CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) — El papa Francisco nombró a la hermana Raffaella Petrini, miembro italiana de las Hermanas Franciscanas de la Eucaristía con sede en Estados Unidos, como secretaria general de la oficina que gobierna el estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano.
El nombramiento, que incluye departamentos de supervisión tan diversos como los Museos Vaticanos, la oficina de correos y la fuerza policial, convierte a la romana de 52 años en la mujer de más alto rango en el Vaticano.
Anteriormente, el cargo lo ocupaba un sacerdote, que fue nombrado obispo poco después de convertirse en secretario general.
El papa Francisco saluda a la Hermana Raffaella Petrini, de las Hermanas Franciscanas de la Eucaristía con sede en Estados Unidos, en el Vaticano el 3 de diciembre de 2015. El papa nombró a la Hermana Petrini como secretaria general de la oficina que gobierna el Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano. (Foto CNS/Vatican Media)
La hermana Petrini tiene un doctorado en ciencias sociales de la Pontificia Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino en Roma y una maestría en ciencias en comportamiento organizacional de la escuela de negocios Barney en la Universidad de Hartford, Connecticut. Además de trabajar en la Congregación para la Evangelización de los Pueblos desde 2005, imparte cursos de sociología y economía en la Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino.
Los nombramientos de la hermana Petrini y de un nuevo vicesecretario general, Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, ex jefe de la oficina legal de la gobernación, fueron anunciados por el Vaticano el 4 de noviembre.
La hermana Petrini sucede al arzobispo Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, quien fue nombrado arzobispo y presidente de la comisión que gobierna el estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano el 1 de octubre.
Otras mujeres nombradas por el papa Francisco sirven en el puesto número 2 de varios cargos, al igual que lo hará la hermana Petrini, pero comparten el cargo con un colega masculino o se les ha asignado el cargo de manera temporal, al menos inicialmente. Ninguna de las otras oficinas emplea a tantas personas como la oficina del gobernador del Vaticano.
En agosto, el papa Francisco nombró a la salesiana Sor Alessandra Smerilli secretaria interina del Dicasterio para la Promoción del Desarrollo Humano Integral, y en febrero nombró a la Hermana Misionera Xavière Nathalie Becquart como una de las dos subsecretarias del Sínodo de los Obispos. El otro subsecretario nombrado fue el padre agustino Luis Marín de San Martín, quien fue nombrado obispo.
Ningún hombre es una isla. John Donne escribió esas palabras hace cuatro siglos y son tan verdaderas ahora como lo eran entonces, excepto que ya no las creemos.
Hoy en día, más de nosotros estamos comenzando a definir nuestra familia nuclear y nuestro círculo de amigos cuidadosamente elegido, precisamente como una isla autosuficiente y nos volvemos cada vez más selectivos en cuanto a quién está autorizado en nuestra isla, en nuestro círculo de amigos y de aquellos que consideramos dignos de respeto.
Nosotros definimos y protegemos nuestras islas idiosincrásicas por una ideología particular, una visión de la política, una visión de la moralidad, una visión del género y una visión de la religión. Cualquiera que no comparta nuestra opinión no es bienvenido y no es digno de nuestro tiempo y respeto.
Padre Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Los medios contemporáneos, además, juegan con esto. Más allá de los cientos de canales de televisión tradicionales que tenemos para elegir, cada uno con su propia agenda, tenemos redes sociales en las que cada uno de nosotros puede encontrar la ideología, política y perspectiva moral y religiosa exactas que fomenta, protege y aísla nuestra isla y hace nuestra pequeña camarilla nuclear, una de autosuficiencia, exclusividad e intolerancia.
Hoy todos tenemos las herramientas para sondear los medios hasta que encontremos exactamente la “verdad” que nos gusta. Hemos recorrido un largo camino desde los viejos tiempos de un Walter Cronkite entregando una verdad en la que todos podíamos confiar.
Los efectos de esto están en todas partes, sobre todo en la polarización cada vez más amarga que estamos experimentando frente a prácticamente todos los problemas políticos, morales, económicos y religiosos de nuestro mundo.
Hoy nos encontramos en islas separadas, sin estar abiertos a escuchar, respetar o dialogar con nadie que no sea de nuestra clase. Cualquiera que no esté de acuerdo conmigo no es digno de mi tiempo, mi oído y mi respeto; esta parece ser la actitud popular hoy en día.
Vemos algo de esto en ciertas formas estridentes de la cultura de cancelación y vemos mucho de ello en el rostro cada vez más duro y vuelto hacia adentro del nacionalismo en tantos países hoy en día. Lo que es extranjero no es bienvenido, puro y simple. No nos ocuparemos de nada que desafíe nuestra ética.
¿Qué está mal con eso? Casi todo. Independientemente de si lo estamos viendo desde una perspectiva bíblica y cristiana o si lo estamos viendo desde el punto de vista de la salud y madurez humana, esto es incorrecto simplemente.
Bíblicamente, está claro. Dios irrumpe en nuestras vidas de maneras importantes, principalmente a través de “el extraño”, a través de lo que es extraño, a través de lo que es otro y a través de lo que sabotea nuestro pensamiento y destruye nuestras expectativas calculadas. La revelación normalmente nos llega por sorpresa, es decir, en una forma que cambia nuestro pensamiento al revés.
Tomemos, por ejemplo, la encarnación misma. Durante siglos, la gente esperaba la llegada de un mesías, un dios en carne humana, que dominaría y humillaría a todos sus enemigos y les ofrecería, a los que oraban fielmente por esto, honor y gloria. Oraron por un superhombre y lo anticiparon, y ¿qué obtuvieron? Un bebé indefenso tendido en la paja. La revelación funciona así. Por eso San Pablo nos dice que siempre acojamos a un extraño porque, de hecho, podría ser un ángel disfrazado.
Estoy seguro de que todos nosotros, en algún momento de nuestras vidas, hemos tenido personalmente la experiencia de encontrarnos con un ángel disfrazado dentro de un extraño al que quizás sólo recibimos con cierta desgana y miedo.
Yo sé que en mi propia vida, ha habido momentos en los que no quise dar la bienvenida a una determinada persona o situación en mi vida. Vivo en una comunidad religiosa donde no puedes elegir con quién vivirás. A usted se le asigna su “familia inmediata” y (salvo algunas excepciones cuando hay una disfunción clínica) una mentalidad similar no es un criterio en cuanto a quién está asignado a vivir juntos en nuestras casas religiosas. No pocas veces he tenido que vivir en una comunidad con alguien a quien, por elección propia, no habría tomado por un amigo, un colega, un vecino o un miembro de mi familia.
Para mi sorpresa, a menudo ha sido esta, la persona con la que menos hubiera elegido vivir la que ha sido un vehículo de gracia y transformación en mi vida. Además, esto ha sido cierto para mi vida en general. A menudo me he encontrado agraciado por las fuentes más improbables, inesperadas e inicialmente no deseadas. Es cierto que esto no siempre ha sido sin dolor. Lo que es extraño, lo que es otro, puede ser perturbador y doloroso durante mucho tiempo antes de que se reconozcan la gracia y la revelación, pero es lo que lleva la gracia.
Ese es nuestro desafío siempre, aunque particularmente hoy en día, cuando muchos de nosotros nos retiramos a nuestras propias islas, imaginando esto como madurez y luego racionalizándolo con una fe falsa, un nacionalismo y una idea falsos de lo que constituye la madurez. Esto es incorrecto y peligroso.
Comprometerse con lo otro nos agranda. Dios está en el extraño, por lo que nos estamos apartando de una importante avenida de gracia cada vez que no permitimos que lo extranjero entre en nuestras vidas.
(El padre oblato Ron Rolheiser es un teólogo, maestro y autor galardonado. Puede ser contactado a través de su sitio web www.ronrolheiser.com.
Blessing of the pets ceremonies are part of the celebration for the Feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, in rememberance for his love of all creatures. This time of year, people bring a procession of animals, everthing from dogs and cats to raccoons, snakes and spiders to our churches and schools for a special blessing ceremony. The love we give to pets and receive in return from pets draws us into the circle of life and our relationship to God.
PEARL – Father Lincoln Dall blesses Donna Mia as Mark Bowden looks on. (Photo by Rhonda Bowden)
MADISON – St. Anthony third grade student Owen Holcomb holds his pet as he awaits a blessing during the schools annual Pet Blessing Ceremony. (Photo by Kati Loyacono)
HOLLY SPRINGS – Father Hendrik Ardianto, SCJ (“Ardi”) blessed pets at Holy Family School in honor of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Pictured is “K.D. Smith,” a Boston Terrier, reaching out to thank Father Ardi for the blessing. (Photo by Laura Grisham)
SOUTHAVEN – Father David Szatkowski, SCJ blessed librarian Rae Davis’ french bulldog, Louie. He loves patrolling the school grounds at Sacred Heart in his stroller. (Photo by Laura Grisham)
SOUTHAVEN – The Knights of Columbus at Christ the King create a huge Pumpkin Patch each year as a fundraiser, with many varieties of pumpkins, perfect for fall and Halloween decor. (Photo by Laura Grisham)
WEST POINT – Michelle Aguda and her sister brought their dogs to be blessed by Father Binh Nguyen at Immaculate Conception parish. (Photo by Cathy Johnson)
WEST POINT – Father Binh Nguyen is pictured with Anne Smith, Kathy Knighten and Robert Smith at Immaculate Conception parish. (Photo by Cathy Johnson)
MADISON – At St. Francis of Assisi parish, Daniel Inman holds Madi and his dad, Will Inman holds Max for a blessing by Father Albeen Vatti. (Photo by Sallie Ann Inman)
OLIVE BRANCH – At Queen of Peace parish, Father Ardi blessed two horses. He even blessed two raccoons! (Photo by Laura Grisham)
PEARL – Father Lincoln visits with Cherlynn Womack and Lincoln Dall, the dog at St. Jude. (Photo by Rhonda Bowden)
SOUTHAVEN – Father David blessed a spider. Reports were: “ICK it was HUGE!”
CLINTON – Father McGing blesses Greta Nalker’s pet corn snake, St. Valentine, at Holy Savior parish. (Photo by Lacy Nalker)
BATESVILLE – At St. Mary parish, Father Pradeep blesses Sharon Hodge’s Chocolate Labradoodle puppy, and Stella and Robin Ridge’s dogs, Storm and Brownie. (Photo by Sharon Hodge)
VICKSBURG – In honor of St. Francis, Father Rusty blessed the pets at St. Paul parish and enjoyed faith and fellowship with parishioners. (Photo by Wilson Locke)
By Dennis Sadowski VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis is inviting Catholics both in the mainstream of church life and on the margins to voice their dreams, ideas and concerns in preparation for the Synod of Bishops in 2023.
The process launched Oct. 17 in parishes and dioceses worldwide. The pope formally opened the synod process at the Vatican Oct. 9-10.
Under the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” the pope is calling the church to practice synodality, that is listening to – and hearing – one another in all facets of church life, two of the coordinators of the effort at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told Catholic News Service.
The October opening “is just the first step in a larger, longer-term process of really incorporating the fruits of Vatican II and becoming a synodal church,” said Julia McStravog, a former USCCB employee who is a consultant to the bishops on the process.
“We’re going to have consultation. It’s also going to be a learning process about how to actually engage in a synodal way,” McStravog explained.
The launch begins a two-year process that culminates in the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. The synod is expected to adopt a final document that will guide the continuing development of a synodal church going into the future.
The pope’s call to synodality is rooted in his deep involvement as a cardinal in 2007 in drafting a document for CELAM, the acronym for the Spanish name of the Latin American bishops’ council, which met in Aparecida, Brazil. The document issued repeated calls for a “continental mission,” a church that goes out in search of ways to proclaim the Gospel to all.
Starting in October, dioceses and parishes will be engaged in nearly six months of discussions, or consultations, in which people from across the church will be invited to participate, said Richard Coll, executive director of the bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, who is coordinating the effort for the USCCB. Each diocese is being asked to submit a summary of local discussions by April 1 to the USCCB, which will then take a month to synthesize in a final written presentation for the Vatican.
Pope Francis celebrates a Mass to open the process that will lead up to the assembly of the world Synod of Bishops in 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)
Coll said each diocese is being encouraged to let the Holy Spirit guide discussions.
“The Synod of Bishops is saying don’t focus on what the ultimate product is going to be. Focus on the process itself and how the Spirit will guide the church, represented in part through subsidiarity in the work that you are doing at the diocesan level,” Coll said.
The diocesan consultations also are an invitation to creativity, McStravog said.
“This is a moment to be co-creators with the Spirit. … It is a chance for reinvigorating an engaged community through creativity and the call to be open. There’s a chance to reaffirm the good and reimagine some things that could be better,” she explained.
To facilitate the effort, the Synod of Bishops, under Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general, introduced documents Sept. 7 to guide the process in dioceses. The USCCB followed up by quickly developing a supplemental document as well.
The primary document is a “vademecum,” or handbook, offering support for diocesan teams “to prepare and gather the people of God so that they can give voice to their experience in their local church.”
It also explains the objectives of the synodal process, principles of the process, the timeline for the two-year process, and resources for organizing the process.
A complementary preparatory document offers background to the development of the process, which is rooted in Pope Francis’ often-made invitation for “journeying together” in the world.
It states, “This journey, which follows in the wake of the church’s ‘renewal’ proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: By journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the church will be able to learn through her experience which processes can help her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open herself to mission.”
The USCCB document further defines the Vatican’s documents. It a checklist of actions, proposed timeline for dioceses to follow, and a listing of background materials to help walk parishes and dioceses through the initial process and ensure wide participation.
An addendum, developed by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, offers ideas for liturgical celebrations to mark the opening and closing of the synodal process in dioceses and suggestions for Scripture readings and musical themes.
Coll said the USCCB has been communicating with dioceses since May about forming teams to coordinate participation in the listening sessions. The Vatican documents were forwarded to dioceses soon after they were received by the USCCB.
At its meeting Sept. 14-15, the USCCB Administrative Committee, which includes the USCCB’s officers and the chairmen of the bishops’ various committees, reviewed the materials. It agreed to allot time for discussion on the synodal process during its fall general assembly in November, Coll said.
As dioceses prepare for the listening sessions, McStravog said the discussions present an opportunity for “gentleness and grace” to take hold within the church.
“This is a spiritual exercise,” she said. “It’s not just a bureaucratic or ecclesial exercise. It’s a spiritual exercise for the individual, for the parish, for the community, for the diocese and for the church in America at large.”
Coll and McStravog also echoed the pope’s Sept. 18 call to members of his diocese, the Diocese of Rome, to go to the margins to ensure that “the poor, the homeless, young people addicted to drugs, everyone that society rejects are part of the synod.”
“One of the questions is listening. How do we actually listen? It goes back to the invitation. The onus is on the diocese to really think through who is often excluded from our table. The church needs to go out and invite people back in,” McStravog said.
The vademecum also recognizes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the church.
The document explains that the pandemic “has made existing inequalities explode” and shows that the entire human family is affected, requiring a unified response.
Secondly, the document continues, the pandemic poses logistical challenges for participation in diocesan listening sessions. It calls on dioceses to look for ways such as online gatherings, small group meetings or other safe means to gain insight from church members.
Once the Vatican receives the synthesized reports of diocesan meetings from bishops’ conferences around the world, the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops will draft by September 2022 the “instrumentum laboris,” or working document, to guide continental or regional ecclesial assemblies that will take place by March 2023.
Those assemblies will produce another set of documents that will help in the drafting of a second working document for the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. The synod is expected to produce a final document on synodality throughout the church.
(Editor’s note: Bishop Joseph Kopacz will formally open the synod process in the diocese on 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 24 with Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson.)
MADISON – On Oct. 3, St. Francis of Assisi parish held their annual Cajun Fest fundraiser. Fun was had by all with games, raffles, music and food, including fried shrimp, crawfish etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo and more. Pictured are Father Albeen Vatti and Msgr. Michael Flannery “Padre” joining in the fun playing spoons on frottoirs (washboards) and dancing during a spirited cajun tune. For more photos visit the diocese Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jacksondiocese. (Photos by Joanna Puddister King)
In mid-October, I spent a couple of eventful days at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. On Wednesday, Oct. 13 Ryan Stoer and Tristan Stovall were instituted to the order of acolyte. Acolyte institution is the final step before ordination to Holy Orders as a deacon. Men who are instituted to this order are given the opportunity to serve the Mass and even purify the vessels following Mass. Prior to acolyte institution candidates for the priesthood are instituted as lectors. Ryan and Tristan have been joy-filled witnesses to the formation process from the beginning of their time in the seminary. Please keep them and their families in your prayers.
Father Nick Adam
The day after that joyous occasion I was surprised by some monumental news in the life of Notre Dame Seminary. The longtime rector of NDS, Father Jim Wehner, had already announced that this would be his 10th and final year leading the community as he would return to serve in his home diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and on Oct. 14 NDS announced that Father Josh Rodrigue would succeed Father Wehner in that post. I was very pleased to hear this news. Father Wehner has been an incredible leader at the seminary, and I believe that Father Rodrigue will be able to keep the momentum going in New Orleans. Father Josh taught me during part of my time in the seminary, and he has been a great support to many men who have been recently ordained to the priesthood.
My time at the seminary was a time of great joy and being back for a couple of days was a great reminder that while this is no longer my home it remains a great one for the men who are seeking to know whether they are called to be priests. In the coming days I plan on visiting the other seminary that serves our priestly candidates, St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, and I look forward to checking in on our two youngest seminarians, Will Foggo and Grayson Foley. Thank you as always for your support of our vocations department. Our final fundraising total from the Homegrown Harvest Festival was $81,177. All of these funds will go toward the education of our future priests as well as programs and events to help others discern whether they are called to the seminary or religious community to follow God’s call to Holy Orders or religious life.
By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A synod calls on everyone to become experts in “the art of encounter” in a way that is uplifting and transformative, Pope Francis said, formally opening the process leading up to the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2023.
“Celebrating a synod means walking on the same road, together” just like Jesus did – encountering, listening and discerning with all who one meets, the pope said in his homily at the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 10.
“Are we prepared for the adventure of this journey? Or are we fearful of the unknown, preferring to take refuge in the usual excuses: ‘It’s useless’ or ‘We’ve always done it this way?’” he asked.
Some 3,000 people attended the Mass, including the 270 people – cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laypeople – invited to the day of reflection in the Vatican Synod Hall Oct. 9.
The weekend of events began the “synodal journey,” which will explore the theme, “For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission.” Bishops around the world were to open the process in their dioceses Oct. 17. The diocesan phase, which runs until April, will focus on listening to and consulting the people of God.
In his homily, the pope said they should begin the synodal process “by asking ourselves – all of us, pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity – whether we, the Christian community, embody this ‘style’ of God, who travels the paths of history and shares in the life of humanity.”
The day’s Gospel reading (Mk 10:17-30) of Jesus setting out on a journey and encountering a rich man offers just one example of how Jesus “walks alongside people and listens to the questions and concerns lurking in their hearts,” he said. “He shows us that God is not found in neat and orderly places, distant from reality, but walks ever at our side.”
Celebrating a synod, he said, means walking on the same road as others and living out the “three verbs” that characterize a synod: to encounter, listen and discern.
“We too are called to become experts in the art of encounter. Not so much by organizing events or theorizing about problems as in taking time to encounter the Lord and one another,” to devote time to prayer and adoration, and to listen to what the Holy Spirit wants to say to the church, the pope said.
Jesus shows that an encounter has the power to change someone’s life – “the Gospel is full of such encounters with Christ, encounters that uplift and bring healing,” the pope said. In fact, Jesus was never in a hurry, and he would never have looked at a watch to signal it was time to wrap things up. “He was always at the service of people he met in order to listen to them.”
Pope Francis raises the Book of the Gospels as he celebrates a Mass to open the process that will lead up to the assembly of the world Synod of Bishops in 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)
Each encounter requires “openness, courage and a willingness to let ourselves be challenged by the presence and the stories of others,” the pope said. It means not hiding behind a facade or stiff formalities indicative of a spirit of clericalism or of courtiers, but it means being a father.
To that end, the pope said he would be meeting a group of people who live on the streets later that day. He said they had already started meeting because another group of people had gone to listen to them and from there, “they have been able to begin the journey.”
Sincere listening involves the heart, not just the ears, Pope Francis said. The aim is not to be able to answer people’s questions, especially with pre-packaged or “artificial and shallow responses,” but to provide an opportunity to tell one’s story and speak freely.
“Whenever we listen with the heart, people feel that they are being heard, not judged; they feel free to recount their own experiences and their spiritual journey,” he said.
Listening to one another “is a slow and perhaps tiring exercise” but it must be done, including listening to “the questions, concerns and hopes of every church, people and nation,” and to the “challenges and changes” that world presents, he added.
Encountering and listening “are not ends in themselves” where everything stays the same, but must lead to discernment, he said.
“Whenever we enter into dialogue, we allow ourselves to be challenged, to advance on a journey. And in the end, we are no longer the same; we are changed,” he said.
The synod is “a journey of spiritual discernment that takes place in adoration, in prayer and in dialogue with the word of God,” the pope said.
IN EXILE By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI In Walker Percy’s 1971 novel, Love Among the Ruins, his central character is a psychiatrist named Tom More. More is a Roman Catholic who is no longer practicing his faith, albeit he still believes. This is how he describes his situation: “I believe in God and the whole business but I love women best, music and science next, whiskey next, God fourth, and my fellowman hardly at all. … Nevertheless, I still believe.”
Ironically, perhaps it was persons like him, sinners who still believed, who were the ones most drawn to Jesus in the Gospels.
Reading More’s list of what he loves and in what order, I’m reminded of a conference I once attended on the theme of Secularity and the Gospel. One of the keynote speakers, a renowned social worker, made a comment to this effect: I work on the streets with the poor and I do it because I’m a Christian. But I can work on the streets for years and never mention Christ’s name because I believe that God is mature enough that he doesn’t demand to be the center of our conscious attention all the time.
Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
As you can guess, her statement sparked some debate. It should. Does God demand to be the center of our conscious attention all the time? Is it okay habitually to be focused elsewhere? If, affectively, we in fact love a lot of other persons and things before God, is this a betrayal of our faith?
There are no simple answers to these questions because they demand a very delicate balance between the demands of the First Commandment and an overall theology of God. As the First Commandment teaches, God is primary, always. This may never be ignored; but we also know that God is wise and trustworthy. Hence, we may safely deduce that God did not make us one way and then demand that we live in an entirely different way: that is, God did not make us with powerful proclivities that instinctually and habitually focus us on the things of this world and then demand that we give him the center of attention all the time. That would be a bad parent.
Good parents love their children, try to give them sufficient guidance, and then set them free to focus on their own lives. They don’t demand to be the center of their children’s lives; they only ask that their children remain faithful to the family’s ethos and values, even as they still want them to come home regularly and not forget about their family.
This dynamic is a little more complex within a marriage. Spouses with a mature love for each other no longer demand that they be the center of each other’s conscious attention all the time. Most of the time, this is not a problem. The problem arises more when one partner is no longer the affective center for the other, when at the level of emotional attraction and focus someone else has displaced him or her. This can be emotionally painful and yet, within the context of mature love, should not threaten the marriage. Our emotions are like wild animals, roaming where they will, but they are not the real indicator of love and fidelity. I know a man, a writer, who has been lovingly and scrupulously faithful to his wife through more than forty years who, by his own admission, has a crush on a different person every other day. This hasn’t threatened his marriage. Admittedly though, but for a strong spirituality and morality, it could.
The same principles hold true for our relationship with God. First, God gave us a nature that is affectively wild and promiscuous. God expects us to be responsible as to how we act inside that nature; but, given how we are made, the First Commandment may not be interpreted in such a way that we should feel guilty whenever God is not consciously or affectively number one in our lives.
Next, as a good parent, God doesn’t demand to be the center of our conscious attention all the time. God is not upset when our habitual focus is on our own lives, so long as we remain faithful and do not culpably neglect giving God that focus when it is called for.
As well, God is a good spouse who knows that sometimes, given our innate promiscuity, our affections will momentarily be infatuated by a different center. Like a good spouse, what God asks is fidelity.
Finally, more deeply, there is still the question of what ultimately we are infatuated with and longing for when our focus is on other things rather than on God. Even in that, it is God we seek.
There are times when we are called to make God the conscious center of our attention; love and faith demand this. However, there will be times when, affectively and consciously, God will take fourth place in our lives – and God is mature and understanding enough to live with that.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)
By Catholic News Service WASHINGTON – After a prayer rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Oct. 4, Students for Life of America and the Justice Foundation released the “Moral Outcry Petition,” a call for the court to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide.
Over half a million Americans signed the petition, which was two massive scrolls filled with the signatures.
“Every child, born or preborn, has the inalienable right to life given by God,” said Tina Whittington, executive vice president of Students for Life of America, an organization she said “stands with the hundreds of thousands of signers who call on the Supreme Court to do the right thing and protect the lives of the preborn.”
“The pro-life generation will not rest until abortion is abolished and made unthinkable,” she said.
The Justice Foundation said in a statement that the petition “stands on the premise that U.S. citizens do not accept abortion as the law of the land. Especially now that every state has passed safe-haven laws, the ‘unwanted child’ argument of the pro-abortion lobby is no longer valid.”
Safe-haven laws generally allow the parent, or an agent of the parent, to remain anonymous and to be shielded from criminal liability and prosecution for child endangerment, abandonment or neglect in exchange for surrendering the baby to a safe haven.
Pro-life supporters argue these laws provide a free, safe alternative to abortion for pregnant women in need who feel that they could not care for a newborn.
“This is an unprecedented moment in our fight to abolish abortion,” Whittington added. “With a ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson, the pro-life movement may soon see at least the partial reversal of Roe v. Wade.”
On Dec. 1, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Dobbs case, which is an appeal from Mississippi to keep its ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Supporters of the law are urging the court to reexamine its previous abortion rulings, including Roe v. Wade.
If the court overturns Roe, the move would not make abortion illegal throughout the U.S., but would return the issue to the states to be decided.
For 15 years, Whittington said, Students for Life of America “has been preparing for a post-Roe America, and the Moral Outcry petition reflects the many Americans who have fought and prayed for the protection of the preborn in law – and who now stand ready to serve mothers and families.”
Oct. 4 was the first day of the high court’s new term, and both pro-life advocates and supporters of legal abortion gathered along the street at the front of the court or nearby to rally for their side on the abortion question.
Two days earlier in Washington, supporters of legal abortion marched for “Abortion Justice,” gathering at Freedom Plaza in Washington before marching to the Supreme Court.
Organizers said some 600 “sister marches” took place across the country to protest a new Texas law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and also to press the Supreme Court to uphold “reproductive rights” and keep Roe intact.
“The ‘Women’s March’ doesn’t speak for me or the millions of women who value human lives – it is completely out of step,” Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, wrote in an Oct. 2 opinion piece posted at www.foxnews.com.
“This year’s Women’s March is not about following science or anything that elevates women or humanity. When we march for life every January, we welcome all human beings – most especially expectant mothers and their unborn children,” she said.
If anyone expected the Oct. 2 event would be a gathering “that welcomes all women,” they instead found “a monolith of thought almost exclusively focused on pro-abortion ideology,” Mancini said.
The marchers and the event’s organizers, she added, make “no effort to keep up with emerging science as it relates to embryonic development,” nor do they “draw any lines between early abortions and procedures that cross over into infanticide.”
Recognizing “equal rights for unborn women,” she added, “sadly … does not make its way into the policy platform.” Mancini also noted that in the nearly 50 years since the Roe v. Wade decision, “medical science has made stunning advances.”
“We now know that a baby’s heart starts to beat around five weeks, and a recent study found that babies could experience pain as early as 12 weeks,” she said. “These discoveries and numerous others should shape how we approach abortion, especially after 15 weeks, but pro-abortion advocates are stuck in the past.”
She called the Mississippi law’s 15-week limit on abortion “a modest limit.”
A pro-life supporter holds up a section of a scroll of signatures outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Oct. 4, 2021. Over half a million Americans signed two massive scrolls called the “Moral Outcry Petition” to urge the court to overturn 1973’s Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion nationwide. (CNS photo/Leah Millis, Reuters)
