People and Pleasure

Well, I know I haven’t done a lot of blogging this summer, but I have done a bit of reading, and I’ve started reading a book by Karol Wojtyla (the future John Paul II) called Love and Responsibility. So far, this is an excellent book, though very dense, and it’s full of principles for building a culture of life. The man who was to become Pope John Paul II noticed a very fundamental difference in worldviews between Christianity and the secular world, a difference that may lie at the center of the culture war. I would like to share this discovery with you today.

This discovery, this fundamental truth, is this: People are more important than pleasure. This may seem simple, this may even seem like common sense. But when we look at the mentalities of the world, when we look even at the decisions we make in our own every day lives, we may be surprised to find that we don’t act on this.

We live in a world that seeks pleasure and flees pain. We drown ourselves in as much entertainment as we can afford. We hide from uncomfortable truths. We fight for the most comfortable jobs, or for the jobs that can bring us the most wealth, the most comfort. We like to be around those who make us happy, and we hide from those who are uncomfortable for us to be around. The greatest evil today in secular society is to make someone feel bad.

But where can this attitude take us? If pregnancy becomes a burden, we “terminate” it. If we view someone’s life as too painful, we “put them out of their misery.” If a marriage brings more struggles and pain than joys, we seek divorce.

However, if we truly want to live a culture of life, we must reverse this mentality. We must recognize that people have a dignity and value above the sum of their pleasures and pains. This is not to say that pleasure is viewed as evil. But on the other hand, pleasure is not everything. If we want a culture of life, we must not live for pleasure, but rather for love. Rather than use a person for our own pleasure, we must find common ground, a common good, and work together with that person to achieve it. We must be willing to sacrifice even our own pleasure for the good of ourselves and for others. Only then will we truly be living in a way that respects the dignity of the human person.

Disturbing News

I just read the disturbing news about the murder of abortionist Dr. George Tiller. The news disturbs me because this is not the way at all to bring about a culture of life. We bring about a culture of life through love and prayer and example, not through acts of violence such as this. Not only is this a bad example and image, but it deprives Dr. Tiller of the opportunity for conversion. Please pray for the repose of his soul!

Here is a news story about the murder.

Here is Fr. Frank Pavone's statement about this news.

What Can I Do?

Hello everyone! I know I’ve been gone for a while, but now I’m back with more to say, and, hopefully, God-willing, to inspire.

The world today can seem bleak for life. The news can seem bleak… as we hear about new pro-abortion policies being passed, new tragedies occurring around the world. It is easy for us to feel helpless, like there is nothing we can do. It is understandable that we may want to hide from the news, and focus instead on our own lives. However, this is not the course we are called towards…

I recently spoke with a friend of mine who is studying journalism. She shared her frustration with how little people in the US care about the news, and how so many people today ignore what is going on in the world.

She reminded me of what people can do about the news.

People can become aware of what is going on, and share this with others. If people do not know that atrocities are occurring, how are people going to stop them?

If you do not know what is going on, how do you know whether you can do something? Perhaps, seeing the news, you will be inspired to help a cause. You may see personally a way you can help. Or maybe you will see a solution to a problem that others do not see, and can share your idea with others. Or perhaps you will share the story with someone who will be inspired.

Finally, most fundamentally and basically, we can pray. If we do not know what is going on in the world, how can we know what to pray for? God listens closely to our specific intentions. If we know what is happening in the world, we can offer up our intentions for the specific sufferings in the world. We can even offer up our little daily sufferings for these larger sufferings in the world.

Fr. Frank Pavone recently said that people need to get angry about what is going on, so that they will have the energy to do what needs to be done. He reminded Christians that like the Good Samaritan, they are called not to ask ‘What will happen to me if I help someone?’, but rather, ‘What will happened to that person if I don’t help them?’.

Today I saw this video of an elderly priest being arrested at the University of Notre Dame while standing up for life. Seeing the video made me sorrowful for the state of America, the state of the world. It made me want to do something. It inspired me to write this blog entry. What can you be inspired to do?

What is Love?

The concept of love is one that is highly confused in the minds of many today. The word is used so often, yet people can mean so many things when they use it. You find the word in songs, in discussions, in religions. But what, exactly, is the Christian meaning of love?

One way love is used today is to mean lust. Love is a biological desire for another person. When taken as only a biological desire, people use love as an excuse to physically use another person. However, Christianity is not about using another person. In fact, Christ’s message is quite the opposite. Love is used in many contexts in the Bible where the definition of physically desiring another does make sense. So this cannot be the love of Christianity.

Another definition of love that is promoted a lot today is being nice to someone. That is, making that person happy. Do not do anything to upset another, or hurt another person’s feelings, or to make that person feel uncomfortable. This, too, cannot be the love of Christianity. Jesus had no trouble with upsetting people, condemning the actions of many. He was not afraid to speak out against what was popular in society, calling people to repent.

So what, then, is Christian love? The best way to find out is to look to the cross. According to John’s Gospel, God loved the world so much that he gave His Son, who died for us. Love involves sacrifice. In fact, the Bible states that there is no greater love than to lay one’s life down for his friend. So love, true love, is giving one’s self to another, offering one’s self completely for the other’s good. I must emphasize here, love does not call us to give of ourselves for the other’s pleasure, but for the other’s good.

For this reason, in living a Christian life, we must love others by speaking up when they are doing something wrong, something that is harmful to themselves and others. However, we are also called to care for a person, no matter what he or she has done. We must recognize the human dignity of that person, and help that person to recognize his or her own dignity. And we must live our lives respecting this dignity. If we love someone, we must avoid using him or her. We must treat that person with respect, and with the honor that he or she deserves.

We must do what we can to take actions to help relieve others burdens, to care for others when they are sick, to comfort them when they are alone. We must let go of our selfishness, even though the process will most likely be gradual. We must listen, and give them the best advice we can, to help them towards our ultimate goal as Christians, that is, ultimate happiness in heaven with Christ. This is what it means to love. Can you accept the challenge?

Culture War: Homosexuality and the Bible

Earlier this month, Lisa Miller of Newsweek wrote an article entitled "Our Mutual Joy," attempting to defend gay marriage using the Bible. In response, my friend John at the blog Soldier for Christ put much time and effort into providing a thorough biblical defense of Church's teaching on homosexuality.

I wanted to share this defense with you all so that you may better understand and defend your beliefs.

"Our Mutual Joy"
By Lisa Miller
*In favor of homosexual marriage.

"The Christian Response to Homosexuality"
By John Brodeur
*Opposed to homosexual marriage.

John's blog: Soldier for Christ

Brave New Year

As the new year approaches, so do many new challenges from the culture of death. The press has made another attempt to undermine the family, with a Newsweek article trying to use scripture to defend gay marriage. A new president will soon take office in the United States, a president who has promised to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, an act that will do a great deal to spread abortion and undo many advances of the pro-life movement.

However, a new year can also be an opportunity. An opportunity for those who believe in a culture of life to make a difference. People reject Christianity today in part because Christians do not live their faith. They view Christians as a bunch of blind fools trying to follow a set of fixed rules. However, if Christians worked harder at trying to learn their faith, at trying to live the message that they claim to believe, the world would be a much different, better place.

Even if you are not Christian, but still believe in a culture of life, you can take greater effort to live what you believe. Often I hear “pro-choice” people claim that pro-lifers have a problem of inflicting their beliefs on others. I believe that the problem in society is people not having the courage to inflict their beliefs on themselves. If some one really believes something, he should try his best to apply his understanding to his own life. And if he really cares about the people around him, and he believes that they are hurting themselves, he should do his best to help them out of love.

This year, challenge yourself to better understand and live out what you believe in. For if you truly understand what you believe, you will want to live it, and share your understanding with the world.

Have courage, and hold fast to the truth!

Plea of the Embryo

I speak for he who cannot speak for himself:

Though you cannot see me, I am still here.
Though I am not yet big and strong like you are, I am still alive.
I have my whole life before me, endless possibility…

I want to breath fresh air on a spring day.
I want to soak in a summer sun.
I want to feel the gentle fall of snowflakes, tickling my face,
Or go for a cool fall run.

I want to jump into a pile of fresh fallen leaves,
Go to the beach, feel sand between my toes.
I want to taste sweet ice cream, feel a warm friendly hug,
Smell the sweet lovely scent of a rose.

I want to laugh and play and make lots of friends,
Or maybe just a good few.
I want to be able to make someone smile,
To be able to say “I love you.”

I hear that the world is a big scary place,
And right now you don’t know what to do.
But there’s good to be done and be felt in this world,
And I want to be in it too.

So I ask, please, bear with me, these few months,
While I grow and try to be strong,
And I’ll thank you for the gift that you’ve made of yourself,
To help me make it along.