This documentary from the Center for Bioethics and Culture looks promising (h/t: Wesley Smith):
A longer preview can be seen via Facebook. You can order a copy through the CBC Network.
TOB Tuesday: The Resurrection of the Body
Since we’re still celebrating Easter, here’s an old column from Christopher West on Christ’s Resurrection and ours:
During this Easter season it is fitting to reflect on the resurrection not just of Jesus’ body, but of our own bodies at the end of time. Many people have an erroneous “super-spiritual” view of eternal life. Such people tend to see the body as a shell that they’re anxious to get rid of, as if death were the moment in which our souls were finally “liberated” from the “prison” of our bodies…
We often speak of the “souls” in heaven. When we buried my grandmother, I saw her body go in the ground and I’m confident that her soul is now enjoying some form of union with God. But the souls currently in heaven (“currently,” of course, is a time-bound word which doesn’t even apply to heaven) remain in an “inhuman” state until the resurrection of their bodies. It can’t be any other way for us as human beings. Since God created us as a union of body and soul, the separation of the two at death is entirely “unnatural.” Indeed, it’s a cosmic tragedy.
Our bodies will certainly be different in their resurrected state. Recall that the disciples didn’t readily recognize Jesus after the resurrection (see Lk 24:15-16). But at the end of time, we will certainly have our bodies, as does Jesus.
Brendan Roberts also has a column on the same topic at Catholic Exchange this week: Easter and the Resurrection of Your Body
Rejoice in the Risen Lord!
Happy Easter everyone! May you all encounter our living and true God and experience His infinite mercy and love.
image: “He is Risen” by Greg Olsen
Do You Really Want to Follow Jesus Christ?
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. (1 Peter 2:21)
Archbiship Chaput has a wonderful reflection on what it means to follow Christ that we should think about this Good Friday, from his book Render Unto Ceasar:
Jesus accepted every measure of suffering on the cross. He did it freely. He chose it. The Father made this sacrifice for us through his Son because he loves us. There is nothing weak or cowardly or life-denying about that kind of radical love – and any parent who has suffered along with a dying child instinctively knows it. The question we need to ask ourselves, if we call ourselves Christians today, is this: Do we really want to follow Jesus Christ and love as he did, or is it just too inconvenient? We can choose differently. We can choose the kind of routine, self-absorbed, halfhearted anesthetic Christianity for which Nietzsche had such contempt. It is certainly easier. It also costs less…
[R]eal discipleship always has a cost. We can’t follow Jesus Christ without sharing in his Cross…Discipleship demands more than reading about the Catholic faith or admiring the life of Jesus. Christ didn’t ask for our approval or agreement. He doesn’t need either. He asked us to follow him – radically, with all we have, and without caveats or reservations.Following Christ means paying the same price out of love for others that Jesus paid to redeem us. (pp.39, 45)
Ave verum Corpus natum
de Maria Virgine:
Vere passum, immolatum
in Cruce pro homine.
Cuius latus perforatum
fluxit aqua et sanguine:
Esto nobis praegustatum
mortis in examine.
O Iesu dulcis!
O Iesu pie!
O Iesu fili Mariae.
English:
Hail, true body,
born of the Virgin Mary:
Truly suffered,
died on the cross for mankind:
From who pierced side
flowed water and blood!
Be for us a foretaste
of death in the last hour!
O gentle Jesus!
O holy Jesus!
O Jesus, Son of Mary!
Other Good Friday related posts:
The Paradox of the Cross
Christ Teaches Us How to Die
Oprah, Fox Seek Stem Cell Wisdom from the Great Oz
Ruler of the Emerald City he’s not, but on the Oprah Winfrey Show recently Dr. Mehmet Oz let Michael J. Fox know that his quest down the yellow brick road of embryonic stem cell research may lead to nowhere:
Video is also available on Oprah’s website.
My own thoughts:
I am certainly certainly pleased to see the problems of ESCR pointed out on a show like Oprah’s. It is great and widespread publicity for what many of us opposed to ESCR have been saying for a while now and I pray that the media as well as the general public will pay attention. However, I am a little cautious in my support for induced pluripotent stem cell research – which is what is touted here as the ESCR alternative – after finding out that much, though not all I don’t think, of the preliminary research involves the use fetal skin cells. It would have been nice if Dr. Oz also mentioned the fact that adult stem cells are doing an excellent job on their own without having to be reverted to an embryonic like state. Even in Parkinson’s, the disease he discussed on the show: there’s been a peer reviewed study of a man treated for the disease with his own stem cells taken from his brain – with phase II trials now in the works – as well as other human patients treated for Parkinson’s with stem cells from their own bone marrow.
I would like to share Dr. Oz’s sentiments that the ESCR debate is in fact “over”. Of course I am hopeful, as I’ve said before, that the truth will win out in the end. But, as I also tell people when I talk about this, it is doubtful that the existence of alternatives to ESCs, no matter how effective or more promising, is going to really kill the debate anytime in the near future. As voters saw in Missouri in 2006, as well as in California and most recently Michigan last year, there are some very influential people who have invested too much time and money into advancing the pro-cloning/ESCR agenda to see it just disappear. If it’s not useful for finding cures and treatments, you can bet they’ll find some reason to continue to push for it, even if it’s just for pure scientific curiosity.
TOB Tuesday: Holy Week!
Some great TOB reflections for Holy Week:
In this article Christopher West describes the Cross as Christ’s “marriage bed” where he consummates His love for His bride the 
Church:
While this imagery might raise some eyebrows, it needn’t be cause for scandal if we properly understand the spousal symbolism of the Bible. As the Catechism observes, “The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism …is a nuptial mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist” (CCC 1617). We might also recall Christ’s final words of love uttered for his Bride from the cross: “It is consummated” (see Jn 19:30)…
I first heard this idea of the cross as a “marriage bed” from the late Bishop Fulton Sheen in a recorded lecture I listened to some years ago. Sheen’s booming voice still echoes in my mind: “Do you know what is happening at the foot of the cross?” he asked. “Nuptials, I tell you! Nuptials!” Like Augustine, he then described the cross as Christ’s “marriage bed” which he mounted not in pleasure, but in pain in order to unite himself forever to his Bride.
The good bishop went on to explain that whenever Jesus calls Mary “woman” (such as at the Wedding in Cana and at the cross), he is speaking as the new Adam to the new Eve, the Bridegroom to the Bride. Here, of course, the relationships are outside the realm of blood. The fact that Christ’s mother is “the woman” symbolizing his “Bride” needn’t trouble us. The marriage of the new Adam and new Eve consummated at the cross is mystical and virginal. The Catechism, itself, refers to this “woman” (Mary) as “the Bride of the Lamb” (CCC 1138).
Also, Fr. Samuel Medley has a wonderful reflection at Catholic Exchange on how holy week can help us experience the Theology of the Body:
Pope John Paul’s intention is that we would enter into a personal relationship and dialogue with the living Jesus Christ in our very bodies.
This dialogue is ultimately about the gift that Jesus Christ has given to us of his own body, manifesting the Father’s love by his most sacred passion, death, and resurrection. It is here that we listen to the voice of Jesus, not a voice that is spoken or heard with the ears, but with the body.
We are sinners. The place we experience disquiet, disturbance, and uneasiness of our own sinfulness is in our very flesh, in the depths of our hearts. Yet, we experience what happens to these same bodies when we permit our flesh to drink deeply of the gift of Jesus’ body and blood, soul and divinity. By gazing upon Jesus condemned, mocked, judged, hated, scourged, beaten, bruised, cursed, defiled, and crucified, and realizing that he did this all for us, for love of us, suddenly our wounded hearts finds rest, peace, noble serenity, and a satisfaction that cannot be experienced anywhere else. We experience redemption in our bodies from experiencing the gift of Jesus’ body to us.
I hope all of my readers have a very blessed Holy Week! May you experience the great love of Christ our eternal Bridegroom.
Gianna Jessen’s Australian Manifesto
“I didn’t survive so I could make everyone comfortable. I survived so I could stir things up a bit. And I have a great time doing it.”
Here, in two parts, is a wonderful speech from abortion survivor Gianna Jessen last year at Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Victoria. Australia – on the eve of the debate to decriminalize abortion in Victoria. I have a feeling she made more than a few people uncomfortable there:
“How much are you willing to take and how much are you willing to risk to speak the truth in love and graciousness and stand up and at least be willing to be hated?”
Some powerful moments occurred when Jessen pointed out the arrogance of aborting disabled unborn children and then specifically addressed all of the men in the room.
When i hear the appalling, disgusting argument that we should have abortions because the child just might be disabled – ughh, the horror that fills my heart. Ladies and gentlemen there are things that you will only be able to learn by the weakest among us. And when you snuff them out you are the one that loses, the Lord looks after them, but you are the one that will suffer forever. And what arrogance. What absolute arrogance and it has been an argument for so long in this human place that we live that the stronger should dominate the weaker – should determine who lives or dies. The arrogance of that. Don’t you realize that you cannot make your own heart beat? Don’t you realize that all the power that you think you possess, you really possess none of it. It is the mercy of God that sustains you – even when you hate Him…
I think in our misunderstanding of the way things work, we misunderstand how beautiful suffering can be. I don’t willingly sign up for it, but when it comes we forget, we forget that God is in control and God has a way of making the most miserable thing beautiful…
Men, you are made for greatness. You are made to stand up and be men. You are made to defend women and children, not stand by and turn your head when you know murder is occurring and do nothing about it. You are not made to use women and leave us alone. You are made to be kind and great and gracious and strong and to stand for something. Because, men, listen to me, I am too tired to do your job.
JP II: Spiritual Father to All
On this fourth anniversary of the death of our beloved Papa, JP II, I was going to post this video (h/t American Papist), but then I found this one which relates to this blog a little bit better:
JP II so beautifully embraced his vocation as spiritual father to all the children of the world. He wasn’t just an opponent of abortion and a supporter of the sanctity of all human life. He lived out this conviction every day of his life – by embracing the little children who were brought to him, visiting and forgiving the man who tried to kill him and every day carrying within is heart his deep love for all people all over the world and giving his life in service to them.
See my post from last year: JP II and the Culture of Life
Christ Teaches Us How to Die
This Sunday’s Mass readings reminded us that we are nearing the end of Lent and the Way of the Cross will soon be upon us. We were told that it was Christ’s suffering and death that made Him the “source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb 5:7-9) and that we too, like a grain of wheat, must die in order to bear much fruit (Jn 12:20-33).
Several months ago a person commented on this blog in defense of assisted suicide by arguing that it’s not how we die that should matter, but how we live our lives. It certainly sounds like a profound and appealing sentiment, except that dying is a part of life! It is an experience that every person must go through. It’s not always an easy or pleasant experience as it’s typically in conjunction with at least a small amount of physical suffering as well as some fear or anxiety. That is why on the Cross Christ teaches us how to die and shows us the great reward that comes from patient endurance.
Bruised, bloody and beaten, naked and humiliated, abandoned by his friends and loyal followers, Jesus Christ’s Passion was the greatest physical and emotional pain ever suffered. It was a great spiritual pain as well since Christ, having literally taken the full weight of human sin upon Himself, felt the bitter agony of feeling completely separated from God. And yet despite this most extreme pain, he endured. He never once cried out or begged for assistance to be “put out of His misery.” Rather, He repeatedly put His life in the hands of Almighty God, trusting in His Will and knowing that only He has the authority to take life away.
This is what he asks of each one of us. We all must pick up our own crosses and follow Him. In fact, Christ goes so far as to tell us that if we do not do this, we are not worthy of the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 10:38). This is no easy task. It requires much faith and hope in God’s promise of eternal life. But above all, it requires obedience and humility – dying to ourselves and our own desires and submitting our lives to the Will of our heavenly Father who loves us and His Son who will, through His eternal sacrifice, be right there with us in all our trials.
What’s more, this patient endurance does not go unrewarded. Just as Christ was “made perfect” by what he suffered and was able to Rise again and be seated at God’s right hand, so shall we be sanctified through our own sufferings united to the Cross of Christ, and share in His eternal glory in heaven.
In this last week and a half (!!) of Lent, let us make time to contemplate the great paradox of the Cross. To reflect on the Passion of our Lord especially the very last moments of His agony on the Cross.
Wonderful reflection tools:
The Passion of the Christ – naturally
The Doloros Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ – Anne Catherine Emmerich
The Sacred Passion – Luis De La Palma (I am reading this)
Death on a Friday Afternoon – Fr. Richard Neuhaus
The Seven Last Words – Bishop Fulton Sheen
TOB Tuesday: Eighth Grader: “They’re Abusing God’s Gift”
A very proud mother recently passed along to me her son’s topic for his current events assignment at school a few weeks ago. It was on the 3/5 Fox News article “States Move Away from Abstinence-Only Sex Education as Teen Birth Rates Rise“.
His summary:
Students from Connecticut and California could be learning about a no-abstinence only sex education soon. The idea of “don’t wait” started after the fall of the Bush administration. North Carolina has a ninth highest pregnancy rate in the country. North Carolina teaches abstinence until marriage. Public schools have no tolerance for sex and drugs.
His opinion:
John Paull II said that sex is not evil but a gift if we use it correctly and no one understands that. God gave us sex to come more closer to Him not to grow apart. The students are abusing God’s gift and don’t understand it.
What our secular society does not seem to get is that the problem of teenage pregnancy is the result of an abuse of the gift of human sexuality, often because our youth does not really understand the nature and meaning of this gift in the first place. This eighth grader certainly gets it. Why? Because, he’s not learning some Plannec Parenthood-funded “comprehensive” sex education or some secular “abstinence only” (as in, “just say no!”) education. Instead he’s getting an authentic understanding of human sexuality – what our bodies are made for, what sex is meant for naturally and spiritually and what it symbolizes theologically – through the teaching of John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.
As I said before, we must aim high for our young kids, especially in the area of human sexuality. As this young man so simply explains, we are meant to grow closer to God through our sexuality and it’s a good thing that’s worth waiting for! Let’s not deprive our children of this important message! Obviously they are capable of understanding it!
Check out TOB for Teens.