Adoration Calendar

I have no idea if this will work, but I am going to try to embed my Google Calendar version of the chedule for Adoration of the Blessed sacrament into this blog.  If this works, great!  if not…well, then…Oh well.

 

Well, embedding didn’t work, but here’s a link to it:

St. Ann Adoration calendar – just go to the date you’re looking for, and voila!  As I type, it’s only scomplete for March 6/7; the reset of the schedule as I know it should be up soon.

If you would like to be added for a specific time, just email me at chip.jones@stann.cdom.org, and I will add your little self to the schedule!

Homily – 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Did You See That?

Gospel

Homily Audio

Did you see that?

You know, sometimes it takes an awful lot to impress us.  It’s hard for us to just take something at face value; it has to sing, or dance, or work a miracle to get our attention.

That must be part of human nature, because it’s always been like that.  Adam and Eve get the whole garden, they walk with God in it, and all they have to do is not eat from one little tree.  And what happened?  Moses leads the Israelites through the Red Sea to safety.  They watch Pharaoh’s army get swallowed up by the waters, and they get completely away.  And what happens?  They soon make a golden calf to worship in place of the God who saved them!

And we, in some ways, are sometimes even worse.  We know so much.  We can explain things that ancient peoples like the Israelites couldn’t even imagine.  And because we’re so smart, we miss some things.  Because we know so much, we forget about things that ought to be simple.  And we set up the false gods of money, or security, or status, to make us feel better.

But God constantly calls us to know Him.  God constantly invites us to believe Him.  And He constantly reaches out to us, asking us simply to love Him.  For us to hear Him, though…we have to pay attention to the signs around us.

God made it relatively easy for the people of Israel.  He gave them sign after sign.  Moses brought them out of Egypt.  Moses fed them in the desert.  Moses saved them from the snakes.  Later, other prophets worked signs and wonders.  They predicted things for Israel.  It was obvious these guys were working for God.

Then Jesus shows up, and all heaven breaks loose!  Blind people start seeing, lame people start walking. Even demons call Jesus out by name!  And people are impressed!  They saw who Jesus was, and they followed Him!

But God didn’t always show up in Person for everyone; not everyone got to see Jesus work His miracles first-hand.  And those who weren’t standing right there sometimes had trouble believing.  After all, anyone can make up a story.

But what ended up making the difference for the folks who couldn’t see Jesus for themselves?  What made the difference was the way in which those who told the stories of Jesus lived their lives.  It wasn’t just that they told nice stories; it was that their lives changed.  Those people who were preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ lived what they believed.  And no amount of persecution could get them to back down from the Truth!

Most of us have no first-person experiences of God.  Like ALL of the early Christians after the time of the Apostles, we have to depend on stories from others to understand who God is, who Jesus is.  We have to read, and study, and pray in order to understand how Jesus wants to change our lives, and who God is calling us to be.  We have to use the sacraments, those visible signs of invisible grace that Jesus established to help us on our way.

But even more importantly: we have to be prophets for one another.  We have to speak God’s truth.  We have to tell others what God expects of us all.  And we have to live our lives in a way that tells others that we know God, that we know Jesus.  This is what Christ left for us to do:  To go out into the whole world, preaching the Gospel through our lives.  To go out, according to our state in life, and be the next generation of prophets, with God’s words in our mouths!

But still…isn’t it hard to do that when we can’t see all of this stuff?  Isn’t it hard to stand up for what’s right, for what’s good, when most people around us are doing the opposite?

It is tough, brothers and sisters.  But that’s when our witness is that much more effective!  When the families with four, five, or even ten children come to Mass, or go out in public as a family, it’s hard to take the stares and the snide comments.  But showing off their large families is a witness to the world of God’s love for life!  When the conversation at work or turns bad, it’s hard to walk away and not participate.  But walking away without judging the other participants is a witness to the power of Christ in our lives.  At school, when everyone else is ostracizing the new kid, or the geek, it’s hard to expose ourselves to being made fun of alongside him or her.  But what a witness to God’s power in our lives to do it anyway!

God might perform some great miracle in our midst.  He can certainly do it if He chooses to.  But our faith shouldn’t depend on seeing those great big demonstrations of His power.  If we pay attention to the thousands of little testimonies around us, if we turn our lives into a thousand little prophetic signs, then we won’t miss out on seeing God active in the world!

God shows off in lots of ways. Some of them are big, ostentatious things; others are small and quiet.  We have to watch for signs of God in our lives, because they are sometimes so subtle that we can miss them.

And we have to stay humble, lest we fall into the trap of thinking that we know everything, and that we don’t need God for anything.

We have a choice to make about how we’re going to live.  We have a choice to make about how we’re going to represent the One who sends us out into the world to speak His words.

God is calling us to know Him.  God is inviting us to believe Him.  God is reaching out to us, asking us simply to love Him.  Pay attention to the signs.  And don’t be afraid…to be a prophet.

Beginning Apologetics – How To Answer Tough Moral Questions 4 – Euthanasia

Here’s the audio for the 4th session, and the outline is below. 

I’ll throw in the audio for the 5th session too, since it really completed the Euthanasia piece, and because I haven’t finished the outline for Contraception!

Here’s the post on the online support resources for the class; this will keep you from having to order too many books.

And the outline for Euthanasia follws:  Thanks, and God bless!

How to Answer Tough Moral Questions

Euthanasia

February 2/February 8. 2009

•I.Introduction

•A.  Euthanasia is intentionally killing a person who is suffering, or whose life seems burdensome or meaningless.

•1.    Can be suicide or done by others

•2.    Self-inflicted – suicide

•3.    Done by others = murder

•B.  Euthanasia is becoming more popular/widespread

•1.    Legal in Holland, and in some states in the US

•2.    Push for legalization is strong

•3.    Practiced sometimes even where illegal with no fear of prosecution

•C.  Reasons for euthanasia’s wider acceptance:

•1.    Lack of faith in God

•2.    Suffering not meaningful – loss of belief in spiritual value of suffering

•3.    Weak resolve – people flee from least discomfort

•4.    Chronic disease – increase in length of survival of cancer, strokes, Alzheimer’s

•5.    Burden of disease – Fear of being a burden to loved ones, or fear that doctors won’t let one die

•6.    Medical Advances – Have made it possible to end people’s lives through relatively painless methods.

•D.  We must as Catholics be prepared to refute those who promote euthanasia. Must also be aware of morally permissible actions which could be mistaken for euthanasia

•II.Church Teaching on Euthanasia

•A.  Several documents apply:

•1.    Declaration on Euthanasia

•2.    Charter for Health Care Workers

•3.    Evangelium Vitae

•4.    Catechism of the Catholic Church

•B.  Common mentality today that we are masters of our own bodies.

•C.  Evangelium Vitae tells us (39) that life is a sacred gift from God, the Lord of our lives

•1.    We are only stewards

•2.    Therefore, human life must be protected from conception to natural death.

•D.  The Declaration on Euthanasia (DE) says in Part I:

•1.    Any deliberate attempt on innocent human life = crime of the utmost gravity.

•2.    We have a duty to lead our lives in accord with God’s plan, for the Kingdom of God.

•3.    To intentionally take one’s own life through suicide is the same as murder.

•a)     There may be serious psychological problems that diminish guilt or eliminate it.

•b)    Even so, suicide is still a serious objective evil.

•c)     We should not despair of the salvation of a suicide victim.

•4.    We must clearly distinguish suicide from the nobility of sacrificing one’s life to a greater good (soldier falling on a grenade, as an example).

•E.  Points from DE Part II

•1.    The please of gravely ill people for death are almost always cries for help and love.

•2.    We are never permitted to take innocent human life. No authority has the right to approve of euthanasia for any reason (goes against the divine law).

•F.   Points from DE Part III:

•1.    It is vital that the gravely ill/dying receive sufficient pain relief.  We should presume that those unable to express their wishes still desire pain relief.

•2.    In cases of extreme pain, heavy doses of medication may be used even when there is a great risk of hastening death. Shortening of life is an unwanted side effect (principle of double effect)

•3.    If needed for adequate pain relief, a person may receive high doses of pain medication even if it causes loss of consciousness.

•a)     But don’t deprive a person of consciousness unless absolutely necessary

•b)    Ensure that patients can take care of family obligations and receive the sacraments before they lapse into unconsciousness.

•4.    We believe as Christians that suffering has great redemptive value:

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking ¹⁴ in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church” (Col 1:24)
Those who unite their suffering to the suffering of Christ = powerful prayer warriors,

Some Christians even limit their pain medication for the sake of spiritual gain (considered heroic, not obligatory)

•G.   Part for of DE deals with ordinary and extraordinary treatment.

•1.    Extremely important because many Catholics agonize over how far they must go in treating the gravely ill/dying.

•2.    Ordinary means of treatment: medical procedures that are well-established, known to help, not excessively burdensome due to expense/side effects (will depend on factors such as patient’s age, condition, avail. technology)

•3.    Extraordinary means of treatment: procedures considered exceptional because they are experimental, expensive, or have serious physical/psychological side effects. (will depend on factors such as patient’s age, condition, avail. technology)

•4.    While we do not have the right to take our own lives, we do have a right to die with Christian/Human dignity.

•5.    Wea re allowed to forego extraordinary means and make do with iordinary ones; not equal to suicide, just accepting our condition.

•6.    When death is imminent, we can refuse forms of treatment that will prologn the dying process. Normal care must continue, including food, water, warmth, and hygiene. (CHCW: artificial administration of food/water if not burdensome, is considered ordinary care (section 120))

•7.    The gravely ill and dying may, if they wish, undergo extraordinary treatments, including new and experimental treatments.

•H.  We have clear guidelines from the Church in these matters, but their application is a matter of conscience.

•1.    We should get as much info as possible form our doctors and pastors, and make the best decision we can.

•2.    IF we are sincerely trying to follow Church teaching, we shouldn’t be tortured by scrupulosity.

•3.    WE MUST NOT keep second-guessing our decisions; God is reasonable in His requirements, and useless anxiety/doubt destroy peace of mind, and keep us from attentive prayer when we need it most.

•III.Answering Euthanasia Supporters

•A.  Even pagan doctors from centuries before Christ realized euthanasia = murder; they used natural law arguments alone.

•B.  Nowhere does either Sacred Scripture OR Sacred Tradition mention any exceptions to the 5^th Commandment because of suffering or terminal illness.

•C.  The same reasons justifying euthanasia are the same Hitler and Stalin used to justify their atrocities.

•D.  Reasoning opens the door to justifying any evil.

•E.  Hippocrates figured it out; should we be able to rather than pressing wonderful technologies into the service of the culture of death?

Apologetics: Links to Online Resources – Tough Moral Questions Class

Here are some links to support your studies; although you have probably Googled all of these publications already:

The New American Bible

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Gospel of Life – Evagelium Vitae

On Human Life – Humanae Vitae

The Splendor of Truth – Veritatis Splendor

Charter for Heath Care Workers

Declaration on Euthanasia

Declaration on Procured Abortion

The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church – Lumen Gentium

 Apostolic Exhortation On The Role Of  The Christian Family In The Modern World – Familiaris Consortio

Instruction on Bioethics – Respect for Human Life – Donum Vitae

Vademecum For Confessors Concerning Some Aspects of the Morality of Conjugal Life

On Christian Marriage – Casti Connubii 

This is not an exhaustive list, but this list includes most of the publications we have referenced so far in our class.  If you find other things that you think are useful please send me a link; I will post it here (unless it’s really off the wall, then I will contact you to discuss it).