New faces on Mt. Rushmore? You decide.

By Mary DeTurris Poust

My family is not usually at a loss for words. More often than not, I'm hoping for a moment of silence not a reason to add to the chaos. But I was intrigued when I heard about The Meal Box (Loyola Press), a deck of 52 cards with questions to prompt interesting dinner conversation among family members and tips on the back to inspire sometimes-weary parents.

One of the main reasons I wanted to test out this question-and-answer game is because Tom McGrath, one of my favorite Catholic authors, is a creator of The Meal Box, along with Bret Nicholaus. McGrath wrote Raising Faith Filled Kids (also from Loyola Press), which has remained a go-to book for me both at home and in faith formation class for many years now. I figure anything Tom McGrath had a hand in had to be good. And I was right.

I brought the deck of cards out tentatively, not sure how my family would take to what might feel like forced conversation. No need to worry. It turned out to be a really fun way to get us talking about all sorts of things:

• If you could be born on a holiday, which one would it be?
• If you could carve four new faces into Mount Rushmore, whose faces would they be and why?
• Suppose whenever you talked, it wouldn't be your voice that people heard -- it would be the sound of a particular animal. Which animal sound would you choose for your voice?
• Suppose that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you had to hear a background noise in your head. This background noise would always be there throughout your life. What background noise would you choose as your very own?

After only two days of this "game," my kids started asking where the Meal Box was when I sat down at the table without it. And the questions always led to more questions, some silly, some serious.

One of our favorites was this: "If you could build a private bridge or tunnel that would take you directly from your home to any place at all, what would it connect you to?" We ended up with two people heading to Rome (one directly to St. Peter's - Gee, I wonder who that was?), two people heading to Paris (one directly to the Louvre and the other with a special exit leading to Grandpa and Grandma's house in New Jersey), and one heading to Disney World. I found it so interesting to hear what my kids would pick and why. Or what about that background noise constantly playing in your head? My husband and I both picked the ocean, our teenage son picked his iTunes library (shocking), middle daughter picked the ocean as well, and the youngest picked birds (which we decided would not include crows).

Maybe those questions don't sound like they're inspiring any earth-shattering conversations. Then again, they're not supposed to do that. They're supposed to spark fun talk about things we might not otherwise think about. It's been a great way to gain insights, and, if you're talking about animal sounds and oceans, it's really hard to bicker over who should pour the milk or pass the salt.

On the back of every card is "Food for Family Thought," which includes tips on how to make faith come alive for children, suggestions to talk to kids about favorite holy people, ways to counter the consumer culture, and more. Where else can you get all that for only $9.95? So check it out. Click HERE for more information. And tonight, when you sit down to dinner, bring this Meal Box question to the table:

"Suppose that, regardless of what clothing you were wearing, you always had to wear a button with a maximum of seven words on it. You can choose the message that goes on this button, but it must be worn at all times. What would it say?"

Biden amends stance on one-child policy

Vice President Biden has thought better of his original statement that he "fully understands" and is not "second guessing" China's draconian one-child policy.

This from Kendra Barkoff, Biden's spokeswoman:

“The Obama administration strongly opposes all aspects of China’s coercive birth limitation policies, including forced abortion and sterilization. The vice president believes such practices are repugnant.”

Chai Ling, former leader of the student democracy movement at Tienanmen Square, says it's not enough:

"The Obama administration has yet to issue a clear call to end the policy, which is harmful both to the Chinese and American people. While the vice president’s retraction certainly clarifies the White House’s position on forced abortions and forced sterilizations, it still falls short of what is required--action.”

Read more HERE.

Biden won't second guess China's one-child policy

By Mary DeTurris Poust

When I went spent three weeks in China more than 25 years ago, it was a very different China from the one we see in the news today. Nothing remotely western at all. Not so much as one "western" restaurant or even a decent public toilet. There was poverty and oppression like I'd never seen before. More than one person came up to some of us in our college tour group and quietly asked for Bibles and film. It was quite an eye-opening experience for a young person used to freedom and comfort.

But even back in 1984, China's one-child policy was as much a point of consternation as it is today. Our tour guides (on the down-low, of course) told us about its problems and perils. They knew then what was to come but were powerless to do anything because they didn't have the freedom to make their own choices. And they knew plenty of people who had made horrible, unthinkable choices in an effort to produce the one child that could benefit them the most down the road -- a son.

So what could possibly have been going through Vice President Joe Biden's mind when he came out and said: “Your policy has been one which I fully understand—I’m not second-guessing—of one child per family.”

Not second guessing a government's prerogative to tell a woman she cannot have a child? It's unthinkable that a U.S. vice president would say such a thing. But here it is, from the VP's mouth, according to an ABC News story:

Addressing social and budgetary challenges faced by the U.S. and China in the wake of respective population booms, Biden told his audience, “Your policy has been one which I fully understand -- I’m not second-guessing -- of one child per family.”

But, Biden continued, the policy leaves Chinese families "in a position where one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people."

"Not sustainable,” he said. “So hopefully we can act in a way on a problem that's much less severe than yours, and maybe we can learn together from how we can do that.”

The Chinese government enforces its one-child policy with fines, mandatory abortions and forced sterilizations of women who are found to have violated the law. It is roundly criticized by human rights groups and governments around the world.

Read the full story HERE.

Shaw: Two simple steps any lay person should be doing for new evangelization

By Russell Shaw

A man I know was sitting on a boardwalk bench several weeks ago watching the ocean and thinking about nothing special. Two young men, maybe 18 or 20, came up and sat down beside him. The one nearest him leaned over and said:

“Excuse me, sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

He was very polite and seemed slightly nervous. The older man smiled and shook his head, indicating that he had no objection to being asked.

“If you were to die right now and find yourself standing at the gate of heaven, what reason would you give God for letting you in?”

The man thought for a moment, then replied: “Because I’ve been baptized, because I believe Jesus Christ is my redeemer, because I believe in the mercy of God.”

The young man seemed a little surprised. Maybe he’d expected an argument. Turning to his companion, he said: “He says he believes Jesus Christ is his redeemer.”

Then to the older man: “Thank you, sir, for your time.” And the two young men got up and headed for the beach.

The man sat there thinking about what had happened. He supposed the young fellows were members of some evangelical Protestant group. You wouldn’t catch many Catholics doing that, he thought. And that’s a shame.

I agree — it’s a shame. Some people would say the young man’s technique was naïve and clumsy. No doubt. But clearly he was motivated by love of God, and now and then a pitch like his will open someone’s heart to grace. Which is all God asks of us or needs.

So why don’t Catholics do it? Several reasons come to mind.

One is that many have bought into the belief that religion is strictly a private affair. There’s a sense in which that’s true of course, but in its contemporary form it usually expresses American individualism in a religious context.

Another reason is the fear that if they raise the God question with a stranger, the stranger will laugh in their face. Or call them a fool. Or tell them to go you-know-where. How embarrassing!

Finally — and this is a very Catholic reason — many lay people take it for granted that one-on-one evangelizing is a priest’s job, not theirs. That’s clericalism at work.

Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI both have spoken repeatedly about something they call the “new evangelization” — rekindling faith in places where it’s at risk of dying out. Hearing that, people may suppose that the new evangelization will have to take the form of a big, complex, organized program, probably with lots of media thrown in.

Very likely that’s part of it. But more crucial to the success of the new evangelization than any organized program, with or without media, is what individual Catholic lay people do — or fail to do.

There are two simple steps any lay person can and should take right now to be part of the new evangelization, without waiting for the Pope or the Synod of Bishops or their pastor to give them their marching orders.

The first is to be exemplary in living out the faith with courage and conviction — not just on Sunday but every day of the week. People of faith attract attention nowadays, sometimes favorable, sometimes not. That’s evangelization.

The second is to study the faith to be able to explain it intelligently and defend it when it’s attacked. That also is evangelization. If you aren’t already doing these two things, start now.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Days 5 AND 6 recap WYD: Cuatro Vientos

OSV Newsweekly intern
Linday Ross

Saturday at Cuatro Vientos was not for the faint of heart. It was a very hot day, about 100 degrees in the afternoon with no shade, and the heat was intensified in the crowd of more than a million and a half people. Later came the thunderstorm and pouring rain, turning the mostly dirt field to mud. The storm interrupted the pope's speech, and he had to stop just a few lines into it and was whisked away to wait out the storm in a safe, and I would guess dry, place. However, as easy as it was to be caught up in the inconveniences delivered by Mother Nature, most of the pilgrims seemed to remain focused on the reason we were gathered there in the first place: to participate in a prayer vigil with the Holy Father.
I was touched by a random act of kindness last night. When it started raining, a lot of pilgrims scurried off back to their group campsites, as many had shelters built of tents, tarps and other materials. I, having nowhere to go, stayed put and pathetically tried to ward off the rain with a cardigan I had in my bag. A man popped out of a large makeshift shelter and offered me his poncho. I promised to return it when it quit raining. I paid the act of kindness forward and shared the poncho with a young volunteer sitting next to me. Soon she was ready to make a dash for her campsite and left.
The rain still hadn't stopped, and the man must have felt sorry for me as he looked out from his dry hiding spot. It is quite possible that out of the million and a half people, I was the only one there alone. He came back out and I thought he wanted his poncho back, but instead he grabbed my arm and said in English "Come into our tent!" He didn't have to offer twice, and I climbed into the shelter that held about ten people from Belgium. I really appreciated their hospitality!
I left Cuatro Vientos when the rain let up, and I returned around 8:15 this morning for the final Mass. I was surprised that a lot of pilgrims were leaving as I walked toward the entrance. Judging by the looks of some of their sleep-deprived faces, it had been a rough night. Perhaps they were leaving early to avoid the mad rush after the final Mass.
The final Mass was awesome; there was such a communal feeling in the crowd, as there has been all week. And no rain interrupted the Holy Father this time! It was crazy getting out of Cuatro Vientos afterward, and I must say I wasn't too sorry that it was the last time I'd be in that massive group of people this week. I won't know what to do with myself when I return home to Leesburg, Ind., a town of about 800 people.
WYD has been an amazing experience, and I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to come and relate the events to the OSV readers! Thanks to everyone who has been following my journey.

Adios from Spain,
Lindsay
On Twitter: @LindsayWYD

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Madrid, Spain

Day 4 WYD recap: Festival of Forgiveness, Stations of the Cross

OSV Newsweekly intern Lindsay Ross

The Festival of Forgiveness has been going on all week in Retiro Park, and today I had some time to go check it out. There were two rows of 200 white makeshift confessionals, in which priests were taking shifts hearing pilgrim confessions. The confessionals didn't allow for much privacy, as I could see into some of them, but I doubt that neighboring confessors could hear one another. I read in a pamphlet that the confessionals, which were specially constructed for the festival, would be reused, perhaps at future World Youth Days or other events. But where does one store 200 confessionals? Maybe they are of the pop-up variety and can folded in on themselves for easy transport.

Retiro Park is beautiful, and as I wandered off in no particular direction I stumbled upon a serene pond with a center fountain, a giant indoor slide, an art museum and probably the biggest pine tree I've ever seen. Pilgrims were everywhere, lying in the shade, sitting in prayer circles, climbing on a playground. I was glad I took the time to go over to the park, and it was an hour or so well spent.

Retiro Park

I wouldn't have missed the Stations of the Cross for anything.

As I said on Twitter tonight, there was a somber, quiet mood among the crowd. At every event I've been to this week, there are always a few people not really engaged in whats going on. But tonight was different: I got the sense that everyone present was captivated by the story of Christ's ultimate sacrifice brought to life by the amazing, detailed statues.

Tomorrow is the vigil with Pope Benedict XVI at Cuatro Vientos airport and then final Mass Sunday morning when he'll announce the location of the next WYD. I'll be sure to keep you posted on everything that's going on! Adios from Spain, Lindsay Follow me on Twitter @LindsayWYD - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Madrid, Spain

Day 3 WYD recap: Papal welcome

OSV Newsweekly intern
Lindsay Ross

Today I saw the pope ... well, kind of. I was so worried about capturing the popemobile on video and sharing the moment with all the OSV readers that I don't think I actually saw Pope Benedict XVI with my own eyes. But I did get the video:

The whole afternoon and evening at Plaza de Cibeles was amazing. The day had a fun, almost party-like atmosphere (PG, of course) with music, dancing, WYD-themed videos, cheering. The volunteers often sprayed the pilgrims with huge water hoses, much to their delight.
When the announcer said over the loudspeakers that the pope was in route to the plaza, I could feel the intense excitement of the crowd. People had climbed trees and stood on narrow second-story window ledges just to get a better view. When Pope Benedict finally cruised down the street and the crowd erupted, I realized something that I don't think I could had fully grasped without being part of that scene: the pope is the holy rock star of the Catholic Church. The way young people were screaming, jumping and cheering, you would have thought Justin Bieber or one of his counterparts were in that vehicle. But no, these young people were that overcome with emotion at seeing the Holy Father, the leader of their Church, and that was something special to see.

Adios from Spain,
Lindsay
Follow me on Twitter: @LindsayWYD

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Madrid, Spain

Archbishop Chaput's reflection for WYD's Night of Joy

By Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

May God bless all of us here tonight, and this wonderful city of Madrid!

I want to thank the Emmanuel Community for asking me to join you in gathering around the only true source of human happiness: Jesus Christ. This Noche de Alegría –Night of Joy – is a moment of grace for all of us.

There’s something very “Catholic” in staying up this late. We Christians take seriously the words of St Paul when he says that we are “all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness” (I Thess 5:5). But we also know that God has often used darkness to show his love and saving power.

The Liturgy of the Hours in Spanish has a wonderful hymn to God the Father that we don’t have in English. It praises the beauty of the night, and it’s worth translating.

The hymn says:

Night does not interrupt Your history with man.

The night is the time of salvation.

At night You celebrated the Passover of Your people,

while in darkness there swept the extermination.

At night, three times Samuel heard Your name;

at night were dreams, Your deepest language.

At night, in a manger was born Your Word;

at night they announced Him, the angel and the star.

Night stood witness to Christ in the tomb;

night saw the glory of his Resurrection.

The night is the time of salvation.

We want to experience tonight as a time of salvation in the midst of our world; a time focused on the Son of God; a time centered on the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Jesus in his real presence, who will walk among us a few moments from now.

This “Night of Joy” is a taste of what our whole lives should become: Everything -- from the testimonies of pilgrims from around the world, to our friendship and fellowship, to our music and praising -- everything should prepare us for being one with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

Tonight should remind us of a night 2,000 years ago, narrated by the Gospel of Luke (Lk 24:13-35.) The Gospel tells us that two of Jesus’ disciples are returning from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus. They’re crushed and frightened after witnessing Jesus’ crucifixion and death.

But on the road to Emmaus, they meet a Stranger who explains the true meaning of the Scriptures to them. The disciples, afraid to continue on the road during the night, ask the Man to take shelter with them at an inn.

The Stranger agrees and stays with them, and after the breaking of the bread, the disciples recognize him as Jesus -- who then immediately disappears. Filled with joy and on fire again in their faith, they ignore the darkness they feared just a few minutes before. They run back to Jerusalem to tell the Good News to their friends.

Pope Benedict gave us a great explanation of this Scripture passage during Easter 2008. He made four points.

First, he noted this: Archaeologists have never found the location of Emmaus, and that holds a certain value for us. It “suggests that Emmaus is really everywhere; the road that leads [to Emmaus] is the path of every Christian, indeed, every human being.” (Benedict XVI, Regina Coeli April 6, 2008)

Second, Benedict explained that the disciples on the road to Emmaus were clearly in a crisis of faith: “The use of the past tense by one of the unknown disciples says it all: ‘We hoped, we believed, we followed . . . but now everything, even Jesus of Nazareth, who had shown himself to be a prophet mighty in deed and word, even he failed, and we were left disappointed’.”

Many of us have struggled with moments of doubt and bitter loss like this. But for the Holy Father, the story of Emmaus shows us that feeling abandoned and even betrayed by Jesus is not God’s fault. It’s part of our own human weakness of faith.

The truth is that Jesus is always walking next to us, loving us as a brother, encouraging us as a friend, explaining our lives from his eternal perspective. But just as He treated the disciples at Emmaus, He never forces himself on the human heart. He is the loving, humble God who, as described in the Book of Revelation, stands at the door and knocks. “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20).

God made us free; and being free, we get to choose whether we listen to the voice of Jesus or not. We can invite Him into our lives or lock Him out. We need to freely open the door of our hearts to his presence. Until then, He continues to knock and wait.

As his third point, the Holy Father reminded us that Jesus repeats the miracle of Emmaus every day, in our world and in our midst. Emmaus is not just a memory from the past. Emmaus is alive, here and now. Benedict says that “On our own journeys, the risen Jesus is a traveling companion who rekindles in our hearts the warmth of faith and hope and the breaking of the bread of eternal life.” But again, we need to allow Jesus to do this miracle in our lives. He will never impose his love on us.

As his fourth and final point, Pope Benedict said: While Emmaus is a blessing, it is also a challenge. Benedict believes that “this beautiful evangelical text already contains the structure of the Mass: in the first part, listening to the Word through the Scriptures; in the second [part,] through the Eucharistic liturgy and communion . . . Christ is present in the sacrament of his Body and his Blood.” But receiving the Eucharist is much more than just a religious ritual. It has consequences; profoundly serious and life-transforming consequences.

The joy felt by the disciples in recognizing Jesus at Emmaus must have been intense. But as deep and personal as it was, it also compelled them to act. Their joy was alive; it was restless; it made them run back through the darkness to bring the Good News to other disciples. The disciples embodied what the Prophet Jeremiah meant when he said: “[God’s] word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot” (Jer 20:9).

That kind of joy is a foretaste of heaven. It’s what God intends for all of us. But we should also remember that in this world, feelings can be fickle. They’re hot and cold; they come and go. Ultimately, it’s not how you feel that shapes how genuine your encounter with Jesus is. Your relationship with Jesus Christ will be determined by how much you’re transformed into Him and how much you burn in the desire to bring Him to others – in other words, by your actions in sharing the Gospel with others, by serving the poor and the needy, by defending the unborn child, by building a culture that supports and encourages the growth of Christian families.

Saint Teresa of Avila and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta are both great examples of how the power of Jesus operates in our lives. Teresa of Avila, a daughter of Spain and one of the greatest saints of the Church, struggled through 30 years of a dry and frustrating prayer life. But her fidelity to Jesus and her dedication to reforming the Carmelite religious order were intense and unstoppable.

Blessed Theresa of Calcutta, as we learned after her death, suffered through a long and very painful period of feeling spiritually empty. Despite this, she created one of the most fruitful Catholic religious communities in history, devoted to serving the poorest of the poor.

This brings us to another, final lesson we can learn from the Emmaus story, especially the way artists have portrayed it in classic art.

Rembrandt, the great Dutch painter, did two versions of the supper at Emmaus. In both, the disciples are filled with joy and awe. Yet in both, a servant seems oblivious to what is taking place at the table.

Another very famous painter, the Italian Caravaggio, also created a scene showing two amazed disciples with a serene Jesus. But his work was criticized by people of his time for “lacking decorum” because the man serving the table in the painting seems bored and wears a hat – a sign of disrespect.

The great French painter Delacroix showed a dark room lit by a golden halo that surrounds Jesus while He dramatically breaks the bread. But again, in a staircase just behind the scene, a woman in the painting is shown who completely ignores the miracle happening right in front of her.

These famous paintings of Emmaus carry a warning: It doesn’t matter how close we are to the presence of Jesus. We can still completely ignore Him, and therefore never experience the transforming power of His love.

It’s not enough to be next to Jesus. We need to be with Jesus, and in Jesus. And no one can ever be fully “with” Jesus if she or he rejects his Catholic Church, the Church Jesus founded precisely to act in his name, to fulfill his promise, so that He would remain with us until the end of time.

The Sacrament of the Eucharist that we will worship tonight comes to us through the power given to the Church by Jesus himself. In adoring Jesus Christ, we’ll be celebrating the mystery of his Church as well.

And when the Holy Father comes to us at this World Youth Day, we’ll be welcoming him not as a just another human leader or “superstar,” but as the Successor of Peter, the visible head of Christ’s Church -- this Church defined not by the failures and sins of us, her children, but by being the sacrament of salvation that draws humanity to the experience of Emmaus every day.

So may God grant each one of us, on our personal road to Emmaus, the gift of acquiring, as Pope Benedict says, “a deeper faith… a faith robust because it is from the Word of God and the Eucharist, not human ideas.”

May our adoration of the Eucharist tonight help us to grow in personal holiness, in our love for the Church, in our zeal for Jesus Christ, and in a spirit of service.

As we ready ourselves for our encounter with Jesus, let us make the final words of the Spanish liturgical hymn our own:

At night will we await Your sudden return,

and You will find ready the light of our lamps.

The night is the time of salvation. Amen.

UPDATED: Day 2 of WYD

The energy from opening Mass last night certainly carried over into today. Pilgrims cheered and sang as they walked the scorching streets of downtown Madrid. The main event I attended today was the USCCB vocations fair, which lasted all afternoon and well into the night. The music was lively and the crowd really got into it; people were clapping, singing along and dancing.OSV intern Lindsay Ross
Sister Grace Dominic
Sr. Grace Dominic of Sisters of Life gave a truly captivating personal testimony of the long, winding road that led her to religious life. She's a former New York journalist, and her first day of work in the "real world" was on Sept. 11, 2001. As a young journalist myself, I can't imagine getting sent out to cover that tragic event on my first day. Although 9/11 didn't directly lead her to religious life, she said that being on the scene that day and watching the firefighters run into the buildings to save others, seemingly without a second thought to their own lives, gave her an eye-opening look of what true selflessness looks like. As she spoke with passion about her desire to serve God, it was obvious that although she at first resisted her vocational call, she ended up in the right place.

Fr. Joe O'Conner of Syracuse, N.Y., also gave a great testimony. He's been a priest for 6 years, although he barely looks a day over 21. He was humorous and relatable, and also very passionate about his work of increasing religious vocations. Both he and Sr. Dominic seem to be serving the Church well with their enthusiasm and dedication.

I can't wait for the papal welcoming tomorrow. I'm sure it will be an even crazier scene than the opening Mass, but I will gladly be pushed around in 100 degree weather for a glimpse of the Santo Padre!

Adios from Spain,
Lindsay
Follow me on Twitter: @LindsayWYD

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Madrid, Spain

103-year-old nun will leave convent for first time in 84 years to meet pope

She's been behind the walls of her cloister for 84 years (save for a few hours during the Spanish Civil War when nuns had to flee to escape fighting), but now Sister Teresita has finally found something worth venturing outside to see: On Friday she will meet Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day in Madrid.

From a story in the Telegraph:

The sprightly centenarian has been confined within the convent of Buenafuente del Sistal since she took her vows as a 19 year old, two years before the Wall Street Crash...

But on Friday she will join a delegation to meet Pope Benedict during his three day visit to the Spanish capital to celebrate World Youth Day.

"She said she thinks she will make the trip with her eyes closed, so that nothing will distract her," said the convent's mother superior, Maria.

Sister Teresita was the subject of a book entitled "What is a girl like you doing in a place like that," in which the author Jesus Garcia recounted the lives of 10 nuns in the convent:

"Who can spend 84 years in a convent without being happy? You feel happiness when you follow your vocation."

Read the full story HERE.

UPDATED: Day 1 recap of WYD

OSV Newsweekly intern
Lindsay Ross

What a day!
WYD has truly taken over Madrid. My day started out a bit odd, as the bus I took into the city got pulled over by the police. A policeman got on board and made the driver go outside. I was a little scared but none of the Spaniards seemed concerned so I relaxed a little. Luckily, It turned out to be just a routine stop.
I saw pilgrims from so many countries that I lost count: Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Nigeria, Mexico, Spain of course and many more! It was amazing to see people of so many nations and ethnicities brought together by their unifying trait of being Catholic.
Opening Mass was beautiful, especially the live music played before, during and after. There were pilgrims literally as far as the eye could see, many waving their national flags.

Flags from around the world fly over the crowd before Mass.

I had a little trouble finding an open spot to watch the big video screens (I couldn't get near the actual stage) and I got trapped in a huge mass of people and had to move with the crowd for about 20 minutes (in the wrong direction!) before I could escape. There was some pushing going on and a few dirty looks thrown at people trying to squeeze through, and what I perceived to be some harsh words exchanged (they weren't in English). However, it was still close to 100 degrees at 8 p.m., and there were just too many people for the streets, so I understand how these conditions could bring out a little pedestrian road rage in even the most devout pilgrim.
I could only understand some of the Mass, as it was in Spanish and the microphones weren't that loud over the video screens. However, one part that I did understand really struck me. The archbishop of Madrid, the main celebrant, said that all the young people in attendance represented hope for the Church in particular and also for the entire world. Looking at all the energetic pilgrims around me from so many nations, I wholeheartedly agreed with that statement.

Adios from Spain,
Lindsay
Follow me on Twitter: @LindsayWYD

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Madrid, Spain

'The evil was not only conquered. It was smothered.'

In a series of short video vignettes, Cardinal Edward Egan recalls the 9/11 attacks, their aftermath and their impact, as we approach the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Click HERE to go to the USCCB site. (Embedding has been disabled.)

Never forget.

Thank you to all the Facebook friends who have posted this video in honor of Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast was celebrated yesterday. It is a powerful, powerful reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust and the heroics of those who refused to be defeated by the atrocities and darkness all around them.

From the video clip is this message from Auschwitz prisoners who were so moved by Father Kolbe's decision to offer his own life in the place of another:

"We became aware that someone among us in this spiritual dark night of the soul was raising the standard of love on high. Someone unknown like everyone else, tortured and bereft of name and social standing, went to a horrible death for the sake of someone not even related to him. Therefore, it is not true, we cried, that humanity is cast down and trampled in the mud, overcome by oppressors and overwhelmed by hopelessness. Thousands of prisoners were convinced the true world continued to exist and that our torturers would not be able to destroy it. To say that Father Kolbe died for us or for that person's family is too great a simplification. His death was the salvation of thousands."

Strangers respond to desperate single mom

Something uplifting for your Friday afternoon. Watch and be inspired as grocery store customers in this episode of the TV show "What Would You Do?" come to the aid of a woman on food stamps when she can't pay for baby food and other basics.

As the last woman captured on camera says, "We have to believe that there's hope and there are good people in this world...It doesn't matter who I am or who you are. It doesn't matter. We're here to make a difference, if we can. Period."

Culture of death advances, one baby at a time

The world of reproductive options and fertility treatments just gets scarier and scarier. And sadder and sadder.

The details from a New York Times story:

As Jenny lay on the obstetrician’s examination table, she was grateful that the ultrasound tech had turned off the overhead screen. She didn’t want to see the two shadows floating inside her. Since making her decision, she had tried hard not to think about them, though she could often think of little else. She was 45 and pregnant after six years of fertility bills, ovulation injections, donor eggs and disappointment — and yet here she was, 14 weeks into her pregnancy, choosing to extinguish one of two healthy fetuses, almost as if having half an abortion. As the doctor inserted the needle into Jenny’s abdomen, aiming at one of the fetuses, Jenny tried not to flinch, caught between intense relief and intense guilt.

"Almost as if having half an abortion." No, exactly like having half an abortion. There's nothing "almost" about this. You have two babies growing inside you and choose to kill one. I can't fathom how anyone does that to begin with, but I can't imagine there aren't terrible and lasting repercussions that will torment this woman for the rest of her life, if only deep within her heart and soul. She did this, she says, because she felt two babies would take her attention away from her older children. Why, why, why, would someone have ongoing fertility treatments in such a situation?

Then, as if we needed further evidence of the ghastly results of the culture of death that surrounds us, the pregnant woman sums it us for us in one succinct paragraph:

“If I had conceived these twins naturally, I wouldn’t have reduced this pregnancy, because you feel like if there’s a natural order, then you don’t want to disturb it. But we created this child in such an artificial manner — in a test tube, choosing an egg donor, having the embryo placed in me — and somehow, making a decision about how many to carry seemed to be just another choice. The pregnancy was all so consumerish to begin with, and this became yet another thing we could control.”

We rest our case. Don't tell us that the anything-goes reproductive rights culture in this country hasn't move us steadily along a pro-death path when it comes to unborn and newborn life. We have disturbed the "natural order" of things. Here it is in black and white, right from the expectant mother's mouth.

Read the full story HERE.

Hope - and clean water - flow from heartbreaking tragedy

Here's a story that's sure to give you hope for the future of our world, even if it makes you sad at the same time.

Rachel Beckwith was a 9-year-old girl who was so moved by the plight of children without water in Africa that she asked her friends to make a $9 donation to charity:water instead of giving her a birthday present. She had raised $220 of her $300 goal when she was seriously injured in a car accident and died a few days later. Now, the birthday page she set up for donations is closing in on $1 million raised.

From Nicholas Kristof's column in the New York Times:

Rachel’s ninth birthday was on June 12, and she had set up a birthday page on the charity:water Web site with a target of $300. Alas, Rachel was able to raise only $220 — which had left her just a bit disappointed.

Then, on July 20, as Rachel was riding with her family on the highway, two trucks collided and created a 13-car pileup. Rachel’s car was hit by one of the trucks, and although the rest of her family was unhurt, Rachel was left critically injured.

Church members and friends, seeking some way of showing support, began donating on Rachel’s birthday page — charitywater.org/Rachel — and donations surged past her $300 goal, and kept mounting. As family and friends gathered around Rachel’s bedside, they were able to tell her — even not knowing whether she couldn’t hear them — that she had exceeded the $47,544 that the singer Justin Bieber had raised for charity:water on his 17th birthday.

“I think she secretly had a crush on him, but she would never admit it,” her mom said. “I think she would have been ecstatic.”

When it was clear that Rachel would never regain consciousness, the family decided to remove life support. Her parents donated her hair a final time to Locks of Love, and her organs to other children. Word spread about Rachel’s last fund-raiser.

Contributions poured in, often in $9 increments, although one 5-year-old girl sent in the savings in her piggy bank of $2.27. The total donations soon topped $100,000, then $300,000. Like others, I was moved and donated. As I write this, more than $850,000 has been raised from all over the world, including donations from Africans awed by a little American girl who cared about their continent.

“What has been so inspiring about Rachel is that she has taught the adults,” said Scott Harrison, the founder of charity:water. “Adults are humbled by the unselfishness of this little girl.”

As of my last check today, Rachel's page has raised $951,580 from close to 25,000 people. That amount will provide direct assistance to more than 47,000 people in need of clean water. Quite a legacy for a little girl, and quite a lesson for the rest of us. As long as there are people like Rachel, there is hope for our world.

Click HERE to read Kristof's full column. Click HERE to go to Rachel's page.

Giving new meaning to 'life after death'

This certainly falls under the heading "Is nothing sacred?"

From The Telegraph:

The family of Chen Aida Ayash, a 17-year-old schoolgirl who died after being hit by a car last week, was granted a petition to have her eggs harvested and frozen, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported.

The ruling raises the possibility that, for the first time, a mother could give birth after her death, a development that raises legal and ethical questions that are likely to trouble conservatives in Israel and elsewhere in the world.

Few countries have legislation covering posthumous egg harvesting, although the extraction of sperm from the corpses men who have given consent prior to death has become fairly common. There have been dozens of such cases in the United States alone.

Last year, judges and doctors in the US turned down a petition filed by another family to extract eggs from the ovary of a brain dead air hostess on the grounds that she had expressed no desire to have children before she was struck down with a heart attack.

The issue of consent is vital in the case of Miss Ayash as well.

(H/t to Ed Mechmann for this one.)

'This is how God gripped us.'

This video has been making the rounds on Facebook and the blogosphere (recently on The Deacon's Bench), and I wanted to make sure all of you had a chance to see it. Four minutes that will stop you in your tracks and make you think about your life and whatever it is that has got you stressed or disappointed or full of fear and doubt. It's a beautiful love story.

I was in tears by the time the dad said this about his son:

"This is how God gripped us. This is how God was merciful to us. He has given us something very, very precious through our son. Our son is a gift, and it was because he gave us this little boy, who is so different from every little boy I've ever met...that he has done the work on my heart, your heart, and so many other people's hearts. I wanted to tell that story. This was grace. This was grace."

This is faith.

Shaw: Polls, presidential hopefuls and religious convictions

By Russell Shaw

As America gears up for another presidential election season, do we really have to agonize yet again over whether being a Mormon disqualifies a person for the presidency? Since the answer apparently is yes, at least let’s try to get some use from the discussion by understanding what’s really at stake.

With two Mormon ex-governors, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr., in contention for the Republican nomination, the polls — those omnipresent, omniscient and too often uncriticized monitors of public opinion — find fully 25 percent of Americans less likely to vote for a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

But hang on. Upon closer examination, it turns out that figure is deceptive. Within the larger group that makes up the 25 percent, liberal Democrats — 41 percent of them, we’re told — are less likely to support a Mormon. The reason, suggests The Washington Post, is "the church’s social conservatism and the fact that Mormons tend to be Republicans."

Well, yes. But in that case liberal Democrats’ antipathy is based not on religion as such but on politics. Think what you like of it, at least it isn’t an expression of religious bias — and there’s less dislike of Mormon candidates on theological grounds than the 25 percent figure might at first suggest.

All the same, it does seem likely that at least some of those who look askance at a Mormon contender for the White House do that because of his church. Just here we run up against the Constitution’s ban on a religious test for public office.

It’s extremely important, however, to grasp what the no-religious-test principle does and doesn’t rule out. Specifically, this is a guarantee of the right of anyone of any faith persuasion to run for public office and, if he or she wins, to serve. It has nothing to do with the right — indeed, the duty — of voters to apply relevant criteria derived in part from their own religious formation to the task of evaluating candidates.

For example: Where does a candidate stand on abortion, on capital punishment, on same-sex marriage, on cutting entitlement spending? These are questions that voters are entitled to raise precisely against the background of their own deeply held faith-based convictions.

More than 50 years ago, John F. Kennedy muddied these particular waters by promising the Protestant ministers of Houston that as president he wouldn’t be influenced by his Catholicism. Kennedy’s privatizing of religion has borne much bitter fruit in the past half-century. Among other things, it’s been extended — in line with secularist thinking — to imply that citizens shouldn’t be influenced by their religiously grounded values in deciding how to vote.

But many are so influenced. And, provided the values in question are pertinent to true political concerns, that’s not only inevitable but right. As there are no atheists in foxholes, so in the voting booth, voters — including atheists — should be guided by their conscientious convictions.

And those two Mormon would-be candidates—what about them (or, for that matter, what about Michele Bachmann, who severed her ties with a Lutheran sect that thinks the pope is Antichrist)? If Romney, Huntsman or Bachmann winds up on the ballot, the appropriate question for a conscientious voter who’s a person of faith won’t be: How do I feel about this individual’s church? It will be: How do I rate the candidate’s ability to promote a good and just society according to my own religiously formed convictions about what such a society should be like?

That’s responsible citizenship. Don’t let some secularist mouthpiece in the media tell you differently.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Shaw: A proposal for solving the Catholic marriage crisis

By Russell Shaw

A word of caution at the start. Don’t read what follows as a suggestion or even a veiled hint that the Catholic Church and other defenders of traditional marriage should abandon the fight against legalizing same-sex marriage. Yes, the New York state legislature, strongly lobbied by Catholic governor Andew Cuomo, voted in June for legalization, making New York the sixth state where same-sex couples can marry. And yes, there are an awful lot of people in New York.

But let’s be clear about what happened. The legislature and Cuomo imposed gay marriage on the state without consulting the voters, and there are an awful lot of people who remain opposed. The widely repeated line that this marks a decisive step in the campaign for legalization is part of the propaganda — eagerly seized upon and parroted by media that support gay marriage — aimed at bullying opponents into throwing in the towel.

In reality, the fight continues in legislatures and courts across the country, with the outcome very much in doubt. New York and its companion states to the contrary notwithstanding, there are plenty of places where gay marriage has the proverbial snowball’s chance of being accepted. It will take a Supreme Court decision, similar in its arrogance and arbitrariness to the 1973 abortion decision Roe v. Wade, to force same-sex marriage on the entire country. And it is no sure thing that the Supreme Court will do that in the end.

That’s so no matter what the outcome is of the congressional effort, backed by the Obama administration, to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as the union of one woman and one man. Although The Washington Post, in a mind-boggling inversion of language, calls this law “perverse,” it’s safe to suppose that if push comes to shove, repealing DOMA will die a well-deserved death in the House of Representatives.

(Note to President Obama: Along with much else, your assault on the Defense of Marriage Act makes it clear that you’re supporting same-sex marriage, even if you don’t care to admit the fact, perhaps even to yourself. It’s deeds that count, Mr. President, not words, so kindly stop beating around the bush and come right out and say you’re for it.)

That said, however, recent events do underline the fact that the Catholic Church needs to do some fundamental rethinking on the subject of marriage. I don’t mean the Church should approve gay marriage. I mean making it crystal clear what a sacramental marriage sanctioned by the Church really is — and why the secular state’s version of “marriage” isn’t the same thing at all.

Catholic marriage in the United States has been in decline for years. Look at the numbers: 341,356 Catholic marriages in 1990, 267,517 in 2000, and only 179,576 in 2010. Not surprisingly, you see the same pattern in infant baptisms — 1,022,014 in 2000 and 857,410 in 2010. As things stand now, some Catholics marry later than in the past, some don’t marry at all, and some marry outside the Church.

Even among those who have church weddings, many appear to have very little understanding of what sacramental marriage is. For them, getting married is a social event, a happy occasion, a big show. But entrance into a sacramental relationship that mirrors Christ’s relationship to his Church — whoever heard of such a thing?

Not that the Church doesn’t try to present the truth of sacramental marriage when instructing couples preparing for marriage. But in many cases the message rather clearly isn’t getting through. So here’s a proposal for a different, new approach.

Sentiment for same-sex marriage underlines how widespread the ignorance in our secular culture concerning what marriage is has become. But it isn’t just gay marriage that illustrates that point — the same thing could and should be said of the destructive impact of divorce, especially no-fault divorce, on the understanding of marriage.

As a crucial step toward addressing this problem and restoring some sanity to the situation, the Church needs to give up its role of providing de facto legitimation for the vision of marriage taken for granted by the secular state and visible in approval of no-fault divorce and now, in some places, gay marriage.

What vision is this? That marriage is no more than a voluntary relationship between two consenting persons, entailing certain specified duties and rights — especially rights — which either party can terminate for any reason that suits him or her. In certifying to the state that a sacramental marriage meeting the state’s criteria for marriage has come into existence under its auspices, the Church seems to imply that its vision of marriage isn’t really all that different from the vision of marriage entertained by the state. No wonder people are confused!

A new addressing this problem would involve a two-step procedure. First, a couple seeking to enter into sacramental marriage would be required to go through whatever civil ceremony the state might insist on in order to be recognized as legally married. Then, and only then, the couple could proceed to sacramental marriage — a church wedding — with the blessing of the Church.

Yes, are problems with that. Some people would resist what they’d see as “getting married twice” and would settle for the civil ceremony alone. But many do that now anyway. If those who said no to “getting married twice” were, by and large, people like those who now get “married in the Church” without understanding what they’re doing, what difference would it make?

As for the pluses, the procedure outlined here would have the huge practical advantage of educating couples to the fact that civil marriage and sacramental marriage are two vastly different things. Catholic marriage, like marriage generally, is in crisis, with the push for gay marriage adding to the confusion. Something needs to be done. If not this — what?

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Heartbreak and hunger in Somalia

By Mary DeTurris Poust

The desperate situation in Somalia and in refugee camps in Kenya filled to beyond overflowing with starving men, women and children cries out for a response. And yet how to respond? "Regular" people feel powerless to help. Our donations cannot be put to effective use due to the iron-fisted control over the region by the Islamic terrorist group that is keeping its own people from from getting the help they need.

The world powers, the United States and others, must step up and say enough is enough. Or have we reached a point where we are willing to admit that pirates and terrorists have claimed this country for their own and we are powerless to stop it and save the hundreds of thousands of lives that now hang on the brink? Surely we are not there yet.

Even aid organizations like Catholic Relief Services have their hands tied because they cannot work in a place controlled by a recognized terrorist group. So they work around the requirements as best they can, but they cannot do what they do best: help people become self-sufficient.

In a CNS story, Sean Callahan, executive vice president for CRS' overseas operations, explained:

"We've been in and out of Somalia over the years. We consult with Bishop (Giorgio) Bertin (apostolic administrator of Mogadishu) on how we should act and what we should do, and through him we are funding some projects addressing hunger there. He has advised us to be very cautious about going into Somalia, and currently, given the U.S. position on it, we can't," he said.

Read the entire CNS story (and photo) by Paul Jeffrey, chronicling one family's dangerous 32-day trek out of Somalia in a desperate attempt to get to a camp and save their children. It is heartbreaking:

DADAAB, Kenya (CNS) -- It took 32 days for Fatima Mohammed to make it from her drought-racked farm in Somalia to the relative safety of a sprawling refugee settlement in northeastern Kenya. There were days, she recalled, when her children were so thirsty that they could not walk and the men in her family would ferry them ahead, returning to carry two more children in their arms.

Fatima Mohammed told Catholic News Service that her family had lived through drought before, but that support from aid agencies helped them survive until the rains returned.

"This time, al-Shabaab won't let them in," she said, referring to the Islamist group that controls portions of Somalia. "So when our animals started dying, our only choice was to stay and die ourselves, or else start walking for Kenya."

They trekked across the desolate stretch of African bush, all 11 members of the family, often walking with other families in large groups to dissuade attacks from wild animals and bandits. They arrived in Dadaab at the end of May.

As the world has watched, in recent weeks the three camps that make up the Dadaab refugee complex have swollen to barely manageable proportions. Originally designed for 90,000 refugees when it opened two decades ago, the complex today host upward of 390,000 refugees, plus at least 60,000 people who have fled Somalia but are not yet officially registered with camp managers. United Nations officials say 1,300 newcomers arrive every day.

Continue reading HERE.