First published February 1, 2007
Given the outcome of what happened at Carleton U. with the Student Association and the Pro-life group (watch Catholic Focus, CAMPUS FREE SPEECH), it’s easy to get disheartened with the secular direction the world is taking. It’s amazing to know that not long ago, the debate was whether to grant pro-abortion groups status on campus. Now it’s the pro-life groups who need to fight for their survival. It’s the same issue as the challenges with advertising the life message (Catholic Focus, ADVERTISING LIFE). It’s as if we are under attack on all sides.
Recently, Catholic musician Nick Alexander put together an imix of ProLife songs for download on iTunes. For the first two days, the comments were fairly positive. Then on day three, the comments turned nasty. Sadly, because I am convinced that the pro-abortion camp is the minority. But they are the loud minority. The squeaky wheel that gets the grease. We, are the silent majority. Maybe we need to be louder.
But then, something happens that reminds me that God is much bigger than all that. I am reminded that God can make something new out of everything and that to think that with God on our side, we are fighting a losing battle, is not really believing in our God.
Last night, on my way home, on the radio I heard the song, “Make Me an Instrument of Peace”. Yes. Exactly that – the words of St. Francis. But what is remarkable about this is that it was on a secular radio station. I am still trying to find out who the artist was. I think I am still a bit taken aback that a secular radio station (it was either 97.3 or 98.1) was playing a song that is clearly the words of a Catholic Saint. I was so inspired. Which leads me to ask: What’s the deal with Josh Groban? Is his song, “You Raise Me Up” not a song about God? I wasn’t sure, but after his new song, “You Are Loved”, I am almost sure that he is talking about God – and it’s very much a Christian message. And he gets play on secular radio.
Pretty cool. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?
So… if we educate ourselves on these topics – we can be a driving force in teaching our friends the wisdom of the culture of life. I am not suggesting we become a loud majority – just a faithful and loving majority. That’s how hearts are changed. And then, as for the loud minorities… remember, it’s also the loudest mosquito that gets squashed first.
Pedro
From my homily for September 30, 2012 on the Gospel of Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Who do you think of when you think of “disciple”? I think of a lot of holy and wise men and women and all the Saints: People of great sacrifice, humility, compassion – people who pick up their cross and follow Jesus. of course, I also think of the 12 apostles. They were hand-picked by Jesus. They were the first disciples. They should be the model of discipleship. But, to be honest, had I been Jesus (not that I’m going to put myself in that category), I would not have chosen those guys as disciples. At least not the way they are described in the Gospel of Mark (which we’ve been reading every Sunday this Liturgical Year).
The Gospel of Mark can be divided into two main sections: The public ministry of Jesus; and the road to Calvary. These two sections are divided geographically: The first part takes place almost entirely in the north of Israel, in the Galilee region. This is where Nazareth, Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee are. This is where Jesus grew up and where all the apostles were from. The second part takes place in Jerusalem: the triumphal entry, the cleansing of the temple, the last supper, the agony in the garden, the betrayal and the passion, death and resurrection. All that takes place in Jerusalem. And the transition between these two sections happens as Jesus and his disciples, literally walk all the way from the northernmost point, Caesarea Philippi some 200kms down to Jerusalem, which is in the south. And this journey to Jerusalem is very much a transition from Jesus’ public ministry of healing, teaching and nourishing people to what had to happen on the Cross. This is where we’ve been in the Gospel of Mark for the last three weeks and we’re going to be here until the end of October (From 7:22-10:52). During this journey, three times Jesus tells the disciples what has to happen, but the disciples just don’t get it.
Peter shows great faith at the beginning of that journey at Caesarea Philippi with his proclamation of faith, when Jesus asks “who do you say that I am?” Peter responds, “You are the Christ,” and not two seconds later when Jesus tells them that he has to be handed over to the authorities, suffer and die, Peter rebukes him and Jesus calls him Satan.
During this journey we also see the disciples not letting the children come to Jesus and the disciples arguing about who of them is the greatest. They can’t cast out a demon and can’t figure out why and James and John ask Jesus if they can sit at his right and left in Heaven.Then John tries to stop someone else who is casting out demons in Christ’s name because he’s not one of their group. To all of this, I imagine Jesus saying, “really?”
But it’s comforting to know that this has been human nature since the beginning. We hear in the Book of Numbers that Moses was dealing with the same issue. Moses complains to God that he can’t handle all the Israelites by himself and God tells him to select 70 men, elders in the community to help him. He says to take them to the Tent – that’s the Tabernacle, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept – and God would take some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the 70 elders. So they go to the Tent and God sends his Spirit upon the elders and they begin to prophecy for a bit and then they stop. But two of them, Eldad and Medad, had not gone to the Tent, they stayed in the Camp, they still received the Spirit and began to prophesy and they continued to prophesy. Joshua tells Moses that Eldad and Medad are prophesying but they didn’t go to the Tent and asks if they stop them. Moses says, “Would that all God’s people were Prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them.” (Numbers 11:29)
Aren’t we the same? Proud, insecure, jealous and petty? At home, at work, at school, in our clubs and Parish groups? We don’t want to go to a particular social justice event because they are not “pro-life”, or to a worship event because they are not Catholic. Really? Jesus says that if we truly are Christian, we’re all on the same team. And if we feel that we are not good enough because we struggle with humility and jealousy and we don’t understand the Cross, we’re in good company, ‘cause that’s exactly where the 12 apostles were on the road to Jerusalem. If they were chosen as disciples, so can we be. God calls everyone. We don’t need to be perfect to be disciples, we just need to have faith.
And yes, faith is a gift. We have to pray for it. We have to ask for it. But having faith doesn’t mean that we don’t have doubts or that we understand everything the Church teaches. To be faithful disciples means that we’re in the Church, trying. If you’re still not sure, The Letter of St. James (which we have been reading all month) is a great reminder that we show our faith through our works.
Who do I think of when I think of disciples? I think of you. Not because you’re perfect, but because you’re not perfect. You’re just like me, struggling just have to have faith. This is why Pope Benedict XVI has decreed a year of Faith to begin on October 11. It will begin on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the 2nd Vatican Council and end on November 24, 2013, which is the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The Holy Father said that he hopes that this year of faith will inspire in all believers “the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope.” Just as in the previous years of St. Paul and for Priests, there will be many activities and events in all Parishes and throughout all dioceses to commemorate the year of Faith. I hope all of you can participate.
So this is going to be a great year for us to work on our Faith, so we can be better disciples. Not to be perfect, but like the 12 apostles who were scared and confused and who didn’t understand. They struggled with jealousy and pride, but who gave their all to follow Christ.
That’s the kind of disciple that I can be. So can you.
Reflexión sobre Marcos 10:17-30
Seguimos en esta parte del evangelio de Marcos que es la transición entre la vida pública de Jesús y el camino a la Cruz. Y en este camino los discípulos se la pasan confundidos y Jesús nos va enseñando poquito a poquito qué es lo que quiere decir ser discípulo. Acuérdense que Dios nos llama a todos y no tenemos que ser perfectos para ser discípulos. Es más, el ser discípulos nos perfecciona.
Y hoy llega este jóven adinerado y le pregunta a Jesús qué es lo que tiene que hacer para ir al cielo y Jesús le dice, sigue los mandamientos, Ya. Hecho. ¿Qué más? Aquí viene lo difícil: Regala todo lo que tienes y ven y sígueme. Y el jjóven se va triste por tenía muchas pertenencias.
A mí siempre me ha parecido esto muy injusto. El tipo es bueno, sigue los mandamientos, no mata, no dice mentiras, honra a sus padres, reza, pone a Dios ante todo… ¿por qué no puede ir al cielo? Recuerdo la primera vez que escuche este evangelio – yo tenía como 8 años y pensé en mi tía Gabriela – ella nunca se casó, no tenía hijos, y tenía mucho, mucho dinero – tenía una casa lindísima, y una propiedad enorme en uno de los barrios mas high class de Panamá. Y me pareció injusto. ¿Cómo que mi tía no puede ir al cielo? Si ella era una mujer buenísima y todo lo que tenía lo daba – daba a la iglesia y a Caritas y donaciones y fundaciones e hizo mucho por el país – estoy seguro que mi tía Gabriela está en el cielo.
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First published July 11, 2011
I’ve been telling you about a conversation I had with a friend. The “ProLife” conversation is probably one of the most important ones that we should be able to have. But, most of us do not have the facts or the confidence to do so. So, here’s part 4 of that conversation. But first, you should read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
She was thinking about this now. Perhaps she had run out of arguments. I continued, “So? you wouldn’t kill a disabled person, even if they had no clue about who they were or their surroundings. You wouldn’t kill a new-born baby, even if it was severely disabled, or even if his father was the guy who raped you. You wouldn’t kill a Siamese twin because it’s attached to somebody else and you wouldn’t kill someone who is dependent on someone else…but you would have an abortion.”
“Not necessarily”, she said quietly.
“But you think that it’s okay for someone else to have one.”
“If they want to.”
“Would you beat your kids?”
“What?”
“Would you beat your kids?”
“But it’s ok for your neighbour to beat her kids if she wants to?”
“No. What are you talking about?”
“Is it ok for your neighbour to take her new puppy to the backyard and hack it to death with a meat cleaver?” I didn’t let her answer. “No, it’s not okay. But it is okay for her to have an abortion, if she wants to.”
“It’s not the same,” she said.
“Why not?”
“Because her kids are kids — it’s not a fetus!”
“Don’t you see what you are saying? If you want the baby, then the fetus is a human person, but if you don’t want the baby then that makes her a non-person? Where’s the logic?”
“You can’t make people have children if they don’t want to.”
“I am not making anyone have children. The issue is not about over-population or about poverty. C’mon, there are lots of support systems out there for families who are poor and there is no overpopulation problem. People are starving in developing countries because of poor distribution of wealth. They are starving so that you and I can have our two cars and our chocolate and coffee and diamonds. Abortion has nothing to do with these things. It has to do with the life of an unborn baby. If you saw your neighbour beating her puppy to death, you would call the police. Why then, is it ok for someone to have an abortion?”
“Because it’s not the same.”
“Because a fetus is not a human person?”
“You can’t prove it.”
“You can’t prove that it isn’t. So isn’t it better to err on the side of life?”
“Not if you’re the woman who has to support that baby?”
“That’s a lot of bull. If a woman doesn’t want her baby she can put him up for adoption. There are tons of pro-life pregnancy support centres willing to give that woman, and man, what they need to make a go at it. That’s much more than what you get at Planned Parenthood. They say it’s your choice, but it’s also your problem. You deal with the aftermath of having an abortion. You deal with the depression that follows. You deal with the breast cancer that you might develop because you interrupted a pregnancy…And if you choose to keep the baby – do they help you?” I was beginning to get tired.
“I just don’t think it’s the same thing,” she said. I think she was also getting tired.
I answered, “We know, scientifically, that a human embryo is a human being. And we know, that because it’s a human being, it must be a human person. To this date, we have not come across a human being who is not a human person. We know for sure that it has the potential to do everything you and I can do. Why is it okay to kill it? It’s not okay. Abortion is murder. There’s no argument.”
She thought about this. “I never thought about it this way.”
“Neither had I. But now that I have, I can’t let people like you continue to think that a woman has a right to choose.”
She looked at me, “The Church doesn’t allow for abortion under any circumstances?”
“No. Abortion is murder. Murder is murder, no matter the circumstances.”
“What if the mother’s life is in danger.”
“Then the Church says to do what the medical profession does already: they go in trying to save both the mother and the baby: two lives. If in the process of saving both lives, the baby dies, that’s not abortion. It’s the same if the mother died but the baby lived.”
She looked at me in a way she hadn’t ever looked at me. I’m not quite sure what was going on in her head. I knew she wasn’t completely convinced yet, but at least, perhaps the seed was planted. Maybe she will be moved to go and find out more.
I’ve had this conversation replaying in my mind for years now. It hasn’t happened yet. I wish it would have been a real conversation. Maybe one day.
Maybe you can have this conversation too.
Remember, life was chosen for you. Now, you too, choose life!
–
CNS photo/Debbie Hill
deacon pedro 