Mother Teresa claimed that the greatest disease of the modern world is not leprosy or cancer. Rather it is feeling unloved and unwanted.
So she and her nuns went into India’s streets and picked up the dying and ministered to them. Though many died shortly, she wanted them to experience Christ’s love before they died.
The name on the adjoining office door read “Planned Parenthood.” We were coming out of an appointment in an office which shared a small lobby. Their innocent, helpful sounding name was successful. I thought to myself, “Maybe they could help me!”
I had never heard of that organization, nor Natural Family Planning. We were married three years and were blessed with two beautiful children. THANKS BE TO GOD I never went back there!
The name on the adjoining office door read “Planned Parenthood.” We were coming out of an appointment in an office which shared a small lobby. Their innocent, helpful sounding name was successful. I thought to myself, “Maybe they could help me!”
I had never heard of that organization, nor Natural Family Planning. We were married three years and were blessed with two beautiful children. THANKS BE TO GOD I never went back there!
I will never forget the events surrounding the first time I attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C.
Six months earlier I had taken a position as the director of religious education in a small rural community just outside of Canton, Ohio. I was armed with a new master’s degree in theology and all the hope in the world that all Catholics could fall deeply in love with God and the Church.
Early one morning I received a call from a friend, a professor at the college down the road and the moderator for the campus pro-life group. He called begging me to drive a group of college students to the March for Life in D.C. My immediate response was, “Are you crazy?” In Ohio, it is only a six-hour drive to our nation’s capital, but I wasn’t prepared to go to march for so many reasons.
Recently, the Catholic Herald published two excellent articles by the incredibly well-educated and well-formed Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, entitled “Rebuilding Catholic Culture.”
In these essays, Sister Roccasalvo vigorously defends the teachings of the popes and the Second Vatican Council concerning what music is proper for use during the sacred liturgies of the Church, while simultaneously arguing against the use of modern folk-style music commonly found in many parishes.
As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is the God who created us, the sacrificial victim who redeemed us, our judge, and our eternal destiny.
We learn from Christ and His Church that we are all children of God, each with equal value in God‘s eyes, and each sharing God’s love. The concept of human equality is a particularly Christian concept.
The articles and letters published in the Catholic Herald this past month show that people value quality liturgical music and have strong convictions about it.
This is encouraging to me, and our Year of Faith theme (Evangelization through Beauty) provides an excellent background for a fruitful discussion. I also am eager for this discussion because I have devoted my entire life to Church music. As we move forward, I would like to make the following observations.
When the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became incarnate on earth, in Jesus Christ, He became the most perfect Way that the God could communicate with us humans.
God had communicated since the creation of human beings. God did this, first of all, through nature: human beings could simply look on the greatness of the natural world about them and be led to the knowledge of God.
Most Americans are familiar with New Year’s resolutions; many embrace them with enthusiasm for the first two weeks of January each year. As winter trudges on, those resolutions lose some of their fervor. Almost all Catholics are familiar with the practice of fasting from things they enjoy each Lent; the good majority stay strong throughout those 40 days.
Based on the success rates of keeping resolutions, it seems like the better and more serious a reason to make one in the first place, the more enthusiasm and effort is put forth in keeping it.
As this Year of Faith began in early October, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in his opening homily spoke of a “desertification” happening throughout the world. Many people have found themselves drifting away from the practice of the faith, putting stake in the world’s definition of happiness and no longer desiring the beautiful.
“Go teach all nations all things that I have commanded you.” These words of Our Divine Savior remind us of the share that all Christians have in the mission of Jesus.
When Our Lord read from the prophecy of Isaiah at his first public appearance in the synagogue at Nazareth, He quoted: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, release of captives, recovering of sight for the blind, and to announce a year of favor from the Lord.”
Then He said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your midst.”
