydrated to death as was Terry Schiavo and Nancy Cruzan. And what a wonderful mother Houben has. She is truly an example for all mothers, moving heaven and earth to help her boy.
Using Halloween to show the Christian Faith
We hear the word “inculturation“ used a lot regarding our liturgical life, but what is the meaning of the word? Let’s look at the timely example of Halloween. Halloween as we know it today, was just such a pagan feast, originating with the Celts, added on to by the Romans, and finally, by the ninth century, becoming a celebration attached to All Saints Day. Here is ALLs information on a free stencil for pumpking carving, and here from Catholic Cuisine, are many examples of what they call “Saint-O-Lanterns”.
Throughout the centuries the Church has always taken what was pagan and “Christianized” it. All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween as we know it today, was just such a pagan feast, originating with the Celts, added on to by the Romans, and finally, by the ninth century, becoming a celebration attached to All Saints Day.
For Catholic families, Halloween is an opportunity to witness to Christ in a public way without saying a word. Today children dress up as favorite saints, holding parties and celebrations where they perform skits and other entertainment for guests. Also growing more common is the public display of carved pumpkins with pro-life and saint themes on porches, in front yards and in windows. These displays can often become conversation starters for people to share their faith, or a prompt for someone to deepen his relationship with God.
Christianity is the religion of life, of love, and of joy.
And to sanctify our efforts to live a Christ-incultured life, remember the Morning Offering from the Apostleship of Prayer which you can view at their web site or on You Tube.
HT to Colleen Hammond.
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- Cause of Our Joy
- Dr. Brownstein
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- Dr. Joseph Mercola
- Eastern Oklahoma Catholic
- Flechas Family Practice
- Human Life International
- Kansas Catholic
- Latin Prayers
- Life Extension
- LifeSite News
- Lynn Baber
- New Liturgical Movement
- Pray It Off!
- Rorate Caeli
- Savior.org
- Secret Harbor
- St. Louis Archdiocese Missions
- St. Louis Catholic
- The Beautiful Gate
- The Hermeneutic of Continuity
- The Holy See Press Services
- The Remnant
- Thou Art Jules
- Thoughts on Grace
- Time for Reflections
- Una Voce Ark. Ozarks Newsletters
- Vitamin Research Products
- Vultus Christi
- What Does the Prayer Really Say