SUNDAY HOMILY: The Happy Priest - Building a Culture of Life
As horrendous as abortion is, it is really only a symptom of a much greater problem.
PrintCORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - Blessed Mother Teresa once said: "But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself.
And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?
How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts.
By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion.
Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. "
In this country alone, more than 55,868,005 children have been murdered through abortion since January 22, 1973.
As horrendous as abortion is, it is really only a symptom of a much greater problem.
In their 2001 revision of the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities "A Campaign in Support of Life", the United States Catholic Bishops speak of the connection between abortion and contraception when they write: "It is noteworthy that as acceptance and use of contraception have increased in our society, so have acceptance and use of abortion. Couples who unintentionally conceive a child while using contraception are far more likely to resort to abortion than others. Tragically, our society has fallen into a mentality that views children as a burden and invites many to consider abortion as a 'backup' to contraceptive failure. This is most obvious in efforts to promote as 'emergency contraception' drugs that really act as early abortifacients."
Why does the Catholic Church affirm that contraception is intrinsically evil? The reason is founded on this principle: every marital act must keep together "the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 12).
We all know that the world is sexually out of control. The wide acceptance and use of contraception has caused the present day chaos.
Pope Paul VI said that it would happen when he wrote, "Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings-and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation-need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.
Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife" (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 17).
When Mother Teresa came to the United States for the first time, she said:
"I suppose that some of you are feeling that you would have to buy a plane ticket and travel to India if you were to give effective help to ...
And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?
How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts.
By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion.
Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. "
In this country alone, more than 55,868,005 children have been murdered through abortion since January 22, 1973.
As horrendous as abortion is, it is really only a symptom of a much greater problem.
In their 2001 revision of the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities "A Campaign in Support of Life", the United States Catholic Bishops speak of the connection between abortion and contraception when they write: "It is noteworthy that as acceptance and use of contraception have increased in our society, so have acceptance and use of abortion. Couples who unintentionally conceive a child while using contraception are far more likely to resort to abortion than others. Tragically, our society has fallen into a mentality that views children as a burden and invites many to consider abortion as a 'backup' to contraceptive failure. This is most obvious in efforts to promote as 'emergency contraception' drugs that really act as early abortifacients."
Why does the Catholic Church affirm that contraception is intrinsically evil? The reason is founded on this principle: every marital act must keep together "the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 12).
We all know that the world is sexually out of control. The wide acceptance and use of contraception has caused the present day chaos.
Pope Paul VI said that it would happen when he wrote, "Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings-and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation-need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.
Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife" (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 17).
When Mother Teresa came to the United States for the first time, she said:
"I suppose that some of you are feeling that you would have to buy a plane ticket and travel to India if you were to give effective help to ...
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Thanks for supporting the teachings on married love. We were helped to live them by John and Sheila Kippley whose legacy is at Natural Family Planning International. The fruit of it all is very sweet, unlike all the ills from contraception. Your #s of babies lost don't count all the chemical abortions from hormonal pills, patches, shots, rods, etcetera, do they? Mea culpa, we are guilty of those as well and I don't know how God holds back His mighty Hand from all those losses - His great Mercy I suppose. God bless your new Year, Pater.
The disease is with both sexes as far as abortion is concerned. No morals equals abortion. It is not fashionable to teach morals and responsibility anymore. Only the Catholic Church is still orthodox in these matters. No one wants to obey a moral code of ethics. As long as this is popular abortion will be very popular. Men don't want responsibility for a pregnant mother that is a problem for women so they abort. Sex is not a responsibility anymore it is a circus act and that makes abortion a reality. Abortion is a result of simply bad sexual habits. Love is restraint and then knowing when the time is right to become pregnant. Men should respect a woman's body a sacred and women should encourage men to keep their bodies as if they were temples of the Lord Our God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The fetus is only respected if the human body is,so both the bodies of the opposite sexes must be as sacred as the Eucharist,or the fetus can never be respected as a sacred living soul from conception to a natural death. Are we too far gone for this kind of teaching? If so abortion will continue to be a so called womans right to choose.
Excellent article. I am one the Catholics who stands infront of Planned Parenthood with signs and prayer. I'll admit that I felt discouraged after Obama was re-elected but I am reinvigorated to fight on and convert hearts and minds. I was encouraged to see a Bishop in Minnesota wage a vigorous campaign against Obama and the Party of Death and Deceit. The Health and Human Services Mandate has woken many Bishops and priests up from their slumber and are now starting to take notice. The American Catholic Bishops and clergy still have a ways to go until they become fully engaged with the evil that is facing us as a church.
Thank you. Your comments on cell phones and facebook were also accurate. In 2006, I returned my cell phone (in Asia, of all places) and felt liberated seeing it crushed (by law) as the company drove a spike through it and then the employee tossed it over her shoulder into the recycle-bin basket containing hundreds of them. I refuse to do facebook, have a cell phone, tweet, or do skype. In Tokyo, we have coffee shops and restaurants often filled with people seeing many youth all talking or text messaging someone 'out there' while almost nobody is conversing with one another around the table. The most simple thing to do, have a profound conversation, is practically lost in 2 generations! A typical reaction by many is to first be surprised when someone says hello to a stranger; almost immediately followed by a smile or expression of joy since so many are suffering urban isolation. All the kids and their mothers and fathers know who the Canuck in the apartment block is because I take time to say hello, greet people, and LISTEN to the stories of the little kids and elders (while their mothers smile that someone actually pays attention) while I am outside in my sports suit and ball cap having a cigarette. Furthermore, people cancel appointments on a moment's notice of emotion and feelings with the convenient accessibility now present. It's practically impossible to plan anything in advance with some, with a sentiment of confidence they will actually show up as agreed upon, and much of this has to do with a personality ethic rooted in narcisstic emoting, feel-good, irresponsible smiles with no substance cult-ure. Essentially, it's the many millions of lunatics who thought that the arrival of Obama would somehow shift the earth's rotational axis a few degrees because of their non critical character-less herd-like pop cult-ure run with the herd emotions. (not mentalities, since most of them can no longer think critically!) All the fools who thought the Mayan calendar would see all sorts of big changes. All of these crystal ball gazers who can't predict the next 24 hours, let alone the next 10 or 100 years! By precisely how many points will the NYSE go up or down, and why, in 19 days from now? Where will the next big earthquake be, what will the magnitude be, the precise location and depth, and how much damage will it cause? And if someone wishes to predict, let them place their entire savings account on the line and give it all away to charity if they are wrong or spend 5 years in jail for being arrogant and stupid for trying to manipulate innocent people and add fuel to the already sensationalistic garbage level journalism we have in many present day societies. Journalism? Most of it is propaganda, fear mongering, sensationalism, and we are lucky if even half the alleged facts reported are somewhat true. Meanwhile, some twit infront of the camera is practically screaming her head off because 5 snowflakes have fallen to the ground and it just might rain tomorrow! Oh boy! Put your tin hat on and take out that steel umbrella and wear that armored suit everywhere, because the whole world is out to get us. (even though they don't know us). And if people are so afraid of the boogey-man, what are they doing putting their pictures on facebook for the planet to see? It's like being afraid of the wolf, while having an open door policy with a piece of red meat hanging 5 feet inside the entrance with a sign on the door that little red riding hood wants a bed-time story. Why not advertise that a flock of sheep are serving coffee as well?
Paul-Emile Leray
Donohue-Levitt hypothesis suggests that an unwanted child is a potential criminal, a disputed judgement. So, what is the definition of an unwanted child?