A Father's Love

If I live to be a hundred, I will never understand why some children treat their parents the way they sometimes do. “Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother” was a Commandment by Christ, not a suggestion.

A good friend of mine has not spoken with his son in eleven years. They’re estranged. What a terrible word. Estranged means to be removed from usual surroundings and to become strangers to one another. He has told me there is no acceptable reason for this silence of one of his lambs. But, whatever it might be must never thumb its nose at that Commandment. Never.

It saddened me to think that my friend had helped create a child, held him in his arms, taken him to school, taught him to play ball, fed him, clothed him, laughed with him, cried with him, watched him grow and, then, felt him slowly drift away. Was this the reward for becoming a father?

Keenly aware that he did not want to anger his son as St. Paul warned in his letter to the Colossians, “Fathers do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged ”, he traveled to the city where his son worked to find out what was wrong. He was also well aware of the first part of that warning of St. Paul: “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord ” (Colossians 3: 20-21) Tough call, but good for him.

It is the teaching of my Christian faith that “divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood.” * (“ For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named ” ) ( Ephesians 3:14-15). “This is the foundation of the honor owed to the parents. It is required by God’s Commandment.” * ( “Honor your father and your mother that you may live a long life in the land which your God is giving you ) (Exodus 20:12)

“Respect for parents comes from gratitude towards those who, by the gift of life, their love and their work, have brought their children into the world and enabled them to grow in stature, wisdom and grace.” *(“ Remember that through your parents you were born; what can you give back that equals their gift to you?”) ( Sirach 7:27-28) (* Cathechism of the Catholic Church )

No one will doubt or challenge that mothers and fathers deserve respect. Much of what I’ve quoted from the Bible and my church’s teaching will surely resonate with many of you. We need simply look around today to see the collapse of the family through divorce, drugs, scandal, what have you. The moral fabric of our society is badly frayed.

Some may argue that something must have happened to cause this parting of their ways. Indeed, obviously, there was something that this father could not fathom and is why he sought out his son. He claimed he was not aware of anything he might have done to cause this rupture, but would offer apologies nonetheless and ask forgiveness if need be. If his son is embarrassed and is shielding him from some grief, he needs to know so that he may offer comfort. But, overriding all of this speculation is the profound truth that children must respect their parents and parents must love their children.

“He who honors his father atones for sins; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. He who honors his father is gladdened by children and when he prays he is heard. He who reveres his father will live a long life. He obeys the Lord who brings comfort to his mother”(Sirach 3: 2-6)

Love is a powerful force and prayer is even stronger. Together, they have been known to make miracles.

Let’s pray for that, since he never connected with his son.
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God And Evil

Why Does God Allow Evil In The World?

Having recently left the horror of hurricanes in Florida, I have now settled in to my new home in Alabama and discovered the terror of tornados.

Lately, there have been natural disasters the likes of which we have not seen in years. Fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes are happening far too often and are causing death and destruction. Let me not forget the frightening evidence of global warming and widespread drought.

The question often asked is being asked more frequently these days. Why does God permit these terrible tragedies? Tough question. Obviously, no one knows. But, we can speculate. I have a theory.

For those of us, who believe in God, believe He created a world in a state of journeying towards its ultimate perfection which we believe is being with Him. Whatever that might be. As long as it has not reached that perfection, it is an imperfect world with both good and evil Or, to put it another way, a perfect world could not be both good and evil.

So, ours is not a perfect world. No siree! It is filled with natural beauty and natural disaster. God is supremely good and would only permit the evil of disaster to occur or to exist in His works, such as storms like the deadly Katrina or the recent spreading wildfires in California, for example, because He knows that good can be derived from evil.

Don’t scoff. The good that comes after storms such as Katrina is evident in the help the victims received with love and consideration of people around the world. This is always the case after every flood, hurricane or fire. Compassion inevitably follows chaos. It is happening in California to the victims who saw their homes and all their possessions reduced to ashes.

These disasters are not punishments by God. So, we should not ask why He ‘allows’ them, implying He is angry with us for our moral decay. The disasters, on the contrary, are opportunities for good. Consider that the greatest good came from the greatest evil: the redemption of sin came from the crucifixion of Christ.

All of these disasters, I believe, therefore, are blessings in disguise.

Till next time...　

T'ain't Easy

It’s not easy being Christian. Or, as Molly McGee said to her husband Fibber on their radio program many years ago,” T’aint easy McGee”. No. it isn’t. Christ never said it would be.

The hard and fast rules of Christianity are sometimes difficult to accept in a culture that can best be described as “ whatever works ”. Opposing abortion and the death penalty, for example, will not win you many friends and alienate some you have, many of whom, surprisingly, might be Christians.

To be Christian means to belong, through Baptism, to a church founded by Jesus Christ, Son of God, It means to believe and obey all that Church’s doctrines based on Christ’s teachings which carry the responsibility to preach them and transform the world.

The current town hall meetings filled with shouting, angry citizens got me to thinking. What does it mean to be a Christian citizen? How do you faithfully follow the tenets of your faith and, at the same time, obey and accommodate those laws or challenge possible reform that does not respect life?

While many objected to the now proven false “ death panels” in the health care reform bill, the protests at their core were manifestations of responsibilities as Christians ( and non-Christians, to be sure)

OK. So far so good. But, what does a Christian do when a politician, seeking public office, does not openly proclaim opposition to either abortion, the death penalty or the “death panels” when that rumor began.? Can a Christian vote for such a politician? The simple answer is “yes” if the purpose of the vote is, obviously, not to promote any of those barbaric acts.

The flip side is that a Christian may choose not to vote because the candidate may support abortion or the death penalty or some other intrinsic evil, such as embryonic stem cell research or euthanasia, aka “death with dignity”. Although we shouldn’t be one issue voters, it is possible and permissible.

But, it really doesn’t end there. The Christian citizen has a serious moral obligation to participate in political life so that evil laws are changed. It is heartening, then, to see these town hall meetings however raucous they may be.

What does it mean to be a Christian politician? Ah, that’s a lot tougher than just being a Christian.citizen.After all, a Christian politician is also a Christian citizen.Christians are called to bring truth to political life. The people who make laws also have an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws, lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good. Not a popular concept.

Hearing all this, there are those who will scream First Amendment, separation of Church and State! Nonsense. Fulfilling responsibilities as Christians is not establishing a national religion. It is, quite simply, living the faith as Christ commanded us.

Responsible citizenship, then, is a virtue and participation in political life is a moral obligation. That does not mean we should all run for office. Rather, at the least, we should raise our voices on matters that affect our lives and the common good. (Of course with more decorum than is being displayed in those town hall meetings)

It is essential, then, that we bring our convictions ( read: our faith) into public life. It is far too common to hear the separation of church and state argument as if our faith is like the good china that we keep at home and only use on Sunday.

Yeah, t’ain't easy, but worth it for the heavenly reward.

Till next time....

America’s Royal Court

Hollywood aside, the closest that we come to anything resembling royalty in this country is the Supreme Court. Calling it the Supreme court should be the first clue.

It has long fascinated me that, in this democracy, most of the rulings on laws that have directly affected our individual lives have been made by people who were not elected by us. And, once chosen to serve, cannot be removed by us, no matter how much we may dislike them. Talk about to the manor born!

Think about it. Nine people can have more effect on our lives than the elected President and 100 members of the Senate. Or, for that matter, 435 elected members of the House. Nine. And, the one justice who causes the majority is the one holding ‘ the balance of power’. One. What a country. “We the people. .” Yeah, right.

With Judge Sonia Sotomayor now confirmed by Congress to fill the Court vacancy, I thought it would be interesting to examine how this extraordinary body of barristers came to be.

As you will see, we made this court a royal one, not the Founders. In fact, we call it the High Court, which the Founders never did.

Other than establishing it, the Constitution spells out neither the specific duties, number of justices, powers nor organization of the Supreme Court. “ The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court ...” (Article III, Section I ) Instead, the Constitution left it to Congress and to the Justices of the Court itself to develop the authorities and operations of the entire Judicial Branch of government.
(www.usgovinfo.about.com/blcthistory.htm )

That special power to choose justices was, in fact, given to the President :" nominate, by and with the advise and consent of the Senate" and curiously was buried in Article II, Section II of the Constitution. It was stated after " appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls.." and followed by " all other Officers of the United States, whose appointments....",and on and on. Originally there were only six Justices, later 7 (1807), then 9 (1837), a failed attempt at 10 with nine finally settled on (1869).

You have to wonder why we make such a big deal of these appointments since the Founding Fathers apparently didn’t. Of course, they didn’t have TV, the Internet or cell phones with cameras, texting, tweeting and whatever. It’s my guess, then, that they probably never imagined that the ‘power’ to select would someday result in a court of nine people who would resolve life-altering issues. “Roe v. Wade” comes to mind.

But, here’s the unbelievable part. When chosen and consented to, these judges remain on the bench for life. For life. Ye gads. Why? Because the authors of the Constitution wrote, “ The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their Offices during good behavior.” (Article III/Section I ) Good behavior ? Boy those guys lived a simple life! Well, since the average lifespan at the time was in the mid-40’s, how long they served was probably of no real consequence to them.

In my view and, in due respect, the Founders really blew this one. But, the Constitution is, as they say, a “living document ”, so, we can and should perform minor surgery and amend the constitution to create term limits.

Should we do that, the regal aura surrounding these reclusive, virtually cloistered lawyers might then dissipate and even better, the Congressional hearings with televised posturing that gives birth to sound-bites might mercifully disappear.

Too bad, by the way, the Founders didn’t include “during good behavior” when establishing the rest of our government.

Till next time.....

Fantastic Voyage

When does life begin?

Good question. Is it when the child is still a fetus inside the womb? Or is it when the fetus becomes a baby and takes it’s first breath outside the womb?
　
As a Christian, I believe that life begins at the magical, mysterious moment of conception. To understand why I believe that, come with me on a fantastic voyage.
　
Imagine we’re miniaturized like those actors were in that old classic science fiction movie,“ Fantastic Voyage ”.

Please don’t be squeamish, but imagine we’re floating in a tiny vessel that is taking us through the bloodstream in a woman’s body. Since women have been chosen and blessed by God to be the receptacles-almost the tabernacles, if you will-of life, then, maybe, if we’re lucky, we’ll see how life begins.
　
Imagine we are watching an egg (ovum) traveling down the hollow organ
(fallopian tube) that connects the ovaries( female egg hatchery) with the
uterus (the nursery, so to speak). The egg seems to be looking for that
certain ‘someone’ among the countless sperm swimming by.

Look! Oh my, it appears to have found ‘ the one’ among millions swimming in the womb and doesn’t it look like they’ve ‘ kissed and made love’? (Scientists call it “ fusion”) Oh boy, a single cell has now emerged and it’s dividing, again and again Wow. It’s getting bigger.( known as a blastocyst)
　
Here we are, a few short days later and what began as a microscopic cell
has become what is called an embryo. Ah, an embryo. Isn’t that what’s being slaughtered on the altar of research? Look at that. Just like a baby, it has found the most comfortable and secure spot on the uterus wall and attaches itself as if to nestle in a crib. Isn’t that wonderful.
　
Listen. Hear that? We’ve only been here about a month and already we can hear the tiny heart beat. In a few more weeks, I understand we’ll see the eyes, legs and hands begin to develop. If we stay for eight weeks, we’ll see facial features, muscles, nervous system and sex organs-sex organs! Imagine that! Of course, if we stayed even longer, we could see this baby-in-the making grow from 1/5 of an inch to about 10 inches, from an ounce to many pounds. What a show that would be.
　
Absolutely amazing. That almost invisible single cell, the “offspring” you
might say, of “mother ovum” and “father sperm”, will grow and in only
nine months or so, it will be their newborn child.

We really didn’t need to imagine all of that, since it’s all been recorded.

But, it was fun to imagine that we were there.
　
So, when did life begin? Was it when an arm, a leg or a face was formed
during its growth? That makes no sense. Life doesn’t begin in the middle of growth and development. Or was it later, when the doctor slapped the bare bottom of the baby as it came into the world? Please. Despite what you may have heard, the doctor is not God. He only gave it breath, not life.
　
No. Remember the sperm meeting and mating the ovum? That’s when life begins. That’s not religious dogma that we have to believe in blind faith. It is scientific fact. Fertilization of the female egg. Biology 101.
　
Each and everyone of us began life as that single cell that emerged when our father’s sperm met our mother’s egg. We grew from a single cell to a full grown, crying baby.,
　
So that single, first cell must have been alive, since dead things don’t grow.

That’s when life begins.
　
　
　
　

The Other "N" Word

Hate the sin and love the sinner.

That’s what is said to opponents of gay marriage when our objection is misunderstood as our contempt for homosexuals. Well, we do love the sinner. But, this is the time to talk about the sin, especially since gay marriage is so often in the news. This is about what we, Christians especially, perceive is meant by “ gay marriage”. This is about the “ n ” word.

No, not that word. That’s about race. This is about sex. “ Natural ”. That “ n ” word..

Gay marriage isn’t natural. Notice that I didn’t say “normal” since ‘normal’ is a relative word in these days of “whatever works”.

Now that I have your attention and hopefully have not offended anyone, let me explain.

First, it’s important to understand that when we speak of gay marriage, we are not only speaking about a loving, committed relationship. We are talking about the physical sex that expresses that love. Otherwise, we’re simply talking about roommates. We must assume the marriage that gays seek is more than two

roommates seeking equality under the law for all the benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples. Otherwise, they would be happy with “civil unions” that are enjoyed by many in some states.

So, is sex between same sex partners unnatural ? Yes, because it is contrary to the natural law. Natural law or the law of nature is a theory that states the existence of a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere. (www.wikipedia.com) Translated, that means natural is that which operates according to its nature.

Which brings me to the human reproductive or sex organs. You might say they were made for each other. Literally. There is a certain beauty, an elegance, in these reproductive organs. The operative word, of course, is “reproductive”. Even if you did not believe in God, the creator of all things, you must marvel at the complexity of how women produce human eggs and men produce the seeds that fertilize those eggs and give them life. To reproduce the species is their purpose. It is their nature.

(That does not mean that every sex act must result in childbirth. In point of fact, it doesn’t always. But, that’s not germane.)

“Traditional Christian beliefs have always declared that people with homosexual tendencies are to be loved and embraced but, homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. Those acts are contrary to the natural law and close the sexual act to the gift of life.”(Catechism Catholic Church)

There it is: “They close the sex act to the gift of life.”

To call a relationship of gays a "marriage", then, is obviously not to describe a relationship for the procreation of children. So, you have to wonder why the gays passionately pursue being called “married ” Perhaps they seek respect, since society holds long term commitments in great regard. But a "commitment" does not a marriage make.
No, it’s more than respect for their commitment. I believe the gays are seeking to have the state sanction those relationships as “marriages” because it will grant an imprimatur of “normal” to what is essentially unnatural.


So, let me be clear. Christians oppose gay “marriages” not because they threaten traditional marriages. How could they? They are fundamentally not the same. No, Christians-and others- oppose the sanctioning of gay relationships as “marriages” because they will condone the unnatural sex that is presumably present in those relationships.

And, unnatural sex is the sin that we hate.

Till next time....

Life Is Sacred

The fundamental truth that permeates the Catholic church’s teaching on embryonic stem cell research, abortion, death penalty and euthanasia is that life is sacred.

In this country today, women’s right to control their reproductive choices seems to be more important than the unborn’s right to life, which can never be claimed, because it can never be heard. And, those who speak for the unborn are given negative labels such as “ anti-abortionists ” as if respecting life is a terrible thing.

To argue that banning abortion will lead to a nightmare scenario of back alleys and desperate measures is to imply that legalized killing of unborn children is acceptable because it is done safely. It is still killing. The unborn child nestled in the womb is not a potted plant in a garden. Oh, how I wish those babies could scream.

It amazes me how many people can be duped by the slogan “Pro-Choice”. The slogan “Pro-Choice” has always bothered me. There are only two choices regarding abortion: yes or no. The choice of “No” is, effectively, “pro-life”. Well, certainly, abortionists would never admit to that. So, there is really only one choice of “yes” and that choice would be, de facto, forgive me, “pro-death”.

No wonder abortionists parade behind an attractive banner that hides one of the choices that is ugly. In the matter of respecting human life, there should be no choices.

And, speaking of hiding behind a a name for an ugly thing, consider the abortion pill, Mifeprestone , also known as RU 486. Giving a name like RU-486, that looks like a license plate, to a pill with deadly consequences was a stroke of genius. Because, now, for pregnant women, " taking the pill " will sound innocent and not as terrifying as " having an abortion”.

But, make no mistake. This is the abortion pill that terminates pregnancy by stopping the growth of the embryo and expelling it from the womb, as if it were waste matter.Horrible.

In this country, whether we are adults executed in electric chairs, children murdered with guns in school, or embryos denied life on the wall of the mother's uterus, killing each other is as easy as throwing a switch, pulling a trigger or as easy as taking a pill and calling the doctor in the morning.

To paraphrase the late Rodney Dangerfield, " Life in this country gets no respect"..Till next time...