AMERIcATHOLIC

What is this Mass you speak of? Part 1: An Introduction

2010-02-24T03:36:00.000-08:00

"The highest point of the prayer of the [Mystical Body of Christ] is the offering of the sacrifice of the Mass"
--Frank Sheed, Theology and Sanity

The Mass is likely the most familiar and most misunderstood (or at least under-understood) aspect of the Catholic faith. How can something that has been conducted for millenia right in front of our faces still create so much transcendent beauty and mystery, inspire miracles and saints, provide spiritual and physical nourishment to millions, yet at the same time be slept-through by millions, inspire hatred and vitriol, and be called out-dated, out-of-touch, and irrelevant by those within and without the Catholic Church?

The simple answer, of course, is that just as Christ was the Savior yet also a sign of contradiction, so the commemoration of His passion, death, and Resurrection in the Mass will both vivify and divide. But merely stating the fact does nothing to help alleviate the associated tragedy of faith in our day--namely, that millions of Catholics attend Mass every week (most very faithfully) without having the foggiest idea why they go, what goes on, from whence it came, Whom they receive, when to kneel/stand/sit without watching everyone else, or where they even parked their car when they got there 10 minutes late. There are countless American Catholics who torture themselves and their families for one agonizing hour every Sunday without being able to elucidate why they force themselves to suffer so.

So why do they? Or, more to the point, why ought they?

To save their souls, one might say. Well, yes, but good luck bearing any fruit with that answer. It seems an explanation of the Mass is in order, as the more light is shed on this greatest of Sacraments, the more apparent its value and necessity will be. And because the Mass cannot defend itself, we will do our best to provide a general guide to some of the meaning, history, and wealth of grace contained in it. In no way could this be exhaustive; instead, it is merely our best effort at explaining the Mass, in a form short enough to avoid becoming an all-text Ambien. We proclaim no great expertise, only sincere and humble effort. We hope to help Catholics of all levels of faith (ourselves included)--it's as much for the crafty veterans as it is for the awkward, gangly rookies.

All of this, however, must be seen with the eyes of the Church rather than the dismissive gaze of the skeptic. Certainly not because the Mass can't stand the scrutiny, but because if you want to see clearly in the light, your eyes have to be open. Any fool can walk by a cathedral and criticize its stained-glass windows as dark, ugly slabs because from outside, they are. Only those who go inside and look from within the Church will see the light and beauty they truly afford.

So trust your mother Church as you would trust your own mother. She will always lead us to the Truth; that is, she will always lead us to Jesus.

Smattering of things from Argentina

2009-06-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

http://americatholic.blogspot.com/2009/06/smattering-of-things-from-argentina.html

I'm trying to upload lots of pictures and videos, but the internet at Casa Pilar is slower than snails working on molasses in winter, as my dad would say.

Still here's a random selection of pictures and I hope a video!

Frosted Flakes have a better name in Argentina. And the slogan is something like, "Grrrrrrquisimas!".....Well, at least the name is better.

This was the beginning of a not-so-civil game of croquet at Teo's grandparents cottage.

Here is Isa (Isabel) from Ano 7B teaching us a song. These kids all speak very good English, and Isa is sort of the teacher's pet. She keeps the other kids in line and corrects their English.

And here´s a YouTube of the same class with PJ leading them in a Spanish song.

Well, that's it for now--more soon!

Meditation: The Name of God and Divine Dirt Clods

2009-04-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

http://americatholic.blogspot.com/2009/04/meditation-name-of-god-and-divine-dirt.html

About a year ago, my good friend Ryan Purcell showed me this video he'd bought. It was part of a series called "Nooma," and this one in particular was called Breathe. I was going to describe the entire video, but fortunately it's available to embed:

While it's more artsy and Protestant than I typically prefer, the ideas Bell presents have stuck with me since that first viewing.

When we say our daily offerings and offer up our mouth--For Christ, With Christ, Like Christ, I offer you my mouth, Lord--one of the most important things to offer in that moment is our breath. As Bell so beautifully explains, our soul and existence comes from the Breath of Life God breathed into us at Creation. What greater gift can there be than to give back to the Lord our very life?

One of my health teachers in middle school wondered aloud if each person has a specific number of breaths and heartbeats, and once these are all used up, you die. I haven't bothered to see what the scientific world has to say on the subject. The teacher wasn't wedded to the idea, but it was clear they'd thought about it. They even said that exercise, even though it causes us to use more breaths and heartbeats in the short term, actually prolonged our lives because in times of rest we would use fewer breaths and our hearts would beat slower.

What if we really do have a limit to how much of the Breath of Life is given us? Whether it's true or not, the question underscores how important it is that every second of life we have be offered in service to the Lord.

I had many conversations in the past with someone about how young people are trained to always be looking forward. It's the attitude of the clock-watcher, who's so anxious to move on to the next thing that he wastes so much time doing nothing but watching the clock hands slowly turn.
When you're in middle school, you can't wait to get to high school where things matter. When you're in high school, you can't wait to go to college where things actually matter. When you're in college, you can't wait to graduate and go out into the real world where things truly matter. And then once they graduate college, some will get married and have a family. But many are still caught in the "always-looking-forward" mentality, and once they have no other cultural institution to act as a mile post for their life, they panic. I think this is usually the impetus behind the midlife crisis--what does one live for when there are no more tangible goals to attain?

What so many of us miss is to live in the moment. If you are in college, life does not begin when you graduate--your life is NOW. Life does not wait up for us to be ready, and if we do try to wait it can become--quite literally--a waste of breath, a waste of life. To paraphrase a saying I've heard several times, the past is dead and Christ already won us the future, so the only time that matters for us is now.

The only breath that matters is the one we draw this very instant.

To incorporate more of Bell, it only matters that we breath and proclaim the name of God in this moment, as our faith may falter from where it was in the past, and we cannot trust ourselves to persevere fully in the future.

I take this breath now, pronounce God's name, and in so doing proclaim my faith in Him. We cannot waste the breath, the time, the life we have right now. And every time we inhale we should rejoice that God is once again proving his love for us by yet again filling us with the Breath of Life, His Spirit, and His holy name.

Resolution:
Lord, I pray that you will forgive me for all the time I waste, for squandering the life you gave me to serve you. Help me to offer up to you every breath I take, and to always remember your remarkable love for me. I resolve to spend my life in service to you, so that in the end, like you did, I may give up my Spirit for the Father and the ones I love.

Back at it!

2009-04-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

Now that Fragua 7 is over, I should have lots more time to continue writing on this site, so keep your eye out for new material:
-article on Procrastination
-meditation on the name of God
-Chapter 2 in the chronicles of Obama's ineptitude
-and more!
Stay tuned, faithful viewers...

Quotes of the Day

2009-03-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

"In the matter of purity there is no greater danger than the not fearing the danger: when a man does not distrust himself, and is without fear, it is all over with him."
--St. Philip Neri, from his Maxims and Sayings.

"3. O my dear Lord, have mercy upon me! I trust Thou hast forgiven me my sins—but the punishment remains. In the midst of Thy love for me, and recognising me as Thine own, Thou wilt consign me to Purgatory. There I shall go through my sins once more, in their punishment. There I shall suffer, but here is the time for a thorough repentance. Here is {346} the time of good works, of obtaining indulgences, of wiping out the debt in every possible way. Thy saints, though to the eyes of man without sin, really had a vast account—and they settled it by continual trials here. I have neither their merit nor their sufferings. I cannot tell whether I can make such acts of love as will gain me an indulgence of my sins. The prospect before me is dark—I can only rely on Thy infinite compassion. O my dear Lord, who hast in so many ways shown Thy mercy towards me, pity me here! Be merciful in the midst of justice."
--Cardinal Newman, Every Sin Has Its Punishment

A Very Rudy Saturday

2009-03-28T01:14:00.000-07:00

I missed watching the game last night, and now I'm kicking myself even more for it.

Listen to the sound of the ball hitting the net on that 3-pointer-- just beautiful, isn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=769KGjxPO2s

Saintacular--St. Philip Neri

2009-03-26T23:45:00.000-07:00

Some very edifying and saintly words from...well, a saint, sent to me by my friend Chris Wojnar several weeks ago:

"God in His infinite goodness sometimes sees fit to test our courage and love by depriving us of the things which it seems to us would be advantageous to our souls; and if He finds us earnest in their pursuit, yet humble, tranquil and resigned to do without them if He wishes us to, He will give us more blessings than we should have had in possession of what we craved."
---St. Philip Neri

St. Philip always sought to impart humility, an absolutely necessary virtue if we hope to receive any fruits from our faith. St. Philip is known as the "Humorous Saint," and his life further illustrates the close connection between humility and joy.

A few more quotes, via Catholic Fire and the all-knowing Wikipedia:

"A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one."

"There is nothing which gives greater security to our actions, or more effectually cuts the snares the devil lays for us, than to follow another person’s will, rather than our own, in doing good."

“Bear the cross and do not make the cross bear you.”

“There is no purgatory in this world. Nothing but heaven or hell.”

“Sufferings are a kind of paradise to him who suffers them with patience, while they are a hell to him who has no patience.”

“The greatness of our love for God may be tested by the desire we have of suffering for His sake.”

"Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere in a good life. Therefore the servant of God ought always to be in good spirits."

Cardinal Newman -- A Short Road to Perfection

2009-03-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

As we are now more than halfway through Lent, we should by now be fully engaged in our pursuit of purification, with the goal of perfection and Resurrection come Easter. Cardinal Newman, as always, provides brilliantly simple analysis and motivation to that end:

A Short Road to Perfection

September 27, 1856

{285} IT is the saying of holy men that, if we wish to be perfect, we have nothing more to do than to perform the ordinary duties of the day well. A short road to perfection—short, not because easy, but because pertinent and intelligible. There are no short ways to perfection, but there are sure ones.

I think this is an instruction which may be of great practical use to persons like ourselves. It is easy to have vague ideas what perfection is, which serve well enough to talk about, when we do not intend to aim at it; but as soon as a person really desires and sets about seeking it himself, he is dissatisfied with anything but what is tangible and clear, and constitutes some sort of direction towards the practice of it.

We must bear in mind what is meant by perfection. It does not mean any extraordinary service, anything out of the way, or especially heroic—not all have the opportunity of heroic acts, of sufferings—but it means what the word perfection ordinarily means. By perfect we mean that which has no flaw in it, that which is complete, that which is consistent, that which is sound—we mean the opposite to imperfect. As we know well what imperfection in {286} religious service means, we know by the contrast what is meant by perfection.

He, then, is perfect who does the work of the day perfectly, and we need not go beyond this to seek for perfection. You need not go out of the round of the day.

I insist on this because I think it will simplify our views, and fix our exertions on a definite aim. If you ask me what you are to do in order to be perfect, I say, first—Do not lie in bed beyond the due time of rising; give your first thoughts to God; make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament; say the Angelus devoutly; eat and drink to God’s glory; say the Rosary well; be recollected; keep out bad thoughts; make your evening meditation well; examine yourself daily; go to bed in good time, and you are already perfect.

On a happy related note, it appears that the Pope is arranging a visit to Great Britain that could by timed to coincide with a celebration of Cardinal Newman's beatification, and in regard to Newman's canonization "the Pope is understood to have taken a personal interest in his cause."
(via My Heart Was Restless)

Obama the Incompetent--Part 1: Receiving foreign dignitaries

2009-03-17T00:30:00.000-07:00

There was much debate among those on the right following President Obama's election on how he would actually govern--would he be the post-partisan, world-healer the public voted for, or would he be the barely-veiled liberal ideologue many of us suspected he was? Would he follow the Bill Clinton route of triangulation, seeking to please all parties, or would he bravely stand up against his critics?

Apparently the answer to both questions is: yes.

It's impressive that not even two months into his term as Messiah-in-Chief, Obama is already in over his head--impressive not so much for the speed at which he revealed his ineptitude, but more because his ocean-lowering "This Is Our Time" speech from the campaign ought to have prevented anything from rising too high for Obama's liking (and if you believe that sort of thing, it appears the oceans might be on the fritz as well).

There have been so many episodes piling up over the last two months of the administrations incompetence that it's going to take several posts to document them. And, in honor of our new President, I will do my best to post them without any semblance of order, prudence, or rationality.

Chapter 1: Receiving Foreign Dignitaries

I know it can be difficult, especially for us men, to pick out good gifts for the people we care about. I'll also admit that I've given DVDs as gifts to said loved ones, though I always chose ones with significant meaning to me and the recipient (and whenever I could afford something better, DVDs usually fell off the gift idea list).

But if I was President of the United States, I can't imagine a situation where an appropriate gift is "a set of 25 classic American movies," much less when they're destined for the non-movie buff, vision-impaired Prime Minister of America's most important ally.

Really, when do you give somebody 25 DVDs, Prime Minister or not? Even if it's just a friend, it tells them you cared enough to remember them as you passed the dollar bin on the way to the checkout at Wal-Mart. One movie says, "This is significant to us and our relationship in someway." For example: "Here honey, I bought you The Fifth Element because it was the first Bruce Willis movie we saw together."

25 movies is both overkill and cheap--though what really underlines the parsimony is when you and your family get these gifts in return:

--"a pen holder fashioned from the oak timber of HMS Gannet, a Navy vessel that served on anti-slavery missions off Africa"

--"a framed commissioning paper for the HMS Resolute, a Royal Navy ship that came to symbolize British-American goodwill when it was rescued by the U.S. from icebergs and given to Queen Victoria. It is the sister ship of the HMS Gannet"

...and is also the desk in the Oval Office

--"a first edition of Martin Gilbert's seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill, whose World War II partnership with President Franklin Roosevelt symbolized the U.S.-Anglo alliance"

...you know, Winston Churchill. The guy who shared a name and torso with that bronze bust Obama returned to the Brits when he took office.

And we can even include the children's gifts as well:

"For Sasha and Malia, Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister's wife, gave each an outfit from Topshop, a British chain of clothing stores, and selected six children's books by British authors which have yet to be published in the U.S.

But let's not forget what First Lady Michelle gave to the Brown boys...Marine One model helicopters. Probably not too dissimilar from the $30 kind you can get on Amazon (only four left in stock as of this writing--order soon!).

Surely we can chalk this up to stress and sleep deprivation, right?

I've suffered the effects of being stressed and sleep-deprived on numerous occasions, but I can't say I've been tired to the point that I'm compelled to give gifts so crappy they chilled international relations. Although if I had, I would like to think that would somehow temporarily disqualify me from running the most powerful nation in the world. At least until I could catch a nap or something.

For the true cherry on top, the Obama administration also canceled the customary full press conference and formal dinner. But lest there be any confusion as to whether or not the Obama administration seeks to continue America's "special relationship" with Britain:

The real views of many in Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit, who reacted with fury when questioned by The Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key.
The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: "There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment."

Yeah Britain! You think you're better than Nauru, and Liechtenstein, and Iran? Well, you're not.

Compounding this whole mess with Britain was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton giving her own gift to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But what would be suitable to give to a Russian? A "Hillary 2008" ushanka? A sherpa-lined pantsuit? Maybe they could just take shots together?

But no, Madame Secretary went the more obvious route: give the Russians a big red button to push. And make sure the Russian word that you inscribe on it is not "Reset" like you meant, but "Overcharge."

Lavrov apparently is more perceptive than the entire state department:

A few minutes later, he referred to the gift again, noting that he and Clinton had pressed the button together—a move that summoned up thoughts not of easing tension but of launching a nuclear strike.

“It is a very, very large red button,” he said. “I do hope that Russia and the United States and other countries would never ever push any other buttons associated with initiation of destructive hostilities.”

He told Clinton he would put the button on his desk in Moscow.

And then, only a week later, this happened:

White House Misspells Brazilian Leader’s Name, Bumps Visit With Obama to Saturday
Brazil leader takes regional clout to White House
Friday, March 13, 2009
By Bradley Brooks, Associated Press

Brazil´s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at an international development seminar in Brasilia on Thursday, March 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Rio de Janeiro (AP) - His meet-and-greet with the U.S. president was bumped to Saturday, and when the White House announced his official visit, they misspelled his name.

But when Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva becomes the first Latin American leader to sit down with President Barack Obama this weekend, he brings undisputed clout

[snip]

Silva aides said the trip was pushed forward from Tuesday because of the St. Patrick's Day holiday -- making Latin America once again look like an afterthought. Then, the White House announcement misspelled his name as "Luis Ignacio" and put "Lula" -- a nickname that decades ago became a legal part of the Brazilian leader's name -- in quotes.

Wow. Three major meetings with leaders from three of the most powerful countries on Earth, and Obama's team somehow botched them all.

Umm, can they do any worse? What say you, Mr. President?

UPDATE (3/17/09):

Boy, that didn't take very long. Quoth Hotair.com's Allahpundit:

One of our resident lefty commenters was reduced to arguing in the Headlines thread that President McCain wouldn’t have any better answers to this than The One would. Which may or may not be true, but speaks volumes about the state of Hopenchange these days. From “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for” to “we’re no worse than the guy who lost” in less than two months:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow will begin a comprehensive military rearmament from 2011.

Mr Medvedev said the primary task would be to “increase the combat readiness of [Russia's] forces, first of all our strategic nuclear forces“.

Explaining the move, he cited concerns over Nato expansion near Russia’s borders and regional conflicts…

Analysts say the brief war in Georgia exposed problems with outdated equipment and practices within Russia’s armed forces and led to calls for military modernisation.

Hope!

UPDATE 2:

I took another look at the picture of the button Hillary gave them. What kind of giant red button do you turn clockwise to activate? Did we give them a model nuclear launch dial?

UPDATE 3 (3/19/09):

Seriously? Is there nothing they can't completely screw up? Via Hotair and the Media Blog:

Remember President Obama's splendid gift to British PM Gordon Brown? The UK Telegraph reports those 25 DVDs just went from thoughtless to literally useless:

Alas, when the PM settled down to begin watching them the other night, he found there was a problem.

The films only worked in DVD players made in North America and the words "wrong region" came up on his screen. Although he mournfully had to put the popcorn away, he is unlikely to jeopardise the special relationship – or "special partnership", as we are now supposed to call it – by registering a complaint.

A Downing Street spokesman said he was "confident" that any gift Obama gave Brown would have been "well thought through," but referred me to the White House for assistance on the "technical aspects".

A White House spokesman sniggered when I put the story to him and he was still looking into the matter when my deadline came last night.

All in the Family

2008-08-27T20:39:00.002-07:00

This article was submitted for use by the Saint John's Society and for its website, socsj.org.

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."
-Romans 8:14-17

For Catholics, it is not necessary to stress the importance of family in our spiritual lives. The family bond permeates Scripture and the Magisterium: two of the Persons of the Trinity are Father and Son, and Mary is called Mother of God. As shown in the passage from Romans, Christ’s paschal sacrifice initiated us into the New Covenant as God’s children, a familial bond stronger than any contract of ink and paper—rather, it is a bond sealed in our blood.

Jesus also taught us the importance of close friendship. Though Platonic love has been exalted since antiquity, Christ gave us the true model of friendship in his relationship with his Apostles. He laid His life down for His friends, exemplifying the highest kind of love (John 15:12-17). Similarly, we are called to be a friend to Jesus. This is why the St. John Society commits to loving Jesus as friend: for the simple reason that he asked it of us.

While we acknowledge the importance of family and friends, we too often view their importance within the frame of their assistance in our personal salvation. I thank my girlfriend for her help in guiding me lovingly back into the Church, but it is not enough to love her for what she has done for me. It is a selfish and fruitless love that does not strive for the other’s salvation but instead looks always inward at itself.

Even this we know because Christ himself told us on the Mount: "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" (Matthew 5:46)

And yet some may take this, coupled with other commands from Christ to evangelize, primarily as an order to go out and find those who do not love us and bring Christ to them. This is not a bad thing, but can sometimes lead to evangelizing only strangers.

It is sometimes easier to speak about Jesus to those we don’t know very well; they don’t know our pasts and will likely not call us hypocrites, they do not associate us with their past spiritual experiences and so might be more open to receiving what we say about Christ, and there is no prior friendship to make "awkward" by speaking of spiritual things.

Just as Jesus came to save the whole world, we are called to evangelize the world. But let us never pretend that "the world" does not include those closest to us.

For all of the reasons evangelizing a stranger can be easier, bringing Jesus to those close to us can seem a discomforting and impossible task.
My family is nominally Catholic: my father was raised in the faith, one brother and I graduated from Jesuit High School, and both my younger brothers attend Catholic schools. Despite all the opportunities we have had to know Christ, none of my family understands the Mass or the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. My oldest brother became a Presbyterian after feeling the Catholic Church was too boring, stiff, and exclusive; my other older brother is a fully confused agnostic, to the point of being perfectly certain of his uncertainty. My father and younger brothers rarely go to Mass, and have placed religion at the bottom of their priority list.

It seems I am the only one of my family who knows Jesus, and yet I happily lead retreats to evangelize those I’ve never even met before rather than help my family. I don’t really show that I love those who love me, like some kind of inverted tax collector.

However, we always have our example in Jesus. Jesus seeks a personal relationship with every person and loves each of them in a way that we can only imagine. Still, Jesus did not have the same relationship with everyone. From the world, Jesus picked the Twelve Apostles. From the Apostles, our Lord had His favorite three: Peter, James, and John. And of the three only John is known as the beloved disciple, the only Apostle present at the crucifixion.

Similarly, we are called to treat all those we meet with charity, but have a greater obligation toward those we already know. We have still a greater duty to our immediate family, especially our children. Yet, if we are called to marriage, our greatest familial obligation is to our spouse, the one who lies closest to our breast as John did with Jesus.

In an age when we are bombarded with information, some true but much false, how can we let our spouse, child, sibling, parent, boyfriend, or girlfriend learn about Jesus from anyone besides us, we who claim to love and know Him?

The reality is that we are where we are, and that is no accident. It is not coincidence that we have been given the family and friends we have—God has chosen them for us and us for them. And because everything comes from the Lord and is therefore His, the family and friends we’ve been given are also His.

When we do our daily devotions, we offer God not only our bodies, but also our freedom, memory, understanding, and will. We turn them back to Him, to be guided by His will. If we strive to put all of these gifts back into God’s hands, let us also remember to give back some of his greatest gifts: our friends and family.

Killing Them Softly

2008-07-16T13:17:00.002-07:00

Note: This article was originally submitted to run in the Daily Barometer on 7/16/08.

Killing Them Softly

by Dan Fitzpatrick

I’m surprised the black community in Portland is not up in arms right now, as one of their new neighbors has a proven track record of anti-black bigotry and violence.

A new Planned Parenthood center is being built in Northeast Portland on Martin Luther King Boulevard, and while this alone typically is enough to stir up controversy, the process has become even more heated because at the end of June, the construction company set to build the center pulled out of the project following continuous protests from pro-life groups and activists.

But the developer isn’t worried, as The Oregonian reported: "James Adamson, one of the associates in Beech Street [the development company], said that, however uncomfortable, he respects that protesters have the right to voice their opinion. ‘And we also have fair protection under the law,’ he said. ‘It's basically a big exercise of free speech.’"

Sadly, this latent snobbery exists in many Oregonians. They have a nominal respect for free speech, but have little respect for what is actually being said. How tragic that monstrous things are being done in Northeast Portland, with most of the victims likely to be blacks, and the only reaction is dismissing it all as an exercise of free speech.

It’s certainly much easier on the mind and soul to pretend that Planned Parenthood going in is a good thing, but the facts tell a different story. The Oregonian article calls the company a non-profit (this despite the $336 million they receive in taxpayer money and their $115 million per year profit margin) that provides 38 percent of their patients with contraception, 29 percent with STD treatment, and 3 percent with abortions.

If their biggest seller is allegedly-effective contraception (which is meant to prevent disease and pregnancy), then why do a third of their patients come in for STD treatments or abortions? Planned Parenthood essentially operates as a racket: it sells people contraception that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to, so when it inevitably fails their customers can come back and demand medical treatment.

Convincingly sell people a problem, and there’s a good chance they’ll return to buy the solution.

But it’s not even a matter of windfall profits or shady business practices. The issue is the product. Planned Parenthood claims to sell people sexual responsibility—use contraception because it’s the responsible thing to do; abort your unplanned child because it’s the responsible thing to do; etc.
But, just as latent smugness has bled into Oregonians, so subtle bigotry has leaked into feminism and the abortion industry.

It can be traced back to Margaret Sanger, the founder of the American Birth Control League (which became Planned Parenthood). Sanger was a major proponent of eugenics, and strongly believed that members of the "unfit" classes should not be allowed to reproduce. To this end, Sanger loudly promoted birth control, especially among blacks and the poor.

And though Sanger herself was against abortion, calling it a "barbaric" taking of life, it is little surprise that the organization and movement she helped launch have embraced it so totally. Abortion is simply the logical conclusion of the mentality Sanger promoted.

This mentality holds that women cannot control themselves and would be unfit mothers, so they should, respectively, use contraception to sterilize their fertility and undergo abortions to prevent them from ever having a child.

Sanger herself seemed to admit as much in a 1957 interview, saying that "I think the greatest sin in the world is bringing children into the world–that have disease from their parents, that have no chance in the world to be a human being practically. Delinquents, prisoners, all sorts of things just marked when they’re born. That to me is the greatest sin — that people can — can commit."

None of this is intentional in today’s feminism and abortion industry; it’s simply been unthinkingly integrated into it. Combined with the liberal entitlement and noblesse oblige philosophies that already undermine the black community’s ability to thrive under its own power, this bigoted view of women and blacks has deadly consequences.

As author Jonah Goldberg points out, "Abortion ends more black lives than heart disease, cancer, accidents, AIDS, and violent crime combined. African Americans constitute little more than 12 percent of the population but have more than a third (37 percent) of abortions…Nationwide, 512 out of every 1,000 black pregnancies end in an abortion. Revealingly enough, roughly 80 percent of Planned Parenthood’s abortion centers are in or near minority communities."

And the trend will only continue in Northeast Portland.

Rebecca Walker, the daughter of black feminist icon and The Color Purple author Alice Walker, found out first hand the destruction that arises from the twisted philosophies of Planned Parenthood and feminism. Last May, Rebecca wrote in London’s Daily Mail how she "grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully happy is a complete fairytale."

As loneliness grew within her due to her mother’s emotional absence, Rebecca began having sex at age 13 (with her mother’s blessing) and, wonder of wonders, would undergo an abortion at 14 despite being on the Pill. Her mother and mother’s boyfriend escorted her to the abortion clinic.
Following the procedure, Rebecca wrote, "the aftermath haunted me for decades. It ate away at my self-confidence and, until I had [new son] Tenzin, I was terrified that I'd never be able to have a baby because of what I had done to the child I had destroyed. For feminists to say that abortion carries no consequences is simply wrong."

And yet, in Northeast Portland, the architect continues with the building project because, "[developer Adamson]’s really trying to do the right thing and improve that neighborhood."

I don’t doubt that the black community of Portland will soon suffer these "improvements," as Planned Parenthood kills them softly through abortions, sterilization-via-contraception, and family devastation. While the aborted children will never be able to spin in their graves, I imagine Margaret Sanger is smiling from hers.

3 objections to the Church

2008-06-30T13:45:00.002-07:00

So I just had a conversation with a friend online about a Protestant who was questioning her about Confession. It can be tough as a Catholic since you basically always get questions from everyone about everything. The Church is the most misunderstood and hated institution on the planet. In my eyes, there are really three groups that attack the Church and her faith in subsequent levels. First, there is the skeptic. Academic atheists as well as your typical "skeptic" on campus all question the foundational truths of the Christian faith in general. A secularist does not accept the authority of Revelation, nor accept the miraculous nature of Christ's earthly ministry, and often will even question the mere existence of God. The assertive notion that the Catholic Church proclaims THE truth (Gasp! The evil "T" word!) strikes many as arrogant and offensive in our politically-correct society. Protestants, on the other hand, accept Revelation and the primary realities of God's existence, though attack the Church on the contents and implications of this Revelation. The irony here is that Protestants rely on the Church even for their foundational beliefs that they share in common with us. Protestants believe in the Trinity, but where did this faith come from? Its not explicit in the Bible, but came from a Church Council in the 4th century. Even the Bible itself is a product of the Church. There is no "table of contents" hidden in Leviticus 32 or on page 952 in the Scriptures. The cannon of Scripture too comes from a Church Council. This is a difficult fact for those Christians who hold to a "Bible only" formula of faith to explain away.

Thirdly, there are un-orthodox Catholics within the Church who attack her. They accept the reality of God that a secularist denies and the reality of a visibly established Church (usually, that is) that a protestant denies, but attack some of the finer points of the Church's doctrine. They are, in effect, protestants who go to Mass and have labeled themselves as Catholics. I can think of Hans Kung, Richard McBrian and those who are members of "Call to Action" and other leftist groups in the Church. They pay lip service to the reality of the Church's divine nature, but deny it in their attacks on her infallible doctrines.

These three groups, secularists, anti-Catholic protestants, and heterorthodox Catholics all present a challenge to the faith of the Church. Of course, there is an answer to all of their objections, but they are voices crying out to Catholics less informed about their faith. And this brings me to my point. Many people that we come across on campus or in the workplace are one or another of these groups. Each needs to be shown the love of Jesus Christ and treated with respect and compassion. Yet their arguments need to be met clearly and directly, albeit using different means. The secularist often needs philosophical and logical reasons for accepting the validity of a theistic worldview. Using Bible verses when talking to a non-Christian will not get you very far, despite what Bible-man in front of the Oregon State library may think. Similarly, a protestant needs to hear the clear Scriptural foundations of Catholic belief above all else. Each needs a different approach to effectively stir the heart to conversion.

This is what St. Paul means when he calls us as believers to be "all things to all men". Speak in the language of a feminist to the feminist, as a protestant to the protestant, as a hippie to the hippie, etc. Each person brings a unique perspective in their questions to the Faith. The Church has not only the answer to every objection, but on an even deeper level, the answer to every need of the human heart. It is important to present the Faith in beautiful clarity and charitable sincerity to all who may come to us with objections or questions to the Church. We should welcome these questions, not be afraid of them or be defensive in their midst.

"There are not one-hundred men who hate the Catholic Church for what it really is, but millions who hate it for what they think it is"

--Ryan Purcell