I promise, this is the last of my shameless self-promotions:
Thanks so much for all of the comments and emails. Unfortunately I basically got on the road right after the show and haven’t really had time to respond to anything. But I have received them and read quite a few of them. I really do appreciate them all and thank God for such a wonderful opportunity.
Things are going to be quiet here for a few more days at least. I’m still on the road. In Jacksonville, FL right now at my aunt’s house, but headed up to Georgia soon to visit with some more relatives there for another day or two before finally heading back home. It’s going to be very hard getting back into regular blogging mode after such a long trip, especially since I haven’t been paying much attention to any news, pro-life or otherwise – since I left home last Tuesday!
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Cute baby bonus – here are some pictures of my cousin Charlie from Islands of Adventure this past Saturday:
This has been an amazing experience. If you would have told me 11 years ago that one day I would be on TV sharing my faith with the entire world, I would have told you that you were completely insane!! God works in amazing, mysterious ways. I am blessed indeed. Thank you for all your prayers. Thanks to everyone at EWTN – Fr. Mark, Doug, Jill and everyone who made this possible. And, of course, thanks be to God for for his many blessings. AMDG!
Jesus, Mary, Joseph – I love you; save souls!
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Cute baby bonus. I got to visit with my aunt, uncle and 16 month old cousin Gabriel last night:
Also, I met a lot of beautiful people tonight. After the show I went out to grab a bite to eat with Fr. Mark, Doug, Deacon Paul Houlis (NJ), Jeffrey Pinyan who wrote Praying the Mass, and Justin Fatica from Hard as Nails ministries:
Such wonderful Catholic men. Keep Deacon Houlis in your prayers as he prepares for the holy priesthood!
Tonight’s the big night! I don’t think I’ll ruin the show for you by sharing this. I recorded a voice over for the video I shot for EWTN of me getting in and out of the car. I didn’t put it together with the video myself, though it should be together on the show tonight. But if you want a preview click on the link below to listen to the VO while watching the video below it:
Here is text of the VO with links for more information on some of what mention in it about stem cell research:
It takes most people maybe 10 seconds to get in or out of their car. For me, it takes about 4 minutes. Even though I do it every day, I still sometimes forget to add on those extra minutes when I am heading out to daily Mass or other appointments, which makes me a little late sometimes! It does take me a little bit longer than most people to do things like that with my wheelchair. When I was 17, I was in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the chest down. That was over ten years ago. A person once told me that if he was ever in my condition he would not want to live any longer. I have never felt that way. My life is just a little different, and maybe a little less convenient than able bodied person’s– but it’s no less rewarding, and maybe more so. I accept my life as God has given it to me and I am very grateful.
Because of my disability, I am often asked what I think about stem cell research. Many scientists believe that cloning and research with embryonic stem cells could lead to a cure for sci and several other disabilities and diseases. For several years now I have studied and considered all of the science and ethics of stem cell research and I have found that first of all, there is little to no evidence to support the idea that embryonic stem cell research will lead to all or even any of the therapies and cures that scientists claim it will. After more than 20 years of experimenting with ESCs in rats and other animals no advancements have lead researchers to begin trials in human beings. In fact ESCs have failed to even obtain FDA approval for being safe to use in human clinical trials because of their propensity to become cancerous or form deadly tumors and cysts.
Regardless of whether or not they are effective, the fact is that, whether created by IVF or cloning process somatic cell nuclear transfer, human embryos are human beings in their earliest stages of development and destroying them in order to obtain stem cells for research or medical treatment is in essence killing one class of human beings to benefit others. All human life is sacred, from the moment of conception to natural death and intentionally destroying human life at any stage of development, no matter how noble that intention may be, greatly diminishes the value of all human life and is wrong.
Believe me, I would love to be able to walk again and to see the sufferings of others diminished, but, I could never accept the harvesting of another human life for some small earthly comfort. It may take me 4 minutes to get in and out of my car. But those 4 minutes aren’t worth taking the life of another person – not matter how small. Science must be guided by clear ethical principles and if we’re not willing to say that it is unethical to destroy human beings in the name of science, then where will that line be drawn?
Thankfully, ESCR is almost completely unnecessary. Not only do so-called adult stem cells – which includes stem cells from umbilical cord and placenta – lack the moral and ethical problems that embryonic stem cells have, but they are successfully being used right now in many clinical trials and HUMAN patient treatments. Some diseases and conditions that are or have been treated with ASCs include: diabetes, Parkinson’s, cystic fibrosis, blindness, Alzheimer’s, lupus, sickle cell anemia, autism and many forms of cancer . And, when it comes to spinal cord injury, which I live with, several human patients have regained some feeling and movement thanks to adult stem cells and progress continues to be made. Now that’s something I can get excited about!
One of the things I love most about being Catholic is the gift of the priesthood. I particularly love the discipline in the Roman rite of priestly celibacy, which is just as much a fulfillment of one’s sexuality as the sacrament of marriage:
Relying on the same disposition of the personal subject, thanks to which man fully finds himself through a sincere gift of self (Gaudium et Spes, 24:3), man (male and female) is able to choose the personal gift of self to another person in the conjugal covenant, in which they become “one flesh,” and he is able to renounce freely such a gift of self to another person, in order that by choosing continence “for the kingdom of heaven” he may give himself totally to Christ. On the basis of the same disposition of the personal subject and on the basis of the same spousal meaning of being, as a body, male and female, there can be formed the love that commits man to marriage for the whole duration of his life (Mt. 19:3-9), but there can be formed also the love that commits man for his whole life to continence “for the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 19:11-12). This is what Christ speaks about in his whole statement addressed to the Pharisees (Mt. 19:3-9) and then to the disciples (Mt. 19:11-12).
–John Paul II — General Audience 4/28/82 (TOB 80:6)
It is great a source of hope to know that so many men have literally given their lives in service to Christ and His Church. Last weekend I was so happy to attend the ordination of a very good friend of mine to the holy priesthood in Kansas City. Here are a few pictures:
Matt is “vested” by his brother, Fr. Angelo Bartulica, who was ordained in 2008. Very sweet. Now they are “brothers” in more ways than one:
Bishop Finn kisses his new priest’s hands after receiving his first blessing:
Blessing mom and dad:
It’s not going to be easy to start calling this guy “Father”, but I am super proud of him!
Congratulations, Fr. Matthew Bartulica!! St. John Vianney, pray for us!
Cute baby bonus – this super cutie kept coming over to play with my wheelchair at the reception:
I am on my way to Alabama where I will be doing an episode of Life on the Rock on EWTN this Thursday – 7pm CST. For those of you interested in tuning in who do not have a way to watch it on tv, you can watch it live online. Go to http://www.ewtn.com and scroll over the Television tab at the top of the page. In the drop-down box you will see Live TV English/Spanish and there you can choose from a few different viewing options.
I’m still very nervous about the show, so any prayers you can send up for me would be very helpful – especially to my guardian angel and St. Raphael for safe travel! May I be an instrument of Christ for the salvation of souls, guided by the Holy Spirit and His most blessed spouse Mary, my Queen and my Mother.
Thanks! And my prayers are with you as well.
And because today is her feast day and the world is in desperate need of more examples of purity and forgiveness: St. Maria Goretti, pray for us!!! (see post: Loving Our Enemies)
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you; save souls!
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7/7/10 Update: I did make it safely to my hotel in Irondale last night around 9pm (got backed up time-wise by a bit of traffic outside of Nashville). Thanks for your prayers. Please keep ’em comin – I’ve got a LOT of driving yet ahead of me!!
If SCNT, the same technique that created Dolly, makes cloned sheep embryos, then it sure as sh** makes human embryos when used with human eggs and human somatic cells. (Sorry I am really angry!)
Don’t worry, Rebecca, you are not the only angry one here!! Of course, NCR has pretty much been a joke of a “Catholic” newspaper for some time now, so this is not a total surprise. But it’s still maddening, and quite sad, really.
If Mr. Tammeus’ piece is not scientifically accurate, there’s a good reason. He got his information from cloning advocate William B. Neaves, CEO of the pro-cloning Stowers Institute of Medical Research in Kansas City. Neaves, along with Don Rubin of the Missouri Coalition for Life Saving Cures, lead the $30 million misinformation campaign for “Amendment 2” in 2006, which said scientists had a constitutional right to conduct human cloning research in the State of Missouri.
There’s so much going on in this story. So much that could be discussed. For example, the woman who said that she would not want her grandchildren to visit her when she can no longer recognize them. But the thing that obviously sticks out the most here is Mr. Peterson’s big, controversial decision at the end and, as one blogger put it, the question: What value do you place in a vow? Some may ask, well what is this man supposed to do just give up his happiness for a woman who doesn’t even recognize him?? I’m reminded of an observation I had a few years ago at one of the nursing home I visit every week:
Among the participants in Mass yesterday was two old men, probably in their 80’s, visiting their wives who are residents at the nursing home. I believe the women are both from the Alzheimer’s unit. Neither appeared very in tune to their surroundings. They sat with very blank expressions on their faces, unmoving, just staring at the floor, if they were awake at all. And here were the men in their lives as loving and attentive as ever. One man sat in total silence with his wife’s hand in his for well over an hour. The look of utter contentment on his face proving that whether or not she returned his loving gazes was completely irrelevant.
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Seeing the devotion of these two men I thought, truly this is the love Paul speaks of (1 Corinth 12:31-13:7). No doubt these men have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, but only more love. This is the patient love that calls us to search outside ourselves, to seek not our own interests and bear all things for the sake of the other – to give until it hurts. In other words, this is the love of the Cross, the love of He Who is love itself.
Elizabeth Scalia has an excellent essay addressing nearly every thought I had when I listened to the story:
What Pope Benedict XVI has called “the dictatorship of relativism” plays a part in all of this. Petersen writes of “the marriage, as I defined it…” [emphasis mine], suggesting that an individual may set his own limits to the scope of vows. Given this logic, one is then permitted to ask, what of Jan, his wife; how had she defined marriage? Is every adult permitted to define marriage in ways that give precedence to one’s immediate needs?
And, what about his wife and her views on marriage? Did anyone else notice in the video that, although she does not recognize him as he stands right in front of her, it sounds like Mr. Peterson’s wife still has a very vivid memory of him and remains madly in love with him, totally devoted to him in her own mind? I have no doubt that it was not an easy choice for him to make and, like most people who have commented on this heartbreaking story, I have nothing but sympathy and compassion for Mr. Peterson and the impossible situation he finds himself in. But his wife’s devotion, as distant as it may be, makes his decision to “go on” seem that much more heartbreaking, and even somewhat cruel, to me. Even if he does still visit her and claim to love her in some capacity.
Of course we are all human and weak to the temptation to seek our own comfort when situations like this test our fidelity and endurance. Thankfully we have Christ and the Cross – to show us that selfless, self-giving love is possible and to have mercy on us when we do not always follow the example He set before us.
Check out the guest list for EWTN’s “Life on the Rock“! See anyone you recognize??:
Yes, that’s me! Next week I’ll be driving down to Birmingham – well, Irondale, really – to film an episode of Life on the Rock with Fr. Mark Mary and Doug Barry. I’ve been interviewed and done a lot of public speaking, but nothing quite like this…and it’s LIVE!!
After the show I’m going to drive down to Orlando to meet some relatives for some theme park fun at Universal’s Islands of Adventure and the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Then I’ll drive up to visit with the Georgia Zimmermans for a few days before finally returning home. Yes, it’s a lot of driving and, YES(!!) I have a lot to do between now and then!! Please keep me in your prayers as I travel and prepare for the show!
P.S. Wanna see how I roll (literally)? Check out this video I shot for the show of how I get in and out of my car.
If you haven’t read Shannen Coffin’s piece on Elena Kagan and the partial-birth-abortion debate today, you really should. What he describes, based on newly released Clinton White House memos, is absolutely astonishing.
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What’s described in these memos is easily the most serious and flagrant violation of the boundary between scientific expertise and politics I have ever encountered. A White House official formulating a substantive policy position for a supposedly impartial physicians’ group, and a position at odds with what that group’s own policy committee had actually concluded? You have to wonder where all the defenders of science—those intrepid guardians of the freedom of inquiry who throughout the Bush years wailed about the supposed politicization of scientific research and expertise—are now. If the Bush White House (in which I served as a domestic policy staffer) had ever done anything even close to this it would have been declared a monumental scandal, and rightly so.
Apparently scientific integrity only matters as long as it doesn’t somehow infringe on abortion. That, of course, was always the lesson of the stem-cell debate in the Bush years anyhow. But clearly it started earlier. It’s good to know where Kagan’s priorities are. Let’s hope senators are paying attention.
I tweeted the Coffin piece he’s talking about yesterday, but it really deserves to be shared everywhere and with as many people as possible. Barring some sort of miracle, this will soon be our newest Supreme Court justice, so, in case you haven’t seen it yet, read it and weep (really, you just might): Kagan’s Abortion Distortion. This is also the subject of Jill Stanek’s WND column this week.
Real chastity has nothing to do with so-called “puritanism,” but is a life-affirming self-mastery in love. Chastity is the fruit of Christ’s gentle education of the heart, which gradually shapes the heart’s desires and feelings into a reflection of true love for others.
One of the things I love most about being Catholic is the gift of the priesthood. I particularly love the discipline in the Roman rite of priestly celibacy, which is just as much a fulfillment of one’s sexuality as the sacrament of marriage: 
I am on my way to Alabama where I will be doing an episode of Life on the Rock on EWTN this Thursday – 7pm CST. For those of you interested in tuning in who do not have a way to watch it on tv, you can watch it live online. Go to 
Yes, that’s me! Next week I’ll be driving down to Birmingham – well, Irondale, really – to film an episode of Life on the Rock with Fr. Mark Mary and Doug Barry. I’ve been interviewed and done a lot of public speaking, but nothing quite like this…and it’s LIVE!!