PRO-CHOICE, MY TAKE

I read a blog post today that really made me go back to my entrenchment into my pro-choice conviction.  Don't get excited, it's not what you think.  Read on.
It was about Rick Santorum and his family choosing to keep a baby that they knew had a condition that would be worse than Down Syndrome and cut the life of the child to very few years, if not months.  The author of the blog accused the parents of egoism.  Making themselves feel better because they had kept the baby.  The author insisted that this was the type of baby that should have been aborted to save the baby from such a short and pain-filled life.  I am still disturbed by the thoughts put forward by the blogger.  I just feel that I have to stake out my position on this matter.
I have blogged before on this topic.  I made some short comments about it here.  My argument is simply that I tell everybody that I am anti-abortion and make no bones about it.  I don't have to cave in to the political jargon.   I am pro-choice because the freedom to make choices is what makes us human.  Take away the reminder that I have a choice to make and you take away my humanity.  Therefore, choose life over death, every time, and you will be making the right choice.  
The blogger from this morning was saying that the Santorum baby should never have been left to come to term.  He should have been spared the suffering of such a short life.  I say STERCUS TAURORUM.  Let me state two [yeah, only two for now] reasons.
1. Love.  Children are procreated in love.  They are a fruit of love.  Even the fruit of rape is kept out of love.  Not egoism, religious or otherwise.  
2. Love. Children are born into love.  No one is going to tell me that a mother who accompanies her child during a short, warm cuddly life close to her soft, velvety smooth breasts and her safe, warm, embracing arms is not normal, or an egoist.  She is providing a warm welcome to life and celebrating saving her baby from the cruelty of having been sucked out of her womb by the abortionist's vacuum cleaner.  Now, that is a true love choice.  That is true anti-abortion, pure and simple.  If the baby could, he would be celebrating too.  Better to die in my mother's arms than to be sucked out of her womb.  Life sure is great out here!
I thank all of you for reading what is a hard core stand.  I am not a single issue moralist or activist.  I am anti-abortion and I despise the clowns who call it "woman's health care services."  It's too bad that I don't have too much longer to make life uncomfortable for the demoniacs who make this stuff up.  
Stick around.   I'll get over this attack of "curmudgeonry" and tomorrow I'll be back to my normal, mildly grouchy self.  Now you know why there won't be anyone crying at my funeral.

LASTING MARRIAGE -- NOT LAST MARRIAGE

"HOUSE AND RICHES ARE AN INHERITANCE FROM ONE'S ANCESTORS, BUT AN INSIGHTFUL WIFE IS FROM THE LORD." (Proverbs 19; 14)
The ex-Voice from the Kitchen, now Belle, and I had an interesting experience this evening.  We were at the church where we spend a lot of time.  We sat in on a reflection/instruction about marriage given by a Catholic priest.  You know, the kind of people who don't get married by choice.  They still think that  the have what it takes to make sense when they talk about marriage.  Belle and I are Catholic.  Very Catholic, as a matter of fact.  We do believe that celibate priests have something to contribute to the knowledge base of how to live so that you can be successful at marriage.  This guy didn't do too badly.  I wasn't sitting next to Belle.  I was sitting next to my Puerto Rican colleague from New York.  So you know that she and I had a good time whispering nasty remarks to one another during this whole thing.  Especially when he said that women think that men are so uncomplicated that there is no mystery to them at all.  I leaned over and said, "That's 'cuz we only have one thing on our minds all the time."  She laughed and said, "Even you?"  Wow, and I thought that she knew me.  The guy was kinda cool.  He is an Irish guy originally from Maine.  He is good company away from the Altar too.
I did have a serious thought through this whole event.  I ran it by Miss P.R. and she agreed with me.  I mentioned that when you hear a Catholic priest talk about successful marriage you hear a lot about Love and Law.  Love is the real glue of the relationship.  Since Matrimony is a Sacrament in the Catholic Church, Love is the key element that has to be present to make a marriage successful.  Law is a stand-by reality in case Love and spirituality need something to lean on.   I agree with that, as long as you're not talking about Romantic Love.  Romantic love is fine, but it sure is a roller-coaster ride.  When it comes to identifying the core of successful marriage, I have come to side with the more scientific crowd, usually called psychologists or whatever else.  I think that they have a better take on what the foundation of a successful marriage is.  This includes the Sacrament of Matrimony.  No, it is not because the scientists are married and the priests are not.  In fact, the intellectual product that you hear from these scientists is far from being 100% connected to their own personal situation.  No, no.  Socrates was right when he said that knowing is not the key to morality.  Believe me, I agree with the scientific results of the scientists, but I have to abstract from their personal behavior.  But you knew that already, right?
Anyhow, they say that successful marriage is based on a well constructed mutual understanding relationship.  This well constructed understanding between the spouses serves as the foundation for Love.  It produces deeper love than Romantic Love.  Through understanding, the love that develops is based on intellectual strength rather than on emotional flexibility.  This does not obviate the need for the law, both legislative and moral, but it makes the relationship more stable and more satisfying. Since this is a more comfortable and satisfying state, Romantic Love episodes are also more gratifying and contribute more effectively to the stability of the union.
So, what do you say?  Interesting thought, right?  Say yes.  
I don't disagree with the priests, at least not with those who have some brains and who use them.  I do, however, think that they should incorporate a little more psychological science into their sacramental and moral reflections.  Challenge us a little bit.  Challenge themselves a little bit more too.  
In case you're wondering, I do believe in the Sacramental power of Matrimony.

THE THINGS THAT LOVE CAN DO

At first I was going to treat this with humor.  I received a short story yesterday that I thought I was going to present to you because it brought some fairly humorous images to mind.  Then I got the nice comment from Justa about her husband Josh who has been doing better.  She believes that our prayers have been key to this process of healing for him.  Thinking about him and what he has done over the last few months for so many people, members of his extended family, mostly, got me to thinking about some behaviors that we humans practice out of pure love.  One thought came to me about myself.  I am the oldest son in my family.  My father, EFR Dion was the oldest one in his family.  The Voice from the Kitchen is the oldest from her family.  Josh is the same.  I don't know how this is connected with the following stories, but I let it up to you to make the connection.  The first thought I had today was  the ease with which I could change my siblings' dirty diapers,even from a young age.  It never bothered me.  Baby sitters would be repulsed by the idea.  They would call me and I would do it with alacrity and feel good about it.  I would do whatever it took to make the people in the household  happy and comfortable, no matter how ugly or smelly.  The one story that struck me about myself today is this one.  I was still in grade school, maybe 12 or 13.  It was an ordinary evening.  We had supper, washed and dried the dishes and were returning to our respective corners for homework and study before night prayer.  EFR Dion had work to do that evening, so he began preparing his work area in the corner of the "family room."  All of a sudden, he was surprised by his own body and upchucked his entire supper all over his desk, papers and floor.  I immediately got into high gear, got the necessary equipment to clean up the mess while he ran upstairs to the bathroom with MJT Dion close behind to help.  I cleaned the corner, restored the documents that I could to some semblance of decency and even found some substance to try to restore the normal air quality of the area.  I never batted an eye and I never gave a thought to thinking that I had committed some act of high courage and filial love.  when I finished, I went to my designated space and turned to my school work.  He came down from upstairs and in a short while while reappeared fully expecting to have to clean up behind himself.  He was so embarrassed that it had already been done.  He couldn't finish thanking me. I couldn't figure it out.  What was so great about helping your father?  Love makes any task just as sweet as roses.  You smell it, appreciate it and move on.  You know that the act itself contains its own reward.  It's the only gift you need.  I found out that evening.  I've had many experiences of actions taken out of love along the road of life that has been my path so far.  Too many for one "thought."  Too many to keep an audience interested past the first two.  
I am sure that everyone of you has had a similar experience.  More than one.  Give it some thought and rejoice in your personal collection of love actions for the good of others.  Finally take my word for it, Josh and Justa have such a collection, and I dare say, a lot more impressive than mine.  Thanks for praying for them.  

BEFORE THE 5TH COMMANDMENT THERE WAS THIS

CLEAN SLATE

Here's what God told Noah. "

 from man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life.

6            If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his             blood be shed; For in the image of God has man been made.

7   Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it."  (Genesis, 9)
I like gems like this.  Stuff that happened way before the ten commandments.  So much is said about the ten commandments that after a while the power seems to have leaked out of them.  It is probably because  they are thrown at the world without any "back story" support.

We learn in the early chapters of the Bible that murder is a crime that cries out to God for vengeance.  This even before the Law that was given to Moses.  Look at those two clean slates.  Adam ands Eve found a way to screw up even before these two tables were inscribed on Sinai.  I think about this often.  I think about how the life of humans regulates itself from within and, at the same time, has to be regulated from the outside.  Way before the Law was promulgated, Adam and Eve had the order to refrain from a certain act, to not eat of such and such plant.  They couldn't control themselves and they allowed themselves be scammed into doing something that they had been told not to do.  Going forward after that, humans knew that they had a side to them that could be deviated into wrong behavior.  Somehow, internal direction and focus needed to be supported by direction and focus from the outside.  So now we have it.  The interesting part of it all is that now that we have the Law, we have not only the evil itself that we complain about but the Law that is there to help us steer clear of the evil also. Now, what is all that about?  I think I have to go back to my first glimmer of thought, it is because we don't know the "back story."
Along the same line of thought, but coming forward to our day.  We have sometimes heard that the ten commandments are not all that important.  What the heck, didn't Saint Augustine say, "Love and do what you will."  Oh, yeah?  Ha!  Have you given that a try around your house these days?  I'll bet you two Jacksons and a Hamilton that you don't dare.  And, by the way, neither does the Voice from your Kitchen dare.  Yet, we love deeply, but we also know that even if we don't have the Law, we have RULES.  You bet we do.  They are so sacred that we don't even name them out loud.  We just follow them.  Domestic tranquility depends on it.  Mutual respect is encased in "them thar rules."  So, we live within the bounds of two railings, the inner virtue railing and the outer legal railing.  It doesn't matter how much we love.  It matters how much we learn to love our situation, the internal environment as well as the external reality of our nature.  The more we love the Law Maker and the Great Lover, the better is life and the less we have to rely on the external force that makes us do good.  The more we live within the bounds of the internal guide, the happier we are.  If we could free ourselves from the influence of the Law, we would then have attained perfection.  Well, that "ain't gonna happen.  Get used to it."  But since the voyage is where the fun is to be found, it is the struggle to free ourselves from the necessity of the external force so that we can declare ourselves 100% "innies", that straining and stretching for perfection will get us to the Eternal Kingdom of Happiness in the Face to Face glory of God Himself.  That happiness is what will enable us to stop crying at one another's funerals...especially mine.  

REAL DISCIPLES -- SEE PREVIOUS POST

^"5Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

   '⁶Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:  ⁷And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.   ⁸Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

   '⁹And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.   ¹⁰Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

   '¹¹Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate..." (Isaiah, 6)


I promised you some examples of real, live, everyday people who are economically comfortable and are living lives outside their country, away from their kindred and outside of their fathers' house.  Just like Abraham.


The 40+ year old parish secretary
The 80 year old factotum (general gopher)
The 72 year old Internet epistolier


The 40 year old secretary
A widow with three children.  Very pretty lady.  Was given a clerical job at the church when she was really at her wits, and dollars ends some 9 or 10 years ago.  Has gone for continuing and polishing education.  Has taken some serious Canon Law courses at the diocesan headquarters.  Has had a chance to get more lucrative work but has opted to serve God.  She discovered that she can help people by participating in the county's "alternative sentencing" program.  She screens people who are referred by the court to work off light sentences by doing social service work.  Those who fit the profile, she accepts by writing to the court and offers them general labor work in and around the church for the duration of their sentence.  I wish I could get her to talk in public about her "ministry."  The stories that she has would make a stone cry.  She tells me that she is not ready for marriage.  She likes being married to God and His community.


The 80 year old factotum
Truly away from his country, far away.  Retired military.  Loving wife also a "send me" disciple.  Always present.  Always moving.  Always self-effacing while being gently assertive.  Respected by all, including the inhabitants of the rectory.  Has done it all, and is still doing it all.  He is the living proof that God has a sense of humor.  He is a person who has been able to perform no matter who the pastor has been.  He serves God, not the pastor.  There are pastors who could take lessons from him.  He is the John the Baptist of the place.  Fortunately for us, he hasn't met his Herod yet.  Nor his Salome.


The 72 year old epistolier
This is a guy whom I know fairly well.  50 years married to the same woman.  I think about half that time he had his mother-in-law living in the same house.  He loved it, and not just because he had a handy-dandy baby-sitter at hand.  He and wife have five children, one with special needs.  The rule in their family is "don't hope for miracles, expect them."  Not only do they expect them, I have known them to make them happen for some of us who haven't learned God's ways as deeply as they have.  He left the seminary, physically, but never left the mission.  He never took back his "Send me!"  He has had more spiritually meaningful "gigs" (he's an actor!) than I can enumerate.  More than I have.  Over the last few years he has maintained a daily column of reflection and meditation for a fairly extensive online mailing list.  He's always writing, and he's always writing under the unblinking eye of the Word.
Last year, he was the God-sent sacrament of Divine Presence in our house, helping me to recuperate from a challenging illness.  He didn't take the pain away, he moved it from general agony to split sides and sore nostalgic muscles.  He hastened my ability to stand, yes stand again, like a real man, while using the ceramic depository for kidney waste.  After celebrating that great moment, he went back home, but not without leaving the Spirit of The One Who sent him in the house.


See, there are some of those around.  I could keep you here for a long time, but you get my drift.  It is not the money, it is knowing that love is for God and His people, not George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton ( I think I forgot one).  Remember what Jesus said to the emissaries of John the Baptist, "...the blind see, the lame walk and the deaf hear."  That's where it is to be found, Discipleship and You can't take it ($) with you.