Continued rumblings after the synod

Sometimes I think that the seeming to-and-fro, not only of Pope Francis' mind, as reported here and there, but the synod proceedings as a whole, reflects a discernment process. It seems like it anyway. It is like some form of annealing, like a boggle game shaken vigorously. and no one knows what it will say when the pieces come to rest.

Apart from that, it is an interesting spectacle to watch how the different characters and groups react and reveal their minds and their cards. Some, God bless them, are simply orthodox. Others are unapologetically less interested in orthodoxy, despite the fact that it is Christ at the giving end of the doxos. Some are close to panic, others are calm but vigilant, and others yet, smug, indifferent, or both. It's interesting to consider that they - we - are all being tested on this. Christ, as always, is a stumbling block and a cause to reveal the secrets of our intentions. Our intentions are on the scales. Is our position chosen out of charity or selfishness, fidelity or worldliness, conviction or comfort, faith or despair?

Divorce is a big deal to the Christian faith, because it is breaking faith and unity

From Malachi 1:1-14,2:13-16 in the Office of Readings today:

And here is something else you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and wailing, because he now refuses to consider the offering or to accept it from your hands. And you ask, ‘Why?’ It is because the Lord stands as witness between you and the wife of your youth, the wife with whom you have broken faith, even though she was your partner and your wife by covenant. Did he not create a single being that has flesh and the breath of life? And what is this single being destined for? God-given offspring. Be careful for your own life, therefore, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce, says the Lord the God of Israel, and I hate people to parade their sins on their cloaks, says the Lord of Hosts. Respect your own life, therefore, and do not break faith like this.

Christian Disunity and the Good News of the Kingdom

Today's Second and Gospel Readings jumped out at me because my wife has just told my children that she is not Catholic. They haven't asked too many questions about it yet, but it will come, and it won't be easy to navigate these waters.

I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chlo'e's people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apol'los," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? .. For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.(1 Cor 1:10-13,17)

Now when [Jesus] heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "The land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles -- the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb'edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. (Mt 4:12-23)

I don't think anyone can claim that St. Paul was only concerned about the unity among Corinthians, one congregation. Nor that it was a minor matter, nor that a unity in name only, or on a subset of beliefs and practices only. As the Lord prayed repeatedly,

".. that they may be one, even as we are one.. that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. .. that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me." (Jn 17)

It is important! These are heartfelt words of St. Paul and the Lord himself, and I am living them now! This unity is inextricably linked to the Good News that we should proclaim in how we live, how we follow Christ, and what we preach. Disunity casts a shadow upon the Good News, and it is a cause of great sorrow.

The Patriarchal Family in History

Probably horrible words to read for some, but Christopher Dawson makes a cogent case. Read it to believe it (or not).

A responsibility to remaining healthy

I held my daughter today, born before noon, and wished that I didn't have a cold so I could give her a kiss, and cuddle her closer to me. As it was I had to hold her and supposed she'd still be exposed to the cold we all had at home by the time I got her home later this week. But it got me thinking about this topic again: our health -- physical and spiritual -- impacts not only our own lives but those around us. And so we truly do have a responsibility to watch our health in all aspects.

I've come to realize that being in a family, especially involving children, confronts us with such a responsibility. Concerning our spiritual health, this means considering our state of grace (or mortal sin). We parents cannot claim that "it's okay for me to... " and then say "it's not okay for my kids to ..", when talking about sinful habits and compromises. These things can be directly catching, or at least the consequences will have an impact on the people around us.

Of course, the 20th century's sad thrust for individualism makes one less likely to consider such things, and so we carry the consequences of that right into the 21st. And look around us now. "Live and let live" almost has to have degenerated into "live and let die".

Fathers jailed for opting children out of sex education

This is just so wrong

At least eight Russo-German families in Salzkotten, Germany, have suffered heavy fines and now their fathers have been sentenced to prison, because they have refused to send their elementary school-age children to mandatory sexual education classes.
...
In one case, the Jugendamt, accompanied by 15 heavily armed police, forcibly seized 15 year-old Melissa Busekros in the dead of night from her family in 2007 against her will. However, legal intervention ensured that Busekros was legally permitted to return to her family upon turning 16.

Did Government Intervention Do More Harm than Good?

Read this and, truly, weep. How can well-meaning government actions now be blamed for waywardness among our youth? When those actions contradict common sense, perhaps. Not to say that the alleged would-be terrorist is without guilt, but that giving a 17-year-old the free pass to override his family's authority was probably not a good idea.

The Culture of Death is coming to invade the Philippines

through a "reproductive health" bill with rather sinister designs all over it. We do need prayers for my former home.

.. Access to contraceptives is already unrestricted in the Philippines. The government family planning service, which has been in place since the 1970s, has an infrastructure of workers all the way down to the grassroots. .. So what is the purpose of House Bill 5043, which is entitled “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development” .. what makes it so objectionable to the church and those legislators and members of the public who are pushing from the other side? The answer is, coercion. The contraceptive-driven fertility decline program of HB 5043 may be the most coercive ever designed outside China. .. it establishes an “ideal” family size, setting the stage for a proposed two-child policy; it imposes a national sex education curriculum at fifth grade level. Couples would be denied a civil marriage license unless they present a “certificate of compliance” from a family planning office certifying that they have been adequately instructed in family planning and “responsible parenthood”. If before, quota-driven programs have led to gross human rights violations, this time around this bill could easily penalize with fines and jail sentences workers who will be unable to meet their quota. Employers who refuse to provide reproductive health care services to their employees will likewise be subject to penalties. Worse, it curtails freedom of speech, since any person who dares to talk against the program will also be subject to jail sentence and fines. This program turns the Philippines into a veritable police state with the government using police powers to interfere in the personal affairs of its citizens. It will surely drive a wedge between couples since a health worker must provide sterilization services even in the absence of spousal permission -- or incur a penalty; and likewise between parents and children, since the latter can have access to reproductive health services without parental consent. In a generation or two, the six years of value-free sex education the bill mandates for school children will surely create sexually active adolescents.

They are all set to turn Filipino society on its head and brings it down the same path of ruin that many western societies now face: millions aborted every year, families broken up by instant gratification, promiscuity and adultery, women objectified, children abandoned in the aftermath of adultery and the pursuit of self-fulfillment with no commitment, etc. Oh what evils these proponents of that bill are toying with.

And if you follow the story in that link, here's a shocker (that isn't so shocking if you've been studying such lobbies worldwide):

In the House, Congressman del Mar revealed departures from the established procedure in the handling of HB 5043. There were actually four reproductive health bills referred to two House committees. A first hearing on three bills took place on April 29 this year. By the second hearing on May 21, however, the committee chairman announced they would now consider “the substitute bill” (replacing all four bills) and, in the blink of an eye, the committees approved it. Usually a technical working group is convened to painstakingly put together the substitute bill. The question is, where did the substitute bill come from? Former Senator Francisco S. Tatad, an incisive commentator, sources HB 5043 to the Philippine Legislative Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) — an NGO with offices in the same building as the House of Representatives. .. PLCPD is essentially a foreign body. A popular columnist, Jose Sison, reports that PLCPD’s 2008 lobbying fund of two billion pesos comes from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, IPPF and UNFPA the latter two both well known for their global agenda to legalize abortion.

IPPF -- the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Ring a bell?

All is quiet here.. but not in the real world

On the contrary, life has been fairly hectic. The fact that this blog speaks little of it is actually a good thing. At least my wife would say so. To give a very brief report, life for this little family simply goes on. Kids got sick, they got better. K1 still has authority issues, but that's life; he's eight. I still struggle to strike a balance between discipline and moral support. He is a lively little boy with (I think) advanced social skills for his age. K2 has moderation issues, both with his irrepressible sense of humor (at the expense of his brothers, usually) and his toys. But he has his deep thinking moments, and that irrepressible humor is always a blast of sunshine that is so enjoyable when I open myself to actually enjoying it. K3 is growing up a true gem so far, all five years of him. He is cheerful, except when his brothers are too harsh with him, and he is so alive. Swinging his head this way and that, and sometimes all his limbs, he virtually dances to the liturgy, right there beside me.

And that's a brief report! :-)

As for theology, liturgy, faith and everything else I used to blog so much about, that's all going on in the background. No time to report on all that at this point, except to say ancora imparo: I am still learning. There is so much to learn, after all, and I am such a tiny vessel.

If today you hear his voice..

From today's Gospel reading from St. Luke 14:25-24:

"A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, 'Come, everything is now ready.' But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.' The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.' The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.' The master then ordered the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner."

It is disquieting to think that such excuses as were given by the originally invited guests are not objectively bad things: one's business, one's properties, one's marriage. It is equally disquieting that I could easily come up with such excuses for all sorts of occasions in which it may well be the Lord inviting me to come. How does a Christian husband and father juggle his family's needs as well as his God's will? What did those countless martyrs think when confronted with a threat of execution (and therefore depriving their young families of themselves) unless they renounced Christ?

One of the debates I had with myself from the beginning is this very dilemma. Is it right for me to take my family out of our third world and needy country and raise them instead in an opulent country such as Australia? Did I come here to be salt and leaven, or am I here simply to enjoy the privileges of a first world country? Am I not getting lost in those seemingly reasonable pursuits, using them as an excuse to decline the call of the gospel?

Of course, I am probably just taking myself too seriously. I guess if I do things right, in small ways, we and our children can all be leaven and salt in this society -- provided that we don't lose the plot.