Religion: May 2004 Archives

The Visitation

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Today celebrates the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, and is the patronal feast day of this blog. In honor of the feast and of Pentecost, I have changed the blog colors to red.
Tradition doesn't tell us who (besides the angels) attended Mary in childbed. I like to think that if they hadn't been in Bethlehem, Elizabeth would have been there to help wrap Jesus in His swaddling cloths and give him to Mary to nurse.
Our culture sadly needs the witness and help of experienced older women to help new moms to better mother their babes (see Titus 2).

Science and Religion

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There is a topic that I think we need to discuss, that Eutychus Fell brings up on his blog. Since he doesn't have comments, I have taken the liberty to copy his post on the next page.
I have a lot to say on this, and I intend to write a reasoned response, but I would like to hear what you all have to say on this. Eutychus asks some very good questions here.
I have a few basic concerns, and I wonder if any of you can guide me to some resources for more accurate information about the Galileo issue. I am pretty sure that the public perception that he was violently suppressed is somewhat in error. But I can't lay my hands of the article I thought I read (Crisis, maybe?)Also, I have spent a big chunk of the last 20 years studying medical ethics and coming to the conclusion that Catholic moral theology, based on the natural law, is the only sound basis for deciding these dilemmas. I don't think science is overwhelming our moral language as much as we are succumbing to the lures of false autonomy.
anyhow, go to the rest of this to read the comments from Eutychus Fell.

emergency prayer request

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Worth reading

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over at Eutychus Fell: Becoming Catholic (scroll down to May 25th entry, hotlinks all blogspotted up).
I began, tonight, to see some of the deep fissures in even this local church, let alone the global Catholic Church.
The blogmeister over at Eutychus has made the choice not to have comments but I have emailed him on several occasions. I think that he has a lot of insight and I welcome his story of his journey across the Tiber.

update

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Got a call last night to say that my sister in law is holding her own. She was trying to breath on her own, she has pain response and her pupils are equal and reactive. There is a lot of damage, how much we won't know for a while. Right now, they are keeping her heavily sedated to allow her brain to heal as much as possible while supporting her other life functions.
We have been told not to expect much more new information until Friday unless there is an unexpected turn either direction.
Thank you all for your continued prayers.
We spend time last night at the Perpetual Adoration chapel in prayer. What a gift that has been to our community!

Theology and economics

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Concurrent Sessions from a conference - some of you might be interested in these. Topics like "Thomas Aquinas, Almsgiving, and the Welfare State".

thanks for the prayers

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no news yet today, good or bad. At least none that has made it to us here on the East Coast.
In other news, I just learned that two midwife friends of mine are also facing brain injury issues. One, herself a survivor of an aneurysm, is dealing with a son who was assaulted and hit in the skull with a heavy metal object - please add prayers for Jared.
Another midwife has a dear friend recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The friend's name is John, and I have added him to the list.
Anyone know if there is a patron saint for brain injury?

keep praying

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the surgeons were nearly unable to get through the skull, and it seems that a lot of damage has already been done. we need miracles now. St Gianna, you were a mother and a physician. Please intercede on this your canonization day!

more bad news

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My sister in law is being taken into surgery right now - the pressure in her brain is so high that they need to drill a hole to take the pressure off. This is being done on an emergency basis. She is being kept in a coma to reduce the overall strain on her body while her brain tries to heal.
Please keep praying, especially for her soul! Pray that the Divine Mercy will somehow make Himself present to her. To the best of my knowledge, she is still unbaptized, though she has helped her husband raise their sons as faithful Catholic young men.
Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you!

politics

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Just had an encounter with a campaign worker for Kerry. This misguided young woman was going door to door with a list of the names of registered voters.
We had quite a spirited discussion on the doorstep, as I told her that there was no way in Hell that I would support her candidate, based on his hypocritical claims to be both Catholic and pro-abortion. She admitted to being Catholic herself, and to having disagreement with her candidate on that issue, but she said that she believed that the war in Iraq and the death penalty were also important life issues. I tried to point out to her the difference between the state-sanctioned execution of a guilty person as opposed to the murder of an innocent, as well as the difference between a prudential judgement (just war) as opposed to a dogmatic declaration (abortion is a horrible mortal sin and can never be supported or condoned). I also expressed my horror that Kerry takes money from NARAL and that he made a big point about flying back so that he could vote against the Partial Birth Abortion ban. In closing, I also suggested that she bop over to the Catholic Kerry Watch website, just to see what folks like me (former life-long Democrats who are now without a political home) are thinking.
As I have been typing this, I have been listening to the last moments of the Canonization Mass for Gianna and the other saints being proclaimed. Life giving love and sacrificial giving - this is what I expect from those who would claim to represent me politically - not the self-serving and greedy posturing that we are getting. And just now, EWTN quoted St. John Chrysostom on the Eucharist.... would that Senator Kerry and his ilk would hear these words.

NOVENA - day 9

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To obtain graces and the Glorification of the Servant of God

GIANNA BERETTA MOLLA

convicted?

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I just finished reading Marcus Grodi's book Journeys Home. It made me ponder whether or not (and how, for that matter) I have been living out my call from God to be holy. Lately I have been suffering from fatigue and a kind of spiritual laziness. I have had problems staying focused (ADD kicking in now that the winter depression is leaving). I have found myself not wanting to go to Mass, not because I don't like Mass but because I am tired, lazy, suffering from inertia. I think I need a swift kick of some kind, but I am afraid that I will get one!
I think I need to go to confession. My oil needs changing.

NOVENA - day 7

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To obtain graces and the Glorification of the Servant of God

GIANNA BERETTA MOLLA

NOVENA - day 6

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Sorry to be late posting this.
My patients have decided to honor the Mother by becoming mothers themselves! Two sunday, another two early today, one currently in labor and another who will probably start labor within a few days if not later tonight. Forecast - light blogging ahead.
Novena Prayer to Gianna

NOVENA day 5

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Novena Prayer
GOD, our Father, you have granted to your church the gift of Gianna Beretta. In her youth she lovingly sought You and drew other young people to you, involving them, through apostolic and catholic action, in the care of the sick and the aged, to help and comfort them.

Novena, day 4

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Update - Liz, mentioned below, gave birth safely. Deo Gratias!

Day 2 of Novena

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GOD, our Father, you have granted to your church the gift of Gianna Beretta.

just go read it

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Canonization day

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For Gianna Molina is coming up. May 16, 2004.

NOVENA

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Novena Prayer
GOD, our Father, you have granted to your church the gift of Gianna Beretta. In her youth she lovingly sought You and drew other young people to you, involving them, through apostolic and catholic action, in the care of the sick and the aged, to help and comfort them.
We thank you for the gift of this young woman, so deeply committted to you. Through her example grant us the grace to consecrate our life to your service, for the joy of our brothers and sisters.
* Glory Be .....
JESUS, Redeemer of mankind, you called Gianna Beretta to exercise the medical profession as a mission for the comfort of bodies and souls. In her suffering fellowmen and in the little ones, deprived for all support, she saw you. We thank you for having revealed yourself to this your servant as "one who serves" and who soothes the sufferings of men. Treasuring her example may we become generous Christian at the service of our brothers and sister, especially of those with whom you deign to share your cross.
* Glory Be....
God, SANCTIFYING SPIRIT, who love the Church as your Bride, you poured into the heart of Gianna Beretta a share of your love so that she could radiate it in her family, and thus cooperate with you in the wonderful plan of creation, and give life to new children who could know and love you.
We thank you for this model wife and, through her encouraging witness, we beg you to grant to our families the serene and Christian presence of mothers committed to transform into cenacles of faith and love, rich with generous activity and sanctifying service.
* Glory Be...
O GOD, creator and lover of mankind, you were close to Gianna Beretta when, affected by illness, she was in the painful dilemma to choose between her own life and the life of the child whom she was carrying in herself, a gift long-awaited.
Trusting you alone, and aware of your commandment to respect human life, Gianna found the courage to do her duty as a mother and to say "Yes" to the new life of her baby, generously sacrificing her own. Through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Jesus, and after the example of Gianna, inspire all mother to welcome with love the sparkle of a new life. Help us all to have a great respect for human life.
Grant us the grace we want … and the joy to find and inspiration in you Servant Gianna who, as a model spouse and mother, after the example of Christ , gave up her life for the life of others.
* Hail Mary…

Prayer requests

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I have had a few prayer requests come in from pregnant families, and I would ask you to include these in your daily prayers.
Cin is dealing with preterm contractions that we pray will not turn into labor nor lead to a premature birth. Pray that she will be able to deal with her situation as God wills.
Liz is dealing with an upcoming labor after having lost her last baby at birth. She asks that we pray that she is able to bond with this baby - she has a lot of fear this time around that she didn't have with her prior births (before the baby she lost).
I have two other moms who are fighting with severe vomiting in early pregnancy. Pray that they find doctors or midwives that take their condition seriously and help them to be able to deal with this difficult situation.
There are other requests as well that I am not posting at present, but if you could find it in your hearts, please pray for all pregnant moms in their special needs. I am going to start a Novena to Blessed (soon to be Saint) Gianna Molina. Feel free to print and carry this with you.

attention movie fans

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Huw Raphael is starting a summer movie club. He is Eastern Orthodox but is looking for some interfaith discussion of media, Christianity, etc. Drop by and tell him if you are interested.

Prayers for the Catholic Family in traditional English. Jeff did a great job, and the illustrations are very fitting too. The language of the Psalms and Canticles is that with which I grew up.
I get irked at the mistranslations of the Psalms, especially one that was in yesterday's Mass. Jubilate Deo (psalm 99 or 100, depending on your numbering). Verse two, the ICEL translates as "Know that the Lord is God, he made us, His we are; his people, the flock he tends". The traditional English is "Be ye sure that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."
In this day of genetic engineering and assisted reproduction, it is important to be mindful of "not we ourselves".

Marriage for Grownups

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from the current Touchstone (May 2004)
"Better relationship skills" won't enable a man to satisfy his wife and keep her from seeking intimacy elsewhere. Some men become lechers because their wives are prudes; most lechers are lechers because they like lechery. Some women are as insatiable for emotional highs as some men are insatiable for sexual thrills; sometimes it's because they're married to lugs but far more often it's because they are emotional lechers.
I don't believe in "relationships skills" because, first, I don't believe in "relationships" - an ugly word for a dumb idea. My wife and I have a marriage, not a relationship. The ground rules for a halfway decent marriage are really pretty simple: Be kind. Do the dishes. Make lunch. Take out the garbage. Pick out some flowers. Buy a pizza. Get over your stupid and never to be satisfied lusts - bodily lusts or emptional lusts. Grow up.
Anthony Esolen

more rosaries for the troops

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Instructions for making knotted rosaries at the Rosary Army webpage. These don't break nor do they make any noise in use.
See here for where to send them.

Free Speech?

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About this Archive

This page is a archive of entries in the Religion category from May 2004.

Religion: April 2004 is the previous archive.

Religion: June 2004 is the next archive.

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