6-20-06
Greetings!
This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi. A beautiful celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ….in the precious Gift of the Eucharist.
I'll never forget a young lady I met about 10 years ago. She was about 14 or 15 years old and had just been to a Stuebenville Youth Conference. At that conference, she had come to really know that Christ was present in the Eucharist. (The Youth Conference always has a large Eucharistic Procession Saturday night. Imagine a gym with several thousand teenagers all on their knees as the Eucharist is processed around in the monstrance. It's a very powerful experience). Anyway, she described for me how her knees would shake as she would go up to receive the Eucharist now. For she now understood what she was about to receive.
Amazing. May we all gain that level of faith!
Some of you, no doubt, recall Corpus Christi processions from your youth. While not disappearing entirely, they are a lot less frequent these days. Yet, they seem to be making a come back. A number of the area parishes had them, including St. Michael's in Junction City, even having the traditional three outside altars for Benediction.
Phil's Tidbits:
Last Friday the Stevens Point Journal published a nasty letter to the editor charging the Catholic Church with being "complicit" in the rise of Nazism. It wasn't well written and I dismissed it. I later learned that the author of the letter is a professor in the education department at UWSP. In other words, he should know better. The following is a letter I sent to the Journal yesterday. I don't know if they'll print it or not……
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I was surprised to see such a slanderous letter, (Henry St. Maurice's "Pope's Suggestion Was Way Off, 6-16-06) appear in the Stevens Point Journal. His letter charged the Catholic Church with being complicit in the Nazi genocide. Massive amounts of material have been published rejecting such claims, and one letter is insufficient to point out the many fallacies inherent in Mr. Maurice's statement.
Three points:
-Before Hitler's ascension in Germany, Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII), gave 44 major addresses in Germany, 40 of which condemned some aspect of Nazism.
- "We share the grief of the world over the death of His Holiness Pius XII. . . . During the ten years of Nazi terror, when our people passed through the horrors of martyrdom, the Pope raised his voice to condemn the persecutors and to commiserate with their victims" (Golda Meir, Israeli representative to the U.N. and future prime minister of Israel).
-The Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, converted to Catholicism after the war, taking as his Baptismal name "Eugenio"—the pope's own Baptismal name.
Pretty striking details for a church "complicit" in the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust. Indeed, it's almost like they were trying to prevent such evils…
Phil Lawson
A too often overlooked story is the tremendous growth of some women's religious orders. This Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist have seen a 1400% rate of growth…and they're all young sisters. They are a striking witness in their white Dominican habits. I recall at World Youth Day in Toronto…wherever the sisters were there were flocks of young people surrounding them.
Personal note…my sister-in-law belongs to this community and I've met a fair number of these sisters. They are marked by a profound joy, vibrancy, fidelity to the Faith, and visible witness.
From Deal Hudson—Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist:
The last time I visited the Sisters was nine years ago, the year of their founding. They were living, all four of them, in a ranch-style home converted for their use near Domino Farms, then the command center for the many apostolates funded by Tom Monaghan.
Founded by Cardinal O'Connor, invited to Michigan by Bishop Mengeling, and funded initially by Monaghan, the Dominican Sisters now number 59, a growth rate of 1400 percent. They are expected to be 70 in all by 2007. Sr. Joseph Andrew, speaking at the luncheon afterward, remarked that, "We are growing so fast we cannot assume a roof over our heads." She added that this was a "good problem" to have.
The average age of the professed Sisters is 28, and the average age of those in the novitiate is 24. Astoundingly, 173 young women attended their vocations retreat in February of this year. I'm sure I wasn't the only person in the room who compared this community to all of the religious orders that are dying because of a lack of vocations.
Mother Assumpta Long, the driving force behind the community, has a simple explanation for their success: "It all begins in the chapel. If it doesn't happen there, it's not going to happen. The most important thing is our religious life."
A sad story from England.
In the U.K., Aborting a Baby is Legal, but Depicting it is a Crime
By Steven W. Mosher of the Population Research Institute
Here's the background. Last year, the U.K. was rocked by a high-profile
abortion case. This was because the demise of "Baby A," as she became
known, was photographed and videotaped. This evidence of her brutal end
was widely distributed in the U.K.
The abortion took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn,
Norfolk, not far from where Mr. Atkinson lives. This veteran pro-life
campaigner decided to educate the Hospital's chief executive, Ruth May, in
the horrors of such events. He sent copies of the photographs and other
literature to Ms. May.
Upon receiving the pictures, Ruth May complained to the authorities. The
Director of Public Prosecutions, as district attorneys are known in the
U.K., promptly ordered his arrest on the charge of "sending offensive
materials through the mails." The policy then dragged the 75-year-old
Catholic, who is nearly crippled with arthritis, from his home and held
him in prison until his court date.
In court, the hospital staff recounted how the photographs had upset their
delicate sensibilities. Ruth May's secretary, Christine Rogers, said she
was "upset" when she opened the letter from Atkinson containing a picture
of Baby A. The hospital's "Complaints and litigation manager," Karl
Perryman, said that "as a father of two daughters he had been quite
disturbed" by the images he had been shown. Ms. May herself opined that
"It is upsetting for everyone." She went on to say that "I believe people
who work for the National Health Service, and particularly at
Queen
Elizabeth Hospital, are passionate about providing excellent care for
their patients."
All except for those they abort, of course. In that case their "passion"
is reserved for those who have the courage to remind them of what they are
doing to tiny babies. Such pricks to their (perhaps guilty) consciences
make them "upset" and "disturbed."
Atkinson himself said that he had sent the images "to educate," adding "I
accept that the documentation was highly distressing. It's horrendous,
monstrous and sickening … but it represents the truth of what is going on
in our world. Everyone in this courtroom knows that abortion is murder and
no one has the guts to say it."
On the basis of the hospital staff's testimony, Mr. Atkinson was convicted
and ordered to serve a month in jail. In sentencing Mr. Atkinson,
District Judge Phillip Brown said "It is clear that you intended to shock
and I am certain that your purpose was to cause distress and anxiety."
Mr. Atkinson was also fined 500 English pounds in court costs to be
deducted directly from his pension and given a five-year anti-social
behaviour order. Judge Brown warned that disobeying the order would
result in five years in jail. In that case, the stalwart Mr. Atkinson
replied, "you may as well lock me up and throw away the key."
He has been punished in other ways as well. The Norfolk hospital boss,
Ms. May, struck him off the waiting list for a hip replacement, and now
formally denies him all medical treatment save for life-threatening
illnesses.
All this for having exercised his right to freedom of speech on behalf of
the voiceless unborn.
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And a humorous one:
Billy Graham's wife was once asked whether she ever considered divorcing her famous evangelist husband. She responded with a smile, "Murder? Yes. Divorce, Never."
Announcements:
-Theology on Tap---Theology in a casual atmosphere for those 21-39 years old, at Pete's Pub & Grill, 200 Division St, Stevens Point. Begins Wednesday, July 12th with "Every Body's Doing It: Theology of the Body". Presented by Matt & Rebecca Sande.
-Looking for something to do on Monday nights? St. Peter's "Keys" Softball team plays at Zenoff Park. Next game is 630pm Monday, June 26th!
God bless you!
Phil Lawson
For the latest info on St. Peter's, check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com
The Areopagus is a regular email for adults that includes various reflections, tidbits, news and events. Hope you find it fruitful!