Pope Visits Sick Children in Rome

ChelseaDisabled, Pro Life, video2 Comments

Last week Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Epiphany by taking time to visit the pediatric ward of Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinico Hospital (h/t Creative Minority Report):

Here is what the pope said to the children with disabilities he met with when he visited the U.S. a few years ago:

God has blessed you with life, and with differing talents and gifts. Through these you are able to serve him and society in various ways. While some people’s contributions seem great and others’ more modest, the witness value of our efforts is always a sign of hope for everyone.

Sometimes it is challenging to find a reason for what appears only as a difficulty to be overcome or even pain to be endured. Yet our faith helps us to break open the horizon beyond our own selves in order to see life as God does. God’s unconditional love, which bathes every human individual, points to a meaning and purpose for all human life. Through his Cross, Jesus in fact draws us into his saving love (cf. Jn 12:32) and in so doing shows us the way ahead – the way of hope which transfigures us all, so that we too, become bearers of that hope and charity for others.

Sickness and disability may seem to be the antithesis of youth, which is always equated with health, vitality, longevity, but that doesn’t mean that the young who suffer have less valuable or meaningful lives. Every human life is loved and wanted by God and he blesses us all with special gifts, however young or handicapped we may be. 11 year old Garvan Byrne, terminally ill and handicapped from birth:

I don’t think it matters how handicapped you are or how sick. You always succeed in something. God gave us each a gift.

Even those who can do nothing can find comfort and help themselves and others through the unique relationship they enjoy with our suffering Lord on the Cross.

Unplanned

ChelseaAbortion, Planned Parenthood1 Comment

unplanned

I know there’s a big football game on tonight, but who’s planning on tuning in to this webcast: http://unplannedwebcast.com/?

Read the first chapter of Abby Johnson’s Planned Parenthood exposé Unplanned, to be released tomorrow.

Spiritual Adoption

ChelseaAbortion, Adoption, videoLeave a Comment

We all know that a visible, prayerful presence outside abortion facilities can help change the mind of abortion minded women and save lives. But even if you don’t have time to stand outside your local abortion facility or don’t have a nearby abortion facility to pray in front of, you can still help save a life (h/t to my friend Theresa on Facebook):

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of [baby’s name] the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.”
– Prayer of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Also visit SpiritualAdoption.org

A Lesson from an Old, Blind Monk

ChelseaDeath, Disabled12 Comments

One of the last Netflix movies I rented was “Into Great Silence” about the daily lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps. It’s incredible to know that such a peaceful, quiet place exists in our busy, noisy world! At the end of the movie an old, blind monk shares what he knows about God and happiness and why he is thankful to be blind:
blind monk

The closer one brings oneself to God, the happier one is. The faster one hurries to meet him. One should have no fear of death. On the contrary! For us, it is a great joy to find a Father once again. … The past, the present, these are human. In God there is no past. Solely the present prevails. And when God sees us, he always sees our entire life. And because He is an infinitely good being, He eternally seeks our well-being. Therefore, there is no cause for worry in any of the things which happen to us. I often thank God that he let me be blinded. I am sure that he let this happen for the good of my soul… It is a pity that the world has lost all sense of God. It is a pity…They have no reason to live anymore. When you abolish the thought of God, why should you go on living on this earth? … One must (never) part from the principle that God is infinitely good, and that all of his actions are in our best interest. Because of this a Christian should always be happy, never unhappy. Because everything that happens is God’s will, and it only happens for the well-being of our soul. Well, this is the most important. God is infinitely good, almighty, and he helps us. This is all one must to, and then one is happy.

Related:
The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways
An Outpouring of Love for Dan Crews

Twiblings

ChelseaIVFLeave a Comment

twiblingsWord of the day: Twibling, n. one of two genetically related offspring carried simultaneously by two different women.

In this very long article in the NYTimes, Melanie Thernstrom writes about how she, after undergoing FIVE unsuccessful rounds of IVF finally got the children she wanted when she found two different strangers to – at the same time – carry to term two embryos fertilized by another woman and her husband. The make up of this family is mind-numbing to thing about. Each child essentially has three “mothers” (depending on how you define the term) – the egg donor, the surrogate and the woman who is now raising them (four different women altogether) – and one father. It’s far too long to get into every absurd detail, but I did want to highlight this paragraph:

I began researching surrogacy and egg donation — corresponding with gestational carriers on surrogacy Web sites and talking to agencies. The process seemed so daunting and alienating — inviting all these strangers into our bedroom, creating relationships with unknown conventions and risks, giving others extraordinary power. In the story of what happens when a man and a woman love each other very much, they don’t need strangers to lend them their gametes. Having children was one of life’s great acts of self-definition. How could we turn the most intimate thing a couple could do — coupling — into a ménage à trois,à quatre or cinq?

Interesting how, though she obviously dismisses it, this woman seems to instinctively know exactly what is so wrong with this kind of reproductive technology. Look, I really feel for couples who cannot have kids of their own. But children, human beings, are not something people are entitled to. Men and women are privileged to be allowed to participate in God’s creating work, but ultimately, life is a gift to be received, not obtained at any and all cost.

Oh, and here’s another new term for you from the article (well, it’s new to me anyway): “gestational carrier.” That’s what we’re calling surrogate mothers now??? Sounds like something from a horror cloning movie. Well…maybe that kinda fits after all.

The Baby Who Didn’t Make It

ChelseaAbortion, Disabled, Embryo Screening, Eugenics, EuthanasiaLeave a Comment

In a column for Salon.com, Helena Holgersson-Shorter writes about The baby who didn’t make it:

By the time we were finally ushered into the ultrasound room my husband and I were engaged in a sotto voce round of bickering — can’t believe you messed up the time/stop ruining this for me — only to be struck silent by the magical appearance of our baby on the screen.

It was another girl. Another girl, even though I’d secretly hoped for a boy, even though everyone felt compelled to tell me they ” felt” it was a boy. I tried to squelch my unreasonable disappointment by concentrating on my daughter as she appeared to me: adorable little hands and feet, a flash of a formative face. But the ultrasound technician wouldn’t stop talking.

“Come back here, you little bugger,” she said, increasing my niggling sense of unease. “Wow, this baby’s an uncooperative one.”

It wasn’t until she finally left to get the doctor that my husband and I began to relax. We wondered which of our beautiful girls this one would resemble: tall and composed Lailah, with her mysterious almond eyes? Free-spirited Lucero, with her wild mane and mischievous grin? Petite Annike, with her delicate features and blond hair? Then the doctor entered.

Then they were dealt a devastating blow when the doctor informed them that their daughter’s heart was not developing properly, there was a legion on her brain, “no evidence of a pinky finger and, sure enough, the amniocentesis results came back positive for Trisomy 18. Her prognosis was “unsurvivable.” The next step? An abortion…at 5 months:

I had to go to a doctor with whom I’d previously had a bad experience — the only OB in the area qualified to do late-term terminations, apparently — and repeatedly paid my absurdly high copay to have seaweed inserted into my cervix, then return starving and dehydrated the next day (no food or drink after midnight, five-months-pregnant lady!) to be further dilated, before rushing off to the hospital to be promptly mishandled, ignored and given insufficient pain medication as I labored in mental and physical anguish for the interminable hours leading up to the medical termination of what would have been our very much loved, and much wanted, fourth daughter.

She goes on to describe the “recovery” process, which included, “Three unwashed weeks of lying in bed; months without food, without appetite.”

How many of us have heard expecting parents say, “as long as he/she is healthy, that’s all that matters, that’s all we really care about”? I’m not saying that shouldn’t be the hope of every parent. But, what if the child is not “healthy”? Why do we give up on life when it does not meet our expectations…when it needs us the most? Give Parents Perinatal Hospice Option Instead of Abortion.

Related: Santorum: Daughter w/ Trisomy 18 “Worth Every Tear”

A Beautiful Sight

ChelseaPro Life2 Comments

It’s the opening day of a new Congress, which means a new Speaker of the House! This was on Drudge this morning – such a welcome, beautiful sight:

Pelosi gone

My prayers are with Speaker Boehner, the rest of the 112th Congress…and everyone else (especially the unborn) who might be affected by the decisions they make.

TOB Tuesday: TOB E-Books!

ChelseaTheology of the Body, TOB TuesdayLeave a Comment

kindleI’m not sure about you, but I know several people who got some form of e-reader this Christmas. Since Christmas, Amazon has reported that the third generation Kindle is the website’s best selling product…ever! I got the Kindle for my birthday back in September and I really enjoy it. I love having all my books, including the Bible, on one little device.

It’s taking some publishers a while to catch up to the e-book craze, but I’m happy that one of the latest to do so is Ascension Press who has finally made some of their most popular books available in electronic format for the Kindle, Nook, iPad and other e-book devices (like the iPhone, iPod Touch, Kobo, Sony Reader – which my mom has and LOVES! – and BeBookr)! Theology of the Body titles available**:

Theology of His Body / Theology of Her Body by Jason Evert: Kindle – Nook, et al.

Freedom: Twelve Lives Transformed by the Theology of the Body by Matthew Pinto: Kindle – Nook, et al.

And these Christopher West favorites:

Theology of the Body for Beginners: Kindle – Nook, et al.

The Love That Satisfies: Kindle – Nook, et al.

Heaven’s Song: Kindle – Nook, et al.

Check them out!!

**Kindle users can also search for and order these titles through Amazon.com.

“Dick Clark is Not a Legacy, He is a Human Being”

ChelseaPro Life3 Comments

Thank you Mr. Archibold!

dick clarkIn a column for Associate Content, Ron Hart writes about the post stroke Dick Clark once again hosting “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve:

While I will give Clark points for trying, the entire thing has become very uncomfortable and is disrespectful to the Dick Clark legacy. Throughout the years as a producer and on air personality, Clark always had an eye for detail and a commitment to utmost professionalism. Nobody wants to be cruel to Clark, but the fact is, he’s in an entertainment business. And the part of the entertainment business that his show, “Dick Clark’s Rocking Eve”, is part of is centered on youth and hope for the future.

While nowhere does it say there is or should be a maximum age, the ability to project hope and optimism for the future, as the New Year arrives is, at this point, impossible for Dick Clark. He needs to gracefully leave the stage now as his inability to articulate cleanly and crisply what he is saying is turning Dick Clark’s Rocking Eve from most see television for its execution, excitement and show, to must see television to see what Dick Clark might do next. It’s cringe-worthy at this point.

I can’t say it much better than Matthew Archbold, writing at the National Catholic Register:

Dick Clark is not a legacy, he is a human being.

In these modern times, we seem to feel increasingly “uncomfortable” with anyone who looks less handsome than an A-lister or doesn’t speak as well as Ryan Seacrest. We don’t do sickness anymore. We don’t do ailments. The disabled are something to be hidden away, embarrassed about.

We used to care for our grandparents at home so we all grew up knowing a little something about it. We watched our father carry his mother upstairs after dinner every night. We watched our mother wipe her mother’s face with a napkin. And we learned. We helped pick them up when they fell. And we tried not to notice how embarrassed they were.

But as a culture, we don’t really do that anymore. The old and disabled are all too frequently shipped off and visited infrequently. We prefer to remember them as they were we tell ourselves – as a way of honoring them. But that’s not what’s going on. We just don’t want to be reminded that life isn’t perfect, sickness happens, and disabilities don’t discriminate.

Maybe that’s why 90 percent of Down Syndrome babies are aborted. Maybe that’s why the elderly are euthanized for fear of becoming a burden. They must not be seen. They are the imperfect.

*snip*

Dick Clark has had an amazing life. And this is the phase of life he’s in right now. Dick Clark was always a great host. But he seems to be more than that now. He seems heroic to me now. He knows he’s slurring his words. He knows he doesn’t look like the teenager he looked like for so long. And I think he’s exactly what we need to see. In these days when everyone on television looks vaguely perfect in a similar way, to me Dick Clark looks…human.

Related: Persons First

Life on the Rock Year in Review

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EWTN does an awesome job utilizing social media. Here is Life on the Rock’s “Best of 2010” year in review episode I told you about last week that featured a clip from the show I was on this July as well as one from the episode More Than Coffee (the coffee shop I highlighted here on Friday) was featured on this June (see our entire episodes here and here):

Find EWTN on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.