Autumn in Steubenville

Very suavamente

Today Jon sends me a link to Amazon to a boxed set of philosophy DVDs with the following message:

"Clare said she wanted to buy this for her papa this Christmas! She's so cute isn't she?"

29 Weeks: Still getting use out of my old lap suit..Let's see how long I can pull this off

A small reflection on baptism as the threshold to the life of faith

Maybe the image of a river was planted in my mind from reading...but the image became a raging one at Mass this morning as I reflected on God's desire for each one of us, especially those of us who are indelibly marked with the seal of baptism.

The river rages, pulling us all along in the same direction. It is one river, as the way to salvation is through one church, one bride. The water is cleansing and powerful and regenerative, as are the sacraments. It is constantly flowing; constantly picking up new souls. It is also scary at times as we have to trust God's movement in our lives. God knows where this river is leading us even if we cannot see or comprehend its entry to the sea that is the rest and celebration of the wedding feast.

With our free will, we are free to leave this river, to hold on to some rock on the way, to hold on to some attachment to the world or to ourselves, which we call sin. We are free to pull out of it and throw ourselves on dry land since it seems easier because it may appear to be the way of less suffering, at least for the moment. But, we should remember, God's river is rushing while any stop for us is an obstacle that we place, not one that God does. His will is that the river flows and carries us to the love of the Trinity. And many a time, we can all say, God has a way of pulling us back from that rock or land or weed right back into his passionate love.

Now, what occurred most to me at Mass while I reflected on this image was why I have so often chosen, as St. Augustine says, the lesser goods to the greatest good of all? Why would any of us want to grab a rock and resist the love that constantly moves the river forward? I think there are a multitude of answers to this question. Thankfully, there are also a multitude of graces to help us all abandon ourselves to God's love and to His desire to bring us to Himself today and for eternity.

 

28 Weeks

7 Months and ready for anything!

Jon taking an hour to scrutinize the manual for Clare's car seat..which probably reminds him a lot of Aquinas' philosophical writings ;) 

And her seat is finally installed after we had purchased a different one and returned it. Clare is now going to ride in the lap of Graco luxury with her very own ducky distraction from Grandma

6 Mos 3 Weeks

Today was an exciting day. Went to a Pittsburgh Babywearers meeting and finally figured out how to use my ring sling! I was also introduced to some great ways to wear your baby in a Moby Wrap, a long piece of fabric that wraps around you and baby, distributing support very well all over. I can definitely see myself very happy with both, however, for different uses. Now, the question is whether Clare will dig them or not. Regardless, if she doesn't, then maybe the next baby will!

Anyway, I am ready to meet our daughter face to face. I have no picture in my mind of what (I should say who!) she looks like, except that I am expecting a dark haired little one. I also expect her to be long because Jon is 6'3" and I am no shrimp myself ;) but as far as her face, no idea whatsoever. All I know is I LOVE HER. I also know she is quite vivacious and likes for me to know she is there--by her wiggles and punches and somersaults. She also loves her papa already and starts to move whenever he is near and talking. A lot has been going on this month and people are right to say the second trimester rocks.

With God's grace, I am ready to die to myself for her like I do for Jon (okay, most of the time, but I am always repentant!!). Not "doing my best" like the saying goes: "She did her best as a mother." More "I suffered out of love for Christ and for her." Love is proved and perfected in suffering. My prayer is that I am humbled by motherhood, encouraged by God's love, and purified by suffering. Then I can really say that all I did for Clare was but for the grace of God and not me "doing my best" because alone my best is pretty crappy.

To vote with humility and hope on behalf of millions denied their human rights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61wj4tJICcc

This morning since Jon had been awake all night studying...

Me: I have a new nickname for you: Study Bug.

Jon (smiling): Ok, then you're Lady Bug and Clare is Stink Bug

hahaha...stink bug??!

In Thanksgiving

"I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath."

2 Macc 7:22

And the St. Augustine wishful thinking goes on...

These photos are from an email Jon sent me to try to convince me once again that he resembles the great theologian/philosopher.  Sorry, honey, but willing something doesn't make it so... You're not St. Jon of Hippo!!!

6 1/2 Months

We're down to less than 100 days... :)

Woo-hoo!! A response to Pelosi as well as an interesting and succinct read

My favorite passage is this one from the American Medical Association: "Secular laws against abortion were being reformed at the same time and in the same way, based on secular medical experts’ realization that “no other doctrine appears to be consonant with reason or physiology but that which admits the embryo to possess vitality from the very moment of conception” (American Medical Association, Report on Criminal Abortion, 1871).

Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching

Fact sheet by the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Click here to print as a PDF.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law” (No. 2271). 

In response to those who say this teaching has changed or is of recent origin, here are the facts:

• From earliest times, Christians sharply distinguished themselves from surrounding pagan cultures by rejecting abortion and infanticide.  The earliest widely used documents of Christian teaching and practice after the New Testament in the 1st and 2nd centuries, theDidache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) and Letter of Barnabas, condemned both practices, as did early regional and particular Church councils.  
  
  
• To be sure, knowledge of human embryology was very limited until recent times.  Many Christian thinkers accepted the biological theories of their time, based on the writings of Aristotle (4th century BC) and other philosophers.  Aristotle assumed a process was needed over time to turn the matter from a woman’s womb into a being that could receive a specifically human form or soul.  The active formative power for this process was thought to come entirely from the man – the existence of the human ovum (egg), like so much of basic biology, was unknown.  
  
  
• However, such mistaken biological theories never changed the Church’s common conviction that abortion is gravely wrong at every stage.  At the very least, early abortion was seen as attacking a being with a human destiny, being prepared by God to receive an immortal soul (cf. Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you”).
  
  
• In the 5th century AD this rejection of abortion at every stage was affirmed by the great bishop-theologian St. Augustine.  He knew of theories about the human soul not being present until some weeks into pregnancy.  Because he used the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, he also thought the ancient Israelites had imposed a more severe penalty for accidentally causing a miscarriage if the fetus was “fully formed” (Exodus 21: 22-23), language not found in any known Hebrew version of this passage.  But he also held that human knowledge of biology was very limited, and he wisely warned against misusing such theories to risk committing homicide.  He added that God has the power to make up all human deficiencies or lack of development in the Resurrection, so we cannot assume that the earliest aborted children will be excluded from enjoying eternal life with God. 
  
  
• In the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas made extensive use of Aristotle’s thought, including his theory that the rational human soul is not present in the first few weeks of pregnancy.  But he also rejected abortion as gravely wrong at every stage, observing that it is a sin “against nature” to reject God’s gift of a new life.
  
  
• During these centuries, theories derived from Aristotle and others influenced the grading of penalties for abortion in Church law.  Some canonical penalties were more severe for a direct abortion after the stage when the human soul was thought to be present.  However, abortion at all stages continued to be seen as a grave moral evil.  
  
  
• From the 13th to 19th centuries, some theologians speculated about rare and difficult cases where they thought an abortion before “formation” or “ensoulment” might be morally justified.  But these theories were discussed and then always rejected, as the Church refined and reaffirmed its understanding of abortion as an intrinsically evil act that can never be morally right.
  
  
• In 1827, with the discovery of the human ovum, the mistaken biology of Aristotle was discredited. Scientists increasingly understood that the union of sperm and egg at conception produces a new living being that is distinct from both mother and father.  Modern genetics demonstrated that this individual is, at the outset, distinctively human, with the inherent and active potential to mature into a human fetus, infant, child and adult.  From 1869 onward the obsolete distinction between the “ensouled” and “unensouled” fetus was permanently removed from canon law on abortion.
  
  
• Secular laws against abortion were being reformed at the same time and in the same way, based on secular medical experts’ realization that “no other doctrine appears to be consonant with reason or physiology but that which admits the embryo to possess vitality from the very moment of conception” (American Medical Association, Report on Criminal Abortion, 1871).
  
  
• Thus modern science has not changed the Church’s constant teaching against abortion, but has underscored how important and reasonable it is, by confirming that the life of each individual of the human species begins with the earliest embryo.
  
  
• Given the scientific fact that a human life begins at conception, the only moral norm needed to understand the Church’s opposition to abortion is the principle that each and every human life has inherent dignity, and thus must be treated with the respect due to a human person.  This is the foundation for the Church’s social doctrine, including its teachings on war, the use of capital punishment, euthanasia, health care, poverty and immigration.  Conversely, to claim that some live human beings do not deserve respect or should not be treated as “persons” (based on changeable factors such as age, condition, location, or lack of mental or physical abilities) is to deny the very idea of inherent human rights.  Such a claim undermines respect for the lives of many vulnerable people before and after birth.

For more information:  Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Procured Abortion (1974), nos. 6-7; John R. Connery, S.J., Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (1977); Germain Grisez, Abortion: The Myths, the Realities, and the Arguments (1970), Chapter IV; U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, On Embryonic Stem Cell Research (2008); Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995), nos. 61-2.

This morning while preparing breakfast...

Jon: You know who looks like me? St. Augustine. I've never mentioned it before to anyone, but I've always thought it.

hahahaha WHAT?!

Just for measure, here is one popular depiction of the eminent 4th century Church father, theologian and philosopher from Algeria that Jon seems to think resembles himself:

Yes, Clare, your papa is one cracked egg.