By Robert Royal
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2019
Today’s 46th March for Life in Washington is not a Catholic thing. It’s been gratifying over the years to see the growing numbers of Evangelicals, mainstream Protestants, Jews – you gotta love the blowing of the shofar from the stage just before marchers set out – Mormons, Muslims, and others. All of whom have come to realize that killing the smallest and most vulnerable of our human kind is not humane, and no favor to women,
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Today marks exactly half a century since the publication of Humanae vitae, Bl. Paul VI’s prescient missive to the Church in response to the modern world’s views on sexuality and the human person. Reading it now through the warped lens of the 21st century’s concept of sex, it seems extraordinary that there was once a time the world was not arguing over the existence of multiple choice genders and contraception as a fundamental human right.
Progress, eh?
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This year Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Paul VI in the 50th anniversary year of his encyclical Humanae Vitae, “on the regulation of birth.”
Canonization is the ultimate declaration that we should pay attention to someone’s life. Thus, we are given St. Paul VI in part, to reaffirm his teaching on openness to life.
At 50 years, it is clearer now than ever that we should be grateful for Humanae Vitae.
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This year marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s deeply controversial encyclical letter “Humanae vitae.” But I would like to draw particular attention to a remarkable passage in this encyclical, namely section 17, in which Paul VI plays the prophet and lays out, clearly and succinctly, what he foresees as consequences of turning away from the Church’s classic teaching on sex.
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Every vocation is born of sacrifice, is maintained by sacrifice, and is measured in the apostolate by the sacrifice of those whom God calls to the priesthood or the religious life. This should not be surprising, once we realize that it was by His sacrifice that Christ redeemed the world.
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Saint Pope John Paul II speaks of the “feminine genius” in his letter On the Dignity and Vocation of Women. What is the definition and origin of the word genius?
gen·ius
ˈjēnyəs/
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....Christ came to earth and died on the cross, not so that we could avoid death and suffering, but so that he could transform the inevitability of death and suffering from the inside out. By communion with him, by participation in his cross, we could receive eternal life.
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Fr. Mike Schmitz, in this 6 min. video, talks on suffering as sharing in a "sliver of the cross".
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How many times as a parent have we wished that we could alleviate our child’s suffering? Our
God-given nature to love and protect our child kicks in to high gear when he or she faces trials.
The valentine has become the universal symbol of friendship and affection shared each anniversary of the priest's execution -- St. Valentine's Day. Valentine has also become the patron of engaged couples.
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Pray without ceasing. . . what does this mean? Can we really pray constantly as St. Paul tells us to do in this verse? Most of us are not cloistered―we live in this very busy world―a world full of high expectations and productivity ―a world in which we run from activity to activity―a world in which we are bombarded with constant media. I know that I easily get caught up in filling my day to overflowing.
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One of the most pernicious lies of the modern world is that life is supposed to be easy and comfortable. There is even a sense in which moderns believe they are entitled to this comfort and ease—that it is some sort of fundamental human right.
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1. There Is Only "One Thing Necessary." The first happened when I was about six or seven, I think. It was the first important conscious discovery I ever made, and I don't think I have ever had a more mature or wiser thought than that one. I remember to this day exactly where I was when it hit me: riding north on Haledon Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets in Paterson, New Jersey after Sunday morning church with my parents.
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Last Friday, I watched my husband Shawn teach our 7-year old daughter, Violet, how to ride her bike without training wheels. Shawn travels throughout the week for work and, come Friday, is fairly tired. So when Violet asked him at 4pm if he would take the training wheels off her bike and teach her to ride it, I could sense his hesitation. He really wanted to sit on the front steps with me and a beer and just enjoy watching our kids play.
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As healthy, cohesive families go forth into the world as little platoons, they are a force for goodwill and real justice in society, broadcasting by example and by good works into the culture at large. They begin with mothers who cultivate virtue and a sense of uniqueness in their children.
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The next big piece of the porn-proofing puzzle is actually putting some safeguards into place for the inevitable exposure to pornography.
Of course we’ll talk filtering software, parental controls, etc., but the bigger piece of the puzzle actually takes place internally, for the child whose will and mind and character are being formed and cultivated by loving parents and by humane, comprehensive education that respects and recognizes the whole person.
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Pornography isn’t “someone else’s problem;” it’s our problem. It’s my problem and your problem and the guy across the street’s problem. It’s your barista’s problem and the 2nd grade teacher’s problem, and it might just be your spouse’s problem, too.
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Pornography is now more popular than baseball. In fact, it has become America’s pastime, and we are awash in it. Porn is on our computers, our smartphones, and our cable or satellite TV. It’s common in our hotels and even in many retail stores and gas stations. For many men — and, increasingly, women — it is part of their daily lives.
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