This is a great song from Natasha Bedingfield - and refreshing considering the anti-Marriage/family “hook-up” mentality plaguing our young people today:
From the song:
I wanna have your babies
Get serious like crazy
I wanna have your babies
I see ‘em springin up like daisies
Remember the good old days when all “dating” really was about finding the right person to eventually start a family with? I don’t, of course. That practice had long died out by the time I reached puberty. Nowadays it’s often little more than a quest for personal gratification and a few moments of pleasure. I did notice, though, when I attended Ave Maria University a few years ago, that courtship is making a comeback and it’s quite encouraging. It’s a modern courtship to be sure, but I can’t help being reminded of The Quiet Man when I think of courting (see the end of video 1/beginning of 2):
Let the courting commence!
Read: Arms of Love - a novel about purity and courtship. A couple that I was friends with at Ave read this book together while they were dating. They got married shortly after they graduated (a little over a year ago) and are expecting their first child - a girl - due in January. That school is producing some incredible Marriage vocations.
Related article: TV’s Contempt for Marriage
Last week there was a big comment discussion on one of Jay’s posts about what John McCain’s position on ESC research actually is anymore. It seems there has been some confusion lately. He very vaguely addressed this during last Saturday’s Civil Forum with Rick Warren at his Saddleback church, but let’s look at everything, shall we?
For years John McCain has been in favor of ESC research on so-called “surplus” embryos created for IVF. In 2004 he signed a letter to the president urging him to expand funding for ESC research. He voted twice in favor of the embryonic stem cell research enhancement act (so did Obama), even once taking time on the floor to speak in favor of the funding. In April of 2007 he told Christian talk show host Bob Dutko that he, and those who oppose ESC research “just have an open and honest disagreement”:
Lately, however, there have been a few reports from some ESC research supporters who are worried he is not committed to his past position in favor of the research. Some pro-lifers have even suggested that McCain has been open to changing his mind and is slowly coming around on the issue. Indeed, in the last year he has remained fairly quiet about ESCs, focusing his comments on touting alternative sources. His campaign website makes no mention of his past ESC research support or whether he would refuse expanded ESC research funding, but says only that he would support funding “promising research programs…that do not involve the use of human embryos.” But does this indicate a change or a change in the works? Personally, I wouldn’t bet on that just yet.
Earlier this year he defended his support for research using embryos that would be, “either discarded or kept in permanent frozen status.” And last night, when asked if he would favor or oppose funding for ESC research McCain, using the vaguest wording possible (notice, he uses the blanket term “stem cell research”), essentially reiterated his position:
For those of us in the pro-life community this has been a great struggle and a terrible dilemma because we’re also taught other obligations that we have as well. I’ve come down on the side of stem cell research. But I am wildly optimistic that skin cell research, which is coming more and more into focus and practicability, will make this debate an academic one.
As Fr. Martin Fox said re: McCain’s fuzzy website language:
when you read his site’s statement very closely, you will discover, accompanied by a sick feeling in your stomach, just how fine an art it is for those in politics to parse words to sound like they say more than they do.
If McCain wants to say clearly he’s against research on embryonic stem cells, it’s just that easy to say that. In all that verbiage, that clear statement does not appear.
Based on that all we can assume is that, yes, John McCain still favors funding for ESC research and will continue to do so when he is president.
He may be anti-abortion, but, under different circumstances, he still supports the destruction of innocent human life and that’s not insignificant.
The Daily Mail has a beautiful story of a young girl who refused to have an abortion despite the fact that her child was conceived in a brutal gang rape. Sadly, “Elizabeth” and her mother were almost completely alone in this decision (names have been changed for legal reasons):
“One of the few things that Elizabeth is sure of is that she was raped three times that night, by three different men.
That Phoebe exists at all almost defies belief. Practically everyone who knew exactly how Elizabeth had fallen pregnant - doctors, siblings, even her own father - urged her to have an abortion as soon as possible.
The only person who pleaded with her to at least consider having the child was her mother, Sarah.”
Elizabeth recalls that most of her friends were horrified that she would go through with the birth after such a traumatic experience. Her own sister wrote a note shortly after Elizabeth made her final decision asking God to help her love the new baby who she now only felt hatred for. But the unborn child is not the enemy and in fact is in many ways, just as much a victim as her mother. She did not ask to be conceived under such circumstances, much like Elizabeth did not ask to be raped, so why should she be punished for the crime of her father? Popular opinion is that a child conceived in rape will be a constant reminder of that fateful event and a lifetime punishment for the mother. But not little Phoebe:
“‘People may wonder how it is possible to love a child conceived in this way, but believe me, I love her even more because of it.’
‘All the hatred I felt towards those men disappeared when I saw the baby. I put Phoebe on Elizabeth’s breast and that was the most moving sight.
‘In that moment, it wasn’t about her being attacked in some car park, it was simply about the precious moment a new mum holds her baby.’
Elizabeth concurs. ‘I have never, ever blamed Phoebe for what happened.
‘While it was terrifying, knowing that I was going to be a mum made me look forward and focus on something else. I suppose I have tried to look beyond what happened, to the life that was created.’”
Even Elizabeth’s father has come around and now “adores” his granddaughter who’s life he once wanted to end.
This reminds me of the now famous letter written by a Yugoslavian nun who found out she was pregnant after being raped by Serbian soldiers in 1995. After informing her Mother Superior that she would keep her child and “fulfill [her] vocation another way” she said:
Someone has to begin to break the chain of hatred that has always destroyed our countries. And so, I will teach my child only one thing: love. This child, born of violence, will be a witness along with me that the only greatness that gives honor to a human being is forgiveness.
Abortion is an act of violence against the weak and defenseless unborn. Aborting a child conceived in rape does not solve any problems. Rather it responds to one act of violence with yet another assault on human life, thereby adding another link to the chain of violence in the world.
Obama, the Freedom of Choice Act, Abortion and the Catholic Church (h/t American Papist):
“Catholics can support “pro-choice” candidates if they support them despite — not because of — their “pro-choice” views. But they also need a compelling proportionate reason to justify it. What is a ‘proportionate’ reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life — which we most certainly will.”
Interestingly the “Roman Catholics” for Obama actually have this message from Chaput on their website and still feel justified supporting Obama. They do not expressly state what their proportionate reason is for supporting Obama, just that:
After faithful thought and prayer, we have arrived at the conclusion that Senator Obama is the candidate whose views are most compatible with the Catholic outlook, and we will vote for him because of that — and because of his other outstanding qualities — despite our disagreements with him in specific areas.
Under the section “Life and Dignity of the Human Person” they cite his positions on the death penalty, war and guns, finally addressing abortion only to cite Obama’s stated belief that it should be made “less common.” I would hardly call those “proportionate”.
Meanwhile John McCain is not making this decision any easier for Catholics by telling the Weekly Standard that he won’t rule out a pro-abortion running mate:
“I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party,” McCain said. “And I also feel that–and I’m not trying to equivocate here–that Americans want us to work together. You know, Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens to be pro-choice. And I don’t think that that would necessarily rule Tom Ridge out.”
When the man votes against a bill supported nationally by every major pro-abortion Democrat in Congress and unopposed by America’s largest abortion rights organization, there really is no defense except that he believes it is perfectly acceptable practice for hospitals and abortion clinics to put infants on shelves to die so long as someone was trying to kill them before they were unfortunately born alive. Be sure to read this well documented report from National Right to Life on Obama’s votes against the Born Alive Infant’s Protection Act. Life Site News also has this report.
Previous posts:
Barack Obama “Will Not Yield” on Abortion
Obama and Infanticide
Barack’s Disturbing Defense of Infanticide
Obama Facts
A nice little video from ProLifeUnity.com:
Also said by Abraham Lincoln:
“If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify revolution; certainly would if such right were a vital one.” (March 4, 1861)
WND has bumper stickers and buttons for those who can’t stand the thought of voting for either Barack Obama or John McCain. I still don’t know what the right answer is here. Many are waiting to see who John McCain picks as his VP candidate. I’ve heard names like Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney (puke). One name that is apparently still on the short list, according to a McCain campaign adviser, is pro-abortion Democrat Joseph Lieberman. According to this advisor, “[McCain] loves Lieberman. And he is on the [short] list because Lieberman has never embarrassed anyone, never misspoken. The first rule is, don’t take someone who costs you votes.” Admittedly this would cause a huge problem among conservatives, but, as the McCain aide said, “sometimes John does what John wants to do.” Isn’t that the truth? He didn’t let a little thing like defending innocent human life stop him from voting to expand federal funding for ESC research, so I doubt he’d have serious qualms about choosing Lieberman despite the potential for a conservative fallout. The good thing is that Lieberman has repeatedly said that he would not consider running with McCain.
*Found this funny video from Barely Political: Kissing Up to McCain:
In honor of my very good friend enduring a painful 27 hours of labor in order to bring her first child, boy Kale, into the world yesterday morning I share this passage from Scott Hahn’s book, First Comes Love. It is a beautiful commentary on what it was like to witness his wife, Kimberly, go through 30 hours of labor and the birth of their first child (it also corresponds nicely to my previous post, Sacred Femininity):
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I married Kimberly Kirk on August 18, 1979. We made our home and we knew the pleasure and the joy of the union of a man and a woman. It was not, however, in the ecstasy of our bodily union that I first glimpsed how a family most vividly manifests God’s life - though that union surely had something to do with it.
For me, the first revelation came when Kimberly was nine and a half months pregnant with our first child. Her body had taken on new proportions and more than ever before I realized that her flesh was not created merely for my delight. What I had enjoyed as something beautiful was now becoming a means to a greater end.
When she felt her first labor pains we rushed to the hospital with the anticipation that our baby would soon be in our arms. Kimberly’s labor was difficult, however, right from the start. I joked that if men could get pregnant, the human race would have been extinct soon after its creation.
The hours dragged on, hours of hard labor, and Kimberly’s pain grew more intense. My heart gave lie to my joking, because I would gladly have taken on her pain at that moment.
We passed a day this way, and then a night, and then another day began. After thirty hours of labor, the doctor saw little progress, and he recommended a cesarean section. This was not at all the way we had wanted things to go, but we saw that the choice was being taken out of our hands.
Exhausted, I watched the nurses move Kimberly to a gurney and wheel her down the hall to another room. I walked alongside, holding her hand, praying with her and telling jokes - anything to lift her spirit.
When we arrived at the operating room, the nurses moved Kimberly again, now to a table, where they strapped her down and sedated her. She was freezing cold, shivering, and afraid.
I stood beside my wife, her body spread out and strapped cruciform to the table, cut open in order to bring new life to the world.
Nothing my dad had told me about the facts of life, nothing I had learned in high school biology class, could have prepared me for that moment. The doctors allowed me to stay, to watch the operation. As the surgeon made his incisions, I beheld all of Kimberly’s major organs. “Truly,” I thought, “we are fearfully and wonderfully made!” Then came the moment when, from amid those organs, with a few careful movements of the doctor’s hands, came the beautiful body of my baby boy, my first born son, Michael.
But it was Kimberly’s body that became something more than beautiful for me. Bloody and scarred and swollen with pain, it became something sacred, a living temple, a holy sanctuary, and an altar of life-giving sacrifice.
The life she gave to our world - this life we had made with God - I could now look upon and touch with my hands. A third person had entered the intimate unity of our home. This was the beginning of something new for me, and for Kimberly and me together. God had taken two starry-eyed lovers’ gazes and redirected them - but they were no less starry-eyed and no less loving. Now there were three in a happy home, whose love kept leading them to a home still happier.
Congratulations Mary Jo and Kyle! May your marriage and family always be a sign of the life-giving love of the Trinity.
A great quote I found last week:
Jesus suffers to carry out the will of the Father. And you, who also want to carry out the most holy will of God, following the steps of the Master, can you complain if you meet suffering on your way? St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way n. 213
Another Christian man once told me, regarding my disability, “it’s a good thing you’re Catholic.” He was referring, no doubt, to the history of the Church and it’s members embracing suffering for the sake of the cross, but really all Christians have the same consolation and should rejoice to be in such company:
“The true shepherd is one who knows even the path that passes through the valley of death; one who walks with me even on the path of final solitude, where no one can accompany me, guiding me through: he himself has walked this path, he has descended into the kingdom of death, he has conquered death, and he has returned to accompany us now and to give us the certainty that, together with him, we can find a way through.” (Spe Salvi, n. 6)
Instead of complaining or violating human dignity to escape or avoid pain we must realize that we are not alone in our sufferings. Indeed, when we suffer we are even closer to the Redeemer through the power of the Cross.
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt. 16:24-25)
“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I a weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinth 12:10)
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 1:6-7)
The Christian faith has shown us that truth, justice and love are not simply ideals, but enormously weighty realities. It has shown us that God —Truth and Love in person—desired to suffer for us and with us. Bernard of Clairvaux coined the marvellous expression: Impassibilis est Deus, sed non incompassibilis[29]—God cannot suffer, but he can suffer with. Man is worth so much to God that he himself became man in order to suffer with man in an utterly real way—in flesh and blood—as is revealed to us in the account of Jesus’s Passion. Hence in all human suffering we are joined by one who experiences and carries that suffering with us; hence con-solatio is present in all suffering, the consolation of God’s compassionate love—and so the star of hope rises. (Spe Salve, n. 39)
This encyclical is a must read, especially for those who feel hopeless and alone in their suffering. What’s that? Okay…I’ll put up one more quote!
It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter, which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God governs the stars, that is, the universe; it is not the laws of matter and of evolution that have the final say, but reason, will, love—a Person. And if we know this Person and he knows us, then truly the inexorable power of material elements no longer has the last word; we are not slaves of the universe and of its laws, we are free. In ancient times, honest enquiring minds were aware of this. Heaven is not empty. Life is not a simple product of laws and the randomness of matter, but within everything and at the same time above everything, there is a personal will, there is a Spirit who in Jesus has revealed himself as Love[3]. (SS, n. 5)
Part four of the Cardinal Arinze podcast series on Theology of the Body is online:
In honor of the coming election and the large number of Catholics pledging to vote for Barack Obama, check out this already classic podcast from the Cardinal from this April: Send 12 Swiss Guards to arrest them all! (Q&A 2007 - part VII):
Subscribe to Cardinal Arinze’s webcast from the website or via itunes.
Previous posts:
Cardinal Arinze Webcasts TOB!
Barack Obama “Will Not Yield” on Abortion
Obama and Infanticide
Barack’s Disturbing Defense of Infanticide
Obama Facts
