Thanksgiving & Eucharist

Thanksgiving & Eucharist
By: Marcellino D'Ambrosio


For Americans, the term “Thanksgiving” conjures up images of turkey and cranberry sauce, parades and bowl games. These “traditions” have come to mark an event made a perpetual institution of American life by President Abraham Lincoln.

But why did Lincoln proclaim the last Thursday in November as a national holiday? Because it was clear to him that the blessings of food, land, family, and freedom enjoyed by Americans are all gifts from the Creator. But Americans, he realized, had forgotten this. A special day was needed for us to forget our differences and remember our blessings. And from remembering naturally follows giving thanks to the Source of those blessings.

The Israelites had an annual Thanksgiving Feast, as well. It was actually a combination of two feasts, Passover and Unleavened bread, and occurred in early spring. This is when the first grain began to be harvested and when the ewes gave birth to their lambs. The pagan Canaanites had already celebrated the feast of unleavened bread at this time to thank the gods for the harvest and offer them the first fruits as a sacrifice of gratitude. The pagan bedouins, wandering from place to place with their flocks, celebrated the spring gift of lambs by sacrificing some of them to the gods in gratitude for the gift of fertility.

The ancients did not need divine revelation to know that divine forces brought about the world and all its creatures. That’s just plain common sense. That we owe these divinities a debt of gratitude is justice, pure and simple.

But for the Jews, Passover was not just giving thanks for the blessings of creation. For them, God was not just the author of nature with it seasons and life-cycles. No, God was also the master of history. Among all ancient peoples, only the Jews believed that God entered into human history, manifested his love and power, and acted decisively to save his chosen people. So while the pagans thanked their gods each Spring for the blessings each Spring for food and fertility, the Israelites thanked the Lord for food, but even more, for freedom. They remembered not only that creation comes from Him, but that salvation from slavery as well. This remembering happens each year in a solemn way in the Passover Meal that is the climax of the Jewish year.

On the night before he died, Jesus celebrated this solemn memorial by deepening its meaning yet further. Liberation from Pharaoh’s oppression was certainly something to sing about. But there was a crueler slavery that a change of geography and regime could not alter. This slavery to Satan was kept in force through the shackles of sin. Just as he acted through Moses to free his people from Pharaoh, God was now about to act decisively to liberate his people from the ancient curse. But this time, he would act personally, not through proxies.

And this liberation would be more costly. The only way that it could be won would be if God were to give not only his blessings, but His very self. To do this, God had become man, capable of offering the supreme sacrifice. And before he did it in actual fact, he did it in sacrament by offering himself under the unassuming forms of bread and wine. Before delivering himself into the hands of the Romans to be their victim, he delivered himself into our hands to be our nourishment.

For his aim was not just to open the way to future bliss in heaven. His plan was to pour into our wounds the balm of Gilead that would begin the healing process here and now. The bite of the serpent had injected venom. His body and blood would be the antidote, the “medicine of immorality” in the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch.

Blood brings nourishment and life to every cell of our bodies. It also carries away impurities that poison our system. The Eucharist offers us a transfusion–we put aside our old life and receive his ever-new life. His divine vitality for our tired, toxic blood. The life of a thing was in its blood. It was poured out at the foot of the altar and could never be consumed, for it belonged to God alone. But here God pours out his own blood at the altar of the cross gives it to us as our drink, for the transformation of our lives.

“Do this in memory of me.” We are commanded to remember the supreme love of Christ for us that holds nothing back, that gives everything for our freedom. So naturally the sacrificial banquet of remembrance is called the Eucharist, or “thanksgiving.” The priest introduces the great central prayer of the celebration with these words: “let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” And we respond “it is right to give him thanks and praise.”

During the Eucharistic Prayer, I always silently add thanks for my personal blessings. I think of the natural blessings of home and work, of food on the table and the health of my family. I also thank God for my own salvation history, especially for plucking me out of the dangerous crowd I was running with as a teenage. I thank God for bringing me together with a woman who loves him and loves me, and for having kept us faithful to him and each other for many years and blessed us with wonderful children who love him. I thank him for our own family’s salvation history.

If you haven’t already established the habit of adding your personalized thank-you’s to the priest’s Eucharistic Prayer, try it next time you’re at Mass. It’s a very appropriate mode of participating in that part of the Eucharist.

But true thanksgiving is not just a matter of words and warm sentiments. Gratitude for a gift means offering a gift in return. He gave his whole, entire self to us–his body, blood, soul, divinity. The only adequate response would be to offer ourselves. Note what Paul says in his letter to the Romans: “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1).

So thanksgiving cannot be separated from sacrifice. The Mass is a celebration of his love and the freedom it won for us through his sacrifice. Through it, the love of God is poured into our hearts and enables us to love with his love. In the power of that love, we offer ourselves back to him and enter into that sacrifice which we celebrate.

True thanksgiving means self-giving. This is the meaning of eucharist.

Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Ph.D., directs the Crossroads Initiative, which produces Catholic Resources for adult faith formation, RCIA, and teen evangelization. For information on his resources for the year of the Eucharist or 2005 pilgrimage to Rome or to read Abe Lincoln’s original Thanksgiving Proclamation, visit www.crossroadsinitiative.com or call 1.800.803.0118.

The Media and The Message.

Throughout my life as a theology student and now as a Campus Minister I've been interviewed a number of times here and there for various papers, news programs and even a book or two. My experience thus far with 'the media' is not something I could say was overall bad or good, pleasurable or agonizing. Each situation has been different and the journalists have varied quite a bit in their approach and candor. The one unifying factor in every one of my experiences has been that I have always been misquoted. Now, I understand how difficult it is to adequately express the sentiments of another person exactly as they wished themselves to be expressed and sometimes people have an unrealistic standard about the light that they would like to see themselves portrayed. I don't think I'm beyond those faults by any means. It is however very obvious in matters of morality and the Church (which is almost always what I'm being questioned about) when what ends up in ink is not even remotely what came out of my bumbling mouth.

I bring all of this up because I've been interviewd twice this week, once for The Advertiser and once for The Vermilion. Both journalist were extremely cordial and patient with me and allowed me to answer their questions. The Advertiser interviewed me about our upcoming International Thanksgiving Celebration tomorrow night which short of getting the time and place wrong I'm not really worried about him having serious errors in his article. The Vermilion interviewed me about Homosexual Marriage and the Church's teaching on Homosexuality in general, a topic that the Vermilion has been overly saturated in as of late.

I tried my best not to give 'soundbites' or to us analogies that could be contorted easily. It's not that I think this young lady would falsly represent me intentionally but I know how easily it happens and I know that I'm already going to be portrayed and perceived somewhat as the 'the bad guy'. Something I did try to express to her accurately was that I think this particular topic is extremely difficult to talk about outside of the realms of friendship or at the very least a sincere conversation. One sentence statements and stereotypes cause unfair labels to be slapped on people of both sides of the issue and then the dialogue ends and people get hurt.

Thus far I have refrained from posting anything about homosexuality on our blog, not because I am afraid of speaking my mind or sharing the teaching of the Church but because I know that an issue that speaks of something so sacred and so fundamental to the human person carries with it strong emotion and sometimes the written word cannot portray the charity needed in such a delicate situation. Quite a few people who I love have Homosexual tendancies and I am always willing to sit with them and talk about the issue rather than have my thoughts known solely through the blogasphere.

I'm sure I stumbled on my words and rambled while I was being questioned,as I tend to do,but for the most part I feel like I represented myself and the Church accurately and with the utmost Charity and Truth. In any case nomatter what I could have said would have come out a little inadequate so I'm interested to see how this particular story comes out and who else will have been interviewed on the topic.

In the meantime I'm posting an interview with Cardinal Justin Rigali who is much more adept at speaking the Truth in Charity. Enjoy.

Cardinal Justin Rigali, the Archbishop of Philadelphia is always ready to answer questions, even the hard ones. He spoke with LifeSiteNews.com last week at the International Eucharistic Congress about the Church's teaching on sexuality, in the context of the current attack on the traditional definition of marriage.

Asked why it has become more common to see some elements within the Church promoting what is contrary to official Church teaching on homosexuality, Cardinal Rigali was quick to point out that it is not 'the Church' but members of the Church which do so at times.

"This goes back to the time of St. Paul," explained the Cardinal, "St. Paul says they will be teachers with itchy ears." He added: "They will come up with all kinds of doctrines and this is what's happened in the history of the Church and the history of the world and this will continue to happen."

Cardinal Rigali said however that it was an "aberration" to justify "homosexual conduct and worse than that homosexual marriage."

"The Church accepts people as they are," he said. "Jesus says the church is like a net, it pulls in everybody, everybody belongs to the church, there are sinners, there are saints, there are people with wrong ideas. But the Church continues to proclaim what Jesus taught."

"There is no room in the Church for the acceptance of aberrational ideas," he said. "There is room in the church to accept, to understand and to love people whoever they may be. Not to tell them that what they are advocating is right, not to justify it. That is quite different. That is totally, totally different."

Cardinal Rigali, who is also the President of the Pro-Life Committee of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, suggested that no amount of pressure would get the Church to alter its position.

"There are some people that say the church is intolerant - no! We accept people but we cannot be unfaithful to Christ. We will not accept gay marriage. The church has explained this over, and over and over again and she will have to continue to explain it."

Addressing people with same sex attraction he said, "these are good people and our way of treating them is very important. The respect we show them and even the understanding of their personal situations. But just because someone is in a personal situation does not mean we can change our teaching to accommodate the person."

On getting the teaching of the Church across in today's culture, Cardinal Rigali said "The Church has to continue, St. Paul says, ‘praedica verbum’, preach the word in season and out of season and that's what we do."

However, he added, "This is something we have to teach in the most effective way possible, with clarity yes, with fidelity yes, with sensitivity. We can't take people and choke them and say you're going to be doing it and you're going to follow the teachings of the Church and this is the teaching of the Church. No. St. Paul says in omnia patientia doctrina, speaking to Timothy, ‘with all patience and following the teaching’, following the teaching, these are the two elements."

"We present the beauty of human sexuality," he said, "we explain God's plan. We try to understand people who have the same sex attraction we try to help them; try not to speak platitudes to them but tell them what God's plan is and how they are to face their life."

The Philadelphia Archbishop concluded: "That's why we have organizations like Courage and Encourage because for parents it's a very, very difficult thing. But God's plan is to be presented in all its beauty, all its power with fidelity."

this article was originally posted on lifesitenews.com on June 27th, 2008

Christ the King

Last night after 6pm Mass we had our annual Christ the King procession around campus with the Blessed Sacrament. It was a beautiful and prayerful experience in which we took a pilgrimage around campus praying for all of the students and those studying in specific areas by praying near their respective buildings.

I found this link to another procession in Kansas City where 22,000 young people followed the Blessed Sacrament in Prayer. Check out the pictures.

Here's a little bit of info on the feast of Christ the King.



Christ the King Sunday celebrates the all-embracing authority of Christ as King and Lord of the cosmos. Officially called the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, it is celebrated on the final Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Sunday before Advent. This year it was on November 22, 2009.

Basic Facts
Liturgical Color(s): White
Type of Holiday: Solemnity; Holy Day of Obligation
Time of Year: Final Sunday of Ordinary Time (Sunday before Advent)
Duration: One Sunday
Celebrates/Symbolizes: Jesus as King, Messiah, and Lord
Alternate Names: Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King
Scriptural References: Psalm 23; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Introduction
Pope Pius XI universally instituted The Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in his encyclical Quas Primas. Pope Pius connected the denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism. At the time of Quas Primas, secularism was on the rise, and many Christians, even Catholics, were doubting Christ's authority, as well as the Church's, and even doubting Christ's existence. Pius XI, and the rest of the Christian world, witnessed the rise of dictatorships in Europe, and saw Catholics being taken in by these earthly leaders. Just as the Feast of Corpus Christi was instituted when devotion to the Eucharist was at a low point, the Feast of Christ the King was instituted during a time when respect for Christ and the Church was waning, when the feast was most needed. In fact, it is still needed today, as these problems have not vanished, but instead have worsened.

Pius hoped the institution of the feast would have various effects. They were:

1. That nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state (Quas Primas, 32).
2. That leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ (Quas Primas, 31).
3. That the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies (Quas Primas, 33).

Today, the same distrust of authority exists, although the problem has gotten worse. Individualism has been embraced to such an extreme, that for many, the only authority is the individual self. The idea of Christ as ruler is rejected in such a strongly individualistic system. Also, many balk at the idea of kings and queens, believing them to be oppressive. Some even reject the titles of "lord" and "king" for Christ because they believe that such titles are borrowed from oppressive systems of government. However true these statements might be (some kings have been oppressive), these individuals miss the point: Christ's kingship is one of humility and service. Jesus said:

You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:42-45, NAB).

and

Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?"... Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world,to testify to the truth (John 18:33b, 36-37).

Thus, Jesus knew the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, he connected his role as king to humble service, and commanded his followers to be servants as well. In other passages of Scripture, his kingdom is tied to his suffering and death. While Christ is coming to judge the nations, his teachings spell out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness. When we celebrate Christ as King, we are not celebrating an oppressive ruler, but one willing to die for humanity and whose "loving-kindness endures forever." Christ is the king that gives us true freedom, freedom in Him. Thus we must never forget that Christ radically redefined and transformed the concept of kingship.

Christ the King Sunday used to be celebrated on the last Sunday of October, but since the calendar reforms of 1969, the feast falls on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, which is the Sunday before Advent. It is fitting that the feast celebrating Christ's kingship is observed right before Advent, when we liturgically wait for the promised Messiah (King).

History
The earliest Christians identified Jesus with the predicted Messiah of the Jews. The Jewish word "messiah," and the Greek word "Christ," both mean "anointed one," and came to refer to the expected king who would deliver Israel from the hands of the Romans. Christians believe that Jesus is this expected Messiah. Unlike the messiah most Jews expected, Jesus came to free all people, Jew and Gentile, and he did not come to free them from the Romans, but from sin and death. Thus the king of the Jews, and of the cosmos, does not rule over a kingdom of this world.

Christians have long celebrated Jesus as Christ, and his reign as King is celebrated to some degree in Advent (when Christians wait for his second coming in glory), Christmas (when "born this day is the King of the Jews"), Holy Week (when Christ is the Crucified King), Easter (when Jesus is resurrected in power and glory), and the Ascension (when Jesus returns to the glory he had with the Father before the world was created). However, Pius XI wanted to specifically commemorate Christ as king, and instituted the feast in the Western calendar in 1925.

In the 21st century many Western Christians, Catholic and Protestant, celebrate Christ the King Sunday, including Anglicans and Lutherans. Unfortunately, in some mainline Protestant churches, "king" language is not popular, and the feast is downplayed. However, in a chaotic and unjust world that seems to scorn any kind of authority, many Christians proudly celebrate Christ the King Sunday, where the loving and merciful - and just - king of the universe is praised and glorified.

Confessions of an Ex-Feminist

From Catholicism to Radical Feminism and Back |
An Interview with Lorraine V. Murray, author of Confessions of an Ex-Feminist


Lorraine V. Murray is the author of Confessions of an Ex-Feminist. Carl E. Olson recently interviewed Murray about her book and her journey from Catholicism to radical feminism and then, many years later, back to the Catholic Church.

Ignatius Insight: What are some of the main reasons you ended up walking away from the Catholic Church as a young woman? In looking back, what might have kept you from making that decision?

Lorraine Murray: When I went away to college, the dragon of nihilism pounced on me. I was extremely naïve, having led a very sheltered life until that time. Although I had attended Catholic schools for nearly my entire childhood, no one had prepared me for the onslaught of atheism that awaited me at the University of Florida. One thing might have helped me: Some knowledge of the arguments against theism and Christianity, and ways to counteract them.

Ignatius Insight: The term "feminist" is sometimes used in a bewildering number of ways. What sort of feminist were you and what were the essential beliefs of the feminism you practiced?

Murray: I was a radical feminist, championing the belief that there was no such thing as innate masculine and feminine natures. I believed that social conditioning produced the obvious differences between male and female behavior. Thus, to equal the playing field between men and women, one had to tweak the conditioning of children. For example, take away toy guns and adventure tales from little boys, and encourage them to play with dolls. Downplay ruffles and dresses for little girls, and deck them out in pants instead. Today, I look at my little nephews, who fashion guns with their hands, and see the utter insanity of these beliefs. However, at the time, I based my conclusions entirely on books.

Also, like many radical feminists, I believed that men were extremely violent towards women and enjoyed subjugating them. This piece of "wisdom" certainly wasn't evident in my own life, since the men I knew were mostly gentle souls, and my own father had sacrificed plenty so I could go to graduate school. But the feminist agenda emphasized that conflict, unhappiness and misery were part of every woman's journey, and then placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of men.

Ignatius Insight: How essential is "free love," contraceptives, and abortion to that sort of feminism?

Murray: "Free love" is crucial to the feminist agenda. Sex is seen as just another physical act that brings pleasure. It doesn't require love or commitment or emotional involvement. Radical feminists generally disparage marriage and family, seeing them as restricting women's freedom, so sex without commitment is somehow a positive thing. This poisonous belief began in the 1960s, but is still apparent today, especially on college campuses where many young people talk about "hooking up" with someone, i.e., having sex with strangers. Contraceptives are another crucial part of the free-sex puzzle because contraceptives are an attempt to break the connection between sex and its God-given function, which is reproduction. Many people today are surprised when they use contraceptives and still get pregnant, because they believe contraceptives never fail. Sadly, abortion becomes the back-up method of birth control.

Ignatius Insight: Why do so many feminists despise the traditional understanding of femininity and womanhood?

Murray: Perhaps the deepest sin of feminism is envy. So many feminists think that men have a better life and see them as somehow conspiring to keep women unhappy. Feminists deny what the average woman on the street will attest to: Women like being women! We like dressing differently from men, wearing make-up and watching romantic movies. We know it is nearly impossible for women to separate sexual intimacy and love. Women who give themselves to a man know, in the inner recesses of their hearts, that a baby might be the result of such intimacy. This is part of our God-given nature, and it is beautiful. However, radical, gender-bending feminists want to deny the heart of true femininity.

When Betty Friedan collected stories for The Feminine Mystique, she failed to talk to the mothers who were happy! After more books like hers hit the market, many women left the home and sought jobs in the "real" world, as if creating a home for the family was not real. In the past few decades, we've seen the fall-out: Many women now realize that the male experience has its own stresses and suffering. Many career women who put off having children find it is now too late. Many mothers who put their children in daycare regret missing the early years with them.

Ignatius Insight: In what academic field did you pursue graduate studies? Why? Who were your intellectual heroes and guides?

Murray: As a child, I dreamt of writing fiction and becoming one of the big names in the literary world, so I majored in English in college. Unfortunately, I soon became discouraged because I felt I could never match up to the authors we were reading. Tabling that dream, I went on to philosophy, because I was seeking the meaning of life. Sadly, it didn't occur to me that I had once found that meaning in Catholicism. My favorite philosophers were 20th century atheists like Jean-Paul Sartre and the feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir.

Ignatius Insight: In general, what is the relationship between the secular academic world and radical feminism?

Murray: Generally, in the secular academic world, women's issues have become synonymous with a rigid creed of associated beliefs. If you walk into a self-proclaimed women's bookstore, you will see sections on lesbianism, transgender, paganism and bisexuality, which are topics often explored in women's studies departments. Abortion is seen as part of the radical feminist agenda, and anyone who questions it becomes the enemy. Catholics and other Christians point out the blinding light of the obvious, which is that abortion destroys a human life. But this is not something that radical feminists will accept, because they believe women's freedom should be entirely unrestricted. So they tend to see traditional religion as some monstrous conspiracy to keep women unhappy. They often lump together anyone who is pro-life or pro-family under the umbrella of "Evangelicals" or "fundamentalists." The average woman on the street can't identify with the typical feminist agenda because it is far removed from the realities of everyday life. This topic is explored beautifully in a book by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Feminism Is Not the Story of My Life.

Ignatius Insight: How did you finally start to make your way back to Jesus Christ and His Church? What issues did you struggle with the most in that journey?

Murray: My husband, who had little knowledge of Catholicism, startled me one day when he returned from New York and mentioned stopping in at St. Patrick's Cathedral to light votive candles in memory of his father and my parents. In that moment, I realized I had never prayed for the repose of my parents' souls, although they had been dead many years. I also read Merton's Seven Storey Mountain, and was very moved by his journey. I began to experience a mysterious sense of someone reaching into my life and tugging at me.

I struggled on my journey because I was still a feminist when I returned to the Church, so I brought my baggage with me. I wanted to continue using contraceptives, for example, and did so for many years. I also thought of myself as a "pro-choice" Catholic. In short, I was the classic "cafeteria Catholic," and looking back, I am humbled that Christ drew me back to the Church anyway.

Ignatius Insight: When and how did you finally realize, "I want to be a Catholic—a practicing, serious Catholic?"

Murray: After my diagnosis of breast cancer in 2000, life started changing quite drastically. I truly thought I would die soon, and I longed for someone to help me, so I sought out a spiritual director. Father Richard Lopez, who is a religion teacher at a local Catholic high school, was at first my emotional and spiritual life-line in terms of cancer, but I also began asking him questions about why the Church espoused various teachings. He gave me books to read and carefully explained the Catholic perspective. Once I understood the rationale and history behind Church teachings, I could accept them. Until then, I was woefully ignorant.

Ignatius Insight: You mention several thinkers and authors whose works helped you, including C.S. Lewis, Augustine, and Thomas Merton. But you have a special affinity and love for Flannery O'Connor. What attracted you to her writing? What did you learn from her?

Murray: Father Lopez is a great Flannery O'Connor fan. I had read Flannery's stories, but was unaware that she was Catholic (since, alas, her faith was not mentioned in my college classes). As he instructed me in the faith, Father Lopez pointed me toward her letters in "The Habit of Being," and I was thoroughly fascinated with the woman who came to life in this book.

In her letters, she ardently defended and explained Catholicism, and this was in the fifties and sixties, when nihilism was pervasive. Also, despite sharp criticism from critics, she continued writing her fiction. As a Catholic columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there are times when I get plenty of criticism from readers and get discouraged. Her advice has helped me, especially her point that anything that depresses a writer to the extent that he wants to give up writing comes from the devil.

Ignatius Insight: What are some of your current and future projects? Murray: I continue to write two columns a month for the secular press and two for the Catholic newspaper, The Georgia Bulletin. I'm also working on a book about Flannery O'Connor's Catholic journey. It is a huge undertaking and I hope that it will actually be published. Please ask your readers to keep this intention in their prayers!


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Confessions of An Ex-Feminist

Lorraine V. Murray

Confessions is the honest and heart-rending account of a woman who was born into a Catholic family, attended parochial schools and fully embraced the beliefs of her faith, but ran into major roadblocks in college. Amidst the radical feminist college environment of the 1960's, she lost her faith, and her morality, jumping aboard the bandwagon of "free love." She indulged in a series of love relationships in college, all of which crashed and burned. Despite the obvious contradiction between feminist teachings and her own experience, Murray still believed she had to free herself from the yoke of tradition.

Attaining a doctorate in philosophy, with an emphasis on the feminist writings of Simone de Beauvoir, Murray taught philosophy in college. For many years, she launched a personal vendetta against God and the Catholic Church in the classroom, trying to persuade students that God did not exist, mocking values Catholics hold dear, and touted feminism as the cure for many social ills. When she discovered she was pregnant, Murray followed the route that feminists offer as a solution for unmarried women. Much to her surprise, her abortion was a shattering emotional experience, which she grieved over for years. It was the first tragic chink in her feminist armor.

After her marriage in 1982, she anguished over the decision to have children, but became an advocate of the "child-free" movement, believing children were burdens and life could be happy life without them. Later in her forties, Murray experienced a mysterious series of events in which it seemed that "someone" was inviting her back to God. The mysterious calls came from different ports, including nature, books and other people. Gradually, she realized that the One seeking her was Christ, and the place He was calling her to was the Catholic Church. Eventually realizing it was only in the Church that she would find what she was seeking--the person of Christ and his love and mercy--Murray returned to the Church, and finally found healing and forgiveness for the abortion.

• Warning: This Is a Dangerous Book | Lorraine V. Murray | Introduction to Confessions of an Ex-Feminist

Pope John Paul closer to being declared venerable

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The cardinal- and bishop-members of the Congregation for Saints' Causes voted unanimously Nov. 16 to recommend that Pope Benedict XVI formally recognize that Pope John Paul II heroically lived the Christian virtues, Italian newspapers reported.

The Vatican did not deny or confirm that the vote took place because the process is supposed to be secret until Pope Benedict signs the decree recognizing the heroic virtue of his predecessor and declares him venerable.

Pope Benedict generally signs a dozen or more decrees three times a year: in April, in June or July and in December.

Members of the saints' congregation meet regularly to study the life stories, eyewitness testimony and other documentation promoting the causes of proposed saints. The information is contained in a "positio," or position paper, prepared by the promoter of the individual's cause.

When the cardinals and bishops are satisfied that the "positio" is complete and demonstrates that the sainthood candidate lived an extraordinarily holy life, they recommend the pope sign the first decree.

Once the promoter of a cause identifies a potential miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession, the documentation is turned over to the saints' congregation. A panel of physicians, a panel of theologians and the members of the congregation all must recommend the pope sign a second decree recognizing the miracle.

When the decrees recognizing the heroic virtues and the miracle are signed, a date is fixed for the candidate's beatification.

As the miracle for Pope John Paul's beatification, the promoter of his cause has proposed the healing of a French nun. She allegedly was cured of Parkinson's disease, the same disease from which Pope John Paul suffered.

END

Pheromones and contraception....

Tomorrow Night's topic at the LOGOS meeting (our 21 and up ministry) will be 'Contraception?' So, if you're of age, bring yourself and a healthy hunger for cheese. 8:10 pm in the upper room. The topic below also became somewhat of a topic with the girls in the cafe today so I figured this was an appropriate post.

Opening Pandora's Box

by Vicki Thorn

Over the past several months, a number of stories have been circulating in the print media and online that have to do with the impact of chemical contraceptives on mate choice in humans. It seems that most of the coverage is appearing in foreign media – curiously, very little media attention has been given to the issue in the United States.

In the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, an October 8 article summarizes findings in a research paper published in the journal “Trends in Ecology and Evolution.” Researchers Alexandra Alvergne and Virpi Lumma entitled their study, “Does the contraceptive pill alter mate choice in humans?”

The following is from the paper’s abstract:

Female and male mate choice preference in humans both vary according to the menstrual cycle. Women prefer more masculine, symmetrical and genetically unrelated men during ovulation compared with other phases of their cycle, and recent evidence suggests that men prefer ovulating women to others. Such monthly shifts in mate preference have been suggested to being evolutionary benefits in terms of reproductive success.

How does this all work?

It all has to do with pheromones – the chemical signals, or scent molecules, that communicate to males a female’s most fertile time for reproducing. While there has been debate in the past about whether this means of communication exists in humans, and not just animals, many scientists who have been pursuing the elusive pheromones are certain of their existence in humans at this time. For instance, in 1995, Swiss researcher Claus Wedekind discovered that women who are not chemically contracepting preferred the odor of males whose MHC complex (Major Histocompatibility complex) – immune system markers indicated via smell – were dissimilar to theirs.

In other words, these non-contracepting women were attracted to the scent of men genetically compatible with them. To increase the possibility of fertility with a mate, we need dissimilar immune systems. This is why we do not marry our first cousins. Such an immune system similarity could lead to offspring that are not as healthy.

The use of chemical contraceptives blocks this natural phenomenon by inducing a state of “faux pregnancy,” a suppression of the normal cycling of hormones associated with ovulation. This change in a woman’s body results in changes in her attraction to a potential mate. She is now attracted to a mate whose MHC complex is quite similar to hers, more like that of her father or her brother. It seems to eliminate the adaptive attraction to a male with whom there is an increased possibility of fertility. Furthermore, chemical contraceptives eliminate the normal pheromone shift that alerts males to the woman’s time of fertility. Men find the scent of ovulating women to be attractive and arousing. A consistently infertile woman elicits no such response.

The article summary continues, “New evidence is emerging that taking the oral contraceptive pill might significantly alter both female and male mate choice by removing the mid-cycle change in preferences.”

This alteration may impact relationship satisfaction, in addition to reproductive outcomes. There is growing concern in some quarters that we may have a generation of children with compromised immune systems because of this shift in partner preference caused by chemical contraceptives.

“There is evidence that genetic similarity between couples might be linked to infertility,” Dr. Lumma – one of the co-authors of the journal articles – summarizes. From that, she says, “The ultimate outstanding evolutionary question concerns whether the use of oral contraceptives when making mating decisions can have long-term consequences on the ability of couples to reproduce.”

“If this is the case, Pill use will have implications for both current and future generations, and we hope that our review will stimulate further research on this question,” Dr. Lumma continued.

keep reading...

Super Pope

Something lighthearted on this Monday of Mondays. Hope you enjoy it. Kevin, this one is for you :)

Super Pope

How to pray better....or at all.

Great article about Prayer from Dr. Peter Kreeft. I'll be reading his book 'Prayer for Beginners' while I'm on retreat for the next two days and I thought I'd leave you with this article to reflect on as well. If you're like me you could use some practical powerful advice when it comes to prayer. So....here it is.

Lesson One in Prayer
Let's get very, very basic and very, very practical about prayer. The single most important piece of advice I know about prayer is also the simplest: Just do it!

How to do it is less important than just doing it. Less-than-perfect prayer is infinitely better than no prayer; more perfect prayer is only finitely better than less perfect prayer.

Nancy Reagan was criticized for her simple anti-drug slogan: "Just say no." But there was wisdom there: the wisdom that the heart of any successful program to stop anything must be the simple will to say no. ("Just say no" doesn't mean that nothing else was needed, but that without that simple decision nothing else would work. "Just say no" may not be sufficient but it is necessary.)

Similarly, no program, method, book, teacher, or technique will ever succeed in getting us to start doing anything unless there is first of all that simple, absolute choice to do it. "Just say yes."

The major obstacle in most of our lives to just saying yes to prayer, the most popular and powerful excuse we give for not praying, or not praying more, or not praying regularly, is that we have no time.

The only effective answer to that excuse, I find, is a kind of murder. You have to kill something, you have to say no to something else, in order to make time to pray. Of course, you will never find time to pray, you have to make time to pray. And that means unmaking something else. The only way to install the tenant of prayer in the apartment building of your life is to evict some other tenant from those premises that prayer will occupy. Few of us have any empty rooms available.

Deciding to do that is the first thing. And you probably won't decide to do it, only wish to do it, unless you see prayer for what it is: a matter of life or death, your lifeline to God, to life itself.



Prayer is like Thanksgiving dinner. It takes one hour to eat it and ten hours to prepare it.



Is this exaggerated? Are there more important things? Love, for instance? We need love absolutely; but the love we need is agape, the love that only God has and is; so unless we go to God for it, we won't get it. And going to God for it means prayer. So unless we pray, we will not love.

Having got that clear and having made prayer your number one priority, having made a definite decision to do it, we must next rearrange our lives around it. Rearranging your time, preparing time to pray, is like preparing your house to paint. As everyone knows who has done any painting, preparation is three-quarters the work, three-quarters the hassle, and three-quarters the time. The actual painting is a breeze compared with the preparation. The same is true of prayer: the hardest step is preparing a place, a time, a sacred and inviolable part of each day for it. Prayer is like Thanksgiving dinner. It takes one hour to eat it and ten hours to prepare it. Prayer is like Christmas Day: it took a month of preparation, decoration, and shopping to arrange for that one day. Best of all, prayer is like love. Foreplay is, or should be, most of it. For two people truly and totally in love, all of their lives together is foreplay. Well, prayer is like spiritual love-making. God has waited patiently for you for a long, long time. He longs for you to touch the fringe of his being in prayer, as the woman touched the hem of Christ's garment, so that you can be healed. How many hours did that woman have to prepare for that one-minute touch?

The first and most important piece of practical preparation is scheduling. You absolutely must schedule a regular time for prayer, whether you are a "scheduler" with other things in your life or not. "Catch as catch can" simply won't work for prayer; it will mean less and less prayer, or none at all. One quick minute in the morning to offer your day to God is better than nothing at all, of course, but it is as radically inadequate as one quick minute a day with your wife or husband. You simply must decide each day to free up your schedule so you can pray.

How long a time? That varies with individuals and situations, of course; but the very barest minimum should certainly be at least fifteen minutes. You can't really count on getting much deep stuff going on in less time than that. If fifteen minutes seems too much to you, that fact is powerful proof that you need to pray much more to get your head on straight.

After it becomes more habitual and easy, expand it, double it. And later, double it again. Aim at an hour each day, if you want radical results. (Do you? Or are you only playing?)



You have to say no to something else, in order to make time to pray.



What time of day is best? The most popular time—bedtime—is usually the worst possible time, for two reasons. First, it tends not to be prime time but garbage time, when you're the least alert and awake. Do you really want to put God in the worst apartment in your building? Should you offer him the sickest sheep in your flock?

Second, it won't work. If you wait until every other obligation is taken care of first before you pray, you simply won't pray. For life today is so cruelly complicated for most of us that "every other obligation" is never taken care of. Remember, you are going to have to kill other things in order to pray. No way out of that.

The most obvious and usually best time is early in the morning. If you can't delay the other things you do, you simply must get up that much earlier.

Should it be the very first thing? That depends. Some people are alert as soon as they get up; others need to shower and dress to wake up. The important thing is to give God the best time, and "just do it."

Place is almost as important as time. You should make one special place where you can be undisturbed. "Catch as catch can" won't work for place either.

What place? Some people are not very sensitive to environment and can even use a bathroom. Others naturally seek beauty: a porch, yard, garden, or walk. (I find praying while you take a walk a good combination of spiritual and physical exercise.)

You probably noticed I haven't said a word about techniques yet. That's because three-quarters is preparation, remember? But what about methods?

I can only speak from my own experience as a continuing beginner. The two most effective that I have found are very simple. One is praying Scripture, reading and praying at the same time, reading in God's presence, receiving the words from God's mouth. The second is spontaneous verbal prayer. I am not good at all at silent prayer, mental prayer, contemplative prayer; my thoughts hop around like fleas. Praying aloud (or singing) keeps me praying, at least. And I find it often naturally leads to silent prayer often, or "mental prayer," or contemplation.

Most advice on prayer focuses on higher levels: contemplative prayer. But I suspect many of my readers are prayer infants too and need to learn to walk before they can run. So these are some lessons from one man's prayer kindergarten. Let's "just do it" even if "it" is only crawling towards God

Rehabilitating our thoughts on Sex...

I've been thinking and praying alot about the post I put here a few days ago spotlighting an article about Sex and the Campus. After some self reflection and thought I realized that this young woman's lack of knowledge of the Church's beautiful and real teaching on sexuality is a fault of those whose job it is to teach it in a beautiful and approachable way. (i.e. myself and people like me). So I decided that I should perhaps contact Ms. Julia and give her some resources to atleast begin with. In doing some research on where to contact her I found out a few interesting things. First, the article that I quoted her in was written in 2004, almost 6 years ago. For all I know she could have gained a whole education in life experience and knowledge regarding sexuality by now. Also, If she was a 'young adult' in 2004 then she is an older 'young' adult now and in my estimation we are probably about the same age. Besides all that, I noticed that in the original location of the article there were many many comments left in response to her, many written by very compassionate knowledgeable adults pointing her in the direction of teachings on the Theology of the Body and other amazing things. I was happy to see that and even though I found no contact information for her I will continue to pray for her and for others like her who need compassion and truth in a real and approachable way in their lives, a catagory I no doubt fall into daily.

For those who need guidance please know that while I am not an expert on the subject by any means, I have been blessed to have been able to study amazing information on the subject and have been doubly blessed to have encountered real people who live a powerful life of virtue because of the grace God has bestowed upon them. I am ALWAYS happy to share what I know and what I have lived with anyone and I am humbled to journey with others about things that I do not yet know. I hope that this list below will continue to grow but for now here are a few places that you can begin your journey. Happy Travels!



http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2TBIND.HTM
- the Wednesday audiences given by John Paul II at the beginning of his pontificate on the ‘good news of the body’

http://www.theologyofthebody.net/
-source for articles and speakers on the subject of sexuality provides a good summary

http://www.johnpaulii.edu/
- school of graduate studies founded by John Paul II in the Theology of Marriage and Family

http://www.christopherwest.com/
- website for Christopher West a well known speaker on the subject in America at this time.

http://www.tobinstitute.org/
- source for courses on and instruction in the Theology of the Body

http://theologyofthebody.com/
-source for books, videos and courses on the subject of Theology of the Body – also includes information about the curriculum for ‘Theology of the Body for Teens’

www.demandyourdignity.com
- a website for young women focusing on real beauty.

Pro-life organizations celebrate Stupak amendment, warns of existing risks on health care bill

If you're confused about all this 'health care stuff' don't worry. I think most people are (including those that wrote the bill). In any case you may have heard that the bill passed in the house last night in a 220 to 215 vote. The good news in all this, weather you support the bill or not, is the passage of an amendment that would remove funding of abortion in this bill. In my opinion, the passage of this amendment shows the growing (or maybe just increasingly vocal) support of political figures (and of the American people in general) of pro-life issues. Prayer is powerful. Keep letting your voice be heard in the streets and in the heavens :)

*If you didn't hear about this amazing news last week, take a look.

Our own Rebekah Zeringue and Annie Conolly have started a UL chapter of Students for Life. Ask them how you can get involved.

No Bones About It! The Relics of Saint Mary Magdalene

Tomorrow the Relic of Saint Mary Magdalene is visiting our own Church and Catholic Student Center here at UL and if nobody has told you yet, it's a pretty big deal! If you're a little weirded out by the whole thing though, don't fret....you're not alone. I encourage you to read this short course on what a relic is..and then go to Wisdom's website and read about the Relic coming tomorrow. Then come by tomorrow and say some prayers with the relic of the one who was the first to see Christ risen from the tomb!

What is a Relic?
A relic is something connected with a saint or blessed, including a part of their body (e.g. hair or a piece of bone), their clothing, or an object that the person used or touched. Relics are classified as 1st Class – a part of the person’s body, for example: blood, hair, or bones; 2nd Class an article touched by the person or touched directly to part of his or her body; and 3rd Class something touched indirectly to the person, that is, to a 1st or 2nd Class relic, to the tomb, etc. It is not the kind of relic or how big it is that is important, but rather the faith and prayer that the relic occasions. By the communion of saints, it is that person who is close to us, blessing and praying for us.

Why Do We Venerate Relics?
The veneration of relics is an ancient custom dating from the reverence shown at the graves of the martyrs even in the time of the apostles. Miracles have been worked by God in association with relics – “…not that some magical power existed in them, but just as God’s work was done through the lives of [holy people], so did His work continue after their deaths. Likewise, just as [others] were drawn closer to God through the lives of [holy people], so did they (even if through their remains) inspire others to draw closer even after their deaths. This perspective provides the Church’s understanding of relics.” (Fr. W. Saunders, “Keeping Relics in Perspective”, © 2003 Arlington Catholic Herald)
“In all, relics remind us of the holiness of a saint and his cooperation in God’s work; at the same time, relics inspire us to ask for the prayers of that saint and to beg the grace of God to live the same kind a faith-filled life.” (Saunders)
What Do We Express When We Venerate Relics?
“To venerate the relics of the saints is a profession of belief in several doctrines of the Catholic faith: (1) the belief in everlasting life for those who have obediently witnessed to Christ and His Holy Gospel here on earth; (2) the truth of the resurrection of the body for all persons on the last day; (3) the doctrine of the splendor of the human body and the respect which all should show toward the bodies of both the living and the deceased; (4) the belief in the special intercessory power which the saints enjoy in heaven because of their intimate relationship with Christ the King; and (5) the truth of our closeness to the saints because of our connection in the communion of saints — we as members of the Church militant or pilgrim Church, they as members of the Church triumphant.” (Fr. W. Saunders, “Church Teaching on Relics”, © 2003 Arlington Catholic Herald)

Is the Veneration of Relics Scriptural?
Keep in mind what the Church says about relics. It doesn’t say there is some magical power in them. There is nothing in the relic itself, whether a bone of the apostle Peter or water from Lourdes, that has any curative ability. The Church just says that relics may be the occasion of God’s miracles, and in this the Church follows Scripture.
The use of the bones of Elisha brought a dead man to life: "So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet" (2 Kgs. 13:20-21). This is an unequivocal biblical example of a miracle being performed by God through contact with the relics of a saint!
Similar are the cases of the woman cured of a hemorrhage by touching the hem of Christ’s cloak (Matt. 9:20-22) and the sick who were healed when Peter’s shadow passed over them (Acts 5:14-16). "And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them" (Acts 19:11-12).

Relics in Early Christianity
The veneration of relics is seen explicitly as early as the account of Polycarp’s martyrdom written by the Smyrnaeans in A.D. 156. In it, the Christians describe the events following his burning at the stake: "We took up his bones, which are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them in a suitable place, where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we are able, in gladness and joy and to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom."
In the fourth century the great biblical scholar, Jerome, declared, "We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are" (Ad Riparium, i, P.L., XXII, 907). `



Then the disciples returned home. But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, 10 for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and what he told her. (John 20:1-18)

Sex and the Center

I ran across this article on BeliefNet today and it definitely put a bug in my bonnet.

It's a pretty lengthy article and I'd love for you to read it in its entirety but for those of you who have other things to do (like go to class and stuff) I've put a small excerpt here that will give you the basic idea.

"There is a trend among people my age to separate their faith from Church teachings on issues of sexuality. I believe one of the main reasons for this disconnect is that the Church does not provide any guidance regarding sexuality for unmarried young adults other than "Don't do it!" Although remaining chaste until marriage is no doubt a beautiful and romantic experience for those who choose it, not everyone follows this path. In my experience, premarital sex on college campuses is not the exception, but the rule.

So how does a predominantly Catholic student body at a Jesuit school justify disobeying this tenet of the Church? The answer seems to be that they don't. I don't believe young people are simply ignoring this teaching so they can do what they want and go to confession later."

She goes on (and on) to say that instead of imposing these unrealistic standards on young adults the Church should in fact make the distinction between debaucherous one night stands and pre-marital sex in committed relationships. Yeah. I find it especially interesting that she begins her article talking about how difficult it is to go out and get drunk every week and then still make it to Mass on Sunday and how because everyone her age is doing that same thing the Church is clearly misguided on the kind of support they should be giving her generation. Ugh. I don't think I really need to pontificate on how rediculous this all sounds but you know I will anyway.

Look, it's not like I'm denying that this lifestyle and thought is the mindset of the majority of young adults...of Catholic young adults even. Shoot, it was my way of thinking in college for sure, and I'm not so naive to think that it's not the lifestyle and though of many who frequent our very own Catholic student center. My point is, since when do the misguided passions of the majority suddenly make it ok to change truth?

Is it a struggle? YES. Is it something that needs to be handled with love and patience? YES. Is the Church doing all she can to guide her children in charity and truth. YES, theologically anyway. I will be the first one to admit that sometimes the 'people' in the Church can be jerks about things. But it only takes a search bar and google to find out that she has given mountains and mountains of beautiful relevant teaching on the matter, far far surpassing "Don't Do it".

Instead of throwing in the towel on the subject and saying "ah well, they're gonna do it anyway, atleast it's with someone they 'love'. Lets give young adults the benefit of the doubt that if they are smart enough to be in college in the first place, they are smart enough to realize that the things that they 'feel' like doing arent always the good, true and beautiful. A little bit of prayer and some redemptive suffering can go a long way and I promise you'll be a better and happier person for it. Lets learn to forgive ourselves for the sins of our past and forgive others for the ways in which they've hurt us, repent, move on and begin again on the path to sainthood.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me." 2Corinthians 12:9

NB: The article I quoted was written by a young adult named Julia Tier who writes for a young adult Catholic website called Busted Halo. A website run by the Paulists that lets just say I would never use as a source or inspiration for any event here at the Catholic student center. I'm not saying EVERYTHING on it is horrible but some of it is questionable at best. The concept of the site is excellent actually and I wish that it were a place we could trust to be faithful on all fronts but as they themselves have said their "journey has little to do with traditional religious institutions" (from their mission statement). Feel free to email Ms. Julia with your opinion, and me too for that matter.

Praying for the Dead

Today is All Souls Day a day when we remember and pray for those loved ones who, baptized in Christ have gone before us, the holy souls in purgatory. Many people go to the graves of their loved ones today and clean and/or bring flowers. If at all possible get to Mass and pray for those you have lost. The first reading is particularly beautiful. Take a gander: Wis 3:1-9



Here is an excerpt from the homily that Pappa Bene gave today:

"Let us today renew our hope in eternal life, one really drawn in the death and resurrection of Christ. "I am risen and now I am always with you," the Lord tells us, and my hand sustains you. Wherever you might fall, you will fall in my hands and I will be present even at the gate of death. Where none can accompany you any longer and where you can bring nothing, there I await you to transform for you darkness into light.

Christian hope is never something merely individual, it's always a hope for others. Our lives are deeply linked, one to another, and the good and bad each one does always impacts the rest. So the prayer of a pilgrim soul in the world can help another soul that continues purifying itself after death.

And for this, today the church invites us to pray for our beloved dead and to spend time at their tombs in the cemeteries. Mary, star of hope, make stronger and more authentic our faith in eternal life and sustain our prayer of suffrage for our departed brothers".

Read the whole thing here.