Editorial

How do we cope? With challenges facing world, church

Last year at this time I wrote about feeling almost guilty for celebrating Christmas amid such a time of turmoil in the world. This year we still have unrest and threats of war in society, but in addition to all that, our Catholic Church is also dealing with the sexual abuse scandal and all its ramifications.

Our bishops have confronted the scandal head-on. They have written some tough policies for dealing with perpetrators while reaching out to victims and communities touched by abuse. The Vatican has given approval to their norms, but the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law and the continuing news about allegations against priests make us realize we have much work ahead of us in the church.

It's been a trying time for all of us. Add to these matters the usual tensions of a busy holiday season - and some of us may feel like running away and hiding from all our troubles.

How do we cope with these challenges? Running away is not the best answer. But running to God may help us face difficulties in our church and in our world.

Turning to God. I mean running in a figurative sense: turning to God in prayer and reflection, taking time to praise and thank God for all the good things in our lives and to ask him to be with us as we face the bad things.

We must remember that God has given human beings free will. We are not perfect, of course, and we do not always exercise good judgment. We must continue to pray that each of us "consults" God when making our own decisions and pray for enlightenment for our world and church leaders as they make their own choices.

Focus on Christ. The season of Christmas reminds us to focus our attention on Christ. He - as both God and man - understands our human challenges. He, too, was born a baby and grew up in our world.

He is there to help us. All we need to do is run to him each day and ask for his guidance. Jesus, be with us, our world and our church, as we face the challenges ahead.

Mary C. Uhler, editor

Mailbag

To the editor:

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As a coincidence, on the same day I read an article, "Abortion Statistics: "Reveal information about lives as well as numbers" (The Catholic Herald, Dec. 5, 2002) and an article "Bonding with Baby" (Crisis, Dec. 2002).

It occurred to me that if all pro-life pregnancy centers owned and used ultrasound during the first contact with pregnant mothers, the reduction of the number of abortions cited in the first article would have been much greater. While viewing sonograms, pregnant mothers are experiencing unexpected bonding with their babies and are deciding against abortion.

Ironically ultrasound machines were introduced first in pro-abortion pregnancy centers to detect defects in babies. Soon directors of pro-abortion clinics realized that ultrasounds were hurting the abortion industry. Francesco Angelo, the medical director of the Family Planning Center in Mineola, N.Y., was quoted in the Feb. 24, 2002 New York Times as saying, "The bottom line is no woman is going to want an abortion after seeing a sonogram."

Several studies now confirm the efficacy of ultrasounds in pro-life pregnancy centers. Resources in pro-life pregnancy centers need to be directed toward ultrasound machines and support of pregnant mothers.

Charles J. Sippel, Waterloo