OSV Daily Take

Get a jump on your Advent plans

2009-11-19T13:34:00.004-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Advent is right around the corner. As a busy mom and a faith formation teacher, I'm always looking for new ideas for bringing this season to life for my family and my students. Check out a sample issue of OSV's Advent Take Out: Family Faith on the Go by clicking HERE. I'm already planning to give the construction paper Advent wreath a try with my fourth-grade class.

You can also get more Advent ideas by going to OSV4Me by clicking HERE. You'll find general information on the season, prayers and projects, such as how to make a Jesse Tree, something I've always been intimidated to try, and how to make Advent star sugar cookies.

Another great site to check out for Advent is Karen Edmisten's "No-Panic Advent Series." You'll find everything from standards like the Advent wreath and Jesse Tree to more unusual ways to mark the season, like the Jesus Stocking or St. Lucia Bread, and a complete list of great Advent books. Check it all out by clicking HERE.

A close Encounter of the best kind

2009-11-17T13:41:00.003-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

At a time when marriage is under attack, it would be negligent on my part not to tell you about something that has the power to help husbands and wives fully live out their sacramental commitment. That's why today I wanted to share with you the post from my personal blog, Not Strictly Spiritual, on the Worldwide Marriage Encounter my husband and I attended this past weekend:

When Dennis and I first started dating, after being friends for a while, everything about us seemed in sync. We often said the exact same thing at the exact same time, bantered back and forth like a well-rehearsed comedy team, wanted all the same things out of life, even bought each other the same card on our first Valentine's Day together. And it was not a traditional, common card. It was one of those eccentric artsy cards. It was totally unexpected and happily surprising when we realized that we were so in tune with each other that even our card shopping reflected it.

Soon after we were married, we moved across the country -- from New York to Texas -- to start our life fresh. We eventually bought a house under construction and, not long after, had our first child. Life began to get more stressful and less carefree. After struggling through a difficult miscarriage and a year of medical issues following it, we had another child, another move back across the country, and, finally, a third child when I was almost 43 years old. To say that life was very full -- and sometimes very difficult -- is a monumental understatement.

The blissful feelings of those early days, when we each recognized the other as soul mate, best friend and lifelong love, started to get buried under the day-to-day obligations and normal stresses that come with parenting and professional lives, volunteer service and home owning. It was becoming harder and harder for us to see the couple we had once been, despite our deep and constant love for each other. Our actions, tone and words didn't reflect the love we knew was there, so we decided that we would do something we had talked about now and then but never pursued seriously: attend a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend.

Even up until the moment we entered the Don Bosco Retreat Center at the Marian Shrine in Stony Point, the two of us were wondering if this weekend could really make a dramatic difference in our busy lives. Marriage Encounter veterans had told us again and again that it would be life-changing, transforming, but we had our doubts. We vowed to give it a 100 percent anyway and see what happened.

I am here to tell you that it was, in fact, everything promised. While the room wasn't stellar and the food was mediocre at best, the weekend itself was amazing, restorative, renewing, and, yes, transforming. Over a period of two days, Dennis and I explored ideas and feelings we hadn't thought about in a while -- or ever, in some cases. The weekend didn't dredge up problems or dwell on the negatives; in a gentle and life-affirming way, it gave us an opportunity to stand side by side looking out at the future as one. Through the powerful stories and examples of our presenting couples and priest, we learned how to create a married life of joy, passion and excitement even in the midst of our daily challenges and struggles.

Marriage Encounter is not about sharing your deepest feelings with strangers, something Dennis feared when I first started suggesting we attend. It's about sitting together, as a couple, away from everyone else and really giving each other some much-deserved attention, something that had been sorely lacking in our lives. We left the retreat center with the resolve to put into practice all the skills and tools we'd been given in order to make radical changes in the way we live out our marriage.

The really interesting thing is that so far my excitement and hopefulness and anticipation for what's ahead for us is actually continuing to increase even though the weekend is behind us. I kind of expected that after we left our Marriage Encounter cocoon, we'd be right back to where we started, but that's absolutely not the case, and if you look at the presenting couples, you can see that this new reality is not a flash-in-the-pan kind of thing. We were in a great place when we left Stony Point on Sunday night, but I have to say that today we are in an even better place, and I find myself giddy -- much as I did in those early days of our relationship -- over what I realize I still share with Dennis. That's not to say we don't expect fights or setbacks. We wouldn't be human if we could live a perfect life. But we do expect to be able to manage those setbacks better and to bring real healing to any divisions threaten to pull us apart, the kind of healing that can actually make our bond stronger.

We will be married 15 years in April. The WWME weekend was the best anniversary gift we could have given to each other. We can look toward the future and see a life where the intense feelings of love and our joy in being a couple do not have to diminish with age or time or struggles. Because we have made a decision to love, because we have been reminded of our great gift and given what we need to keep that gift alive and flourishing, because we have put God back into his rightful place in our marriage, nothing seems impossible anymore.

If you have not yet made a Marriage Encounter weekend -- or if you made one a long time ago -- sign up today. You will never regret it, I can promise you that, and will more likely wish you had done it years ago. We did ours through the Archdiocese of New York, which will be sponsoring 2010 weekends Feb. 12-14, April 16-18, Aug. 13-15, and Nov. 5-7. Call 914-524-7088 for more information on NY weekends. For those outside the archdiocese, click HERE to go to the Worldwide Marriage Encounter national website, which will connect you with local ME weekends and resources.

Remembering murdered Jesuits on 20th anniversary

2009-11-16T09:32:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe that it was 20 years ago today that six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were brutally murdered in El Salvador. It seems like yesterday, and it seems like a lifetime ago. Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, as chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, today announced that that the USCCB wants to commemorate "the lives and work of the six Jesuits and their collaborators.”

Bishop Hubbard also previously sent letters to Congress, thanking the sponsors and cosponsors of House and Senate resolutions (H.R. 761 and S. 321) remembering the murder and commemorating the lives of those killed.

The letters quote Pope Benedict XVI's most recent encyclical, Charity in Truth, stating:

“Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine. … [Charity] gives real substance to the personal relationship with God and with neighbor; it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones).”

Bishop Hubbard went on to write,“It is precisely this kind of charity that was exemplified by the Jesuits in El Salvador — a commitment to a more just and peaceful society where the human needs and rights of people are acknowledged and respected."

The legacy of the Jesuits killed in El Salvador "continues to be embodied in the many women and men who still seek a more just, peaceful and secure world where the life and dignity of all persons is defended," Bishop Hubbard wrote.

To read the full letter, click HERE.

Why priests should be 'ecclesiastical professionals'

2009-11-13T13:07:00.003-05:00

By Russell Shaw

Speaking to 800 priests at the shrine of Fatima in Portugal, the cardinal who heads the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy recently leveled criticism at priests for whom the priesthood has become “a kind of ecclesiastical profession which they carry out as civil servants.” Having only news reports to go on, I strongly suspect Cardinal Claudio Hummes said more than just that. I certainly hope so, because, although the comment contains much truth, it is seriously inadequate as it stands. In this current Year for Priests it’s important to point out why.

My biggest objection to the remark as reported concerns the slighting use of the expression “ecclesiastical profession.” What I suspect the cardinal meant — and what’s true enough — is that the priesthood isn’t just one more job alongside others. In making this perfectly reasonable point, however, it’s a mistake to say or imply that there’s something intrinsically wrong with, or at least inferior about, professions and jobs in general.

The Christian ideal of work is to do one’s job, whatever it may be, for the glory of God and the service of other human beings. Many people in many lines of work try to do exactly that each day. There is every reason for priests to try to do it, too. Looking down our noses at the notion of “profession” isn’t helpful to that.

Nor is it helpful to suggest that there’s something wrong with having priests approach their work with a professional attitude. To be professional means doing one’s best to meet high standards of excellence in one’s work. People who aren’t professional are prepared to settle for sloppy, careless, just-getting-by performance. Surely this is not what we want of our priests.

I also take exception to the slap at priests who function as “civil servants” in the Church. Over the years I’ve encountered many of these men in chancery offices, national organizations, the Holy See, and other settings, and — making allowance for the occasional time-server — I’ve found many to be admirable priests whose administrative tasks are as much an expression of their priestly commitment as preparing a homily or teaching a catechism class.

True, priests in this situation often feel a need for some form of directly pastoral work on the side — to keep their hand in, as it were — and I admire them for that. But this is not a reflection on their office work as such.

Around the time Cardinal Hummes made his remarks, Pope Benedict XVI also spoke to a group of Brazilian bishops about the priesthood. In this case, I have the advantage of having the full text of the pope’s remarks, and I find them notably more nuanced and helpful than the snippets attributed to the cardinal.

The pope’s central statement was this: “The role of the priest is essential and irreplaceable for the proclamation of the word and for the celebration of the sacraments.” That was said in the context of a discourse touching on questions raised about lay and clergy roles in the changing circumstances of today’s Church, including the shortage of priests in some places.

Against this background, Benedict insisted, there is need for a “harmonious, correct and clear deepening of the relationship between the common priesthood [the baptismal priesthood or priesthood of the faithful] and the ministerial [ordained] priesthood.” The more aware lay people become of their responsibilities in the Church, he said, “the more clearly stand out the priest’s identity and his irreplaceable role.”

Here’s a challenge and an opportunity for us all.

The Stupak Amendment and the Church

2009-11-13T09:44:00.003-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Abortion rights activists aren't the only ones in an uproar over the passage of the Stupak Amendment as part of the House's healthcare reform bill. All those folks who scream about separation of Church and state whenever it suits their needs are making their voices heard, charging that the bishops are strong-arming the nation. (Even writing that sentence makes me chuckle.) Anyway, John J. Pitney Jr. over at NRO's The Corner has an excellent blog post on the sadly mistaken notion that people of faith are not allowed to voice their opinions in the public square.

He writes:

"Prof. Marci Hamilton of the Cardozo School of Law writes that the Stupak amendment 'violates the Constitution’s separation of church and state. The anti-abortion movement is plainly religious in motivation, and its lobbyists and spokespersons represent religious groups, as is illustrated by the fact that the most visible lobbyists in the Stupak Amendment’s favor have been the Catholic Bishops.'

"By this standard, Professor Hamilton would have to conclude that the 1964 Civil Rights Act is also unconstitutional. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference, along with other religious leaders and groups, led the fight for its enactment. 'We needed the help of the clergy, and this was assiduously encouraged,' said Senator Hubert Humphrey. 'I have said a number of times, and I repeat it now, that without the clergy, we couldn’t have possibly passed this bill.'"

The Prof. Hamilton to whom he refers has been a leader in the national movement to open civil statute of limitations in sex abuse cases nationwide and has been single-minded in her focus on the Catholic Church alone. Of course, all of that becomes more clear when you read her latest anti-Catholic comments regarding the Stupak Amendment.

To bolster his point, Pitney includes this stunning statement by none other than Barack Obama:

"[S]ecularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryant, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King — indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history — were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not inject their 'personal morality' into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition."

Read the full post HERE.

Vatican explores possibility of extraterrestrial life

2009-11-12T13:25:00.004-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

I know several Catholics who've told me that the discovery of extraterrestrials somewhere in the universe would have the potential to shake their faith. I wonder if the Vatican was sensing the potential for something like that on a much larger scale, when it brought together astronomers, physicists, biologists and other scientists to discuss the possibility of alien life forms and what such a discovery might mean for the Catholic Church.

The recent five-day conference looked not only at the origins of life in the universe but also the potential for such life to exist beyond what we now know. According to the Associated Press, Jesuit Father Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory, said, "The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration."

From the AP story:

"Funes said the possibility of alien life raises 'many philosophical and theological implications' but added that the gathering was mainly focused on the scientific perspective and how different disciplines can be used to explore the issue...

"Thirty scientists, including non-Catholics, from the U.S., France, Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Chile attended the conference, called to explore among other issues 'whether sentient life forms exist on other worlds.'"

Father Funes made headlines last year when he said that the existence of aliens did not contradict belief in God. "As an astronomer I continue to believe that God is the creator of the universe," he told L'Osservatore Romano, calling possible alien life his "extraterrestrial brother" and addressing concerns that alien life might contradict the theology surrounding original sin and redemption. "If other intelligent beings exist, it's not certain that they need redemption."

To read the AP article, click HERE. To read the CNS story about the 2008 L'Osservatore Romano interview with Father Funes, click HERE.

Narrowing of religious exemption could prevent D.C. Catholic Charities from providing services

2009-11-12T09:26:00.002-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

As the Washington, D.C., City Council moves toward a vote on a bill to legalize same sex "marriage," the Archdiocese of Washington is warning that the lack of religious liberty protections could force them to abandon many of their ministries to D.C.'s most vulnerable populations.

According to the Archdiocese of Washington, the City's Council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary has narrowed the religious freedom exemption in the bill. If passed in its current form, the bill would require organizations like Catholic Charities to promote and support same sex "marriage" through their services.

The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., said in a press release:

"The committee’s narrowing of the exemption leaves religious organizations and individuals at risk for adhering to the teachings of their faith, and could prevent social service providers such as Catholic Charities from continuing their long-term partnerships with the District government to provide critical social services for thousands of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

"The bill provides no exemption for individuals with sincerely-held religious beliefs, as required under federal law. In fact, one council member opposed an amendment that would have respected an individual’s federally-protected, deeply-held religious beliefs by saying that would encourage a 'discriminatory impulse.'”

At risk are Catholic Charities' many outreach services to the poor and others in need, including adoption services, social services, employee benefits and more.

"As a result, religious organizations and individuals are at risk of legal action for refusing to promote and support same-sex marriages in a host of settings where it would compromise their religious beliefs. This includes employee benefits, adoption services and even the use of a church hall for non-wedding events for same-sex married couples. Religious organizations such as Catholic Charities could be denied licenses or certification by the government, denied the right to offer adoption and foster care services, or no longer be able to partner with the city to provide social services for the needy," the archdiocese stated.

Of course the secular media is trying to cast this as the Church being discriminatory. One article, in the Washington Post, said that religious organizations such as the Catholic Church oppose the same sex "marriage" law, which will be voted on next month, because "they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians."

Saying an organization just wants to discriminate against a group of people sounds a lot better than saying an organization is simply trying to uphold and live its long-held beliefs, which are based on natural law.

Susan Gibbs, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Washington, was quoted in the same Washington Post article, saying: "If the city requires this, we can't do it. The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem."

Exactly. Religious liberty and religious freedom mean being able to practice your beliefs without being forced to promote something that stands in direct opposition to those beliefs. More of this is coming as same sex "marriage" debates continue across the country. Good for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., for coming out strong and reminding people what's at stake -- for Catholics and for those we serve.

To read the archdiocese's full press release, click HERE.

NY Post opines on NY archbishop's approach

2009-11-10T10:10:00.003-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

In case you missed it, the Sunday N.Y. Post ran an op-ed piece by Joseph Bottum with this headline:

Dolan's Catholic Crusade: Uncle Tim has taken off the gloves in his fight for the Church

Here's some of what Bottum had to say:

“The revelations in 2001 of decades of priest scandals revealed the existence of a corrupt clergy across the nation, and the Catholic Church watched a now middle-aged generation of believers slip away from the pews. In the midst of all this, how could an archbishop of New York not need to pick some fights? Especially one determined to restore the national prominence that the archdiocese of New York has traditionally had. 'America’s bishop,' John Paul II called Cardinal O’Connor, which is what every archbishop of New York should be named.

“In other words, Timothy Dolan’s swipe at Dowd is just the first blow in a what we should expect to be a long series. Uncle Tim is taking the gloves off, and public fights are coming with City Hall over schools, and with Albany over Catholic hospitals, and with Washington’s health-care reformers over mandatory abortion coverage, and with the Catholic colleges over their abandoning of Catholic principles, and with the blindered and old-fashioned clergy over the business-as-usual attitude that allowed the priest scandals to happen.”

Sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Enough with running away from who we are as Church and what we stand for, for fear that people won't stick around because they don't like this teaching or that priest or those songs. It's time to say, "This is what it means to be Catholic." I, for one, think Archbishop Dolan is a breath of fresh air, and just what the Church in New York and the Church in the United States needs at this moment in time.

Talk to any Catholic in the pews who has had the opportunity to hear or meet Archbishop Dolan in person and they gush with enthusiasm and hope. They recognize, as does the Post op-ed writer, that what the archbishop brings to the table is exactly what true Catholics have been waiting for: someone who not only isn't afraid to be Catholic but is positively bursting with joy over being Catholic. If speaking the truth is a "crusade," if preaching the Gospel can be considered "taking off the gloves," then bring it on.

To read the full op-ed piece, click HERE.

Capital punishment and Church teaching

2009-11-06T14:48:00.004-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

As the nation reels from yet another deadly shooting spree, this time at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington, Va., is urging mercy for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, saying his capital sentence should be commuted to life in prison without chance of parole.

The bishop called the lethal injection that Muhammad is scheduled to receive on Nov. 10 a "manifestation of despair," according to a CNS story.

"And in this despair, in advocating the use of the death penalty, our society has moved beyond the legitimate judgment of crimes," Bishop Loverde wrote in the Nov. 5 issue of the Arlington Catholic Herald. "Brothers and sisters, we are better than this. We are called to be more than slaves to despair; we are called to be heralds of hope."

Muhammad went on a three-week killing spree in the Washington, D.C., are in 2002 that left 10 people dead and three others wounded. His partner in killing, Lee Boyd Malvo, was 17 at the time and is already serving a life sentence.

Bishop Loverde touched on the difficulty of Church teaching on capital punishment, especially when the sometimes-normal reaction to such tragic crimes is a desire for revenge:

"It is understandable for us -- all of us, myself included -- to have these reactions, and to be outraged at the way in which innocent lives were so senselessly taken, with their families left to mourn and to ask questions which have no satisfactory answers...We are called to choose hope -- hope in redemption of an immortal soul -- over the despair embedded in the death penalty."

Click HERE to read the CNS story.

A look at marriage and what's ahead

2009-11-05T12:15:00.003-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany writes an insightful column about the breakdown of marriage in anticipation of the U.S. bishops' upcoming pastoral letter, which will "communicate in contemporary language the Church’s teaching about the beauty, goodness and truth of marriage as revealing divine love."

In the Nov. 5 issue of The Evangelist, Bishop Hubbard writes:

"Last month at our annual Marriage Jubilee Mass, I joined with couples from throughout our Diocese who are observing one, 10, 15, 40, 50, 60 or more years of marriage during 2009.

"It is always such an inspirational and uplifting experience to celebrate with these spouses who offer such marvelous witness to the sacred bond of matrimony, and to the many sacrifices and boundless love which serve as the foundation for this most fundamental human relationship.

"Sadly, fewer and fewer couples are observing these significant milestones, as the institution of marriage and the intact two-parent family is under assault today.

"The adulterous affairs of politicians Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards and Mark Sanford — and the ultimate married couple, Kate and Jon Gosselin of the TV reality show 'Jon and Kate Plus Eight' — only serve to highlight the perilous state of contemporary marriage."

Bishop Hubbard goes on to cite disturbing statistics showing not only rising divorce rates and increased cohabitation outside of marriage, but also a rise in births to unmarried women, which have reached 39.7 percent, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bishop Hubbard continues:

"These startling statistics (and so many others) prompted Time Magazine to feature a cover story on July 13, 2009, written by Caitlin Flanagan. She states: 'There is no other single force causing as much measurable hardship and human misery in this country as the collapse of marriage. It hurts children, it reduces mothers’ financial security and it has landed with particular devastation on those who can bear it least: the nation’s underclass.'

"Flanagan notes that three presidents in a row (Clinton, Bush and Obama) have sought to address the problem of the number of poor who are uncoupling parenthood from marriage.

"The reason for this presidential concern is simple: On every single significant indicator related to short-term well being and long-term success, children from intact two-parent families outperform those from single-parent households."

Read Bishop Hubbard's full column by clicking HERE. And click HERE to go to "For Your Marriage," the USCCB's National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage

You said it, Sister

2009-11-02T14:57:00.004-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Kathryn Jean Lopez gets it right on NRO Online in her column "Sister Maureen Gets It Wrong," when she takes New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd to task for portraying women religious in this country as unhappy, unsatisfied and under the thumb of Rome in a way that suggests constant oppression and submission. Writing of religious sisters who blog (even cloistered ones) and who are happily answering God's call, Lopez reminds us that "there are a lot of happy women behind convent walls. They have answered a Heavenly call. Their submission is not to any man, in Rome or anywhere else, but to the will of the Creator. It’s otherworldly, so it doesn’t fit as well on op-ed pages."

I write for several communities of women religious and on more than one occasion I have been asked to focus a fund-raising appeal on obedience. That's right: obedience. Not usually a money maker in the independent-minded U.S. of A. Yet obedience is at the heart of a religious calling. Obedience to a superior, yes. But more than that. Obedience to The Superior. In writing the appeals, I have learned a lot about the freedom that comes from true obedience to God. It's not a style-cramping, spirit-squelching thing. Rather it is a soul-expanding obedience that comes from being freed from the world's rules by obeying God's rules. But, as Lopez points out, that doesn't make a good newspaper headline.

Lopez writes:

"A Dominican sister in Chicago was recently pictured in the Chicago Tribune standing outside an abortion clinic, where she volunteers as an escort for women who enter to obtain abortions. She belongs to a group of sisters who advocate legal abortion. In case you are confused: This is not Catholic.

"The Catholic Church hasn’t been isolated from the chaos that the sexual revolution wrought. It warned, but that didn’t keep it immune. Yet now, after decades of spirited dissent and too much shameful sin in the headlines, if you look around, what you’ll see is countercultural faith. There’s a rebirth: A 'new evangelization' is what they’re calling it in Rome.

“'Religious community is the visible manifestation of the communion which is the foundation of the Church,' the once Cardinal Ratzinger has written. When some of those communities are so blatantly representing values inimical to the Church, intervention is called for."

Read her full column HERE.

Amazing turn at one Planned Parenthood clinic

2009-11-02T12:03:00.003-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

The director of the Bryan Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas has resigned after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. "I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Abby Johnson in a report on KBTX-TV. Johnson said the clinic was moving away from prevention and focusing more on abortion, something that didn't sit right with her.

"I feel so pure in heart (since leaving). I don't have this guilt, I don't have this burden on me anymore; that's how I know this conversion was a spiritual conversion," she said in the KBTX report.

Johnson has since joined the Coalition For Life, located just down the street from the clinic where she worked for eight years, the last two as director. She has even prayed outside the Planned Parenthood clinic. Not surprisingly, this turn of events has prompted Bryan Planned Parenthood to seek a restraining order against Johnson and Coalition For Life, contending that business would be "irreparably harmed by the disclosure of certain information." In other words, the truth hurts.

Click HERE to read the full story and watch the video clip of the interview with Johnson.

A view of purgatory on All Souls' Day

2009-11-02T10:39:00.003-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

All Souls' Day is a favorite day of mine on the Church calendar. That comes across as morbid to some folks, but it's anything but. Then, again, I'm a big fan of purgatory, too. I like today's focus on the family and friends who have gone before us. I like to remember that we remain connected even though we are separated, that they are experiencing the eternal life that we are working toward. And I love the fact that purgatory hangs out there like a giant safety net, waiting to catch me if I don't measure up. And, really, how can I possibly measure up? I would not be so presumptuous as to assume that I will be fast-tracked to heaven when this earthly life is done. I think working my way toward perfection in purgatory sounds like a pretty generous offer.

I came across this quote from Pope Benedict XVI that really says everything I feel about purgatory but in a much more eloquent way:

"I would go so far as to say that if there was no purgatory, then we would have to invent it, for who would dare say of himself that he was able to stand directly before God. And yet we don't want to be, to use an image from Scripture, 'a pot that turned out wrong,' that has to be thrown away; we want to be able to be put right. Purgatory basically means that God can put the pieces back together again. That he can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with him and stand there in the fullness of life. Purgatory strips off from one person what is unbearable and from another the inability to bear certain things, so that in each of them a pure heart is revealed, and we can see that we all belong together in one enormous symphony of being."

Exactly. And that is why this day is so hopeful. In our remembrance and celebration of those who have died, we see second chances, opportunity, life. We see the path we will one day walk, whether we are ready or not. And if we are not quite ready, well then, purgatory will give us time to polish up our acts once and for all.

Here's another great All Souls' Day quote from Father Hans Urs Von Balthasar:

"Purgatory: perhaps the deepest but also the most blissful kind of suffering. The terrible torture of having to settle now all the things we have dreaded a whole life long. The doors we have frantically held shut are now torn open. But all the while this knowledge: now for the first time I will be able to do it -- that ultimate thing in me, that total thing. Now I can feel my wings growing; now I am fully becoming myself..."

And finally, I found this powerful and personal reflection on All Souls' Day on From the Field of Blue Children. Blogger Cathy Adamkiewicz posts about staring at her own tombstone, the one that marks the grave she will one day share with the daughter who has gone before her:

"Today, on the Feast of All Souls, I stood at my own graveside, but I didn't shed a tear.

"I thought about my daughter, who awaits me there, and I remembered her life with awe and gratitude. I missed her with an ache that will never leave my bones, but my heart is not heavy. It soars to meet her.

"I looked at the descriptions cast in stone: husband and father, baby girl, wife and mother. The roles that will define us for all eternity.

"I suppose it is an excellent practice to ponder the fact that we will all be dust some day. As I stood on the very spot where I hope my grandchildren and their grandchildren will kneel someday, begging mercy on my soul, I realized the truth.

"It will all be over in a flash."

(Read the full post HERE.) Cathy has written a beautiful book about the short life of her baby Celeste. Broken and Blessed: A Life Story is a moving testament to the power of one tiny and fragile life to change the world around her. That book deserves a post of its own, which I promise to write later this month.

Why the chorus of callousness over Benedict's Anglican option?

2009-11-02T10:17:00.002-05:00

By Russell Shaw

For me at least, the most dismaying thing about criticism of Pope Benedict XVI’s plan for easing the way for Anglicans who seek to enter the Roman Catholic Church is the critics’ apparent indifference to the spiritual welfare of these Anglicans. As a consequence, a compassionate gesture by Rome is smeared as something sinister.

Clueless as usual where Catholicism is concerned, the secular media have tended to treat Benedict’s action in political terms, as a power grab. This interpretation ignores the fact that the Anglican traditionalists most likely to take advantage of the new provision for “personal ordinariates” have been pleading for something like this for years. The pope has simply responded to those pleas.

But secular journalists aren’t the only ones to get it wrong. Catholic voices also have been raised in this chorus of callousness. Consider the final paragraph of an article in the London Tablet, a reliable platform for progressive Catholic views: “It is hard to see how this new development will do anything but further sow division in the Anglican Communion and confusion among Catholics who have long been committed to the work of ecumenism.”

As to Anglican “division”: The departure of Anglicans who’ve anguished for a long time over the direction of their fractured communion is much more likely to restore a semblance of unity to that deeply troubled body than it is to create more division.

As to Catholic “confusion”: The confusion admittedly felt by many Catholics about the nature and intent of ecumenism is largely a product of a post-Vatican II interpretation that reduces the ecumenical enterprise to endless dialogue leading — God knows how — to some sort of corporate merger in an unimaginable future. Confusion is a mild word for it.

Most of all, though, such critical comments miss the fundamental point — the relief potentially afforded to those Anglican groups most directly affected by Benedict’s generous gesture. That is best understood in human terms.

A year ago in Rome I had a substantial chat with an Anglican woman who is a member of one of these groups. Moved by her faith and her ardent desire for communion with the Holy See, I told her at the end of our conversation: “I can only hope and pray that you get what you want — and get it soon.”

It’s often said that conservative Anglicans are upset about things like women bishops and openly homosexual bishops. No doubt they are. But much else is involved.

Several years ago an American woman — a contented member of the Episcopal Church — told me an anecdote concerning an Episcopal clergyman which she insisted was true. It seems that this gentleman, in a fit of whimsy, was seen one day to give communion to a dog. The lady seemed to think that was just fine. I was appalled — at what had happened, at her approval of it, and at what it disclosed concerning the state of Episcopalian belief in the Eucharist.

A man who’d been an Episcopalian for years but finally came over to Rome once shared a useful insight with me. “The trouble with those people,” he said of his former co-religionists, “is that they’re sentimental.”

A number of present Anglicans seem to agree. I am glad that Pope Benedict has offered these troubled believers a congenial way out of the dilemma in which their sentimental Anglican brethren placed them. As for those who don’t like what the pope has done, I suggest they remove their blinders and congratulate him on an act of Christian charity.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Halloween and All Saints

2009-10-30T15:27:00.003-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

For a little informative fun this Halloween and All Saints' Day weekend, check out this clip from Busted Halo, featuring Jesuit Father James Martin, author of My Life With the Saints. Father Martin not only covers the connection between Halloween and All Saints, but also how saints are made and why praying to the saints is not idolatry. If you stay to the very end, even after the book promo, you'll get a side of silly with your saints.

Archbishop Dolan takes on anti-Catholicism

2009-10-29T13:55:00.004-04:00

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York takes a scathing look at anti-Catholicism in this country, specifically in the pages of The New York Times, in a post on his new blog The Gospel in the Digital Age. The column was originally submitted to and rejected by the Times.

Read his column HERE.

Building a better marriage

2009-10-29T01:13:00.002-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Ask any Catholic couple for the secret to their marital success and they're likely to focus on two key things: communication and faith. Without those crucial elements, marriage can quickly become a business partnership rather than the sacramental relationship it is meant to be. The Church tries to ensure, through Pre-Cana programs, that young couples are aware of that reality before they say walk down the aisle to say, "I do."

Now the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., is offering a DVD, "When Two Become One: An Introduction to Sacramental Marriage," to give engaged couples a first-hand look at what it means to make a sacred vow to another person. Four couples -- engaged, newlywed, married with children, and one celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary -- talk directly to the camera, sharing their stories, their joys, their struggles and their wisdom. The couples, as well as Msgr. Jim Lisante, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle parish in West Hempstead, N.Y., and a regular contributor to various TV news shows, talk about what must be present in a marriage to make it sacramental -- and happy.

Discussions of sexuality, NFP, marriage as vocation, grace through challenges, domestic church, and public witness of faith through marriage are all part of the mix in this well-produced program. My favorite couple had to be the husband and wife married for more than half a century. They talked about how they continue to "date" and how they relish their time together. The husband reminds viewers that marriage is "a lifelong love affair...Every day I renew the commitment."

The diocese's Office of Faith Formation also offers a DVD on NFP called "Plan Your Family Naturally: An Introduction to Natural Family Planning." The DVD covers the basics: What is NFP? How does it work? How does it improve a relationship? What are the challenges? Why is NFP acceptable for Catholics? Is it effective?

The program features conversations with couples who use NFP and one couple trained as NFP educators. There is heavy emphasis on the fact that fertility is not a disease to be treated but a gift to be celebrated and that rather than leading to problems in marriage the periods of abstinence required in this method actually improve communication and bring couples closer together.

For more information on the DVDs or to place an order, click HERE.

Changing our prayers, for better and for worse

2009-10-28T09:54:00.002-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

When I was writing The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism a couple of years ago, one of the most powerful and beautiful parts of the writing experience came during the many chapters dedicated to the creed. I sat with the creed for days, even weeks, on end. During that time, my faith was reinvigorated by the beautiful words of the prayer we say each Sunday. I found myself caught up in the poetry of the prayer, the powerful way in which our beliefs are expressed through the written word. Even now, with that book far behind me, I find myself mesmerized week after week by our Profession of Faith.

But now, as part of the new translation of the Roman Missal that is awaiting final approval by the bishops, that prayer along with many others familiar to Mass-goers will be changed in order to be more faithful to the original Latin. The result, unfortunately, is that in many places the vocabulary and sentence structure will be awkward and confusing.

Things like "one in Being with the Father" will be changed to "consubstantial with the Father," a change that will probably not make the prayer more clear or more meaningful to pray-ers. That line will go from being poetic and powerful to a line that is probably glossed over because its meaning is lost, especially on young Catholics.

Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pa., former chairman of the U.S. bishops’ liturgy committee, has criticized the new translation, calling it "slavishly literal" and saying that the changes are "elite and remote" from what we consider to be everyday speech.

“The vast majority of God’s people in the assembly are not familiar with words of the new missal like ‘ineffable,’ ‘consubstantial,’ ‘incarnate,’ ‘inviolate,’ ‘oblation,’ ‘ignominy,’ ‘precursor,’ ‘suffused’ and ‘unvanquished.’ The vocabulary is not readily understandable by the average Catholic,” Bishop Trautman said at an Oct. 22 lecture at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., as reported by CNS. “The (Second Vatican Council’s) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy stipulated vernacular language, not sacred language,” he added. “Did Jesus ever speak to the people of his day in words beyond their comprehension? Did Jesus ever use terms or expressions beyond his hearer’s understanding?”

Other changes will affect everything from the Greeting and Penitential Rite to the Gloria and Eucharistic prayers. Bishop Trautman gave several examples during his lecture, but one in particular stood out as a perfect example:

"The bishop complained about the lack of 'pastoral style' in the new translation. The current wording in Eucharistic Prayer 3 asks God to 'welcome into your kingdom our departed brothers and sisters,' which he considered 'inspiring, hope-filled, consoling, memorable.'

"The new translation asks God to 'give kind admittance to your kingdom,' which Bishop Trautman called 'a dull lackluster expression which reminds one of a ticket-taker at the door. ... The first text reflects a pleading, passionate heart and the latter text a formality – cold and insipid.'"

Now, I'm not saying every change is a bad change. There are some that will be considered welcome, or at least reasonable. For instance, with in the new translation, instead of saying, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed," we will say, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." That seems like a fitting and proper change because it brings the prayer back to the scriptural reference, reminding us where this prayer came from to start with. (Matthew 8:8, centurion asking Jesus to heal his servant.)

It's a tough call. At a time when we are trying to hang onto the people who are going to Mass and to woo back those who only stop in now and then, bringing in changes that will make people feel like strangers in their own Church might not help the Mass attendance situation.

Read the full CNS story HERE. To read examples of changes from the USCCB's Committee on Divine Worship, click HERE. Then tell us how you feel about the coming changes in the comment section.

An unlikely TV forum for pro-life message

2009-10-27T12:50:00.006-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

I am not one to watch TV shows about law firms or crime scene investigations. Not my thing. But today, when I came across a clip of an episode of the NBC series Law & Order entitled "Dignity," I watched and was stunned. Not by the words or the facts written into the dialog, but by the fact that network TV would air a powerful scene condemning late-term abortion and calling into question whether anyone has the right to rob another being of his or her dignity.

Now, it's not all as cut and dry as it sounds. I almost didn't blog about this today because I was worried that praising this scene might be viewed as brushing off the murder of an abortion doctor. And that is absolutely not the case. The clip you're about to see, if you choose to view it, is from a "ripped from the headlines" episode based on the murder of Dr. George Tiller, the late-term abortionist who was killed last May in Wichita. In the scene, the defense calls to the stand a nurse who has witnessed the show's fictional doctor killing a baby after an abortion procedure goes wrong. (As if one can ever go right.) The testimony sets up a moral dilemma for the assistant district attorney, who tells her colleague that she cannot leave her soul in the umbrella stand when she gets to work.

Regardless of all the complicated issues surrounding the real story on which this episode is based, this clip is so powerful, so true, that I simply couldn't keep from sharing it with you. To me it is a sign and a reminder that though the media and the pro-abortion lobbyists would like this country to believe otherwise, there is still a large segment of the population that views abortion as the abhorrent evil that it is.

Here it is:

'Prophetic, courageous and countercultural'

2009-10-26T12:01:00.003-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York ponders the Church's steadfast and ongoing commitment to the pro-life movement and pre-born children in his Oct. 22 Catholic New York column "Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?"

Comparing the Church's silence during slavery to the Church's outspoken condemnation of abortion, he writes that Catholics can "thank God that the Church has indeed been prophetic, courageous and counter cultural in the right to life movement."

Archbishop Dolan continues:

"Many issues and concerns in addition to protecting the baby in the womb fall under the rubric of the right to life—child care, poverty, racism, war and peace, capital punishment, health care, the environment, euthanasia—in what has come to be called the consistent ethic of life. All those issues, and even more, demand our careful attention and promotion.

"But the most pressing life issue today is abortion. If we're wrong on that one, we're just plain wrong.

"When our critics—and their name is legion—criticize us for being passionate, stubborn, almost obsessed with protecting the human rights of the baby in the womb, they intend it as an insult. I take it as a compliment.

"I'd give anything if I could claim that Catholics in America prior to the Civil War were "passionate, stubborn, almost obsessed" with protecting the human rights of the slave. To claim such would be a fib. But, decades from now, at least our children and grandchildren can look back with pride and gratitude for the conviction of those who courageously defend the life of the pre-born baby."

Read the full column HERE.

Make your voice heard on health care reform

2009-10-23T09:34:00.002-04:00

If you have not yet told your representatives in Congress how you feel about health care reform and any abortion funding or mandates it may include, now's your chance. Head to the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment's Action Center by clicking HERE. In a few easy steps you can send emails (pre-written but fully editable) to your U.S. representative and senator, urging them to address pro-life concerns about abortion funding and conscience protection in proposed legislation.

Go to NCHLA's site HERE now and make your voice heard before it's too late.

Changing the course of the culture for children with Down syndrome

2009-10-22T12:40:00.007-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

When I was pregnant with my last baby, I was 42 years old and would be right on the cusp of 43 by the time she arrived. In the medical world, everything related to my pregnancy was marked with one important flag: AMA -- Advanced Maternal Age. Those three little letters carry some hefty baggage. They remind every doctor or technician that the mother-to-be in question is somewhat out of bounds and needs someone to scare some sense into her by telling her again and again that she is at very high risk of having a baby with problems, specifically a baby with Down syndrome.

No matter what your age, chances are that a pregnancy is going to spark a litany of prenatal testing options, unless you put a stop to it. Blood screenings with an incredibly high rate of false positives, risky amniocentesis, genetic counseling and more. My doctor and midwife quickly learned that telling me about my risks was a non-starter. I had refused any testing and made it clear that nothing they said would change that. Enter the ultrasound technician. I had to have an ultrasound because of a previous problem pregnancy (and because I loved seeing my little one moving around inside, flashing out a heartbeat to me from the screen).

Throughout the ultrasound, the technician reminded me that I had a 1 in 33 chance of having a baby with Down syndrome. And I just continued to adamantly refuse to be scared or influenced by it. Not that I didn't wonder if I would be up to the task should I have a child with Down syndrome, but I kept trying to trust that I would rise to the occasion if needed. I have met people who have been profoundly moved and inspired by their own children with Down syndrome, most specifically at Down Home Ranch in Austin, Texas, so I knew the reality behind the scare tactics. Unfortunately, many parents-to-be don't, and they easily fall prey to the statistics and scenarios presented to them.

A recent article on children with Down syndrome by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver stirred up all of these memories for me. In the article, the archbishop addresses the prevalence and persuasiveness of prenatal testing, the responsibility of Catholics in the medical profession and the mistaken notion that children with Down syndrome cannot grow into adults with happy and satisfying lives.

Archbishop Chaput writes:

"Parents of children with special needs, special education teachers and therapists, and pediatricians who have treated children with disabilities often have a hugely life-affirming perspective. Unlike prenatal caregivers, these professionals have direct knowledge of persons with special needs. They know their potential. They've seen their accomplishments. They can testify to the benefits -- often miraculous -- of parental love and faith. Expectant parents deserve to know that a child with Down syndrome can love, laugh, learn, work, feel hope and excitement, make friends, and create joy for others. These things are beautiful precisely because they transcend what we expect. They witness to the truth that every child with special needs has a value that matters eternally.

"Raising a child with Down syndrome can be hard. Parents grow up very fast. None of my friends who has a daughter or son with a serious disability is melodramatic, or self-conscious, or even especially pious about it. They speak about their special child with an unsentimental realism. It's a realism flowing out of love -- real love, the kind that courses its way through fear and suffering to a decision, finally, to surround the child with their heart and trust in the goodness of God. And that decision to trust, of course, demands not just real love, but also real courage.

"The real choice in accepting or rejecting a child with special needs is never between some imaginary perfection or imperfection. None of us is perfect. No child is perfect. The real choice in accepting or rejecting a child with special needs is between love and unlove; between courage and cowardice; between trust and fear. That's the choice we face when it happens in our personal experience. And that's the choice we face as a society in deciding which human lives we will treat as valuable, and which we will not."

At the end of the article Archbishop Chaput reminds Catholics working in the medical professions that they must put their Catholic beliefs first:

"Pour your love for Jesus Christ into the healing you do for every person you serve. By your words and by your actions, be a witness to your colleagues. Speak up for what you believe. Love the Church. Defend her teaching. Trust in God. Believe in the Gospel. And don't be afraid. Fear is beneath your dignity as sons and daughters of the God of life.

"Changing the course of American culture seems like such a huge task. But St. Paul felt exactly the same way. Redeeming and converting a civilization has already been done once. It can be done again. But we need to understand that God is calling you and me to do it. He chose us. He calls us. He's waiting, and now we need to answer him."

Read the full article by clicking HERE.

Mixing health precautions and Eucharist

2009-10-21T14:17:00.007-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Most parishes have already issued guidelines to help parishioners navigate the liturgy when they are coughing and sneezing. Refraining from the Sign of Peace is one suggestion, as is opting not to receive from the cup. In my family we abide by those rules. Sometimes we receive suspicious stares when we do not extend a hand at peace, but I try in hurried and hushed tones to let people know that we're not unfriendly, we're just unhealthy. A couple of years ago I started squirting hand sanitizer on the kids' hands before Communion just to be sure that we hadn't picked up any viruses from overly zealous hand-shakers, but that deteriorated into a situation where the Lamb of God was punctuated not with "have mercy on us," but "have you got any Purell in your purse?"

This week, in his regular column, "Put Out Into the Deep," in The Tablet, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn elaborated on possible health precautions that should be observed during this especially tense flu season. In "Healthy Distribution of Communion" in the Oct. 17 issue, the bishop suggests that parishes refrain from offering Communion under both species during flu season and also recommends that parishioners receive properly in the hand and not on the tongue, which he says "presents hygienic problems."

Bishop DiMarzio writes:

"There are other recommendations made for those who administer Holy Communion in that they should be advised to disinfect their hands immediately after the conclusion of the Mass with the use of hand sanitizing materials. Pastors have been asked to remind their parishioners that the sign of peace should not be exchanged by anyone who is suffering from cold symptoms or is experiencing any symptoms related to the flu. Again, it would make good sense that if one is not feeling well to stay at home and not come to Mass given the considerations for others during this flu season.

"Any change regarding a liturgical practice, especially the Eucharist, is bound to cause disruption and misunderstanding. For the sake of the common good of the Church, however, we must make these temporary regulations.

"Every time something new occurs; new regulations, new forms, we put out into the deep and recognize that there will be those who misunderstand and misinterpret these regulations. Hopefully, prayerfully we will come to understand our theology of the Eucharist and the practices that surround it, which are wholesome and healthful." (Full column HERE.)

So what do you think about mixing health precautions and Eucharistic celebrations? Do we need to change our ways until flu season is over or proceed with liturgy as usual? Tell us in the comment section.

Church opens door to Anglicans who desire full communion

2009-10-20T09:54:00.008-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

The Vatican announced today that it will create a structure that will allow large groups of Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, providing "a reasonable and even necessary response to a world-wide phenomenon," said Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Catholic News Agency reports:

"The new canonical structure will allow former Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Church while 'preserving elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony,' said Cardinal Levada. He added that it will allow married former Anglican clergy to be ordained however, in common with Catholic and Orthodox Churches, married clergy will not be allowed to be ordained bishops."

The Traditional Anglican Communion, a breakaway group that has publicly made known its wishes to unite with Rome, claims to have some 400,000 members. Although the move to open the door to Anglicans seems aimed at the TAC movement, it is not limited to the group.

Click HERE to read the full statement from the CDF. Click HERE to read the CNS story on the announcement. Click HERE to read the L.A. Times story. Stay tuned for more news on this.