Security is 'in': In the Lord

		Notes from the  Vicar General  Msgr. Paul J. Swain

Security is the "in" word these days. Government officials seek homeland security to protect us from terrorism.

Business leaders seek financial security to protect us from a deteriorating economy and declining stock market.

Our bishops seek oversight security to protect youth against predatory priests and others who betray their privilege of serving the Church. Technicians seek computer security to protect against so-called viruses that destroy information and play mischief.

All of these are worthy goals. In our search for legitimate security, we need to protect ourselves against a too narrow focus of life. We as Christians must not seek protection from those who differ from us, including the poor, the immigrant, the stranger, or those who need our special love and concern. The thirst for physical security must not lessen our search for peace and justice.

We can turn inward

I learned a lesson this week. Blessed with good health most of my life, I have been in the hospital only once, as a child to have my tonsils removed. A recent accident has resulted in significant back pains. Suddenly I was unable to sit or sleep comfortably. At Mass I could genuflect, but not profoundly bow. Dressing became a complicated task. More easily do I relate to those who face such restrictions every day. How much more I appreciate those who do so with good cheer.

It is easy to turn in on oneself, tuned only to our needs. All of us, as a result of some frailty or setback, can find ourselves looking inward and seeking security only in our narrow world. How moving are the examples of those who, while bearing difficult crosses, do so with humor, charity and a vision that sees beyond the moment or physical limitations. They find security in the promise of the Lord who came to offer life, life to the full.

Lasting security will not be found in materials things, comforts or defenses of this world. Our only true security is in the Lord, who came to call sinners to reach beyond limitations and grow in holiness.

He stands with us throughout the intentional and accidental forces that challenge and change us, restrict and restructure our lives. We need presidents, bishops and other leaders to guide and develop policies that, to the extent possible, protect us. But there will never be the absolute security in this world that will protect us from all that may shake our lives.

Or toward growing in holiness

What we need is spiritual security. It can only come from the One who made heaven and earth, and gifted us with life. Lasting security comes from the Lord Jesus Christ who did not allow the restriction of the cross to hold him back from his saving mission that leads to life eternal.

He instituted a spiritual security defense system in the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation, and in the teaching of the office of the Church. Through them we can receive the grace and perspective to cope with all aspects of life that make us feel secure.

May we, by how we live our lives in dangerous and unpredictable times, reveal for all to see, that our security, our hope, is in the Lord.

'Wrongful birth,' 'wrongful life':
What's wrong with these claims?

		Eye on the  Capitol  Kathy Markeland

In their pastoral letter entitled "The Consistent Life Ethic: A Demand of Discipleship" (1997) the bishops of Wisconsin emphasize that a society that fails to acknowledge suffering and infirmity as part of the human condition will fail to respect life in all its stages - in its strength and in its vulnerability.

A case in point: Consider lawsuits seeking compensation based on a claim of "wrongful birth" or "wrongful life."

In a wrongful birth action, parents make a claim that the birth of their disabled child imposes financial and emotional damages on them that could have been avoided had the parents been notified by their treating physician, in advance of the birth, of the disability.

The crux of the claim rests on the parents' assertion that if they had known of the child's condition they would have aborted the child.

A "wrongful life" claim rests on a similar premise; however, in a wrongful life claim, the disabled individual brings a claim on his or her own behalf. In doing so, the claimant argues that he should not have been born and that his doctors are responsible, in fact, culpable for his very existence.

In today's world

While to most of us such claims might sound absurd and even offensive, consider the world into which disabled children have been born. In today's world, medical technology continues to strive toward new frontiers to cure and "fix" all that ails the human condition from serious debilitating illness to wrinkles and hair loss.

In today's world, the vigorous pursuit of cures has even led researchers to destroy human embryos seeking new treatments. In today's world, it has become legal in some places to help someone end their own life. In today's world, unborn children do not have a right to live.

When the courts legalized abortion, they, in fact, invited a discussion of the health care systems' liability for bringing children into this world that are "imperfect."

Value of life

"Wrongful birth" and "wrongful life" life claims are occurring within a society that denies the essential value of human life. So the courts are examining the question: When advances in diagnoses and medical technique enable us to identify "imperfections" and the law permits us to terminate those lives, should someone be financially culpable for bringing these disabled children into the world?

These legal claims challenge our fundamental understanding of human life and solidarity.

While one might disagree with the legal claims being made, these claims reflect a parent's fear of being abandoned by a society that denies the dignity of every life and fails to share in the responsibility for supporting disabled individuals and their families.

We all are responsible

The answer to the question, "Who is responsible for these children?" is simple. We all are. Each human life is a gift and no one's existence should be labeled "wrong."

If we fail to provide sufficient financial, social, and spiritual support for disabled children and their families, then all of us are culpable of denying their value and contributing to the seemingly absurd circumstances that have led courts to recognize "wrongful birth" and "wrongful life" claims.

As the bishops' pastoral says, our care for the weakest among us speaks volumes about the way in which our society values all human life. To embrace human life in all its suffering and infirmity, in its joys and hopes is what it means to uphold a consistent ethic of life.

Kathy Markeland is associate director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.

Lessons from a big sister:
Learning from her in life and death

		Grand Mom  Audrey  Mettel Fixmer

When my sister, Ione, died suddenly in April this year, she left behind a legacy of lessons that could make up a syllabus for an adult education course.

It could be called "Living and Dying 101." Ione did not write her memoir in words, as I might have done, but in things. As I helped her two children, Nancy and Jim, sort through her belongings last week, we marveled at her impeccable good taste in clothing, accessories, and household furnishings, while clearly getting these messages:

Lesson number one: BE CONSIDERATE OF YOUR LOVED ONES.

When Bob and I invited Ione to take a trip to Branson with us in late March, she made sure she had a clean bill of health from her doctor before agreeing. After all, she was 87 and realistic. She didn't want to "get sick and ruin your fun."

As it turned out, it was a mere four days after our return when she suffered the stroke that would end her life. But her children and all who loved her would take great comfort in remembering her exuberance in relating all the "great shows and fun shopping and wonderful meals" she had on that trip.

Still, there was the realistic, cautious side of Ione. Because her children were both working and raising young families and lived far away from Aurora, Ione worried that her death would cause them a further burden.

Seven years ago she sold her home and moved into a rented apartment. This would save Jim and Nancy the trouble of selling a home. Within the last year she also bought a "prearranged funeral" from a local mortuary, complete with coffin, prayer cards, and all the trimmings.

After giving the kids power of attorney, she even went so far as to leave enough in her checking account to pay for their airfares home, the funeral dinner, and all the miscellaneous items she could think of.

Lesson number two: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU.

The subtitle here is "So keep up." Keep up sorting out and ridding yourself of outdated items so someone else doesn't have to do it. How many times do we read of the elderly who lived in squalor of "junk"? Ione kept a neat apartment, her closets and cabinets in perfect order, and all of her clothing so fashionable and in such good taste that even my daughters, a younger professional generation, were delighted to wear them.

I also learned something from watching the delight her kids took in finding relatives and friends to happily receive these items, and the sadness they felt in turning the remainders over to a faceless charity. They were justifiably proud of their fashionable mother.

Lesson number three: YOUR PRIORITIES ARE SHOWING.

The walls of Ione's apartment attested to her devotion to God and family. A crucifix that her son Jim, a journalist, brought her from Rio de Janeiro, hung in a prominent place and caught my husband's eye. We now have that hanging in our bedroom.

One entire hallway wall was covered with family portraits of her beloved grandchildren, and two huge baby pictures of her own two children were framed and hung over her bed for all these years.

Her preparedness was amazing. A birthday card to our sister, Mary Lou, was already addressed in April when she died, and delivered when Nancy found it, just two days after the May 24 birthday.

Ione, a widow for many years, demonstrated her pride in her husband and children by saving their awards and photographs as well as her own. A recent photo showing the presentation of her award from the parish credit union for "Fifty Years of Dedicated Service," her stack of prayer books and missiles, and her pile of rosaries, all speak to her deep faith.

I was touched to find that Ione saved every one of my Grand Mom columns from her diocesan paper, The Observer, as well as a letter I wrote to her in 1968. It was on a rare night when I was moved to write her a thank you for being the wonderful role model, the big sister that enriched my life so much.

In all the years that I was rearing our 10 children and pursuing a college education and teaching and writing, I had sadly neglected our relationship. I hope that I made up for my neglect by writing that letter and by bringing some joy to her last months.

In her death, as in her life, Ione remains my finest role model. We can all learn our lessons in "Living and Dying 101."

"Grandmom" likes hearing from other senior citizens who enjoy aging at P.O. Box 216, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538.