For God, we are children. We have a name. He loves us and wants to be near us. On my retreat two weekends ago, the priest told us:
Whoever does not know that she/she is a child of God does not know THE MOST IMPORTANT THING about him/herself!
Sadly, for so many of our young people today, God is a complete stranger, much less a loving Father, and I can’t help but think that this is largely due to the break-down of the family.
By calling the two to become “one flesh”, God’s intention was to make Himself visible through the love between parents, “so that every child could glimpse the divine Fatherhood in his own human father and mother” (Called to Love, p. 121). This is why the institution of marriage is so important for the good of children and society. Unfortunately, many young people grow up without this great image before them. According to recent records, 4 out of every 10 U.S. babies are born out of wed-lock and, of course, we all know about our unacceptably high rate of divorce! This is not to say that a single mother or father cannot by themselves be for his/her child(ren) an adequate image of God’s love or that all married couples perfectly live out their vocation to love as God loves, for that matter. Nevertheless, it was God’s will from the beginning that children be born and raised in a home where both mother and father are present, together, giving themselves to one another, and their children, just a God gives Himself freely to His Son (and the Son gives Himself in return) and to all mankind.
“Marriage is a vocation. Parenthood is a vocation…In fact, in many ways, the love between a husband and wife is the foundation stone upon which every other Christian vocation is built. Strong marriages and families make a vital, joy-filled Church. The opposite is also true: Families who are lukewarm in their love for God and indifferent in their worship weaken every other dimension of Catholic life. That’s why the Church so urgently needs men and women who can provide the example and guidance our families need.” (Archbishop Chaput, Denver)
St. Joseph, Pillar of family life, pray for us.
TOB Tuesdays
Sometimes I just have to weep for our young people – not just because of the decisions they make themselves, but for the way they are constantly betrayed by the adults who should be protecting them. Case in point ( h/t CMR):
[DailyMail] Extra small condoms for boys as young as 12 could soon be on our shelves.
The Hotshot condoms are going on sale in Switzerland after research found that not enough 12 to 14-year-old boys were having protected sex.
The condoms are likely to end up on sale in Britain, said their manufacturer Lamprecht AG.
A spokesman said the UK would be ‘top priority’ if the company expanded abroad, considering it had the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.
Nysse Norballe said: ‘At the moment we are only producing the Hotshot in Switzerland.
‘But the UK is certainly a very attractive market since there is a very high rate of underage conception.’
Hmm.. my guess is the UK has a “very high rate of underage conception” because the UK has no problem promoting underage copulation. Recently, a woman had to take her daughter out of a school in Legbourne, Lincolnshire because of the school’s graphic “sex education” material – a scene from which one must prove to be “18 or older” on YouTube, but somehow is being shown to kids as young as seven.
“Not enough 12 to 14-year-old boys having protected sex” is not the problem. The problem is that too many 12-14 year old boys are having sex, period. No contraception can “protect” them from the harm they are inflicting upon themselves physically, spiritually, emotionally. In fact, it can only serve to encourage them to continue engaging in this dangerous and sinful behavior.
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!” (Mt. 18:6-7).
Kids do not need condoms! What they need is support and encouragement to see and love with a pure heart and aspire to something higher and greater than what the world would have them settle for. Don’t we want the best for our children? How can we ever encourage them to aspire to greatness or practice self-control in other areas when we constantly tell them it’s not possible in this most vital and intimate part of their lives?
See the GMA interview with Rep. Bart Stupak and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in which Stupak says he refuses to vote for the Senate version of the health care bill in its current form because of its pro-abortion language. Sebelius, like Obama, Pelosi and other Dems, denies that the language is there, but Stupak even points out the pages of the bill that call for the Federal Government to directly subsidize of abortions:
According to LifeNews, Democrats have set March 18 as their target date to vote on the pro-abortion Senate bill that Stupak talks about in the video above. That means pro-life advocates have two weeks to contact lawmakers and urge them to vote no.
God bless our troops! Pray for our wounded warriors and help support them if you can!! (h/t Gianna Jessen)
On that note, I’m off to watch The Hurt Locker and make rosaries to send to our troops. See my previous war related posts:
Fighting for Life in a Time of War
War Through the Eyes of Our Soldiers
13-year-old Lia Mills is one smart cookie!
Lia mentions the use of euthanasia in Nazi Germany: see my post Holocaust Lessons Not Learned
h/t CMR. See Lia’s award winning speech on abortion.
Related: I Will be a Voice, Will You? – featuring more young pro-life voices.
A good doctor does not kill babies, born or unborn.
~Francis Cardinal Arinze
It really is as simple as that.
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I heard that quote in his commentary on Humanae Vitae – available through Catholic FamilyLand on CD and DVD.
“The body in fact and only the body is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it.” (TOB 19:4, Feb 20, 1980)
Lent is a very “bodily” season in the Church. Not only do we help discipline ourselves spiritually through bodily or sensual mortifications, but we also spend a significant amount of time reflecting on Christ’s Passion and death which is the greatest physical and emotional pain ever suffered. And these things prepare us for and lead us into the glorious season of Easter in which we not only celebrate the Resurrection of Christ’s body, but also look forward to the resurrection of every-body on the last day.
In his reflection on Healing the Inner Man with Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving, Fr. Samuel Medley considers how the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving counteract our concupiscence toward pride, lust and greed:
Jesus is alive and active in the Church and her liturgy as our divine physician, seeking to use our Lenten penitence to bring us to the redemption of our bodies. The pride of life, that brutish arrogance of spirit that comes from not recognizing that God is God and we are not, is healed with the spirit of prayer, the soul of which is humility. The concupiscence of the flesh, that lustful desire which seeks to desire others as objects of gratification of our bodily urges, is crushed and quelled by that bodily prayer we call fasting. The concupiscence of the eyes, that avaricious craving for material goods that spoils and sours trust in diving Providence, is suffocated by generous love in giving what we have to those in need that we call almsgiving.
So let us remember that it is not only our prayer, but also our actions during Lent that help bring us closer to Christ, especially our daily voluntary mortifications, which we unite to Christ on the Cross for penance, for healing, for redemption. (p.s. it’s also a good idea to follow up on these penances with that great Sacrament of Penance)
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This is a re-post from last year. See some of last year’s other Lent related TOB posts:
Fasting is Preparation for Feasting – why do Catholics fast?
Lent and the Theology of the Body – on how, through periodic abstinence, Lent can help couples foster intimacy. Lent is also a good time for those who are single and engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage to stop, dedicate themselves to Christ and to chastity and vow to abstain from intercourse until marriage.
Jenny Senour Uebbing hits a home run with this post on the Duggars, MTV, teenage pregnancy and the value of every human life! It’s too good to give a teaser, just go read the whole thing.
Jenny blogs at A Great Deception and can be read at Catholic Exchange’s Theology of the Body Channel.
P.S. CONGRATULATIONS, Jenny on the new and infinitely valuable little human life growing inside you right now!! I will be praying for your new family.
Early registration for the National Theology of the Body Congress this July is now open. Registration Fees:
Early Bird registration (by May 1) $269
Regular registration (by June 25) $309
On Site registration (based on availability) $329
Clergy and Religious and Students:
Early Bird $239 Regular $279
Seminarians:
Early Bird $229 Regular $269
Hmm… Between registration, transportation, food and lodging, it looks like this could be one majorly expensive conference. We’re talking over $900-1,000 altogether if you have to fly – depending on when you register and how you decide to get from the airport to the conference center. The average taxi ride to and from the airport/conference center is $100 one way and the conference center – which appears to be the only lodging option w/in a few miles – room rate is $128.52, tax included. I don’t understand, were there no conference centers actually in Philadelphia, closer to the airport and other cheaper hotels? I’m sure there’s a good reason for the location, it just seems a little out of the way to me.
I still hope the Congress is a success, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be sitting this one out… Personally, if I’m going to shell out that much dough, I think I’d (maybe) rather spend my money on the Head to Heart Immersion Course at the TOB Institute, which is a week long (not just three days) and includes all meals. But that, too, is still very expensive! Maybe I’ll just stick to studying Theology of the Body from the comfort of my own home. Lord knows, there are plenty of resources! In addition to several books, cds and dvds, there are also many TOB presentations that take place throughout the country. Click here for dates and places this March-April.
If you get TBN, be sure to tune in this Saturday, February 27 at 9:00 pm Eastern for the television debut of “Sarah’s Choice“, starring Grammy-Award-winning Christian recording artist Rebecca St. James.
h/t LifeNews
