10-16-07
Greetings!
I am particularly encouraged whenever I see good things happening among young adults---one such place is the Newman Center at UW-Milwaukee, my alma mater.
The Center, lead by an ambitious group of young adults and a wonderful priest, has re-energized the Catholic Presence at UWM.
Take a look at some of the things they have been a part of:
-On Ash Wednesday, Mass was celebrated in the Student Union---not at the Newman Center mind you, but at the very center and hub of the University.
-A new Men's Group at the Newman Center lead the Stations of the Cross across Campus.
-They hosted a talk on "Contraception, Why Not." The Planned Parenthood Student Organization attended, and afterwards requested pamphlets on NFP to hand out at their tables.
-And to open this school year, they celebrated Mass outside in front of the Dorms.
A sometimes criticism of Newman Centers is that they are just that…'centers' as opposed to reaching out beyond their buildings.
Here you have a group that's truly going out and making a difference on a campus (Matthew 28:19-20). May God continue to bless their efforts, and may we emulate them!
This is an interesting sociological note:
More Americans can identify all the ingredients in a Big Mac then can identify all 10 Commandments. Interesting commentary and interesting story.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0705643.htm
Then again, perhaps some people have too much time on their hands???
Further statistical evidence to back up what the Church has always taught:
Cohabitation is bad for men, worse for women, and horrible for children
Ten Facts reveal it is a deadly toxin to marriage, family, and culture
By A. Patrick Schneider II
October 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A. Patrick Schneider II, M.D., M.P.H., who holds boards in family and geriatric medicine and who received a Masters in Public Health from
Harvard University, is in private practice in Lexington, Kentucky.
"Cohabitation -- it's training for divorce." -- Chuck Colson (1995)
1. Cohabitation is growing: 35 to 40 years ago cohabitation was rare; it was socially taboo. Growth by decade was: 1960s (up 19 percent), 1970s (up 204 percent), 1980s (up 80 percent), 1990s (up 66 percent), but up only
7.7 percent between 2000 and 2004. All told, cohabitation is up eleven-fold (U.S. Census Bureau, "Unmarried-Couple Households, by Presence of Children: 1960 to Present," Table UC-1, June 12, 2003).
2. Relationships are unstable: One-sixth of cohabiting couples stay together for only three years; one in ten survives five or more years (Bennett,
W.J., The Broken Hearth: Reversing the Moral Collapse of the American Family, 2001).
3. Greater risk of divorce: The rate of divorce among those who cohabit prior to marriage is nearly double (39 percent vs. 21 percent) that of couples who marry without prior cohabitation (ibid.).
4. Women suffer disproportionately: Cohabiting women often end up with the responsibilities of marriage -- particularly when it comes to caring for children -- without the legal protection (ibid.), while contributing more than 70 percent of the relationship's income (Crouse,
J.C., "Cohabitation: Consequences for Mothers and Children," presentation at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Oct. 11-14, 2004, U.N. Tenth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family).
5. Greater risk of STD: Men in cohabiting relationships are four times more likely to be unfaithful than husbands (ibid.). In 1960 there were only three STDs; now there are two dozen that are incurable. Cases of STD have tripled in the past six years. The rate of STD among cohabiting couples is six times higher than among married women (Crouse,
J.C., Gaining Ground: A Profile of American Women in the Twentieth Century, 2000).
6. Greater risk of substance abuse and psychiatric problems: A UCLA survey of 130 published studies found that marriages preceded by cohabitation were more prone to drug and alcohol problems (Coombs,
R.H., "Marital Status and Personal Well-Being: A Literature Review," Family Relations, Jan. 1991). Depression is three times more likely in cohabiting couples than among married couples (Robbins, L., Rieger, D., Psychiatric Disorders in America, 1990).
7. Higher poverty rates: Cohabitors who never marry have 78 percent less wealth than the continuously married; cohabitors who have been divorced or widowed once have 68 percent less wealth (Cohabitation Facts website).
8. Children suffer: The poverty rate among children of cohabiting couples is five fold greater than the rate among children in married-couple households (Bennett, op. cit.). Compared to children of married biological parents, children age 12-17 with cohabiting parents are six times more likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems (Booth, A., Crouter,
A.C., eds., Just Living Together: Implications of Cohabitation on Families, Children and Social Policy, 2002). Likewise, adolescents from cohabiting households are 122 percent more likely to be expelled from school and 90 percent more likely to have a low GPA (Manning,
W.D., Lamb, K.A., "Adolescent Well-Being in Cohabiting, Married and Single-Parent Families," Journal of Marriage and Family, Nov. 2003). Children find themselves without grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; the family tree is pruned (Bennett, op. cit.).
9. Society pays: The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with two million souls in federal and state prisons and local jails. In 1980 the figure was just over 500,000 (Bennett, op. cit.). Seventy percent of juveniles in state-operated institutions are from fatherless homes (Drake, T., "The Father Factor: Crime on Increase in 'Dad Free' Zones," National Catholic Register, Jan. 2007). Three-fourths of children involved in criminal activity were from cohabiting households (Crouse, op. cit.).
10. Cohabitation breeds abuse, violence, and murder: Abuse of children: Rates of serious abuse are lowest in intact families; six times higher in stepÂfamilies; 14 times higher in always-single-mother families; 20 times higher in cohabiting biological-parent families; and 33 times higher when the mother is cohabiting with a boyfriend who is not the biological father (Crouse, op. cit.). Abuse of women: Compared to a married woman, a cohabiting woman is three times more likely to experience physical aggression (Salari,
S.M., Baldwin, B.M., "Verbal, Physical, and Injurious Aggression Among Intimate Couples Over Time," Journal of Family Issues, May 2002), and nine times more likely to be murdered (Shackelford, T.K., "Cohabitation, Marriage, and Murder: Woman-Killing by Male Romantic Partners," Aggressive Behavior, vol. 27, 2001). This data is consistent with similar data on children.
Cohabitation is bad for men, worse for women, and horrible for children. It is a deadly toxin to marriage, family, and culture. With great insight and wisdom Pope Benedict XVI has recently written in Sacramentum Caritatis (March 13, 2007) that among the four "fundamental values" that are "not negotiable," second only to respect for human life is "the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman."
____________________________
This article first appeared in the September 2007 issue of the New Oxford Review, and is reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2007 New Oxford Review, 1069 Kains Ave., Berkeley CA
94706, U.S.A., http://www.newoxfordreview.org.
Things to keep in mind when you're looking at colleges.
20 US Colleges and 1 Canadian are North America's Most Faithful to Catholic Identity
Solid alternatives to larger number of sexually liberal, dissident, secularized Catholic colleges in US today
MANASSAS, VA, October 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today The Cardinal Newman Society announced the publication of a new comprehensive college guide for students and parents, The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College: What to Look for and Where to Find It. Edited by Joseph A. Esposito, The Newman Guide will be officially published on Nov. 1, 2007.
The culmination of two years of research and interviews, the unique Newman Guide recommends 21 Catholic colleges and universities which most faithfully live their Catholic identity and provide a quality undergraduate education. Each college profile examines the school's history, governance, Catholic identity, curriculum, student life and community.
Those recommended represent the top 10 percent of Catholic colleges in the U.S. based on Catholic identity and cover a wide range of institutions in terms of history, size, location and academic focus.
Colleges range from Mount St. Mary's University in
Emmitsburg, Md., the nation's second oldest Catholic college, to Wyoming Catholic College of Lander, Wyo., which opened in Sept. 2007.
Twenty of the colleges are located in the United States while one school, Our Lady Seat of
Wisdom Academy, is in Ontario, Canada. Some were founded explicitly to meet the needs of Catholics seeking an authentic Catholic education while several have recently strengthened their identity and curriculum.
The Guide's editor, Joseph Esposito, said, "These colleges and universities represent a unique perspective on higher education. They are all impressive institutions, offering a wide range of choices from a Great Books curriculum to a degree in motor sports management. But what sets them apart from others is the day-to-day living of their Catholic identity.
"This Guide will provide a valuable tool for parents and high school students seeking direction in the college-selection process," he added.
Esposito, the Cardinal Newman Society's director of research, is a former Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs at the
U.S. Dept. of Education. He also has been a full-time writer for Catholic publications and an adjunct history professor.
The recommended colleges are grouped into three categories: "Joyfully Catholic," "Born from the Crisis" and "Fighting the Tide."
The first group is characterized by a Catholic identity that permeates all areas of campus life; the second includes institutions founded or expanded in the last few years; and the third group represents older colleges and universities that have succeeded in renewing and strengthening their Catholic identity.
The "Joyfully Catholic" colleges are: Christendom College, The College of Saint Thomas More, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Magdalen College, Thomas Aquinas College, The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts,
University of Dallas, and the University of St. Thomas (Houston, Tex.).
The "Born from the Crisis" colleges are: Ave Maria University, Holy Apostles College & Seminary, John Paul the Great Catholic University; Our Lady Seat of
Wisdom Academy, Southern Catholic College and Wyoming Catholic College.
The "Fighting the Tide" colleges are: Aquinas College (Nashville, Tenn.), Belmont Abbey College, Benedictine College, The Catholic University
of America, DeSales University, Mount St. Mary's University and St. Gregory's University.
In addition to in-depth profiles of the 21 colleges, The Guide includes essays from prominent Catholic leaders. Among the clergymen are Archbishop Elden Curtiss of the Archdiocese of
Omaha, Neb., noted writer and spiritual director Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., and author and evangelist Father C. John McCloskey III.
Prominent lay contributors are philosopher Peter Kreeft, Cardinal Newman Society founder and president Patrick Reilly and Eileen Cubanski, co-founder and executive director of the National Association of Private Catholic and
Independent Schools.
The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College: What to Look for and Where to Find It will be available at bookstores nationwide beginning on Nov. 1.
To order the guide:
http://www.thenewmanguide.com/OrdertheGuide/tabid/347/Default.aspx
A little humor to lighten your day J
THREE NUNS WERE ATTENDING A HOCKEY GAME IN CHICAGO.
THREE MEN WERE SITTING DIRECTLY BEHIND.
BECAUSE THEIR HABITS WERE PARTIALLY BLOCKING THE VIEW, THE MEN DECIDED TO BADGER THE NUNS HOPING THAT THEY'D GET ANNOYED ENOUGH TO MOVE TO ANOTHER AREA.
IN A VERY LOUD VOICE, THE FIRST GUY SAID, "I THINK I'M GOING TO MOVE TO UTAH, THERE ARE ONLY 100 NUNS LIVING THERE."
THEN THE SECOND GUY SPOKE UP AND SAID, "I WANT TO GO TO MONTANA, THERE ARE ONLY 5O NUNS LIVING THERE."
THE THIRD GUY SAID, "I WANT TO GO TO IDAHO. THERE ARE ONLY 25 NUNS LIVING THERE."
ONE OF THE NUNS TURNED AROUND, LOOKED AT THE MEN, AND IN A VERY SWEET AND CALM VOICE SAID, "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO TO HELL. THERE AREN'T ANY NUNS THERE."
Gotta love those Catholics
God bless you! Phil Lawson For the latest info on St. Peter's, check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com (You can also find old editions of the Areopagus here)
The Areopagus is a regular email for adults that includes various reflections, tidbits, news and events. Hope you find it fruitful!
If you would like to be added to this list, send an email to lawsphil@gmail.com
On the other hand, if you would like to be removed, send an email to the same address indicating that.