I used to tell people, “The Catholic Church is big enough to include both people who believe the Doctrines and dogma, as well as those who disagree with most of that stuff.” And I counted myself among the disagreeing. I called myself a pro-choice feminist and advocated for total reform of the church.
That has all changed, through the action of the Holy Spirit. I came to realize, with a flash of sudden clarity, that there is something called Truth and it’s not a matter of picking and choosing what is “true for me.” I came to see that the Church is led by Jesus Christ, and the Church needs to stand up for the Truth about moral and faith issues no matter how difficult it may be.
My conversion came about through grace. But that’s really another story.
I started questioning the relativist attitude when my kids were in elementary school and they were taught math in a yet another “new way.” I always thought math was a pretty black and white discipline. There is only one right answer—right? Wrong—according to the new math.
Nowadays (at least in some public schools), kids are required to say “how” they got an answer and credit is given for any answer that is accompanied by a reason. So 1+1 can equal 3 as long as a student makes up a story about it. How about this: “such equations have 3 numbers and since this is an equation with ones that means the answer is 3.” Say what?
Relativism. It’s the road of “your truth is not my truth” and it leads from one justified immorality to the next immorality. If 1+1 can equal whatever you want it to, then surely if someone can give a sad-sob story about why they need to marry a little kid, we won’t be able to judge that either! Every sinner has a justification for sinful acts.
Last night, I heard a lecture on bio-ethics. The priest was talking about how scientists will put an embryo in a Petri dish and begin to dismember it in order to remove stem cells. Separated, the cells go to the sides of the dish frantically trying to come together again. These cells are the essence of a human being. Everything is there in the Petri dish even then. This is a life struggling to LIVE! And yet it will die at the hands of a scientist.
Abby Johnson, who left her job at Planned Parenthood, was awakened to Truth when she saw the ultrasound image of the baby inside a woman’s womb. The baby was trying to escape the abortion prod. The baby was struggling. It was a baby and she wanted to LIVE! Yet, she would die at the hands of a doctor.
And then there is the story of the twins who were born, each one weighing only two pounds. They were put in separate incubators and the weaker twin was pronounced as “dying.” Her heart was weak, her breathing was labored. A nurse said, “They were together in utero. They should be together now.” So she defied hospital protocol and put the weak baby in with her sister. The strong one put her arm around the other sister. Almost immediately, the weak baby began to improve. She wanted to LIVE and her twin helped heal her with a hug! These were two pound babies, who could have still been in their mother’s womb!
These are stories about life. Life is a gift from God that cannot be denied. Abortion is clearly wrong. And Truth is not relative. Catholics, who are struggling to be closer to God, will learn to stop being relative and return to the life-affirming, Bible-based teachings of our faith. And they will find Truth here at home, in our Church.
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Monday
Tuesday
Where are the Models of Virtue and Sacrifice?
Could it be that the absence of moral and noble role models in the modern world leads to young adults who feel they are “owed a good life without effort”? Some sociologist will have to take up that question.
But I think it’s safe to say that our children begin looking for role models, beyond the example of their parents, as they enter the “tween years.” And the glorified images they see in the media today are less than wholesome. There are images of arrested athletes who are quickly excused so they can play in the next game. Or movie stars who perform in heroic scenes but are drunken playboys off screen.
These may be models of sin and the need for redemption, but they don’t offer images of virtue and sacrifice.
So, it is with great joy that we should celebrate the news that Pope John Paul II will be beatified in May! He is a true modern hero.
My son, Peter, started a yearlong project last fall to study this pope for a special project of his own. This project has given our entire family an opportunity to learn more about Karol Wojtyla.
Pope John Paul had a beautiful way of communicating. He would take what someone else said, or a belief held by many, and find some kernel of truth in it. Then he would move to the big Truth and the Light that needed to be understood in that situation. It was a non-confrontational way to say, “Yes there is an Absolute Truth we can point to. And Truth is not open to compromise.”
Truth is a beautiful thing to discover! Pope John Paul expressed love AND strength. He was an athlete, a poet and a man of prayer. And for me, his willingness to sacrifice and give of himself, makes him a perfect role model for our youth. As the disease of Parkinsons began to ravage his body, he refused to hide. Instead, he allowed the world to see his suffering and his great effort to persevere on behalf of Truth and worldwide healing.
As Peter researched the life of the Pope, he came across a much lesser known hero.
A Catholic Who Volunteered to Enter Auschwitz
A contact in Poland shared the story with us of Witold Pilecki. He was a young member of the Polish Army in 1939. Pilecki went into hiding after the Nazis took over his country.
Pilecki came up with a plan to assist his homeland. He wanted to make a firsthand record of the atrocities happening at Auschwitz in order to get more support from the Allies. So he allowed himself to be arrested. He was tortured for two days and then sent to Auschwitz. While in the camp he organized the prisoners and distributed the few supplies available. When the Nazis learned that he was plotting a massive escape plan, Pilecki was forced to escape with only one other prisoner. After that he assisted in the uprising in Warsaw and disrupted Nazi supply lines.
In 1945 he was recognized as a hero of World War II, the “Volunteer for Auschwitz.” But shortly afterward, he was arrested by the new communist government and tortured. He was labeled an “enemy of the state—an imperialist spy” and was shot in the back of the head. His heroic story was buried by the government and his name could not be spoken for the next forty years. It wasn’t until Pope John Paul inspired the nonviolent overthrow of communism in Poland, that the Pilecki story was uncovered in 1989.
These are stories of two Catholic men who exemplify faith, courage and sacrifice.
Journalist Michal Tyrpa has hopes that Hollywood will make a movie about Pilecki. Meanwhile he has put together a website called "Let's Reminisce About Witold Pilecki" ("Przypomnijmy o Rotmistrzu") and has written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking that a case be opened to consider Pilecki for sainthood. For more information on that story visit www.witoldsreport.blogspot.com
Pope John Paul, pray for our families. Pray that our young people, who you cherished, will be inspired by stories of faith. Help them to rise above the temptations of the world. Help them to live with fortitude, Grace and virtue, as you did.
But I think it’s safe to say that our children begin looking for role models, beyond the example of their parents, as they enter the “tween years.” And the glorified images they see in the media today are less than wholesome. There are images of arrested athletes who are quickly excused so they can play in the next game. Or movie stars who perform in heroic scenes but are drunken playboys off screen.
These may be models of sin and the need for redemption, but they don’t offer images of virtue and sacrifice.
So, it is with great joy that we should celebrate the news that Pope John Paul II will be beatified in May! He is a true modern hero.
My son, Peter, started a yearlong project last fall to study this pope for a special project of his own. This project has given our entire family an opportunity to learn more about Karol Wojtyla.
Pope John Paul had a beautiful way of communicating. He would take what someone else said, or a belief held by many, and find some kernel of truth in it. Then he would move to the big Truth and the Light that needed to be understood in that situation. It was a non-confrontational way to say, “Yes there is an Absolute Truth we can point to. And Truth is not open to compromise.”
Truth is a beautiful thing to discover! Pope John Paul expressed love AND strength. He was an athlete, a poet and a man of prayer. And for me, his willingness to sacrifice and give of himself, makes him a perfect role model for our youth. As the disease of Parkinsons began to ravage his body, he refused to hide. Instead, he allowed the world to see his suffering and his great effort to persevere on behalf of Truth and worldwide healing.
As Peter researched the life of the Pope, he came across a much lesser known hero.
A Catholic Who Volunteered to Enter Auschwitz
A contact in Poland shared the story with us of Witold Pilecki. He was a young member of the Polish Army in 1939. Pilecki went into hiding after the Nazis took over his country.
Pilecki came up with a plan to assist his homeland. He wanted to make a firsthand record of the atrocities happening at Auschwitz in order to get more support from the Allies. So he allowed himself to be arrested. He was tortured for two days and then sent to Auschwitz. While in the camp he organized the prisoners and distributed the few supplies available. When the Nazis learned that he was plotting a massive escape plan, Pilecki was forced to escape with only one other prisoner. After that he assisted in the uprising in Warsaw and disrupted Nazi supply lines.
In 1945 he was recognized as a hero of World War II, the “Volunteer for Auschwitz.” But shortly afterward, he was arrested by the new communist government and tortured. He was labeled an “enemy of the state—an imperialist spy” and was shot in the back of the head. His heroic story was buried by the government and his name could not be spoken for the next forty years. It wasn’t until Pope John Paul inspired the nonviolent overthrow of communism in Poland, that the Pilecki story was uncovered in 1989.
These are stories of two Catholic men who exemplify faith, courage and sacrifice.
Journalist Michal Tyrpa has hopes that Hollywood will make a movie about Pilecki. Meanwhile he has put together a website called "Let's Reminisce About Witold Pilecki" ("Przypomnijmy o Rotmistrzu") and has written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking that a case be opened to consider Pilecki for sainthood. For more information on that story visit www.witoldsreport.blogspot.com
Pope John Paul, pray for our families. Pray that our young people, who you cherished, will be inspired by stories of faith. Help them to rise above the temptations of the world. Help them to live with fortitude, Grace and virtue, as you did.
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