I have received a meme tag from David of
David's Daily Diversions with the meme, "MY TOP TEN (OR SO) GREATEST INFLUENCES, OUTSIDE OF GOD AND MY FAMILY MEMBERS."
It seems that I am able to include those whom I have actually known and those who I might have only known in a secondary way such as through their writings. I would be hard pressed to be certain that these are the top ten, but they are certainly ten who have had a major impact upon my life.
In alphabetic order:
· Mother Angelica--A modern saint. This holy woman has touched my life in many ways. Of course, through being the foundress of EWTN, she has impacted my life. In addition, she has been a tremendous inspiration through her life which includes so many trials and tribulations which she met with faith, hope, and love. She continues to inspire through her holy witness. Perhaps, she is not able to articulate with words as she used formerly could, but now she speaks profoundly of the mystery of suffering and be united to Christ.
· Mr. Cottingham--My fifth grade teacher. I did not realize it at the time, but he taught me that learning and teaching can be enjoyable. He had a good time teaching the students, and he had the respect of the students because he seemed to really enjoy what he was doing and he spread that enthusiasm to his students.
· Ms. Fisher--My first grade teacher. I remember really enjoying everything about her class. And I am very grateful for the very good start which she gave to my school years.
· St. Francis of Assisi--It is difficult to find a more devoted saint. As far as I can tell, I am not very similar to him, but I like his style, especially when it comes to discerning God's will (See the
Little Flowers of St. Francis). His life demonstrates that following Christ radically is in no way contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
· Fr. Benedict Groeschel--Another modern saint. He is a beautiful teacher of the Faith through his words and actions. He personifies what it means to be a priest through his complete giving of himself for others' sanctification. He had a profound influence on my entering the Catholic Church, and he continues to inspire me to grow in the spiritual life.
· Swigert Hockensmith--My world history teacher in high school. He made the study of history interesting and he fanned my interest in understanding history. He worked for a Department of Defense run school, and like many teachers did a very good job despite being underpaid and unappreciated.
· St. Ignatius of Antioch--I learned from his writings that the Catholic Church is the church which Christ founded.
· St. John Chrysostom--For a church history course at an evangelical seminary, I did a project on him. In order to find relevant writings of his, I first began looking in the new Catechism which I had recently purchased during a lunch break from work. At least one of his quotes which I used caused some consternation with the professor because it referred to praying to the saints. Although I was not yet praying to the saints, I think St. John Chrysostom was praying for me.
· John Paul II--Long before I was Catholic, I was able to attend a Sunday Angelus at which he presided. I believe the blessing that I received then came to fruition many years later, after his writings, starting with
Crossing the Threshold of Hope, helped me to understand the Church and to shed my ignorance and naivete about Catholicism.
· Bud Kellstedt--Professor of political science who helped me understand politics as a way in which men and women can serve one another. Consequently, he helped me see that Christians should be active in politics in order to serve Christ who is in their fellow man. He also taught me much about survey research. However, he never understood my interest in engineering, and he thought that I might follow an academic path. Perhaps it is not too late...
What is a meme without passing it on? Here are those whom I have "tagged":
Catholic FireDestination: OrderDoxologyHeart of a SeminarianSt. Joseph's Vanguard
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In a recent talk, Fr. Frank Pavone, who is the director of
Priests for Life, talked about the murder earlier this year of Ms. Terri Schiavo. He used the strange grave marker which was placed where her remains lie, to explain the philosophical underpinnings of how her death was justified. He made the point that what is intellectually driving this is simply the re-emergence of an old heresy.
If you
recall, her grave marker has three dates on it. Normally, of course, a gravestone contains two dates which indicate the person's birth date and date of death. In the case, of Ms. Schiavo's grave marker, there are three dates. The first date is her birth date, the second date is the date of her collapse, February 25, 1990. The words which accompany that date indicate that this was the date that Terri "departed this earth". The last date is March 31, 2005, which the grave marker indicates as the date on which Terri was "at peace".
Fr. Pavone pointed out that the type of thinking that would justify the death of Ms. Schiavo and also have such a grave marker placed over her remains is simply dualistic. Dualism has ancient roots, but it nonetheless a heresy. In the third century, Marcion held that there were essentially two gods. One for each testament in Scripture. The old testament god was evil, and the new testament god was good. Manichaesm, which held sway for some time in the life of St. Augustine of Hippo before his conversion, was based on the philosophy of dualism.
For dualists, the consequences of the theological idea that there is a good god and evil god is that human person is two separate entities of body and spirit. The spirit, which is good because it is created by the good god, is trapped in the body, which is evil because it is created by the evil god. The goal of human existence is to free the good spirit from the evil body. Throughout history, many have shared this dualistic thinking about spirit and body, although often without any of the theological underpinnings. As Fr. Pavone noted, the advocates for Ms. Schiavo's murder, who are most likely unconsciously supporting this heretical thinking, contend that when Ms. Schiavo's body stopped functioning "normally", she had departed from this earth. In other words, her spirit had been freed from the evil body which had trapped it.
In this particular case, however, there is much evidence that Ms. Schiavo's body never stopped functioning normally. Fr. Pavone was an eyewitness to Ms. Schiavo's abilities which included tracking him with her eyes when he moved around in her room. In addition, he saw her respond to outside stimuli such as attempting to answer a question from her mother and laughing at her father's jokes. Fr. Pavone also recounted how Ms. Schiavo would close her eyes during the time he was praying and then open her eyes at the completion of his prayer.
Aside from these very obvious bodily responses which demonstrate Ms. Schiavo's ability to respond to world around her, the dualistic thinking simply does not fit with reality. We are composites made up of both body and spirit. We recognize in our daily experience that the body and spirit work together not in opposition to one another.
The results of this dualistic thinking are very troubling. By separating body from spirit, a person can justify abuse by asserting that he is not dealing with a person's spirit, but only the person's body. In Ms. Schiavo's case, the grave marker indicates that Michael Schiavo believed that Ms. Schiavo's spirit "departed this earth" when she collapsed over 15 years before she actually died. Consequently, her body could be abused because it was just the shell that was left behind.
For dualists, Ms. Schiavo must be a vegetable. She simply cannot be a whole person because that would mean that there was more than a body that was lying on her bed. Evidence points to the fact that she was not just a body, but a whole person who could even interact with her surroundings. However, this was not the thinking that prevailed, and ultimately, she, not just her body, was abused to death by denying her the basic necessities of life--food and water.
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Tuesday, November 01, 2005
November Prayer Intentions
General - That married people may imitate the example of conjugal holiness shown by so many couples in the ordinary conditions of life.
Where do we find such exemplary marriages? We begin in Nazareth. In his 1994 Letter, Pope John Paul II wrote: "The Holy Family is the beginning of countless other holy families." Following the example of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are numerous holy couples and families, many recognized as saints and many more unknown to us. From Priscilla and Aquila, contemporaries of St. Paul, to Isidore and Maria of the 12th Century, to St. Therese’s parents, Louis and Zelie Martin (who are being proposed for beatification)—married couples have found holiness in the ordinary circumstances of their lives together. Every parish has holy couples who witness to the meaning of true love through their sacrifices for one another and their family.
At the heart of every holy marriage and family is Jesus. Since Jesus is the fullest revelation of God, love within a marriage can only continue and grow if Jesus is the heart of every family. Source
Missionary - That Pastors of mission territories may recognize with constant care their duty to foster the permanent formation of their own priests.
We see Pope Benedict XVI’s concern for this ongoing formation in his meetings with Bishops who have come to Rome recently for their "Ad Limina" visit. On September 23 he told a group of Bishops from Mexico:
You must devote your best efforts and energy to your priests. I therefore encourage you always to be close to each one of them and to build a relationship of priestly friendship with them, after the example of the Good Shepherd. … Take an interest in the particular situation of each priest, encouraging him to journey on the path of priestly holiness with joy and hope, offering him the help he needs and fostering brotherly relations among all priests. May no priest lack the means he needs in order to live his sublime vocation and ministry with dignity. Source
For greater awareness of pain management options for the terminally ill.
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