Per Christum

I know it is a little late for an “earth day” post, but I wanted to point our readers to a nice Catholic resource related to the environment: The Catholic Conservation Center. The center has as its goal to “promote ecology, environmental justice, and the stewardship of Creation in light of sacred Scripture and living Tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.” Lest the word “environmental justice” raise a red flag, note that the site strives to be loyal to the Magisterium of the Church (and wants to be emailed if they aren’t). I think this is important, because some Christian conservation sites seem to be environmentalist first, and Christian last. One does not have to be a neo-pagan, pray to Gaia, or support PETA, to believe in the conservation and care of God’s creation.

I definitely support conservation and caring for the earth. I enjoy nature, and being out in it, and like many Church Fathers, I believe that we can know something about our Creator from His marvelous creation. I lament the destruction and exploitation of our world, although I believe it is our right to use the earth’s resources justly for our benefit.

When I was growing up, some in my evangelical church were suspicious of my enjoyment of nature; if someone enjoyed nature (or wanted to care for it), then he was deemed too close to paganism! However, when I became Catholic I entered an Incarnational church, a sacramental Church, where the physical is not divided from the “spiritual.” Fortunately, the Catholic Church has a solid understanding of the role of creation that is neither idolatrous nor semi-Gnostic.

Image taken by me, April 2008

Thank you, Cardinal Egan for standing up to the Truth, for being faithful to your God-given ministry as pastor and teacher of the Holy Catholic Church!!! Please do not stop! My prayers and those of thousands of people are with you. God bless you.

The Catholic Church clearly teaches that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God. Throughout my years as Archbishop of New York, I have repeated this teaching in sermons, articles, addresses, and interviews without hesitation or compromise of any kind. Thus it was that I had an understanding with Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, when I became Archbishop of New York and he was serving as Mayor of New York, that he was not to receive the Eucharist because of his well-known support of abortion. I deeply regret that Mr. Giuliani received the Eucharist during the Papal visit here in New York, and I will be seeking a meeting with him to insist that he abide by our understanding.

Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, are you aware of what Holy Scripture affirms about partaking in an unworthy manner?

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. (1 Corinthians 11: 27-29)

 Can PC help to keep an Iraqi Catholic Seminary open?

  click to enlarge

 Project Number: 11909
Project Title: Keep Babel Open
Description: Baghdad’s Babel College for Philosophy and Theology, which educates Iraq’s seminarians, has been forced to relocate to Arbil. Help keep its doors open.
Amount requested: $15,000.00
Contributions from donors: $4,244.10
Amount needed to complete the project: $10,755.90

I just watched A Man for All Seasons two days ago and I must admit that I liked it very much. It is a relatively old movie (1966) but a good movie nevertheless. Personally, it was very inspirational to realize just how strong St. Thomas More’s faith was. In fact, his faith and love towards God was so strong that he preferred to be executed than to act against what he so firmly believed. Truly, St. Thomas More is a “Man for All Seasons”!

ST. THOMAS MORE, PRAY FOR US!!!

And for those wondering?  The composer of that gem is the one and only Andrew Lloyd Webber.

I know this question isn’t too religious or of a religious nature, but I am curious. Since many of us in the U.S.  will be getting rebate checks in the mail soon (not me yet…since my accountant still hasn’t filed yet, although she did file an extension), what do you plan to do with yours?

I am thinking of depositing mine in the bank and viewing it as a “gas rebate” for the year. I spend about 70 dollars in gas a month (I don’t drive much and work is 1 minute away), so $600 goes a good way to cover that. So I will probably place mine in the bank, and mentally earmark it for gas. I also will probably give some of it to some kind of charity. I admit I am not too sure that this is going to do too much for our economy, or if it is a good idea for an already debt-ridden government to be spending more money, but I rarely benefit from government handouts, so I will be a grateful receiver. So what about you? What are you going to do with yours?

I’d like to introduce you to my new friend, Gianna Molla, in anticipation of her fourth feast day, which the church celebrates tomorrow, April 28.  I like this saint, because I think a lot of modern women can relate to her. Like so many out there, Gianna was a working mom.

Gianna Beretta Molla was born in Italy on October 4, 1922.  From childhood, she served God faithfully. She graduated from the University of Pavia with a medical degree in surgery with honors.  She opened a clinic with her brother, and since she loved babies, she obtained a certificate in pediatrics.  She later married Peter Molla, an engineer, in 1955.

Before she was married, she ministered to young girls through Catholic Action, a group involved with catechesis of young people.  She once said something to the girls, which would prove to some day be tested.  She said: 

“Eternal and earthly happiness depends on the fulfillment of your vocation. Your vocation is one to a material, spiritual and moral maternity, because God has placed in us an inclination to life.

“Each of us should make room for our vocation, for the giving of life.  If, perchance, we may have to die while carrying out our vocation, that would be the most beautiful day of our lives.”

Well, Gianna wanted a big family. She and Peter had a son, Pierluigi, then two daughters, Mariolina and Laura, followed by two miscarriages.  In the summer of 1961, Gianna became pregnant with another child.

Within two months, Gianna developed a large tumor in her uterus that threatened both her life and the life of her baby.  Her doctor advised her to have an abortion in order to save her life.  Instead, she opted for a riskier surgery that would remove the tumor to protect the baby while leaving her own life at risk.

The operation was successful in preserving her baby’s life, but as her pregnancy continued, Gianna had a premonition of what was to come.  She was ready to sacrifice her life so that her child could live.

A few days before the baby was due, she told her husband:  “If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: Choose the child; I insist on it.  Save the baby!”

On Holy Saturday, 1962, after a Caesarian section, Gianna gave birth to a healthy baby girl weighing nearly 10 pounds.  The child was named Gianna as well.  (Today, “little” Gianna is also a medical doctor, a gerontologist.)

That same day, the mother’s condition began to deterioriate.  She was dying of septic peritonitis, an infection of the lining of the abdomen-a result of her choice to preserve the life of her child.  Gianna died a week later on April 28, 1962 (now her feast day).

Many saints aren’t formally recognized by the Church until centuries after their death.  But Gianna’s cause for canonization began within three decades after she died.  The miracles necessary for the process occurred in a relatively short period of time, so that her husband, three surviving children and siblings were all able to attend her canonization by Pope John Paul II on May 16, 2004.

Perhaps our God is trying to promote Gianna’s message of holiness in everyday life to our troubled world at this crucial time, in this culture of death.

Read more about Gianna here.

Prayer of Saint Gianna
Jesus, I promise You to submit myself to all that You permit to befall me,
make me only know Your will.
My most sweet Jesus, infinitely merciful God, most tender Father of souls,
and in a particular way of the most weak, most miserable, most infirm
which You carry with special tenderness between Your divine arms,
I come to You to ask You, through the love and merits of Your Sacred Heart,
the grace to comprehend and to do always Your holy will,
the grace to confide in You,
the grace to rest securely through time and eternity in Your loving divine arms.

- Abridged/adapted from article by Joseph Cunningham, J.D. - The Catholic Answer - November/December 2005 Edition

Food prices have been rising quickly as of late, the fastest rise in prices in 17 years. There are a variety of reasons why: increase in biofuel use, greater demand from developing countries, weather issues that have hurt crop yields, high energy prices, the weak dollar, speculators and hedge funds buying into the futures markets, and so forth. Whatever the reasons, the increases in food and energy costs are squeezing a lot of Americans financially, but worse, causing people to starve in developing countries, where folks have less disposable income. People are starting to even hoard food. I think we are finally starting to realize that we can’t have our cakes and eat them too. If a lot of people all over the world want a lot of something (food, energy, etc), then the price is going to rise. It is basic economics!

I have wondered what we can do about this. One thing I can personally do is cut back on the food I eat, and buy food items that haven’t risen recently (for example, potatoes). We can also make sure we increase our giving to groups providing aid to the poor. Does anybody have any ideas?

A new poll shows that the unchurched (those who haven’t attended church for 6 months, except for religious holidays and special events) prefer traditional church architecture to contemporary looking churches, by nearly 2 to 1. And the interesting part of the survey? Young people ages 25-34 showed the greatest preference for traditional church architecture! I am almost 30, and even though I attended a church that architecturally resembled a conference center for about six months, even as an evangelical, I was strongly drawn to more traditional looking church buildings.

The authors of the survey admit that gothic and other traditional looking churches are still in decline. This is because factors other than exterior appearance influence the decision to attend a church, but nonetheless, it shows that despite claims for years that churches had to “look modern” to attract modern people, people still prefer traditional architecture. Hopefully surveys like this will encourage Catholic parishes and dioceses to look to the past when looking for church architectural design ideas, instead of assuming modern people want plain churches!

I am a little suspicious of this survey, and its implications, for a variety of reasons. First, like the authors of the study admit, the exterior look of a church probably doesn’t have a whole lot to do with church growth. Even if people prefer the look of a gothic cathedral, the evangelical mega-church next door to the gothic cathedral may very well be thriving while the cathedral is declining, because the evangelical church actually makes an effort to reach out to people! Second, people are unchurched for a variety of reasons, and basing our choices of architecture, worship, etc, on the unchurched raises serious problems. While we need to certainly reach out to those who are not churched, Christian practice and belief are not negotiable based on their appeal to the masses. Regardless, I think this survey shows that what some church leaders assume people want (the new, the innovative) is often different than what people actually want. As someone who prefers more traditional looking churches (although I am not interested in trashing all modern looking churches, or boycotting them, etc), I am glad to see others agree, even if they are unchurched!

Image from: friend.ly.net/~kellybr/ireland_2001/index.htm

I love free stuff, who doesn’t! Imagine how excited I was to find that Digital Catholic Library is offering free ebooks of Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton! With Earth Day this past week, what better way to celebrate than with a free, paperless, Catholic book.

Expect a 600KB download. Sorry everyone across the pond and to the south, it’s only free for US and Canadian citizens.

…the only problem is, the passage she often quotes isn’t there.

Apparently Pelosi is fond of saying, “The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, ‘To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.’” The problem is that biblical scholars aren’t really sure what she is referring to. I have read the Old Testament through, and taken Scripture classes, and I am not sure what verse she has in mind. Perhaps she is referring to a concept embedded in the Old Testament. I am not pretending to be an Old Testament expert, but I haven’t found that particular idea in any part of Scripture, that caring for creation is an act of worship. However, I am interested to hear opinions on this. Where did Nancy Pelosi get this idea?

This is not to say I don’t believe that Scripture addresses care for creation. While I am no radical environmentalist, I am concerned about overuse of fossil fuels, energy use, pollution, etc, and I am interested in part because we are supposed to be good stewards of God’s creation. Our dominion over creation does not mean we have the right to trash what God created. We are not supposed to be a bunch of frat boys who destroy their parents house while “caring” for it for the weekend.

Every once in a while I stumble on a blog and think “why didn’t I think of that?!” This happened today when I discovered a new blog, Catholic Cuisine. For those of us looking for ways to incorporate the Church Year into our everyday lives, this site will be a great source of recipes and ideas. You may recognize one of its contributors; Jennifer from Family in Feast and Feria, another blog I’ve found to be a great help in my quest to develop our Domestic Church.

If cooking is not your style, how about some Carmelite roasted coffee? That’s right, the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming roast and distribute Mystic Monk Coffee. You can even get a double-handled Carmelite mug. The best part is your money supports the Monks while supporting your caffeine addiction!

I received an email today asking the following:

I am going to an Greek Easter celebration and would like to say a prayer before we start the meal.  I would like to know if there are any special Greek Easter prayers that can be said that would mean something to them that can be said in English.  I do not speak Greek.

Does anybody have any helpful ideas that I can email to this person? Links and/or prayers left in the comments would be helpful!

Thanks in advance.

During his visit to the U.S., Pope Benedict XVI addressed obstacles to Christian unity at an ecumenical gathering. Without naming the Episcopal church, the pope seemed to be addressing them and other mainlines that act in the name of being “prophetic” at the expense of classical biblical and historical Christianity. The pope worries, as do many conservatives in the mainlines, that some Christian leaders are embracing the same type of relativism popular in secular culture. Over at Kendall Harmon’s blog, there is discussion about the pope’s address. However, some have suggested Benedict was actually addressing innovators in the Catholic Church that employ similar reasoning as progressives in the mainlines; his words are appropriate for both.

I think the pope is right-on here. The mainline pursuit of a certain interpretation of “social justice” is straining ecumenical relationships. When I was in graduate school, many students and professors strongly advocated changing classical Christian positions on various moral and social issues, and disobeying current canons and rules if necessary. I found that the driving force behind this change was a trendy and militant concept of “justice” and “being prophetic.” This drive for change was so strong, that it didn’t matter who or what was trampled along the way: canons, Scripture, Tradition, ecumenism, church members, etc. Two examples of this attitude stand out in my head. The first was a future Episcopal minister who said she didn’t care what the Bible or Tradition said about same-sex unions; for her, it was a “justice issue,” and that settled it. The second was when I let a professor know that I was concerned about the effects the consecration of Gene Robinson would have on ecumenism. “What about Rome?” I asked (at a time when I was not considering joining the Catholic Church). He said, “who cares what Rome thinks!” “Why does everybody always ask what ‘Rome’ thinks?” There you have it: being prophetic trumps ecumenism, biblical teaching, and just about anything else. The Episcopal church (and, to a lesser extent, other mainlines) is pursuing its modern vision of “justice” at the expense of ecumenism and, if statistics are any indication, members.

Now, let me say, the mainlines have every right to do this, and pursue ecumenism in their own way (as the Catholic Church does). However, Catholic , Orthodox, and evangelical leaders are not fooled: many mainlines are pursuing a revisionist agenda (”revisionist” in the sense of rethinking classical Christian doctrines and morality), and they can’t claim to be theologically orthodox and morally traditional when their actual policies and actions show otherwise. A vague concept of “resurrection” is not a substantial point of unity; sharing belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus is. If the mainlines want closer ecumenical relations with Rome, Constantinople, and even evangelicals, then they are going to have to rethink recent deviations from Scripture and Tradition in the name of being prophetic; if they don’t want it, that is fine, but neither Orthodoxy nor Catholicism is going to betray Scripture and Tradition for the sake of being “relevant” in 2008.

…to our Eastern brothers and sisters who observe Easter on the Julian calendar. Holy Week for many Eastern Christians began yesterday, on Palm Sunday, or as it is often called in the East, “Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.” For those of us who use the Gregorian calendar, we are currently in the fifth week of Easter. I pray that one day East and West might agree on the date of Easter and that we would be one, as our Lord prayed.