In 1972, Respect Life Month was initiated by the American Catholic bishops. It is observed yearly during October in United States Catholic dioceses and stresses the value and dignity of human life.
Category: Columns
When is it a sin to make a referral?
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During World War II, if a contractor had been asked to construct a building knowing that it would serve as a gas chamber in Auschwitz, it goes without saying that he ought not agree to do it.
Mass begins as an encounter with Jesus
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As many Catholics know, the Second Vatican Council famously referred to the liturgy as the “source and summit of the Christian life.” And following the prompts of the great figures of the liturgical movement in the first half of the 20th century, the Council Fathers called for a fuller, more conscious, and more active participation in the liturgy on the part of Catholics.
Mother! and the God of the Bible
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Spoiler Alert! This column reveals details of a newly released film.
Darren Aronofsky’s latest film Mother! has certainly stirred up a storm, and no wonder. It features murder, point-blank executions, incinerations, and the killing and devouring of a child. I know: pleasant evening at the movies.
Mother! will seem just deeply weird unless you see it as a fairly straightforward allegory. Once you crack the code, it will make a certain sense, though the message it is trying to convey is, at best, pretty ambiguous.
A world awash with weapons — there’s a better way
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If someone’s house was on fire, would you pour gasoline on it? Well, the answer is obvious: Of course you wouldn’t.
Yet that is very similar to what the United States and many other more economically developed nations are doing.
U.S. leading way
Despite the tragic fact that approximately 40 current armed conflicts worldwide are causing over 150,000 deaths annually, countless serious injuries, untold destruction, and 28,300 people per day fleeing from their homes, many of the wealthiest countries continue to pour flammable weapons into these volatile conflicts. And the U.S. is leading the pack. (see: http://bit.ly/2ufpP5Y).
Being thankful for humbling moments
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel on the way to Urgent Care.
In the rearview mirror, I glanced constantly at my daughter, who rested her head gingerly on a pillow in the backseat.
For days, she’d complained that her head hurt off and on, but this day when I picked her up from school, her face was ashen and her eyes held a fevered look, though there was no fever.
I could tell there was something wrong, and I feared the worst.
George Weigel’s Lessons in Hope
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George Weigel’s latest book, Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II, is the third panel in a great triptych he has composed in honor of the most consequential Catholic figure of the second half of the 20th century.
While the first two books — Witness to Hope and The End and the Beginning — are marked by careful analysis and thousands of footnotes, this last volume is more personal, filled with anecdotes and stories about the author’s many encounters with John Paul over the years.
Why Our Lady of Sorrows?
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Word on Fire
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The poet Wendell Berry reflects that “for parents, the only way is hard. We who give life, give pain. There is no help. Yet we who give pain give love; by pain we learn the extremity of love . . . ”
In other words, it may be different in another world, but in this world, all love requires a sacrifice, and with that sacrifice there is inevitable pain. To reject sacrifice as the condition for the possibility of love, is to live an essentially loveless existence.
Berry continues his reflection with this insight: I read of Christ crucified, the only begotten Son sacrificed to flesh and time and all our woe. He died and rose, but who does not tremble for his pain and loneliness, and the darkness of the sixth hour? Unless we grieve like Mary at his grave, giving him up as lost, no Easter morning comes . . .
What is the main purpose of education?
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First in a series.
It’s that time of year again when the air starts to cool, leaves reveal their true colors, and children board buses back to school. All of us have experienced the end of summer vacation and the start of school.
Generation after generation, the cycle repeats. It is a rite of passage, part of the fabric of our modern society. It is so common that most of us take it for granted, rarely pausing to reflect on the purpose of school, or an education.
Purpose of education
The purpose of education and the means by which to achieve it have been the discussion of much national debate over the last decade.
The ‘expendable children’
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Couples who struggle to get pregnant are turning with greater frequency to the in vitro fertilization (IVF) industry for assistance.
In some cases, they can end up feeling they are “too pregnant” when twins, triplets, or quads arise. This occurs from the practice of implanting more than one embryo at a time to improve pregnancy success rates.
‘Selective reduction’
A multiplet pregnancy can involve significant risk, both for the children in utero, and for the mother. Because of these risks, the pregnant mother will sometimes be advised to opt for a “selective reduction,” where potassium chloride is injected into one or two of the growing babies, to cause their hearts to seize, followed by death and the gradual re-absorption of their bodies during the remainder of the pregnancy.