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MONDAY February 7, 2000 vol. 11, no. 26 SECTION ONESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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In his column today, Pat Ludwa filters the mixed messages coming from society where children are confused by double standards, rules and laws that are not formulated by authorities of respect but rather a conglomerate of village idiots comprising the "village" where they set policy based on nothing substantive and void of God and then wonder why children are straying and rebelling. Stephen Sondheim's lyrics in one of his songs in "Into the Woods" says "Children listen, be careful what you say." But, as Pat points out, these village idiots have not been careful and that includes village idiots within the Church posing as dissidents who have managed to tear down the walls of protection and put the children of the Church in great peril through their idiocy.
For his column today, Honor thy Father and thy Mother , see VIEW FROM THE PEW
Honoring thy Father and thy Mother
Recently, in a high school lauded nation wide for it's security, a girl and a group of boys were finally caught after she had bestowed sexual favors on them in a group. This was done in classrooms, stairwells, etc. This had evidently been going on for quite a few months. Where was the security? Who was responsible for this? The school? The teachers? The parents? Who?
Turn on any news show, talk show (other than Jerry Springer) and sooner or later you'll find an 'expert' being paraded about on how kids should be raised. One tells how parents have to watch and guard everything a child does. Another speaks of parents letting go, not watching over their shoulder all the time, but to trust them. Which advice are parents to take?
Some States have laws which 'emancipate' children at ridiculously young ages. 15, 16, 17, maybe even younger. Yet, if the child cuts school, if the child gets into trouble with the law, it's the parents who often get charged, or at least accused, of taking a hand in their children's life. Again, mixed messages.
Parents are told they have to 'teach' their children, and be involved in their lives. Yet, when they do, they're often told to keep quiet and let the 'experts' handle it. And then we have the notion that parents aren't supposed to teach and raise their children, rather (as a New York Senate hopeful said) 'It takes a village'. Ever notice some of the characters in a village? Do we really want our kids raised by the village idiot? The village thief? Etc?
We also have the problem that 'families' are touted as the key of stability, but families are under attack. I've heard various spokespersons from Planned Parenthood and other places, that parents have no right to 'impose' their morals, values, or beliefs on their children. And we hear them tell 'parents', on one hand, that they have to see to themselves first, but then chastise them when they do. It seems acceptable for a wife and mother to leave her children if she feels 'oppressed', but the father is a dead beat Dad.
No fault divorce makes the idea of commitment to either a spouse or a family a joke. No other 'contract' can be so easily broken as the marriage contract, the marriage vow. And of course, love and sex are separate things not connected in any way with marriage and commitment. Which brings us back to the high school escapades.
We say we expect the parents to raise and teach their children. But either from being mistaught themselves, or from the necessity of having both parents work to make ends meet, the children aren't taught but end up being taught by the village. That is, their peers, their teachers, their television shows, etc. Any one but the parents.
For all the rhetoric, for all the hype, the facts are that society doesn't expect, and in some cases, even want, parents to raise their kids. Rather, they want the 'village' to do it. They don't want parents teaching the children, everyone else will, the village.
So, we hear children attacking their parents as 'unfair' (Jimmy's parents let him stay out til 2 am!), unenlightened, backward, and dictatorial.
So is it any wonder we have kids killing kids and kids having kids? But let something go wrong, and it isn't society's fault, it's the parents. You can't win for losing, damned if you do and damned if you don't.
It's the same with the Church. We are the family of God, His children whom He loves and cares for.
"But to all who received Him (Christ), who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1: 12-13).
"So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:12-17).
Our Father gives us what we need. He provides for us just as any father should do. He praises and chastises, He extols and rebukes, but always, He loves.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?" (Matthew 6: 26-30).
But we see in society that to see God as a Father is wrong. Anything that even smacks of God is to be removed, silenced, and ridiculed. After all, if an earthly father is of no importance, can be ridiculed, why not the Eternal Father?
And what of the Church? The Church is our mother. (Recall the old saying of 'Holy Mother Church'?) Like a mother, the Church cares for, nurtures, and teaches her children.
Christ speaks of Himself as the Bridegroom, the Church being His Bride. The Church, being the spouse of God, cannot go against His wishes, His desires, His commands.
"As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church; however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband" (Ephesians 5: 24-33).
Note, Christ and His Bride are not in competition with each other, but mutually supportive. The Spouse of Christ, the Church, doesn't see itself as 'enslaved' or 'oppressed' by her Lord. Rather, she subjects herself to Him out of love. Likewise, out Lord doesn't 'bully' His Bride, the Church, but supports her and loves her. And together, they try to teach their 'children' the ways of the Father.
But her children are being taught by others. The village. Try as she might, her (the Church's) children are being taken from her.
Her children are being 'emancipated' even though they don't know the how to live according to the Father's will. This means that their own wants and desires become the center of their lives. Friends, peers become the main focus of acceptance. Bit by bit, we are told that we don't need the Church to teach and guide us. Is it then any wonder so many say that their Mother the Church is 'unfair, unenlightened, backward, and dictatorial. They can't see the love and concern of the Church since 'the village' has blinded them to the real love of their 'Mother'.
If any parent puts limits on their children, they do so out of love, not a sense of power. A parent doesn't tell their children not to play with fire because they want to keep them from the warmth, rather, they want to protect them from getting burnt. So it is with the Church.
"Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground. Christianity is the only frame which has preserved the pleasure of Paganism. We might fancy some children playing on the flat grassy top of some tall island in the sea. So long as there was a wall round the cliff's edge they could fling themselves into every frantic game and make the place the noisiest of nurseries. But the walls were knocked down, leaving the naked peril of the precipice. They did not fall over; but when their friends returned to them they were all huddled in terror in the centre of the island; and their song had ceased."
{G. K. Chesterton: Orthodoxy, Garden City, NY: Doubleday Image, 1908, p. 145}
And just as it is with the parents, if any of these 'spiritual'children get into trouble for not listening to their Father and Mother, who gets the blame? The village who taught them and encouraged their rebellion? No, the Church.
Pax Christi, Pat
Every time I hear of an incident in a school, my heart goes out to those who were victimized by it. Not the children hurt or killed, those who were witnesses to it and the parents of those who did it. Why? Because today, it seems their damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Today, we bring you the words from His Holiness Pope John Paul II's special Message for the fiftieth Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. written on January 29th to be delivered at the Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, February 3rd in which the Holy Father beseeched American politicians to uphold the Sanctity of Life and to uphold their reputation as the leader of humanity in the world and do the right thing, calling on God to guide them in making laws that effect humanity, pointing out their responsibility that "within the fabric of your national life a particular moral authority has been entrusted to you who are invested with political responsibility as representatives of the American people." See THE VICAR OF CHRIST SPEAKS
1. With this ancient invocation to the Lord of History, I greet all of you and thank you for the gracious invitation extended to me through Senator Connie Mack to address the Fiftieth National Prayer Breakfast sponsored by the Congress of the United States. Although it is not possible for me to be present in person, I am grateful for this opportunity to share some thoughts with you through my representative in the United States, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo.
We are now at the dawn of the new millennium, when Christians throughout the world are celebrating the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 -- the 2000th anniversary of Christ's taking flesh and dwelling among us, the central event of history and the key to the meaning of human existence. This great anniversary invites believers everywhere to rejoice in the grace poured out upon mankind in the fullness of time, and encourages us to look to the future with renewed hope in the power of the Spirit to make all things new.
An evocative part of the Jubilee celebrations in the City of Rome involved the ceremonial opening of a Holy Door in each of the four Major Basilicas. This ritual symbolizes the passage which believers are called to make, through faith in Christ, from sin to grace, from spiritual death to salvation. Two weeks ago, leaders from Christian denominations worldwide joined me in opening the Holy Door at the Basilica of Saint Paul, and together we crossed its threshold. That was an eloquent sign of our commitment to ensure that, in the millennium just beginning, Christians will give ever fuller expression to that unity which is Christ's gift to His Church, so that together we may cross the threshold of hope in openness to the future which God in his providence holds out to us.
2. The beginning of a millennium evokes reflection on the passage of time, especially when we are convinced that humanity is at a crossroads and must make important decisions regarding the epoch that is opening up before us. This is a time to reaffirm our belief that the God who created the universe and fashioned human beings in his own image and likeness continues to guide and sustain human history. The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 obliges us Christians to renew our faith in Christ, the key, the center and the goal of all history, the new Adam who reveals man to himself, unlocks the mystery of his origin and goal, and sheds light on the path that leads to humanity's true destiny.
This great vision of faith has an authentically public dimension: for the deeper understanding of the truth about human nature and human fulfillment given to us by faith naturally inspires efforts to build a better and more humane world. The century just ended has shown clearly that immense suffering results when economic and political systems do not respect the full truth about man, his spiritual nature, and his quest for the transcendent in his search for truth and freedom. Where this kind of vision is lacking, Scripture tells us, "the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18). Is not the quest for a social order in which all members of the human family can flourish and live in a manner worthy of their innate dignity the great moral challenge of this new millennium? As believers, we are convinced that the light of faith is an indispensable source of vision and strength in our efforts to meet this challenge. And the light of faith, in leading us to acknowledge the truth of God's word, helps us to know the liberating and transforming power of this truth, and inspires us to place all our talents, our intellectual resources, our persuasive abilities, our experience and our skill at the service of God, our neighbor and the common good of the human family.
3. This great project the building of a world more worthy of the human person, a society which can foster a renaissance of the human spirit calls also for that sense of moral responsibility which flows from commitment to truth: "walking the path of truth", as the Apostle John puts it (3 John 3). And such a moral responsibility, by its very nature, cannot be reduced to a purely private matter. The light of Christ should illumine every thought, word and action of believers; there is no area of personal or social life which it is not meant to penetrate, enliven and make fruitful. The spread of a purely utilitarian approach to the great moral issues of public life points to the urgent need for a rigorous and reasoned public discourse about the moral norms that are the foundation of any just society. A living relationship with the truth, Scripture teaches, is the very source and condition of authentic and lasting freedom (cf. John 8:32).
Your nation was built as an experiment in ordered freedom, an experiment in which the exercise of individual freedom would contribute to the common good. The American separation of Church and State as institutions was accompanied from the beginning of your Republic by the conviction that strong religious faith, and the public expression of religiously-informed judgments, contribute significantly to the moral health of the body politic. In the great Western democratic tradition, men and women in political life are servants of the polis in its fullest sense — as a moral and civil commonwealth. They are not mere brokers of power in a political process taking place in a vacuum, cut off from private and public morality. Leadership in a true democracy involves much more than simply the mastering of techniques of political "management": your vocation as "representatives" calls for vision, wisdom, a spirit of contemplation, and a passion for justice and truth.
4. Looking back on my own lifetime, I am convinced that the epoch-making changes taking place and the challenges appearing at the dawn of this new millennium call for just such a "prophetic" function on the part of religious believers in public life. And, may I say, this is particularly true of you who represent the American people, with their rich heritage of commitment to freedom and equality under the law, their spirit of independence and commitment to the common good, their self-reliance and generosity in sharing their God-given gifts. In the century just ended, this heritage became synonymous with freedom itself for people throughout the world, as they sought to cast off the shackles of totalitarianism and to live in freedom. As one who is personally grateful for what America did for the world in the darkest days of the twentieth century, allow me to ask: Will America continue to inspire people to build a truly better world, a world in which freedom is ordered to truth and goodness? Or will America offer the example of a pseudo-freedom which, detached from the moral norms that give life direction and fruitfulness, turns in practice into a narrow and ultimately inhuman self-enslavement, one which smothers people's spirits and dissolves the foundations of social life? These questions pose themselves in a particularly sharp way when we confront the urgent issue of protecting every human being's inalienable right to life from conception until natural death. This is the great civil rights issue of our time, and the world looks to the United States for leadership in cherishing every human life and in providing legal protection for all the members of the human community, but especially those who are weakest and most vulnerable.
5. For religious believers who bear political responsibility, our times offer a daunting yet exhilarating challenge. I would go so far as to say that their task is to save democracy from self-destruction. Democracy is our best opportunity to promote the values that will make the world a better place for everyone, but a society which exalts individual choice as the ultimate source of truth undermines the very foundations of democracy. If there is no objective moral order which everyone must respect, and if each individual is expected to supply his or her own truth and ethic of life, there remains only the path of contractual mechanisms as the way of organizing our living together in society. In such a society the strong will prevail and the weak will be swept aside. As I have written elsewhere, "if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political action, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism" (Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, No. 46).
Faith compels Christians in the public arena in your country to promote a new political culture of service, based on the vision of life and civilization that has sustained the American people in the positive character and outlook that has nourished their optimism, their hope, their willingness to be generous in the service of others, and will protect them from the cynicism which dissipates the very energies needed for building the future. Today this optimism is being tested, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains the sturdy foundation of hope for the future.
I am convinced that, precisely at this crossroads in history, the Christian message of truth and justice, and of our universal brotherhood as God's beloved children, has the power to emerge once again as the "good news" for our times, a compelling invitation to real hope. It will do so if "the power of God leading to salvation" (cf. Rom 1:16) is seen in the transformed lives of those who profess the Gospel as the pole-star of their lives and the deepest source of their commitment to others. To build a future of hope is, to use a favorite expression of the late Pope Paul VI, to build a "civilization of love". Love, as Scripture teaches, casts out fear: fear of the future, fear of the other, fear that there is not enough room at the banquet of life for the least of our brothers and sisters. Love does not tear down but is rather the virtue that "builds up". And this is my prayer for you: that as men and women involved in public life, you will truly be builders of a civilization of love, of a society which, precisely because it embodies the highest values of truth, justice and freedom for all, is also a sign of the presence of God's Kingdom and its peace.
May God grant you this in your personal lives, in your families and in the country you are privileged to serve!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"The nation of tomorrow is the youth of today. They are the assurance of progress; the fresh arrows to a better future; the wings of aspiration. Even in war the strength of a nation is not in its bombs, but in the soldiers, who dend it. In peace, it is not economics or politics that save, but good economists and good politicians - to to be that, they must be good children. To be that, there must in the first place be the grace of God; in the second place, in the home lessons of love and truth; in the schools, knowledge and self-control."
NOTE: We respectfully recognize and accept the final authority regarding apparitions, locutions and prophecies presently being reported around the world rests with the Holy See of Rome and the Magisterium of Holy Mother Church to whose judjment we humbly and obediently submit.
"Dear children! I call you, little children, to pray without ceasing. If you pray, you
are closer to God and He will lead you on the way of peace and salvation. That is why I call you today to give
peace to others. Only in God is there true peace. Open your hearts and become those who give a gift of peace
and others will discover peace in you and through you and in this way you will witness God's peace and love
which He gives you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
