The Areopagus 3-24-09
posted by Phil Lawson
3-24-09
Last Saturday evening, my now 3 year-old son (how time flies!) had reminded me that he needed to give Jesus a kiss before going to sleep---Dad had forgotten that evening---and part of his nighttime prayers are to give a picture of Jesus a kiss.
The next morning at the 10AM Mass, I joined 3 other parents in the entryway for the 2nd half of Mass—all with our rambunctious and noisy little ones. Of course, my son then very reverently knelt with his hands folded for the “Our Father”—a total reversal of the behavior that lead us to the back in the first place!
As you know, there’s never a dull moment raising children! And it’s amazing how they can go from frustrating you to melting your hearts. I wonder if that’s how God the Father feels about us much of the time?
Phil’s Tidbits:
So the doctors and the parents disagreed about whether this baby’s life was worth preserving---it gets taken to court---the parents desperately want to let their baby live—the court says, no—baby dies. Welcome to the modern world……
UK Parents Told by Court Their Baby Must Be Allowed to Die
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
BRITAIN, March 23, 2009 (LIfeSiteNews.com) - A seriously ill baby, known only as OT, died on Saturday in the U.K. after his parents lost a legal bid to keep him alive.
The nine-month-old boy suffered from mitochondrial disease, a rare metabolic disorder which resulted in brain damage and respiratory failure.
Two Court of Appeal judges refused the couple permission to challenge a decision by Mrs. Justice Parker of the High Court, made after a 10-day hearing, which gave the hospital treating the boy the right to stop the medical treatment that was keeping him alive.
His parents reportedly were "deeply distressed" by the court's decision to end their baby's treatment and thereby his life. In a statement, the parents said that only one other child with the same condition had been identified by modern medicine and everyone was in "unknown territory."
"We are and always will be convinced that, despite his desperate problems, his life is worthwhile and is worth preserving as long as it is possible to do so without causing him undue pain.
"That was the real argument between us and the doctors - they think his life is intolerable and that his disability is such that his life has little purpose; but we, along with some of the nurses, believed that he experiences pleasure and that he has long periods where he was relaxed and pain free.
"Our belief in his humanity and inherent worth justified us taking every step to support him."
A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association, which represents doctors involved in the case, said in a UK Telegraph report, "Cases like this are very distressing and we have every empathy with the parents, but when the parents and the clinical team don't agree on the treatment for the child in question, the only way forward is to go to the courts and for the courts to decide on what is in the best interests of the child, which is paramount."
Alex Schadenberg, chairman of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, commented on the court decision, saying, "The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is shocked that a High Court ruling in the UK would determine that a child who is disabled from a rare metabolic disorder is better off dead. It is very sad when parents make decisions to give up on a child with a disability, but it is shocking when the courts Court imposes death on the child, against the wishes of the child's loving parents.
"How is it possible that a court could impose death upon a vulnerable child? It is simply unbelievable."
The parents told the BBC, through spokesman Christopher Cuddihee of Kaim Todner: "During his short time with us OT became the focus of our lives.
"We were present during his last moments, together with O's extended family.
"He died peacefully. We will miss him greatly and wish to say that we are proud to have known our beautiful son for his brief life."
Richard Doerflinger was among the six award recipients. He is an under-the-radar pro-life hero. His day job is associate director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he has worked for almost 29 years
Life Prizes
Lopez: What’s something near no one knows that you wish they did?
Doerflinger: I wish people realized how many times the Catholic Church has been proved right in its predictions about various directions being bad for us as a society. We said the widespread distribution of contraception would increase temptations to abortion and divorce, mislead people into thinking they could have sex without consequences, and threaten to trivialize sexuality. Is it possible to deny this has happened? We said depersonalizing reproduction through technologies such as in vitro fertilization would lead us to experiment on human embryos and tempt us to try human cloning. We said embryonic-stem-cell research was not only immoral but was being used to make promises of “miracle cures” that people couldn’t keep. In a way it’s frustrating to be right so often in these dire predictions, especially when hardly anyone ever comes back later and says “Gee, sorry, you Catholics were right.”
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OWFkMjQ2YmE2NTA2NTYyMGRmYmM4NTA0ZWY3ZjZiNTM=
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.
Last Saturday evening, my now 3 year-old son (how time flies!) had reminded me that he needed to give Jesus a kiss before going to sleep---Dad had forgotten that evening---and part of his nighttime prayers are to give a picture of Jesus a kiss.
The next morning at the 10AM Mass, I joined 3 other parents in the entryway for the 2nd half of Mass—all with our rambunctious and noisy little ones. Of course, my son then very reverently knelt with his hands folded for the “Our Father”—a total reversal of the behavior that lead us to the back in the first place!
As you know, there’s never a dull moment raising children! And it’s amazing how they can go from frustrating you to melting your hearts. I wonder if that’s how God the Father feels about us much of the time?
Phil’s Tidbits:
So the doctors and the parents disagreed about whether this baby’s life was worth preserving---it gets taken to court---the parents desperately want to let their baby live—the court says, no—baby dies. Welcome to the modern world……
UK Parents Told by Court Their Baby Must Be Allowed to Die
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
BRITAIN, March 23, 2009 (LIfeSiteNews.com) - A seriously ill baby, known only as OT, died on Saturday in the U.K. after his parents lost a legal bid to keep him alive.
The nine-month-old boy suffered from mitochondrial disease, a rare metabolic disorder which resulted in brain damage and respiratory failure.
Two Court of Appeal judges refused the couple permission to challenge a decision by Mrs. Justice Parker of the High Court, made after a 10-day hearing, which gave the hospital treating the boy the right to stop the medical treatment that was keeping him alive.
His parents reportedly were "deeply distressed" by the court's decision to end their baby's treatment and thereby his life. In a statement, the parents said that only one other child with the same condition had been identified by modern medicine and everyone was in "unknown territory."
"We are and always will be convinced that, despite his desperate problems, his life is worthwhile and is worth preserving as long as it is possible to do so without causing him undue pain.
"That was the real argument between us and the doctors - they think his life is intolerable and that his disability is such that his life has little purpose; but we, along with some of the nurses, believed that he experiences pleasure and that he has long periods where he was relaxed and pain free.
"Our belief in his humanity and inherent worth justified us taking every step to support him."
A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association, which represents doctors involved in the case, said in a UK Telegraph report, "Cases like this are very distressing and we have every empathy with the parents, but when the parents and the clinical team don't agree on the treatment for the child in question, the only way forward is to go to the courts and for the courts to decide on what is in the best interests of the child, which is paramount."
Alex Schadenberg, chairman of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, commented on the court decision, saying, "The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is shocked that a High Court ruling in the UK would determine that a child who is disabled from a rare metabolic disorder is better off dead. It is very sad when parents make decisions to give up on a child with a disability, but it is shocking when the courts Court imposes death on the child, against the wishes of the child's loving parents.
"How is it possible that a court could impose death upon a vulnerable child? It is simply unbelievable."
The parents told the BBC, through spokesman Christopher Cuddihee of Kaim Todner: "During his short time with us OT became the focus of our lives.
"We were present during his last moments, together with O's extended family.
"He died peacefully. We will miss him greatly and wish to say that we are proud to have known our beautiful son for his brief life."
Richard Doerflinger was among the six award recipients. He is an under-the-radar pro-life hero. His day job is associate director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he has worked for almost 29 years
Life Prizes
Lopez: What’s something near no one knows that you wish they did?
Doerflinger: I wish people realized how many times the Catholic Church has been proved right in its predictions about various directions being bad for us as a society. We said the widespread distribution of contraception would increase temptations to abortion and divorce, mislead people into thinking they could have sex without consequences, and threaten to trivialize sexuality. Is it possible to deny this has happened? We said depersonalizing reproduction through technologies such as in vitro fertilization would lead us to experiment on human embryos and tempt us to try human cloning. We said embryonic-stem-cell research was not only immoral but was being used to make promises of “miracle cures” that people couldn’t keep. In a way it’s frustrating to be right so often in these dire predictions, especially when hardly anyone ever comes back later and says “Gee, sorry, you Catholics were right.”
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OWFkMjQ2YmE2NTA2NTYyMGRmYmM4NTA0ZWY3ZjZiNTM=
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.
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