Dawn Eden's Summer Job

Speaking of Dawn Eden, you can sample her writting skills every day this summer on the web site of Americans United for Life.

http://blog.aul.org/

Her background as a reporter and an author of a very sucessful book ( The Thrill of the Chaste) are obvious in her postings here. Her exploits are always amazing and landing a summer job that so matches her skills is much appreciated by readers.

Christopher West's Impact on Teens

In 2005 I had the opportunity to accompany a group of teens from one of my parishes to hear a Saturday morning talk by Christopher West. The teens were very moved by his ability to so clearly communicate Catholic teaching. I was so impressed with his talk and his ability to reach the teens that I promptly signed up to take his introductory Graduate course on Theology of the Body.

Below is a video from 2006 showing teens reacting to a West talk that was linked on Dawn Eden’s blog yesterday. I recall similar thoughts from the write-up done by our teens.



Apparently there is a controversy due to one of the students on this video saying that Christopher West blessed the students at the beginning of the session. Dawn Eden questions whether anyone other than a Priest, Deacon or Parent may offer a blessing. We are blessed with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a lot of questions can be answered therein. Here is paragraph 1669 addressing this very question.

1669
Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a "blessing," and to bless. Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons).

To read Dawn Eden’s whole posting click here.

The Missing Pro Life Cohort

The monthly newsletter of my Pro Life Organization arrived today. One of the lead editorials dealt with Judge Sotomayor and the second with the Polls that I reported on last week showing a growing pro life majority in the United States.

The editorial begins with a long quote from the Gallup report of May 15. Here is a paragraph from that quote.

"It is possible that, through his abortion policies, Obama has pushed the public's understanding of what it means to be "pro-choice" slightly to the left, politically. While Democrats may support that, as they generally support everything Obama is doing as president, it may be driving others in the opposite direction." (Gallup Poll May 15, 2009)

The acceptance of this statement without comment reveals the continued blindness of our pro life leadership to a major cohort of pro life Americans. The paragraph above makes a surprising generalization that democrats generally support everything that Obama is doing as president. This poll and that done at the time of the embryonic research funding action by the President reveals otherwise.

- The percentage of Democrats that self identified as pro life is 33%
(Gallup May 15, 2009)

- The percentage of Democrats that disagreed with the President's Embryo

research order is 31% (Gallup March 9, 2009)

This cohort of pro life Americans can be classified as small but in the big picture should not be ignored particularly by the Pro Life establishment. These percentages hardly indicate that Democrats "generally support everything " that the President is doing.

If you have read my political musings you will not be surprised when I react to the Gallup statement that, "through his abortion policies, Obama has pushed the public's understanding of what it means to be "pro-choice" slightly to the left, politically" with some scorn.

My life experience has convinced me that the advent of and continued support for abortion in the Democratic Party is a move to the right not a move to the left! The barring of liberal pro life Governor Casey from speaking at the National Convention in 1992 marked the shunning of liberals from the Democratic ranks and marked the triumph of the new, more conservative democrats led by President Clinton. Catholic, evangelical, liberal and pro life democrats were jettisoned on the left, not the right. It is this cohort that could make a big difference if we could stop beating them up or ignoring them.

Epiphany Studio's St Paul

If you can make it June 25 or 26 at the Cathedral of St Paul the premiere of this new play may be an excellent climax to the year of St Paul. For Tickets call 651-336-3302.



Visit Epiphany Studio's Web Site.

Our First Parish Gets Additional Designation

Almost fifty years ago my wife and I set out on a one way honeymoon trip leading to St Paul Minnesota where I had been offered a management job in retail in downtown St Paul. We found an apartment two block north of Summit Avenue, an avenue of mansions stretching from the Cathedral west to the Mississippi river. The location put us in the Cathedral parish where we thrived.

We joined the choir, receiving training in Gregorian Chant, and came to love the large church which was still being completed after decades of construction. Some of the statues of the Evangelists arrived and were dedicated during our residency in St Paul. Some of the spiritual milestones of our early married life occur ed here. Our first child was born in the hospital down the hill from the Cathedral and baptized in the granite baptistery extending from the south east corner of the church. My wife took instructions from Father Holl and was received into full communion with the church here.

So we were pleased to read the announcement this week about the Cathedral being designated as the National Shrine of Saint Paul. Read more about the designation on the Cathedral Web Site.

To see a slide show of the Cathedral click here.

I'VE LOOKED AT LOVE FROM BOTH SIDES

I remember from my youth the Joni Mitchell song “Both Sides Now” and thought of its chorus while reading a posting by Jennifer on her Blog “Conversion Diary”. One of Joni’s Chorus verses is:

“Ive looked at love from both sides now

From give and take and still somehow
Its loves illusions I recall

I really don’t know love at all” (Joni Mitchell, 1969)

As is often the case those that have been through the longest battles, the biggest failures, the worst diseases or the farthest journey exhibit remarkable wisdom. Sometimes it is someone dying of AIDS/HIV, a Soldier survivor of a brutal war, or a woman coming to terms with an abortion. Their stories, their journeys certify their wisdom.

Jennifer’s journey is documented in her Blog. Here is a quote from a recent posting that triggered my memory of “Ive looked at love from both sides now.”

“One of the most obvious differences I've seen since I've gone from running in mostly nonreligious to mostly religious social circles is how much more life you see among religious groups of people. When I think back on the almost thirty years I spent in secular social networks, I'm struck by how comparatively quiet and sterile everything seemed. In religious circles I see so much more marriage, more adoption, more biological children, more people letting friends or relatives live with them -- more crazy, messy, loud life.

In particular, the most striking difference I've seen in this area is when it comes to helping people in need. I've seen a sincere desire to help others in both my old and new social networks, but it plays out in very different ways. In the secular crowd people might volunteer at soup kitchens or organize aid programs for the needy, the most dedicated might even join the Peace Corps. The Christians, I noticed, volunteered and did aid programs and went on international missions as well, but they crossed a line that I almost never saw crossed in the secular world: they were willing to help others by letting them become intimately involved in their own lives.”

Read Jennifer's entire posting. I think she does know something about love now.

View Joni Mitchell singing "Both Sides Now" in 1970.

Priestly Ordination Celebrated

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops' web site has a page of quotes from the new priests ordained this year. Among them is Father Omar who was briefly a member of one of the parishes I serve. His quote:

“People would be surprised to know that nobody spoke to me about religious life until I was 18 years old.”

Father Omar Guanchez - Diocese of Saint Cloud

Father Omar will celebrate Mass at 7pm this Wednesday here in our local parish. Congratulations to the newest Presbyter of our diocese. His quote reminds us fathers and grandfathers how much our sons and daughters deserve our support in discerning their life vocations. The photo is from his Ordination as a Deacon.

Celebrating The Holy Spirit

I discovered a beautiful little essay about the Holy Spirit on a blog called "Peace Garden Mama". Here is her introduction ending with a question. To view her entire posting click here. Yes, the "Peace Garden" part of the title refers to North Dakota. The author is a writer, her work sometimes appears in the Fargo Forum.

"Today, we celebrated Pentecost. It's a time of being especially attentive to the ways the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and interacts with us. It's a time to be watchful for the ways grace comes, to be ready for the signs so we can accept the gift when it is presented to us.

I have heard so many in my life express confusion over the Holy Spirit's role and reality. God and Jesus seem reachable, but what about the elusive Holy Spirit that flits in and out of our lives? How do we make sense of something that comes to us mainly through whispers?"

Read her entire posting.

How do Americans feel about Roe?

Carl Anderson, Supreme Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, has a posting on the Blog “Zenit” comparing two significant US court decisions of the twentieth century. He points out the almost universal acceptance by Americans of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling and the growing rejection of the Roe v. Wade ruling.

“And just how do Americans feel about Roe?

Beyond just agreeing on ancillary issues like adoption or help for women in crisis pregnancies, surveys have found common ground among Americans on the issue of abortion itself.

The Pew survey found that only 18% favored legalized abortion “in all cases,” 28% said it should be legal in “most cases,” 28% said it should be “illegal in most cases,” and 16% said it should be illegal in all cases.

That is, 72% of Americans oppose unrestricted abortion; only 18% are in favor.

The even more recent Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans now identify themselves as “pro-life.” Overall, it -- like the Pew survey -- found that 76% of Americans disagree with of the Roe regime of unrestricted abortion, while only 22% agree.

Taken together, these polls show that Americans, by a more than 3:1 margin, want restrictions on abortion -- a remarkable, if largely unnoticed consensus.”

Read his entire commentary on Zenit.