Modern Massacre of the Innocents

Slaughter of the Innocents by James B. Janknegt

Herod the Horrible
Today the Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Innocents. King Herod feared the birth of the new "king of the Jews" so he "ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi" (Matt 2:16).

Modern Massacre of the Innocents
Rather than focus on the theological implications of the feast day (others have done a great job of that already), I'd like to propose we use this day to reflect on our modern massacre of the innocents - abortion.

40 Million
Over 40 Million innocent babies have been killed in the United States since 1973 when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in this country. These numbers do not even reflect the U.S. government's efforts to export abortion to other countries. In January 2009, President Obama overturned the Mexico City policy which had prohibited U.S. funding of international groups that provided abortions.  The Obama administration has implemented a systematic, anti-life agenda which it continues to pursue.

Patroness of the Unborn
It's not enough to just say we are pro-life, we have to act. First, we must pray. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of unborn children. We should ask for her intercession and offer up Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament for an end to abortion. We can ask our parishes to make sure that pro-life prayers are incorporated into the Prayers of the Faithful.

Formed and Informed
Next, we need to get formed and informed. We need to form our consciences in conformity with the teachings of Christ handed down by the Church. Then we need to act on that formed conscience. In the last presidential election too many people, Catholics included, voted with their pocket books and left their consciences at home. In addition to voting with our consciences we should support the efforts of organizations like 40 Days for Life, Priests for Life, Rachel's Vineyard and Pro Life Across America.

Culture of Life and Love
We need to attack the culture of death with a culture of authentic love. We don't pass judgement, we provide compassion. We don't reject, we comfort.  We don't take, we give. We don't lie, we share the Truth.

PRAYER

God of power and mercy,
you blessed the Americas at Tepeyac
with the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
May her prayers help all men and women
to accept each other as brothers and sisters.
Through your justice present in our hearts
may your peace reign in the world.
O Lady of Guadalupe, pray for the Church in America
and walk with us in the third millennium of faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Pro-Life Resources

Today marks the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. It also marks the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. and across the United States. I don't have a lot to add to the commentary offered up by better advocates than me. I've listed a few resources on the subject to help you better understand Church teaching and how to communicate to your family and friends, both Catholic and non-Catholic.

BOOKS

Recall Abortion, Janet Morana which will be released in a couple of days. Morana is the Executive Director of Priests for Life, co-founder of Silent No More and co-hosts Catholic View for Women on EWTN. This is what the notes from the publisher say:

Abortion Harms Women. Bad products are recalled every day: the Ford Pinto, faulty tires, dangerous prescription pills, contaminated lettuce. If a product is found to pose even a modest risk to those who use it, you can bet it will soon be pulled from the market . . .

Unless that product is abortion.

Every abortion kills an unborn child. But more, abortion harms women - risking the health and well-being of those who all too often are conned and coerced into making this terrible choice. If it were any other product, abortion would have been removed from the market long ago.

In RECALL ABORTION, author Janet Morana exposes the myriad ways abortion exploits women, and calls for a national recall of this deadly procedure. She documents the way abortion risks and degrades women's health. And she exposes the false promises and lies by which it is pushed and sold.

Morana also investigates abortion's debilitating after-effects, and gives a voice to those women who have chosen abortion and have regretted it. These testimonies (so often silenced by the abortion industry) are a powerful and sometimes heartbreaking glimpse into the real suffering abortion causes, including deep depression and lasting physical and emotional scars.

Abortion does not empower women. It is not health care. It harms women severely.

Isn't it time we recalled abortion?

Peter Kreeft offers a logical, pragmatic approach in his book Three Approaches to Abortion: A Thoughtful Compassionate Guide to Today's Most Controversial Issue. Kreeft is a philosophy professor at Boston College and a prolific writer. You can find most of his books at Ignatius Press, which should tell you something about the quality and authentic nature of his work. Here is an excerpt from his book:

Abortion is the single most divisive public issue of our time, as slavery was for the nineteenth century, or as prohibition was for the 1920's. Intelligent, committed pro-lifers will not be satisfied in principle with anything less than the legal prohibition, or abolition, of all abortion (though most pro-lifers are pragmatic enough to accept partial abolitions as incremental steps toward that goal). And intelligent, committed pro-choicers understand this and resist, also in principle, any of these incremental steps. Pro-lifers find it intolerable that the most innocent and vulnerable members of our society and our species are legally slaughtered. Pro-choicers find it intolerable that women be forced by law to bear unwanted children against their will. Neither side can or will budge, in principle. [NOTE: For an extended preview go to the Inside Scoop.]

ONLINE RESOURCES

• USCCB - Collection of Articles on Church Teaching on Abortion
• Peter Kreeft - The Apple Argument Against Abortion,  A non-religious approach to the debate
• Priests for Life - A comprehensive website with media and articles for pro-life activism.
• Rachel's Vineyard - Ministry designed to aid families heal from the suffering from the aftermath of abortion. Provides retreats and resources.
• Silent No More - Campaign to bring true awareness to the issue of abortion through real life testimonies of people who participated in abortions.

VATICAN DOCUMENTS

• Humanae vitae - Pope Paul VI's encyclical which prophesied the culture of death.
• Gaudium et spes - Vatican II document on the Church in the modern world. It goes into great detail in explaining and outlining the dignity of man and how it must be respected and preserved.

Feast of the Holy Innocentsand Modern Massacre of Innocents

Navez,  Massacre of the Innocents

Today the Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Innocents. King Herod feared the birth of the new "king of the Jews" so he "ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi" (Matt 2:16).

Rather than focus on the theological implications of the feast day (others have done a great job of that already), I'd like to propose we use this day to reflect on the modern massacre of the innocents - abortion.

Modern Massacre of Innocents
Over 40 Million innocent babies have been killed in the United States since 1973 when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in this country. These numbers do not even reflect the U.S. government's efforts to export abortion to other countries. In January 2009, President Obama overturned the Mexico City policy which had prohibited U.S. funding of international groups that provided abortions. The Obama administration has implemented a systematic, anti-life agenda which it continues to pursue including the HHS Mandate that requires employers who  provide healthcare to employees now must include coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortifacients in the healthcare plans they offer.

Our Lady of Guadalupe
It's not enough to just say we are pro-life, we have to act. First, we must pray. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of unborn children. We should ask for her intercession and offer up Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament for an end to abortion. Furthermore, we can ask our parishes to make sure that pro-life prayers are incorporated into the Prayers of the Faithful.

Humanae Vitae
Next, we need to get formed and informed. We need to form our consciences in conformity with the teachings of Christ handed down by the Church. This begins by learning what the Church teaches on these matters of life. Two very good resources are Humanae Vitae and the Catechism.

Taking Action
It's not enough for us to form our consciences, we need to act on them. In this recent presidential election too many people, Catholics included, voted with their pocket books and left their consciences at home. In addition to voting with our consciences we should support the efforts of organizations like 40 Days for Life, Priests for Life, Rachel's Vineyard and Pro Life Across America.

Culture of Life
We need to attack the culture of death with a culture of authentic love. We don't pass judgement, we provide compassion. We don't reject, we comfort. We don't take, we give. We don't lie, we share the Truth.

PRAYER

God of power and mercy,
you blessed the Americas at Tepeyac
with the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
May her prayers help all men and women
to accept each other as brothers and sisters.
Through your justice present in our hearts
may your peace reign in the world.
O Lady of Guadalupe, pray for the Church in America
and walk with us in the third millennium of faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

VP Debate Follow Up:The Catholic Church, Abortion and Politics

The Vice Presidential Debate demonstrated a stark contrast in views of what the Catholic Church teaches about abortion and how that mixes with politics. Watch the video first and then review what the Catechism has to say about abortion.

This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:
You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.
God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes. 

2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society. 

2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation [emphasis added]:
"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death." 

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."

Biden's "profession that he is personally opposed to abortion while supporting its legalization fails to acknowledge the life-taking reality of abortion." (CNA) This mindset either suggests that one is lying or  has a serious disconnect from reality. It would be like someone saying, I am opposed to enslaving people from Africa, but I would never think about imposing that view on anyone. How ridiculous does that sound? In this day and age, who would make such a statement and get away with it?

Ryan's answer about how his Catholic faith informs his precisely the approach Catholics should be taking. Now in all fairness, the Romney-Ryan position is not perfect. The Church teaches that abortion is wrong in all circumstance; there are no exceptions for rape, incest or health of the mother. This may seem like a harsh position, but it is consistent. To hold a contrary view is contradictory and undermines the dignity of all life. We cannot determine that one life is more valuable than another.

When I first heard Biden's comments, I was reminded of St. Josemaria's statement in The Way (#353) about living a duplicitous life:

Have you ever bothered to think how absurd it is to leave one's Catholicism aside on entering a university, or a professional association, or a scholarly meeting, or Congress, as if you were checking your hat at the door?

ACTUALLY HUMAN

There is no potential to have tea if there is no tea.

By FRATER BOVIOUS
Guest Writer to Joe Catholic

---

(CARROLLTON, Cradle of Civilization) -  An article, by "ethicists" no less, and which requires imbibing something stronger than tea to digest, asks the question: "After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?"


Indeed.


I wrote about this from one viewpoint over at The Spiritual Advocate but would like to actually answer via this blog, as the question requires an answer. The short answer is because it is a baby, which is to say that it is a human being and deserving of all the rights and protections normally accorded to a human being.


Much of the "debate" over the status of a fetus under the law, and now by extension a newborn, hinges on whether it "has rights". Any way you slice it, this question of rights has to do, fundamentally with its status as a human being. It may be disguised as a debate about "person-hood", but this distinction is speculative and subjective rubbish.


That the baby is objectively a human being is not debatable. I will demonstrate with a rubber ball.

This is a picture of a red rubber ball. You may have seen one of these before. There was a time when it was not a red rubber ball, it was instead just an idea in someone's mind, or in various stages of production, i.e. a mess of chemicals, a puddle of goo, etc. But at some point when the idea of a sphere is merged with material, i.e. rubber, it becomes a ball. Please note, it did not gradually become a ball. There was rubber, machinery, workers, etc. and then - a ball. There is no point at which someone would deny that the ball has the equivalent of ball "person-hood" that it later somehow achieves. There are the component parts that go into making a ball, and then there is a ball. There is no in between state.

Once it exists, the red rubber ball is full of potency. It may sit there doing nothing for weeks or months, nevertheless, all that time it has the potential to bounce, roll, be kicked, be a source of amusement. It also has the potential to be melted down into a puddle of goo. At that point, it ceases to be a ball, largely because it has lost the form of a ball, i.e. that spherical shape so handy for bouncing. What has not changed is the matter the ball was made of, i.e. rubber. But, rubber by itself is not a ball, and the idea of a sphere, by itself, is also not a ball. Matter and form together make a ball. This concept was called by Aristotle hylomorphism or matter-formism. That this is a correct understanding of reality is not in question.

Lest you think that the form of the ball gives an out to people that think the form of a human is not a fetus, please, think again. A ball can be red or blue. It can be a golf ball with dimples or a beach ball full of air. All of those aspects are the accidents of the ball, that is the non-essential attributes of specific balls. The essential attributes, its essence, to name two, are its sphericity and its bounciness. So, hold that thought.


The point is this: For the ball to bounce it must exist. Which is to say, for a ball to have the potential to bounce, it must first exist. Fancy ways of describing this use terms such as "act" and "potency", or actuality and potentiality. And, simply, for something to have any potency, it must first have actuality. This may seem counter-intuitive, I suggest a cigar and a scotch to help you ponder this. In fact, I shall join you...

OK, ready? The word "potential" is used a lot to signify something that is incorrect. The term "potentially human" comes to mind when speaking of a fetus. Now this is critical - the implication is that something that does exist, but is not human, has the potential to be human.

But, you see, that is exactly wrong. For if this were true, it would be logical to state that a dog or a tree is potentially human. As Inigo Montoya said to Vizzini, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." For the word potential describes a quality inherent in the object. Only a human being has human potential, that is, the ability to be all the things we equate with being human. 

That the above is true is recognized by everyone with any intellectual integrity and cannot be seriously debated. So, the concept of "person-hood" is brought in to supposedly impact the argument about the status of a fetus, or now as distressingly proposed in the article that triggered this post, a baby.
 

This is a baby, well, a toddler. You may have seen one of these before. There was a time when it was not a baby, it was instead just an idea in someone's mind, a gleam in daddy's eye, as they say, and two separate bits of genetic material that needed to be put together. All the genetic information it would ever need was present in its entirety in those two bits of genetic material - a sperm cell and an egg cell. But at some point, once those merge, the moment the sperm meets the egg, at that point it becomes a human. Right? Well, no, not actually. We still need the form - so far we just have the material. What is the form? See note at the end. Meanwhile, please recognize, the sperm and egg did not gradually become human. There was man, woman, genetic material, etc. and then - a human.

Once it exists, the baby is full of potency. It may sit there doing nothing for weeks or months, nevertheless, all that time it has the potential to grow, develop, learn to walk and talk, go to school, graduate, get married and be a parent in turn. But none of those potentials exist, can exist, if there is no human to start with. Even if the point of person-hood were valid, which it is not, it would at any rate simply be one of the potentialities of being a human.


Simply - if a human ever has the potential to do anything, it has always had that potential. Many many potentials go unrealized; nevertheless, the potential is there but only because the person is there. A ball may be made and then put on the shelf for months or years, the factory may burn down before the ball ever actually is bounced, but that the ball could bounce is unaffected by the time that elapses between when it was made and when, or if, it bounces. The fact that it never bounced means nothing. It is still a ball.

And a human is a human. The fact that for a period of time it is in the womb, or that for a period of time it is entirely reliant on others for survival, or that some people want to make a specious claim that is does not have person-hood, means nothing. It is unarguably human. That is why the baby should live.

About form - and whether or not being a fetus has anything to do with being a person, it does not. Some people have red hair, some have gray. Some people are young and some are old. Some have all their limbs, and some lost a leg or arm in an accident or war. No one would seriously argue that a man with two arms has "person-hood" while a man with one arm does not. These things are the accidents of a human being, not the essence. The essence in this case is in its form, that is, whatever it is that coupled with material makes us human. It is tempting to think that our essence or form is encoded in our DNA, but that is wrong. The DNA is not our form, the DNA is part of the material that is joined with the form to make a human. So, what is the form of a human? Aristotle called it the soul. It is that thing that distinguishes us from all other animals, i.e. our rational soul. That is all we have space for here about that.

FB

The Fight is On!Rise Up Oh Men of God!

Photo by CrisisMagazine

Yesterday I wrote that we are in a spiritual battle against the forces of evil. The Obama-care mandate to fund contraception is a vivid example of this war.

It's clear that the Obama administration is dedicated to "treating pregnancy as a disease" and attacking the Catholic Church. It's most recent attempt at undermining the Catholic Church, is an HHS policy which would require all employers, including Catholic schools, hospitals and other Catholic charities to pay for contraception, sterilization and even some abortion producing drugs.

It's time to take a stand. First, we need to get informed and then we need to speak out directly to our legislative representatives and also spread the word via every possible venue and media.

Below you will find links to the USCCB page dedicated to responding to this issue. Additionally, you will find a copy of an OpEd written by Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan and a video from Dolan charging all Catholics to take action.

If you click on the icon on the left side of this blog that shows the Jerusalem Cross with the Stand With the US Bishops, you will be taken to a Facebook page addressing these issues. I intend to include as many links to other material via my Twitter feed: @dgonz15

Support Respect for Rights of Conscience Act

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan OpEd

Cardinal-designate  Timothy Dolan's video plea

Feast of the Holy Innocents

Today the Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Innocents. King Herod feared the birth of the new "king of the Jews" so he "ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi" (Matt 2:16).

Rather than focus on the theological implications of the feast day (others have done a great job of that already), I'd like to propose we use this day to reflect on our modern massacre of the innocents - abortion.

Over 40 Million innocent babies have been killed in the United States since 1973 when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in this country. These numbers do not even reflect the U.S. government's efforts to export abortion to other countries. In January 2009, President Obama overturned the Mexico City policy which had prohibited U.S. funding of international groups that provided abortions.  The Obama administration has implemented a systematic, anti-life agenda which it continues to pursue.

It's not enough to just say we are pro-life, we have to act. First, we must pray. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of unborn children. We should ask for her intercession and offer up Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament for an end to abortion. We can ask our parishes to make sure that pro-life prayers are incorporated into the Prayers of the Faithful.

Next, we need to get formed and informed. We need to form our consciences in conformity with the teachings of Christ handed down by the Church. Then we need to act on that formed conscience. In the last presidential election too many people, Catholics included, voted with their pocket books and left their consciences at home. In addition to voting with our consciences we should support the efforts of organizations like 40 Days for Life, Priests for Life, Rachel's Vineyard and Pro Life Across America.

We need to attack the culture of death with a culture of authentic love. We don't pass judgement, we provide compassion. We don't reject, we comfort.  We don't take, we give. We don't lie, we share the Truth.

PRAYER

God of power and mercy,
you blessed the Americas at Tepeyac
with the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
May her prayers help all men and women
to accept each other as brothers and sisters.
Through your justice present in our hearts
may your peace reign in the world.
O Lady of Guadalupe, pray for the Church in America
and walk with us in the third millennium of faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.