Tag Archives: charity

Investigating NFP: Pius XII

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Click here to read the previous post in this series.

I have recently come to the (re)realization that bishops are the authoritative teaching body of the Church. As such, it is their responsibility to properly and effectively teach such sticky subjects as the regulation of births. However, those teachings must be in accord with the Bishop of Rome and magisterium of the Church, so I still think there is merit in exploring the relevant papal documents. Let us then continue by hearing the thoughts of Pope Pius XII.

I had thought that Pius XII had written an encyclical about contraception. As it turns out, the only statements he made about the subject were in in various allocutions (addresses) to associations of doctors and the like. These don't carry nearly the same weight as encyclicals and are certainly not infallible. An exploration of the doctrinal authority of papal allocutions can be found here, but I cannot vouch for its accuracy. Nevertheless, Paul VI quotes from these addresses extensively in Humane Vitae, thus lending some of theauthority of an encyclical. I searched for the texts of these addresses and only found the 1951 Address to Midwives on the Nature of Their Profession and the 1958 Address to Officers and Representatives of the Associations for Large Families-of Rome and of Italy. If anyone knows where I might find the rest of them, I'd be indebted. Anyhow, here's the address to midwives.

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2006 Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure

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[raceforcure.jpg]This Mother’s Day, I will be participating in the 2006 Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure® to raise pledges in support of the fight against breast cancer.  Since my aunt is currently receiving treatment for breast cancer, this a disease I am particularly motivated to eradicate.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today and the most common cancer among women. It is estimated that more than 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year worldwide. Early detection is your best defense against this disease. When found early, your chance of survival is greatly increased. Your participation in the pledge program will save lives by providing mammograms to the underinsured and uninsured women and men in 30 counties throughout Central and Western Pennsylvania.

Click here to visit my personal page and pledge your support

By pledging your support of my participation in the Race, you will help provide the necessary funds for vital breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in our community. Please join me in the fight by pledging your tax-deductible contribution. Simply click the link below to make your online donation. You may also download a pledge/donation form from the website if you prefer to mail in your contribution. Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. Thank you so much for your time and support in the fight against breast cancer! Every step counts!

To sponsor my participation online, click here.

Have Christian Bloggers Lost the Plot?

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[bloggerpatron.jpg]I’m worried that Christian bloggers have lost the plot.

My grandfather used to say that the habits or faults of other people that annoy us the most may be ones we are also guilty of. I guess that was his atheistic Quaker version of Luke 6:41. I am very often reminded of that lesson and it has been an important part of my maturation process and growth in faith. It’s a lesson I have to relearn over and over again. It’s painful; the saying is true – no pain, no gain.

There are times (too many to count) God puts me in a situation in which I find myself correcting someone for a fault I too am guilty of. Sometimes I get sort of a “spider sense” feeling as I reprove a friend, knowing all the while that I’ll learn Pop-pop’s lesson before I’m through. Other times, I’m too blinded by my own self-righteousness to see what’s coming. It’s a very humbling a experience either way.

What I’m trying to say is that the irony of this post is not lost on me. How can I reprove others for a sin I’m just as guilty of? This isn’t going to be a self-righteous lecture. If you insist on believing it is, then imagine me as the recipient rather than the deliverer.

If I had to summarize in one sentence the main reason I blog and how I choose what to blog about, I’d say that I’d like to help people stop begging questions, talking past one another, and calling each other silly and rude names, and start thinking critically, listening to one another, and treating each other with, at minimum, the same love they’d ask for themselves. That, of course, is easier said than done. Popular legend has it that G.K. Chesterton, among other eminent authors of his time, was asked by a newspaper to write an essay on the theme “What’s Wrong with the World?” His reply? “I am.” When it comes to the kind of acerbic and caustic blogging that I believe is poisoning the Body of Christ, and the rest of the world for that matter, I too am guilty.

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Show Me a Society That Aborts the Unborn and Euthanizes the Infirm…

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…and I'll show you a society that immortalizes a deformed kitten.

Update 01/17/06: The public mourning for Cy continues. Oy. Check out this Jimmy Akin post. Take note of how many visits he got and the kinds of comments that were left. I wish more people would feel as sorry for their fellow men as they do for this kitten. I'm not even talking about just abortion and euthanasia. I'd like to see more sympathy for the homeless, the hungry, the lonely, the oppressed, the abused, the addicted, etc.

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit.
Blessed is the lamb whose blood flows.
Blessed are the sat upon, Spat upon, Ratted on,

O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
I got no place to go,
I've walked around Soho for the last night or so.
Ah, but it doesn't matter, no.

Blessed is the land and the kingdom.
Blessed is the man whose soul belongs to.
Blessed are the meth drinkers, Pot sellers, Illusion dwellers.

O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
My words trickle down, like a wound
That I have no intention to heal.

Blessed are the stained glass, window pane glass.
Blessed is the church service makes me nervous
Blessed are the penny rookers, Cheap hookers, Groovy lookers.

O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
I have tended my own garden
Much too long.

– Simon and Garfunkel, "Blessed"

Strife in St. Blog’s

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I've a lot of abusive posts and comments in St. Blog's Parish of late and it really bothers me. Normally when Christians are at each other's throats I point out Galatians 5:13-15. However, a reading from a recent daily mass caught my eye.

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." – Ephesians 4:29-32

I don't want point out splinters in my brothers eyes when I carry a log in my own, so I'll not mention by name or link who the offenders are. I can only hope they read this post and get the message.

BTW, Richard Hall seems to be thinking similar things about Christian bloggers in general.

"[F]or every person that shouts 'Amen!' there's another shouting 'No way!' The Body of Christ is divided and weakened. ('Can the eye say to the hand, I don't need you?') If we fall out of fellowship with one another, we all lose."