Category: Catholicism

Whom shall we send?

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This last week, we had Kenn and Laura Cramer visiting Seattle. Laura and I first became friends about eight years ago in Washington DC when I first arrived in the States. Laura moved to Colorado and met Kenn and the two have been married for about three years now.

While they were in Seattle they gave a talk at “Drinks with Dominicans”, describing how they’ve decided to leave their lives in Colorado and become missionaries on the Indian Reservation in Montana. I wanted to share something of their story here, so here’s the article written about them on Denver Catholic:

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The 3%

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DrunkI once read a quotation about statistics which said that “a politician uses statistics in the same way a drunk uses a street lamp, for support rather than for illumination”… I thought that this was an appropriate quotation to begin the subject of today’s post. You see, it’s quite impossible to speak out against Planned Parenthood for long before hearing the following response:

“But abortion is only 3% of what Planned Parenthood does!”

This objection has been raised by many of my friends and you hear this statistic rattled off by politicians and Planned Parenthood advocates. 3% seems so small and insignificant! The argument is that if you defund Planned Parenthood then women would lose access to all the other services they provide as well. This assumes that abortion and healthcare can only come together as a package, treating pregnancy as though it’s just another disease.

How is it that Planned Parenthood is known for being the nation’s premiere abortion provider if it’s only 3% of what it does? Isn’t that incredible?! In fact, if it’s such a small percentage of their work, you can’t help but wonder why Planned Parenthood doesn’t just get out of the abortion industry altogether and save themselves the constant annoyance of having all those pesky pro-lifers outside of their clinics all the time!

There is a problem with the 3% statistic. While there is a certain veracity to the statistic, it’s incredibly misleading, so much so as to be positively meaningless!

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Brother Lawrence

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At the end of last week I went on another silent retreat. I spent lots of time reading “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence, a lay Carmelite brother. I’ve found it really beautiful. I would like to share with you a portion of Letter Seven:

Lawrence…[God] requires no great matters of us; a little remembrance of Him from time to time, a little adoration. Sometimes to pray for His grace. Sometimes to offer Him your sufferings. And sometimes to return Him thanks for the favors He has given you, and still gives you, in the midst of your troubles. Console yourself with Him the oftenest you can… The least little remembrance will always be pleasing to Him.

You need not cry very loud. He is nearer to us than we are aware. And we do not always have to be in church to be with God. We may make an oratory of our heart so we can, from time to time, retire to converse with Him in meekness, humility, and love…

…You are nearly sixty-four, and I am almost eighty. Let us live and die with God. Sufferings will be sweet and pleasant while we are with Him. Without Him, the greatest pleasures will be a cruel punishment to us….

Gradually become accustomed to worship Him in this way; to beg His grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time; in the midst of your business, even every moment if you can. Do not always scrupulously confine yourself to certain rules or particular forms of devotion. Instead, act in faith with love and humility.

Symbolism: St. John’s chalice and snake

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Over the next few months I’ll be writing some more about ancient Christian symbols (the fish, the anchor etc), but I thought I’d reboot my Symbolism Series by talking about something which caught my eye at Liturgy this morning.

In my parish, around the inner portion of the dome, we have paintings of the Twelve Apostles (with St. Matthias replacing Judas). This morning I ended up sitting next to the following painting of St. John:
John

It occurred to me that, while I know the book he is holding is symbolic of his Gospel, I had no idea of the symbolism behind the chalice and snake. When I got home I needed to satisfy my curiosity, so I did some research…

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#ProtestPP Seattle

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This last weekend I joined the crowd of people outside Seattle’s Planned Parenthood. At 320 other locations around the country many others did likewise, protesting the country’s most well-known abortion provider. It was wonderful seeing all my friends from around the country posting their pictures on Facebook.

Much like last time in Seattle, the counter-protest presence was rather weak. I counted maybe six people who were identifiably there in support of Planned Parenthood. In contrast, the pro-lifers covered most of the city block:

Protest

As you can hopefully see, as usual there was a real cross-section of people present, both men and women, young and old.
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Scripture Nerd Moment…

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This afternoon I came across something which made me chuckle while I was out taking my afternoon stroll with Scott Hahn (Dr. Hahn couldn’t make it in person but was considerate enough to be present on my iPod).

I was walking through one of Seattle’s many lovely parks and I came across some children’s play equipment:

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I noticed that the bars of the fence enclosing the area had names written on them. I assumed that these were the names of the donors who helped pay for the equipment. It was then that I noticed one particular entry:

IMG_1483The Thomas family appeared to have wanted a Bible verse included with their name. Their choice of verse made me chuckle. Can you guess what text is found in Luke 18:16?

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