Tag: Catholic

Is there Any Greater Captivity than the Taking of Innocent Life?

For 800 years, the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary has stood in defense of human dignity when it was threatened. Today, 1.3 million pre-born babies are killed in American per year! The blood of these children cries out for justice with a cry greater than that of Cain’s blood. We read in Genesis 4:10, “The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” NO ONE is free to ignore or silently tolerate the grave evil of abortion and it’s effects on our society.

Stephanie Gray,Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform

Knowing this Br. Daniel Bowen, O. de M., pro-life coordinator at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, organized a world renowned speaker to give a presentation at the Seminary.  Her name is Stephanie Gray and she is the Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.  She has spoken around the world on abortion and has debated abortionists, professor, and leaders in the abortion movement.  She has also spoken at various elementary, high schools and universities in North America.

Stephanie spoke to us about her work and how her organization is ending abortion in Canada through presentations and in the streets activism with abortion imagery.  Her talk at the seminary was extensively about her strategy on fighting abortion called the “Endthekilling” plan.  She also explained how to talk about abortion to others and the importance of knowledge, wisdom, and character when talking about the abortion issue.

She explained that in the past atrocities had been ended when the injustice was exposed, and the culture confronted by the injustice. As long as it remains hidden, people can ignore the horror of great atrocities such as slavery, the holocost, and race killings. Stephanie showed how images were used by abolitionists  and civil rights leaders to shake people out of their apathy. The audience “gasped” when they saw a picture of a young black boy brutally beaten in the deep South out of hatred for his race. This horrific image was disseminated throughout the United States in the 1950’s. It was this image, which Rosa Parks was thinking of when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in  Montgomery, Alabama.

We were so glad that she could take time out of her busy schedule to talk to the seminarians and laity, and to show us how to end the genocide of abortion.  The pre-born child is the most helpless person in our society, captive to the will of others, completely unable to receive the Sacraments of the Church.  We must work so that all children have equal protection in our society and we pray to St. Raymond Nonnatus, patron of pre-born children, that abortion is ended and for the repose of the souls of the fifty million children legally killed in the United States.

St. Raymond Nonnatus (not born) pray for us!

Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform

http://www.unmaskingchoice.ca/

One Friar finds Christians in Danger of Losing their Faith in the Hospital

Br Daniel Bowen, O. de M., a Mercedarian student, spent his summer assisting at Metro Hospital in Cleveland. Here is his experience of Hospital Chaplaincy:

 

Br Daniel and Fr Justin

 

 

We read in Sacred Scripture that if one member suffers in the Body of Christ, which is the Church, all the members suffer with that member (1 Cor 12:26). This is why all baptized Christians are called upon to share in the ministry of mutual charity by doing all one can to help the sick return to health, by showing love for the sick, and when possible, by celebrating the sacraments with them.  This past summer I was given the extra special opportunity of assisting in this ministry by being assigned to an apostolate at  Metrohealth Hospital  (Main Campus) in Cleveland, Ohio assisting Father Justin A. Freeman, O. de M. with his duties as the Catholic Chaplain. This was my first experience of ministry in a hospital setting.

I discovered that there is a great need today in the hospitals!  It is a place where, despite the best staff and facilities available (Metrohealth being one of the best), a person can still feel frightened being in an unfamiliar environment and with the condition of an unexpected injury, illness or disease.  It is in such a place where someone can be challenged by his or her own mortality. This can cause someone to look back over their life and perhaps question their future.  Oftentimes, it can be a moment that God permits to allow someone the opportunity to draw closer to Him. But, of course, since we are given freewill by God there is a choice to be made. Hence, it is here, in the hospital, where a Christian is in danger of losing his or her Christian faith.

As a Mercedarian religious, this spoke to my heart giving me the understanding of why Christ must be present in such a place.  Christ must be able to be present to His people both in word and deed, both in the person of His ministers and most importantly in His sacraments. Earlier this summer, in May 2011, I was officially instituted into the Ministry of Acolyte with my seminary classmates. Among the many blessings that this ministry bestows on one, is the awesome ability to bring Holy Communion to people.  This was the most important duty that I was able to perform at the Hospital: to bring our Eucharistic Lord, the Body Blood, Soul and Divinity to his people. I also made referrals for Father Freeman of those patients that were in need of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) and The Anointing of the Sick.

However, it was not all just what Father Freeman and I were able to give to the patients, staff, volunteers, friends and family members in way of the Sacraments, witness and encouragement. No, it was also what they all gave to me. In my encounters with everyone at Metrohealth I met Jesus Christ, Himself. Sacred Scripture records these words of our Blessed Lord: “I was sick and you visited me” (Mt. 25:36). Yes, Christ’s compassion toward the suffering and sick goes so deep that He identifies himself with them.  And in every patient, and in every encounter, I was blessed to meet, know, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ. I was there to be with and listen to our Lord in His concerns and sufferings and to witness the faith of our Lord on the cross.

Perhaps this gets at the heart of why our Lord commanded his disciples to “Heal the Sick” (Mat 10:8). Not just for their sake, but also for our own. We are all called to be in right relationship with God, our Father, and to be in right relationship to our brothers and sisters. One might call this right relationship love, and oh, how desperately this is needed today.  Yes, I learned much this summer. Yes, perhaps I helped a bit, but hopefully in the end, I pray, I loved all the more.

Brother Daniel Bowen, O. de M.