Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, in vanum laborant qui aedificaverunt eam - "Unless the Lord built the house, they worked in vain who built it" Ps. 127

Thursday, December 31, 2015

7th Day of Christmas - What is the Christmas Season, and Why Does It Matter?

Antique Angel tree-topper at Principium et Finis World Headquarters
   Happy 7th Day of Christmas!  What with all this talk about The Twelve Days of Christmas, one might get the impression that Christmas ends after Epiphany (traditional date January 6th, the thirteenth day after Christmas Day itself).  In fact, the Church's official Christmas Season extends until the Baptism of The Lord, which is the Sunday after Epiphany, and in some places (specifically, Eastern Europe), the informal celebration continues until the Feast of the Presentation on February 2nd.  During his pontificate, Pope St. John Paul II celebrated Christmas until the Presentation, and Pope Benedict XVI did the same; I haven't heard whether Pope Francis has followed suit (we do so in our home, in keeping with my Lovely Bride's Polish heritage . . . or, at least, that's our excuse).

     The entire Christmas Season, then, is like a series of ripples of decreasing intensity emanating from the Feast of the Nativity itself on December 25th . . . 

(To read the entire post, please go to Principium et Finis HERE

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

6th Day of Christmas - Do You Hear What I Hear?

Now here’s a treat.  I was looking for a song that involved the star of Bethlehem as a complement to my post on Principium et Finis, “Day 6 of Christmas: God Is Light.”  My first thought was of the song “Do You Hear What I Hear?”, because it’s first verse goes:

Said the night wind to the little lamb
Do you see what I see
Way up in the sky little lamb
Do you see what I see
A star, a star
Dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite

As I was perusing the various renditions available on YouTube, I found a clip of none other than Bing Crosby singing this delightful Christmas song back in 1963.  Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!  The Season is still young!





Tuesday, December 29, 2015

5th Day of Christmas - Angels We Have Heard On High

Happy 5th Day of Christmas!  For very many people, it was back to work in a serious way yesterdayday; after Christmas and the weekend, it was a Monday not so different from any other, and today . . . well, just another working Tuesday.  For the Christian, however, it’s still a holiday (that is, a Holy Day), a Solemnity, Tuesday in the Octave of Christmas.  Even if nobody else seems to notice, you have every reason to go about your business humming “Gloria in excelsis Deo!”  Here’s a Little Something to help you along.  Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 28, 2015

4th day of Christmas - Holy Innocents & Coventry Carol

Today, the 4th Day of Christmas, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which commemorates the slaughter of all male children in Bethlehem under two years old by King Herod's soldiers.  Herod had learned from the Magi that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem, and feared that this Messiah would depose him.  As it happened, the Messiah (Jesus) escaped, and Herod went to eternal reward while Jesus was still an infant. You can read my post on the Holy Innocents (and Holy Innocence) HERE at Principium et Finis.

At one time, the story of the thesis poor murdered children inspired a large number of songs.  The best known today (the only one, in fact that is still regularly performed) is The "Coventry Carol" (lyrics below), dating from the 16th century.  The spare, hauntingly beautiful rendition in the clip below is performed by Valeria Mignaco and Alfonso Marin.



1. Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullay.


2. O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.


3. Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.


4. Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting, nor say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child,
By by, lully lullay.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Feast of St. John The Evangelist (3rd Day of Christmas)

So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:25-27)

 Merry 3rd Day of Christmas!  The major feast today is the Solemnity of the Holy Family, but December 27th is also the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, author not only of one of the Gospels, but also three New Testament letters and the Book of Revelation. St. John has traditionally been represented by an eagle because he “soars” to greater heights, theologically speaking, than the other Evangelists.  He is also known as “The Beloved Disciple” because in his Gospel he often refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”.   


"The Crucifixion" by Rogier van der Weyden: St. John, Mary, and Jesus
    
     Many people have wondered over the centuries why John makes such a point of depicting himself as The Beloved Disciple.  On one level, of course, it must reflect his actual experience.  He mentions it frequently and pointedly enough, however, that it seems that there must be more to it.  And so there is: as Edward Sri explains [full article here]:

He represents the ideal disciple.  The beloved disciple is the one who is close to Jesus, leaning on his master’s breast at the last supper (John 13:25).  He is the one Apostle who remains with Jesus even in the face of Christ’s suffering and persecution – while the other Apostles fled, only the beloved disciple followed Jesus all the way to the cross (John 19:26).

     I want to focus on this last point, because so many people are suffering in various ways - in my home right now we are praying for a number of families who are experiencing illness, employment problems, divorce, and other hardships. Modern mental health professionals confirm the words that Charles Dickens put in the mouth of one of his characters in A Christmas Carol more than a century and a half ago: “it is at Christmastime that want is most keenly felt”.  This is a very hard time of year for our brothers and sisters who are in distress. I think the passage from John’s Gospel at the top of this post has a special import for those who find themselves standing at the Foot of The Cross in the midst of this festive season: all who join their suffering to His are his Beloved Disciples; the Mother of Jesus is your mother, and Christ your Brother suffers with you.  

May God's blessing be on you all this Christmas!


(See also "3rd Day of Christmas: The Feast of the Holy Family" at Principium et Finis)

Saturday, December 26, 2015

The Feast of St. Stephen: Joy, Sorrow, & Triumph (2nd Day of Christmas)

But he [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
And Saul was consenting to his death.  (Acts 7:55-8:1)   

 I’ve heard it said that the wooden manger, a couple of planks laid across two trestles, foreshadows the wooden beams of the cross.  If that’s a little too subtle an indication of what the incarnation is about, there’s this: on the Second Day of Christmas, when the dishes from Christmas dinner have hardly had time to dry and be put away, we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, the Proto-martyr, the first Christian to die for the Faith after the death of Christ himself.  Could there possibly be a more jarring reminder that our Joy is not care-free, that Grace is not cheap, and that the Nativity leads directly to the Crucifixion? 
     St. Stephen himself was one of the original deacons, who were chosen in the following way:

And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."  (Acts 6:2-4)

Despite being appointed “to serve tables”, Stephen, like his fellow Deacon Philip (see here), was in fact also called upon to preach the word of God (Acts 7), which is what leads to his death.  St. Stephen’s story is a reminder that we all have different roles to play, but all of us are called upon to witness to the Gospel  (μάρτυςthe Greek word from which we get the word martyr, means “witness”).
     The very origin of that word shows us that the simple fact of being a witness to Christ provokes strong, sometimes violent, opposition. But note the young man Saul (the future St. Paul, Apostle and Martyr), who looks on in approval, maybe even as a leader or instigator of St. Stephen’s stoning. It’s possible that the example of the Proto-martyr helped to prepare him for his eventual conversion, and that the ferocity of his persecution of Christians between Stephen’s death and his own encounter with the risen Christ was borne of a desperate resistance to the gentle promptings that were stirring in his heart. In any case, we see that we should not be discouraged even by the strongest opposition, because the power of Christ is stronger still.  We need to do our part, and trust Him to do the rest.
     And so if we take the long view, commemorating the death of the First Martyr at this time is not at all strange. The Liturgical Calendar reminds us, on the Second Day of  Christmas, that we need to embrace the Gospel in its entirety: the joy of  the Nativity leads to the sorrow of Cavalry, which itself prepares the way for the still greater glory of Easter.  I’ll give St. Peter the final word:
    
There is cause for rejoicing here. You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials; but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness lead to praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears. (1 Peter. 1:6-7)



(See also at Principium et FinisChristmas is just beginning: “2nd Day of Christmas: Joy to the World!)

Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas! Beautiful Celtic Version Of "O Holy Night"

Merry Christmas, everybody – may the Lord bless you on the feast of his Nativity!

I have especially loved “O Holy Night” for a long time.  I am particularly fond of a lush orchestral arrangement with a world-famous operatic soprano sending chills down the spine – but for today I was looking for something a little more modest, but just as beautiful, to honor the little child born in a stable and lying in a manger. This is what I found: 



What’s more, the video was produced for a great cause; here are the notes from the YouTube page:

A brand new Celtic version of O Holy Night arranged and performed by Irish Classical Crossover group Affinití in aid of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. 

Oh Holy Night has been our favourite Christmas song for many years and we decided to compose our own celtic arrangement of it this Christmas to help raise awareness and funds for the wonderful work of the SVP. www.svp.ie 

We really hope you enjoy it and if you do, please share! 


With heartfelt thanks to all those who gave their time to produce this track and video. Mark Cahill, Blanaid Murphy, Germaine Carlos, The Palestrina Boys Choir, Carlow Choral society, Army of Id, Lucy Nuzum, Empower Studio and St. Mary's church Haddington Road for the use of the church in the video.

"Adoration of the Shepherds" by Charles Le Brun

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Lo, How A Rose E're Blooming

The hymn "Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming", with its quiet, understated intensity, beautifully captures the spirit of Advent.  The song starts out recalling Isaiah's humble image of the shoot from the stump of Jesse and the people waiting in darkness:


Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung,
of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung.
It came, a flow’ret bright, amid the cold of winter,
when half-spent was the night.


Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind . . .


We then turn our attention to the Blessed Mother, and see that tender shoot come forth in the person of Jesus:


With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright, she bore to men a Savior,
when half-spent was the night.


Finally, we are shown how God uses that seemingly small beginning to bring about great things:


This flow’r, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
dispels with glorious splendor the darkness ev’rywhere.
True man, yet very God; from sin and death he saves us
and lightens ev’ry load.


Today, the last day of Advent, the night is more than half-spent, and we wait in joyful anticipation of God Himself, Emmanuel, coming among us in the form of a little human baby.  O come, o come Emmanuel!






(See also: We all get the conversion experience we need: “The Christmas Conversion of St.Thérèse” http://goo.gl/YSc1dh)

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

A Still Small Voice & The Lord Of Creation

(This Worth Revisiting Post was originally part of the Sunday Snippets post from the Fourth Sunday in Advent, December 21st, 2014. To enjoy the work of other faithful Catholic bloggers see Worth Revisiting Wednesday, hosted by Elizabeth Reardon at theologyisaverb.com and Allison Gingras at reconciledtoyou.com.)

     Today, Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent, we anticipate the Nativity of Our Lord in a few short days.  The (seemingly) unexpected appearance of the Lord of Creation in the form of a human infant in a stable reminds me of the following passage from the Old Testament, in which God comes to the prophet Elijah as he hides in a cave:

And he [the Lord] said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice; And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  (1 Kings: 11-13)

This, in its way, is as clear a foretaste of the Messiah as the "messianic" passages we read in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel throughout advent . . .

To read the rest of this post, please visit Principium et Finis HERE

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Never Underestimate The Power Of Prayer (from Principium et Finis)


The Dalai Lama, anti-prayer warrior

I was powerfully reminded recently of the old saying, “Never underestimate the power of prayer”. I had just been reading about the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, who has been urging people not to pray for France or for the victims of the recent Islamic terror attacks in Paris (a theme that has been taken up, much less gracefully, by more secular sources after the terror attack in San Bernadino California).

            Bemused by the apparent incongruity of a renowned religious leader discouraging prayer, I tracked down this news article, which quotes the Dalai Lama as saying:

We cannot solve this problem only through prayers. I am a Buddhist and I believe in praying. But humans have created this problem, and now we are asking God to solve it. It    is illogical. God would say, solve it yourself because you created it in the first place . . . We need a systematic approach to foster humanistic values, of oneness and harmony. If we start doing it now, there is hope that this century will be different from the previous one. It is in everybody’s interest. So let us work for peace within our families and society, and not expect help from God, Buddha or the governments.

            To be fair, the concept of an omnipotent Creator God who really hears our prayers appears to be foreign to the tradition in which the Dalai Lama was formed; we should not expect him to embrace a Christian concept of prayer. At the same time, St. Peter tells us to “to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), and therefore it is proper to point out several false assumptions implicit in the Buddhist leader’s remarks . . . 


To read the rest of this post, please visit Principium et Finis HERE

Saturday, October 24, 2015

"To Whom Shall We Go? You Have The Words Of Eternal Life"

    Our first child seemed reluctant to be born.  The baby (we didn't yet know whether boy or girl) was almost two weeks overdue, however, when we went to Mass one Sunday in March, so we knew that we would have a newborn child in our home before the Lord's day came around again.  We heard this first reading at that Mass:

And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen these." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he comes here."
And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he."
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
(1 Samuel 16:10-13)


St. Frances X. Cabrini Church, Scituate, MA (Boston Globe photo)
We had not yet settled on a name for our baby, although "David" was on the short list. Now we were sure that our child would be a boy, and that we would name him David (as an aside, we heard the same reading six years later before the birth of our youngest son, whom we had already decided would be named Samuel if he were a boy).
    Now, almost twenty years later and several states away, I see this same little church is in the news, but the news is not as happy as it was for us and our son David.  Granted, if you look at the Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini website, you see all the signs of thriving, vibrant parish: a wide range of charitable works and causes, parish activities such as craft fairs and picnics, prayer services, etc.  Most pastors would be ecstatic to have such involved, committed parishioners, except . . . there is no pastor.  There is, in fact, no parish any longer.  St. Francis X. Cabrini was one of several dozen parishes ordered closed by the Archdiocese of Boston 11 years ago, and the people devoting so much time and energy to their local church in Scituate have been occupying the property all these years in direct defiance of their bishop.
       This is, quite simply, a heart- breaking story.  For Catholics, as I explain in an earlier post (“A Church is Much, Much More Than A Building”):


Churches are much more than just buildings.  They are enormous sacramentals, consecrated objects that can help connect us to the Grace of a God who is pure Spirit; they are iconic representations that teach us at an unconscious level about an ordered Universe with God at the apex, or at least they used to be (see here and here).  They are also places closely connected to some of the deepest experiences of our lives, such as baptisms, weddings and funerals, as well as being places where communities gather.  Sometimes these connections are formed over the course of generations.  That’s why the closing of a church is so much more traumatic than the closing of a movie theater, for instance, or a department store.  The local church is, for most people, their concrete connection to transcendent realities.


The local church is both a connection to transcendent realities, and also a beloved part of the personal history of thousands of people.  Even if it weren't for my own brief connection to this particular church a couple decades ago, my heart would go out to these people; and yet . . .
    And yet, for all of us, following Christ often means saying “no” to ourselves, of picking up our cross and following him.  Some of those crosses can be in the form of obedience to proper authority, even when we think he is  wrong, even when he might in all truth actually be wrong.  In his letter to the Smyrnaeans c. 110 A.D., St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote:
    
Icon of St. Ignatius of Antioch
See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid. (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8)


    The Bishop in this case has made it quite clear where he stands.  St. Ignatius of Antioch, who allowed himself to be devoured by lions for the sake of the Church of Jesus Christ, would not approve of the people occupying the de-commissioned church in Scituate.
    His is not a lonely voice in the history of the Church. Fourteen centuries later another St. Ignatius wrote:


The superior is to be obeyed not because he is prudent, or good, or qualified by any other gift of God, but because he holds the place and the authority of God, as Eternal Truth has said: He who hears you, hears me; and he who rejects you, rejects me [Luke 10:16] . . .  This will appear less strange to you if you keep in mind that Saint Paul, writing to the Ephesians, bids us obey even temporal and pagan superiors as Christ, from whom all well-ordered authority descends . . .   (St. Ignatius Loyola, On Perfect Obedience 2)


That is not to say that Catholics whose church is slated for closure should not have any recourse.  In the same letter this St. Ignatius says:
But this does not mean that you should not feel free to propose a difficulty, should something occur to you different from his opinion, provided you pray over it, and it seems to you in God's presence that you ought to make the representation to the superior. If you wish to proceed in this matter without suspicion of attachment to your own judgment, you must maintain indifference both before and after making this representation, not only as to undertaking or relinquishing the matter in question, but you must even go so far as to be better satisfied with, and to consider as better, whatever the superior shall ordain. (On Perfect Obedience 6)


By all means make an appropriate appeal through proper channels, St. Ignatius says, but one needs to accept the final decision with Christian humility.
    The parishioners of St. Francis X. Cabrini had such an opportunity.  Theirs was one of a number of parishes whose members protested its closure by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2004, as was the church where David was baptized, St. Albert the Great in Weymouth, MA.  The Archdiocese reversed its decision the following year in the case of St. Albert’s, but no reprieve came for the parishioners of St. Francis X. Cabrini, not from their local ordinary, and not from the Vatican when they sought relief from that quarter (on occasion Rome has sided with the local parish: see here).  The church remains officially closed, and now the Massachusetts Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s ruling that the occupiers, after 11 years, are to be evicted.
    Representatives of the St. Frances occupiers held a press conference last week to respond to the court’s ruling.  Spokesman Jon Rogers said:
    


There is a lot of anger in this room. For 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we have protected our spiritual home from the powers that would destroy it . . . We’re in the process of exploring the options of filing an appeal, we’re going to remain in vigil until someone tells us we can’t.


The Mystical Press and Christ in Glory (dal Pino)
I can certainly understand their anger, but I would like to take issue, gently, with Mr. Rogers on two points. First, the spiritual home for Catholics in this world is not one particular church, it is the Universal Church that is the Mystical Body of Christ (and our ultimate spiritual home is before the Throne of God in Heaven, if he so wills). Second, Rogers and his companions have been told, repeatedly, that they can’t remain “in vigil”, most recently by the civil authorities, but even more importantly by their Bishop, without whom St.Ignatius of Antioch says nothing "connected with the Church” can be done.  I am reminded of the passage from Luke’s Gospel where Jesus says:


If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-27)


The point, of course, is not that we should literally hate our nearest and dearest, but that following Christ takes priority over even our closest earthly attachments.   In the same way, our commitment to the Universal Church (and the word Catholic means “universal”) overrides our loyalty to our local church, however much we might love it.
    This can be a very hard teaching indeed, but that is part of the price of discipleship.  We read in John’s Gospel of a time when many of Jesus’ disciples left him because of a hard teaching; then,

Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:67-68)

It wouldn’t hurt to say a prayer for the people of St. Frances X. Cabrini in Scituate as they bear their cross, and for all Catholics, as we bear the cross in our own lives as well.










Friday, October 23, 2015

Abortion Myth # 4

MYTH: "Most abortions are wrong, but exceptions should be made in cases of rape or incest."

TRUTH:

-The paramount argument against abortion is that intentionally taking the life of an innocent human being is an intrinsically evil act; if we say that it's permissible for a woman who has been raped to kill an innocent child, we have abandoned the very foundation of the case against abortion.


-Aborting a child conceived by rape does nothing to punish the perpetrator but sentences an innocent child to death.   Rebecca Kiessling says:

Did I deserve the death penalty? My “crime” was being conceived through rape.  So the next time you hear people talking about “exceptions” to abortion for rape or incest, think of me.  I am that exception. (Rebecca’s web site here)

Rebecca Kiessling 
 -Very often the abortion is arranged by the perpetrator of rape or incest, against the wishes of the pregnant girl or woman, to cover up his crimes and to allow him to continue them (see The Elliot Institute here, and theunchoice.com).

-Abortion does not bring healing to a rape victim.  “Studies that examine risk factors (here) for psychological problems after abortion show that women  with a history of sexual assault or abuse are more likely to have difficulty coping after abortion.” (The Elliot Institute)

-Other findings by the Elliot Institute:
-Nearly 80 percent of the women who aborted the pregnancy reported that abortion had been the wrong solution.

 -Most women who had abortions said that abortion only increased the trauma they were experiencing.

-In many cases, the victim faced strong pressures or demands to abort.  43 percent of rape victims who aborted said they felt pressured or were strongly directed by family members or health workers to abort.

-In almost every case where an incest victim had an abortion, it was the girls’s parents or the perpetrator who made the decision and arrangements for the abortion, not the girl herself.  In several cases, the abortion was carried out against her expressed wishes, and in a few cases, without her being aware that she was pregnant or that an abortion was taking place.

-None of the women in their study group who gave birth to a child conceived in sexual assault expressed regret or wished they had aborted instead.

-Compassion demands that family, friends, Church and society do all they possibly can to support a woman in this incredibly difficult situation.  Creating another innocent victim is never a solution.

DON”T BUY THE LIE!

UPDATE: Just ran across this article on Lifesite News: "Priest conceived in rape: I forgave my father and heard his confession."


UPDATE: A recent post from Darlene Pawlik, another woman conceived in rape herself, and whose first child was also conceived through rape: "Kicking the Vulnerable to the Curb"



Essential Pro-Life Resources:

Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments (link)  

The Elliot Institute (link)  

National Right To Life Committee (link) 


Care-Net (link)

The Nurturing Network (link)



To See The Entire Abortion Myths Series Click HERE

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Rossini-Agnus Dei (Petite Messe Solennelle) & Weekly Roundup

     Giaochino Rossini was, in his time, considered the most successful composer of operas in history, creating such enduring favorites as The Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola, and William Tell. Then, having composed an astounding 39 operas before his 37th birthday in 1829, he simply stopped.  For the rest of his life, until his death almost four decades later in 1868, his few compositions wre mostly religious music.
     The clip below is the moving "Agnus Dei" from Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, which is one of his last works, completed in 1863.  
     I'm also adding, as is customary on Sundays, links to my posts from the past week.  Please, take a look - you never know when you might see something interesting.






Weekly Roundup From Principium etFinis Nisi Dominus

May 12th – “The Invitatory Psalm: We Are CalledTo
Relationship With God
” Every day, the Liturgy of the Hours begins with 
an invitation from the Lord who Loves us 

May 13th – “’Doing' The Truth In Love” It
seems there’s always more than meets the eye when we look at God’s Word in the Scriptures

May 13th – “Is Raul Ready To Repent?” Cuban
dictator Raul Castro says he likes Pope Francis so much, that he might even return to the Church.  I suppose stranger things have happened . . .  

May 14th – “St. Matthias: The Church’s First Decision
This year St. Matthias’ Feast day falls on Ascension Thursday, but even when it doesn’t, there are some interesting connections between the two

May 14th – “Teenage Werewolves And Other
MythicalBeasts: A Catholic View
” We all must go through our teens to 
get to adulthood, but modern “teen culture” points our young people in a very different direction    

May 15th – “Why Jeopardy Doesn’t Know Judas
You know you’re in a post-Christian culture when none of three adults chosen at random can name the betrayer of Jesus 

May 15th – “Abortion Myth #13
Pro-abortionists insist that legal abortion is essential to women rights, but the truth is that abortion exploits and demeans women




Friday, May 15, 2015

Abortion Myth #13

MYTH: "Legalized abortion is necessary for the protection of women’s rights."

TRUTH: Abortion demeans and exploits women.

-Pregnancy is a natural, healthy state for women; it is the most significant difference between women and men.  Treating pregnancy like a disease implies that there’s something wrong with the nature of women's bodies and therefore with simply being a woman.  The group Feminists for Life says in their Debate Handbook:

When women feel that a pregnant body is a body out of control, deviant, diseased, they are internalizing attitudes of low self-esteem toward the female body.  These attitudes contradict the rightful feminist affirmation of pregnancy as a natural bodily function which deserves societal respect and accommodation.

-It is also natural for women to want to protect and nurture their children; to destroy their own children when they are most in need of protection violates an essential part of women's nature.


Mother and Child, by Frederic Leighton

-Abortion denies the most basic right, the right to life, to hundreds of thousands of unborn women every year.

-Most women who abort do so because they believe they have no choice: many are coerced, and they are often abused and threatened with violence, with loss of employment or educational opportunities, or with other adverse consequences if they don’t abort (see http://www.theunchoice.com/coerced.htm ). Shouldn't we protect a woman's right not to be forced to kill her own children?

-Legalized abortion empowers irresponsible men, because it enables them to exploit women sexually without having to accept the responsibilities of fatherhood.

-Pro-abortion activists fight strenuously at every turn against laws requiring women be given information about abortion and its alternatives.  What about women's right to make informed choices?

-The original feminists (Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, for instance) opposed abortion on the grounds that abortion was a crime against women as well as their children.  Alice Paul said “Abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.”

DON’T BUY THE LIE!


Essential Pro-Life Resources:

Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments (link)  

The Elliot Institute (link)  

National Right To Life Committee (link)  


Care-Net (link)

The Nurturing Network (link)


To See The Entire Abortion Myths Series Click HERE