Immaculate Conception Parish, Malden Massachusetts

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Father Dave O'Leary

THE CHURCH AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD

The Church is a community of human beings who are still subject to sin, and so it is with humility that she offers herself as the meeting place with the living God. Her existence for two thousand years demonstrates the unceasing mercy and love of God in maintaining her in his grace as a faithful and repentant people. In a world of passing fads and transitory ambitions, she offers the substance of the wisdom of the Gospel and her growing understanding of it through two millennia. She offers the possibility of enriching the present moment with the gifts of a tradition rooted in God’s self-revelation and with the hope and meaning for human life that comes from God himself. In a world torn by war and injustice, she celebrates the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the gift of himself made eternally present and effective, to make all peoples one with him as head of a reconciled and healed community. In a world of violence against human life, the Church mightily defends life by her works of justice and charity as well as by her advocacy for the protection of all human life.

Of her very nature, the Church is missionary. This means her members are called by God to bring the Gospel by word and deed to all peoples and to every situation of work, education, culture, and communal life in which human beings find themselves. The members of the Church seek to transform society not by power but by persuasion and by example. Through participation in political life – either as voters or as policy holders of public office – they work for increasing conformity of public policy to the law of God as known by human reason and Divine Revelation. This they do especially by showing the coherence of Catholic teaching with the fundamental yearnings and dignity of the human person.

From its foundation, the United States has maintained the freedom of its citizens to worship according to their consciences and has prohibited infringement upon religious freedom by the government. For some, this leads to the conclusion that religions is a purely private matter and should not exercise a public voice in debates about moral issues. That was not the intention of the founders of this nation. Catholics must participate in political life and bring to bear upon it – by their voice and their vote – what they have learned about human nature, human destiny, and God’s will for human beings from his self-revelation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is relevant for all times and all places.

This Catechism provides Catholics with a knowledge and understanding of the Gospel that enables them to give an account of their faith to all who they meet with clarity and persuasiveness. They are more effectively enabled to proclaim what God has done for them through his Son in the Holy Spirit, and to explain the rich tradition of belief that is our heritage. This proclamation and catechesis are essential to the new evangelization to which the Church commits herself today: to bring the Gospel of salvation to those near and far.

COMMENTS ON INSTRUCTION ON RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE IN ITS ORIGIN

I remember the day that Rome issued its new “Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origins and on the Dignity of Procreation” because I heard a news brief on a local rock ‘n’ roll station, WBCN, which made me smile.

The reporter said that a “shocking new statement” had been issued by the Vatican which condemned the “miracles” of modern technology in the area of artificial procreation. How the Vatican bans…forbids…condemns test-tube babies, surrogate motherhood, artificial insemination, etc…

The irony is, the Vatican’s login is neither shocking nor new, the only thing that is clear is WBCN radio does not fully understand the Catholic Church. For Catholic teaching neither bans nor forbids and biomedical technique. Much less does it condemn any baby, be it test-tube, surrogate motherhood or artificial insemination. And the Church is very unlikely to ever condemn legitimate miracles.

First, the document is not at all shocking is one is informed about the issues involved. For active, interested Catholics, it’s rather a relief to hear the Church’s prophetic voice on the dilemmas of the post-Modern age. That voice comes to us as a call to truth amid confusion and turbulent social change. It’s the voice of a Mother nurturing her children. It’s also a voice crying out in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord.” If the Church doesn’t call attention to the moral dimension of scientific progress, will anyone else? The Vatican is not trying to regulate people’s behavior by imposing rules.

Ethical questions naturally arise when babies are produced in laboratories and embryonic humans are used in experiments. But we can as a society or as a believing community assume that whatever can be done may be done, or that people have a right to use every technique or conduct every experiment that will serve their purposes – even when their purposes are excellent.

The Vatican and its leaders see their job as bearing witness to the truths taught by humankind for its own well-being and happiness. The news brief should have said “The Catholic Church’s new document explains why…draws a conclusion that …certain biomedical techniques violate human rights or otherwise offend human dignity and family relationships.

This difference between giving orders and giving reasons is vital. Orders often lead us to rebel and often seldom make us think. The Catholic Church is challenging us to stop and think about biomedical technology. To respond to this challenge by saying, “Why, you can’t tell us what to do” is to evade the responsibility to look before we leap into the brave new world.

The document is not all that earth shaking. The reasoning behind the instruction is anything but new, In fact, some people have complained that it is the same old party line. And they’re correct. In this case the “same old party line” is the fundamental dignity of marriage and the human person. This certainly is an ancient policy of the Church. But just because it is ancient does NOT mean that it’s antiquated or ineffectual. Basic human truths never become outdated.

The dignity of the human person has been proclaimed by the Church again and again simply because the world needs to hear it again and again. The post-Christian era poses more challenges to this basic truth than any other age before it. Therefore, the Church must constantly re-assert it as the guiding principle of all politics, all economics, all science – and most especially bio-genetics, which involves the very future of the species.

But the church does not ask that everything it considers immoral or flawed to be outlawed. Rather, it argues that the law should protect fundamental human rights, marriage and family relationships. So the document does criticize artificial insemination on ethical grounds, even when the husband’s semen is used, but the document does not suggest that this technique be outlawed.

Human dignity has to be protected for all living human individuals. The Church wants to see caution used in biomedical activities that use and destroy embryonic human life. The risk would be treating very small human individuals as non-persons – so one may do with them as one pleases. The embryonic speck in the petri dish is a living human individual and thus should be treated with full human dignity.

Some people will criticize Rome for overstepping its competence by dabbling in the world of science. But moral reflections should cover every human endeavor, and that’s PRECISELY the business of the church. This century provides more than enough proof of how technical knowledge can be misused. Science is a neutral took. It can never give us a qualitatively better life, a purpose to live or salvation. Unfortunately, too many people now place their trust in modern technology as a kid of idol. But there’s no such thing as “secular” redemption.

To say that modern technology produces “miracles” is a common, but important, misunderstanding of the word. A “MIRACLE” is an extraordinary event manifesting the supernatural power of God. Scientific discoveries may be marvels, but they are purely natural. Something that COULD be classified as a miracle is the beginning of human life. The conception and birth of a child is an occurrence which brings an undeniable sense of the presence of God. The parents of a child act as co-creators, not Creators. God is the giver of all life and God is the one who sustains everything in being. The Vatican document reminds us of our truth and encourages a sane and healthy humility on our part. It also underscores the intimate connections between love, sexual expression and procreation.

The document stresses that children conceived within marital intercourse come as God’s gift, and their personal equality with their parents should be fully respected. The child conceived by biomedical techniques comes to be as a product, and so is regarded as an object, unequal in personal dignity to those who help make it.

The document shows the equal personal dignity of every human individual is essential to the commonly held Judeo-Christian tradition. Babies produced by biomedical techniques are plainly regarded as objects when they are destroyed when they do not meet specifications or are bought and sold, and is the Baby M case.

So, to disagree with the news department of WBCN; No, the Roman document on artificial procreation is neither shocking nor new. And the criticism that it has and will evoke from the lukewarm isn’t new either. The news brief I heard on the radio ended with the opinion of a pro-choice advocate who claimed that most Catholics would read this instruction with the same attitude of disdain that had for Human Vitae.

Question: How many of these people have actually read Human Vitae? And how many will ever bother to read this most recent document?

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

In one sense, the notion of the “preferential option for the poor” is relatively new to Catholic social teaching, as this phrase appeared in no papal social encyclical until 1987, and in no church documents at all until 1979. But in another sense, the notion of the preferential option for those who are weak and vulnerable has been present within the Christian tradition from the very start. The ministry of Jesus, in both words and deeds, was deeply wrapped up with this commitment to the well-being of the least fortunate. Without using the actual phrase “preferential option”, the Church has practiced this option in many ways, formal and informal, as it has placed concern for the most vulnerable members of society among its top priorities.

Echoes of the preferential option for the poor are strong in the stirring opening sentence of the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes: The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the [people] of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ (no. 1).

In identifying itself with the concerns of the poor, the Church is here interpreting its entire mission as one of service to those in need. Bringing the gospel to people in the fullest sense means caring simultaneously for their many needs, spiritual and material. The Church is most clearly itself when it is acting on the imperative to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable – the ones Jesus Christ so loves.

The worldwide church inherits the actual phrase “preferential option for the poor” from documents of the 1979 meeting CELAM, the abbreviation for the Spanish words translated at the Episcopal conference of Latin America. At that meeting in Puebla, Mexico, as at the previous CELAM meeting in Medellin, Columbia in 1968, the bishops of those lands so sharply divided between extremes of rich and poor boldly identified the Church with the struggles of the poor. This decisive shift was not meant to exclude anyone from the life or concerns of the Church, and certainly was not an invitation to pass judgments upon certain people because their bank accounts were too large.

Rather, the significance of this shift lies in the way it reverses a centuries-long pattern that had warped the proper understanding of the mission of the Church. As long as the Church was perceived as aligned with the wealthy landholders of Latin America, it would remain a hindrance to the full human development of the poor in that region. If the vast majority of people continued to see the Church as a tool in the hands of the upper-class bosses who were indifferent to their well being, then this perception would prevent the Church from ever becoming the “True Church” of the poor Jesus.

Clearly, the significance of this sudden about-face in the Church’s self-understanding was hard to explain outside of Latin America. To observers from other continents where social class divisions were never as sharp, it hardly made sense. The Church is always meant to be an agent of reconciliation between all people, so it may be misleading to think of the Church as “taking sides” in any way at all. The forceful restatement of the Church’s mission was only necessary in Latin American because of the need to correct a long history of clerical abuse and warped priorities.

Vatican social teaching had never gotten off on such a wrong track. From its very beginning, when nineteenth-century European Social Catholicism started to notice and address the plight of hard-pressed working families, this tradition of social concern had consistently expressed the Church’s mission to act as Jesus had acted in befriending the poor of his time. In fact, the 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus contains a passage in which Pope John Paul II interprets Rerum Novarum’s call, a full century earlier, to improve the conditions of the workers as a manifestation of the “preferential option for the poor” long before the phrase was coined. John Paul points to the similarity between the Church’s role as advocate to the poor in 1891 and 1991 as evidence of the “church’s constant concern for and dedication to categories of people who are especially beloved to the Lord Jesus” (no. 11).

The entire tradition of Catholic social teaching can be interpreted as a unified effort on the part of church leaders to encourage a more humane society where the most vulnerable members are better protected from harm. With its limited financial resources, the Church itself can do only so much to advance the lives of the poor. However, popes and bishops, as the official voices of the Church, have exerted great efforts to speak publicly about political, economic, and social issues that have a profound impact upon the prospects of our neediest neighbors. The rationale for all the Church’s efforts in this regard may be summarized precisely as the desire to make a preferential option for the poor.

If these church efforts really do bear fruit, then what would the results look like? If the message of justice and peace within the Catholic social teaching takes root in the hearts of many believers, these people would work energetically for a better world, a world characterized by not only acts of individual charity but also structures of justice and equity for all people. Discrimination and unfair barriers to progress would be eliminated. True human development would be fostered by wider access to property and socially responsible policies of business and governments throughout the world. We would measure all our institutions, from schools to corporations to social clubs, by how they treat all members of society, especially the poorest. Priorities would be altered so that more of the benefits of our richly blessed world would find their way toward those who currently posses the least. In a prosperous age like ours, no one should be excluded from a fair set of opportunities or experience the disturbing fear of permanent powerlessness.

Catholic social teaching includes a call for involvement in collaborative efforts to invite all people into the social mainstream; it is not an ethic for lazy or complacent people. To adopt the principles of Catholic social thought is to agree that we all need to work hard so that full participation is extended to all, without favoritism or discrimination. We all may benefit from the gifts that we bring to the common table of human community and solidarity.

THE DIGNITY OF WORK, RIGHTS OF WORKERS AND SUPPORT FOR LABOR UNIONS - July 21, 2016

The historical origin of the tradition of Catholic social teaching is bound up with the Church’s concern for workers. Social Catholicism in the nineteenth century was dedicated to improving the conditions of labor wherever possible. In many ways, the Church was ahead of its time in advocating for better treatment of workers. Today we take for granted many of the original goals of these early church efforts. Government has become the instrument that now enforces prevailing labor protections, at least in most industrialized nations. These include minimum wage laws, safety and health regulations, pension plans, social insurance, and the rights of workers to organize into labor unions.

The two encyclicals with the most extensive treatment of labor issues are Rerum Novarum in 1891 and Laborem Exercens in 1981. Although separated by ninety years, they share at least one remarkable feature in common: both show a tendency to move back and forth rather quickly between the worlds of abstract theological reflection and practical principles of worker justice. This “quick passage” from eternal truths to specific measures reflects the great confidence shared by both their authors that the nitty-gritty reforms advocated in these documents are fully congruent with the will of God for the world. Both Leo XIII and John Paul II hold up an ideal of worker justice that demands close attention to the concrete conditions that face workers in the actual workplace and in the labor markets that determine the availability of work and the terms of their employment. While both popes respect the fact that the great diversity of conditions complicates the way broad principles of worker justice are applied from place to place, neither is afraid to insist on the importance of concrete measures, such as “living wages” and reasonable work hours, for the entire workforce.

Perhaps the most controversial of the positions regarding work staked out within the Catholic social teaching concerns the Church’s support for labor unions. Workers’ rights to organize and enter into collective bargaining are considered an important outgrowth of other human rights, such as the right to free association and the right to participate fully in the economic and political life of society. Of course, we all know that labor unions have often been criticized on a number of grounds, sometimes with good reason. For example, we often hear them associated with corruption, favoritism, and the threat of disruptive and potentially violent strikes. They also are accused of driving up the cost of doing business and sacrificing the international competitiveness of domestic industries because of the allegedly excessive wage demands they make.

Clearly, there are some problematic aspects of union activity. Yet Catholic social teaching contends that a world without labor unions would witness a much less favorable environment for achieving justice and an equitable sharing of the earth’s resources. Without the ability to combine their voices through organized labor, workers would be at the mercy of their far more powerful employers who might take advantage of their inferior position. Labor unions are crucial elements in the overall balance of power in the economy, and Catholic social teaching consistently portrays them as playing a constructive role in the pursuit of economic justice. Indeed, it is increasingly a source of concern that in many places unions seem to be on the decline. As unions represent a smaller and smaller percentage of the overall workforce and enjoy a lower profile in our economic life, the power of workers to bargain effectively to protect their rights will unfortunately diminish greatly.

Alongside its support of labor unions, Catholic social teaching contains many additional messages about work. Here, labor is portrayed as neither a necessary evil nor merely a means to the end of supporting family life; rather, labor is presented as something that is intrinsically good for us. In our work, we can discover rich meaning and develop our potential. Even in the humdrum routine of daily life in the workplace, work is more than a taxing or boring necessity. Engaging in labor opens up new avenues of communication and planning with our colleagues, with whom we toil for common purposes and build up mutual respect. Work represents an opportunity to collaborate with others and to contribute our special talents to the wider society.

Besides its practical benefits, human labor also includes theological significance, as it contains our response to the God who invites us to become co-creators of the material world. This is why human work should never be treated as a mere commodity, something to be bought and sold in a cavalier way, in impersonal markets. This is also why workers must not be treated as just another cog in the huge machine of production, an attitude that offends the dignity of all. These concerns are especially prominent in Laborem Exercens, where John Paul II repeatedly insists on the “priority of labor over capital”. Through labor, we pursue not only a job or a career, but a vocation – a calling in which we are summoned by God to develop our capabilities and to follow the Carpenter from Nazareth on our path of discipleship. Catholic social teaching is a great resource for future efforts to develop full-blown theology of work and indeed to discover a spirituality of labor appropriate for our age.

FAMILY LIFE, July 8, 2016

Since solidarity is about our most basic sense of belonging to society, then we move next to the most basic unit of society to which we all belong in some way: the family. The family occupies a special place in Catholic social teaching; it is the most intimate sphere in which people cooperate and the first place where children learn about themselves, their individual identities, and their vocations within the wider society.

Church documents sometimes refer to the family as the “domestic church” because it is also where young people first encounter God, form their consciences, and learn moral virtues. Elsewhere it is referred to as the “first cell of society”, for no institution can substitute for the important social roles played by families. The responses of justice and charity that are called for in the social encyclicals depend upon decisions made along with our loved ones in the context of family life and on the level of the individual household.

The well-being of the entire society absolutely depends upon healthy families, committed marriages, and responsible parenthood. Family life is where we learn and practice the virtues of love and compassion that allow us to imagine alternatives to the ruthless competition and selfish individualism that we witness all too often in the business world and in our market-based society. Outside of family life, it is rare to witness a spirit of profound self-sacrifice and generous giving to others that does not count the cost to oneself. But within our families, we are not surprised by (and indeed almost expect) repeated acts of forgiveness and self-emptying love on the part of marital partner, parents and their children. In a world of bewildering complexity and rapid, unpredictable change, the stable relationships of family and home life are like a safe port in a fierce storm. Families are the place where the unconditional love of God is reflected in everyday human activities, where we gain a glimpse of the unity and communion that we hope to find in the Kingdom of God.

But we must also be on guard against excessive idealism about family life. Real-life families experience serious challenges and numerous problems, from within (stemming from their members, who are rarely saints) and from outside (stemming from the world beyond the household). To its credit, Gaudium et Spes, the 1965 Vatican II documents, describes several of these challenges in a frank and eye-opening way. Several pages of this document are devoted to the problems with the compassionate observation that:

…serious disturbances are caused in families by modern economic conditions, by influences at once social and psychological, and by the demands of civil society (no 47).

Many of these problems come from perennial sources of hardship, such as poverty, illness, inattentiveness of family members, materialism, and irresponsibility. Others come from newer pressures, such as overwork, modern rootlessness, the entry of more women into the workforce with resulting scarcity of reliable daycare, and the adjustments associated with divorce and blended families. Indeed, our thinking about family life itself is constantly challenged by the existence of new family patterns that do not conform to out accustomed notions of the nuclear family. Unlike in years past, household form and combine for nontraditional reasons and with new relationships between children and adults drawn from several generations.

On many of these item, wise public policies, such as social welfare programs, subsidized provision of quality daycare, medical leave, unemployment compensation, and retirement benefits can make a huge contribution to the health of millions of families. Pope John Paul II offers a comprehensive list of constructive government policies toward families in his list of constructive government policies toward families in his 1981 encyclical Laborem Exercens. Some nations, particularly in Western Europe, are far ahead of the United States in adopting such family-friendly economic policies. Catholic social teaching suggests that any compassionate society will count the health of family life as among the highest priorities on its policy agenda.

THE DIGINITY OF EVERY PERSON & HUMAN RIGHTS – PART 2 - June 27, 2016

The twentieth century witnessed a remarkable movement toward a worldwide consensus regarding human rights. International covenants (such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948) often base their arguments on the concept of human rights. Beginning especially with Pacem in Terris in 1963, the documents of Catholic social teaching also use the language of human rights as one way of expressing what is owed to all human beings by virtue of their dignity. Pope John XXIII dedicated Pacem in Terris to a full listing of the many types of human rights, calling these rights “universal, inviolable, and inalienable.” Because it was the first strong statement of a human rights position from the Church, this encyclical earned the nickname the “Catholic charter of human rights.” The convergence of worldwide opinion, both religious and secular in nature, around human rights is an encouraging sign for the prospect of greater cooperation and further improvement in the social conditions facing people of all nations and creeds.

But it is helpful to note that the Catholic view of human rights is distinctive because it is grounded on a complete theological framework, in which God is the ultimate source of our rights. The Catholic tradition of reflection on human rights is also special in that it always locates rights within human communities. In comparison, purely secular doctrines of rights have no similar foundation in a compelling portrayal of human nature and its origin. In a sense, they are doctrines without a solid theory behind them. They are exposed to the weighty charge that rights just seem to “float around”, sticking to people without any justification behind their passing claims.

While secular rights and theories are certainly useful in speaking boldly about our immunity from being harmed by others, the claims they make have the shortcoming of not fitting into a shared comprehensive view of the universe. Because they remain quite “thin”, such theories can offer little guidance on difficult questions such as how to resolve seemingly interminable conflicts of rights. The treatment of rights in Catholic social teaching reflects most of the same positive concerns and goals, but has the additional advantage of situating “rights talk” within a more satisfying and complete picture of the world. Because it is grounded in reverence for the sanctity of creation and its Creator, the Catholic approach to human rights can consider the entire web of relationships that connect God, the natural environment, persons, governments and local communities.

The DIGINITY OF EVERY PERSON & HUMAN RIGHTS – PART I - June 9, 2016

The claim that people have great worth and dignity is certainly familiar. In fact, it would be hard to think of a culture or religion that did not in some way affirm the value of human life. But the Catholic Church addresses the topic of human dignity in a special way that leads to some particularly firm conclusions about what is permissible both in individual moral choices and in ethical practices of entire societies. The positions staked out by Catholic social teaching on a wide range of issues is firmly embedded in a complete view of the origin, nature, and destiny of all people.

One key foundation of this picture of human life is that all humans are made in the image and likeness of God. This idea is found in the story of creation that comes to us from the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis. Because we all somehow reflect the image of God in our rational minds and in our physical bodies, we are all entitled to be treated with respect and dignity. The Because we are intelligent and free beings, God intends is to be immune from all slavery, manipulation, or exploitation. At all stages of our loves – from the moment of conception through the vulnerable years of childhood and old age to the very moment of natural death – we deserve the care and attention that belongs to beings of inestimable worth.

This insistence on the sanctity and infinite value of each human life has led the Catholic Church to uncompromising opposition to various threats to human dignity, including abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment. In its moral teachings, the Church has courageously held fast to a pro-life position on numerous controversial issues, advocating respect for all human life, especially that of the vulnerable and outcast. Perhaps the most articulate spokesman on these matters among the American Catholics was the late Joseph Bernardin of Chicago. He wrote and spoke frequently about the topic of "a consistent ethic of life." In advocating an attitude of profound respect for the sanctity of life at every moment of its duration, from conception to natural death, Cardinal Bernardin often used the biblical metaphor of the "seamless garment." This comparison suggests that any attack against the innocent life is an offense and potential threat to all human life.

One important aspect of human dignity is the notion of equality. The Catholic tradition interprets the key moments of the drama of human life in a way that treats all people equally. From God’s original bestowal of life (in the act of creation) to the sending of God’s Son into the world to save us from sin (in the Incarnation) to the expectation of a final invitation into God’s kingdom (in the Resurrection of the Dead), we recognize a fundamental equality in God’s gracious activity. Of course, human social life has always been filled with many types of inequalities. When Catholic social teaching calls for a more equal sharing of political power, social status, and economic resources, it is merely extending the Christian doctrine of equal human dignity to the concrete realm of social existence. There are certain things that all children of God deserve, and when they need to preserve their lives and develop their potential, people of faith must speak out against these injustices.

Teachings Catholics should know about End of Life Issues and Care for the Dying - May 27, 2016

A) Human Life Is Always A Good

The dignity of human life flows from creation in the image and likeness of God, Genesis 1:26, from redemption by Jesus the Christ, and from our common destiny to share a life with God beyond all corruption. None of these sources of our dignity takes into account our intellectual or physical capacity or age of life expectancy. While our abilities to reason, discern between good and evil, and exercise free will can allow us to know and love God, they must be understood in light of our ultimate destiny. For God created humanity for incorruption and made people in the image of God’s own eternity. From the first moment of existence, all human beings are eternal beings. Thus, the Roman Catholic vision of the dying person rejects any and all “quality of life” calculus of human dignity based on the decline of our earthly functions.

B) We Respect The Good Of A Person’s Life By Not Killing And Offering Care

The Fifth Commandment tells us “You shall not kill”. We have in addition the entire law of the Gospel that calls us to revere life, to love it and to foster it through the gift of self. In light of this broader command to care for life it is necessary that all who approach the critically ill and dying show by their own conduct that they take the words of the Gospels seriously. Therefore care and concern for people close to death is one of the most important signs of ecclesial credibility. Those who in the last phase of life feel supported by sincere Catholic Christians can more easily trust that Christ truly awaits them in the new life after death. Moreover, the sick person who feels surrounded by a loving human and Catholic Christian presence does not give way to depression and anguish as would be the case if one were left to suffer and die alone and wanting to be done with life.

C) The Underlying Evil At Issue In The Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia Debate Is The Belief That Human Life Is No Longer A Good

The free choice to take one’s own or another’s life, or to neglect it, is characterized by a mentality ever less ready to recognize life as a value in itself, relative to God alone, a concept of the quality of life in terms of efficiency and psycho-physical satisfaction, incapable of seeing any meaning in suffering and handicap, and hence to be avoided at any physical cost and by every means, and a vision of death as a liberation from existence already considered meaningless. Accordingly, a life which would require greater acceptance, love and care is considered useless or held to be an intolerable burden, and is therefore rejected in one way or another. One may choose to destroy life through a lethal act, such as by shooting a gun or by administering an overdose of drugs. Or one might choose to neglect life by failing to accept or provide necessary care, thus permitting death to occur when care would have prevented it.

D) Persons Who Commit Suicide Are Not Excluded From The Possibility Of Eternal Salvation

While suicide itself is always morally objectionable, a person driven to suicide because of depression or out of desperation is not acting freely. The catholic Church abhors suicide, while it cherishes the suicidal person and trusts in God’s providence. We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to God alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives. In any case, all suicidal expressions should be disregarded as pleas for life affirming help, not death.

E) We Are Not Required To Sustain Life By Avoiding Death At All Costs, Since Life Is Not An Absolute Good

Usually of greatest concern to a believer is whether a particular choice to withhold or withdraw life-prolonging treatments constitutes neglect if death follows. Must one always avoid death? No! As long as one is not seeking death or rejecting life when refusing care, then the answer is no. One does not have to be hooked up to every machine under the sun. Rejecting treatment because it is too burdensome, risky, ineffective, or disproportionate to the expected outcome is not neglect. One’s duty to care in such circumstances shifts from avoiding death to providing comfort and care as death approaches.

F) Hospice & Good Pain Management Respects The Lives of Dying Persons & Should Be Encouraged

Going on hospice is NOT giving up on life. Life can be lived fully to the end because the hospice environment frees one from the threat of pain, loneliness, and despair. Giving medication to aid in ending pain and suffering is not the same as giving medication to end a life.

Rights and Responsibilities of Roman Catholic Christians - May 16, 2016

Our Roman Catholic Faith is much more than just rule and regulations. But it is necessary to acknowledge that one cannot say “God is love” and that is the end of our effort in living our faith. Being a Roman Catholic Christian is a gift from God, the gift of our faith. And as with any gift one has to accept it, use the gift and give thanks for the gift.

Rights of a Roman Catholic Christian

To receive proper instruction in order to receive the sacraments of the church. To have the word of God proclaimed and explained by a priest or deacon at Sunday and daily masses. To have mass celebrated weekly and daily at times convenient for the gathering of the community of believers. To have access to a priest for counseling and/or spiritual direction. To have a priest administer the sacraments of the church to persons who are sick at home or in a hospital. To participate fully in the celebration of mass and in the roles of lector, cantor or extraordinary minister of Eucharist. To serve on parish councils as officers and to serve on the parish finance council. To have a mass of the resurrection celebrated upon death.

Responsibilities of Roman Catholic Christians

To obey the ten commandments. To attend mass every Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation. To fast and abstain from food or foods on days appointed. To go to confession at least once a year. To contribute to the support of one’s parish church. To observe the laws of the church concerning marriage. To be the primary educators and role models for children’s faith development in the Roman Catholic Church. Our Roman Catholic faith is not meant to be in books or in rules. Our faith should be alive in our hearts and lived out by the witness of our lives. "To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery it means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist" Cardinal Suhard

WHEN ADULTS BECOME ABUSERS OF YOUNG PEOPLE - April 28, 2016

The statements are always the same: "We did not see any warning signs." Accounts of child sexual abuse shock our senses. But there are some warning signs people should be aware of. Although they should not lead to witch hunts against innocent people, they should raise people’s level of alertness.

Habitual child molestation is an addiction, a behavior, and not a single disorder. It is an addiction to a process rather than a substance like alcohol or drugs. Screening for sexual attraction to minors – for both pedophilia (attraction to prepubescent minors) and ephebophilia (attraction to post pubescent minors) – is very difficult, even for experienced psychologists.

But some behaviors should raise questions. Sometimes problems can arise when an adult relates to young children or teenagers as an equal or a peer. Mentoring or caring relationships are appropriate, but an adult in a supervisory role should always be an adult first, friend second. Some cases of child molestation happen because the adult believes he or she is a peer of the child or teen, and therefore there is nothing wrong in the adult’s behavior. Pedophiles and ephebophiles may have the body of an adult, but their psychic age is closer to that of the child or teen. All adults should take an active role in making sure their children or teens see every adult as a “leader”, “grown-up”, “Mr.”, or "coach", not as a peer, buddy, or equal.

Sometimes abusers of young people have no adult interests or friends. Yes, many good teachers are also after-school coaches or drivers’ Ed instructors. But they also have an adult life, friends, and a social circle that does not include children or teens after hours. In fact, most teachers and other adults who work closely with young people need to spend time away from them just to rest and enjoy adult relationships.

Sometimes people who abuse younger people live for work. Workaholism may be the way they seek recognition – they work for affirmation and a sense of being valuable. One might live for the praise of working with children or teens, but one’s life should be more than one’s work. All people need vacations, days off, and rest. Compulsive work habits and long work hours are not healthy for anyone.

The sexual predator or addict substitutes a sick relationship with an event or process for a healthy relationship with others. For the predator, the reproductive system is transformed into a mood alterer, a drug. It is no longer the basis for creative and loving relationships; it is used for itself alone. The object the sex addict or predator seeks is not pleasure. No, sex is a painful and humiliating experience, devoid of true pleasure. The adult is really looking for an element of risk and danger. The more the risk the more the excitement.

As the addict or predator ascends the scale from lower levels of sexual addiction (masturbation, pornography, and prostitution) to the upper levels (incest, rape, and child/teen molestation), the progression is marked by increasing risk. The adult who is addicted to child/teen sexual abuse, as opposed to the compulsive masturbator, is addicted to dangerous and risky sexual behavior not because such behavior is sexual, but because it is risky and dangerous. Adults who engage in such behaviors do not do so because they relish sexual pleasure; they do so because they hate themselves. This self-hatred causes them to focus destructively and relentlessly on objects outside themselves.

All caring adults should be open and honest in taking responsibility for identifying these warning signs for child/teen sexual abuse. To identify an addiction is not to condemn; it is to present an invitation for intervention and healing.

Saint Mark the Evangelist - April 22, 2016

Saint Mark’s feast day is celebrated on April 25th every year. The very first Gospel is attributed to Saint Mark. It is Mark who was Saint Peter’s interpreter and had written down accurately all that he had remembered. The Mark or John Mark that is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles and in the writings of Saint Paul is believed to be the Evangelist Mark.

Mark was said to be the son of the woman in whose house the disciples often met, see Acts 12:12, and also the missionary companion of both Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Acts 13:5 and 1 Peter 5:13.

According to Paul, Mark was a Jewish cousin of Barnabas whom Paul did not rate very highly because he deserted him and Barnabas, Acts 13:1 and Acts 15:37-9. But was later reconciled with him as Mark was in Rome when Paul was in prison, Col. 4:10. Tradition has usually identified the writer of the Gospel of Mark as the young man who fled naked during the arrest of Jesus, Mark 14:51-2. Another legend makes Mark as one of the seventy-two disciplines sent out by Jesus.

The Gospel of Mark was the first of the Synoptic Gospels to be written , around 65-70. Written to a non-Palestinian audience or at least to a non-Jewish audience. The structure and teaching of Mark’s Gospel is very straightforward. It is arranged as a continuous narrative and the outline of the events are similar to the speeches of Peter and Paul that are reported in Acts. Because of this we the readers come closest to the historical figure of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel.

Mark devotes a third of the Gospel to a single week in the life of Jesus, the final week spent in Jerusalem and ending with his passion, death and resurrection. Mark’s entire Gospel is to get people to make a decision about Jesus, who he is.

The very first line of the Gospel tells this very clearly; “The beginning of the good news about Jesus, Messiah, Son of God." (Mark 1:1). Then the middle of the Gospel has Peter's declaration in chapter 8:29; "You are the Messiah." And Mark's Gospel ends with Centurion declaring, "Truly this man was the Son go God." (Mark 15:39).

All the readers of Mark’s Gospel are forced to make a decision of who is Jesus, and then the decision to follow Jesus.

The winged Lion is used to depict Saint Mark or having a lion next to Mark in the representation of the Gospels.

Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” – The Joy of Love - April 17, 2016

There has been much commentary and some controversy over Pope Francis’ latest Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia - The Joy of Love. It is the fruit of two synods of bishops meetings and a process of pastoral inquiry. The letter is close to 300 pages and chock full of very important footnotes. The sky is not falling; he does not make any earth shattering doctrinal changes in regards to divorced Catholics, remarried Catholics, same sex marriages or the church’s stance on homosexuality.

The nine chapters of the document deserve a very careful reading, especially the footnotes. Chapters 3-5 are the heart of the document. Pope Francis quotes from many other Popes, the Second Vatican Council documents and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. All in support of the church’s teaching on the meaning of the Sacrament of Marriage.

Pope Francis hews to all the traditional teachings of the church. But he also allows for the grey areas of today’s familial relationships to be addressed in a pastoral, not a heavy-handed doctrinal manner, with input from the parishioners and families.

Instead of berating people over the head with doctrine, the primacy of a person’s conscience is making a return to center stage in Catholic life.

I have always been amazed that no one completely read Paul VI Humanae vitae from 1968. Towards the very end of the document, Pope VI says to priest confessors; "If people can not live up to this teaching, urge them to frequent use of Confession and Eucharist." Meaning that in the Sacrament of Confession, the priest may say in this person’s very particular circumstance, not to worry about any sin. Pope Francis is using the same reasoning in his Amoris Laetitia - The Joy of Love.

For divorced Catholics, section 305 of the document covers irregular family situations. that pastors sometimes encounter that are not in keeping with Catholic Church teaching. These types of irregular situations would be divorce, civil marriages or remarriages, that would normally preclude Catholics from receiving communion. This is a true source of pain for many Catholics who have had to sit in the pew, while others went to receive communion during Mass.

One should read footnote #351 in section 305 of the document may offer a solution. It states that “ the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak”. At the discretion of the priest, the Eucharist might be offered as a way to help a person to grow in the faith and life of the church. This is an important step for many Catholics who have left the church because they have been barred from the Eucharist.

In the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis is inviting back many Catholic to experience God's Mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And under the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this internal forum method may be the solution and vehicle for many Catholics to be able to return to the Eucharist.

Amoris Laetitia reiterates that Pope Francis is interested in changing both the tone and reception of peoples and families in the church to a more hospitable, less judgmental environment. Rather than “discipline and punish” Pope Francis has produced a complicated, finely worded document that tries to walk the tightrope between conservatives and liberal Catholics, while trying to keep both sides in the church. But more importantly, to welcome back many Catholics to full active participation at Mass by receiving the Eucharist after having gone to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

REAL PRESENCE IN THE EUCHARIST - April 11, 2016

What is required for communion? Bread and wine, of course. The gathering of the people of God, the proclamation of the Word, the leadership of a priest. All this the church holds together in a Living Tradition, a precious heritage.

From our childhood we have been taught that Holy Communion is the Body of Christ, His Real Presence. The Lord is really present to us and asks only that we be present to Him and one another.

Each Sunday hundreds gather in our church to celebrate and experience His Presence. To be present to God and in communion with one another involves awareness and responsibility on our part. Do I realize that the Holy Mass is a prayer that requires my active participation through listening and responses? Do I choose the Mass I will attend based on a judgment about when I can most worthily give praise to God? Do I ever distract others by arriving late or disturb people’s prayers and communion by leaving early, before the final hymn has been sung or the priest has left the altar?

SOME MEAL TIME THEOLOGY

When we share an important meal with friends or relatives, say Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, we take great care. We spend time with one another even before we move to the table, sharing our stories and telling of past events and future hopes. Sounds very similar to hearing God’s Word proclaimed.

Once at the table, people tend to stay there. We know that the meal is more than a sharing of food, even though we may take pride in a beautifully set table (or a well kept church)m we know that it is an experience of communion with one another. To leave the table early -"please, may I be excused?" is, in a way, to break communion. The empty chair at the table is a troubling sign to those who remain at the end of the meal. Is it something we said, they wonder, have we done something to offend?

At home, we are troubled when a family member or a guest arrives at the last possible moment before dinner is served, says nothing during the meal and then leaves early before everyone is finished. A young child may be dismissed from the table early, but when an adult rises to leave before the meal is ended, it disturbs all who are left behind.

What does this suggest to our experience of Sunday Mass? Are we truly gathered as ONE bread (meal) praying to ONE Lord?

THE EUCHARISTIC MEAL - April 4, 2016

The basic order of worship inherited from the Lord himself and from the Apostles, is the same today in the Catholic Church as it has been. It consists of four parts ---

The Lord took bread and wine
He said the prayer of blessing
He broke the bread
And gave the broken bread and one cup to his followers

Today, two thousand years later as a parish family we too ---

Take the bread and wine
We pray the prayers of thanksgiving, the Eucharistic Prayer
We see the bread broken as we pray the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world
And we share in the one bread, as if from the hand of the Lord himself, in Holy Communion

This Eucharistic Meal we celebrate is an act of remembering God our Father and Christ His Son. It is a way of remembering that just as Jesus at the Last Supper was committing himself to the Father for the sake of the world he loved, so too, we give ourselves anew to God, our families and neighbors at each Mass we celebrate.

When we gather in His memory each week around His Word and Altar, His Book and Table, we are called to listen to his Word and fully join with all people in giving thanks and praise to God.

To the degree we do, the Mass can always give us new insights, new directions, new relationships with one another and a new occasion for meeting Christ. To the degree we fail, there is danger of seeing the Mass as a boring ritual, when in fact it is always a new invitation to celebrate as a FAMILY the many blessings God has given to us.

THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYERS AT MASS – THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH - March 30, 2016
How many times in the course of the day do we say “thank you?” Whether to respond to a gift or a service, no matter how small, almost every human encounter is or should be done with saying “thank you.” In the United States we have a whole day set aside to say thank you, Thanksgiving Day.

As Catholics we come to gather every Sunday to say “thank you” to God. This is one of the Ten Commandments, to keep holy the Lord’s day. At Mass we follow the instructions that Jesus left with his Disciples, to gather together, hear God’s Word and have a meal in MEMORY OF ME (JESUS). At Mass it is Jesus Christ himself who is offered up to God as a sacrifice. Jesus died for our sins. The Eucharistic Prayer is a long prayer where we say “thank you” to God our creator.

The Eucharistic Prayer is THE THANKSGIVING prayer of the Church, the people of God. The priest as spokesman for the community, proclaims it for, and in the name of all those who have gather together around God’s Word and Table.

Today we have four standard Eucharistic Prayers that are said at every Mass. After the Holy, Holy, Holy, the priest selects one of these four prayers to say our “thank you” to God. Sometimes the priest will say which one he is praying. Example “Today we will be praying the third Eucharistic Prayer.” Once it is known which prayer is being said one can read along in the missalette. There are four Eucharistic Prayers that can be said at Mass. Two are for Masses of Reconciliation and two are for Masses with children. Both follow the same pattern as the other Eucharistic Prayers.

STRUCTURE –

Even the divisions of the Prayer, intentionally or not, have a threefold structure. The Prayer may be divided into three parts – beginning, heart and conclusion – and each of these may be subdivided into three.

The beginning of the Prayer consists of (1) a dialogue between priest and people; (2) praise and blessing of the Father (the preface); and (3) an acclamation by the people (“Holy, holy,…).

At the heart of the Prayer are (1) the gesture and words by which the gifts are set apart for the working of the Spirit; (2) the memorial representation of the Last Supper by the priest; (3) elaboration on this, for it is by remembering that we give thanks and offer sacrifice.

The conclusion of the Prayer is also three-fold (1) the extension of the memorial to the Church and the world; (2) the doxology (“through him, with him, in him…”) by which the Prayer is summed up; (3) the acclamation (“Amen”) by which the people express their whole-hearted self-involvement in the sacrifice of Jesus.

The Eucharistic Prayer ends with everyone saying or singing the GREAT AMEN. This is where all those gathered at Mass agree with all the priest has said as the spokesman for the community. The AMEN is very important, we are saying I BELIEVE, YES IT IS SO, to all that has been spoken.

Explaining the Celebration of the Mass – The Dismissal from Mass - March 25, 2016
A. Again the celebrant may say “Let us Pray”. This does not mean we haven’t been praying; rather, it means we as a body are going to offer up one prayer all together. This is the prayer after Communion, the final Collect prayer of the Mass. It is the priest who wraps up all the different prayers of the gathered community into one prayer and the community responds with AMEN, meaning YES, I BELIEVE IT IS SO.

B. Why does the Mass end the way it does? Mass ends the same way we begin, in the Sign of our Faith – we bless ourselves with the Sign of the Cross.

Explaining the Celebration of the Mass- The Liturgy of the Eucharist, March 15, 2016
A. Why the Preface prayer (the prayer before the Holy, Holy, Holy)? This prayer, like the Collect prayers of the Mass differs at each Mass, depending upon the Sunday of the year and the mass being celebrated. Usually the Preface prayer quickly summarizes the nature of the feast day or the readings of the day.

B. Why are there so many Eucharistic Prayers? There are four standard Eucharistic Prayers, along with two prayers for a Class of Reconciliation, and two prayers for Mass with children. All six prayers contain the theology of our central form of worship; we give God Praise and Thanks. Simple gifts of bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Words of institution recall what Jesus did at the last supper; it is the same account that St. Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. The celebrant prays the Eucharistic Prayer as the spokesperson for the gathered community. The community has two major responses in the Eucharistic Prayer: one is after the Words of institution, usually saying Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again, or one of the four options. The major response of the community is the Great Amen, which is said after the Doxology, the Trinitariny summary of the E.P. This Amen is the community saying YES to all that has been said in the E.P. In the E.P. for a Mass with children, there is a continuous dialogue between the celebrant and the community, and this is usually a sung response.

C. Why do we say the Our Father so late in the Mass? The Lord’s prayer is said only after the community has heard God’s word in Sacred Scripture, asked God’s intercession in the prayers if the Faithful, and offered the acceptable sacrifice of the Mass: Jesus The Lord's Prayer comes from Jesus, since it is only Jesus who would ever call and instruct others to call the Almighty Creator by the title of Father. The Lord’s Prayer talks about daily bread; it is the Mass where we receive our spiritual bread for our journey on earth.

D. Why do we shake other people’s hands at Mass? This is recalling Jesus’ first greeting to his friends after hiss Resurrection. He said “Peace be with you.” The concept of peace is, as always, very special to all generation of peoples. But we will not experience total peace until we see God face to face. By offering one another God’s Peace, we are reminding ourselves of the reality that we hope to live one day with God, the peace of eternal life. Also, by shaking another person’s hand we remember we worship as a community, not as individuals. We need one another’s prayers and assistance in our spiritual journey of life.

E. What do mean when we say the Lamb of God? This prayer really captures the sacrifice that we have just offered, Jesus us indeed the New and Only sacrifice that is needed. Jesus, one sacrifice on the Cross makes Jesus the new and everlasting Lamb of sacrifice. As with most of our prayers at Mass, this prayer comes from the Book of Revelation, chapter 5: 6-14. The Holy, Holy, holy is also from Revelation.

F. Why is the large host broken? This is how the Mass originally got its name; the Breaking of the Bread that we so often hear about in the New Testament.

G. Why do we say "I am not worthy?" This prayer acknowledges that we are all sinners trying to be saints. And we cannot be saints without the help of God.

H. Why are there two different ways to receive Holy Communion? For many years, only the priest was allowed to touch the chalice and give out Holy Communion. The priest was a person set apart to minister to the people of God. But since the Second Vatican Council, the Leaders of our Church have seen that all people by virtue of our Baptism share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Also, allowing non-ordained people to distribute Holy Communion and receive Holy Communion in the hand the Church is really returning to the older custom of the gathered community sharing and partaking in the meal. At a meal one does use one’s hands; this is clearly the picture in the Last Supper accounts in the New Testament. One way of receiving Holy Communion is no better than the other; it is up to the individual to decide – receive on the tongue or in the hand. Regardless of how an individual receives Holy Communion, one should always respect the Lay Eucharistic Minister as an individual who has been trained and educated into this very special ministry in the life of the Church.

I. What should do after I receive the host? One should quickly swallow the host and begin to offer up or say private prayers to God. Worship is all about giving God thanks and praise. The time after one receives Holy Communion is very special. It is the closest that we are able to get to God while still living in this world. The moments after we receive Holy Communion we are indeed one with God and God is abiding with us in a very special way. At some Masses there will be a song to express the community’s collective thanks and praise to God.

EXPLAINING THE CELEBRATION OF THE MASS – The Liturgy of the Word, February 29, 2016
A. Why do we hear the same readings at Mass all the time? This is not true. The Church follows a three-year cycle of Sunday Readings. The exact same three readings; Old Testament, New Testament and Gospel, is only heard once every three years.

B. Why do we read from the Old Testament? The History of Salvation started with God Making a Covenant with the Jewish people. The story of Promise and God waiting for our return after breaking the Covenant is still our journey today.

C. Why the Responsorial Psalm? We respond to God’s Word with a hymn as one body worshipping. The Psalms are poetry expressing our human emotions and our dependence on God.

D. Why the New Testament Reading? The second Reading contains the earliest message about Jesus. It was these readings that gave the early Catholic Christians hope, encouragement, and when needed, correction. The second reading usually continues from week to week.

E. Why the Gospel? The four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. This is how the Gospel writers, inspired by God, explained who Jesus was, the Son of God (c.f.Mark 1:1).

F. Why the Homily? The priest tries to break open the Word of God - what it meant when it was written, and what it means for us today. This opportunity for comment, instruction and inspiration is geared to feed and nourish the community of Believers.

G. Why the Profession of Faith-The Creed This Prayer captures what is central for us as Catholic Christians. This prayer took nearly 400 years to complete and have all believers understand and agree with. The Creed tells us what WE believe as a community, as a family at Worship. Yes, there are other important things we believe, but the contents of this prayer are our BASIC CORE BELIEFS.

H. Why the General Intercessions – The Prayers of the Faithful? After stating what we believe, we state what our needs are this Sunday, who and what we want God’s help and blessing with, those who are sick, and special intentions of the individual worshiping community.

Explaining the Celebration of the Mass, February 22, 2016

Gathering and Introductory Rites

A. Why Candles? Candles denote a celebration or a special meal.

B. Why Vestments? We wear proper clothes for proper events, priest’s robes explained in Revelations 4:5, 7:9 & 7:13-14.

C. Why come early? We need time to gather our thoughts and offer up our prayer intentions for the Mass we are about to celebrate. When we go out to a special dinner, we always show up early before the time of the reservation in order to enjoy the atmosphere or the environment of the house or restaurant.

D. Why the Entrance Song and Procession? –The first act of Worship is to raise up our voices as one body in song. At celebrations we sing. The entrance procession shows that worship is the Work of the people, that is why there are servers, Lectors and Eucharistic ministers along with the Deacon and Priest. There are many Gifts and ministries, but only one body, the People of God, the Church.

E. Why does the priest kiss the altar when he enters the Sanctuary? Most altars have a relic or a piece of a relic placed within the altar. A relic is a piece of garment or very small bone chip of a Saint of our church. By kissing the altar, the priest is recalling how our Faith has been passed on to us by others who have died for the Faith. Another explanation is: Old altars were shaped as tombs. Our Faith is built on the foundation of Jesus raising from the tomb. By kissing the altar, the priest is calling to mind the empty tomb.

F. Why the Greeting? This is worship, the first action is to begin with the Sign of our Faith - the Sign of the Cross. We do not say "nice day," but a spiritual greeting: "May the Grace and Peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus be with you."

G. Why the Rite of Blessing & Sprinkling or the Penitential Rite? It is through the waters of Baptism that we gain membership in the Church. As we make the sign of the Cross with the Holy Water at the doors of the Church, this Rite of Sprinkling reminds us we are followers of Jesus Christ. The Penitential Rite reminds us we are all sinners trying to be Saints.

H. Why the Gloria? The Gloria is our HYMN of Praise to God. It contains the basic attitude of Worship; To give God Praise and Thanks.

I. Why the Opening Prayer? It is the priest as spokesperson for the community of Believers who invites you to offer up our prayers and intentions into the Opening Prayer. There is a special Opening prayer for each Sunday of the year. In other words, no Sunday Opening Prayers repeats itself over the course of a year.

Church Documents, February 15, 2016

Grace and Sin - February 1, 2016

Reason and Faith - January 22, 2016

Environmental Ethics - January 5, 2016

JESUS - December 25, 2015

SACRAMENTS - December 15, 2015

CATHOLICISM - December 8, 2015

VOTING and being ROMAN CATHOLIC - December 4, 2015

ETERNAL LIFE - November 24, 2015

PRAYER - November 19, 2015

The Spiritual Life - October, 2015

FAITH

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heave.
Matthew 16: 18-19