Assisted Suicide picks up steam in Connecticut

Assisted suicide is gaining a little popularity in Connecticut with Senator Edward Meyer’s bill, S.B. 48, “An Act Concerning Physician-Assisted Suicide.” In the bill it is written that the bill would “…permit a competent person who is suffering from a terminal illness to take his or her life through the self-administration of prescribed medication.”
Senator Meyer is a state senator representing Branford, North Branford, Guilford, Durham, Killingworth and Madison (Connecticut’s 12 district). In 2009, a similar bill was introduced but defeated.

You’ll remember that Massachusetts voters narrowly defeated a proposition in the 2012 elections. The AP is now reporting that a half-dozen states are now proposing bills supporting legalized assisted suicide. Is there an honest shift in thinking in these united States? What is claimed is that there is strong support for such.

In some circles it’s thought that a very small group of people in the USA are in favor of assisted suicide but they are organized, with money, and capable of capitalizing on the fears of the chronically ill, the disabled and the elderly. One group is poised to become the Planned Parenthood of the assisted suicide movement called Compassion and Choices. But what about the opposition?

In the media you’ll hear lots about the Catholic opposition to assisted suicide and you’ll be told that few others are interested in these questions. There is, so to speak, a coalition of peoples with diverse philosophies have organized opposition, namely,
  • medical professionals
  • advocates for the poor
  • disability rights activists
  • mental health professionals
  • pro life peoples (Christians and non Christians)
  • “egalitarian liberals”
The issue is not a Catholic moral matter, it is a human one. Assisted suicide is based on false premises of human dignity and meaning. True that the Catholics in Massachusetts under the leadership of Cardinal Sean O’Malley helped to defeat the “Question 2” but they didn’t do it alone. There was help by the ghost of the late Senator Edward Kennedy divined by his widow who wrote a persuasive-enough OP-ED piece convincing some to vote down the bill proposal. Of course, the Kennedy family is seen by practicing, faithful Catholics as being a left-wing ideological group of politicos, and therefore not a reliable barometer for Catholic thinking and moral life. Nevertheless, Mrs. Kennedy did rally support against the assisted suicide bill.
Jason Negri and Dominican Father Christopher Saliga authored a helpful review/analysis in an essay published by the Catholic Information Service (Knights of Columbus), “Freedom to Flourish: A Catholic Analysis of Doctor -Prescribed Suicide and Euthanasia” (2011).
You may also be interested in a Kindle essay (14 pages) by Christopher Veniamin, “Euthanasia: A Theological Approach.”

The parish priest is the priest of all

AlberioneA friend of min who is a religious of the Daughters of St Paul brought to my attention that a 100 years ago, their founder, Blessed James Alberione, was talking about the ministry of the parish priest. Perhaps Pope Francis is reading the work of Blessed James. The diocesan priesthood is in very great need of reform. So much dysfunction and a lack of good formation in-and-out of seminaries. Look at the fact that so many priests do not know their people (Catholic and otherwise in their area), are not following a spiritual discipline of lectio divina, praying the Divine Office, making a daily hour, making an annual directed retreat, monthly spiritual direction, etc. Never mind that there is still an acceptance of priests and bishops having girlfriends and boyfriends, using and dealing drugs, and being accused of unwanted sexual advancements on adults or children. If you do not believe me, read the papers, get to know the substance of parish priests.

In recent years lots of seminaries have changed their formation program for the better, BUT Pope Benedict and Pope Francis have been calling the church to a new way of being a priest that is healthy and oriented toward to Christ the Good Shepherd. If you don believe me, start reading papal homilies and allocutions. For many priests that I know this is not new news, but there are problems at a deeper level yet to be revealed and dealt with.

The following comes from Alberione’s 1913 textbook for pastoral theology (Pastoral Theology Notes):

“The parish priest should not busy hims only with a small flock of devout souls, with retreats, pilgrim hostels, hospitals…while in the meantime there is a great number of souls, especially the neediest who either don’t even know who the pastor is, or only know him by name or by sight: they are the working masses, the women laborers, the upper class, the most miserable of the poor: those to whom Jesus Christ would have approached the most often.”

“The parish priest is the priest of all of them; and he must even leave the ninety-nine secure sheep to track down the one that is lost: how much more when the secure sheep are a ‘little flock’ and the lost are the majority!”

What I have given above by James Alberione is but one point of reflection for all of us. For more on the subject and on the Pauline charism can be found here with the Superior General of the Society of St. Paul, Father Silvio Sassi in a essay the speaks about the gift, the fidelity of following Blessed James Alberione. Father Sassi’s essay worth reading can be found here.

The next Queen of Scotland

Queen of ScotlandAs a colonialist the royal crown of Scotland is not all that interesting to me. If we were speaking of the restoration of the French monarch, then that’s a story. That is, unless that person as real power to govern and that is highly unlikely. You can read all about the controversy in Scotland here.

Carmel and Pope Francis

Those of us who are devoted to the spiritual maternity of Saint Teresa of Jesus (Avila) will note that her method of teaching us to pray begins by engaging in an inner dialogue with Jesus Christ, “whom we know loves us,” in an attitude of silence and listening. These days the Carmelites of the Discalced tradition are preparing themselves (and the rest of us) for the Fifth Centenary of the Birth of Saint Teresa of Jesus.

The Carmelites a working to create and disseminate songs of harmony, simplicity, and beauty, will aid in praying in the style and thought of Teresa: the point is to pray with the words and spirituality of Saint Teresa so that the persons will be led to contemplate the beauty of the Lord.  Here the friars are giving “loving attention” to the role of musical harmony for prayer.

The Superior General of the Discalced Carmelites Father Saverio Cannistrà recently met the Holy Father at morning Mass and gave him the latest biography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux written by Bishop Guy Gaucher, OCD. It is known that that Pope Francis is follows the way of Saint Thérèse.

Christ the reconciler

cross detail3When you attend and pray Holy Mass today you’ll likely notice that Catholics are moving toward Ash Wednesday, March 5. As you know, Ash Wednesday marks the opening of the penitential season, a time of preparation for the annual remembering and living more intensely our faith (anamnesis in technical terms) of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus: His life, death, resurrection and Ascension.

Today, the Catholic Church has various liturgical observances for the Sunday celebration of Mass. The Ordinary Form of the Mass celebrates the 6th Sunday of the Year, the Extraordinary Form of the Mass marks today as Septuagesima Sunday (that is, 70 days before Easter). Our Eastern Catholic sisters and brothers have various ways to mark the preparation for Easter.

Lent has developed over the centuries from the earliest times of Christianity and what is now spoken of as the ashes of penitence and the period of time were given to the Church in the 6th and 7th centuries. The Extraordinary Form of the Mass, for example, maintains three Sundays preceding Ash Wednesday called Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima, that is respectively, the seventieth, sixtieth, and fiftieth days before Easter Sunday. The Ordinary Form of the Mass has dropped these preparatory Sundays thus isolating the tradition of preparing for Lent seen in the older form of the Mass and what is lived by the Eastern Churches. Nevertheless, these numbers help us to use the Scriptures in an Old Testament typological way. The Old Testament informs, prepares and opens us up to the work of the Messiah. Hence we say that the number seventy recalls for us the seventy years of the Jewish people living in exile in Babylon. Upon hearing this we ask, how do we live in exile from the fullness of communion with God? What is pondered in the sacred Liturgy is pondered in our personal life. The First Sunday of Lent, Quadragesima, is the beginning of the Lenten fast of forty days.

Since most Catholics will hear the gospel Matthew (5:17–37) for the 6th Sunday through the Year, here is a reflection taken from Saint John Chrysostom:

“Christ gave his life for you, and do you hold a grudge against your fellow servant? How then can you approach the table of peace? Your Master did not refuse to undergo every kind of suffering for you, and will you not even forgo your anger? Why is this, when love is the root, the wellspring and the mother of every blessing? ‘He has offered me an outrageous insult’, you say, ‘he has wronged me times without number, he has endangered my life’. Well, what is that? He has not yet crucified you as the Jewish elders crucified the Lord. If you refuse to forgive your neighbor’s offense your heavenly Father will not forgive your sins either. What does your conscience say when you repeat the words: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name’, and the rest? Christ went so far as to offer his blood for the salvation of those who shed it. What could you do that would equal that? If you refuse to forgive your enemy you harm not him but yourself…The reason the Son of God came into the world was to reconcile the human race with the Father. As Paul says: ’Now he has reconciled all things to himself, destroying enmity in himself by the cross’. Consequently, as well as coming himself to make peace he also calls us blessed if we do the same, and shares his title with us. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’, he says, ‘for they shall be called children of God’. So as far as a human being can, you must do what Christ the Son of God did, and become a promoter of peace both for yourself and for your neighbor. Christ calls the peacemaker a child of God. The only good deed he mentions as essential at the time of sacrifice is reconciliation with one’s brother or sister. This shows that of all the virtues the most important his love.”

Saint Valentine

St ValentineHappy Saint Valentine’s day.

Valentine was a Roman nobleman who gave his home to be used for Christian marriages. Valentinus, as he was called in the ancient language, died for the Faith on February 14, and since the Middle Ages has been associated with love.

The day was first associated with romantic love in Geoffrey Chaucer’s works in the High Middle Ages, when the the ideal of courtly love flourished. This was especially true in 18th-century England.

Christians ought to love as Jesus loved: complete self-giving. Remember to love well.

The Church outlasts oppression

Catholic Church outlastingI saw this picture the other day and thought: “how clever, how true.” Every form of oppression has collapsed on itself rather than bring true human freedom. Reflecting on the historical legacy of Communism, Cardinal Ratzinger writes,

“No one can any longer seriously deny that what was supposed to be a movement to bring freedom was, along with National Socialism, the greatest system of slavery in modern history: the extent of the cynical destruction of human beings and of the world is very often passed over in shame and silence, but no one can deny it any longer” (Truth and Tolerance, 233).

Leading with the Passion of Christ, Regis Martin reminds

Luigi GiussaniRegis Martin wrote a superb article on Father Luigi Giussani for Crisis Magazine today (13 Feb 2014) in “Recalling Luigi Giussani’s Passion for Christ.” Martin certainly captured not only the essence of Giussani, but the entire life of the ecclesial movement of Communion and Liberation and the work of conversion to Christ Jesus.

To note, Father Luigi Giussani is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church, and thus bears the title title of Servant of God at stage of the process. Giussani died on 22 February 2005, with a funeral Mass offered and preached by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

Dr. Martin is a Professor of Theology and Faculty Associate with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Among his academic interests is the thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar. He was educated by the Dominican friars at Rome’s Angelicum and has authored several books and articles. His recent book is Still Point: Loss, Longing, and Our Search for God (Ave Maria Press, 2012). Martin is a very well-regarded as a Catholic lay theologian.

Vatican City State

Vatican City State map.jpg

Vatican City State was founded on this date in 1929 following the signing of the Lateran Pacts, later ratified on June 7, 1929. 

Vatican City State is a sovereign State which is distinct from the Holy See under international law. When you walk into St Peter’s Square, or visit the extra-territorial buildings of the Vatican, you are actually walking out of the Italian state and into another state. The pope has diplomatic relations with nearly 200 governments and other agencies representing peoples. The pope is a head of state and the papacy is the longest serving leadership of a people in all of history. But as happens often, most people don’t make the clear distinction between what the Vatican is and what the Holy See does because of laziness. The confusion is understandable.

The ministry of Saint Peter and his successors, the bishops of Rome, Vicars of Christ, the Roman Pontiffs is by nature known as “apostolic” making the crucial distinction that it is directly connected with what the Lord did with the 12 Apostles and Disciples: to be sent on mission by preaching, teaching and sanctifying. Hence, we believe that the Catholic Church carries out its mission of a announcing the truth of the Gospel for the salvation of all humanity and in the service of faith, hope, love, peace and justice in favor of all peoples (without reservation). The Church’s mission, therefore, is religious, that is, the Church has a supernatural character and orientation, and not a political one; consequently our conception of what and who the Church is can’t be reduced to political and sociological conceptions. Scripture, sacraments, and service are not “policy statements.”

The Vatican has a central government to care for the work of Pope with regard to relations with governments, and temporal affairs. When we speak of the Church’s announcement of the gospel we speak of the departments related to that work: doctrine, worship, evangelization, schools, culture, canon law, etc. We call these departments the Roman Curia. Vatican City State is a singular instrument that’s independent of the Holy See, working to be a coherent earthly power at the service of the Divine Majesty.

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