In Memoriam 2010

ChelseaDeath, Prayer, War1 Comment

Wishing you a safe and happy Memorial Day and, please, amid your boat rides, barbecue and beer, but be sure to stop at some point and remember what this day is really about. For all those who have lost loved ones in battle I pray, in the words of Abraham Lincoln: that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of … Read More

Korean Court Rules Embryo is Not A Life Form

ChelseaEmbryonic Stem Cell Research, video3 Comments

Under the dictatorship of relativism absolutely nothing is absolutely true…not even basic science. Case in point (h/t Wesley Smith): South Korea’s Constitutional Court has ruled that human embryos left over from fertility treatment are not life forms and can be used for research or destroyed, a court spokesman said Friday. In its ruling Thursday the court upheld an existing law … Read More

Added Inspiration

ChelseaReligion, Suffering2 Comments

The Inspiring Story of Garvan Byrne, posted earlier today, also reminds me of something Pope Benedict wrote in his second encyclical, Spe Salvi: It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love. (37) … Read More

The Inspiring Story of Garvan Byrne

ChelseaDisabled, Hope, Suffering14 Comments

I don’t think it matters how handicapped you are or how sick. You always succeed in something. God gave us each a gift. –Garvan Byrne March 20, 1973 – April 16, 1985 After watching these videos and hearing the words of the delightful young Garvan Byrne, terminally ill and handicapped from birth, I am reminded of something Fr. Jaques Philippe … Read More

TOB Tuesday: Homosexuality

ChelseaChastity, Gay Marriage/Homosexuality, Sex, Sexuality, Theology of the Body, TOB Tuesday3 Comments

Since Congress is considering repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell this week – possibly by Thursday – I thought this was a good subject for today’s TOB Tuesday post. In a column for Catholic Exchange’s Theology of the Body Channel, Robert Colquhoun explains the Church’s teaching on homosexuality while respecting the sensitivities of those afflicted with same sex attraction: There has … Read More

Catholic Church Collaborates With Neostem to Promote ASCR

ChelseaAdult Stem Cell ResearchLeave a Comment

The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture will team up with NeoStem, Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company with operations in the US and China, to create awareness about the promise of adult stem cells to treat disease: “Considering the potential implication of scientific investigation, medical applicability and the cultural impact of research on adult stem cells, we view the collaboration with … Read More

Is Artificial Life in Our Future? Is it Ethical?

ChelseaScience, Scientists1 Comment

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute have developed the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA: The researchers copied an existing bacterial genome. They sequenced its genetic code and then used “synthesis machines” to chemically construct a copy. Dr. Venter told BBC News: “We’ve now been able to take our synthetic chromosome and transplant it into … Read More

Veni, Sancte Spiritus!

ChelseaPrayer, video2 Comments

I love this: The disciples spoke in the language of every nation. At Pentecost God chose this means to indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit: whoever had received the Spirit spoke in every kind fo tongue. We must realize, dear brothers, that this is the same Holy Spirit by whom love is poured out in our hearts. It was … Read More

Stealth Legislation to Federally Fund Human Cloning

ChelseaCloningLeave a Comment

(h/t to Wesley Smith for the title of this post – I couldn’t think of a better description) Though President Obama has overturned the Bush stem cell policy and the NIH has made 13 more stem cell lines available for federal funding, there remains in place legislative restrictions on using appropriated funds for the creation of human embryos for research … Read More

Sick: Remote Control Abortions

ChelseaAbortion, videoLeave a Comment

Wow. Leave it to Planned Parenthood to find a way to make killing unborn children an even more dehumanizing procedure: If you have trouble viewing the video, The Des Moines Register has a written explanation of how the process works: Patients are given printed information about the abortion pills, and they watch an eight-minute video about the process. The video … Read More