Recently in Around St Blog's Category

Over at CAEI, Mark Shea links to an essay about whether or not CS Lewis went to heaven. I have nothing to add to the discussion. Although it sounds ignorant of me to state, I have very little concept of Protestant theology. I never understood the meaning of the term "saved" and the practical usage of it. If someone is "saved" does that mean they know they are going to heaven, or is it simply a term describing someone who now practices their Christian faith? I don't know, I never got it, nor came into contact with the term besides people on TV until I was well into my adult life. Not that I am trying to diss anyone's faith traditions, it's just not a culture I am that familiar with. Heaven is something I think I must achieve and lose about 50 times a day, hence the need for confession and to start this struggle over and confession...like any other discipline, so the concept of one blanket statement such as that confuses me.

Likewise, the concept of trying to figure out who is or isn't going to heaven creeps me out. To me it has always been one of those Catholic no-nos. Only God can make that judgment. To me it is a waste of spiritual energy. For me, I can fool myself by thinking I have my mind in the right place with thoughts of Godly things by wondering who the people are I want to emulate because they must or must not be in Heaven. Especially the ones who seem great but stumbled on the silliest stumbling blocks, but it is a distraction. If I am concentrating so much on this nonsense, I am not addressing what truly needs to be addressed, and what will trip me up in the end-that I am lazy spending too much time on the computer today or I need to be more charitable and gossip less, or less materialistic this holiday season and more focused on prayer.

Anywho, I just wanted to share a cute story about CS Lewis and Tolkein shared ,in the combox by godescalc:

(True story: Lewis & Tolkein, walking down the road in Oxford, happened upon a beggar, who made supplication to them along the lines of "gizza bit of change, guv". Lewis responded by taking all the coinage he had in his pocket and dumping it in the guy's hand.

They walked on, and Tolkein spake, saying, "You shouldn't have done that, he'll spend it all on drink." To which Lewis replied, "Yes, but if I'd kept the money, I'd have spent it all on drink myself.")

This is from Vox Nova:

President-elect Barack Obama,

As American Catholics, we, the undersigned, would like to reiterate the congratulations given to you by Pope Benedict XVI. We will be praying for you as you undertake the office of President of the United States.

Wishing you much good will, we hope we will be able to work with you, your administration, and our fellow citizens to move beyond the gridlock which has often harmed our great nation in recent years. Too often, partisan politics has hampered our response to disaster and misfortune. As a result of this, many Americans have become resentful, blaming others for what happens instead of realizing our own responsibilities. We face serious problems as a people, and if we hope to overcome the crises we face in today’s world, we should make a serious effort to set aside the bitterness in our hearts, to listen to one another, and to work with one another

One of the praiseworthy elements of your campaign has been the call to end such partisanship. You have stated a desire to engage others in dialogue. With you, we believe that real achievement comes not through the defamation of one’s opponents, nor by amassing power and using it merely as a tool for one’s own individual will. We also believe dialogue is essential. We too wish to appeal to the better nature of the nation. We want to encourage people to work together for the common good. Such action can and will engender trust. It may change the hearts of many, and it might alter the path of our nation, shifting to a road leading to a better America. We hope this theme of your campaign is realized in the years ahead.

One of the critical issues which currently divides our nation is abortion. As you have said, no one is for abortion, and you would agree to limit late-term abortions as long as any bill which comes your way allows for exceptions to those limits, such as when the health of the mother is in jeopardy. You have also said you would like to work on those social issues which cause women to feel as if they have a need for an abortion, so as to reduce the actual number of abortions being performed in the United States.

Indeed, you said in your third presidential debate, “But there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, ‘We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby.’”

As men and women who oppose abortion and embrace a pro-life ethic, we want to commend your willingness to engage us in dialogue, and we ask that you live up to your promise, and engage us on this issue.

There is much we can do together. There is much that we can do to help women who find themselves in difficult situations so they will not see abortion as their only option. There is much which we can do to help eliminate those unwanted pregnancies which lead to abortion.

One of your campaign promises is of grave concern to many pro-life citizens. On January 22, 2008, the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, when speaking of the current right of women in America to have abortions, you said, “And I will continue to defend this right by passing the Freedom of Choice Act as president.”

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) might well undermine your engagement of pro-life Americans on the question of abortion. It might hamper any effort on your part to work with us to limit late-term abortions. We believe FOCA does more than allow for choice. It may force the choice of a woman upon others, and make them morally complicit in such choice. One concern is that it would force doctors and hospitals which would otherwise choose not to perform abortions to do so, even if it went against their sacred beliefs. Such a law would undermine choice, and might begin the process by which abortion is enforced as a preferred option, instead of being one possible choice for a doctor to practice.

It is because of such concern we write. We urge you to engage us, and to dialogue with us, and to do so before you consider signing this legislation. Let us reason together and search out the implications of FOCA. Let us carefully review it and search for contradictions of those positions which we hold in common.
If FOCA can be postponed for the present, and serious dialogue begun with us, as well as with those who disagree with us, you will demonstrate that your administration will indeed be one that rises above partisanship, and will be one of change. This might well be the first step toward resolving an issue which tears at the fabric of our churches, our political process, our families, our very society, and that causes so much hardship and heartache in pregnant women.

Likewise, you have also recently stated you might over-ride some of President G.W. Bush’s executive orders. This is also a concern to us. We believe doing so without having a dialogue with the American people would undermine the political environment you would like to establish. Among those issues which concern us are those which would use taxpayer money to support actions we find to be morally questionable, such as embryonic stem cell research, or to fund international organizations that would counsel women to have an abortion (this would make abortion to be more than a mere choice, but an encouraged activity).

Consider, sir, your general promise to the American people and set aside particular promises to a part of your constituency. This would indicate that you plan to reject politics as usual. This would indeed be a change we need.

Sincerely,

Deal W. Hudson
Christopher Blosser
Marjorie Campbell
Mark J. Coughlan
Rev. James A. Nowack
Craig D. Baker
Susan DeBoisblanc
Megan Stout
Joshua D. Brumfield
Ashley M. Brumfield
Michael J. Iafrate
Natalie Navarro
Matthew Talbot
Paul Mitchell
Todd Flowerday
Henry C Karlson III
Darren Belajac
Adam P Verslype
Josiah Neeley
Michael J. Deem
Katerina M. Deem
Natalie Mixa
Henry Newman
Anthony M. Annett
Mickey Jackson
Veronica Greenwell
Thomas Greenwell PhD
Robert C. Koerpel
Nate Wildermuth

New, Online Signatures:
Mary Ruebelmann-Benavides
Jesus Benavides
Steve Dillard
Toby Danna
William Eunice
Mark Shea
Fr. Phil Bloom
Christopher Gant
Robert King, OP.
Peter Halabu
Kelly Clark
Mark Gordon
Linda Schuldt
Michael Mlekoday

Merry Tossmas!

I love the little kid at the end.

...the one that makes my skin crawl:

These folks are called Foodies, so named because the rest of us would gladly feed them to alligators....

This touching story comes from the combox of Dawn Patrol's entry 'I saw some things I can’t get out of my head' Med student 'incredibly freaked out' after a day at Planned Parenthood:

Before Pope Benedict came to America to celebrate Mass in New York and Washington, it was revealed that as a young boy in Germany he had had a cousin with Down Syndrome. One day a Nazi doctor came and claimed his cousin for the Third Reich. Taken to be “cared for” at the “hospital” young Karl Ratzinger never saw his cousin again: one of the host of “useless eaters” marked for extermination by that brutal regime.

My wife and I operate St. Joseph’s House, a daycare and respite care home for handicapped children. As it happened one of the children we care for, a wheelchair bound young lady, was chosen along with three other handicapped folks to carry the gifts up to the altar before the consecration at the Mass at Nationals Stadium in Washington D.C. on April 17, 2008. One of these was James, a 30ish man who works in the Officer’s Club at Andrews AFB. James has Down Syndrome. He was chosen to carry the large host which would become the Body of Christ lifted up before the assembled. As James with great ceremony advanced toward the Pope, his native enthusi­asm overcame his reserve and he started to run. Simultaneously the Holy Father leapt from his chair and walked towards James with his arms out­stretched. We have a picture of this moment which I cannot look at without tearing up. What did he see as he gazed so lovingly at James? I believe he saw his cousin. I believe he saw the face of Jesus. And I believe that his great prayer as he elevated that host on that impossibly beautiful day was “As long as you did to these the least of my brethren, you did it to Me.”

The next day April 18th, a boy was born to of all people, the Gover­nor of Alaska. They named him Trig.
Dan LaHood | 10.23.08 - 6:38 am |

Curt Jester posts this letter by Bishop Hermann:

Save our children! More than anything else, this election is about saving our children or killing our children. This life issue is the overriding issue facing each of us in this coming election. All other issues, including the economy, have to take second place to the issue of life.

Save our children! Many people in Germany supported Hitler for economic reasons even though, as his programs advanced, he put to death millions of Jewish people. He ended up wrecking the economy together with the country of Germany.

How are we different if we vote for proabortion candidates for office? How can we help change our political and legal situation to protect innocent children and support a culture of life?

Save our children! When I speak to some socalled good Catholics, I am shocked that they are quite ready to vote for a pro-abortion candidate under almost any circumstance. I find this hard to understand. We have heard the word "abortion" so often that perhaps we no longer associate procured abortion with the killing of children, yet that is what it is. The term itself can be misleading. The dictionary tells us that it comes from a Latin word that means "to disappear or to miscarry." Sometimes abortions simply happen because of natural causes. That is why this word abortion, for many people, apparently does not really connote the destruction of children. When a human agent induces an abortion, that human agent is taking the life of one of our children.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that take the life of innocent children, when there is an alternative? If there were two candidates who supported abortion, but not equally, we would have the obligation to mitigate the evil by voting for the less-permissive candidate.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that justify the killing of a child that survived a botched abortion? How can such a so-called good Catholic receive the Holy Eucharist?

In Chapter 10 of St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he states: "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ... You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons."

Save our children! Have some of our so-called good Catholics become so hardened against the Gospel of Life that they believe that other issues outweigh the Gospel of Life? Have some of our so-called good Catholics put politics ahead of the Fifth Commandment, in which God states: "Thou shalt not kill"? Do some of our so-called good Catholics, who may go to Mass every Sunday and receive the Holy Eucharist, really believe that voting for a pro-abortion candidate, when there is a clear alternative and therefore no justifiable reason for so doing, is really not voting to have children killed? This election is all about saving our children!

Save our children! I have no doubt that there may be some so-called good Catholics who are reading this column and who may be really angry about now. I ask the question "Why would such a person be angry?" If we do good deeds, then our conscience is at peace. If we do evil deeds, then our conscience bothers us. It is my hope that this column will lead some of our so-called good Catholics to study the Catholic Catechism.

Save our children! Some of our so-called good Catholics may have hardened their hearts against the real understanding of induced abortions, that they can no longer see that this involves the destruction of our children. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts!"

Save our children! Supporting induced abortions is not the greatest sin in the world. A greater sin is the refusal to repent of such a serious crime or the denial that this involves the killing of innocent children.

Save our children! I have used this terminology again and again penetrate the defenses of anyone who in the past may have put personal, economic or political interests above the issue of saving our children. The right to life is our most fundamental right, and to defend this right on behalf of the most vulnerable is a great privilege and is worth giving one's life for. Policemen and firemen always risk their lives to save human life. Why should we not risk our own reputation to save our children?

Save our children!You can see by now that I do not believe that this column by itself will change hearts. The issue of abortion involves serious sin, and to overcome serious patterns of sin requires grace. If you are still with me, may I suggest that you join me and many others in praying the daily Rosary from now until election day for the sake of life. Why not pray the family Rosary every night between now and the general election. The Rosary brought down the Iron Curtain. It can also help us turn around the culture of death to a culture of life.

Save our so-called good Catholics who ignore Catholic moral principles when applied to our political life. Pray the family Rosary daily. Pray the family Rosary for our so-called good Catholics who could use your love and your charity. Pray for our so-called good Catholics who ignore serious Catholic moral teachings and still receive Holy Communion. Love them by praying the family Rosary for them. Don't debate with them. Intercede for them. Praying for them is more fun than fighting with them.

Save our children and save our so-called good Catholics who have abandoned Church teachings in favor of personal gain. Pray the Rosary. Pray it every day. Get the whole family to pray the Rosary daily. Prayer is more powerful than contentious arguments. Spread the word to other families. In praying the Rosary, children's votes count as much as adult votes. Sometimes they pray with purer hearts than we do. If you are disgusted with the TV news, then turn it off and turn on the prayer Internet. What we hear in prayer leaves us in peace. When we pray for our country and for our fellow citizens, we are filled with peace. St. Paul tells us that our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers and the spirits of darkness.

Prayer is our protection. Let it also be a protection for our country. If you want to make Satan angry, pray the Rosary for the sake of Life. Pray that as a nation we will choose leaders that will say 'no' to the culture of death and say 'yes' to the culture of life. Save our children! Pray the Rosary!

Very good articleby Bruce Wydick that comes our way via The Dawn Patrol.

Here's a sneak peek:

But the data show that many people today feel that consensual sex between two people who care for each other is a valid and harmless choice, regardless of whether the participants are married.

Two significant flaws are present in this view. First, sex is
qualitatively different from other activities. It is not like working
alongside someone on a project. It is not like enjoying a
beer and a burger with someone. It is not like playing tennis.
Sex is a total physical giving of ourselves to another human
being. It is humans’ most vulnerable, private act.

Second, sex is how life itself is created. There is no other
act in which we engage with another person that can create
life. And this life reproduces the genes of the two people
involved. The two literally become one in the form of a third
person. Sex is like no other human activity.

By emphasizing sex as recreation—something enjoyable
that does not require any deeper commitment—our culture
has moved sex from the level of sacred act (which God
intended it to be) down to the level of tennis. Moreover,
by emphasizing mutual consent as a basis for legitimizing
premarital sex, our culture overlooks essential differences
between men and women, important asymmetries that bring
this “if it’s consensual it’s okay” view sharply into question.

Catholic Minority Report lists the Top Ten Ways You Know You're On a Catholic Blog

Number 8 had me cracking up:

8) The word “heterodox” is used. A lot.

So I did a TSM search, and yep, it's been used. A lot.

I actually stopped using it because I was having a conversation with someone recently where I said something was heterodox and they said "what?"

"Heterodox"

"What's that?"

"It's the opposite of orthodox...you know, against Church teaching...if you're Catholic..."

Nevermind.

Please pray for the respose of the soul of Dinka's father, as well as for comfort for Dinka and her family in these sad times.

To me, this video says it all about who we are, and who we need to be:

I apologise if it violates Church policy.

Joe Shriner

Joe on the economy:

National Debt :
~ Tighten our belts and pay it off so our children don't inherit it.

Work Life :
~ Push for a shorter work week and/or more job sharing. (This will provide more time for God, family, community.)
~ In tandem, promote the Voluntary Simplicity Movement, with a focus on cutting back lifestyle wise.
~ Improve work place environments.
~ Fair wage for all.

Joe on Iraq:

the plan
*A growing negative could be turned into a tremendous positive -- for world peace.
~ As president, I would extend a formal, and heartfelt, apology to the Iraqi people (and the world) for starting the war, for killing civilians and military, and for destabilizing the country. (I told the Athens (OH) Post that these types of civilian deaths aren’t “inevitable collateral damage,” they are Moms, Dads, children…)
~ Set up an Iraq War Victim’s Fund intended for families of war victims, including for families of those who died from the U.S. urged, and U.N. backed, 12 year sanctions against Iraq before the war. (An estimated one million Iraqis died as a result of these sanctions, some 500,000 of them children.)
~ As president, I would also formally apologize for starting a pre-emptive war predicated on finding weapons of mass destruction. I would also admit there is a tremendous duality in telling other nations they can’t have WMD’s -- when we have the biggest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world.

(lots more)

Joe on Life Issues:

~ No abortion.
~ Many more local safety nets for moms & dads in crisis pregnancy.
~ No death penalty, no euthenasia.
~ No embryonic stem cell research and no cloning.
~ Respect for God's sovereignty and natural order.

Joe on Immigration:

~ amnesty for illegal immigrants and family reunification.
~ “living wage, optimal working conditions, benefits, adequate housing… for all new arrivals.

Thanks to Mark Shea for bringing this to my attention.

I don't know if I would ever be brave enough to vote third party, but I have considered writing in someone if I decided to go that route because well, many of the third party candidates are exactly what you expect of third party candidates-more of the same with a tweak on one more issue. Or someone really, well, "kooky" comes to mind. Mr. Shriner seems as good, if not a better choice than any of them. He kind of inspires me to make that jump.

LA Times: Canadian doctor warns Sarah Palin's decision to have Down baby could reduce abortions

But a senior Canadian doctor is now expressing concerns that such a prominent public role model as the governor of Alaska and potential vice president of the United States completing a Down syndrome pregnancy may prompt other women to make the same decision against abortion because of that genetic abnormality. And thereby reduce the number of abortions.

Published reports in Canada say about 9 out of 10 women given a diagnosis of Down syndrome choose to terminate the pregnancy through abortion. [emphasis added]

...Dr. Andre Lalonde, executive vice president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Ottawa, worries that Palin's now renowned decision may cause abortions in Canada to decline as other women there and elsewhere opt to follow suit.

He says not every woman is prepared to deal with the consequences of Down babies, who have developmental delays, some physical difficulties and often a shortened lifespan.

I don't even know what to say...Is this all reactionary, or were people this sick before and now they feel the right to vent their evil?

HT: Catholic and Enjoying It! combox

So: keep it up Team Obama. You're cracking up and you don't know what to do. I'll tell you what not to do: stop attacking Palin and her family. Get your mind off her fecundity, her kids, especially the disabled one who fills you with shame for your bloody advocacy of his extermination. Try to focus on the issues. Ignore the guilt you feel for 40 years of fanatical zeal for putting kids like him to death and pressuring women like her to kill him. Beat down the voice of your conscience while you yammer something about "integrity". Ignore the compulsion to call her a Pig in Lipstick. Muscle down the revulsion/shame/hate and fear that you feel when the damn kid who should have been killed in any truly hygenic society is loved by another member of that disgusting swarming brood of breeders. Be cool. Keep it together.

Suppress. The. Scream.

But you can't.

and I got to leave the VERY FIRST COMMENT