Recently I mentioned that this past July we attended the
Christendom College 2007 Summer Institute on Marriage and the Family. As it has been in past years, it was a wonderful conference. One of the main reasons that the Summer Institute is always so enjoyable is because the organizers always manage to bring in great speakers. This year was no different as the speakers included Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Ms. Mary Stanford, Bishop Thomas Welsh, Bishop Robert Morlino, Dr. Timothy O'Donnell, and Sen. Rick Santorum.
A few weeks after the conference, L asked to see some pictures of the speakers. While looking on the Christendom College Web site, I found that the college posts podcasts of lectures that are given as part of the school's speakers program. However, I was disappointed to not find the Summer Institute talks on the Christendom podcast site.
It turns out, I just needed to be patient. Today, I received an email from Tom McFadden who is the Director of Admissions at Christendom. He had read my blog entry on the Christendom College podcast site, and he sent me an email to let me know that the Summer Institute podcasts have been made available.
I appreciate Tom's heads up on the podcasts being posted, and I am happy to pass on the information. It is certainly worth taking the time to listen to these talks. To listen to them, as well as other lectures given at the college during the academic year, click
here.
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In response to questions posed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Vatican has confirmed the moral obligation to provide nutrition and hydration to patients who are in a vegetative state.
In light of the tragic case of Ms. Terri Schiavo who was put to death by starvation and dehydration , the USCCB asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) for a clarification on the Church's teaching on this issue.
The response which was approved by Pope Benedict XVI, confirmed that "the church position that patients in a 'vegetative state' are living human beings with inherent dignity and deserve the same basic care as other patients. This basic care would include nutrition and hydration, even when provided through artificial assistance."
Furthermore, the CDF indicated that the food and hydration should be given regardless of the prognosis of the patient regarding consciousness. The CDF stated that, "ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means" should be supplied regardless of the prognosis of recovery of consciousness.
In a separate commentary, the CDF did note that there might be exceptions to this moral obligation, but these would be rare. Such circumstances might be remote places with extreme poverty, a situation in which it is futile to provide food and water because the patient is unable to assimilate the nutrition and hydration, or a case in which the discomfort of the reception of food and water far outweighs the benefits of providing it. In the Q&A document written by the USCCB to help apply this teaching, the example given for this last case is a patient who has stomach cancer. In this case, the patient may not be able to assimilate the food and water without great discomfort. Even given these exceptions, the CDF made clear that the exceptions do not negate the general provision that giving food and water, even by artificial means, represents "a natural means for providing life."
It would have been fairly easy to anticipate these answers. John Paul the Great made it clear that nutrition and hydration were ordinary means of care for a person regardless of the person's level of consciousness. The natural law, which is often understood as common sense, dictates that you cannot starve or dehydrate a person simply because the person is not conscious as is commonly understood. The fact that this was permitted to be done to Ms. Terri Schiavo, not to mention the numerous other people whose stories are lesser known, is a horrific and deeply disturbing tragedy.
Documents:
The responses from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) A CDF commentary, approved by Cardinal William Levada and bishop members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
A Q&A from the USCCB Committee on Doctrine and Committee on Pro-Life ActivitiesSources:
USCCBZenitLabels: Pro-Life
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Thursday, September 13, 2007
I just recently discovered the
Virtual Rosary. It is a small desktop application which guides you through praying the Rosary. There are attractive images, simple music, and meditations for each bead in the five decades. It comes in various languages, and it is up-to-date as it includes the Luminous Mysteries inaugurated by John Paul the Great. The Web site also offers additional modules with different meditations including ones based on St. Louis de Monfort. And for those who need it, there is a reminder feature.
The Web site states the goals.
Virtual Rosary is a free program with three goals in mind:
- To teach the rosary and make it simple with the program's super-easy operation.
- To help keep the rosary refreshing and deep for anyone with the aid of scripture, illustrations, and music.
- To build a worldwide community of people to pray for each other through the PrayerCast network.
I think it is a terrific idea for encouraging praying the Rosary. I, myself, would rather not look at a computer monitor while praying the Rosary, but I am sure many people find this very useful as an aid in their prayer life. I added a link to the site on the right pane under Web sites of Interest.
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Christendom College Podcasts
This past July, we made our annual journey to the Christendom College
Summer Institute. It was a wonderful day of inspiring speakers and a beautiful mass at the school's Christ the King Chapel. The theme this year was defending the family, and the speakers included Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Ms. Mary Stanford, Bishop Thomas Welsh, Bishop Robert Morlino, Dr. Timothy O'Donnell, and Sen. Rick Santorum. As usual, we had a great time, and we left with much food for thought. (We also left with a few books, but that might need another post.)
L was with us, as well, so we sat together to hear the talks as much as we could, but when she got fidgety, I would take her outside to walk or stroll around the attractive campus. Fortunately, unlike most summers before, the temperature was rather mild for a day in the middle of July. One highlight was that M was able to speak with Fr. Groeschel. She enjoyed her chat with him, and she found him to have that wonderful fully human ability to relate to someone right away.
Yesterday, L wanted to see some pictures of the speakers that she had heard at the conference. (She has a remarkable memory for names and places for an almost three-year-old.) While showing her the picures of the speakers, I came across a
podcast site where the school posts lectures from their
speakers program which occurs during the academic year. I thought this was a site worth noting because the College draws a number of good speakers during the year, in addition to its own faculty including the remarkable Founding President Dr. Warren Carroll. Unfortunately, the Summer Institute talks are not posted here because they must be purchased.
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Monday, September 03, 2007
Pope calls for more Catholics to help protect the Environment
The Holy Father was in Loreto, Italy during the first two days of September as he presided over a national meeting of young people. Yesterday, in the homily at the concluding Mass, he urged the young people to consider the importance of helping to preserve the environment.
I appreciate the Holy Father highlighting this important area of justice. Ever since I was quite young, I have had a great interest in the environment. I remember at an early age reading magazines like National and International Wildlife and Audubon. In fact, one of my elementary school teachers predicted that I would become an environmental lawyer.
I never wound up in law school, but after receiving my degree in mechanical engineering, I have been able to work for several consulting firms that to a lesser or greater degree allowed me to work in my area of interest. My current job is the most directly related to preserving the environment, in particular, improving air quality.
I am grateful for the opportunity to work in this area because I know that it does make a difference in improving the lives of others. I have come to understand that preserving the environment is indeed an issue of justice because we are responsible for how we treat God's creation, particularly humans, and we are called to consider what legacy we will leave for future generations.
I can only echo the Holy Father's call to young people to be involved in this work. Faithful Christians can make an important impact by maintaining that any work to preserve the environment must keep human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, as the focus of all efforts.
The world is in urgent need of Catholics working to protect the environment, says Benedict XVI.
Following Christ, the Holy Father affirmed, brings with it "the continual effort to make one's own contribution to building a more just and solidary society, where all can enjoy the goods of the earth."
"I know that many of you dedicate yourselves with generosity to bear witness to your own faith in various social ambits, volunteering, working to promote the common good, peace and justice in every community," he said. "One of the areas in which work appears to be urgent is without a doubt that of protecting creation.
"To the new generations the future of the planet is entrusted, in which there are evident signs of a development that has not always known how to safeguard the delicate equilibriums of nature.
"Before it is too late, it is necessary to make courageous decisions that reflect knowing how to re-create a strong alliance between man and the earth.
"A decisive 'yes' to the protection of creation is necessary and a firm commitment to reverse those tendencies that run the risk of bringing about situations of unstoppable degradation."
Benedict XVI applauded an initiative from the Church in Italy to promote sensitivity to the issue of protecting creation. Sept. 1 has been established as a national day for promoting awareness of these matters.
"This year," the Holy Father observed, "attention is focused above all on water, a most precious good that, if it is not shared in a fair and peaceful way, will unfortunately become a cause for significant tensions and bitter conflicts."
Source
Labels: Holy Father
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Sunday, September 02, 2007
Another Look at the Pharisees
In his commentary on this Sunday's liturgical readings, the Pontifical Household preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa offers a different view of the Pharisees. One of the major religious groups of Jesus' day, the Pharisees have become synonymous with hypocrites. Fr. Cantalamessa points out the problems and the harm in making this judgement of the Pharisees.
The beginning of this Sunday's Gospel helps us to correct a widely diffused prejudice: "One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him." Reading the Gospel from a certain angle we have ended up making the Pharisees the prototype for all vices: hypocrisy, duplicity, falsity; Jesus' enemies par excellence. The terms "Pharisee" and "Pharisaical" have entered into the vocabulary of many languages with negative connotations.
Such an idea of the Pharisees is not correct. There were certainly many among them who corresponded to this negative image and it is with these that Jesus has serious problems. But not all of them were like this. Nicodemus, who comes to see Jesus one night and who later defended him before the Sanhedrin, was a Pharisee (cf. John 3:1; 7:50ff.). Saul was a Pharisee before his conversion and was certainly a sincere and zealous person then, if misguided. Gamaliel, who defended the apostles before the Sanhedrin, was a Pharisee (cf. Acts 5:34ff.).
Jesus' relationships with the Pharisees were not only conflictual. They often shared the same convictions, such as faith in the resurrection of the dead and the love of God and neighbor as the first and most important commandment of the law. Some, as we see in Sunday's Gospel, even invited Jesus to dinner at their house. Today there is agreement that the Pharisees did not want Jesus to be condemned as much as their rival sect, the Sadducees, who belonged to Jerusalem's priestly caste.
For all these reasons, it would be a very good thing to stop using the terms "Pharisee" and "Pharisaical" in a disparaging way. This would also help dialogue with the Jews who recall with great respect the role played by the Pharisees in their history, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem.
From Zenit (Also for the full commentary)
To view the liturgical readings for today, click on the link, Today's Mass Readings in the top right of this post.
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Saturday, September 01, 2007
September Prayer Intentions
General -
That the ecumenical assembly in Romania this month may contribute to the growth of unity among all Christians.Pope Benedict is concerned about the Church in Europe, a continent that has seen a long decline in all traditional Christian churches. Europe seems to have forgotten its first love, the Crucified and the Risen Jesus Christ, and the darkness of relativism has invaded all the institutions of Europe.
Opposing this darkness, the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly has chosen this theme: "The light of Christ shines upon all. Hope for renewal and unity in Europe." Ironically, the diminished churches bring an opportunity for greater unity as 3,000 delegates gather in Sibiu, Romania, September 4-8.
This meeting culminates a “pilgrimage” of the major Christian traditions of Europe as they listen together to the Word of Christ and seek the essence of what makes us Christian. At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed that all his followers might be one in him. He knew how easily divisions set in, even among sincere followers.
With Jesus, we pray that the assembly delegates may grow in understanding, love, and unity through the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray for the light of Christ on them as they discuss many topics, including the visible unity of the Church, the reconciliation between peoples and cultures, the safeguarding of creation, and the dialogue with other religions and philosophical viewpoints, starting with Judaism and Islam.
We pray that they may set in motion a powerful unification of all Christians in Europe and throughout the world.
Source
Missionary -
That following Christ joyfully, all missionaries may know how to overcome the difficulties they meet in everyday life.While celebrating Eucharist with fellow bishops in Brazil this past May, Pope Benedict spoke of the missionary nature of the Church. As Jesus was the missionary of the Father, so the Church extends Christ’s love throughout the world.
What difficulties face today’s missionaries? According to the Holy Father, "secularized culture, the crisis of the family, the drop in vocations, the aging of the clergy, churches closing in on themselves, and lowered hopes" are difficulties more formidable than perilous travel, primitive life, and savage rejection such as have afflicted past missionary efforts.
Some of today’s greatest missionary difficulties arise from the need to re-evangelize formerly Christian nations and peoples.
We pray in obedience to the Holy Father that missionaries may be full of Christ’s joy. We pray that their joy will give them strength and understanding needed to overcome the serious difficulties they face in their work.
Rather than lose hope ourselves, we ask God to make us passionate about evangelization in all its forms. Let us see new opportunities in new technologies. Let us welcome missionaries into our own midst. And, most of all, let us give ourselves to the missions in our prayers. We Apostles of Prayer seek everyday to “be apostles now.” We venture by our prayers into all the difficulties faced by the men and women missionaries we support.
With joy, with hope, we offer ourselves in prayer for missionaries today. We will offer ourselves again tomorrow—and again and again—until God’s Kingdom comes.
Source
That God may bless and strengthen the pro-life efforts of college students.
Labels: Prayer Intentions
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