Total Consecration to Mary question

A writer asks:

Are there any parishes in Colorado Springs who will be celebrating the St Louis de Monfort Total Consecration to Mary on Aug 15 2007? If so, which one and at what time? I will be visiting from Jacksonville FL, attending the “Why Catholic” conference at the AF Academy and would like to participate.

I have asked around and not found anything at a parish. Do you know of anything going on?

Race for Reece

This Saturday is "Reece's Roundup," a 5K run/walk and a 1-mile run/walk/roll in Castle Rock's Butterfield Park. The race is to help raise money for the family of Reece Rubino, a 20-month-old boy afflicted with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

Rubino has Type I SMA, the most debilitating form of the disease. In short, SMA is a disease that affects muscle development and inhibits functions such as breathing and eating. According to Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (FSMA), it is the No. 1 genetic killer of children under age 2.

The Rubino family is pouring its resources into making sure Reece is part of a study at Stanford University, and Reece's Roundup is a way to defray some of the family's medical costs as well as raising money and awareness for the SMA Foundation and FSMA.

Read the article on Reece Rubino in the July 20 edition of the Herald, or read it online. I don't know if I was able to do justice to the Rubinos' faith or the fact that this is a special boy. But I can go on record promoting Reece's Roundup as a worthwhile event.

More bioethics from Fr. Tad

Here is a Q&A I did with Father Tad in 2003 at my previous paper, Texas Catholic, where he touches on a variety of important topics, such as euthanasia, do-not-resuscitate and advance directives, pros and cons of a national health-care system, stem-cell research, cloning and fertility methods.

If you have a question for Fr. Tad or would like to see him write about a particular issue, send me the question and I'll pass it along.

Doonesbury and blastocysts

Last Sunday's Doonesbury focused on embryonic stem-cell research (click on the image for a larger version). In the comic, cartoonist Gary Trudeau makes a common claim that "blastocysts" are different than embryos and therefore are not subject to the same moral and ethical criteria as embryos. I posed this question to Father Tad Pacholczyk, who writes the "Making Sense of Bioethics" column that runs each month in the Herald. Father Tad is a fantastic source both as a theologian and scientiest, as he has earned a doctorate in neuroscience from Yale University, four undergraduate degrees -- in molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, biochemistry and philosophy --and two degrees in advanced theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He responded to my question:

The key point is that a blastocyst is an embryo. The two mean the same thing. The blastocyst is an embryo that is about a week old.

This is the old "semantic obfuscation" technique - grab a synonym that no one is familiar with, and use it for your own purposes, implying that there is some shade of difference between the terms that magically makes your own argument suddenly right when it was wrong before...

In an article on americancatholic.org, Thomas Shannon also gives a good explanation of the dilemma that Trudeau highlights and the Catholic Church's stance on it.

On the basis of the argument that the blastocyst is not yet an individual, some would argue that while the blastocyst is a living organism, possessing the human genetic code, such an organism is indeed valuable, but its value is not yet that accorded to a person.

Therefore some would conclude that killing the human blastocyst is not murder because there is as yet no personal subject to experience that wrong. Such a killing is a disvalue, to be sure, but a disvalue that might be offset by other positive values, such as health. The conclusion that some would draw, then, is that at least a case can be made for the use of human embryos in stem-cell research.

Once again, the Church does not endorse this view. The specific reason for the rejection of this position is the affirmation that fertilization, the time when egg and sperm merge and form a new genotype, is considered to be the biological beginning of the new human life. Together with this affirmation is the correlative presumption that this is the time of the infusion of the soul. Although there is no official doctrine on this position, the attitude of the Church is that moral priority should be given to this position.

Father Tad has touched on this debate in an earlier column, and my hope is that he will touch on this again in a future column to clarify for us better the controversey specifically over blastocysts. BTW, all of his columns are available at our Web site. The 2007 columns are in our Gospel of Life page and his earlier columns can be accessed here (or by clicking on the "archive" link near the search box and entering "Tad"). These are great resources for addressing common criticisms of Catholic Church teaching on hot bioethical topics such as stem-cell research. Spread the word!

NOTE: This post was updated with Father Tad's quotes at 10:40 a.m. July 25.

Two classics get special DVD treatment

I'm normally up on these things, but two of my favorite films, Becket and A Man For All Seasons, have recently been released on DVD with some interesting extras.

The highlight of the Becket DVD is a full-length audio commentary track with Peter O'Toole, who was brilliant as St. Thomas a Becket's friend and king, Henry II.

The first DVD version of A Man For All Seasons had just the movie. This re-release is not quite the feast you normally expect with special editions, as it seems to just have an extra featurette on the life of St. Thomas More. BTW, if you really feel called to delve into the life and writings of St. Thomas More, you should definitely check out the Center for Thomas More Studies at the University of Dallas. You won't find a more knowledgeable teacher than Dr. Gerard Wegemer. One of my regrets when I lived in Dallas was not going on one of his Thomas More tours of England.

Both DVDs should be arriving in my mailbox this week. If there is anything else of note on them, I'll update this post. Regardless of any lack of extras, both films are must-watches and should be part of any film-loving Catholic's collection.

Dealing with tests of faith

Excellent Catholic blogger Amy Welborn wrote an outstanding post addressing an L.A. Times column by one of its former religion reporters, William Lobdell, who says that covering the Catholic Church during the abuse scandal helped lead to his decision to drop out of RCIA. Ultimately, he writes that the scandal, plus other tough faith questions that he couldn't answer, led him to pretty much lose his faith altogether.

The questions that I thought I had come to peace with started to bubble up again. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God get credit for answered prayers but no blame for unanswered ones? Why do we believe in the miraculous healing power of God when he's never been able to regenerate a limb or heal a severed spinal chord?

. . . My soul, for lack of a better term, had lost faith long ago — probably around the time I stopped going to church. My brain, which had been in denial, had finally caught up.Clearly, I saw now that belief in God, no matter how grounded, requires at some point a leap of faith. Either you have the gift of faith or you don't. It's not a choice. It can't be willed into existence. And there's no faking it if you're honest about the state of your soul.

These are questions all of us have struggled with. That is one reason why Welborn's responses are appreciated. Among them:

(H)is justifiable anguish and shock (and God help us when we are not anguished and shocked by these things) could be shared by any Christian during any era, any place. Christianity has never been pure in the human sense, always been a difficult, challenging mix of mostly sinners and a few saints. . . . For years, I had online conversations with a friend about the current scandals. I told him over and over that I really didn't understand how the current scandals could be a deal-breaker for one's Catholic faith, and say, the papal history of the 10th century or the bad Renaissance popes was not. Or, as discussed in comments below, in my Ursulines in Montana post, the way that clergy, especially bishops, sometimes treated founders of new religious orders of women from the post-Reformation era on. Or how the Franciscans battled each other for their legacy in the middle ages.

and

(F)aith is hard. Does anyone really think that faith is easy in the face of the innocent suffering of a child? Or the ravages of Alzheimer's? Or the existence of evil? Or, as we're talking about here, the ironies, paradoxes and counter-witness of the Church?

and

But in the end (at least to me) what is even harder than faith is making sense of reality without God and making sense of what happened 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, period. It is too late at night for me to ramble on about this (thankfully), but simply put - one's faith in Jesus Christ is faith in Jesus Christ. It is more than a challenge, because that whole "Jesus Christ" thing involves this other thing called "Incarnation" which means that, nonsensically, the God became human as a baby, grew up, and was executed by those he had created out of love. The whole thing is almost impossible from the start, and once you throw in the rest of the billions of us, with all of our sins and blindess, it gets crazier still. And even more painful because of how many of us (all of us, perhaps?) use God as a cover for our sins.

There is a lot more to delve into on the original post, and there is an excellent discussion in the comment box. I know several people who left the Catholic Church after the scandals broke. I see their disappointment, but never understood how that could be seen as the reason to just abandon the Catholic Church altogether. To me, it always seemed a weak argument. I think that the doubts of faith were in play long before and the scandals gave them an "out," a dealbreaker as Welborn says.

As she says, faith is hard. Our goal is heaven, not to have a comfortable life here. And an understanding of redemptive suffering is key. Witness the struggle between scientism (which says everything must be proved by science to be real) and faith these days. But having faith in God, in Christ, is not a weakness. I know a man who has been in a hospital for the past year because of skin sores resulting from years of paralysis done by a drunk driver in 1989. Yet you talk to him and, while he is often frustrated by his condition and rightfully has many questions about why this happened to him, he still firmly believes that God is Love. He is firmly against embryonic stem-cell research to cure his condition, too. Is he weak for holding on to his faith and letting his trials strengthen his faith? Why doesn't he just abandon his faith since it hasn't cured him physically (as Lobdell asks)?

Pottermania

CNS photo by Peggy Weber, The Catholic Observer

So... do you have Harry Pottermania? I remember when the series first became popular that it was criticized by some Catholic groups as promoting witchcraft. As the final book of the series gets devoured by millions over the next couple of days, I see many books and articles showing pretty much an about-face on the series, saying that there are many positive lessons to learn from the books. I haven't read the books (I've seen the films) so I don't feel qualified to give an opinion on which side I fall on, but I have several solid, Catholic friends who enjoy the Harry Potter series.


Where do you stand?

Goodbye dollar, hello... Amero?

This story seems to be under the radar, and I'm just investigating this myself to see just how reliable it is, but there is an interesting story of a movement to replace the American dollar with a Euro-like currency called the Amero. Apparently the agenda is, with the dollar's value falling, it would reach a point where a switch to the Amero would come about, linking Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Not that Wikipedia is an official source for anything, but they do have an entry on it.

Have you heard of this? I hadn't until today, but apparently it was brought up on CNBC last December (see video link). We certainly do not endorse the groups that put the video link on the web, but this the only link I can find. This topic is something to keep on the radar, perhaps.

Bill Murray gets honorary Regis degree

Photo courtesy of Regis University

Comedian and actor Bill Murray spent one year at Regis University in Denver, leaving in his freshman year after being busted for marijuana possession. From there he delved into stand-up comedy and became a legend with his run on Saturday Night Live and in films such as "Caddyshack," "Groundhog Day," "Ghostbusters" and "Rushmore."

Last Friday, he returned as a member of the class of 1972 (what would've been his graduation year) at Regis' annual alumni weekend. Father Michael Sheeran, Regis president, presented Murray with an honorary degree as a doctor of humanities. Murray said he had fond memories of his short time at Regis, musing that "people who didn’t go to Regis didn’t turn out as well.”

If Murray's appearance surprises you, it is noteworthy to add that he grew up in a Catholic family and has a sister who is a nun, Dominican Sister Nancy Murray. Sister Nancy is also involved in the arts, performing a popular one-woman play on the life of St. Catherine of Siena.

Keeping on our toes...

I have a couple of interesting stories from my mini-vacation in Chicago this weekend, stories that have me feeling like a wuss to be honest. I just wrote this out to a family member so let me cut and paste it here and flesh it out a little.

On the back of my car, I have one of those ribbon magnets that you see on so many cars today. Mine is black with a little white "collar" at the top and says "please pray for our priests" (btw, I have about eight extras to sell for $5 each.) When I was flying out of the Springs on Friday morning, the parking lot shuttle bus driver broke the silence of the ride with: "Doesn't God take care of the priests?" I replied, "Huh?" And she said, "You have on your car, "please pray for our priests." but doesn't God take care of them?" I didn't know what to say since I was getting off the bus and folks had planes to catch. I said something like, "It never hurts to pray for them," and then she asked me what I do for a living. I just smacked my head in the terminal at what a weak answer I gave to her prayer question. Of course, I can't get into free will, miracles, power of intercession, etc... in 10 seconds... or maybe I could but I just wasn't quick enough on my feet. On the plane, I started thinking of what Archbishop Sheen would've done and said. At any rate, I'm glad God is keeping me on my toes, but I wish I had said something a little more substantial.

And on the way to a music club Saturday night I overheard a woman talking to her friends and surmizing that her neighborhood is dead because there's a Catholic Church right in the middle of it. She said she wished there was a bar or club there instead. They were walking behind me and I started thinking, did I hear what I thought I heard? And finally after getting up the nerve to turn around and say something a couple of blocks down the road, they had turned off onto another street and were gone. Uggh... God has a lot of work to do with me. I pray for the courage of St. Peter and St. Paul.

How would you have handled either or both of the above situations? Have you found yourself in similar situations? I'd love to hear your stories.

Pope reminds that Catholic Church is the one, true Christian church

This will no doubt be criticized as "triumphalistic," but isn't part of being Catholic believing that your church holds the fullness of the faith? I would expect followers of other faiths to believe the same, so for the pope to remind Catholics that the Catholic Church is the one, true Christian church really shouldn't be news.

The Vatican text of the statement is here. Just scroll down to the English version.

City of Brotherly Love

My Phillies were in town this weekend for a series against the Rockies. I went Friday and Saturday, games which the Phillies' bullpen blew late-inning leads, and missed Sunday's game, which the Phillies won.

Saturday night, a nasty storm rolled through causing an 80-minute rain delay. The tarp was nearly blown off and grounds crew were fighting with all of their strength to keep the tarp down in very strong, swirling winds.

Another storm rolled through today, causing another rain delay. Only this time, the storm got the better of the crew and it blew the tarp away, covering several of the crew members. Seeing this happen, most of the Phillies team raced out of the dugout to help the crew. What happened next was one of the more memorable moments I've ever seen in the game. You had players digging in their cleats trying to help the crew keep the corners down and players running in with sandbags. They eventually helped the crew get the situation under control.

Afterward, the question was raised . . . where were the Rockies? Isn't this happening at Coors Field? Only one player came out to help, pitcher LaTroy Hawkins. While the ordeal made for some lighthearted moments, it is also an embarrassment to the Rockies organization. That the opposing team was willing to help out and only one home team player came out of the dugout is sad. Was it a matter of simple neglect, or of players conditioned by high salaries not to get risk getting hurt? They could've gone out there but they didn't.

Philadelphia gets slighted often as the "City of Brotherly Shove," known for brawls in the upper deck of old Veterans Stadium and for once booing Santa Claus at an Eagles game (and rightly so if you saw the skinny, weak impersonation of Santa that they threw out on the field). But Philly folks help each other out, too, and the Phillies made their home city proud. Heck, the fans may even cut the team some slack whenever the next losing streak hits.

Latin Mass motu proprio finally arrives . . . and?

Well, it is finally here. What are your thoughts on it? Do you see a revitalization of Catholic Church tradition in form of more Latin Masses and traditional sacred music? Do you see this coexisting harmoniously with our current Mass or do you see this causing division in parishes? Do you see the motu proprio as furthering the Second Vatican Council or a rejection of it?

I'll post some of my thoughts once a couple of folks get this thread going. We have a little over two months before the motu proprio takes effect, so it will be interesting to see what happens at parishes during this time.

UPDATE 7-9-07: I thought this story was interesting about a priest in Rhode Island who is very excited about this. One intriguing quote:

“There are about 20 priests who have asked me to teach it to them, and I think I’m going to get them all together for classes. I find the most interest among our younger priests, which is remarkable because most priests today don’t even get Latin when they go to seminary.”

Till the cows come home

The Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo takes place July 11-15 at Norris-Penrose Events Center in Colorado Springs. This Saturday the rodeo kicks things off with a parade through the streets of downtown Colorado Springs, complete with a children's dress-up review. Check it out for a good family time.

There's something about the rodeo that brings out the little kid in me.

A couple of other items this weekend:
*** At 7 p.m. Saturday (7/7/07 at 7), there will be a groundbreaking for a proposed church on land donated by the Venetucci family (on the Venetucci farm at 5210 S. U.S. 85/87). The church will combine Holy Family in Security and St. Joseph in Fountain and is going by the tentative name of St. Dominic. You can read about it in the July 20 issue of The Colorado Catholic Herald. Bring a shovel to participate in the groundbreaking.

*** Father Francisco Quezada will be installed as pastor of St. Mary's Cathedral at the 8:45 a.m. Sunday Mass. Read about him here.

Happy Independence Day

The latest bishop's column focuses on "unalienable rights."

C.S. Health Watch: Not as sweaty as Denver and better abs, too...

A couple of weeks ago, Colorado Springs was named the 91st sweatiest city in America, with Denver topping the Springs at 69th place. Not only are we not as sweaty as Denver, but we are happy to report that, according to Men's Health magazine, we also have better abs. The Springs ranked 12th, with Denver 14th.

One thing I love about living Colorado Springs is how close you are to so many great trails. The Stratton Open Space trail is a short walk from where I live, allowing me to get in a nice one-hour hike on most days.

Since, of course, the body is the temple of the soul, I'm curious as to what your favorite hiking trail is in the diocese. In addition to really enjoying the Stratton trail, I'm also a big fan of the Waldo Canyon loop.