Among Women ReadHER 10.15.11 Lotsa random H's: HPV, Hospitality, Halloween, & the Holy Father...

Among Women ReadHer

10.15.11

The Holy Father's Catechesis on Prayer: Psalm 23
Translated by Diane Montagna
Each week, at the General Audience on Wednesday, the Pope visits and prays with pilgrims from around the world. His recent messages have been on prayer, and last week, he spoke about Psalm 23. Some beautiful reflections on the images contained in that psalm are captured here.


"I Wouldn't Give You $5 for the Whole Operation..."
Tom Crowe at CatholicVote.org
A well stated posture we need to have about the Catholic Church in light of another the indictment of the Bishop of KC, MO... good insight here.


The HPV Vaccine -- Not for "Little Girls"
--Kathleen Berchelmann, MD at CatholicMom.com
Given all the discussions about it in the press, I really appreciated the health information synthesized by the Catholic Medical Association. 


A Special Mother is Born - a new book!
--Leticia Velasquez, from her blog, Cause of Our Joy
A new book, edited by Leticia, is a wonderful anthology of essays and stories for parents of children with special needs. You may recall Leticia's visits on AW back on episodes 6 and 30.

Singles: "Entrust your future to the Lord."
--By Bishop Rhodes
That's a word for all of us! 


Shrews
By The Crescat (Katrina Fernandez, now over at Patheos)
This came out while I was away, and it continued to get traffic into this week. 


New Love, New Vocabulary
--Elizabeth Duffy
A new columnist over at Patheos manages to take on marriage, fidelity, and the new missal translation all in the same article.


I Just Went to Get My Hair Done (and saved a baby from abortion instead.)
--Kelly Clinger from LifeSiteNews.com
Ever notice how freely women speak to each other at the hair salon? I mean I have had some pretty amazing conversations with complete strangers there over the years. Just sayin'. You never know when the moment will come where God puts you in a situation to just speak up, with love, and with compassion for the woman next to you. 


Costumes For Kids Can Send the Wrong Message
--Mary Beth Hicks at Family Events
Halloween celebrations -- and the "appropriate" costumes for children! -- are a mixed bag in our society. Mary Beth has some straight talk on the subject.


My Nouveay Traditional SAHM Lifestyle and Amanda Marcotte's Exploding Head
Simcha Fisher at her blog at National Catholic Register
Simcha's covering a lot of important ground here as we look at motherhood, women's roles, and the culture. See what you think.

Harveen's Brand of Hospitality

---Lisa Hendey at Faith and Family Live!

Lisa walked right into the arms of a spiritual mother cared for an nurtured her without reserve. Let us take notes. (Also, see Lisa's forthcoming book found in the video trailer below.)

The book trailer for Lisa Hendey's newest title:

Be looking for Lisa Hendey's conversation with me "Among Women" coming up soon!

Other Books I can heartily recommend:
Here are two reviews for "Catholicism" from Fr Robert Barron that you've heard me brag on...
from Kathryn Jean Lopez & Maria Johnson


And here's my own take on Brandon Vogt's "The Church and New Media", which I subtitle The Catholic Tourist's Guide for the Digital Continent.

Mercator.net has exclusive interview with Archbishop George Pell

...and there are many fascinating observation on the modern culture front.

A snippet:

The sex abuse scandal has been dragging on for some time and undoubtedly there is more to come. Do you think that the Catholic Church can ever recover from this crisis?

There is no doubt the Church, and its moral authority, have been damaged and this wound is being exploited by the enemies of the Church. But life goes on. We are called to repentance and renewal.

It is certainly not a crisis equal, for example, to the French Revolution, or the rise of Communism or Nazism, or World War I or World War II. It varies in intensity even in different places in Australia, in different countries. Right across the nation we have had good procedures in place since 1996.

The first and most important element is to face up to the truth and do what we can for those who have suffered, the victims. Then we have to have procedures in place to deal with crimes and abuse. We are certainly heading in the right direction in this country. We have faced up to, and are facing up to, this terrible and wounding challenge.

You seem very impressed by the Fatherhood of God in Christianity. Does that give it an edge on Islam?

Christianity, Catholicism in particular, has an edge on Islam. I am tempted to say: in every way. Islam is a regression, culturally as well as religiously. I do not think it compares in any significant way with Christianity. I say that because there is much less about love in the Koran than there is in the writings about Christ in the Gospels and the New Testament.

Islam is fundamentally handicapped because it does not recognise the divinity of Christ. The Incarnation is an immense advantage. In Christ, God came down to our level. So when we see Christ teaching and acting, we have an insight into God himself. Another point is that while Christians certainly endorse and explain and emphasise the differences between men and women, we believe in a fundamental equality between men and women in God’s eyes according to the teachings of Christianity. That is very different in Islam.

 Read the whole article here.

This makes me think...

This Sunday's Gospel from John, we hear these words from Jesus:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give it to you."

Lately, I've been talking with people who have suffered the pains of sexual abuse. For each one, the circumstances differed of course... whether in their own families, or within the church, or at some other place and time. But they all repeat to me a familiar refrain: as all the recent news accounts about church sex scandals continue to swirl around, it triggers "stuff" that must be dealt with in their own lives. One friend wrote, "the dark dogs are chasing me again...."  She knew I knew what she meant.

Sometimes the effects of these old wounds last a few days. Sometimes it plunges a person into depression.  Fortunately, some contact their therapists as soon as the ill wind starts to blow in their neighborhood. Or they call on trusted friends in whom they can safely confide.

Suffering from sexual abuse has not been my cross to bear, but it has been my burden to listen and to pray with those who have suffered such abuse. Some of these friends have received healing and continue to do so.  Some have moved on to survive and thrive. But many suffer setbacks when these tragic news items come to light. And for days on end, it seems there is no escaping it.

This might seem to be a curious post to put out there on a Mother's Day weekend. But regardless of the season, these friends come to my mind, for they are in need of much love, and yes, mothering, you might say. And so I pray for them... that they may experience the peace of Jesus... and the peace He promises us in the Gospel.

And I particularly want to encourage them and myself, (and maybe you?) to seek the consolation that can be found within "Mother" Church.  With all her foibles, and with all her human mistakes, the Church was founded by Christ as a source of grace for the world's sins, sufferings, and pains.  The Church is both a human and divine institution... Just as Jesus was both human and divine, the Church he is wedded to, his Bride, is both as well.  His grace is still active and calling us beyond sin and suffering to salvation.

I understand that in our daily world counseling and medication and other good sources of recovery are needed. I don't deny that. I think that's part of God's providence. But these words of Jesus concerning peace remind me that those tools of recovery are only part of the story; we need a supernatural remedy.

For Jesus offers us the kind of peace that the world cannot give.

I believe that. Not because I study scripture or teach the catechism, but because I have suffered with my own pains and my own griefs. And I have felt and experienced Christ's peace and healing for wounds I could not describe without collapsing into tears.  And because, as a mother myself, I feel the pains, to some degree, that my own children suffer when they are wounded or grieved. And like any good mother -- whether as a biological, adoptive, or spiritual mother -- I want to pray and gather them with tender care, and help them to be restored and healed.  Still, I know that these deepest hurts beckon for a a cure beyond what we can physically reach... most often, it takes a divine Physician to ultimately cure us.

And so I pray for all those who are suffering today, and I pray for all mothers who, on this day, are suffering themselves, or suffering along with their hurting children.  May we women be the mothers we need to be, especially in those difficult moments. And may the fathers among us look to protect and defend what is good and true and holy. And may we yoke those roles to the graces we have received.

Finally, I'm offering a few words below from Pope Benedict's recent letter to the people of Ireland.  Our Pope, our Chief Shepherd and Good Papa, who, since the first days of his pontificate,  has been trying to respond to the pains caused by abuse and corruption felt so deep by members of the flock. He continues to call us to Christ in the midst of all this, for Christ is our hope, and the Church still has the power to mother us.

And if I could point out one line worth committing to memory, besides the words of peace from the lips of Jesus, it would be this powerful gem from Benedict: Christ’s own wounds, transformed by his redemptive sufferings, are the very means by which the power of evil is broken and we are reborn to life and hope.

To the victims of abuse and their families

You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. Those of you who were abused in residential institutions must have felt that there was no escape from your sufferings. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel. At the same time, I ask you not to lose hope. It is in the communion of the Church that we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, who was himself a victim of injustice and sin. Like you, he still bears the wounds of his own unjust suffering. He understands the depths of your pain and its enduring effect upon your lives and your  relationships, including your relationship with the Church. I know some of you find it difficult even to enter the doors of a church after all that has occurred. Yet Christ’s own wounds, transformed by his redemptive sufferings, are the very means by which the power of evil is broken and we are reborn to life and hope. I believe deeply in the healing power of his self-sacrificing love – even in the darkest and most hopeless situations – to bring liberation and the promise of a new beginning.

Speaking to you as a pastor concerned for the good of all God’s children, I humbly ask you to consider what I have said. I pray that, by drawing nearer to Christ and by participating in the life of his Church – a Church purified by penance and renewed in pastoral charity – you will come to rediscover Christ’s infinite love for each one of you. I am confident that in this way you will be able to find reconciliation, deep inner healing and peace.

---Benedict XVI, Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland

Scandals...

I've recorded a few comments in episode 52 of Among Women regarding all the headlines that have surfaced in recent weeks regarding more scandals in the Catholic Church worldwide. But my comments boil down to I remain a committed Catholic, even though there are scandals in the Church. I do because I  believe in Jesus Christ. And the Catholic Church is where I find the Person of Jesus Christ, both in the Eucharist and in the community of faith. It is Jesus who longs to renew me and heal me, as he longs to do the same for every person on the planet. Jesus is wedded to the Bride of Christ, his Church, for better or for worse. And despite the sinful, wayward, and corrupt members of this Church (some who may deservedly need prosecution under the law)... it was exactly for those that he died and rose. His Spirit, despite appearances, continues to renew and lead the Church, for I have seen how good can triumph over evil.

Indeed, there are better defenders of the Faith than I am in this regard, and I've posted a few articles of note in the sidebar over on the right, under the heading "It Caught My Attention." So if you like, take a few minutes to peruse 'em.

But I'd like to bring your attention to an older homily by Father Roger Landry of the Fall River Diocese in Massachusetts.  It moved me in 2002 when scandalous things broke loose in the Archdiocese of Boston where I live, and it moves me again still now, to have courage to do what I can to stay faithful to Christ and the Church.

Here's a snippet below, but you can read the full homily here.

The only adequate response to this terrible scandal, the only fully Catholic response to this scandal — as St. Francis of Assisi recognized in the 1200s, as St. Francis de Sales recognized in the 1600s, and as countless other saints have recognized in every century — is HOLINESS! Every crisis that the Church faces, every crisis that the world faces, is a crisis of saints. Holiness is crucial, because it is the real face of the Church.

There are always people — a priest meets them regularly, you probably know several of them — who use excuses for why they don't practice the faith, why they slowly commit spiritual suicide. It can be because a nun was mean to them when they were nine. Or because they don't understand the teaching of the Church on a particular issue. There will doubtless be many people these days — and you will probably meet them — who will say, "Why should I practice the faith, why should I go to Church, since the Church can't be true if God's so-called chosen ones can do the types of things we've been reading about?" This scandal is a huge hanger on which some will try to hang their justification for not practicing the faith. That's why holiness is so important.

They need to find in all of us a reason for faith, a reason for hope, a reason for responding with love to the love of the Lord. The beatitudes which we have in today's Gospel are a recipe for holiness. We all need to live them more. Do priests have to become holier? They sure do. Do religious brothers and sisters have to become holier and give ever greater witness of God and heaven? Absolutely. But all people in the Church do, including lay people! We all have the vocation to be holy and this crisis is a wake-up call.

It's a tough time to be a priest today. It's a tough time to be a Catholic today. But it's also a great time to be a priest and a great time to be a Catholic. Jesus says in the beatitudes we heard today, "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of slander against you falsely because of me. Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven is great." I've been experiencing that beatitude first hand, as some priests I know have as well. Earlier this week, when I finished up my exercise at a local gym, I was coming out of the locker room dressed in my black clerical garb. A mother, upon seeing me, immediately and hurriedly moved her children out of the way and shielded them from me as I was passing. She looked at me as I passed and when I had gone far enough along finally relaxed and let her children go — as if I would have attacked her children in the middle of the afternoon at a health club!

But while we all might have to suffer such insults and slander falsely on account of Christ, we should indeed rejoice. It's a great time to be a Christian, because this is a time in which God really needs us to show off his true face. In bygone days in America, the Church was respected. Priests were respected. The Church had a reputation for holiness and goodness. It's not so any more.

One of the greatest Catholic preachers in American history, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, used to say, that he preferred to live in times when the Church has suffered rather than thrived, when the Church had to struggle, when the Church had to go against the culture. It was a time for real men and real women to stand up and be counted. "Even dead bodies can float downstream," he used to say, pointing that many people can coast when the Church is respected, "but it takes a real man, a real woman, to swim against the current."

How true that is! It takes a real man and a real woman to stand up now and swim against the current that is flowing against the Church. It takes a real man and a real woman to recognize that when swimming against the flood of criticism, you're safest when you stay attached to the Rock on whom Christ built his Church. This is one of those times. It's a great time to be a Christian.

The Scandal of Evil is No Match for the Cross of Christ

In my latest article at Catholic Exchange, I share some of my favorite quotes that soothe my heart in the face of evil.

Here's a snippet:

We’ve all been victims of pain, hurts, other peoples sins, and our own.  And yes, we are victims of evil. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) calls it “the scandal of evil” since it derails the providence of God that we are meant to know.  In fact CCC 309 boldly states:

There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.

A few passages in the Catechism bring me great comfort in regard to evil and the reality of the devil in our world. Oh, by the way, the Catechism reminds us that the devil exists too. (Though his marketing campaign would have us believe otherwise.) 

Read the rest here.