Religion: October 2003 Archives

Steve Habisohn's E5 Ranks Pursue Holiness by Fasting

EAST DUNDEE, Illinois, OCT. 29, 2003 (Zenit.org).- When Steve Habisohn heard John Paul's call for a new evangelization, he knew the fastest and most efficient way to change the hearts of the multitudes was to target men.

Through his study of the Pope's teachings on marriage and the family, Habisohn had learned that wives and children naturally follow the example set by their husbands and fathers, and that problems in marriage often stem from a family's lack of pursuit of holiness.

Catholic World News : UNFPA complains Philippines diverted funds for contraceptives to NFP.
Apparantly, UNFPA thinks that the only acceptable family planning methods are those that enrich the drug companies.

Catholic School Blogger talks about schools and rules in Binky says die.
Chris has a great picture of an unusual trick-or-treater.
Sparki posts about All Souls' and All Saints' days and the proper commemoration thereof.
Nicole posts about HallowE'en and SoulCakes, and Pan de Muertos (with a recipe!). Actually, if you haven't dripped by there lately, Nicole has a wealth of good stuff about All Saints and All Souls.
Summa Mammas (actually, Smockmomma) posts about Holiday Hangups. From the comments box comes this link to The Catholic Roots of Halloween. The Moss sisters post here about costumes for All Saints' parties, and here with another link to an article about Catholic families and Halloween.
Davey's mommy posts about that annual event, the broadcast of "It's the great pumpkin, Charley Brown".
I really miss Kathy the Carmelite these days.

There is a saying in Neurology:"You're never the same once the air hits your brain".
The Gadsden Times has a fascinating and highly technical article about coma, PVS, and minimally conscious states. They should bring this guy in for expert testimony.
Has anyone done a PET scan or an MRI on Terri?
link via Mark Shea.

Go to Bishop Steinbock's Homilies and Letters and scroll down the archives to read the letter on the above topic. You will not be disappointed.

John Paull II knows that peace is not founded on pills and prophylactics
From Envoy Encore.
The Register Guard is one of the things I don't miss about Eugene OR>

I don't quite know where to begin on this event. God's plan for life was an obvious underlying theme.
Friday was a conference for priests and religious. It was well attended (around 30 priests, I am told) and the attendees included our current pastor, our previous pastor (who had to drive 50 miles to attend!) and the pastor of the local parish with the NEW Perpetual Adoration chapel. All 3 of these men had what is commonly called a 'late' vocation. (one of them hates that term, he says that his vocation was not late, it was in God's perfect time!).

A month before Christmas 2002, I met the owner of the Carrying to Term Pages. At that time, I didn't know about her page - I simply knew that she had been an enormous support for a patient of mine who had been diagnosed prenatally with a uniformly fatal (to the baby) birth defect. I had heard about her over the months from my patient, and I met her during the labor and birth of precious Cynthia.
This afternoon, I met her again at the conference, and learned about her web page.
This is a great resource for women who are in the terrible situation that my patient was in.
Check it out.

I spent all morning at a wonderful conference on the above encyclical. Then while reading through the blogs, I found the quote below, which I found most appropriate.

in his fine blog Thrown Back

No, personhood is inherent in the human being. To separate personhood from human identity is as disordered as separating eating from nutrition, or separating sex from... ohhh.... procreation. It is this way because God made human beings that way. And God made Terri Schiavo that way. Those who know and love her see her as a person not because they are deluded, but because they look beyond what she can or cannot do, to see who she is.

From: Cogforlife@aol.com
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 8:47 PM
Subject: URGENT ACTION NEEDED
While many have heard that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube has been re-inserted, her life is in imminent danger. Michael Schiavo is still her legal guardian. The would-be murderer is responsible for guarding his own victim! In addition when Terri was moved from hospice, he immediately blocked visitation rights at the hospital for her parents, siblings and family priest - the only source of Terri's comfort, love and joy. An emergency motion ordered visitation restored for the family but it was not received in the attorney's offices until 5:15PM today. By the time the family was able to get down to the hospital, her husband had removed her from the hospital and taken to an "undisclosed location" - we are told perhaps back to hospice.

In my earlier post, I may have inadvertantly sparked a tussle in the comments box by not defining my terms clearly enough. I apologize for that, and I ask those commenters involved to please unruffle your feathers enough to realize that you are comparing unlike issues. Chris said,"I've got a big problem with obedience and blind faith in authority figures".
My intent was not to encourage blind faith in authority figures but rather a reasoned obedience, based on faith. That faith could come as a divine gift, or as a consequence of a healthy relationship (NOT POWER TRIPS). Blind faith in an authority figure comes darn close to the sin of idolatry. Even the Pope is not immune to error in matters of prudential judgement or everyday stuff - he is protected by infallability only under some fairly severe restrictions.

About Terri and our culture, with reference to the Scripture of the day.
Fr. Todd has a line in there that I think ties in with my posting on faith and obedience.
"The Catholic Church doesn't vote on what is true. We obey what is true. If you want to vote you need to find another church."
He also proposes that we fast.
Another Priest from St. Blog's, Fr. Rob Johansen, is going to Florida and could use some financial and prayer support.

The other day, my husband and I were having a deep discussion in the car on our way to somewhere. Actually, we seem to have some of our best discussions in the car...
I don't remember what the trigger was, but I remember thinking that God gave me the gift of faith so that I could learn obedience, and that God gave John the gift of obedience so that he could acquire and develop faith.
I have always had MAJOR problems with obedience. I was born rebellious, and my parents were more likely to encourage rebellion than to encourage obedience. They wanted me to grow of to be a critical thinker, to be a free spirit and independant-minded women. Did I mention that they were both in the Los Angeles Feminist Theatre Group in the early 1970s?

I haven't blogged much on Terri's fight for life because so many others have done so, and done it well.
Envoy Encore
has several items today about this travesty of justice, including a report from the vigil. I encourage all of you to become informed, and to pray. That is the first and the last thing we can do.

Decline in Down Syndrome Tied to Abortion
which is actually how the March of Dimes plans to 'eliminate birth defects' - if you read their literature between the lines.
Link via Jeanetta

Sparki has a great tribute to St. Gerard Majella. My mother in law had a great devotion to St. Gerard, and actually named one of her sons after him. I think St. G should be one of the patrons of my profession, along with Blessed Gianna Molina.

I have been waiting for this article since I read about it being in process. I was not disappointed.
I will confess that it took me a very long time to understand the connection between contraception and the overall sexual depravity of our modern culture. Maybe it was because I really didn't want to face up to my own part in this horrible aberration.
Thank God for the sacraments and for purgatory!

ON THE FRONT LINES from Jeff Culbreath. Jeff, hang in there.

The Kairos
guy has a great post on shopping and salvation. Drop by and say something!