To take pleasure in the living...

From midafternoon prayer for this day:

Death was not God’s doing, he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living.

-- Book of Wisdom 1:13

All life is a miracle, and God takes pleasure in all life. When He had finished creating the heavens and the earth, all the animals and plants, and above all this man and woman in His own image and likeness, He pronounced it GOOD. The early Christian mediated on this, and write that we are the only creatures that he takes delight in. His love for us is very strong, and the disciple who Jesus loved tells us the simple, yet profound truth: God is Love. So we too have been created to love, and to take pleasure in the living. Paul tells us that we are to come to be like Him, and this is through loving. The "secret" of the saints is that they more we love, the more we resemble God.

Let us pray that all people, especially our leaders can grow in their capacity to love. To love and take pleasure in all the living.

God bless.

Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the Bishop's Conference: Letter to Mr. Obama

I will add some comments in read later, but I bolded what I found particularly worthy.
USCCB President Cardinal Francis George of Chicago sent a letter to President Elect Barack Obama last Friday urging him not to use executive orders to overturn the Mexico City Policy, conscience rights of abortion opponents or restrictions on funding embryo destruction.The letter was made public today and is posted below (h/t LifeSite):

Dear Mr. President-elect:

I recently wrote to assure you of the prayers of the Catholic bishops of the United States for your service to our nation, and to outline issues of special concern to us as we seek to work with your Administration and the new Congress to serve the common good.

I am writing today on a matter that could introduce significant negative and divisive factors into our national life, at a time when we need to come together to address the serious challenges facing our people. I expect that some want you to take executive action soon to reverse current policies against government-sponsored destruction of unborn human life. I urge you to consider that this could be a terrible mistake -- morally, politically, and in terms of advancing the solidarity and well-being of our nation's people.

During the campaign, you promised as President to represent all the people and respect everyone's moral and religious viewpoints. You also made several statements about abortion. On one occasion, when asked at what point a baby has human rights, you answered in effect that you do not have a definite answer. And you spoke often about a need to reduce abortions.

The Catholic Church teaches that each human being, at every moment of biological development from conception to natural death, has an inherent and fundamental right to life. We are committed not only to reducing abortion, but to making it unthinkable as an answer to unintended pregnancy. At the same time, I think your remarks provide a basis for common ground. Uncertainty as to when human rights begin provides no basis for compelling others to violate their conviction that these rights exist from the beginning. After all, those people may be right. And if the goal is to reduce abortions, that will not be achieved by involving the government in expanding and promoting abortions.

The regulation to protect conscience rights in health care issued last month by the Bush administration is the subject of false and misleading criticisms. It does not reach out to expand the rights of pro-life health professionals, but is a long-overdue measure for implementing three statutes enacted by Congress over the last 35 years. Many criticizing the new rule have done so without being aware of this legal foundation - but widespread ignorance of a longstanding federal law protecting basic civil rights is among the good reasons for more visibly implementing it. An Administration committed to faithfully implementing and enforcing the laws of the United States will want to retain this common-sense regulation, which explicitly protects the right of health professionals who favor or oppose abortion to serve the basic health needs of their communities. Suggestions that government involvement in health care will be aimed at denying conscience, or excluding Catholic and other health care providers from participation in serving the public good, could threaten much-needed health care reform at the outset.

The Mexico City Policy, first established in 1984, has wrongly been attacked as a restriction on foreign aid for family planning. In fact, it has not reduced such aid at all, but has ensured that family planning funds are not diverted to organizations dedicated to performing and promoting abortions instead of reducing them. Once the clear line between family planning and abortion is erased, the idea of using family planning to reduce abortions becomes meaningless, and abortion tends to replace contraception as the means for reducing family size. A shift toward promoting abortion in developing nations would also increase distrust of the United States in these nations, whose values and culture often reject abortion, at a time when we need their trust and respect.

The embryonic stem cell policy initiated by President Bush has at times been criticized from both ends of the pro-life debate, but some criticisms are based on false premises. The policy did not ban embryonic stem cell research, or funding of such research. By restricting federally funded research to cell lines in existence at the time he issued his policy, he was trying to ensure that Americans are not forced to use their tax dollars to encourage expanded destruction of embryonic human beings for their stem cells. Such destruction is especially pointless at the present time, for several reasons. First, basic research in the capabilities of embryonic stem cells can be and is being pursued using the currently eligible cell lines as well as the hundreds of lines produced with nonfederal funds since 2001. Second, recent startling advances in reprogramming adult cells into embryonic-like stem cells - hailed by the journal Science as the scientific breakthrough of the year - are said by many scientists to be making embryonic stem cells irrelevant to medical progress. Third, adult and cord blood stem cells are now known to have great versatility, and are increasingly being used to reverse serious illnesses and even help rebuild damaged organs. To divert scarce funds away from these promising avenues for research and treatment toward the avenue that is most morally controversial as well as most medically speculative would be a sad victory of politics over science.

I hope you will consider these comments in the spirit in which they are intended, as an invitation to set aside political pressures and ideologies and focus on the priorities and challenges that will unite us as a nation. Again I want to express our hopes for your Administration, and our offer to cooperate in advancing the common good and protecting the poor and vulnerable in these challenging times.

As we approach the first days of your new responsibilities as President of the United States, I will offer my prayers for you and for your family.

May God bless your efforts in fostering justice and peace for all,

Mr. President, as you begin your term.

Cardinal Francis George

Where'd the Catholics go?

The child's father and Mother were amazed at what was said of him [Jesus], and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his Mother, "Behold this child is destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted, and you, yourself, a sword will pierce, so the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.

Gospel kata Luke, 2:33-5

Contrary to long standing custom there are no Catholic clerics, priest or bishops invited to participate in the ceremonies or festivities surronding the inauguration of our new president. Should not Catholics be represented in some capacity if Mr. Obama is going to unit the country as he promised? We are after all the single largest religion in the country.

Considering the long standing custom, such an omission is not an accident. This omission is meant to exclude Catholics from having an official voice at the inauguration (Mr. Kmiec is not the official voice of the Church), in short at this important and historic event of our nations history, Catholics are being discriminated against.

What has the new president to fear? It is almost certain that any bishop invited to speak would almost certainly discuss the dignity of every human being. This would be too much of a sign of contradiction for the Obama-era.

Jazz Brunch

The question is simply: So how exactly do you celebrate Christmas over in Rome?

Well it is different! Many of the traditions are the same. We decorate Christmas trees on each corridor, we have a big Christmas party and dinner, and set up a a precepe in the chapel. It is different though being away from family. This is good preparation for the priesthood though when most Christmases will be spent away from the family. Some things are also unique to Rome. First of all is midnight Mass with the Pope at Saint Peter's (I will make sure to post pictures of that one). It is not just that. Seminary life changes. On the last day of classes many of the men empty out of the house and head to all sorts of place to travel for a few weeks. Some make it all the way to South Africa and others only make it to Norcia (a short train ride away).

Over the years a certain cycle of celebrations has developed at NAC to remind us of the season. The first of these is the Jazz Brunch. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures. On the first Saturday of December the student kitchen is overtaken with a number of priest and seminarians. Some are cooking, some a plucking the strings on the string bass, and others are singing jazz-fied Christmas carols. (I was the official pancake flipper).

This kicks off the holiday season, and is also a great community builder. If I can round-up some pictures I will make sure to post them.

(re-post Dec. 7)

On the dignity of persons:

Yesterday the Vatican issued a long awaited insturction on the use of many bio-medical techonologies and also guidelines for the use of a number of different research methods, including embryonic stem cell research. I have not yet had the opportunity to read it, but I have taken a quick read through some headlines that respond to this instruction, Dignita Personae (On the dignity of persons). Largely these headlines are negative, emphasizing the prohibitions. This is a faulty way of looking at it, because it does not respond to the question that the Church's morality asks.

When we talk about morality on the Church, most people would probably say that the Church is trying to tell us what we cannot do. So the basic question of moral theology would be: What men and women are not allowed to do? These are the questions that newspapers and jounralists ask, these are not the questions that theologians and all Catholics ask. Instead we ask: What allows men and women to live a flourishing life? These are are very different questions, and so the answer to them will also be very different. So as we read the headlines and hear the news stories about this new instruction, let us also keep in mind that as Catholics we are looking for the guidepost that lead us toward a deeply-happy and flourishing life, while the newspapers and journalists are looking for ways to sell newspapers and advertistments.

Noah build another Ark!

The TIBER is flooding! Just a few pictures to let you know how high. I could not find a picture at low water, but I think most of you will know that the water should be much lower then this! So what does a (live) cow, a fridge, and a trailer home have in common? They were all seen by yours truly floating in the flood water. The trailer home had lodged itself underneath one of hte bridges and had to be dislodged with explosives.

Just to help you visualize -- these sets of stairs are supposed to meet at a sidewalk that runs alongside the river.

True measure of society?

We tend to measure a society from the stand-point of progress, technology, material comfort, and even how much freedom a person can exercise in that society. Never do we ask the question, "how do these various criteria help a person to live a flourishing life? A life of deep satisfaction?" Perhaps after examining this question we need to look for another criteria to measure a society by. Simply put a society is not measured by I-pods, and SUV's, but by how humane and compassionate it is.

The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society.

(Spe Salvi, 38)

Luxembourg Bishops Speak Out on Euthanasia

Why believe?

There have been two different campaigns this Advent/Christmas season to campaign against God sponsored by organizations such as the American Humanist Association and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. These are two highly-founded and militant organizations that are trying to elimate our right and freedom to worship as their explicitly stated goal (nice and tolerant of that isn't it?).

They are sponsoring ad campaigns with bus posters and billboards in Washington state and Washington, DC with such slogans as, "God doesn't exist, get over it!" and "Why God? Be good for goodness sake!"

It is natural for each human being to have faith - to believe. This exist at a natural level - such as the faith that I have in a doctor, in whose car I am in - faith because the doctor has a much better medical knowledge than I do - so I believe him (her). Life without belief and faith is impossible.

What is more is that God invites us to believe Him, and this is to know Him and this is because He loves us.

Here is a counter-campaign to the militant-atheistic organizations: I believe too!

On the lighter side/something sweet

This morning I found a little surprise outside my door, a little bag filled with candies and a little present! I had forgotten it was Saint Nick's day. Here is a little recipe to help you celebrate and sweeten the Advent/Christmas season (originally published on Insight Scoop the blog of Ignatius Insight).
A little history and a seasonal recipe:

From Cooking with the Saints: An Illustrated Treasury of Authentic Recipes, Old and Modern by Ernst Schuegraf.

Nicholas lived in the fourth century and was bishop of Myra, now in southwestern Turkey. NNothing else is of historic certainty, although his veneration in the East can be traced to the sixth century. A fictitious biography written by Methodius in the ninth century contains all the miracles and legends we now associate with St. Nicholas. The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back to St. Nicholas, and his legend is particularly strong in Holland and Belgium and throughout Europe. In Holland, St. Nicholas has a helper who hands out cookies before the arrival of St. Nicholas on December 6.Here is a recipe for Speculaas, a cookie handed out by St. Nicholas and eaten between December 6 and Christmas Day.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup condensed milk

4 tbsp cinnamon

1 pinch each nutmeg, cloves, salt

4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup slivered almonds, crushed

1. Mix together the sugars, the shortening and the butter.
2. Add the condensed milk and spices and gradually blend in the flour and baking soda.
3. Crush the almonds with a rolling pin and mix in. The dough will be somewhat stiff.
4. Roll into logs covered with plastic or waxed paper. Leave in refrigerator overnight.
5. Cut into slices and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees F for around 10 minutes.

Traditionally Speculaas are imprinted with some pattern created by a wooden mold (before baking). If you imprint the cookies with a mold, they will look better.

Makes about 80 cookies.

Defending Life: A Mission Proper to the Church

As a seminarian I am preparing for to be a spiritual leader in the Catholic Church, but also to exhibit a moral authority among the wider community. John Paul II recognized that for the proper exercise of moral authority the Church must remain neutral when it comes to politics (cf. Centissimus Annus). At the same time I am and will remain a pro-life advocate - remain so without apology. In the United States this looks like a compromise on remaining politically neutral.

The defense of life though it a mission proper to all Christians, Catholics and Protestants. The "right to life" is pre-political - this means that it should not be a political issue, but rather something taken for granted before it even reaches the debates of politics. So when there is a political challenge to protecting innocent human life, the Church must defend the same innocent human life. This was the message that Pope Benedict XVI delivered to the Argentinian ambassador to the Holy See, "To promote the dignity of the person and elevate it in an integral way for the benefit of all,mission proper to the Church."

So I acknowledge that I do not remain politically neautral when I advocate support of the any positions that are truly pro-life. I do not apologize for this, for I have not over-stepped my limits, but rather I ask the apology of the politicians who have over-stepped their own proper limits. It is not in the realm of politics to determine when life begins and end, but within the realm of the laws of nature that are above politics, and even above religious and denominationaly divides.
Saint Nicolas...

...Pray for Us!

Fight FOCA

The Freedom of Choice Act is all around bad legislation:

Fight FOCA

This is not an intrusion into politics, since the defense of life from any threat is a moral precept for all men and women of goodwill, especially Christians, and most especially those called to be spiritual shepherds. I understand that there are political overtones to this, but while these are foreseen, they are not intended. The defense of life justifies such.

Please continue to pray for your president, George Walter Bush

Please continue to pray for our president-elect, Barak Hussein Obama

Saint Thomas More, Pray for them!

Saint Gianna Beretta Mola, Pray for the United States!

Going up the mountain to pray...

Death of Saint Francis Xavier by Peter Paul Reubens

Dec. 3 is the feast of Saint Francis Xavier, a saint that I have a great devotion to since he is the patron of the diocese of Green Bay.

He is know as the Apostle to the Indies, since he brought the faith there. As the first missionary in the area, he made a number of mistakes, but he also laid down the ground work for further missionary work that has changed these cultures ever since.

He used artwork to evangelize, since it was difficult to explain the faith in the languages of the different peoples he encountered. For that reason I keep this post short, and leave you with some art.

Relic of the hand of Saint Francis Xavier in the Church of the Gesu in Rome. This is the hand that baptized "100,000" men, women and childre. You can see why I refer to Saint Francis as the "high-five" saint.

An Evil Stocking Stuffer

I think these articles say enough:

Planned Parenthood Issues Christmas Gift Certificates: Give the Gift of Abortion from Lifenews.com
Planned Parenthood Has Reached a New-Low from the InForumBlog of Emmy award winning journalist Shelia Liaugminus
Evil Stocking Stuffers: Gift Certificates for Abortion from the American Papist

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Planned Parenthood selling evil since 1916.

The campaign for birth control is not merely of eugenic value, but is practically identical with the final aims of eugenics....

Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood

Pro-life: Single-Issue voting?

A house without a foundation

No one reading this blog would dream of building a house without first providing for a strong and certain foundation. We know that without a strong foundation the beauty of the rest of the house does not matter, since the whole building is unstable.

The same principle can be applied when we are talking about the various rights and duties. Some rights are more important than other rights simply because they serve as the foundation on which other rights are built. This means that if the first right is not adequately protected, the other rights that are “built” on top of will inevitably unstable.

In the history of our country we have enshrined three rights as these foundational rights, as can be clearly seen by a quick read of the Declaration of Independence when it states,

we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these, governments were instituted among men...

The Founding Fathers listed these three basic rights, since they knew that no other right could be guaranteed without these being protected. The fact that each human has these rights is so obvious to them that these rights are even considered to be “self-evident.” Simply put if these three rights are violated, none of the other rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights or other laws will last much longer.

Following this train of thought, it also seems that among these three rights that the right to life stands out as the foundation for the other two rights. The reason is simple. A human cannot exercise his or her liberty nor can he or she pursue happiness if they are not living. A dead human does not exercise freedom of speech or freedom of assembly. There will never be a campaign by the NRA to make sure corpses maintain the right to bear arms. Such ideas are just absurd.

Life is simply the foundation for all other rights.

This same sentence from the Declaration of Independence also states that “all men” have these rights. Moving the language to the twenty-first century we can see that the Fathers meant all humans. So a law that violates any human's right to life, violates the basic principles of the United States. So the laws of the country must protect life, and to a certain extent this may even mean compromises on other rights, including to a limited extent the right of privacy (which you will not find in any part of the Constitution).

This clearly includes restricting abortion, since it is a matter of science that at the moment of conception a new human comes into existence. So even the youngest fetus deserves to have his or her life protected. Each of us was a fetus at one time, starting out as one cell than a cluster of cells, and we developed into who we are today. We are the evidence that a fetus is a human.

There is clearly an attraction to politicians that offer comprehensive welfare programs. This appeals to the natural sense of charity that all men and women of good will have. But if this same politician does not support a clear commitment to protecting life, especially innocent life, than his or her policies on any other number of issues become irrelevant.

Hold on, we cannot be single issue voters?!

This is not single issue voting! When a vote is cast for a politician that is committed to protecting life, a vote is being cast for a politician that is protecting the foundation of all other rights. Ultimately there are no other rights if life is not protected. So a vote based on one issue, the issue of life is not single issue voting, a voting for the protection of all rights.

I encourage challenges to this posting.

As Father Benjamin Sember says:

Father Benjamin Sember was my main source of sanity last year, and hence a good friend. So I have decided to share a quote from a recent conversation. Anyone who has spent anytime in Italy will appreciate this:

Welcome to Italy, where you have to obey all the rules that you have to obey. Which rules are the ones you have to obey? The ones you have to obey. You don't need to obey the ones you don't need to obey.