PathToHoliness

This past Friday during our Holy Hour at the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, retired Bishop Martin Holley offered a reflection on “Caring for Family. This is one of the quarterly speakers we have been blessed to have speak out on the value of life. This is organized by the parish Veronica Guild Honoring Life.

Bishop Holley spoke about his family as an example for caring about the life of others. His parents had 14 children and his younger brother has suffered from a fall that paralyzed him. He needs help in a caring facility and Bishop Holley sees to his care every day. It was a very emotional talk.

He also said that “as the Catholic church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society, and this belief is the foundation of all principles of our social teaching.” He talked about how human life is under attack in the form or abortion, euthanasia and other issues and we should do everything we can as Roman Catholics to uphold the teaching of Jesus Christ. The scriptures are filled with these teachings.

The Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel in Pensacola, FL has many ministries. Relatively new is the Veronica Guild which contains several active teams, one of which is Honoring Life. “Promoting a reverence and respect for the dignity of human life in all its forms as being created in the Image and Likeness of God.”

I am a member of this team and throughout the year, each Friday of our Holy Hour prior to Mass we celebrate Fridays for Life. And the last Friday of each month a team member leads a rosary for life at 11:30am. In addition to these things we are having several meditations on life during the year. The first one was this past Friday when our own Bishop William Wack not only provided a meditation, “Loving Care for the elders among us and the gift of the Sacrament of Anointing,” but he also celebrated the Mass following it.

In his talk he referred to the recent publication of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Declaration “Dignitas Infinita” on Human Dignity. It is long but he recommends taking the time to read it because it focusing on many issues facing our world today when it comes to respecting life. You can find the recording of the Holy Hour, Talk and Mass on the church YouTube channel here. You can fast forward to Bishop Wack’s talk if you would like.

Members of Council 8589, Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, in Pensacola, FL donated the money collected through the annual Tootsie Roll campaign to The Arc Gateway. The council presented a check for over $540. The Arc Gateway provides life changing programs and services for more than 1,200 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Pictured are (l-r): The Arc Gateway: Stephen Rampersad, Chief Advancement Officer, Jenni Perkins, Marketing and Public Relations Director and Knights of Columbus Council 8589: Fred Myers, Deputy Grand Knight, Myself, Lecturer, Bob Clipper, Chancellor.

Afters making the presentation we were given a tour of the facilities that include classrooms for children with different disabilities and areas for adults to have a quiet, safe place to relax. Of real interest are the products that are produced to provide a work environment that will help people with disabilities find employment with local businesses. Some of those products include shredding paper and other materials, creating artwork for sale, concrete products and more.

As we continue to live under stay at home orders of various kinds and locations I have been thinking more and more about the damage to people’s emotions, especially those who suffer from depression and anxiety. I’m concerned about our loss of jobs and liberties too.

But before you think I don’t care about every human life I can assure you nothing could be further from the truth. However, we live with death around us everywhere in the world. Abortion is the most extreme example. Terrorism, suicide, vehicle crashes and a variety of diseases like heart disease and cancer, are not new.

I don’t even pretend to be an “expert” on this COVID-19 virus as so many proclaim loudly on social media. But, the more and more data I see and hear make me doubt that our governments have made a good decision to essentially shut us down. Even experts who are doctors contradict each other.

I’m not afraid of the future though, because of my faith in Jesus. But besides the people who have died of this virus I am also concerned about all the people who are now un-employed, the businesses who are out of business or soon will be, the people who are shut in from their loved ones or not allowed to see them, the people sick with other diseases or injuries who are not allowed to see their family. I think we will look back on this as a very dark spot on the history of our country and culture.

I’d like to think more positive about “getting back to normal,” but I doubt that will happen. In some ways there might be some good that will come from what we’ve been through but that will only happen if people make real changes in their lives, permanent changes. You can probably think of a lot of examples for this. Will it happen? IDK. But I sure hope so.

Holy Mary, our hope and seat of wisdom, pray for us!

It’s time again for the March for Life. This will be the 39th time this event has been held in the nation’s Capitol. Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t need to do it again?

Unfortunately, I don’t have that expectation. The culture of life is not alive and well enough in this country, but we should never give up hope. I really believe we need to continue to change hearts and minds. Then maybe the laws will change. Maybe people will give up the ridiculous idea that having an abortion or using contraception is just a “health choice.”

Last week our so very mis-guided Washington administration basically re-affirmed a rule that would require health insurers to “provide preventive health services.” Convenient way of saying abortion and contraception. I really think they use these words to cover their shame as much as try to hide the truth from people.

So, let’s keep praying for the unborn and those who never even have a chance to be conceived. And those who support the atrocity of taking innocent human life.

I’m a member of the Bishop Michael F. McAuliffe Knights of Columbus Council 12992. Each year we hold a benefit barbeque to raise money to support pro life causes. Except for a little bit of wind we had a beautiful day for it today.

I manage our council website and have an online photo album for council activities which I’ve added a number of photos to from today’s event. We have a great time and meet a lot of wonderful and hungry people. You might just guess what’s for supper in our house tonight!

This morning after Mass we had a table set up with brochures and signup sheets for the 40 Days For Life campaign. The next campaign is coming up soon.

From February 17 through March 28, teams in 156 cities from coast to coast in the United States � plus four Canadian provinces and three Australian states � will take part in this mission.

The 40-day campaign tracks Biblical history, where God used 40-day periods to transform individuals, communities … and the entire world. From Noah in the flood to Moses on the mountain to the disciples after Christ’s resurrection, it is clear that God sees the transformative value of His people accepting and meeting a 40-day challenge.

I couldn’t end today without doing a post about today’s March For Life in Washington, DC. I’ve seen just snippets of the tv coverage.

For people who couldn’t be there an alternative to the EWTN coverage was the Virtual March for Life. Interesting way to use the web.

I did see a story on Fox News tonight but would describe the mainstream media coverage of this big event as slim to none for the most part.

Know who is credited with starting the March? How about Nellie Gray?

You can see tweets on Twitter about the event today using Twitter Search.

How many times have you spoken with someone who is not pro life and had them challenge when life begins? For me, it has been frequent. Somehow they don’t understand that the beginning of a human life is very easy to prove scientifically. The real question then becomes when do they think a human life is valuable?

To answer the scientific question, Dr. Maureen L. Condic, The Westchester Intstitute for Ethics and The Human Person, wrote a white paper titled, “When Does Human Life Begin? A Scientific Perspective.”

Resolving the question of when human life begins is critical for advancing a reasoned public policy debate over abortion and human embryo research. This article considers the current scientific evidence in human embryology and addresses two central questions concerning the beginning of life: 1) in the course of sperm-egg interaction, when is a new cell formed that is distinct from either sperm or egg? and 2) is this new cell a new human organism—i.e., a new human being? Based on universally accepted scientific criteria, a new cell, the human zygote, comes into existence at the moment of sperm-egg fusion, an event that occurs in less than a second. Upon formation, the zygote immediately initiates a complex sequence of events that establish the molecular conditions required for continued embryonic development. The behavior of the zygote is radically unlike that of either sperm or egg separately and is characteristic of a human organism. Thus, the scientific evidence supports the conclusion that a zygote is a human organism and that the life of a new human being commences at a scientifically well defined “moment of conception.” This conclusion is objective, consistent with the factual evidence, and independent of any specific ethical, moral, political, or religious view of human life or of human embryos.

I found an article on this in the January issue of the Knights of Columbus Columbia Magazine.