Recently while standing in our parking lot, I noticed a man who appeared to be in his 30s holding open the door for an elderly man who came for bread. ‘What a charitable thing to do,’ I thought.
Seconds later, the man informed me that he just arrived from a neighboring state.
“What brings you to Lincoln?” I asked. He replied in a humorous tone, “That’s what I have been asking myself!” He had the appearance of someone who has been sleeping outside.
“Are you staying at the homeless shelter?” I inquired.
“Father, to be honest, I am an alcoholic.” As many of you know, drinking is one of the no-no’s at any homeless shelter.
“Where are you sleeping at night?” I asked. He then pointed to a nearby bridge. I invited him inside and asked him to wait for me in our St. Joseph Chapel. I informed him Jesus was in the room. It was a day when we have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
After returning with a nice sleeping bag with a water-proof storage bag, I noticed he had moist eyes and was visibly moved by Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I told him he was welcome to visit our chapel anytime. It was then I noticed the bottle of whiskey hanging out of his pocket. After giving him his ‘new’ sleeping bag, he gave it a bear hug while kissing it. Giving a sleeping bag away may seem like a small gesture, but for someone on the street it’s a new home.
I informed him where in town he could find a meal, including our sack lunch program which runs Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. I told him to see us when the weather turns colder so we can give him a heavier winter coat, gloves, boots, hat and gloves. My prayer is that he grows closer to Jesus Christ, and gives up the bottle by His grace. Perhaps he will be open to counseling as well.
Please consider going through your closets for winter apparel, for it is not too early. It will only be a matter of weeks before freezing weather is upon us. Then, people like the man mentioned above, and families in need with children will come to us for winter apparel. Please say a prayer for this young man and all the other countless individuals and families that come to us on a daily basis in crisis. Please be assured of our prayers for you, your family and loved ones.
The State of Nebraska requires by law that those who perform abortions report certain data to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) within 15 days from the end of the month in which the abortions are performed. Every spring, DHHS compiles this data and issues a statewide report of abortions.
The 2013 Nebraska Statistical Report on Abortions reveals that 2,177 abortions were reportedly performed in Nebraska last year. When we contemplate that each abortion represents the killing of a human being and the wounding of his/her mother, father, family and society, this death toll is staggering.
If there is a bright spot, it’s that this is the lowest annual number of abortions on record in Nebraska—and a 5.5 percent decline from 2012. In 1974, the first full year after Roe v Wade legalized abortion, there were 3,094 abortions reported in Nebraska. That number steadily increased to its high point of 6,346 in 1990. The 2013 total of abortions is 66 percent lower than the 1990 total. That is a very encouraging trend.
Here are the most relevant statistics from the report:
Age Distribution. By far, the most abortions occurred in the 20-29 age group. Nearly 60 percent of all abortions were done on women in this age group. Women aged 30 years and older comprised 28 percent of the abortions.
The most positive trend in the age distribution is among teens. In 1974, almost 41 percent of abortions were had by teens. In 2013, the percentage of abortions by teens was down to 12.2 percent.
A particularly sad statistic is that 10 girls under the age of 15 had abortions. Three of those girls were 13 years old and seven were 14 years old. Another 256 teens (aged 15 to 19) had abortions.
Reasons for the abortions. As is typically the case, only a tiny fraction of the abortions (1.2%) were done for the so-called “hard cases” of rape, incest and to prevent the death of the mother. Even if you add in those abortions done for the broader reason of a woman’s “health” (2%), the “hard cases” still only comprise about 3.2 percent of all abortions done in 2013.
Another revealing statistic is that slightly more than half (54.5%) indicated that “no contraception was used.” This means, presumably, that slightly less than half (45.5 %) were using contraception when they got pregnant. These percentages comport with national figures.
This statistic raises serious doubts about the claim that contraception will reduce abortions. In fact, even the Alan Guttmacher Institute (research affiliate of Planned Parenthood) acknowledges that women who use contraception are more likely to have abortions.
Guttmacher explains this phenomenon this way: “because women who are using contraception are motivated to prevent an unplanned birth, they are more likely than women who were not using contraceptives to seek an abortion should they accidentally become pregnant.”
Method of abortion. The most notable statistic in this category is that the number of chemical abortions (using RU-486) continues its dramatic climb. The 2013 number of 914 chemical abortions is nearly four times the number in 2009, which was 231.
Repeat abortions. Another very sad statistic is that one third (33%) of the women obtaining abortions last year in Nebraska had one or more previous abortions. The breakdown of this statistic is incomprehensible: one previous abortion: 480; two previous abortions: 167; three previous abortions: 63; four previous abortions: 9; more than four previous abortions: 10.
The complete report of abortions can be seen online at www.dhhs.ne.gov (click on “Statistics and Reports” then “Vital Statistics”). A chart compiling the key data from these annual reports since 1974 can be seen on my website at www.nebcathcon.org (under “Pro Life,” “Printed Resources”).
“Across the Blue Pacific: A World War II Story”
by Robert Andrew Parker, illustrated by Louise Borden.
Houghton Mifflin Books, New York, 2006, 32 pages, Grades 2-4.
One hundred years ago in August, the Great War (World War I) erupted in Europe. It was to be one of the most destructive events in human history. Twenty seven years later, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Waves of bombers and torpedo planes sunk dozens of ships and caused thousands of causalities, starting World War II for the United States. After four brutal years of warfare, Japan, and its ally, Germany were defeated.
Frequently, war seems something that happens in “other” countries and far-away nations. But the effects of war directly impact everyone. Louise Borden has written a perceptive book about how a fourth-grade American girl learns what war does to a typical town and its citizens. The name of this poignant book is “Across the Blue Pacific: A World War II Story.”
Molly Crenshaw begins the fourth grade in September 1944. The United States has been fighting World War II in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The tide has turned in favor of the United States and her allies. But the war is far from over.
Molly’s next-door neighbor is Ted Walker. Recently graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Ted has been assigned to the submarine U.S.S. Albacore. When visiting his widowed mother before shipping out, Ted builds a snow man with Molly and her brother Sam. After this, Ted shows Molly how to polish her Sunday shoes until they have a perfect, gleaming shine.
Ted is so handsome in his uniform and so personable that all the children on the street want to be Ted Walker. When Ted’s leave is over, on a dark and dreary day, Mrs. Walker drives him to his military post.
Molly and her classmates decide to write to soldiers and sailors deployed overseas. Molly knows who she is going to write to. She is going to write and tell that attractive Navy officer, Ted Walker, everything that is going on in their hometown. At the end of each letter, she draws a picture of Mrs. Walker’s little dog, Buttons. The class proudly follows the victories of the United States from the cozy and safe classroom. The war seems so far away. If they didn’t know soldiers and sailors fighting in the conflict, it seems like it might not be actually happening.
Then one day, things change. When Molly comes home from school, cars are lining Mrs. Walker’s driveway. A terrible dread permeates the air. What has happened?
What do Molly and Sam learn about Ted’s final submarine tour of duty? How does this change the way everyone sees the war? What is the high price of war, and why should it only be entered into when all other options have failed? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out this well-written book, “Across the Blue Pacific: A World War II Story,” by Louise Borden.
Recently, wars seem to be exploding throughout the Middle East and Ukraine. Louise Borden raises some important questions that need to be answered before entering a war. Can this war be avoided? Does the cost in human lives justify entering the conflict? What happens when people have to fight a war? And finally, why does war bring out the highest qualities and most sorrowful aspects of human existence? This is simply an outstanding book describing what happens to nations and individuals when they are fighting a war; highly recommended.
In writing Seedlings columns, it’s less challenging writing about stories concerning our social rather than clinical services because it is easier to maintain anonymity when writing about individuals or families receiving emergency services rather than counseling services.
Not long ago someone with tears of joy told me he knows a person who is “willing to do almost anything,” for Catholic Social Services because they are convinced that if it was not for the counseling their child received at Catholic Social Services a number of years ago, their child would not be alive today.
Stories like this are always gripping. I am grateful to Almighty God for the many talented mental health professionals directed by Dr. Aaron Stratman at our Immaculate Heart of Mary Counseling Center in Lincoln at the John XXIII Center with its many satellite sites in Falls City, Auburn, Nebraska City, Beatrice, David City, York, Holdrege, McCook, and the Newman Center and Guadalupe Center in Lincoln. Dr. Stratman also directs our internship program accredited by the American Psychological Association.
Our highly-trained mental health professionals are available to counsel individuals, including children and families, for most psychological disorders and accept most insurance plans including Medicare. We are grateful to Almighty God and to our donors for because of their generosity we are able to provide charity grants to individuals who are un-insured or under-insured and are unable to afford the counseling services on their own. Last year, we provided nearly $150,000 in charity grants.
I am happy to announce that our new two interns this year are Lucy Muturi from the Institute of Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Va., and Christina Villanueva from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla. In addition to working at our main clinic in Lincoln, their outreach assignments will be in York and the Guadalupe Center respectively. We are blessed to have them join our team. I am also pleased to announce our two post-doctorate fellows are Dr. Nick Stevens and Sr. Dr. Mary Patrice, RSM (Religious Sisters of Mercy).
I would like to thank all of our mental health professionals and support staff at our Immaculate Heart of Mary Counseling Center for their dedication and hard work. Please allow me to thank our many benefactors for your prayerful and monetary support and always remember we are only a phone call away. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
“A Boy Called Dickens” by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by John Hendrix.
Schwartz & Wade Books, New York, 2012, 32 pages, Grades 3-5.
A great writer is able to capture the spirits, moods and longings of a country. This is done through character development in novels and plays. The very best characters speak to readers’ aspirations, desires and human needs. We see ourselves in these fictitious figures and help work out our own problems and dreams through them. So even though fiction is created, it becomes “real” to readers because of its ability to heal and inspire.
One of the greatest English writers of fiction was Charles Dickens. During the early 1800s, Dickens wrote a series of outstanding novels such as “Oliver Twist” and “David Copperfield” and his world-famous novelette, “A Christmas Carol.” His impact in the United States was so profound that eager crowds actually waited at American ports for his latest writings. Deborah Hopkinson has written an inspiring biography on this great author entitled “A Boy Called Dickens.”
A poor boy trudges off to work on a bitterly cold London morning. His clothes are tattered and patched and provide little warmth against the swirling winter wind. Groups of other boys skip and laugh as they head to school with their books tucked under their arms. The destitute child looks longingly at these boys and remembers back to the time when he was able to go to school. That seems so long ago.
Finally, he arrives at an ugly building named Warren’s. It makes shoe polish for gentlemen’s boots. Shivering, Charles Dickens puts on his beaten-up apron and sits down on his stool. Before him are sheets of paper, string, a scissors and pots of boot polish. All day long he carefully ties up packages filled with the dark polish.
Some of the other downtrodden boys ask Charles to tell them stories to lighten the misery of their work. One of the boys, named Bob Fagin, tells Dickens that the last story was so funny that his ribs still hurt from laughing so hard. Throughout the long, brutal day Charles tells stories and thinks up new characters that reflect the hard environment in which he lives.
After 10 long hours, the boys leave Warren’s with their miserable wages for that day. Young Charles buys a small loaf of bread, some cheese and a little bit of beef. He walks through the London streets surrounded by pickpockets, lawyers, convicts and owners of small curiosity shops.
That night he falls into his bed in his bleak attic room and dreams of all the characters he has met and dreamed about that day.
But more than anything else, he wants his family released from Debtors Prison, where they are eking out a miserable existence after his father was jailed for not paying his bills. If only they could get out, maybe things would become better. Maybe then he could start writing about all the characters and scenes he has experienced in London. And finally, good fortune shines on the poor lad.
What happens to Charles Dickens? Is his family released from Debtors Prison? Does he get to return to school? What dreams does he have? Does he live those dreams? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and read this fine biography by Deborah Hopkinson, “A Boy Called Dickens.”
Charles Dickens is one of the most famous writers in the English-speaking world. His characters are unforgettable. Hopkinson fills in many of the details on the painful experiences Dickens suffered in life.
As well, she shows his dedication to hope and love. Please encourage the younger members of your family to read this fine biography. I learned a great deal from it and think you will as well.
It’s good to regularly read and meditate on the lives of the saints as we celebrate their feast days. For me, it is an exercise on how a particular person applied and lived the gospel in their age and time. They are our real heroes and role models.
On the feast day of St. Monica I read something that reminded me of my maternal grandmother, Margaret Moore Middleton. Three years before I entered the seminary, I received a phone call from my mother who said, “Your grandmother is dying and asking for you.” Because of the urgency of her voice, I rushed home from Milwaukee to Nebraska to be at her bedside.
After entering her hospital room, my 5’2” Irish grandmother with piercing steel grey eyes extended her right hand toward me and said in a weak voice, “Chris, always remember, it may not always be easy living as a faithful Catholic, but it sure is easy dying one.…” These were her last words to me, words that I often recall.
Many, I am sure, know about the details surrounding the death of St. Monica who prayed for decades for the conversion of her son St. Augustine. While on her deathbed, she stated unequivocally that all she wanted from her son Augustine was to remember her at Mass where all the angels, saints and souls in Purgatory are present. As I have never forgotten what my dying grandmother said to me on her deathbed, I am sure that St. Augustine did not forget what his mother said either, for he wrote about it in his famous book which is still in print, The Confessions of St. Augustine.
Recently a concerned pastor of a small town parish somewhere south of the Platte River called me about a family who was living on the edge because of a medical emergency. They needed help paying their rent. Because of the generosity of our donors we were able to respond. I often think that many of our benefactors are generous with us because of the loving example of their parents and grandparents and the things that they have said through the years, perhaps even on their deathbeds.
In addition to praying for the conversion of sinners, please remember to pray for the souls in Purgatory, for it is because of their love for us and their example we were brought up in the practice of the Catholic faith. Eternal rest grant unto their souls O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace, Amen!
“The Influenza Pandemic of 1918” by Virginia Arneson
Chelsea House Publishers, Philadelphia, 2000, 120 pages, Grades 6-8.
When an outbreak of disease occurs in a local area, it is known as an epidemic. If the disease spreads over a larger area, such as a number of states or countries, it is called a pandemic. The Ebola Pandemic in western Africa is an example of this. Due to its widespread, deadly nature, Ebola is quickly emerging as a killer pandemic.
In western countries such as the United States, we feel comfortable and secure behind our well designed and advanced public health system. Historically, this complaisance can have disastrous consequences for the nation. The reason for this is that a pandemic usually strikes before the afflicted areas are even aware that they have been attacked.
When the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic explodes across the world, the United States Public Health Department is caught off guard. By the time some strategies begin to be developed, hundreds of thousands of people are afflicted with influenza. Virginia Aronson tells the painful and tragic history of this pandemic in her well written and photographed book, “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918.”
Fort Riley is an army base in Kansas, 185 miles south of Lincoln, Nebraska. In March of 1918, soldiers start coming down with the flu. At first, since people frequently get the flu, no one pays any serious attention to illness. But this isn’t just any flu. The young, healthy soldiers rapidly deteriorate and become critically ill. Whereas older people are frequently at risk of dying from the flu, these young men should not be this sick. Much to the doctors’ surprise, a number of these young soldiers die. Then more and more soldiers come down with the illness, and soon the base hospital is overflowing with critically sick soldiers.
But Fort Riley isn’t alone, as military bases across the United States begin reporting a flu pandemic. This isn’t just your five-days-and-get-better flu; often times the victims die, gasping for air and bleeding from their lungs.
As soldiers are shipped to France to fight in WWI, the influenza rapidly spreads across Europe and the rest of the world. Since France, England and the U.S.A. have tight censorship on newspaper reporting, the influenza pandemic is underreported. Spain however does not have this government censorship and publish extensive accounts of the pandemic in their country. Because they unwittingly publish what the influenza is doing in Spain, the rest of the world believe that the pandemic has originated there. Hence, they name the pandemic the Spanish Flu.
As the pandemic begins killing millions worldwide, scientists and laymen begin trying to explain the causes of the Spanish Flu and various treatment programs. Some physicians believed the patients need “good air” and place them in tents outside of cities.
Others believed the poison gas used in WWI had polluted the air causing the pandemic. One particularly zealous report proclaimed the Germans had created the influenza to win the war. Many actually believed this, notwithstanding the numerous German deaths from the Spanish Flu. Fear ruled the day.
What happened to the Spanish Flu and why did it end? Do we know the genetic structure of the Spanish Flu? Do the officials at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta fear another pandemic like the Spanish Flu? To find out the answers to these and other questions about the Spanish Flu, read Virginia Aronson’s fine book: “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918.”
As the Ebola Pandemic spreads in Africa, this book is quite useful in describing the reactions of people in the United States to the great Flu Pandemic of 1918. Forewarned is forearmed. I hope you encourage your middle school students to read this interesting account of the Spanish Flu.
The Bishops’ Pastoral Plan for Pro Life Activities “calls upon all the resources of the Church—its people, services, and institutions—to pursue [pro-life activities] with renewed energy and commitment in four major areas”: Public Information and Education, Pastoral Care, Public Policy, Prayer and Worship.
The Pastoral Plan also provides an organizational structure for implementing this program. This structure includes three levels of activity: the State Coordinating Committee, the Diocesan Pro-Life Committee and the Parish Pro-Life Committee. The parish committee, headed by a pro-life coordinator, is where the rubber really meets the road for the Church’s pro-life program.
In Nebraska, we have 375 parishes and most are served by one or more parish pro-life coordinators. These coordinators serve as the parish liaison with my office (Bishops’ State Pro-life Office) and with their respective diocesan pro-life directors. They provide the leadership in implementing pro-life activities in their parish and many are pro-life leaders in their communities and regions.
My office provides suggested activities, programs, and events for use or promotion in each parish. Activities and programs fall under one of the four major areas mentioned previously and, as much as possible, are connected to liturgical feast days.
For example, around the Annunciation parishes are encouraged to have a special Mass for pregnant mothers and their families or begin the Spiritual Adoption of Unborn Babies project which asks parishioners to spiritual adopt and pray for an unborn baby in danger of abortion. On the Feast of the Visitation, parishes are encouraged to promote the pregnancy help centers in their community or region.
The month of October is Respect Life Month as designated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). For this month, the USCCB Pro Life Office produces a Respect Life Program packet that contains many great educational and liturgical resources to help parishes celebrate the gift of human life. These materials are available online at www.usccb.org/prolife/respect-life-program.
Another key date for pro-life activities is January 22, the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling (which legalized abortion). The Church has also linked this date to the liturgy by designating it in its General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), no. 373, as a particular day of prayer and penance for abortion (in the dioceses of the U.S.), called the “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.”
Since 2011, the Roman Missal also includes a Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life. This Mass was created specifically for the needs of the United States and may be used for occasions to celebrate the dignity of human life.
Occasionally, I ask parish pro-life coordinators to report on what activities they implemented over the past year. One of the coordinators gave me this list:
“Information booth at parish festival, prayer vigil for religious freedom and for the National Night of Prayer for Life, postcard campaign to elected officials, monthly prayer service, leading prayers at the abortion facility, 40 Days for Life, Life Chain, Walk for Life, displaying baby shoes in the Church sanctuary on the Sunday closest to Roe v. Wade anniversary, pro-life webpage for parish website, pro-life section of the parish bulletin, facilitating youth involvement in various pro-life activities, monthly Mass for the end to abortion, hosting pro-life movies (with discussion), asking other parish organizations to pray for the closing of the Bellevue abortion facility.”
This parish response, like many others, describes a variety of pro-life activities that involve a level of dedication and generosity that is edifying. I thank God for the hundreds of parish pro-life coordinators in Nebraska who give so generously of their time and talent to advance the Gospel of Life. Please find out who serves as the pro-life coordinator in your parish and thank them. And offer to help them.
One of the elements that God the Holy Spirit used in my vocational calling to the priesthood is the presence of priests in our home while growing up.
One such priest was Father Christopher Belber, an Augustinian priest from Spain who was a pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in Omaha and later Most Holy Crucifix Parish in New York City (now known as Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz). He was at first friends with my maternal grandparents, and then my parents. I often remember his intense love for the poor, especially for those who lived on the streets of New York.
I distinctly remember the first time he prepared paella (a dish that originated in Valencia, Spain) in our home 40 years ago. I have been making it ever since — sometimes as an auction item.
On Saturday, June 28th Catholic Social Services held its ‘first annual’ St. Francis Summer’s Eve Celebration at the Whiskey Run Creek Winery located in Brownville. This was an event benefitting our St. Francis Center in Auburn, which helps individuals and families that live in the southeastern region of our diocese. One of the silent auction items at this event was a gourmet paella dinner to be prepared at the home of the winning bidder. It was purchased by Gregg and Eva Fujan.
After arriving at their beautiful home on a lake near North Bend, I discovered we would be celebrating their daughter Valerie’s birthday. They were joined by Valerie’s husband, Clinton Whiteley, Connor, Lea and McKenzie Fujan, and Marlene and James Fujan (the grandparents). I have offered this meal before, but never have I prepared it for individuals dressed like native Valencians!
I had a wonderful time preparing the multi-course dinner complete with a Rioja Wine from Spain called Ergo. Remember what St. Paul said to Timothy: “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim 5:23). Notice the word ‘little’!” After much storytelling, I thanked them for their generosity and for one of the Spanish hats (given to me as a remembrance our marvelous time together). Who knows, I might wear it the next time I prepare Paella de Valencia!
In its Hobby Lobby ruling, the Supreme Court said that the Obama Administration’s HHS contraception/ sterilization mandate, as applied to “closely held” corporations, violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Under RFRA, the government cannot “substantially burden” religious practice or belief unless it has a “compelling interest” to do so and it uses the “least restrictive means” to accomplish this “interest.”
In the Hobby Lobby case, the Court concluded that the HHS mandate was not the “least restrictive means” to pursue its “compelling interest” to mandate free birth control and sterilization under most health care plans. The Court did not determine (but merely assumed for argument sake) that the government has a “compelling interest” to mandate such things.
Sadly, too many individuals (including many Catholics) and institutions are sympathetic to the assertion that there is a “compelling government interest” to promote and fund contraception. The primary basis for this “compelling interest” is the assumption that contraception improves women’s health by preventing unintended pregnancies and abortions.
While this assumption may have some intuitive appeal, it does not survive a simple test of reasoned scrutiny. Such scrutiny has been effectively presented by Helen Alvare, on behalf of Women Speak for Themselves in a brief to the Supreme Court. The brief, along with other great resources, is available online at www.womenspeakforthemselves.com (“SCOTUS Brief” found under “Our Work”). Ms. Alvare is a professor of law at George Mason University School of Law and founder of Women Speak for Themselves.
Professor Alvare has summarized some of the arguments from the brief in various articles. One of those articles, entitled “Meanwhile, Outside the Panic Room: Contraception, Hobby Lobby, and Women’s Rights,” is featured on The Witherspoon Institute’s website, www.thepublicdiscourse.com, a website I highly recommend.
Professor Alvare points out that “relatively few women are actually affected by the majority opinion in Hobby Lobby. Poor women, and even women at several times the poverty level, already have free or subsidized birth control available from the state.
“Since 1970, they have been served by the National Family Planning Program (“Title X”). In 2010, Title X-funded sites served more than five million patients—69 percent at or below the poverty level and 31 percent above—at 4,389 service sites across all fifty states and the District of Columbia.
“Likewise, both Title XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicaid) and Title XX of the Social Security Act provide federal funds to states for pregnancy prevention services available to both adolescents and adults. The federal Maternal and Child Health Block Grant funds 610 school-based or school-linked health clinics. In 2012, Planned Parenthood Federation of America alone received $540 million of government grants and reimbursements directed largely to providing lower-cost contraception.”
Despite this massive funding of birth control for lower income women, the rate of unintended pregnancy is three times higher among women below the poverty line than for women with incomes higher than 200 percent of poverty.
Alvare continues: “Also, generally speaking, the Centers for Disease Control report that cost does not even make the list of “frequently cited reasons for nonuse” among the 11 percent of sexually active women not using contraception. A [Alan] Guttmacher [Institute] source claimed that only 3.7 percent of the total sample of women seeking abortions listed cost as a barrier to contraceptive usage…”
“Women working in small businesses or those with ‘grandfathered’ health plans were never entitled to free contraception under the mandate. Furthermore, women working for larger businesses nearly always have contraceptive coverage. According to…the Alan Guttmacher Institute, “almost every reversible and permanent contraceptive method available” was covered by 90 percent of health insurance plans before the mandate.”
These facts destroy the suggestion that the government has a “compelling interest” to “substantially burden” the religious practice of a small number of employers who object to providing or facilitating free contraceptives and sterilization in their healthcare plans.
“Timothy Goes to School” by Rosemary Wells
Viking Press, New York, 1981, 32 pages, Grades K-1.
Each fall, millions of children return to school. Many of these children are ready to return and catch up with their friends from the previous year. However, for kindergarten students and their parents this new experience can be filled with anxiety. School represents a large change for many of these children and the parents wonder how their children will fit into the new environment. In fact, sometimes the parents have a harder time with the children entering kindergarten than the youngsters do. When the new students arrive in kindergarten they are excited and anxious. Will the other students like me? Who is my teacher? Can I make friends? All of these are crucial questions for the children. Beloved children’s literature writer, Rosemary Wells, tells a touching account of little Timothy going to kindergarten. She entitles the book, “Timothy Goes to School.”
Timothy and his mother are raccoons. Before going to kindergarten, his mother brushes his unruly hair. Timothy is wearing a new sun suit his mother has just finished sewing. She proudly sends him down the lane to school. His teacher, Mrs. Jenkins greets all the students at the door with a loving welcome. They are all happy and excited as they crowd into the classroom. She places Timothy next to another raccoon named Claude. Timothy tries to talk to Claude but is immediately snubbed. Claude makes fun of his new sun suit and tells Timothy that no one wears a sun suit the first day of school. This mean comment ruins Timothy’s day. Whereas he had been proud of his handsome sun suit, he now feels stupid and out of place. During recess, Claude kicks the soccer ball with great skill and shows off his physical coordination. All of the other children begin to crowd around Claude, which in turn depresses Timothy even more.
Returning home, Timothy tells his mother the sad tale of his first day. She tries to cheer him up by telling him of the beautiful new jacket she has made for him to wear the next day. Once again, Timothy hurries to school proudly wearing his new jacket. This time Claude tells him that no one wears a jacket on the second day of school. Devastated, Timothy struggles through the long day. In the meantime, Claude is quickly becoming the teacher’s pet. He never makes mistakes and everyone likes him. That is, everyone except Timothy. The days continue and Timothy keeps feeling like he is second rate and doesn’t even want to go to school. Finally, a girl rabbit named Violet talks to Timothy and wants to play with him at recess. All of a sudden, the day brightens for Timothy. Here is someone who likes him. In turn, Violet feels fortunate to know Timothy. Life keeps improving.
What happens to Timothy and Violet? Do they make other friends at school? Are they the most popular children at school? Why do they both suddenly like going to school? What do all people need to feel good about themselves? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out “Timothy Goes To School” by Rosemary Wells.
This may become an important book when your children or nieces and nephews go to kindergarten. Timothy’s struggles are very common place in primary school and Rosemary Wells (1943-Present) treats his fears with sensitivity. The mother is portrayed in a very strong, loving manner by the author. Rosemary Wells has written children’s books for many years and is most known for her “Ruby and Max” characters. I hope you get a chance to read this book. It is a sensitive account of the common fears children and parents have about starting kindergarten. Enjoy!
At the recent, annual, summer meeting of state Catholic conference directors—your columnist’s 38th and last—extra time was devoted to discussing the humanitarian crisis involving the surge of unaccompanied or separated, refugee children and youth arriving at the U.S./Mexico border. The well-documented interests of the Holy See and the U.S. Church, reflecting concerns from Catholic social teaching, as well as the public-policy challenges and political controversy at both federal and state levels were aspects of the discussion.
(Admittedly, use of “refugee” as a modifier is open to challenge, but we use it purposely. Here’s why: The horrific conditions and desperate circumstances from which so many of these children are fleeing—conditions of danger from pervasive crime, gang-related coercion and violence, drug and human trafficking, extreme poverty, family disintegration—justify a presumption of refugee status, at least until an immigration court—called for by federal law—determines otherwise on a case-by-case basis. In other words, these are not mere immigrants; generalized evidence of intolerable danger is sufficient to justify a presumption, albeit rebuttable, that they are refugees seeking asylum. A study by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees found that 58 percent of 404 unaccompanied children arriving in the U.S. from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador “were forcibly displaced because they suffered or faced harms that indicated a potential or actual need for international protection.”)
Two of our state-conference colleagues just days earlier had attended the 2014 National Migration Conference co-sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ department for Migration and Refugee Services and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. These directors reported on what they had heard and learned. It was timely and compelling.
For instance, a backgrounder from the national conference describes the phenomenon numerically. Since 2011, the number of unaccompanied, migrating children has risen dramatically, with over 13,000 in Fiscal Year 2012 and 24,000 in Fiscal Year 2013. This year, more than 52,000 have arrived since last October 1, with the number expected to surge to 90,000 by the end of the current fiscal year September 30.
Probably the most significant aspect of our session was the recommendation that we read the report issued by a USCCB/MRS delegation that traveled to southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador last November to collect information and assess the plight of child migrants. The delegation was led by Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso. It included the executive director of CLINIC, the director of the Washington office of the International Catholic Migration Commission, three staffers from USCCB/MRS and Father Daniel Groody, Professor of Theology at Notre Dame and consultant to the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Migration.
The report, which acknowledges that “there are no simple answers” to why so many children are making the dangerous journey north, includes findings and recommendations.
The report’s overview is that a series of interrelated factors have contributed to this dramatic increase in migration and that a “perfect storm” of a number of these root causes has created the phenomenon. “Push factors include the absence of economic opportunity, the lack of quality education and access to education generally, and the resulting inability for individuals to financially support themselves and their families in their home countries/local communities. The desire to reunify with family in the U.S., in part driven by these forces, also has contributed.
“While these factors were omnipresent, the delegation found that one overriding factor has played a decisive and forceful role in recent years: generalized violence at the state and local levels and a corresponding breakdown of the rule of law have threatened citizen security and created a culture of fear and hopelessness….[V]iolence and coercion, including extortion, kidnapping, threats, and coercive and forcible recruitment of children into criminal activity are perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations; gangs have become part of everyday life in all of these countries, exerting control over communities.”
The delegation’s report, entitled Mission to Central America: The Flight of Unaccompanied Children to the United States, is available at this website: www.usccb.org/about/migration-and-refugee-services. Other resources are there as well, including testimony Bishop Seitz presented to the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on June 25.
A few other facts and thoughts on this serious subject:
Over three-fourths of the children are fleeing Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, the countries that have, respectively, the first, fourth and fifth highest homicide rates in the world.
The backlog in the immigration courts is mind-boggling: 375,000 immigration cases pending adjudication; fewer than 250 judges; the average length of time a case is pending is currently 578 days. A fix here is needed badly.
Kudos to Nebraska’s First District U.S. Representative, Jeff Fortenberry, for not adding his name and signature to the politicized, harshly-worded letter Governor Heineman generated, requesting that the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services provide specific, identifying information about the 200-plus refugee children sent to Nebraska (and their location and sponsors), in order to ensure that they can be denied taxpayer-funded assistance.
It is hard to believe, but we just celebrated our fifth anniversary of our fine and fabulous First Friday Fish Fry, which benefits St. Gianna Women’s Home! To mark this milestone, we decided to have five Marian Sisters on the serving line, one for each year - Sister Clare, Sister Cecilia Ann, Sister Bernadette, Sister Karen and Sister Serena.
The many women and their children who come to St. Gianna’s are appreciative of all the love and support they have received from Sister Bernadette, Sister Clare, Sister Karen, and our many women volunteers and supporters since opening.
One of our new efforts is the Endow program which means educating on the nature and dignity of women. The mission of Endow is, “Transforming the hearts and minds of women and girls by inviting them into the joy, freedom, and dignity that come from living out their gift of authentic femininity in Christ.” Since many or most of the ladies who come to us have never been loved and treated with respect as a daughter of God, having been created in the image and likeness of God, those who participate respond in a positive manner. One of the chapters specifically talks about St. Gianna.
When asked, “What has St. Gianna Women’s Home done for you?” here are some of the answers: “This place has saved my life.... If I wasn’t here I would be on the streets and probably not alive.... It has brought me back to the sacraments and to my faith….. This place is a safe haven for me, it has taken care of me and my needs.... I am now able to help others who are struggling. In fact, last night, I talked to someone for an hour who was going through some tough times.... My daughter is now learning about the Church and faith.... I am so grateful for the Sisters and Father for all that they have done for me.… I have been through a lot in my life, violence growing up and then into my adult life.... this place has given me security since my abuser is now out of prison... most of all, this place has helped me learn a lot about myself and for this I am grateful.”
One of the Endow volunteers said, “God is good and His hope is always there for us. Praise Jesus! I feel blessed to be a witness of God’s work. To see the transformation of these ladies is a gift.”
I would like to thank the Marian Sisters, our volunteers and donors for their love and support. Please know you are all in our prayers. Happy Anniversary!
In my last column I mentioned some of the outrageous false reactions to the Hobby Lobby ruling by left-wing groups and individuals. The false claims have continued and gotten so outrageous that they surely qualify as some sort of “post Hobby Lobby derangement syndrome.” Even the Washington Post is calling them out.
In a July 14 article entitled “Democrats on Hobby Lobby: ‘Misspeaks,’ ‘opinions,’ and overheated rhetoric,” Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler says that “Democrats have rushed to condemn the court. But in some cases the rhetoric has gotten way ahead of the facts.” Here are some of the outrageous statements called out by the Post:
“Really, we should be afraid of this court. The five guys who start determining what contraceptions are legal. Let’s not even go there.” — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), at her weekly news conference, on July 10.
“You know, what I am objecting to is that these bosses should not be able to tell their employees that they cannot use birth control. Motherhood is not a hobby. That is what I am objecting to.” —Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.), speaking on MSNBC, July 1.
“The U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision opened the door to unprecedented corporate intrusion into our private lives. Coloradans understand that women should never have to ask their bosses for a permission slip to access common forms of birth control.” — Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), in a news release, July 9.
As the Post’s “fact checker” pointed out in response to these false claims, “the majority opinion flatly states that ‘under our cases, women (and men) have a constitutional right to obtain contraceptives,’ citing the 1965 ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut, which under the right to privacy nullified a law prohibiting the use of contraceptives… No boss under this ruling has the right to tell an employee that they cannot use birth control.”
Sadly, the left wing’s reaction to Hobby Lobby goes beyond irresponsible and false rhetoric. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised “to do something about it” and fast-tracked a bill introduced by Senator Patty Murray (and 46 of her Democratic colleagues). Despite its euphemistic title, the “Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014” (S. 2578) “potentially attack[s] all federal laws protecting conscience rights” according to a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops letter sent to all U.S. senators and signed by Archbishop William Lori and Cardinal Sean O’Malley.
The passage of S. 2578 “would mark the first time in history that Congress has acted specifically to reduce Americans’ religious freedom”, the letter asserts, pointing out numerous aspects of the bill. For example, S. 2578 would “impose the HHS mandate on religious believers in ways that the Supreme Court says violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).”
Furthermore, the USCCB letter points out that S. 2578 would override other federal conscience protections, not just RFRA; applies to all present and future coverage mandates, not just contraception; applies to all employers, not just closely held for-profits; covers employees, their minor dependents, individuals purchasing coverage on the health exchanges, and other stakeholders, not just employers; and encourages employers to drop coverage through draconian penalties.
Thankfully, S. 2578 was defeated by a vote of 56 to 43 (60 votes were needed to proceed with the bill; Senators Mike Johanns and Deb Fischer voted no). However, it is deeply troubling that 56 members of the United States Senate voted for a bill that attacks religious freedom and conscience rights for women and men.
“In short,” Archbishop Lori and Cardinal O’Malley said in their letter, “the bill does not befit a nation committed to religious liberty. Indeed, if it were to pass, it would call that commitment into question. Nor does it show a genuine commitment to expanded healthcare coverage, as it would pressure many Americans of faith to stop providing or purchasing health coverage altogether.”
One of our biggest challenges at Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska is helping individuals and families avoid homelessness, and those who are homeless find housing. Even though the number of those in need exceed our resources, we help as many individuals and families as possible each and every year. Last year, with your help we assisted more than 40,000 people, young and old, a number of different ways. We have come a long way, with the grace of God, in the almost 90 years of our existence.
One of the strengths of Catholic Social Services is something that is easy for people across the diocese to overlook – that we are diocesan-wide. We assist individuals and families all across the 24,000 square miles that is the Diocese of Lincoln. Not only do we help individuals and families in the southeast, east, central and western sectors of the diocese, each center works together in a coordinated fashion when necessary for we are one, which is what the term ‘catholic’ means.
Recently, we received a call from a medium-sized city out west, about a pregnant woman, a few days away from her due date, who became homeless with nowhere to go. Since St. Gianna Women’s Homes were full, we brainstormed and placed her in a program we have for homeless women with children. This meant moving her to another city in the diocese where this program is active.
After arriving we helped her move into a two-bedroom home, furnished it with a bed, crib, sofa, end table, items for the kitchen and other essentials. We are now praying someone donates a reliable car for her.
After moving in, we heard that the client who moved out complained of demons that were a bother while living there. Not taking any chances, I went to the home with one of our case workers and blessed the house with holy water and included a prayer of exorcism. She was most appreciative because she is a Catholic. After blessing her I found a beautiful image of Mary in one of our four thrift stores for her, and will get a crucifix to give her.
Since she is in one of our programs, we have time to help her with counseling, and budgeting and parenting classes. Since she is no longer homeless, she can now call her house ‘home sweet home!’
We are most grateful to Almighty God for His graces and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her most chaste spouse St. Joseph along with our many patron saints. We are also thankful for our many donors who help us spiritually with their prayers and penances, materially with items around their homes and farms (including vehicles not needed), and financially with cash donations, according to their means so we can respond when we get calls like the one mentioned above.
Please know that we at Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska remember you and all of our benefactors in our daily prayers, penances and Masses. Please keep the lady and her child mentioned above in your prayers along with our other countless clients who come to us on a daily basis in crisis.
At last, the Supreme Court has issued its much-anticipated ruling in the Hobby Lobby case. The Court, by the slimmest majority (5-4), ruled that the Obama Administration’s contraception/abortifacient/ sterilization insurance mandate violates the religious freedom of Hobby Lobby and other for-profit family-owned or “closely held corporations.”
Specifically, the Court determined that the mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a federal law that was enacted in 1993 by a nearly unanimous bi-partisan vote of Congress and was signed into law by then-president Bill Clinton.
The purpose of RFRA was to make it clear that the federal government could not “burden” the exercise of religion unless it had a “compelling interest” and utilized “the least restrictive means of furthering [that] compelling interest.”
In its ruling, the Court first rejected the Obama Administration’s argument that RFRA protections do not apply to for-profit businesses. “Under RFRA,” the Court stated, “when followers of a particular religion choose to enter into commercial activity, the Government does not have a free hand in imposing obligations that substantially burden their exercise of religion.”
Second, the ruling concluded that the mandate “substantially burdens the exercise of religion.” Third, the ruling assumes (but did not conclude) that the mandate furthers a compelling government interest but said that “the Government has failed to show that the contraceptive mandate is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.”
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty said in a statement:
“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to recognize that Americans can continue to follow their faith when they run a family business. In this case, justice has prevailed, with the Court respecting the rights of the Green and Hahn families to continue to abide by their faith in how they seek their livelihood, without facing devastating fines. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to build a culture that fully respects religious freedom.”
The response of left-wing groups and individuals has been apoplectic and demonstrably dishonest. They are accusing the Supreme Court of joining in on the phony “war on women” and are spreading lies such as saying this ruling demonstrates that men are taking away women’s rights—again.
Kristine Marsh, staff writer/analyst for the Media Research Center, wrote “[t]he easiest spin on the case was to frame the discussion away from religious rights, and make it a case of women’s rights. Feminists, liberal reporters, and even the White House got on the bandwagon for this one. The hashtag #NotMyBossesBusiness trended with the misleading message that employers were preventing their female employees from accessing birth control.”
This lie is easily dispatched with the facts of the Hobby Lobby case: Hobby Lobby has always provided coverage for contraception in its employee plan but objected (and sued) over the HHS mandate’s requirement that it also cover four emergency contraceptive methods that are more likely to operate as abortifacients.
These facts won’t stop misrepresentation of this ruling by those who want to quarantine religious freedom within the four walls of our nation’s churches. Therefore, as Princeton Professor Robert George warned, “Friends of religious freedom must respond swiftly and strongly to the claims and political machinations of their adversaries.”
“We must wield the sword of truth against the falsehoods and gross exaggerations that will become the currency of the other side’s attacks. Without resorting to their tactics, we must match their intensity and determination. Key elements of our religious freedom hang in the balance.”
In order to effectively “wield the sword of truth,” I urge Catholics to stay informed on this battle by joining my e-mail list (send your request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or by accessing these great websites: www.usccb.org/conscience and www.becketfund.org.
“Each Kindness” by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Paulsen Books, New York, 2012, 32 pages, Grades K-3.
Frequently, people go through life without thinking a great deal about their actions. Sometimes, this just means that they are too busy or preoccupied with daily affairs to think much about their meaning.
But sometimes, we have events happen to us that change our lives. The point really is the direction these events take us. Do we choose to be charitable to others or do we seek our own satisfaction? How can not choosing to do something affect ourselves and others? Why is it so important to make each event in our lives mean something? Jacqueline Woodson has written a telling story about the consequences of our actions on others. It is entitled, “Each Kindness.”
A young, poorly-dressed girl enters a grade school classroom. The teacher announces to the students that this new student, named Maya, will be joining the class. Maya looks different from the other girls in the classroom. Her clothes are not attractive, and her lunch box is filled with odd-looking food. The teacher, Ms. Albert, places Maya next to Chloe in the classroom. Maya immediately tries to make friends with Chloe, but is rebuffed. Chloe returns Maya’s smiles with indifference and looks away. As the days go on, Maya reaches out again and again to the girl. But Chloe couldn’t care less and continues to stare out the window.
When the girls go out to the playground, Maya tries to join. But the girls have their cliques and want to have no part of Maya. Finally, Maya brings her birthday present of jacks and a red ball and invites the girls to play the game with her. Once again, they ignore her. In spite of her repeated attempts to play with the other girls, she is rejected. Chloe in particular does not want to be seen as Maya’s friend.
Finally, Maya begins to jump rope on the playground without asking any of the girls to join her. Her jumping is quite fantastic and impressive. A few days later, the teacher tells the children that Maya has left the school.
On the day of the announcement telling that Maya won’t be returning, the classroom lesson is about kindness. Ms. Albert brings a bowl of water into the classroom and has each student drop a small stone into the container. She carefully explains that all of our actions are like the ripples the pebbles make in the water. The ripples go out and keep spreading. The students drop a stone into the bowl and tells of one personal act of kindness they have committed. Chloe walks home later and thinks of all of her lost opportunities. What should she do now?
What does Chloe learn about charity? What are the consequences of not reaching out to others? Does it really make any sense to be selfish?
Have you ever not wanted to reach out to someone different from yourself? What is the best way to handle this situation? What hard lesson does Chloe learn? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out “Each Kindness” by Jacqueline Woodson.
This is an important book to teach understanding and acceptance in the primary grades. It is on the Golden Sower List this year for K-3. I would encourage you to read this title with the younger members of your family and discuss the important issues raised by the author. This book could be quite useful in helping younger children understand that their rejection of their classmates hurts everyone.
This is not a fun book to read, but it addresses some very important human situations in the early grades. Because of this, I hope you get a chance to read the book.
Mistakes happen. Perfection is seldom reality. So it is not impossible to understand and accept as fact that officials and bureaucrats at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) didn’t grasp the law correctly, causing them to miscalculate the release dates on hundreds of prisoners.
But goodness, what a mess has come to light; a mess that indirectly erupts at a time there are already festering problems in the correctional system, most notably the Nikko Jenkins saga and overcrowding, which has all three branches of state government—administrative, legislative and judicial—justifiably concerned and motivated to do something.
The June 15 publication of a “wow” investigative report by the Omaha World Herald has caused a big stir, and rightfully so.
It isn’t often that you see the term “screw-up” used in the lead of a news story, but it was there on this.
A prominent district court judge called the situation “unbelievable.” A police union official described it as “a stunner” and “maddening.” A well-known defense attorney and former prosecutor used a blunt term: “colossal mistake.” An early public response reported from DOCS analogized it thusly: “We’re in a triage mode.” The politically-tinged reaction of one state senator referred to it as, “arguably, one of the most shocking mismanagements that people have ever seen in state government.” (He probably said something similar about the Department of Health and Human Services in the not-too-distant past.)
As best we understand, since as far back as 1995, state correctional management erroneously applied good-time calculations—day reduction for every day served—to mandatory (minimum) sentences, including cases which had 10 mandatory years added for those classified as habitual criminals. The result was miscalculated, incorrect, premature release dates for hundreds of felons, men and women. The Nebraska Supreme Court provided guidance in a 2002 ruling and then again in February 2013; that the correct calculation was to apply the day-for-day, good-time reduction only to the term of the maximum sentence remaining after the mandatory portion. Apparently, DOCS was uninformed about, oblivious to, or somehow still misinterpreted the clarified law. That is, until notified by the World Herald on June 13. Uh-oh.
The numbers, although changing as days pass, are staggering and alarming. As reported by the newspaper, the sentences of 873 inmates were miscalculated. Of those, more than 550 have remained incarcerated awaiting their erroneous, premature release dates. Recalculations are adding more than 2,000 years in aggregate to their sentences, a range of one to 35 years and an average extension of three-and-a-half years.
That leaves about 300 inmates who were released erroneously and prematurely. More than 250 of these have been out of incarceration longer than the recalculated release date and won’t be returned to prison for those crimes. The Governor’s office has reported that 45 of the prematurely released “still owe time.” These represent a variety of circumstances, such that the number for round-up and return dropped to about 15.
The recalculation of sentences causes a recalculation of cost as well. The World Herald has estimated that the added time will cost the state $50 million pre-inflation. The preliminary estimate from the Legislature’s perspective, per the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, is a budget impact of $56 million. That will be on top of new spending on reforms to address an overall (and growing) prison population that is nearly 160 percent of current design capacity.
A “colossal mistake” is never good, but on this one, the timing is horrible.
As to the matter of overcrowding, a Justice Reinvestment Working Group has been formed to develop a long-term strategy; as the governor describes it, “innovative and sensible solutions to our prison challenges.”
This initiative stems from LB 907 of the Unicameral’s 2014 session and has been jointly launched by Chief Justice Mike Heavican (Judicial), Speaker Greg Adams (Legislative) and Governor Dave Heineman (Administrative). Its membership also represents all three branches of state government and local government as well. There are four state legislators, two district court judges, the Holt County sheriff and the Omaha police chief, the Lancaster County attorney and the Hall County public defender, the Supreme Court’s probation administrator, the state court administrator, the Board of Parole’s chairperson, the executive director of the Nebraska Crime Commission, the director of DOCS and Lieutenant Governor Lavon Heidemann.
“On-the-ground” technical assistance is being provided by the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center. Input will be solicited from stakeholders throughout the state.
Chief Justice Heavican has made it clear that this Justice Reinvestment initiative won’t just be looking at what’s going on in the correctional system, but also will examine “alternatives to incarceration and effective community-based programs.
This also will be an opportunity for input regarding the faith-based concept of restorative justice, which is an important and expanding element of Catholic social teaching.
And finally….
A not-quite-bold prediction: journalism prizes of national noteworthiness are on the horizon for the OWH reporters who investigated and reported on the sentencing mess, especially Todd Cooper and Matt Wynn.
Catholic Social Services held its ‘first annual’ “St. Francis Summer’s Eve Celebration” June 28 at the Whiskey Run Creek Winery in Brownville. Since our St. Francis Center in Auburn has grown significantly and has become a hub benefiting the entire southeastern region of the diocese, we thought it was high time to hold an annual banquet to benefit the entire southeast. Instead of a dinner banquet, we decided on wine and hors d’oeuvres.
During the event, I shared some incredible statistics. Since 2006, we have provided cash assistance for transportation, rent/utility bills, medical bills, etc., totaling $238,361 throughout southeast Nebraska. So far this year, the food pantry in Auburn has served 299 families, representing a total of 9,753 meals served. Since 2009, we have provided 515,092 pounds of food with a value of $870,505. Since 2000, we have provided Clinical Charity Grants in Auburn, Nebraska City, Falls City and Beatrice totaling $126,973.
Since opening in 2006, St. Francis Gift & Thrift has provided nearly $52,000 in vouchers to the needy. In addition, St. Francis Gift & Thrift has also generated $336,217 for our emergency services and clinical services. Since beginning to offer services in Auburn and southeastern Nebraska in 2000, we have provided $1,287,681 in assistance throughout the area.
I would like to thank Almighty God for His graces, the Blessed Virgin Mary, for her powerful intercession, St. Francis for his intercession as our patron saint, Ron Heskett for opening the winery to us and to Marge Wenzel and Marie Schmit for providing delicious, mouthwatering, and beautifully presented hors d’oeuvres.
In addition, I would also like to thank our corporate sponsors, our planning committee members, the volunteer staff and anyone who helped in any way the night of the event. And we are grateful to those who donated the items that were on our silent auction.
Lastly, I would like to thank all who attended. St. Francis, pray for us!
We are now halfway through the third annual Fortnight for Freedom, a two-week observance designed by the U.S. Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty to raise awareness of the serious threats to religious freedom—both domestic and international—and to call Catholics to fourteen days of prayer, education and action.
According to the Ad Hoc Committee, “the success of this year’s Fortnight is vital to establishing and maintaining a new movement for religious freedom, in response to the growing range of religious freedom issues in so many areas of law, such as immigration, adoption, and disaster relief, both here and abroad.”
In the midst of our society’s busy pace of life, it can be very difficult to get people to pay attention to seemingly academic concepts like religious freedom. Or some may just take religious freedom for granted, relying on its deep roots and origins in our nation’s founding. However, neglecting the importance of religious liberty or dismissing its threats has grave implications to human dignity and our democratic way of life.
Dr. Thomas F. Farr, who directs the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center, warned about these grave implications in a talk he gave to the U.S. Bishops at their June 13, 2012 General Assembly. Having spent the last thirteen years of his life “reflecting, writing, and acting on the subject of religious liberty, both here and abroad,” Dr. Farr offered three propositions:
“First, both history and modern scholarship demonstrate that a robust system of religious liberty in both law and culture is indispensible to individual human dignity, and to the social, economic, intellectual, political, and religious flourishing of civil societies and of nations.”
“Second, religious liberty is in global crisis, with enormous consequences for the Church, the United States, the success of democracy, the defeat of religion-based terrorism, and the cause of international justice and peace. Third, propositions one and two are highly contested.”
Dr. Farr cited some empirical evidence from the Pew Research Center as evidence of his claim that religious liberty is in global crisis. Pew Research studied both government restrictions on religion and social hostilities toward religion in every country of the world between 2006 and mid-2009.
In its first report issued in 2009, Pew revealed a profoundly disturbing statistic: 70 percent of the world’s population lives in countries in which religious freedom is either highly or very highly restricted, either by governments or private actors. Its second report, issued in 2011, demonstrated that the problem is getting worse.
According to Dr. Farr, the root cause of religious oppression around the world is “a belief that religious freedom is not only unnecessary for human flourishing or social development, but that it poses a threat to these and other goods.”
While this belief is not unique to modern times, “what is new, and profoundly troubling,” Dr. Farr warns, “is that we are seeing today the rejection of religious freedom not simply by authoritarian regimes… but by democratic majorities… even Western Europe.”
In the authoritarian regimes, religious oppression is being perpetrated by religious majorities. But in Western Europe, Dr. Farr points out, religious oppression is perpetrated by “an aggressive secularist majority that refuses to permit religiously-informed moral arguments into public life.”
“In short,” Dr. Farr states, “religion in Europe is no longer seen as intrinsic to human dignity and social flourishing. It is generally understood as merely an opinion…a dangerous opinion at that. While it is fine to practice your religion in churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples, democracy requires that you keep it there.”
“This malevolent idea…is gaining considerable purchase in our own country,” he said. “It gives reason for profound concern, not only for religious individuals but for the whole concept of democracy grounded in ordered liberty—both here and abroad.”
If you haven’t already, please find some time in the remaining week of the Fortnight to pray for religious freedom and to educate yourself and your family on this first and most cherished freedom. There are great prayer and educational materials on the Fortnight website (www.fortnight4freedom.org).
“Saint Thomas Aquinas: For Children and the Childlike”
by Raissa Maritain, illustrated by Ted Schluenderfritz.
Sophia Institute Press, Manchester, N.H., 1935, republished in 2009, 114 pages, Grades 4-6.
One of the greatest saints in the history of the Catholic Church is St. Thomas Aquinas. There are many reasons for this, but chief among them is the great holiness and humility of St. Thomas.
The Church has declared St. Thomas to be the Angelic Doctor. His great learning, writing and teaching has led many people to know and love Our Lord deeply.
The virtue that marked St. Thomas more than any other was humility. What is even more remarkable about his deep humility is the fact many scholars are filled with intellectual pride. Raissa Maritain tells the magnificent story of this great saint in this well-written children’s biography entitled “Saint Thomas Aquinas: For Children and the Childlike.”
Saint Thomas is born near the city of Naples in 1225. His family is of Italian nobility and is related to many of the most important political leaders of Europe. His family decides Thomas should be consecrated to Christ at a young age. Unfortunately, his family wants this consecration to benefit the family as well. So they take the 5-year-old Thomas to the famous Benedictine Monastery of Monte Cassino and dedicate him to Christ. The family’s understanding is that young Thomas will either eventually become the abbot of the monastery or a bishop. To ensure that this happens, Thomas’s father makes a substantial contribution of gold to the monastery.
So at 5, Thomas begins living the life of a Benedictine monk. He advances quickly in his intellectual and spiritual growth. By 14, Aquinas is well versed in the Bible, as well as some famous Church fathers, such as St. Augustine.
At this time, Monte Cassino is captured during a war and all the monks are forced to leave. The 14-year-old Thomas now leaves as well. The Abbot of Monte Cassino advises his parents to enroll him at the University of Naples. There the 14-year-old astonishes the faculty and students with his vast and profound knowledge of philosophy and theology.
But soon, a troubling set of events occurs effecting the Aquinas family. Thomas becomes acquainted with the Dominican Order, which was started by St. Dominic to teach and preach. Their religious charism causes the Dominicans to become great thinkers and scholars but the Order is completely uninterested in earthly advancements. The whole point of consecrating Thomas to begin with was to ensure that material benefits come to the family. This is not possible if Thomas becomes a Dominican. But Aquinas is drawn to the Order and joins in 1244. His family is aghast and actually kidnaps the young monk for over a year. Finally, they give in and Thomas Aquinas is released to join the Dominicans.
What happens next to this remarkable man? Who is St. Albert the Great? Who is the Dumb Ox, and why will his bellowing be heard throughout the world? How is St. Thomas Aquinas able to write such masterful philosophy and such beautiful music? To find out the answers to these questions, buy this fine biography, “Saint Thomas Aquinas: For Children and the Childlike.”
Raissa Maritain is famous writer and poet from the 20th century. Her husband is the well-known philosopher, Jacques Maritain. Much of the writing of St. Thomas Aquinas can be daunting and this short biography gives a great deal of useful information about the Angelic Doctor. It is a very good introduction to the great saint whose philosophical writings have so enriched the Church.
Though this book is not likely to be available at the public library, it can be purchased through online book vendors or ordered at local bookstores. I hope you and your family members get a chance to read this well written biography. Enjoy!
One of the benefits of having a parish nurse program is having the ability to check blood pressures of parishioners who are so inclined.
This is very important because hypertension is a quiet killer. Untreated, it eventually leads to other more serious things such as congestive heart failure and may on the way lead to a stroke, heart attack, renal failure and other sundry medical ailments, including death.
When it comes to losing a job, or being between jobs, this too, if left untreated, can lead to other serious things such as the inability to pay rent, utilities, medicines, food and ultimately homelessness.
Recently, a single mother who is between jobs came to us in need. I previously met her four years ago when she was a homeless mother on the run from an abusive man who was pressuring her to abort their unborn child.
She now rode to our offices on her daughter’s bicycle. It was a Saturday afternoon. As it turns out, she needed help with multiple things because with time they just ‘piled on,’ as one thing lead to another.
As the story unraveled, I discovered she needed help with her prescription drugs including insulin, needles to inject the insulin, and her anti-hypertension pills for her high blood pressure, as well as food and diapers. She wisely paid her rent first with the funds available, so as to avoid homelessness once again. We were able to help her with the items mentioned above with a promise of a vehicle, preferably a van, when she obtains another driver’s license. She informed me she will be looking for a job. Thankfully, she has an older son who is now working. She rode away happy and content.
One of the courses not offered in the seminary is ‘Fundraising 101.’ It’s not always the easiest thing to do, but I never feel awkward asking for money or material items because I know donations received are for those in need and not for myself.
Every once in a while we receive a donation we are told is a ‘one-time’ gift. As with all gifts, we are grateful for them, but try our best to convince people to make us one of their favorite charities for, “The poor you will always have with you” (Mt 26:11), and “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40).
In other words, the need is always there, and when we help someone, we are helping Christ Jesus.
In addition, we can only help individuals and families to the extent of which we are able, based on the funds and items on hand. That said, I have always loved the adage of Mother Angelica, “Keep us between your gas and electric bill!”
Using this column as a vehicle, please permit me to use it to thank all of our benefactors who donate furniture, appliances, kitchen items, vehicles, other material items, and monetary gifts which enable us to fulfill the gospel mandate to love our neighbor as ourselves. Please know that all of our supporters are in our daily prayers. And please, get your blood pressure checked and if there is someone out there who has been affected by hypertension unawares, please let me know!
Mid-June is the typical time for new assignments of our diocesan clergy to take effect. This writer is among the many priests who are embarking on new challenges in this regard. Consequently, the following reflections will be my last, at least for now.
This column has been a function of my position in the Office for Evangelization to provide information about evangelization events and programs while helping to form a proper understanding of every baptized Christian’s duty to evangelize. Over the years we have explored many facets of evangelization: hospitality, small-group dynamics, parish resources, discipleship, outreach, prayer, devotions, saints, Sacraments and so much more. Hopefully, my reflections have helped readers better to appreciate the abundance of resources at our disposal in the Catholic Church to help us be “fully alive” in our respective vocations.
We oftentimes have used liturgical seasons or celebrations to bring various aspects of our faith into the limelight. For example, the recent celebration of Pentecost reminds us that the Holy Spirit comes to live within us to make us holy and to empower us to accomplish great things for God that are well beyond the scope of our natural human abilities. We need not fear new beginnings when we know they are all a part of the Lord’s plan for our life. We priests know that God’s directives for us are in part revealed through the specific assignments we receive from our bishop. We recognize obedience as a true gift that spares us from wondering whether or not we are where we are supposed to be and doing what we need to be doing.
Most priests are uncomfortable with hearing the line, “Congratulations on your promotion!” That “P” word reflects worldly ambition, which is not what our vocation is about. Our typical response to such ill-fated well-wishing usually goes something like this: “Well, I don’t think of it as a promotion, but I’m excited about the challenges of my new assignment. Please pray for me!”
This expression accurately reflects my sentiment toward the considerable endeavor of writing a doctoral dissertation, which effectively is the equivalent of writing a scholarly book. This is my assignment, but to help me to complete this new task, I will be relying on lots of prayer from family, friends, parishioners (still Brainard) and (former) readers of this column. Can I count on some from you?
For inquiring minds who want to know, my tentative topic for the doctoral paper is a close examination of the Marian spirituality of Pope Saint John Paul II. I hope to outline some practical ways that all of us can tap into this former pope’s way of praying with and through Mary so as to unite ourselves more intimately with Jesus. Admittedly, this goal is ambitious, to say the least. But our world seems to need a more Marian perspective that will open us up to God’s gifts and His guidance. Mary’s total acceptance of both is what makes her so holy.
Please allow me this opportunity to thank you for reading this column, even if only occasionally. I appreciate the kind comments I have received from readers in writing and in person over the years. Let us continue to support one another in prayer. May our gracious God bless you!
Since the state legislature is now in the interim between regular sessions, most of its public-policy process is focused on interim studies. They stem from resolutions introduced and passed rather routinely during the last 15 days or so of the 2014 session, which ended April 17.
In total, just about a hundred interim-study resolutions were introduced. Per general practice, each was assigned by the Legislature’s Executive Board to one of the standing committees, based upon subject-matter jurisdiction of the issues involved.
Between now and early December, the committees will conduct studies as they deem necessary and appropriate. Reports to the Executive Board will ensue.
Each committee has submitted a priority listing of the studies assigned to it. It’s not set in stone, but those given higher priority are likely to have at least one public hearing. Others probably will have some staff work or perhaps little or no attention at all.
The significance of interim studies is that most are either continuations of interest in a public-policy idea that was the subject of previous legislation or precursors of legislation that is likely to be introduced in the next session.
In addition to the interim-study resolutions, this year’s Legislature also adopted four resolutions that authorize studies by special committees. These involve some weighty stuff:
LR 400 has resulted in appointment of a special investigative committee of seven legislators to study the adequacy of staffing and training of state employees working within ACCESSNebraska. It’s a system of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services intended to efficiently determine public-assistance eligibility and provide service-delivery.
LR 422 is continuation of a process started last year with LR 22. The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee and its Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee are jointly developing policy recommendations for transformation of the health-care system.
LR 424 is probably the most unique of all. Pursuant to it, the Executive Board has appointed seven highly-regarded legislators to a Department of Correctional Services Special Investigative Committee. This committee will study the extensive circumstances of Nikko Jenkins’ incarceration and release. In part, Jenkins was charged with three homicides that occurred after he was released from Department custody pursuant to a “good time” policy.
LR 444 creates a special committee of 10 legislators to develop recommendations for evaluating Nebraska’s business tax incentives.
Of the regular interim studies, here are a few the Catholic Conference will be monitoring:
LR 601 is the number-one priority among 20 resolutions assigned to the Health and Human Services Committee. It calls for in-depth assessment of the impacts of both implementing and not implementing the expansion of Medicaid eligibility as authorized and funded by the federal Affordable Care Act. The assessment will categorically focus on significant contexts: the state as a whole, rural counties, hospitals and the newly eligible, which includes those in a “coverage gap” because their incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid, but too low to qualify for subsidized participation in the ACA marketplace.
LR 553 is the Judiciary Committee’s third priority among 11 interim studies under its jurisdiction. It prescribes a review of state and federal policies related to driver licensing for immigrants who are lawfully present in the U.S. Its foremost purpose is to examine Nebraska’s current, illogical policy of denying drivers’ licenses to age-eligible young people who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by the Department of Homeland Security.
LR 539 is number six out of 20 for the Health and Human Services Committee. It calls for studying whether the maximum payment rate in the Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) program is adequate to meet the goals of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families public-assistance program. The rate has been static for a long time and is most likely not adequate.
The Business and Labor Committee received only three interim studies. Even though LR 554 is listed third in priority, it is significant and substantive; it pertains to labor trafficking.
And from the consequences-of-bad-ideas category there’s the Judiciary Committee’s second priority, LR 520: “to examine the problems that (Nebraska) law enforcement is encountering since Colorado legalized the sale and recreational use of marijuana.”
Information about all of the interim-study resolutions, including the scheduling of public hearings, is available from the Legislature’s website: www.nebraskalegislature.gov.
And finally…..
Sadness has been felt at the State Capitol. The Omaha World Herald’s Joe Duggan reported it well:
“Severe thunderstorms…broke the hearts of those who followed two peregrine falcon chicks atop the State Capitol.
“A wildlife biologist blamed high winds for sending the 17-day-old birds to their deaths… from a nest outside the capitol’s 18th floor.” One chick was found on a capitol courtyard and the other on a second-story roof.
“The daily development of the young falcons could be viewed on a live webcam, which received about 1,000 on-line ‘visits’ per day.” Also, a video monitor was located near the Capitol’s gift shop and cafeteria. It was a popular stop for personnel and visitors. It’s dark now.
At this year’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, keynote speaker Robert P. George, a Princeton law professor and respected Catholic intellectual, asked a sobering question: “Are we ashamed of the Gospel?”
“The days of socially acceptable Christianity are over” he said. “The days of comfortable Catholicism are past. It is no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, an authentic witness to the truths of the Gospel. A price is demanded and must be paid.
“Of course, one can still safely identify oneself as a ‘Catholic’ and even be seen going to Mass.
“If one in fact does not believe what the Church teaches, or…is prepared to be completely silent about them, one is safe—one can still be a comfortable Catholic. In other words, a tame Catholic, a Catholic who is ashamed of the Gospel—or who is willing to act publicly as if he or she were ashamed—is still socially acceptable.
“But a Catholic who makes it clear that he or she is not ashamed is in for a rough go—he or she must be prepared to take risks and make sacrifices. ‘If,’ Jesus said, ‘anyone wants to be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me.’ We American Catholics, having become comfortable, had forgotten, or ignored, that timeless Gospel truth. There will be no ignoring it now.”
So Professor George asks us to ponder these jarring questions: “Am I ashamed of the Gospel?” “Am I prepared to pay the price that will be demanded if I refuse to be ashamed…?” “[A]m I willing… or unwilling, to take up my cross and follow Christ?”
I can just hear some people responding to Professor George’s admonitions by saying “Oh come on, it’s not really that bad is it?” Yes, it really is that bad.
Later this month, the United States Supreme Court will rule (in the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood cases) whether the federal government can force business owners to violate their faith (by including coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and abortifacients in their health plans) or face ruinous fines. The Court will likely decide, soon thereafter, if the federal government can force the same choice on religious entities such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, Catholic Charities, Catholic schools and Catholic hospitals.
Furthermore, there are increasing threats to the religious freedom of those who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. Here are a few of the many examples:
Bed-and-breakfast owners who declined to host a reception for a same-sex “wedding” had to pay $30,000 and agree never to host wedding receptions again; a Catholic hospital was sued by an employee for not providing health insurance for the employee’s same-sex “spouse”; a high school student was threatened with suspension for writing a school newspaper op-ed opposing adoption by same-sex couples.
“So for us,” Professor George asserts, “there is no avoiding the question: Am I ashamed of the Gospel? Am I unwilling to stand with Christ by proclaiming His truths? Oh, things were easy on Palm Sunday. Standing with Jesus and His truths was the ‘in’ thing to do… But now it’s Friday and the days of acceptable Christianity are over. The days of comfortable Catholicism are past… The Lord is being led to Calvary. Jesus is being nailed to the cross.”
“And where are we?” George asks. “Will we muster the strength, the courage, the faith to be like Mary… and John… and stand faithfully at the foot of the cross? Or will we, like all the other disciples, flee in terror? Fearing to place in jeopardy the wealth we have piled up, the businesses we have built, the professional and social standing we have earned, the security and tranquility we enjoy… will we silently acquiesce to the destruction of innocent human lives or the demolition of marriage?
“Will we seek to ‘fit in,’ to be accepted, to live comfortably in the new Babylon? If so, our silence will speak. Its words will be the words of Peter, warming himself by the fire: ‘Jesus the Nazorean? I tell you, I do not know the man.’”
“A Boy Who Became Pope: The Story of Saint John Paul II” by Fabiola Garza.
Pauline Books & Media, Boston, 2014, 72 pages, Grades 3-5.
At the death of a pope, a conclave is held to elect a new Holy Father. Conclave means “with the key” and is significant because the election is held in the Sistine Chapel and the front door is locked during the election. The cardinals electing the pope prayerfully chose the cleric they feel God desires to govern the Church.
For centuries, Italian cardinals were chosen to lead the Church. But in 1978, a surprising change occurs with the election of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla from Poland. He takes the name of John Paul II. This election of a non-Italian cardinal is surprising and many people wonder about the life story of Cardinal Wojtyla.
Fabiola Farza describes a number of important facts about the life of Pope John Paul II in this well-written children’s biography: “A Boy Who Became Pope: The Story of Saint John Paul II.”
On May 18, 1920, a baby boy is born in Wadowice, Poland. He is named Karol and is the youngest of three children. Tragedy strikes Karol’s family as his older sister has passed away before he is born and his mother dies when he is still a young child. Several years later, his beloved older brother also dies. So as a young man, Karol has already lost a mother, sister and brother. Then, after World War II breaks out, his father dies.
Having faced the end of life so many times, young Karol begins to think about the meaning of life. This leads to his decision to become a priest.
But times are hard with the Nazis ruling Poland with an iron hand. He survives the war through a series of events that seems to have been directed by the Holy Spirit. These include getting an easy job at a rock quarry and in not getting sent to work in Germany for the Third Reich. At the war’s end, he is ordained a priest in 1946.
Soon after this, Father Wojtyla is sent to Rome for further studies. There he enjoys the beauty of Rome and loves the many books he reads in Rome’s fine libraries.
But Poland is changing. Its new situation can be summed up in the old proverb: “Out of the frying pan, into the fire.” Though the Nazis are gone, the Communists have arrived. They are just as cruel and belligerent towards the Catholic Church as the Nazi rulers. It is here that Father Karol begins to develop the magnificent skills he will exhibit for so many years as pope. He challenges the Communist government and organizes a march demanding the construction of a church. He organizes groups of young people to better learn their faith. He trains his mind and heart in prayer and charity. He is soon made a bishop and quickly rises through the ranks of the hierarchy. In 1978, a papal conclave will completely change his life.
How does Cardinal Wojtyla’s great faith and love of God allow him to become an instrument of the Lord? Why does he have so much joy upon being elected pope? How does the pain he suffered when all of his family died allow him to be such a compassionate heart? Why does he have such a magnetic personality that people all over the world will shout out: “John Paul II, we love you!”?
To find out the answers to these questions, go to a local bookstore and order this interesting biography, “A Boy Who Became Pope: The Story of Saint John Paul II” by Fabiola Garza.
Garza tells the story of John Paul II’s early family life quite well. We see him struggling with the loss of his beloved family members. Later, we see him discerning his vocation leading to his ordination. The book shows his courage, holiness and genuine humanity. I hope you get a chance to encourage the younger members of your family to read this read this fine biography. The age group most appropriate for this book would be third- to fifth-graders. Enjoy!
On a recent Sunday, after the 9 a.m. Mass at St. Leo Church in Palmyra, during coffee and rolls, I was able to meet and talk to many of the parishioners including Claretta Royal, Susan Steward, Janet McDonald, Angie Waddle, Maria Waddle, Rachelle Waddle, and Sara Waddle.
During our conversation, I learned that these beautifully-dressed ladies bought their dresses and outfits at St. Louise Gift & Thrift Store. I was even more amazed they actually read this column! I thought it fitting I take their picture and write about it. Besides, I needed something to write about!
Their comments were fit to print. I was told that St. Louise Gift & Thrift Store is a place of beauty, a place they regularly donate to and shop at. They are all impressed at the quality of the clothes and items in the store and know all of the proceeds are used to help poor and needy individuals and families, hence one of the reasons why it is a good place to bring donations to, and shop as well.
In addition, I was informed that they notice all who shop there are treated equally with love and respect. I related that I know men who purchase their suits, sport coats and ties there. Be not fooled though, there are also casual clothes as well as items for the kitchen, and furniture for the rest of the house.
Just yesterday, I gave a tour of St. Louise to a man in his 30s, a man who just moved to Lincoln, and who needs to wear a suit to work daily. Thanks to Mr. Don Stuart, our clothing specialist, he will be shopping for his suits at St. Louise from now on. Don is an amazing man - by just looking at you, he knows your size!
The beauty of St. Louise Gift & Thrift Store is also something that is characteristic of our other thrift stores too; St. Francis in Auburn, St. Joseph in Hastings, and St Isidore the Farmer in Imperial. I would like to thank all of our staff and volunteers for their hard work and for our donors and shoppers.
For those who have never visited any of our four thrift stores, I pray you will be able to someday soon. And please remember, they are great places to bring your donations to and wonderful places to shop. Saints Joseph, Francis, Louise and Isidore the Farmer, pray for us!
Last Easter Vigil, Bryan Dahlberg, a former Protestant pastor, entered the Catholic Church and chose the name Vincent after St. Vincent DePaul. Feeling called to help the poor, he expressed interest in working at Catholic Social Services.
Providentially, we had an opening for a volunteer coordinator for the eastern sector of the diocese. He joins Jill McMahon, who is our volunteer coordinator for the western sector.
Recently, I asked them to share their thoughts concerning this important work. Bryan, pointing out that volunteering is the closest thing one can get to imitating Jesus Christ, said, “We are never more like Christ than when we give ourselves to those in need! That’s what volunteers do – give of themselves.”
Jill’s sentiments echoed those of Bryan by saying, “Volunteering gives one the opportunity to meet with those who need our help while building a relationship. This relationship is love and understanding, which so many of our families yearn for.”
How about comments from some of our volunteers? One young man came to us to volunteer because when his mom was a young single mother in need, Catholic Social Services was there to assist her. Hearing from her what we did enkindled a desire to give back. It’s true – authentic love spreads from person to person and is contagious.
Another volunteer reported her life changed after working in one of our four thrift stores. I cannot tell you how many others, after I thank them, tell me, ‘No, Father; thank you for giving me the privilege of being here, for I get more out of it than I am giving.’
There are many things a volunteer can do here at CSS, from clerical work, thrift store help, making or distributing sandwiches, assisting in a fixed or mobile food pantry, maintenance, cleaning, and many other un-named tasks.
Those interested in volunteering are invited to contact either Bryan Dahlberg in Lincoln at 402-474-1600 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; or Jill McMahon in Hastings at 402-463-2112 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For those who live in the Imperial area, please call Bill Sullivan at 308-883-3005 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Not only would I like to thank our two volunteer coordinators, I would also like to thank all of our volunteers, past and present. Please remember the words of Jesus Christ, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).
Three years ago, the U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty issued the statement “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” expressing grave concerns about increasing attacks against religious liberty at home and abroad. First among these attacks is the Obama Administration’s HHS contraception/abortifacient/sterilization mandate.
In this statement, the Ad Hoc Committee also announced the first Fortnight for Freedom designed to raise awareness of the serious threats to religious freedom and to call Catholics to 14 days of prayer, education and action for religious freedom in the United States and abroad. The Bishops are calling us to a third Fortnight for Freedom this year from June 21 to July 4.
The theme of this year’s Fortnight is “Freedom to Serve” and, according to the Ad Hoc Committee, will “focus on how religious freedom enables the flourishing of the Church’s robust service to the poor and vulnerable in accord with human dignity and the Church’s teaching.” This freedom to serve is in grave jeopardy by the Obama Administration which thinks that the First Amendment grants freedom to worship (not freedom of religion) as long as it stays within the four walls of our churches.
The timeframe of the Fortnight, June 21 to July 4, was chosen because it corresponds with the liturgical celebrations of the “great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power, including St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, St. John the Baptist, Ss. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome.”
The Ad Hoc Committee points out that this year’s Fortnight is significant for the following reasons:
First, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in late June on the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties cases. In these cases, two families, one evangelical and one Mennonite, are challenging the HHS mandate that would require them to include life-terminating drugs and devices in their closely-held companies’ health insurance plans.
Second, we are seeing increasing threats to the religious freedom of those who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. In the last few months, several federal courts have struck down state marriage amendments, and appeals of these decisions are ongoing.
Third, the success of this Fortnight is vital to establishing and maintaining a new movement for religious freedom, in response to the growing range of religious freedom issues in so many areas of law, such as immigration, adoption, and disaster relief, both here and abroad.
Many excellent prayer and educational materials for celebrating the Fortnight are available (in English and Spanish) online at www.fortnight4freedom.org. The prayer resources include a litany for liberty, a template for a holy hour, prayers of the faithful, and a prayer for the protection of religious liberty (available on three beautiful prayer cards).
The educational materials include several fact sheets explaining various domestic and international threats to religious liberty, and an excellent document providing compelling answers to frequently asked questions about religious liberty.
There are also daily reflections and readings taken from the Vatican II document Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae) along with questions that can be used for group discussion or personal reflection. The daily reflections and readings (minus the discussion questions) are available in a more printable format at www.nebcathcon.org.
Fourteen additional suggestions for celebrating the Fortnight in your parish are available on the Fortnight website (under “Prayer Resources”) and include: 1) celebrating a memorial Mass for Ss. Thomas More and John Fisher June 21 (vigil) or June 22 (their feast day) to open the Fortnight for Freedom; 2) sponsoring a movie night showing a relevant movie such as “A Man for All Seasons,” “For Greater Glory,” “First Freedom: The Fight for Religious Liberty,” or “Becket”; and 3) praying the Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty at the end of daily Mass.
Finally, the Bishops urge us to stay up-to-date on current religious freedom issues by signing up for text messages from the USCCB. It’s easy. Just text the word “FREEDOM” to 377377. For those who prefer e-mail alerts, click on the “Take Action” link at www.fortnight4freedom.org.
“Angel in the Waters” by Regina Doman, illustrated by Ben Hatke.
Sophia Institue Press, Manchester, N.H, 2004, 46 pages, all ages.
Science and religion are God’s creation. In both of these we learn about His beauty, goodness and nature.
The physical world gives us countless examples of God’s creation and beauty. Science is man’s attempt to understand our physical world. When science and religion seem to be opposed, the usual reason is that science has not caught up with religion. Mankind learns an idea and thinks it disposes of religious ideas.
It is quite ignorant for mankind to imagine it knows more than God. It is also sinful, prideful and dangerous. For example, for the last 40 years in the United States there has been heated debate about when life begins. Science is starting to catch up with religion again through some magnificent photographs taken in utero. The most touching may have been the infant clinging onto the hand of the physician while still inside the womb. Regina Doman tells us a moving story on this subject in a attractive and touching picture book entitled “Angel in the Waters.”
At the beginning, the tiny baby floats and swims about in his mother’s womb. He is not frightened because his guardian angel is constantly nearby. His angel tells him many important things about being alive and the importance of growing and swimming in the womb.
He hears a constant sound thumping nearby but is unaware of where the sound is coming from. Upon asking his angel, he is told: “Mother.”
The baby soon cannot imagine why the space inside Mother is getting so cramped. He can no longer swim easily and his angel tells him that soon he will leave the waters and go into the big world. This is confusing to the baby because all that he knows is his small, warm world inside Mother. His angel tells him to eat and sleep and get ready to leave the waters. So he rests and continues to grow larger and larger.
Meanwhile, Mother is growing as well. She and his father watch with wonder as time passes. Soon Mother is so big that she is having a hard time walking. Now the angel tells the baby that the time is nearly here for his journey outside of Mother to begin.
The angel assures the little one that he will never be left alone, but that the angel will always be with him until it is time to go into the final spiritual world. The angel tells the baby he will take him there as well. Comforted, the baby is ready to leave Mother. The waters begin to move.
What happens to the baby? Who is “Mother”? Why does she give him so much comfort in this cold, new world? Where does his angel go?
Have you ever held a newborn infant? Did the infant comfort you more than you comforted the baby? What does birth tell about God’s love for the earth? To find out the answers to these questions please obtain a copy of “Angel in the Waters” by Regina Doman.
You may not find this book in public libraries, so I encourage you to buy your own copy. It is a beautifully-drawn book about the gift of life. I hope you get a chance to own this book and share it with members of your own family. Regina Doman tells of God’s great gift of life and love in this lovely book. I hope you get a chance to read it. I loved it.
“Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit,” by Chris Van Dusen
Candlewick Press, Somerville, Mass., 2012, 32 pages, Grades K-3.
The use of statistics and mathematics in sports continues to grow. For example, it is hard to view a major league baseball game without hearing of an infield shift based on “percentages.”
This means that statisticians have analyzed each at-bat that a player has had in a season, to predict where he will hit the ball. Many times players will hit into a shift and make an easy out. But sometimes, the hitter will hit away from the shift and make the other team look foolish. Many fans of baseball will actually use math and statistics in fantasy baseball to choose players and managers. So baseball can be fun to play even if you aren’t very talented at the sport.
Chris Van Dusen’s imaginative combination of mathematics and daydreaming about baseball is the plot of this comical tale, “Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit.”
It is a hot summer day and Randy Riley is at bat. His horn-rimmed glasses slip down his nose as the pitcher winds up. A mathematical formula fills his head as the ball hurtles towards home plate. Randy thinks it is such an interesting math problem. But then he remembers he has two strikes already. Belatedly, he brings the bat off his shoulder to swing at the pitch. By the time he completes his swing, the catcher has already caught the third strike. Randy has failed again.
As he rides his bike home, he feels worthless about baseball. But the planets strike his fancy and he begins calculating the tilt of the celestial bodies.
At home, Randy retreats to his room and plays baseball with his newly built robots. Here, Randy is always a star. That night, as he looks up through his telescope, he sees a massive comet heading toward the earth. He quickly calculates its trajectory and concludes that it will collide with his hometown in 19 days. Hurrying downstairs, he tells his parents of this impending tragedy. They both tell Randy to go to bed because he is needlessly worrying.
Unable to get anyone’s attention, Randy decides he must act to save the planet. He goes to his back yard and begins welding a gigantic robot together. He equips it with massive arms and huge legs. Working frantically, he completes the robot as the meteor enters the earth’s atmosphere. Randy charges the robot with 97 batteries and drives the robot to confront the menacing fireball.
The robot rips a massive smokestack off an abandoned factory and stands like a ferocious hitter facing a dangerous pitcher. The comet screams toward earth and the robot takes a mighty swing.
Does he connect? What happens to the fireball? Can Randy’s great mathematical skills save the city?
Have you known how good it feels to smack a baseball? Can brains overcome brawn? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out “Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit” by Chris Van Dusen.
This is an absolutely delightful book to read with a younger member of your family. The pictures are hysterical and the story entertaining. Everyone in my family couldn’t stop laughing when reading this book. So if you want to have a rollicking good time, check out this fun title. You will be glad you did. Enjoy!
In a recent interview, Florida Senator Marco Rubio made the comment that “Science is settled, it’s not even a consensus, it is a unanimity, that human life begins at conception.” Predictably, many in the secular media took issue with that definitive statement.
The Washington Post, for example, ran a story entitled “Marco Rubio demanded people look at the science on abortion. So we did.” The Post consulted the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) for a response to Rubio’s assertion.
Although ACOG may be viewed by some as a credible source of expertise about when human life begins, its long-term advocacy of abortion makes it anything but an objective source of information about life’s beginning. Here is ACOG’s response to the Post’s inquiry:
“Government agencies and American medical organizations agree that the scientific definition of pregnancy and the legal definition of pregnancy are the same: pregnancy begins upon the implantation of a fertilized egg into the lining of a woman’s uterus. This typically takes place, if at all, between 5 and 9 days after fertilization of the egg—which itself can take place over the course of several days following sexual intercourse.”
ACOG’s response illustrates its ideology. Sen. Rubio said there is “unanimity that human life begins at conception.” Note that ACOG and the Post responded by talking about definitions of when “pregnancy” begins.
On the question of when human life begins, a search of human embryology textbooks demonstrates that Rubio is correct about the scientific consensus that human life begins at conception (i.e. following the process of fertilization).
For example, Langman’s Medical Embryology says: “The development of a human begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote.” [Sadler, T.W. Langman’s Medical Embryology, 7th edition. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins 1995, p. 3]
The Developing Human by Moore and Persaud says: “Human development begins at fertilization when a male… sperm unites with a female [egg] to form a single cell--a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marked the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.” Elsewhere, the textbook defines a zygote as “the beginning of a new human being.” [The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. 6th edition. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 2003, p. 2, 16]
For an honest moral analysis of abortion, the relevant factor is when “human life” begins not when “pregnancy” begins.
Nonetheless, ACOG and the Post “muddy the water” by shifting the discussion to when “pregnancy” begins and claiming that “Consensus exists (if not unanimously), and the consensus is that uterine implantation is the moment at which pregnancy begins.”
Even on this point, however, ACOG and the Post are incorrect. In his paper “Conceiving ‘Pregnancy’” (online at downloads.frc.org/EF/EF09D12.pdf), Christopher Gacek examined the definitions of “pregnancy” and “conception” in the four major medical dictionaries (Dorland, Mosby, Stedman, Taber)—sources that he argues are far less likely to be ideological or political in their work.
Gacek looked not only at how the dictionaries define those terms now, but how they defined them historically throughout each of their editions. What is clear from Gacek’s exposé is that there is no scientific consensus supporting an implantation-based definition of “pregnancy” or “conception.” In fact, the scientific consensus (as indicated by these medical dictionaries) is that “conception” and “pregnancy” are defined as beginning with fertilization.
This verbal deception perpetrated by ACOG and the Washington Post is a stunning example of how verbal engineering always precedes social engineering.
In the Diocese of Lincoln, Memorial Day Weekend is synonymous with Ordinations Weekend. The longstanding tradition of having ordination ceremonies during this holiday weekend is well established. Also included in the weekend’s festivities are the First Solemn Masses of Thanksgiving during which the new priests and deacons exercise the powers of their ministry either at their home parish or another parish of their choosing.
Since most of our clergy were ordained around this time, there are many priests who are presently celebrating anniversaries. This is a good time for us all to be grateful not only for the gift of priesthood itself, but also for the perseverance of those who have been given this unique and holy gift. Prayers for priests are essential in this regard, and they are very much appreciated.
My class has the distinction of being the largest class ordained in one ceremony in diocesan history. There were ten of us who were ordained priests on May 27, 1989, at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ by Bishop Glennon P. Flavin (He served as Bishop of Lincoln for 25 years). Our class now celebrates our Silver Jubilee of Ordination to the Priesthood with three special blessings of note. First of all, contrary to the typical situation of classes from that era, none have died and none have left the active ministry. Secondly, our class actually grew by two members, both of whom were ordained by Pope Saint John Paul II on May 28, 1989, and both of whom were incardinated into our diocese by Bishop Bruskewitz later on. Finally, one from our ranks, Bishop John Folda, received the fullness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders last summer.
Being twelve in number is notably biblical in representation, but more significant is the privilege we have enjoyed as a group to provide the Church with 300 total years worth of sacramental ministry to the People of God. The most common refrain from my class at our Jubilee celebration with fellow clergy and seminarians after the recent Chrism Mass was one of gratitude. We are so thankful to God for the gift of Holy Orders that empowers us to support God’s children in marriage, consecrated life and single life in a multitude of ways. The privilege of continuing the work of Jesus by celebrating Mass and forgiving sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation ranks very high for us who recognize that none of what we do as priests would be possible without the vocational call we received from the Father and the grace and power of the Holy Spirit that strengthens and sustains us.
In a couple of weeks, many of our priests will begin to work in a different part of God’s vineyard because they have received a new assignment from the bishop, “holy orders” of a different sort, one might say. When we made the vow of obedience as we were ordained, we sacrificed some of our individual freedom for the good of the Church saying, in effect, “Thy will be done” as did Mary and Jesus and many saints before us. Much of the joy of priesthood comes from the freedom of not having to figure out how best to serve Jesus, but rather knowing that this can and will always best be accomplished simply by accepting where we are “sent” by the Holy Spirit through the bishop’s regular clergy assignments.
Please join my class in celebrating our gift of priesthood at a special Mass of Thanksgiving to be celebrated at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln Tuesday, May 27, at 5 p.m. All are welcome to join us for Mass and visit with us during a reception after Mass. The Most Reverend John Folda, Bishop of Fargo, will be the Main Celebrant and Fr. James Meysenburg will be the homilist. We hope that many will be able to worship with us as we thank God for the inestimable gift of the priesthood.
As we know, many in southern Nebraska were dealt a blow last Mother’s Day. Multiple tornadoes struck several communities and farmsteads including Sutton, Cordova and Beaver Crossing.
Immediately after the storm, I attempted to call the affected pastors who are ‘on the ground.’ Father William Holoubek, the pastor of St. Mary Parish in Sutton, was one such pastor. I caught him before he went to the fire station in downtown Sutton, which was hit. He noticed many trees and power lines down and the damage the downtown section sustained.
Once there he informed the emergency personnel that Catholic Social Services was there to help. His beautiful new parish hall became the ‘command and control’ center in Sutton.
The morning after the storms, Jill McMahon and Christine Cook were there taking names and helping those in need. During my visit, I noticed a young woman who had lost her house. She woke up Mother’s Day in her home and before the day was over, had lost it all. She appeared to me in what can only be described as a daze.
She was in a state of shock. Another family lost their home and its contents. This included medicines which totaled $1,000. They were told Catholic Social Services was there to help.
Another priest on the ground immediately was Father Thomas Kuffel, pastor of St. Stephen in Exeter, who informed me of the damage in Cordova. Soon Curt Krueger was there with a vanload of generators and offers to help. He also visited Beaver Crossing which was more severely affected.
Catholic Social Services is a part of a multi-agency relief effort that is addressing the immediate and long-term needs with staff in Sutton and Beaver Crossing. We are helping with food, water, blankets, clothing, generators, housing, rent assistance, help with medicines, furniture, appliances, houseware goods and other items.
What other items? Christine Cook overheard a little girl say to her mother, “Mommy, who would do this to us, who would take everything from us?” Some of the other ‘stuff’ includes toys for they were blown away too.
In addition to your prayers for the victims, and for the success of the relief effort, please consider helping us with a cash donation according to your means (because, in addition to the immediate needs there will be many long-term housing and emergency service needs), and materially with items around your house and farms not needed, such as furniture and household goods.
Please know in addition to the many victims of this latest tragedy, we at CSS will keep you and your families in our prayers.
Finally, please also pray for the happy repose of a man who collapsed and died during the clean-up effort. He truly gave his life for the sake of others. May he rest in peace.
Ten years ago, in the heat of the embryonic stem cell research debate, some pretty wild and irresponsible hype was used to justify destroying human embryos to use their stem cells for research. For example, during the 2004 Presidential election Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards said that if (pro-embryo research) John Kerry was elected president, “people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.”
Actor Michael J. Fox, another longtime champion of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research, in testimony before a Senate subcommittee in 2000, referred to the “miraculous potential” of human embryonic stem cells and claimed that the “consistent and inescapable conclusion is that this research offers a potential to eliminate diseases -- literally save millions of lives.”
Fox also was a vocal supporter of California’s 2004 Proposition 71, which appropriated $3 billion of state funds to be used for hESC research and established the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). In a television ad Fox declared “[Prop] 71 will support research to find cures for diseases that affect millions of people ... including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Please support the effort to find cures by voting Yes on 71. It could save the life of someone you love.”
What a difference 10 years makes. In a May 2012 interview with Michael J. Fox, Diane Sawyer referred to hESC research as “this is the promise, this is the future.” Fox responded by saying “the other avenues of research have grown and multiplied and have become as much or more promising. So an answer may come from stem cell research but it’s more likely to come from another area.”
As for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the $3 billion of taxpayer money it was appropriated, the trajectory of where the money is being spent says a lot about the future of stem cell research. In 2009, the first year research grants were offered, of the 15 grants awarded, nine were for hESCR and six went to research using non-embryonic stem cells.
One year later, the second round of grants shifted dramatically with 12 grants going to non-embryonic stem cell research and only five projects were funded using hESCs. This trend continued in the third round of grants in 2012, with 15, or just over 70% of the 21 total grants awarded going to non-embryonic stem cell research and only six grants going to hESCR projects.
In the fourth round of grants announced in August 2013, the percentage of grants going to non-embryonic stem cell research increased to 77% (10 out of 13). The number of grants given to hESCR in 2013 fell to just 15% of the total.
Furthermore, in 2012, CIRM changed its mission from giving funding priority to hESCR and cloning for research, to giving priority to stem cell research with the best chance of leading to clinical trials.
Despite this attempt to shift its focus to non-embryonic stem cell research which has much more promise for resulting in cures for some diseases, CIRM has a tough sell to get the taxpayers of California to renew its funding. Even the San Francisco Chronicle–a very enthusiastic cheerleader for Proposition 71, recently editorialized that the public spigot should be turned off.
In “Stem Cell Agency Hasn’t Lived Up to its Hype” the paper said “the institute’s operations over the past decade haven’t inspired the confidence California voters would need to offer the agency more money. The agency will need to rely on private investment if it’s to continue its mission.”
Sadly, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its acolytes at “Research Nebraska” continue to demagogue the issue of stem cell research. In a recent political mailer, Research Nebraska endorses candidates for the Nebraska Legislature it says “support stem cell research,” by which it really means embryonic stem cell research.
The piece also says “Stem cell research is the key to finding cures.” But it grossly misleads the public by failing to acknowledge that those cures are more likely to come from non-embryonic stem cells than from embryonic stem cells. If you want to help promote ethical research, I urge you to join the Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research. Contact them online at www.ethicalresearch.net or call 402-690-2299.
Later this month, on May 28, the Nebraska Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on whether the district courts in the state should be allowed to hear and decide any lawsuit that seeks to dissolve a same-sex “marriage” lawfully entered into in another state, e.g., Iowa.
The case the Supreme Court is reviewing on appeal, Nichols v. Nichols, implicates Article I, Section 29 of the Nebraska State Constitution (I-29), which, in relevant part, states as follows: “Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska.”
I-29 is in the Nebraska Constitution as a result of more than enough signatures on Initiative Measure 416 and its subsequent approval by 70 percent of the voters at the General Election in 2000.
Bonnie Nichols and her same-sex partner, Margie Nichols, residents of Nebraska, legally entered into marriage in Iowa November 7, 2009 (By court ruling, same-sex marriage was legalized in Iowa in April 2009). On November 19, 2012, in Lancaster County (NE) District Court, Bonnie Nichols, as plaintiff, filed a Complaint for Dissolution of her Iowa-based marriage to Margie Nichols, the defendant. The response from the defendant was a Motion to Dismiss, citing I-29 and stating this reasoning: “Since Nebraska does not recognize same-sex marriage, the Court lacks jurisdiction to dissolve a same-sex marriage.”
Last August 30, a district judge in Lancaster County sustained the Defendant’s motion.
Her reasoning was sound: “[P]hilosophy and semantics aside…under Nebraska law a divorce cannot be granted absent an express finding that ‘the marriage is irretrievably broken’”; “A finding that the marriage is irretrievably broken—by its nature—cannot be made without recognizing the marriage itself… it stretches logic and common sense to conclude otherwise”; “Granting a dissolution of marriage… necessarily involves recognizing the marriage”; “Nebraska’s Constitution prohibits recognizing same-sex marriages”; “[T]o the extent the… provisions of section 42-117 (requiring courts to recognize valid out-of-state marriages as valid in Nebraska) are in conflict with Nebraska’s more specific Constitutional Amendment…rules of construction dictate that the more specific provision controls.”
On September 27, 2013, the Plaintiff filed a Notice of Appeal. The Supreme Court agreed to directly review the trial court’s decision, bypassing the intermediate Court of Appeals.
As the district court judge observed, this case involves “areas of Nebraska jurisprudence presently unchartered by Nebraska’s appellate courts.”
Make no mistake; the purposes behind this appeal and this case are more complex, extensive and intentional than merely breaking the legal relationship the plaintiff and defendant have under federal law and the law of Iowa. The case also involves an attack on I-29, seeking at least to constrict and weaken it and perhaps to set it up for some lethal punch in the future.
Consider the errors that the Appellant alleges were made by the District Court’s ruling: that the Court erroneously dismissed the Complaint for Dissolution on Section 29 grounds when Section 29 (allegedly) violates Art. IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, requiring full faith and credit; when Section 29 (allegedly) denies the U.S. Constitution’s First-Amendment implicit right to associational freedom; when Section 29 (allegedly) violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment insofar as it prohibits states from abridging privileges and immunities, from denying life, liberty or property without due process of law and from denying equal protection of the laws; when Section 29 (allegedly) violates Art. IV, Sec.2, Cl. 1 of the U.S. Constitution, requiring all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states; and that the district court denied equal protection on the basis of gender.
Consider as well that these parties have alternatives they could implement in order to avoid a conflict with the Nebraska Constitution; but doing so would fail the objective. For one, they could obtain a divorce in Iowa, although that probably would include either abiding by a one-year residency requirement or challenging it. Alternatively, these parties presumably could file to have their marriage annulled pursuant to Sections 42-373 and 42-374 of the Nebraska statutes. One basis for annulment is that the marriage is prohibited by law; the marriage was a nullity in Nebraska, never legal or valid in the first place.
Consider as well that both the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska Foundation and Legal Aid of Nebraska have jumped into the case with briefs amicus curiae, employing strong rhetoric to condemn I-29.
The Nebraska Family Alliance and the Nebraska Catholic Conference have received permission from the Supreme Court to jointly file an amicus curiae brief, which will defend Nebraska’s marriage amendment, the public-policy rationale behind it and the vote of the people.
Fortunately, it seems unlikely that the Nebraska Supreme Court would use Nichols v. Nichols to fully strike down Article I, Section 29 as a violation of the U. S. Constitution. If the Court determines that the case is properly before it, then the only question it would have to decide is whether I-29 applies so as to bar dissolution of a same-sex marriage, not a question of constitutionality. Of course, the Appellant and her friendly amici want more than that.
Somewhat oddly, if not suspiciously, it appears that only the Plaintiff/Appellant will present an argument to the Court. The Defendant/Appellee did not file a brief and her legal counsel was allowed to withdraw from the case last October. That being the situation, the Solicitor General from the office of the state Attorney General sought leave as amicus to present an oral argument and the Supreme Court agreed to allow 10 minutes for that.
I recently finished a book entitled, “Jesuit Missionaries to North America.” I figured it was high time I read it since I now am in residence at North American Martyrs Parish in Lincoln.
Contained in the book are stories of various missionaries including, of course, the eight North American martyrs who are patron saints of the above parish. It was a book that I had a hard time to put down.
One of the hallmarks of the martyrs was their willingness to suffer for the Lord Jesus in order to save souls. Telling was the discussion of St. Isaac Jogues who, despite having had numerous opportunities to escape, did not because of his desire to minister to the Catholic Huron captives of the Iroquois - not only materially but most importantly spiritually by administering the sacraments.
After reading this book I moved on to another entitled, “The Miracle of Father Kapaun, Priest, Soldier, and Korean War Hero.” It is a book about Father Emil Kapaun, a WWII and Korean War chaplain from Pilsen, Kan., who was captured by the Chinese during the Korean War and put to death by starvation.
I was amazed that during the battle that raged south of the village of Unsan, and despite warnings from his fellow soldiers, Father Kapaun went from foxhole to foxhole, despite heavy gunfire, to pull wounded men out of harm’s way, in order to administer absolution and the anointing of the sick. He figured if God wanted him to administer the sacraments to the wounded and dying, he would keep the bullets away. He was right; none of the bullets hit their intended targets. They were so close though, he had two pipes shot out of his mouth.
Like St. Isaac Jogues, Father Kapaun turned down multiple opportunities to escape in order to stay with his wounded comrades who were about to be captured by the Chinese. Once captured, he was responsible for the conversion of countless souls. In addition, he helped save the lives of countless more.
Eventually, he was taken away from his men and left to die in a separate building. His heroic love for his neighbor was nothing other than the imitation of the love Christ manifested on the cross for us all.
Can we not connect the dots to many other saints and martyrs from St. Stephen until the present time? Ignoring our own interests for others, which is a prelude for laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters, is what drives our donors to help us: spiritually with their prayers, materially with donated items not needed in their homes, and financially with cash donations according to their means.
I have been told a number of times that one of the rules of fundraising is to thank a donor seven times. Please allow me to use this article as ‘one of the seven’ opportunities God has given me to thank our many self-less donors who ignore their own interests for the sake of others by supporting us as described above.
Please know that we will keep you, your family and intentions in our prayers. Please also remember to pray for the beatification of Father Emil Kapaun.
St. Isaac Jogues, and Father Kapaun, pray for us!
“Starting Life Tree”
by Claire Llewellyn, illustrated by Simon Mendez
Andromeda Children’s Books, London, 2004, 25 pages, Grades 2-3.
All of nature develops through a cycle of life. In the beginning, plants are very small and fragile. At this time, many insects and animals can destroy the tiny seedlings. But within a year, the floras begin to grow and become stronger. This same cycle occurs in the development of trees. As the seeds push through the ground, shoots can be seen which then grow into saplings. With apple trees this happy process results in the development of delicious fruit and fragrant buds. Claire Llewellyn has written a fine account of this process in a book entitled “Starting Life Tree.”
The seed lies under the soil and begins to burst upward in the spring. The roots sink deep into the rich soil to gather nutrients for the tiny green shoot. Two leaves push towards the sunlight and begin to quickly grow during the first year. The small apple tree can grow three feet tall this first year. It is now a sapling and begins to get a thicker, stronger bark to protect it from the elements. Each year it grows taller and taller until after six years, it is about 20 feet tall. Now the buds on the apple tree begins producing fruit. This causes all kinds of animals and insects to cluster around the tree. Rabbits burrow into the ground near the apple tree, birds build their houses in the branches and insects flock about the tree.
Another year passes and the tree puts out sweet smelling blossoms that perfume the air for about two to three weeks. During this time countless bees drink the sweet nectar of the blossoms. They carry the pollen from the buds on their legs to other buds nearby helping the tree germinate. The tree is now full of ripening apples and attracts caterpillars, butterflies, grubs and wasps. This makes for a veritable smorgasbord for nesting birds as food for their hatchlings is readily available. The birds begin eating the insects on the tree while other bugs eat the aphids that suck the sap from the tree’s leaves. All of this is part of the biological cycle and becomes known as a food chain.
As the summer lengthens into August, many changes occur in the tree’s apples. The color of the fruit changes from green into red, yellow or gold. The skin of the apples swells due to the growth in the fruit. At last, it is time to harvest the beautiful apples. What happens during the harvest to the apples, the tree and to the insects and nearby animals?
Do people eat all the apples? How many fall on the ground and are eaten by deer, foxes and birds? Do you have a favorite kind of apple? I like the apple known as “Red Delicious.” What kind of delightful foods come from apples? And finally, what happens to the apple tree during the winter. To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and checkout this well written and illustrated book, “Starting Life Tree” by Claire Llewellyn.
This fine book has an interesting layout. There are tabs for each part of the growing season, which draws readers into the text. It is a clever use of the text and illustrations. The pictures are very inviting and students will learn many important facts about the life cycle of an apple tree. Llewellyn closes the book with a comprehensive glossary and index. This is a fine book for science classes in the lower elementary grades. It would also be enjoyable to read with younger children in your family. I hope you get a chance to check out this pleasant title. Enjoy!
We live in interesting and challenging times. The devil seems to be working overtime to attack and undermine the sacred dignity of human life and human sexuality. Thankfully, as we celebrate in this Easter season, we worship a God who sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins and to defeat death.
Additionally, as we celebrated on Divine Mercy Sunday, we can be thankful to God for sending Saint John Paul into the world at this time in human history. He was, it seems, God’s antidote to the devil’s poisonous attack on human life and love.
Consider that the first major project of St. John Paul’s extraordinarily consequential papacy was to provide the world with a profoundly beautiful explanation of God’s sacred gift of human sexuality. John Paul delivered this explanation in 129 short Wednesday audience talks between September of 1979 and November of 1984 and gave this project the working title “theology of the body.”
George Weigel, author of "Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II," described Theology of the Body as “one of the boldest reconfigurations of Catholic theology in centuries” – a “theological time-bomb set to go off with dramatic consequences ...perhaps in the twenty-first century.”
Although John Paul’s Theology of the Body is a challenging read for most of us, there are a growing number of writers who are endeavoring to explain this critically important work. Anyone who is interested in a deeper and more fulfilling understanding of the human person and human sexuality should devote some time to studying Theology of the Body.
In 1995, almost ten years after giving Theology of the Body to the world, St. John Paul issued his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). In 2000, while recalling the many encyclicals he had written during his papacy, John Paul said Evangelium Vitae was “a document that I consider central to the whole of the Magisterium of my pontificate.”
In “The Gospel of Life” John Paul, explains the roots of what he termed “the culture of death.” One root is a distorted notion of freedom characterized by radical individualism (self-centeredness, viewing others as obstacles/burdens not opportunities to give/receive love), relativism (no recognition of moral absolutes or objective truth) and materialism (valuing possessions above people).
The most destructive root (or “heart of the tragedy” as JP II put it), however, is alienation from God. “In seeking the deepest roots of the struggle between the ‘culture of life’ and the ‘culture of death’, we cannot restrict ourselves to the perverse idea of freedom…” John Paul said. “We have to go to the heart of the tragedy being experienced by modern man: the eclipse of the sense of God and of man, typical of a social and cultural climate dominated by secularism.”
St. John Paul is saying that if our relationship with our Creator is weak, then our understanding of the value and meaning of human life created in His image is also weak. Likewise, if we don’t understand and appreciate the value and meaning of human life, we are more likely to violate its dignity. Violating the dignity of human life, like all sin, alienates us further from God and compounds the problem.
Countering these roots of the culture of death, according to John Paul, requires us to “bring the Gospel of life to the heart of every man and woman and to make it penetrate every part of society. This involves above all…the proclamation of a living God who is close to us, who calls us to profound communion with himself and awakens in us the certain hope of eternal life.
“It is the affirmation of the inseparable connection between the person, his life and his bodiliness. It is the presentation of human life as a life of relationship, a gift of God, the fruit and sign of his love. It is the proclamation that Jesus has a unique relationship with every person, which enables us to see in every human face the face of Christ. It is the call for a ‘sincere gift of self’ as the fullest way to realize our personal freedom.”
Thank you, God, for giving us your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you also for bringing St. John Paul into this critical time in human history.
On April 21, I electronically wished Dr. Gianna Emanuela a happy birthday. It was on this day, 52 years ago, that St. Gianna Beretta Molla gave birth to her.
Most of us know the story. Her mother was given a choice, her life or the life of her baby because of a large uterine tumor. It was a week later, on April 28, that St. Gianna died.
In my birthday greetings, I informed Gianna Emanuela that we would be celebrating her mother’s feast day April 28 by a Mass offered by Bishop James Conley, with a reception to follow. During the homily, Bishop Conley spoke of the heroic self-less love St. Gianna exhibited for her baby, which was a reflection of the self-less love Jesus Christ manifested for us on the cross: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).
He then talked about the extraordinary lives of our two new saints - St. John XXIII, who was a contemporary of St. Gianna, and St. John Paul II, who beatified and canonized her.
The chapel was filled to the brim with Sister Cecilia Ann Rezac, the mother superior of the Marian Sisters, Sisters Bernadette, Karen and Clare who work at St. Gianna’s, along with some of the residents, volunteers and board members.
We are most grateful to Almighty God, and for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her most chaste spouse, St. Joseph, and St. Gianna for the gift of St. Gianna’s, a place of refuge for women who are escaping domestic violence and abortion.
I am happy to inform everyone that we have helped save our 16th baby. There are many grace-filled stories to share. The pressures on the women who come to us to abort their babies seems to come from many sides: the abusive fathers of their unborn babies, parents, siblings, aunts and uncles. Besides the obvious, it is always heartwarming to see the very family members who had been pushing for the said abortion, after falling in love with the newborn baby, become champions of the pro-life cause.
I would like to thank Bishop Conley for celebrating the Mass at St. Gianna’s, and for his love and support for this most important apostolate. Thanks also to our many board members, volunteers and supporters who make this all possible because St. Gianna’s is supported entirely from private funding from the faithful of southern Nebraska and the few who are supporters outside the diocese. St. Gianna, pray for us!
“Flight of the Honey Bee” by Raymond Huber, illustrated by Brian Lovelock.
Candlewick Press, Somerville, Mass., 2013, 32 pages, Grades K-2.
Each spring and summer, visitors to gardens will see honey bees flying from flower to flower in search of nectar. This sweet juice is extracted from the flowers by their long tongues. The bees are very industrious and move constantly over lawns, flower gardens and nearby fields.
Since the beginning of recorded history, mankind has been fascinated with honey bees. Drawings of bees can be found in ancient literature and numerous pleasing statements about honey and bees can be found in the Holy Bible. But actually, people know very little about bees. Raymond Huber has written an excellent account of the actions of a scout bee, and this interesting book is entitled “Flight of the Honey Bee.”
The book begins with a young bee, “Scout,” looking out into a large, scary world outside the beehive. While all bees have different jobs in the hive, her job is to fly throughout the area to find flowers. Rapidly fanning her wings, Scout takes off and zooms upward. But where are the flowers the hive needs? She continues to fly over nearby fields until the marvelous fragrance of a field of flowers envelopes her. Quickly she dives but is attacked by a marauding blackbird. The blackbird is more than happy to eat honey bees.
Barely avoiding disaster, Scout hides from the intruder and waits until the bird leaves. Then she sinks near the delightful center of a flower and drinks deeply from the delicious nectar. It helps, of course, that her tongue is shaped like a tiny spoon.
Since Scout is continually brushing against the leaves of the flowers, the pollen, or fine reproductive flower cells, cling to the hair on her legs. When she flies to the next flower or plant, some of the pollen will fall onto the leaves of the second flower or plant, causing it to be fertilized. Though Scout merely is trying to get nectar to make honey for her hive, she is actually carrying out a vital role in food production. It is very simple. If plants don’t get pollinated by bees, they don’t reproduce. If they don’t reproduce, they don’t produce any food.
But Scout’s work has just begun. She begins flying back to the hive but continues to encounter many challenges and problems. It begins to rain and hail on the intrepid bee. If Scout gets too chilled, her wing muscles can be damaged and she will not be able to fly properly. So she waits out the storm, only to look up and see hail starting to fall everywhere. The hail is as large as she is, but Scout luckily avoids being hit by the white pellets. At long last, she takes off and flies back to her hive. But more trouble awaits. There is a robber wasp trying to get inside the bee hive to steal honey and a battle quickly breaks out. What happens to Scout?
Did you know that bees could have so many natural enemies? How do they cope with all of these dangerous events? Have you ever watched honey bees in your back yard? Why do people use the phrase “busy as a bee?” To find out the answer to these questions, go to the library and check out “Flight of the Honey Bee” by Raymond Huber.
This is a very interesting book with excellent pictures of honey bees. You have to admire the diligence of Scout as she carries out her duties despite the dangers she continually encounters. Young children will enjoy seeing Scout hiding from the hailstorm, drinking nectar from flowers and battling with the wasp. The artwork about the bees’ many activities is quite interesting. I think adults will like the book as well and hope you get a chance to read this fine book. Enjoy!
Many businesses and organizations honor an employee or volunteer of the month. While our country honors mothers on the second Sunday of May each year, our Church honors Mary, the “Mother of the Month” for the entirety of May. What a treat for all who call her “mother”!
One might speculate that Pope Saint John Paul II relished the fact that his birthday fell in the month of May, the same month devoted to Mary who held such a special place in his heart and in his spirituality. Everything we love about May, be it graduations, weddings, spring rains or flowers, should take second place to the Church’s commitment of this month to its most treasured saint and disciple of Jesus—namely, Mary. From May crownings to Marian processions, we love to honor this mother.
At month’s end, we celebrate the famous Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, her cousin who, like her, was with child. It is one of many events that give credibility to perhaps her most recent new title: Mary, Star of Evangelization. Once Mary had received the unequaled gift of Jesus into her body and soul she was compelled to share that special God-given blessing with others. She began by sharing her divine son with a family member. Now she shares Him with the whole world.
A familiar Scriptural adage is: What you have received as a gift, give as a gift (see Mt.10:8). Mary fulfills this commission of our Lord in a perfect way and acts as a model for all Christians in this regard. Her renowned “fiat” was grounded in the most noteworthy “yes” ever uttered in God’s direction. At the Annunciation, she anticipated the words she would recite many times over in The Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done.”
Jesus desires that we imitate His holy mother, His most perfect disciple, in submitting our human will to the will of our Father in heaven. This receptive and loving action of Mary made the incarnation of Jesus possible. A similar welcoming of Jesus into our lives happens whenever we say yes to God’s plan for us. We daily are called to submit to the Father as Jesus did, even when it is neither convenient nor pleasurable to do so.
Mary’s most exalted title, “Mother of God,” mirrors one of the four dogmas associated with her. The early Church grappled with the idea that Jesus truly could be both God and man. The title Mother of God not only helped to solidify the teaching that Jesus is divine, but also added significance to Mary’s relationship to God and to His Church.
Mary has since received many other titles that help define her role in salvation history, but none will ever match her most fundamental identity as mother of our Lord.
As we honor our mothers this year, let us not forget to honor the mother of us all, Mary. In doing so, we imitate her son Jesus whose relationship with her made her “blessed among women.”
As we draw nearer to Jesus as His disciples, we come also into more intimate union with His mother. As her spiritual sons and daughters, it is incumbent upon us to honor Mary in a special way, most especially in our devotional lives.
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms… and to Mary, the greatest mother of all!
“Parrots Over Puerto Rico” by Susan Roth,
Collages by Susan Roth.
Lee & Low Books Inc., New York, 2013, 32 pages, Grades 2-4.
Many species of animals, plants and birds have disappeared throughout history. Sometimes this is the natural course of events. For example, wooly mammoths and sabertoothed tigers simply could not adapt to changes in the environment.
But too often, the extinction of a species is caused by the destruction of the natural habitat by people or by overhunting of animals. The passenger pigeon once darkened the sky during pioneer days, but were hunted to extinction by the early 1900s. The beautiful island of Puerto Rico is home to some amazing tropical wildlife. The colorful Puerto Rican Parrot nearly suffered a similar fate.
Susan Roth tells the tragic story of the decline of the Puerto Rican Parrot and the amazing comeback in the species after 1970. The Puerto Rican Parrot has lived for centuries on the island of Puerto Rico. There are hundreds of thousands of parrots at the time of the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores. Throughout the nearly 400 years that Spain controlled the island, the parrots are little effected. But during the 20th century, the population of Puerto Rico expands. Plantations replace forests in the last hundred years and the tranquil environment is transformed.
While crops can now be grown on the land, the felling of trees quickly destroys the ability of the parrots to live and reproduce.
This causes a massive decline in the population of the Puerto Rican Parrot. As cities continue to grow and expand, the parrots are attacked by the Red-Tailed Hawk and the Pearly-Eyed Thrasher. While these two species of birds had always challenged the parrots for food and nesting sites, the clearing of forests leaves the parrots near extinction.
The Puerto Rican Parrot is a beautiful bird. It is nearly a foot tall and is arrayed in a gorgeous combination of green and blue feathers. In flight these parrots look quite magical as their colors blend into the tropical jungle. Their strong beak is outlined by red bordering feathers while large white rings surround their eyes. All these beautiful colors make them extremely attractive. By 1975, only 13 parrots could be found in the rain forest. If decisions weren’t quickly made, the future of the parrot would be grim.
But at the 11th hour, a group of scientists banded together to save this majestic parrot. What might happen if parrot eggs were hatched in captivity and then released into the wild? It is something of a desperate gamble, but time is running out. The scientists quickly move into action.
What happens? Is the program successful? What do the scientists learn about reintroducing birds raised in captivity into a jungle?
Have you ever seen a parrot? Would you like to own one as a pet? What would our world be like without attractive birds like the Puerto Rican Parrot? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out this beautiful book, “Parrots Over Puerto Rico” by Susan Roth.
The author tells the important story of the recovery of the Puerto Rican Parrot, and this book won the Robert F. Sibert Medal for Nonfiction in 2014. The collages used by Susan Roth are vibrant, interesting and beautiful. Readers will be drawn into the artwork and should take their time looking at each page. There are so many things to see that there is a certain magic in the collages. This is an excellent book to read with the younger members of your family, or a fine title to be individually read. So I hope you get a chance to read this award winning book, “Parrots Over Puerto Rico” by Susan Roth. Enjoy!
I love music. I grew up in a family that was taught an appreciation for music—both vocal and instrumental. As a member of a chant schola I have been exposed to a treasure of indescribably beautiful sacred music from composers like Mozart, Palestrina, Byrd, Victoria, and Morales.
One need not have any particular training in music to recognize and appreciate the objective beauty of this sacred music. What’s more, sacred music can help us to experience and appreciate the supernatural.
One of Mozart’s concertos (Violin Concerto #3 in G major) has particularly captured my attention of late. As I listen to the exquisite beauty of the violin in this piece, it inevitably prompts me to think of (and thank) God. And I find myself trying to imagine that it is me playing that violin.
As I snap back to reality, I lament that producing music with such mastery is not likely among my gifts. Nonetheless, it occurred to me that while most of us may not be able to produce music like Mozart, every person (regardless of his/her gifts or limitations) is capable of doing something beautiful in the eyes of our Creator.
For example, every time we demonstrate the simplest act of love or forgiveness to another person I believe that in God’s eyes the beauty of our action far surpasses the beauty of Mozart’s most sublime concerto. Likewise, as our Lord explains in the parable of the Prodigal Son, there is nothing more beautiful to God than a repentant sinner.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta also demonstrated so beautifully in her loving care of the poorest of the poor that every one of us can “do something beautiful for God.
“The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved - they are Jesus in disguise...” she said. “Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don’t only give your care, but give your heart as well....
“The poor give us much more than we give them. They’re such strong people, living day to day with no food, and they never curse, never complain. Really we don’t have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.... Only in heaven will we see how much we owe the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.”
“Love does not measure;” Blessed Teresa said, “it just gives. In the world, love cannot remain by itself but must be put into action through service. Whatever we are like, able or disabled, rich or poor, it is not how much we do but how much love we put into the doing... (so)… Put your love in living action.
“The hunger for love is much more difficult than the hunger for bread. In loving others you are loving God Himself... We cannot do great things. We can only do little things with great love... Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family.”
Blessed Teresa said that “[e]very person is Christ for me, and since there is only One, that person is the one person in the world at that time... I see God in every human being. When I wash lepers’ wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?”
Even something as simple as a kind word can be most beautiful in God’s eyes. “Kind words can be short and easy to speak,” Blessed Teresa said, “but their echoes are truly endless. Let no one ever come away without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, and kindness in your smile.”
There it is. Blessed Teresa is telling us that every person can be “Mozart” in the eyes of God with the simplest acts of kindness and love. So let’s get to it and do something beautiful for God.
A few items and thoughts are left over from the 103rd Nebraska Legislature’s second regular session, which adjourned sine die at 5:36 p.m. April 17.
Honoring legislators known not to be returning for the next regular session is a nice, institutional tradition on the last day of a Legislature. This year followed suit.
The tradition has taken on an expanded meaning since terms limits were instituted by the electorate in 2000 and first took effect in 2008. This year, 17 of the 49 legislators are facing the “mandatory retirement” imposed by the policy. They were honored during a two-part process.
First, during the course of fairly routine activity on the floor of the Unicameral—it was “debate” being extended by Senator Ernie Chambers on protecting mountain lions—each term-limited legislator was saluted by one of the legislators not yet subject to the policy. Typically, words of respect and gratitude, humor and sincerity were expressed by a member from a common region of the state or connected to the honoree by committee membership. Neat deal.
Secondly, as part of the last day’s ceremonial activities, each departing legislator delivered personal remarks. Again, there was humor and sincerity and some sadness and regret, and a great deal of gratitude. Each legislator mentioned the work of staff and the sacrifices of family. Again, neat deal.
The Unicameral Update, the Legislature’s official newsletter during the session, presented an excellent follow-up to the final day’s events, including photos of each of the 17 legislators and a pull-out quote from each of their speeches.
For instance, Holdrege Senator Tom Carlson, who served as chairman of both the Agriculture and Natural Resources committees during his eight-year tenure, said, “I respect the unicameral form of government and I really believe, in spite of some shortcomings, it’s the best form of government in the United States.”
Senator Bill Avery from Lincoln: “Soon my name will no longer be on that voting board and I assure you that doesn’t matter. This place will endure; you will do it right.”
Senator Tom Hansen from North Platte combined humor with sincerity: “In my adult life I have a motto: ‘All’s well that ends.’ It has been an honor to serve my district and this body.”
Omaha Senator Scott Lautenbaugh reflected the reality that citizen-legislators have lives of their own: “I have 14-year-old twins who are going into high school now and they need my constant attention… so it’s time to go home.”
Article III, Section 14 of the Nebraska State Constitution, having to do with bills and resolutions considered by the Legislature, includes this sentence: “No bill shall contain more than one subject, and the subject shall be clearly expressed in the title.”
Not a session of the Legislature transpires without some mention of the “one-subject rule.” The mentions—sometimes made more forcefully than at other times, depending upon the subject matter—typically occur in the waning days of a session, when time runs short and adding the provisions of a bill that’s languishing to a bill that’s on track to passing becomes a strategy.
If the subject matter gets by the Legislature’s own germaneness rule, which can be ignored or finessed or even waived with 30 votes, then just about any combination of subjects can end up in one bill. Even if a bill becomes constitutionally suspect, it’s not unconstitutional until a final judicial ruling says so. If the provisions don’t ruffle feathers or spark any problem, chances are a constitutional challenge will never materialize. Such a ruling seldom occurs.
But there are bills that seem to test the limits.
There might be better examples from the 2014 session, but LB 998 strikes us as a good one. Here’s how it is described in a final report in Unicameral Update:
“Senators passed a bill April 3 that reduces penalties for violating ignition interlock device restrictions (when an individual convicted of drunken driving, who is restricted to driving only vehicles with an ignition interlock device, uses a vehicle not so equipped). It was amended to also address human trafficking, ‘up skirting’ and funerals.”
LB 998, introduced by Senator Russ Karpisek, started out as a bill to reduce the penalty for an ignition-interlock violation from a Class IV felony to a Class I misdemeanor, but ended up not only doing that, but also carrying the subject matter of LB 1034, LB 933 and LB 441.
The former prohibits knowingly photographing, filming, recording or broadcasting images of another person’s intimate areas without the person’s consent regardless of whether this occurs in a public or private place. The latter, sought by the funeral industry, clarifies who is authorized to plan a funeral and who is responsible for paying the costs. The subject matter of LB 933 better defines contexts of human trafficking, including debt bondage, threats of deportation, controlling access to alcohol and drugs and exploitation of disabilities.
Are all those ideas, all of which appear to be sound public policy in their own respects, enough alike to constitute a single subject, as required by the State Constitution? The answer is yes; unless and until there is a challenge; and that’s unlikely.
By the way, the blended LB 998 passed on a 49-0 vote.
And finally…
LB 774, passed on a vote of 44-3, authorizes the Governor to appoint 17 members as a planning commission for the 150th anniversary of Nebraska statehood in 2017. It’s the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission.
Those who are blessed with children might wonder if they are listening.
Recently while the lector read the third reading during the Easter vigil, a little boy who lives with his parents somewhere south of the Platte River in the Diocese of Lincoln heard these words, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the Israelites may pass through it on dry land. But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after them. Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and charioteers. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers.’ ”
We all know what happened next. It was then his dad felt a little elbow and a whisper from his little son, “Dad, I bet those Egyptians go into the water like they did last year!” It was the same little boy who told his father the previous year that when the white cloth on the cross replaces the purple one, he can eat candy.
Yes, our children are watching and listening to the actions and words of their parents. The words and actions are under microscopes. The children are watching closely, oftentimes unknown by their mothers and fathers. If their parents are humble, prayerful, and generous, the children will have a greater chance of being so when they reach adult life.
In other words, children should be imitating their parents who are imitating Jesus Christ who is truly risen.
In a marvelous little book entitled, The Imitation of Christ, in the 56th chapter of the third book it says, “Follow me: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn 14:6). Without the Way, there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without the Life, there is no living. I am the Way you must follow; the Truth which you must believe; the Life which you must hope for.
What a horrifying thought. Without Jesus Christ, a person is not going the way they were called to from all eternity, as the truth is either rejected or unknown while not living in communion with Him who died and rose from the dead.
I know that things do not happen out of a vacuum. When children conduct projects to benefit Catholic Social Services and St. Gianna’s, it is because of the example of their parents. And the adults who support us, it is because of the example of their parents or some other person or persons who were influential in their early lives. All have one thing in common - they listened when they were young to the voice of the Holy Spirit which led to imitating Jesus Christ.
I would like to once again thank our many benefactors who assist us spiritually with their prayers and penances, materially with donated items not needed around their homes and farms (including vehicles) and financially with a cash donation according to their means as they follow Jesus Christ our Risen Savior, because He is our Way, our Truth and our Life!
“My daughter, know that My Heart is mercy itself. From this sea of mercy, graces flow out upon the whole world. No soul that has approached Me has ever gone away unconsoled. All misery gets buried in the depths of My mercy, and every saving and sanctifying grace flows from this fountain… Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would My mercy not embrace a trusting soul.”
These words from the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (#1777) are a beautiful expression of God’s Divine Mercy, which we celebrate this Sunday. For those who suffer from a past abortion, however, God’s mercy can seem incomprehensible.
Personal and intensely emotional stories of women struggling with a past abortion give testament to this sad reality. I’ve received such letters in my office and many others can be seen on post-abortion websites like www.hopeafterabortion.com (Project Rachel). Here is an excerpt from one of those letters:
“My personal journey of healing began after six long years of the most deafeningly silent pain… I remember during those dark years, I would wake up each morning, and for a few brief seconds, all was well. Then I would remember what I had done. The grief was all-consuming. But, like so many other women, I kept it locked inside. I had accepted my fate. I was unforgiveable.
“The enormity of what I had done actually made my steps heavier…I cried alone almost daily. For brief periods I could take my mind off of it. Sometimes I would even forget long enough to try and enjoy a comedy at the movies, but then mid-laughter I’d remember and my laughing would stop because, well, I didn’t deserve to laugh.
“Growing up in a Catholic family that attended Mass every Sunday, I never expected that I, of all people, would be in this situation. I convinced myself that I had committed an unforgiveable act. I felt utterly alone. I desperately needed to connect with other women who were suffering as I was, and I longed to be the woman I used to be.
“And then one fateful Sunday morning during Mass, my husband handed me a church bulletin, pointing out the words on the back: “Project Rachel — a program for post-abortion healing through the archdiocese.” I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“It took me several months to muster up the nerve to call. I had done a fine job of beating myself up for years and I certainly didn’t need the person on the other end of the phone to make me feel any worse. But, when I finally called, it was not like that at all. The voice on the other end was warm and full of hope for me. My journey of healing began on that day that I made that phone call.
“Thanks to Project Rachel, I am me again… The power of forgiveness is life altering. I am happy again, and the people whom I love sense that. I will always regret my decision, and I will continue to carry my quiet secret with me. It has become a part of who I am, but it no longer defines who I am.”
Project Rachel is comprised of specially trained clergy and professional counselors who provide individual, confidential counseling and reconciliation to women and men suffering from a past abortion. In Nebraska, Project Rachel can be accessed by calling 1-888-456-HOPE (4673). Information on Project Rachel and abortion’s emotional and spiritual aftermath is also available online at www.hopeafterabortion.com.
In his 2009 homily on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Benedict XVI cautioned that “without the healing of souls, without the healing of man from within there can be no salvation for humanity. How essential then to the mission of the Church are the pastoral and apostolic activities that draw women and men burdened by the sin of abortion closer to God’s merciful heart. It is no exaggeration to say that the Church’s ministry of healing and reconciliation after abortion is at the heart of the Church’s mission at this time in her history.”
“Ukraine”
by Patricia K. Kummer
Children’s Press, New York, 24-6.001, 136 pages, Grades 4-6.
Few countries in the world are as coveted as Ukraine. Throughout its long history, Ukraine has been conquered by Tartars, Poles, Russians and Germans. There are many reasons for this. Ukraine is a large country, roughly the size of the state of Texas. It is blessed with abundant farmland, forests, rivers and coastlines. Unfortunately, it is also at the crossroads between Asia and Europe.
When conquerors come from the east, Ukraine stands in front of them. The same thing is true for those coming from the west. As well, Russia has desired to expand southward since the time of the Tsars. Once again, this puts Ukraine in the crosshairs.
In this text, entitled “Ukraine,” Patricia Kummer gives multiple explanations for other nations continually breaking the Tenth Commandment, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors’ goods,” in this excellently photographed and written book about the country.
She begins with the quest by Ukrainians to reclaim their heritage after the fall of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. Under the Tsars and later the Communist leader, Joseph Stalin, Ukraine became a satellite state for Russia. Since the climate is warmer and the Black Sea seldom freezes, Russia built extensive military fortifications throughout the country.
When the Soviet Union disintegrated in the late 1980s, Ukraine finally gained its freedom. Among the first things Ukrainians do is to reemphasize their native language and their religion. Under Russian rule, the Ukrainian language is denigrated to a second-class language. Ukrainian children are taught Russian throughout the country’s schools and Russia develops a sense that thinking and speaking Ukrainian is backward and ignorant. Since many Russians live in the eastern part of Ukraine, this sudden change of events is very unsettling.
Now the cultural power has swung to the native Ukrainians and street signs, billboards, and signs for national parks are switched from Russian to Ukrainian. Though Kummer doesn’t discuss this in any great detail, it would seem that Russians born in Ukraine, and used to a feeling of cultural superiority would be quite unhappy with this turn of events.
Similarly, since Russian Communism had inflicted so much suffering and misery on religious believers in Ukraine, an outburst of religious fervor occurs in the 1990s. With the governmental atheists gone, the Ukrainian faithful openly begin going to church. The Eastern Rite Catholic Church, situated primarily in western Ukraine, has more than 5 million members. Kummer tells the powerful story of the Catholic Metropolitan (Archbishop) Andrei Sheptytsky resisting the Nazi attack on Jews in Ukraine during the Second World War. The Archbishop directly confronts the Nazi authorities in Ukraine and saves thousands of Jewish lives.
Since this book was written in 2001, the author takes a very optimistic viewpoint on Russia’s relationship with Ukraine. Like many others, she thinks Russia will respect the freedom and independence of this long downtrodden nation. As we are currently seeing, this perspective is both naïve and dangerous.
Having said that, this book is packed with information on Ukraine and is well written with excellent photographs. It is from the Enchantment of the World Series by Children’s Press, which describes dozens of various countries. If your student is writing a paper or creating a class talk on Ukraine, this is the book for the requirement.
As well, adults will benefit from reading this fine description of Ukraine, so much discussed internationally in recent weeks.
So go to the library and check out this fine title. It is well worth the trip to the library. Enjoy!
The most familiar group of people commonly referred to as a “generation” is known as the “baby-boomers.” They consist of those Americans born within a couple decades of the end of World War II. They are a crowd that is formidable in size and is presently filling local cemeteries and nursing homes. They are a vanishing generation.
On the other end of the spectrum are a significant and influential number of folks known as “The John Paul II Generation.” Defined strictly, these “young” people were moving through their most formative years during the 26-year pontificate of Pope Saint John Paul II. This group includes individuals from all around the globe, and it most certainly is not limited simply to Catholics or to those in their 20s, 30s and 40s. It is comprised of multiple generations of people of all faiths.
The influence of a saint is universal in scope, most especially when the figure in question is the most widely travelled and the most encountered person in the history of humanity. Such is the case with John Paul II. As with all the saints, the positive impact of his life on the Church, on cultures and on the world is immeasurable. This fact explains why the Church honors saints as they do.
It takes a person of greatness like John Paul II radically to change the lives of people who either are well beyond their morally formative 20s and 30s or are of a totally different religious mindset. This saint did that and more! His charismatic personality mixed with a genuine and insightful understanding of the human condition touched the hearts of virtually everyone who heard his teachings or witnessed his actions. His writings alone will continue to form and reform modern philosophy and theology.
Even while references to the “John Paul II Generation” target a sampling of humanity that were school-age or young adults when this saint was serving as pope, the scope of influence is so much broader. This man changed for the better the thinking of overlapping generations of people around the globe. He made them more pro-life. He made them more pro-family. He made them more pro-Church. He made them more human. In short, he made them more holy, bringing them closer to their Lord.
Considering the average number of years that it traditionally takes for saintly figures to be officially canonized, it is quite the privilege both to have been directly affected by the life of a saint and to live to see that saint canonized. Many are enjoying that privilege right now—in duplicate!
While Saint Pope John XXIII likely will never have a generation named for his influence on them, we must not forget that his holiness of life will have long-range effects upon the world, as is the case with any saint. He was pope for only a fraction of the time that John Paul was (just 5 years), but his call for renewal in the Church through the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) will have a lasting resonance for generations to come. He effectively invited the Holy Spirit to renew the Church.
While we have heard and seen “the Great” added to John Paul’s name, it behooves us to remember that every saint is truly a “great” example of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and live out that relationship in one’s daily life. Let’s get to know better both of the great saints that the Church is adding to her ranks at this time. We will all be better off for having done so.
Recently Dr. Kathy Lynch came home to visit her mother from sunny southern California, to help her move into a new home.
Not only did we go to school together, Kathy and I, but her dad and my dad went to school together as well. Kathy, her mother Colleen, her sister Estelle, and another friend, Bonnie, gathered for breakfast with me, and my mother Barbara. After picking up Mom, I hoped and prayed something would happen at breakfast because I needed some ‘ammunition’ for another Seedlings column! After sitting down at our table I cautioned and warned them to be careful what they would say because I might write about it and take their picture. They just laughed.
While eating eggs, bacon, pancakes, and so forth, Kathy told us about her flight to Nebraska. She proceeded to describe the big burly biker dude she sat next to, complete with the typical head bandana. Much to her surprise, he told her about his ballroom dancing lessons and experience. Little did she know she was sitting next to someone who could gracefully glide across the dance floor to the accompaniment of the Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss II, with a woman in his arms dressed in a big, bell-shaped dress. Who knew? Her comment to me was, “Looks can be deceiving!”
The same can be said about the poor and needy. To be sure, many look the part, but there are many others we would never know are struggling to make ends meet. They are all around us. Sometimes, these are the ones who find it hard to ask for help.
Not long after our breakfast, a woman driving her car recognized me, rolled down her window to tell me she will be donating a CD (certificate of deposit) and her vehicle to Catholic Social Services when she buys her next vehicle. It is this kind of generosity that allows us to help needy individuals and families that come to us in crisis.
I would like to thank Almighty God for his graces and our donors for their generosity so we can help the many needy individuals and families that come to us, no matter what they look like because looks can be deceiving.
Here we are in the midst of another Easter Triduum (our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection), the holiest time of the year for Christians. It provides a profound opportunity for us to contemplate, in the words of Blessed John Paul II, “the boundless love of God, who ‘so loved the world that he gave his only Son’ (Jn. 3:16), but also the incomparable value of every human person.” (Evangelium Vitae, #2)
Did you ever ponder why God chose to “humble Himself to share in our humanity?” Why He sent His Son as the tiniest, meekest, most defenseless creature: a single-cell embryo in Mary’s womb? Why Jesus chose to experience every stage of human life instead of just descending from heaven as an adult ready to start his ministry?
Blessed John Paul explains this in Evangelium Vitae (#29, #30, #38): “Through the words, the actions and the very person of Jesus, man is given the possibility of ‘knowing’ the complete truth concerning the value of human life. From this ‘source’ he receives in particular the capacity to ‘accomplish’ this truth perfectly, that is, to accept and fulfill completely the responsibility of loving and serving, of defending and promoting human life. In Christ, the Gospel of life is definitively proclaimed and fully given.
“In Jesus, the ‘Word of life,’ God’s eternal life is thus proclaimed and given,” John Paul continues. “Thanks to this proclamation and gift, our physical and spiritual life, also in its earthly phase, acquires its full value and meaning, for God’s eternal life is in fact the end to which our living in this world is directed and called.”
“Here the Christian truth about life becomes most sublime,” John Paul explains. “The dignity of this life is linked not only to its beginning, to the fact that it comes from God, but also to its final end, to its destiny of fellowship with God in knowledge and love of him.”
As distressing and overwhelming as the myriad attacks against human life can be, Easter also reminds us that we Christians are a resurrection people. As the familiar Easter hymn says: “The strife is over, the battle won.” Our Lord has defeated death, once and for all.
Our Lord’s victory over death should give us great confidence and joy in our work to build a culture of life. Thanks be to God, we operate from victory not just for victory in battling evil, the “culture of death,” as John Paul II called it. Therefore, our calling as Christians is to be faithful and to persevere in proclaiming the Gospel of Life, regardless of whether we succeed or fail.
Here is how Father Richard John Neuhaus explained this calling: “…So long as we have the gift of life we must protect the gift of life. So long as it is threatened, so long must it be defended. This is the time to brace ourselves for the long term. We are today laying the foundations for the prolife movement of the 21st century. Pray that the foundations are firm, for we have not yet seen the full fury of the storm that is upon us.
But we have not the right to despair. We have not the right and we have not the reason to despair if we understand that our entire struggle is premised not upon a victory to be achieved but a victory that has been achieved.
If we understand that, far from despair we have right and reason to rejoice that we are called to such a time as this, a time of testing, a time of truth. The encroaching culture of death shall not prevail, for we know, as we read in John’s Gospel, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ The darkness will never overcome that light.”
Have a blessed Easter!
“Pope Francis: First Pope From The Americas”
by Stephanie Watson
Learner Publications, Minneapolis, 2014, 48 pages, Grades 3-5.
At the death of a pope, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church meet in Rome to elect a new leader. This meeting of the cardinals, called a “conclave” will decide who will be the next pope. For centuries, the popes have come from Italy, but in 1978, Pope John Paul II is elected. Being Polish, his election breaks the line of Italian born popes. He is followed by the German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who takes the name Pope Benedict XVI.
After eight rigorous years, the increasingly frail Pope Benedict XVI resigns. It has been 600 years since a papal resignation. During the next conclave, the world holds its breadth. Who will be the next successor of St. Peter? The answer follows shortly with the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina. He takes the name of Francis. The election is a first in many ways. Pope Francis is the first Jesuit elected pope, the first Latin American pope and the first pope to take the name Francis. On that day, everyone is asking the same question: “Who is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio?”
Stephanie Watson has written a comprehensive biography of the life of Pope Francis. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 17, 1936, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is raised in a loving, Catholic family. There are five children and his family has recently emigrated from Italy to Argentina. As a youth, Jorge is a serious student but also loves soccer and tango dancing. Though initially desiring to become a scientist, he feels God’s call to the religious life and enters the Jesuit Order in 1958 to begin studying for the priesthood. The Jesuits ordain him in 1969 and he begins his lifework as a priest.
The social conditions in Argentina are terrible in the 1970’s. Falling prey to a military dictatorship, the country is rocked by a government that sponsors unwarranted arrests, torture and kidnappings. Most of these unfortunate victims simply disappear and are likely killed. During this time, Father Bergoglio confronts the government on the massive evil it is afflicting on the people of Argentina. As well, he becomes a tireless advocate for the poor and dispossessed in Argentina. Because of the misery in Argentine society, a new philosophy known as “liberation theology” takes root. This philosophy may have been well intended but cannot be accepted because it uses Marxist ideology which is antithetical to religion. Father Bergoglio refuses to accept this theory and works to promote true Christian justice in Argentina. As the years pass by, his obvious talents lead to his consecration as a bishop and later being named a cardinal.
His great humility and identification with the poor lead Cardinal Bergoglio to live a very simple lifestyle. After Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation in 2013, he journeys to Rome for the conclave. There he will be elected pope. Watson continues to list many other facts about Pope Francis in this well written biography which are too numerous to mention in a short review. I would encourage you to check out this book to learn more about this dedicated pope.
One drawback of this book however is that it fosters the common misperception of Pope Benedict XVI circulating in the news. Since Pope Benedict tended to use ornate liturgical vestments and lived in the papal apartments, he is commonly viewed as being aloof from normal people. For some reason he is seen as out of touch and not humble. On the other hand, Pope Francis is seen as being in touch with the common man because he lives in an apartment complex and usually eats in a cafeteria. The press praises Pope Francis for this. The truth is that both popes are filled with humility and love for the Church and the People of God.
But since they have different personalities, they express this somewhat differently. Having said that, I hope you get a chance to read this biography about Pope Francis. It is an excellent account of his life.
To their credit, 20 Nebraska state senators voted to adopt Legislative Resolution 399. Add to their credit the fact that to do so they stuck around into the early evening on a day that not only was a “get-away day”—the last legislative day of a week—but also the 59th day of the 60-day, 2014 session. When the vote was taken, 25 of their colleagues had been excused.
LR 399 was a resolution introduced by veteran legislator John Wightman from Lexington to have the Legislature on record urging Nebraska’s congressional delegation to become involved with affirmative actions for fixing the nation’s broken immigration system.
Pursuant to the Unicameral’s rules, adoption of a resolution such as LR 399 requires a majority of those present and voting. After a motion to adjourn failed, followed by an hour or so of some rather heated debate, LR 399 was adopted on a 20-3 vote, with one abstention.
Opponents of the resolution, primarily Senators Beau McCoy and Jim Smith from Omaha, argued that the resolution pushed “amnesty” for immigrants who are lawbreakers. Fortunately, Senator Wightman, assisted by strong words from Omaha Senator Steve Lathrop, pointed out that the resolution was not about, and did not call for, “amnesty,” but rather that Congress do something to fix the broken system, preferably with comprehensive legislation.
The 20 legislators who voted for LR 399 were: Greg Adams (York), Brad Ashford, Tanya Cook, Sue Crawford, Burke Harr, Sara Howard, Rick Kolowski, Lathrop, Heath Mello, Jeremy Nordquist (all Omaha), Kathy Campbell, Ken Haar, Amanda McGill (all Lincoln), Mike Gloor (Grand Island), Tom Hansen (North Platte), John Harms (Scottsbluff), Paul Schumacher (Columbus), Kate Sullivan (Cedar Rapids), Norm Wallman (Beatrice) and Wightman.
On another matter in the closing days of the now-adjourned session, to their credit, 22 state senators voted against a motion to invoke cloture and thus helped to stop LB 485 from getting any closer to enactment than eight hours of floor debate. The motion needed 33 votes to be approved; it tallied 26.
This legislation, expanded by an amendment recommended by five members of the Judiciary Committee, proposed to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as two, new, separate categories on the basis of which any judgment or decision deemed to be discriminatory with regard to any of hiring, firing, compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment would be an unlawful employment practice precipitating civil penalties under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act. The Act applies to employers of 15 or more employees. The legislation also proposed to apply the same prohibitions to all contractors and subcontractors of the state and political subdivisions, regardless of the number of employees.
Had this unnecessary, flawed, unbalanced revision of public policy been enacted, individual employees would have had license in the workplace to be as open, aggressive, outspoken, braggadocios and politically and socially active regarding sexual conduct outside the context of marriage between a man and a woman as they would want to be. Employers would have been subject to coercive authority of the state to penalize any judgment or decision about such conduct, including sexual lifestyles contrary to the employer’s deeply held convictions.
Both the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star repeatedly reported that the proposed protection for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” would not have applied to employment by religious organizations. That was incorrect, inaccurate reporting; it continued even after the misinformation was pointed out to the reporters.
In fact, for purposes of excluding religious organizations (other than educational institutions) from any provisions of the Fair Employment Practices Act, LB 485 would have relied upon current law, section 48-1103(1) of the state statutes. That law, enacted in 1965 to model the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964—decades before “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” were even contemplated—does not exclude religious entities from the FEPA altogether, but only “with respect to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on…of the (entity’s) religious activities.”
The law permits religious entities to make judgments or decisions on the basis of religious affiliation (but only as applied to religious activities); the permission does not extend to any of the other protected categories, e.g., race, color, sex, disability, marital status or national origin; nor would it extend to “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” as proposed by LB 485. There is no sound reason to think that under the FEPA as proposed to be amended by LB 485 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would not have had jurisdiction or authority to take action against a religious organization on a complaint of discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identity.
The state senators whose votes against cloture led to the appropriate demise of LB 485 were the following: Dave Bloomfield (Hoskins), Lydia Brasch (Bancroft), Tom Carlson (Holdrege), Mark Christensen (Imperial), Tommy Garrett (Bellevue), Tom Hansen (North Platte), John Harms (Scottsbluff), Charlie Janssen (Fremont), Jerry Johnson (Wahoo), Bill Kintner (Papillion), Tyson Larson (O’Neill), Beau McCoy, John Nelson, Pete Pirsch, Jim Smith (all Omaha), John Murante (Gretna), Jim Scheer (Norfolk), Ken Schilz (Ogallala), Les Seiler (Hastings), Kate Sullivan (Cedar Rapids), Dan Watermeier (Syracuse) and John Wightman (Lexington).
On Friday, April 11, Mr. Jim Miller talked about the message of Divine Mercy at the eighth annual Spirit of Care Conference at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center. He discussed the visions and messages St. Faustina Kowalska received from Jesus Christ in the 1930s. He re-iterated that the mercy of God is available to everyone and the importance that we spread this message to others.
He recalled Blessed Mother Teresa talking about the lack of love in many families. Once, during a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Faustina, she asked Our Lady three times how she should pray to God. Each time the Queen of Heaven and Earth replied, “In all humility.”
This makes sense since only humility leads to genuine love, and only genuine love leads to mercy and concern for our neighbor.
Recently, Kolbe Villa, a 10-year-old boy in the fifth grade from the Cathedral of the Risen Christ School in Lincoln, decided to conduct a food drive in his neighborhood for our St. Francis Food Pantry. He was able to obtain 25 sacks from a local grocery store and went around the neighborhood, knocking on doors. It is a testimony to his neighbors that he received only one “no!” His dad said it was a great way to connect with those in the neighborhood.
I was fortunate and privileged to have been here when he and his father dropped off the food at our pantry. I wish you could have seen the smile on Kolbe’s face when he found out that he collected 243 pounds of food for the poor!
Just a few days later, I was able to see the DVD concerning the Charity and Stewardship Appeal in which Kolbe’s parents Michael and Emily are one of the two host couples. I was edified to listen to Emily’s testimony. I would like to thank Kolbe, his mother Emily and his father Michael for their humility, love and mercy.
For those who view this DVD, you will hear Emily say how she teaches her children to always be mindful of the littlest ones in the family. Knowing this, thinking of the poor, naked, thirsty and hungry is only logical.
Oh, the humble obedience of Jesus on the Cross! Oh the love and mercy He exhibited on that Good Friday! Oh the victory over sin and death won by His resurrection from the dead! As we celebrate Easter, let us beg our Risen Lord to help us imitate his humility, love and mercy so we too can be instruments of Divine Mercy!
Holy Week is upon us. This extraordinary time in the Church’s liturgical calendar provides a particularly meaningful opportunity to reflect on the Christian view of suffering in light of our Lord’s embrace of suffering and death to redeem us from our sins.
As God the Son, Jesus could have chosen any way to redeem us. So the fact that he chose to redeem us through His suffering and death necessarily gives meaning to every human being’s experience with suffering and death.
The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services provides this explanation:
“For the Christian, our encounter with suffering and death can take on a positive and distinctive meaning through the redemptive power of Jesus’ suffering and death. As St. Paul says, we are “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body (2 Cor 4:10). This truth does not lessen the pain and fear, but gives confidence and grace for bearing suffering rather than being overwhelmed by it.”
Pope John Paul II provides this insight in his encyclical “The Gospel of Life”: “This natural aversion to death and this incipient hope of immortality are illumined and brought to fulfillment by Christian faith, which both promises and offers a share in the victory of the Risen Christ: It is the victory of the One who, by his redemptive death, has set man free from death, “the wages of sin” (Rom 6:23), and has given him the Spirit, the pledge of resurrection and of life (cf. Rom 8:11).
“The certainty of future immortality and hope in the promised resurrection cast new light on the mystery of suffering and death, and fill the believer with an extraordinary capacity to trust fully in the plan of God. The Apostle Paul expressed this newness in terms of belonging completely to the Lord who embraces every human condition:
“’None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s’ (Rom 14:7-8). Dying to the Lord means experiencing one’s death as the supreme act of obedience to the Father (cf. Phil 2:8), being ready to meet death at the “hour” willed and chosen by him (cf. Jn 13:1), which can only mean when one’s earthly pilgrimage is completed.
“Living to the Lord also means recognizing that suffering, while still an evil and a trial in itself, can always become a source of good. It becomes such if it is experienced for love and with love through sharing, by God’s gracious gift and one’s own personal and free choice, in the suffering of Christ Crucified.
“In this way, the person who lives his suffering in the Lord grows more fully conformed to him (cf. Phil 3:10; 1 Pet 2:21) and more closely associated with his redemptive work on behalf of the Church and humanity.[87] This was the experience of Saint Paul, which every person who suffers is called to relive: ‘I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his Body, that is, the Church’ (Col 1:24).”
It is awesome to contemplate the reality that we worship a God who “humbled Himself to share in our humanity” and fully understands the challenges of the human condition, including unimaginable suffering. In a secular culture that views suffering as meaningless and to be avoided at all cost, we should contemplate our Lord’s suffering and be reassured that the graces from our own suffering can be offered for the salvation of souls. As mentioned previously, this truth should give confidence and grace for bearing suffering rather than being overwhelmed by it.
“Dogs and Cats” by Steve Jenkins.
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 2007, 40 pages, Grades 2-4.
Pets can be extremely comforting in a family. They provide companionship and a welcome relief to the stress and strain of everyday living.
The two most common pets are dogs and cats. The reason for this seems to be the compatibility of dogs and cats with humans. Dogs will wag their tails to welcome home people home after a hard day of work. Cats are quite different than dogs in that they seem to want people on their own terms. That means that when cats want to be petted, they will sit on your lap. However, when they do not want to have anything to do with people, cats will go to another part of the house. Steve Jenkins has written a very enjoyable book about both animals. He entitles the book: “Dogs and Cats.”
Frequently called “Man’s Best Friend,” dogs certainly like to be around people. They have many unique traits that make them desirable. First, they come in many sizes, shapes and colors. Second, dogs are adapted to different types of environments. Third, various dog breeds have different dispositions that make them more suitable for a wide variety of people. Some people want a large, guard dog.
A German Shepherd is clearly a type of dog that is capable of protecting a home. Someone else may want a hunting dog. There are many dog breeds for this activity, such as Brittany Spaniels, English Setters and German Shorthaired Pointers.
But one of the most common reasons people want dogs is for companionship. Almost any breed of dog will fill this bill. Jenkins shows many of the characteristics and traits of dogs when relating to other dogs and to people. The pictures are interesting and cute. I particularly like the picture of the puppies tussling about and the Dalmatian barking.
Then halfway through the book, it ends. It asks readers if they would like to also know about cats. If the answer is yes, you turn the book over and read it from the back.
The other half of the book talks about cats. Here we see various breeds of cats and learn about their physical characteristics. A simple, but thorough explanation of the eyes, whiskers, claws, tail and fur is given. Jenkins tells us that cats tend to have better hearing than dogs, but a less developed sense of smell.
Jenkins goes into detail explaining why cats tend to be loners. Whereas dogs like to hunt in packs, cats usually are solitary hunters. Since housecats are simply smaller descendants of wildcats, they have never developed a societal instinct like canines. Dogs tend to run over long distances like their ancient forebears, wolves, but cats hunt in a very different manner. They tend to creep up on prey and then pounce. This requires both patience and then bursts of speed. As a result, cats have developed very different physically and socially than dogs.
Do you have dogs or cats as family pets? Would you like to learn more about these two fascinating types of animals? If your answer is yes, then “Dogs and Cats” by Steve Jenkins is just the book for you. The pictures and descriptions of dogs and cats is very interesting. The pictures are fun to look at and the information about both species is thorough. The fact that you get to read the book forwards and backwards is just an added, enjoyable aspect. If you want an interesting read, go to the library and check out the fun book, “Dogs and Cats,” by Steve Jenkins. Enjoy!
When someone comes into a large amount of money by winning a lottery or signing a pro sports contract, the news reporters often ask about the first things this person intends to buy with their newfound wealth. A common response is that they will buy something really nice (e.g. house or car) for parents who cannot afford to do so. It is gratifying to know that some people really appreciate what their parents have given them and try to return the favor as best they can.
Catholics become rich when they are baptized. They receive from Mother Church more than can be known or appreciated by all of the folks at the baptismal ceremony combined, priest included! We receive in the Sacrament of Baptism a veritable treasure-trove of grace, along with a foundation upon which to build our sacramental and spiritual lives.
The Church does what any good mother does: she feeds her children. And she does so by sharing the Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scriptures entrusted to the Apostles to be passed on for generations to come.
There is no question that Catholics, in general, undervalue their religious heritage. The number who join other religions or who do not bother to practice their own is telling. Oftentimes adult converts to Catholicism are scandalized at how casually so very many Catholics treat their faith. And rightly so! Our Catholic religion is so rich and so inspiring and so sensible that there should never be cause for us to consider looking elsewhere for spiritual fulfillment. Even an elementary understanding of the apostolic roots and the historical continuity of the Church and its teachings by themselves provide sufficient reason to remain in (or join) the Catholic religion.
Smiles are contagious. The more you share them with others, the more you get them in return. Sharing the Faith has a similar effect. Our faith is strengthened even while we attempt to nurture it in another person. An irony regarding this dynamic is that the religions that have the least substance to share seem to be the ones that show the most zeal in sharing it with others.
Catholics tend to be rather reluctant to share the wealth of their faith, even though they clearly have an abundance to give away! Just as with stewardship, where God pays back a generous giver sevenfold, tenfold or even a hundredfold, so also God blesses most abundantly those who share with others the gift He has given to them. Want to grow in your faith? Then give it away!
Catholics who continue to learn about their faith and the Church’s impressive heritage are unlikely to drift or turn away from the practice of their faith. As we come to appreciate how much wealth the Lord entrusted to the Church that He established two millennia ago, we want to enjoy a bigger and bigger share of it. We are allowed to be greedy in this area because the nature of the faith is such that the more we have the more we want to share. This impetus for basic evangelization is what motivated the saints to work toward personal holiness and to desire for all people to be saved. Should we want any less?
Most of us have done it, multiple times – the purchase of a car.
Unless we are of the stature of Father Harlan Waskowiak (who is significantly taller than yours truly, who is “only” 6’4”), we can choose between most makes and models.
Domestic or foreign, two-door or four-door, car or van, etc. In the end though, isn’t it all the same - quality aside? All vehicles have an engine and transmission, four wheels and tires, head and tail lights, a dashboard with instrumentation, and so on and so forth.
The same can be said about the different spiritualties, Carmelite or Ignatian, Dominican or Franciscan, etc. When one distills them all down to the essentials components we are left with, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:29-31).
That said, the only way to accomplish this, of course with the grace of God, is to do the following, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself” (Lk 9:23-25).
It all is about becoming more detached from the things of this world and more attached to God. When one accomplishes this, one becomes more selfless rather than selfish. It was Father Pierre Chastelain, S.J. (who worked with the North American Martyrs) who remarked that the greatest hindrance to developing union with God in this world is by refusing to deny yourself.
Recently, an elderly woman expressed her desire to leave Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska some money in her will. She wanted to talk over pancakes. She told me her children were doing well financially and wished to help ‘other children’ who are not so well off. She was aware of our work at Catholic Social Services and St. Gianna’s Women’s Homes.
While dining, she insisted on picking up the tab. When I attempted to reach for the ticket, she said emphatically, “Listen Father: you pray, I pay!” I was amazed.
As we get closer and closer to the Easter Triduum, let us mediate on the mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. He denied Himself completely by giving it all up for us on the cross so we who were dead in sin could live eternally. I pray that you and your families have a blessed Holy Week and Easter. And please remember, when it comes to all of the spiritualties, it all boils down to, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:29-31).
And since I brought up domestic and imported cars, we sure could use them for needy families and individuals!
As the final five days of their 2014 regular session were set to unfold, beginning April 7, it appeared likely that Nebraska’s 49 legislators would make a decision about a serious issue of considerable moral and cultural controversy.
Legislative Bill 485, as originally introduced in January 2013, would add “sexual orientation” to the current codified list of race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status and national origin as categories on the basis of which any employer decision or judgment deemed to be discriminatory with regard to hiring, discharging, compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment would be an unlawful employment practice under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act. It authorizes the state Equal Opportunity Commission to impose fine and penalties for unlawful employment practices by employers of at least 15 employees.
In addition, this legislation would apply the same prohibition to all contractors and subcontractors of the state and local subdivisions of government, regardless of the number of employees. And, it would add “sexual orientation” to the law that directs state government to take affirmative action to provide equal employment opportunity without regard otherwise to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status or disability.
A vote switch by Senator Al Davis from Hyannis resulted in the bill being advanced to the full Legislature by the Judiciary Committee. The vote was 5-3. Senator Davis, who had voted against advancing the bill on a previous occasion, joined Omaha Senators Brad Ashford, Ernie Chambers and Steve Lathrop and Lincoln Senator Amanda McGill in supporting a motion to advance the bill on a re-vote. Senators Colby Coash from Lincoln, Mark Christensen from Imperial and Les Seiler from Hastings held firm against the motion to advance.
In advancing the bill to the full Legislature for floor debate, the five-member majority of the Judiciary Committee also decided to recommend an amendment that would add “gender identity” as well, as a separate and distinct, protected category. The amendment defines “gender identity” as “the actual or perceived appearance, expression, identity, or behavior of an individual, whether or not that appearance, expression, identity, or behavior is different from the individual’s assigned sex at birth.”
Since the primary introducer of LB 485, Senator Danielle Conrad from Lincoln, had already designated it as her priority bill for the 2014 session, it appeared likely that the fate of LB 485, including the broadening amendment, would be debated and determined by the Legislature during the last five days of the session. Opponents of the proposed change in public policy might seek to take time on numerous amendments and motions.
The Nebraska Catholic Conference, through which the diocesan bishops serving in Nebraska—Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln and Bishop William Dendinger of Grand Island—act cooperatively on matters involving public policy, is opposed to LB 485. The proposed law to prohibit and punish discrimination based on “sexual orientation” (“actual or perceived homosexuality, heterosexuality or bisexuality”) extends well beyond discrimination based on any employer’s mere belief that any applicant or employee is sexually attracted to persons of the same sex. It extends legal protection and state governmental affirmation to public activities intended to endorse, promote and facilitate sexual conduct (i.e., lifestyle activities) outside of marriage between a man and a woman. Employers who, because of their religious and/or moral convictions, do not wish to accept or affirm lifestyles that involve sexual conduct outside of marriage between a man and a woman would be subject to state-imposed penalties for claims of discrimination.
These impacts would be similar and unavoidable regarding the separate and distinct category proposed as “gender identity” by the committee amendment. The practical implications invite litigation.
That LB 485 would not be sound public policy is further underscored by the reality that empirically reliable evidence of either pervasive discrimination or economic disadvantage is lacking, leading to a fair conclusion that this legislation is not driven by need, but by an ideological, political, cultural agenda that seeks to redefine sexual relationships and marriage.
More information about LB 485 is available on the Nebraska Catholic Conference website, www.nebcathcon.org. This includes information on how to contact state legislators to urge them to vote against enactment of the legislation. Responsive action from the grassroots is the key to the outcome of this legislation in the few remaining days of the session.
On another matter, the Legislature was poised to pass both LB 907 and LB 999, as part of an initial effort to address an increasingly serious problem of prison overcrowding. Nebraska’s correctional system, which includes nine facilities, is currently populated at 155 percent of design capacity, including four facilities that are more than 80 percent above capacity. This situation is on the cusp of causing civil-rights lawsuits as well as federal intervention.
LB 907 includes measures that would re-establish vocational and life-skills-training programs in prison setting, expand statewide an intensive probation program for felony drug offenders, expand services for mentally ill inmates and those being released from prison and create a state prison-reform task force to work with the Council of State Governments.
LB 999 will authorize and fund a study to determine the feasibility of using a building at the former Hastings Regional Center as a facility to house inmates with diagnosed mental illnesses.
Last week, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases where for-profit businesses (Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood) are challenging the constitutionality of the Obama Administration’s mandate that forces nearly all employers to include coverage in their health plan for female sterilization, and all forms of contraception, including those that can cause early abortions (i.e. “abortifacients”).
The mandate provides an extremely narrow religious exemption that does not include most non-profit religious employers such as hospitals, schools, and social service agencies or any for-profit businesses. Consequently, to date, 94 lawsuits have been filed against the mandate—47 by non-profit employers and 47 by for-profit employers.
Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood are for-profit businesses owned by Christians who oppose the mandate because it includes abortifacient drugs. Hobby Lobby was granted preliminary relief from the mandate by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Conestoga Wood was denied preliminary relief by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. This split ruling by two Appellate Courts is a major reason why the Supreme Court took these cases.
According to those who were in the Courtroom, the predominant conclusion is that the outcome of the ruling hinges on Justice Anthony Kennedy. Observers on both sides of the case seem to think that Kennedy is likely to strike down the mandate. This is based on a conclusion Kennedy drew from the government’s defense of the mandate: if a for-profit business can be forced to pay for contraception, Kennedy suggested, it can also be forced to pay for abortion.
As history has demonstrated, however, just because oral arguments seem to favor one side does not necessarily mean the ruling will favor that side. Furthermore, regardless of how the Court rules, it will likely only address the mandate as it applies to for-profit employers.
The Supreme Court may also, at some point, have to rule on the mandate as it applies to non-profit employers. So far, among the 47 lawsuits that have been filed by non-profit employers, 21 have had rulings on the merits of the case. Among these, 20 have received preliminary relief from the mandate and only 1 has been denied such relief. This is hopeful news given that Courts typically don’t grant initial relief unless they think the lawsuit has a good chance of success.
The reaction to these lawsuits by birth control and abortion activists is nothing short of delusional. President Obama picked this fight by forcing employers to provide and pay for sterilization and birth control (including abortifacients) regardless of their religious or moral objections, thereby trampling over the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion.
Birth control and abortion activists, however, want Americans to think that it is employers and Catholic bishops who are trying to impose their religious beliefs on Americans (aka the phony “war on women”). On the day of last week’s Supreme Court hearing, “Catholics for Choice” ran a newspaper ad in the Washington Post that asked, “Who in their right mind would want a woman’s boss in charge of her birth control?”
The ad goes on to accuse the Catholic bishops of “trying to use the courts to impose teachings they have failed to enforce from the pulpit. The bishops would have us redefine religious liberty to allow them to impose their religious views on all Americans, Catholic or not.”
So in the bizarre world of Catholics for Choice, President Obama isn’t the one who is doing the imposing, even though he is using a governmental edict and crippling fines to force compliance with the HHS mandate. Catholics for Choice thinks the imposing is being done by the Catholic bishops, the Little Sisters of the Poor and others who don’t want to provide or pay for services that are contrary to their religious beliefs.
How prophetic was the voice of Pope Paul VI who predicted in his encyclical Humanae Vitae that social embrace of contraception would eventually lead to government imposition of contraception.
“Locomotive,” by Brian Floca.
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, 2013, 64 pages, Grades 3-5.
It is hard to imagine a world that is unable to move faster than men walking or horses running. But from time immemorial until the 1830s that is the quickest anything moved. Suddenly, the steam engine is invented and everything begins to change.
The first trains begin to appear at this time and people are staggered by how quickly destinations can be reached. In an immense country like the United States, this speeded-up transportation will change the entire shape of the country. Whereas settlers travelling west of Omaha could sometimes cover 10 miles in a day, train travel at that time could travel several hundred miles in a day. So a trip from Nebraska to California which had taken six months in 1840, might only take one week if a transcontinental could be built. Brian Floca makes the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and a trip across this vast rail line the focus of this book. He entitles it: “Locomotive.”
As former slaves and Irish immigrants drive the iron spikes into the railroad ties in the East, Chinese immigrants and others start building the railroad line in the West. They will eventually meet at Promontory Point, Utah. A first run of the train is planned and a family boards in Omaha. They look with bewilderment as the great iron locomotive chugs into Nebraska. The conductor shouts: “All Aboard!”
With this the fireman scoops coal into the firebox and the engine begins building up steam. When enough pressure is in the boiler, the engineer pushes forward the throttle, which causes the train to accelerate. The fireman keeps shoveling coal into the firebox and the steam pressure rises. When the pressure becomes dangerous, the engineer opens the steam pipe causing the familiar “choo, choo.”
The train passes over the Nebraska countryside along the Platte River valley. In what seems like no time at all, the train arrives in North Platte. They meander down to a humble diner and look at a menu composed of buffalo steak, antelope chops or chicken stew. One family member asks why the chicken seems to taste like prairie dog. He later figures out it did not take long to pluck this “chicken.”
As the journey continues, the train crosses the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin in Utah. At various times, they have to connect two locomotives to the train to pull it over the mountains. Throughout the trip, the cars in the train are unhitched by the switchmen and later reconnected to different cars. It is dangerous work and the switchmen must be careful not to get their hands caught in the linking pins.
But the train continues to cross newly-built bridges and drive through tunnels blasted out of the Rocky Mountains. The whole trip seems unbelievable to the family. But after a week, the train begins descending into central California. There at the station is the person they have been waiting to meet.
Who is it? What part of the trip do you think would be the most fascinating? Why are the illustrations so incredible in the book? Would you like to have made this first trip on the Transcontinental Railroad? Would you like to know more about trains or the Transcontinental Railroad? To discover the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out “Locomotive” by Brian Floca.
In 2014, this book won the Caldecott Medal for having the pictures that made the most “outstanding contribution to children’s literature.” The pictures are bold and exciting. It is a very enjoyable book to read with several children and is filled with terms from the early days of railroading. “Locomotive” should prove to be a Caldecott winner that will also find a wide audience. I hope you get a chance to read “Locomotive.” It is great fun. Enjoy!
I recently returned from preaching a parish mission at St. Peter’s, the cathedral parish in Rockford, Ill., at the invitation of their rector, Rev. Carl Beekman. We were both seminarians at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. in the 90s.
As St. James famously explained in chapter two of his famous epistle - faith alone is dead and cannot save. In other words, saving faith must be conjoined with charity. This was the focus of this Lenten parish mission.
After explaining this concept, I related a story that happened last winter: a wonderful Catholic woman who is a wife and mother came across an accident. Feeling compelled and inspired, she stopped to see if she could render assistance. She was first on the scene, even before the police.
She came across a young mother with several small children whose car had been ‘rear-ended.’ They were outside, waiting in the cold for the arrival of emergency personnel. Fortunately, no one was injured, but their car was totaled.
“Do you mind if your children wait in my car?” the woman asked the young mother, since it was cold. In a very grateful tone, the mother replied, “Sure!”
While warming up, she asked the children, “Where do you live?” “In a motel” answered one of them.
“Where do your mommy and daddy work?” As it turns, they both work at fast food restaurants, earning minimum wage. The small family ran into misfortune, lost their apartment, and was barely making ends meet. They were spending nearly everything on the motel. They did not want to go to the mission.
Soon thereafter, the woman who stopped at the accident came into our office and told me everything. She could only remember their last name and a few other details. Imitating the detective Dick Tracy, I figured out who the grandmother was. My introduction on the phone with her was met with instant tears.
The very next day we gave the couple a donated car, and a promise of a security deposit, first month’s rent and the items needed to make their future new apartment a home, including clothing, furniture and appliances since they have little more than the clothes on their backs. The father wept as he hugged Curt Krueger and me prior to driving off.
I am sure that cold winter day the woman who stopped had other things to do and was tempted to drive on. Being selfless, she stopped.
I am sure the individuals who donate furniture, appliances, clothes and kitchen items to us are tempted to have garage sales, but being selfless, donate them to Catholic Social Services instead.
I am sure those who donate money to us, according to their means, are tempted to spend the said money on themselves or their loved ones or to save it for a ‘rainy day,’ but because they are selfless, they donate it to CSS allowing us to help in the manner described above. All of these donors exhibit faith that is alive.
I would like to thank our benefactors who help us spiritually, materially and financially making it possible to help families in need like the one mentioned above. Please know that we at Catholic Social Services will keep all of you and your families in our prayers!
“Full Count: Top Ten Lists of Everything in Baseball”
by Bob Der
Sports Illustrated Kids Books, 2012, 96 pages, Grades 4-7
Baseball has a deep identity in American culture. Children love to play the game and families enjoy going to the ballpark. There is nothing quite like really smashing a fastball and watching it fly into the outfield. The physical game is the most obvious part of baseball, but there is another interesting aspect to the sport. That is the mental part of baseball. Relying on strategy, baseball managers must substitute players and pitchers throughout the contest. Fans like to enter into this part of the game as well. To do this well, they need to know players, the strategy and the statistical percentages of certain player moves.
Bob Der of Sports Illustrated has developed a fun-filled book with many of these important facts. The title of this enjoyable text is “Full Count: Top Ten Lists of Everything in Baseball.”
The book begins with leadoff hitters. This is a complicated position for a number of reasons. First, the hitters must be very fast. This allows them to beat out infield hits and to steal bases. Base stealing is one of the most exciting parts of baseball. The runners take their leads and everyone in the stadium watches the explosive start to second base. The catchers try to throw out these speedy runners and the tags at second base are often action-filled.
Of course, pitchers do not want to let any runners on base and will try to strike them out or have them hit into an out. To do this, pitchers either need blazing fastballs or slow moving, cunning breaking balls. Most fans easily realize the benefit of fastballs, but fewer understand how difficult slow curves can be to hit. Either way, these duals between hitters and pitchers set up tension in the game.
Der’s list on the top 10 most feared hitters is particularly interesting. While pitching and player movement is usually associated with strategy, home run hitting is connected with power and excitement. There is nothing quite as jaw-dropping as a soaring home run. The author’s list of top sluggers and intimidating hitters is fascinating. They include Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Jim Thome, Frank Thomas and massive Frank Howard. The writer of this column still relishes watching Howard hit a one-handed home run in Wrigley Field and a scorching grounder that sizzled all the way to the fence in Comiskey Park before the outfielders could hardly move. Luckily, the grounder missed the shortstop. But this book is filled with many more fun filled lists, too numerous to mention in this review.
What is your favorite part of baseball? Do you like to watch the managers argue? Der lists the top 10 managers of all time. How about base stealers? They are all here as well. What is your favorite stadium? Der ranks the top 10 and has pictures of all of them. So if you want to have some fun, go to the library and check out this fun book, “Full Count: Top Ten Lists of Everything in Baseball.”
This is an enjoyable book to read. It would be especially pleasurable to read with children or friends. The author will bring back many great memories of baseball. I hope you get a chance to read this book and share it with those you love. It is a great book. Enjoy!
There are few liturgical feasts that are more directly relevant to the pro-life cause than the Solemnity of the Annunciation, which we just celebrated a few days ago. The Word became Flesh at the Annunciation, when the Virgin Mary is told that she has been chosen to be the Mother of the Savior and gives her consent.
Luke’s Gospel (1:26-38) tells us that “the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, ‘Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you… Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.”
For Christians, the Annunciation should be a rich source of reflection on the sacred dignity of human life from its very beginning at conception. Our Lord didn’t descend from Heaven as a 30-year-old adult and begin His ministry. He “became man” by taking the same form that every human being takes at the beginning of life--as a single cell embryo (see image). 
There obviously was a purpose for everything our Lord did. Therefore, the fact that He began His earthly life as an embryo and experienced every subsequent stage of human development (fetus, infant, child, adolescent and adult) necessarily gives significant meaning and dignity to each of these stages.
Scripture (Luke 1:41-44) also tells us that after the Annunciation, Mary went in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
“And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” Hence, it was an unborn child (John the Baptist) who first recognized Christ’s presence on earth.
In his meditations on the Annunciation, Father Frank Pavone, founder of Priests for Life, asks these provocative questions: “Would it long be possible for believers, who meditate on the unborn child who was God, to fail to see that unborn children are made in God’s image?
“Would it be likely that those who ponder that our Almighty Protector was a baby in the womb will fail to see that babies in the womb deserve protection? Would it happen that Christians, who acknowledge that their Lord and Brother was an embryo and fetus, will fail to see that every embryo and fetus is a brother and sister in the Lord?”
“Yet the marvels revealed by the Annunciation do not stop there,” Father Pavone continues. “There is also the mystery of Mary’s freedom, her ‘Fiat’ – ‘Let it be done to me according to your word’ (Lk. 1:38).
“This is freedom of choice which serves the truth, as opposed to ‘pro-choice’ which claims to create its own truth. This is choice at the service of life, rather than the perverted choice to take life. This is the moment when Mary gave her body to the One who would bring life to the world by saying ‘This is My Body,’ forever undoing the sin of those who justify abortion by saying, ‘This is my body!’
My office has a flier entitled “The Word Became Flesh” that contains fetal development pictures and Father Pavone’s reflections. Contact my office at necatholic.org.
Catholics are taught from childhood that, if they go to God for His mercy, He lovingly forgives their offenses, relieves them of their distress and draws them more closely to Himself. This process is normally completed by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Lent is a special time to learn about this gift of God’s mercy, to receive it ourselves, and to share it with others.
In 1980, Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote a beautiful encyclical entitled, “On the Mercy of God.” In this document he taught about God the Father’s mercy, but he also emphasized that Jesus Himself lived the message of mercy and called His followers to do the same. “Jesus makes mercy one of the principal themes of His preaching…Christ proclaims by His actions even more than by His words that call to mercy which is one of the essential elements of the Gospel ethos” (n.3).
The Lenten season helps shed light on another passage from the same work. “The cross of Christ…is also a radical revelation of mercy… The cross is like a touch of eternal love upon the most painful wounds of man’s earthly existence…Love must be revealed above all as mercy and must also be actualized as mercy…Do not the words of the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,’ constitute, in a certain sense, a synthesis of the whole of the Good News?...The paschal Christ is the definitive incarnation of mercy.” (n.8).
When we reflect upon such insights, or even when we pray the Stations of the Cross, we come to appreciate why sinners who trust in God’s mercy are joyful people. They realize that Jesus died to redeem them and reserve a place for them in the Kingdom of God. Spreading the Divine Mercy devotion and message is a valuable means of evangelizing people in our lives who need relief from the pain and distress brought on by their own sins.
In her Diary that chronicles the message of mercy given by our Lord, St. Faustina reported that Jesus wanted the world to be evangelized with the Good News of His Mercy. “Proclaim to the whole world My unfathomable mercy” (1142). “Souls who spread the honor of My mercy I shield through their entire life as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior” (1075).
While courage is required to confront sinners, we should not hesitate to do so, considering what is at stake. Jesus encouraged St. Faustina: “Oh, if sinners knew My mercy, they would not perish in such great numbers. Tell sinful souls not to be afraid to approach Me; speak to them of My great mercy” (1396). Too often our efforts to evangelize are hampered by our fear of offending others. Our recent popes have called us to be prophets, proclaiming the truth in all circumstances, even when that means sacrificing human respect or popularity. The message of mercy and the practice of mercy must always accompany such proclamations.
In the coming weeks we have special opportunities to grow in our love and appreciation for the Divine Mercy message. A special live production, Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy, will be hosted at Pius X High School in Lincoln at 7:30 pm on Sunday, March 30. A one day seminar entitled “Divine Mercy: A Catholic Spiritual Gift We Receive and Give as Health Care Professionals” will be offered at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lincoln on Friday, April 11. Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, provides an occasion for parishes to host special devotions for the faithful. And finally, Holy Week brings Lent to its climax as we reflect upon and celebrate the ultimate gift of our salvation: Jesus Christ, who is the incarnation of mercy itself.
Recently, a couple (wishing to remain anonymous) who loves our mission at St. Gianna’s Women’s Homes called with an interesting idea: having a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at Deer Springs Winery.
The winery is owned by James and Barbara Partington, Jennifer and John Reeder and Kathleen Hennagir (Jennifer and Kathleen are daughters of James and Barbara). The winery is located on 16255 Adams Street, only 12 miles east of downtown Lincoln. Nestled in the original farmstead that has been in the family for three generations, it was a perfect venue for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration and fundraiser for St. Gianna’s.
Immediately after entering the original homestead, the guests were encouraged to write on their name tags their Irish heritage. Some knew details of their relatives and their home counties, others like me wrote, ‘I have an Irish grandmother.’
The evening featured hor d’oeuvres, corned beef and cabbage, and, of course, multiple wines from Deer Creek. Entertainment was provided by the Whoozon1st Band, made up of Don Bennett and his wife Barb Biffle Bennett. They played a myriad of instruments as they sang beautiful Irish music and ballads. The surprise special guest was our own Bishop James Conley. All had a wonderful time as we raised $7,000 for St. Gianna’s.
One of the guests, Tony Messineo of Valentino’s and Premier Catering fame said, “Father, I’m a little nervous. I’m used to preparing Italian fare, not Irish corned beef and cabbage!” None of the 30 guests noticed.
One said it best: “This was some of the best corned beef and cabbage I’ve ever had!” This came from Msgr. Liam Barr, who was born and raised in Ireland, so he should know something about corned beef and cabbage!
I would like to thank the couple who came up with this idea, organized it, and put it all together. Thanks also to our guests who together contributed $7,000 for St. Gianna’s.
Many thanks to James and Barbara Partington, Jennifer and John Reeder, and Kathleen Hennagir for hosting the event at Deer Springs Winery, Tony and Carmen Messineo and Premier Catering for the wonderful food, and Don and Barb Biffle Bennett for the awesome music. We are most grateful for helping us assist the many women and their children who come to us escaping domestic violence and abortion. St. Patrick, pray for us!
Last September, I wrote about statements made by Pope Francis that were being misinterpreted by the secular media as a de-emphasis of some serious moral evils like abortion, contraception and homosexual activity. I quoted the insightful analysis by George Weigel who said:
“The moral law is important, and there should be no doubt that Francis believes and professes all that the Catholic Church believes and professes to be true about the moral life, the life that leads to happiness and beatitude. But he also understands that men and women are far more likely to embrace those moral truths—about the inalienable right to life from conception to natural death; about human sexuality and how it should be lived—when they have first embraced Jesus Christ as Lord.”
On the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’ papacy, I have read several articles that further illuminate the Pope’s pastoral approach and firm commitment to the Church’s moral teachings. One of those articles, written by Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com explains how Pope Francis has been an uncompromising yet compassionate pro-life leader during his first year in the papacy. The article cites several powerful pro-life statements and actions by the pope.
Another article, written by Father Roger Landry, a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, is entitled “Ten Central Themes of Pope Francis’ Magisterium (Until Now).” The article can be downloaded from Father Landry’s website, www.CatholicPreaching.com (search for the title).
Father Landry’s article provides the best insight into Pope Francis’ magisterium that I have read to date. Not surprising, the first theme of Pope Francis’ magisterium is his primary focus on the proclamation of the saving love of God. Pope Francis put it this way in his exhortation on the “Joy of the Gospel”: “Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.”
Pope Francis has said repeatedly that evangelism must begin with this first proclamation, the proclamation of salvation. “There is nothing more solid, deep and sure than this proclamation. Then you have to do catechesis. Then you can draw even a moral consequence. But the proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives,” he said in his September 19, 2013 interview with La Civilta Cattolica.
As I mentioned in my previous column, Pope Francis’ approach resonates with my personal experience during 23 years of doing pro-life work. It also conforms to the powerful teaching of soon-to-be Saint Pope John Paul in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”).
John Paul says that the deepest root of the culture of death is the “eclipse of the sense of God and of man, typical of a social and cultural climate dominated by secularism.” He went on to say that “when the sense of God is lost, there is also a tendency to lose the sense of man, of his dignity and his life…”
In other words, if we don’t know God, who made us, it will be very difficult for us to know and fully respect the sacred dignity and meaning of human life made in His image and likeness. This, in turn, results in various violations of the dignity of human life.
Hence, Blessed John Paul said bringing about a new culture of human life “involves above all proclaiming the core of the Gospel. It is the proclamation of a living God who is close to us, who calls us to profound communion with himself and awakens in us the certain hope of eternal life… It is the proclamation that Jesus has a unique relationship with every person, which enables us to see in every human face the face of Christ.”
So Pope Francis is living and teaching this approach by stressing that conversion starts with “proclaiming Jesus Christ… that Jesus Christ is God, became man to save us, lived in the world like any one of us, suffered, died, was buried and rose… [This] provokes astonishment, and brings one to contemplation and to faith… After the encounter with Jesus comes reflection,… where one can deduce the principles of religious and moral behavior” (from 2010 interview with Sergio Rubin).
“The Legend of Bluebonnet: An Old Tale of Texas”
by Tomie DePaola
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1983, 32 pages, Grades K-3.
Legends are created stories to explain the origin of places and things. While they are not actually factual, legends can be informative and comforting. In this sense they speak to a higher truth; that of human experience. Most cultures have legends and this is particularly true of Native American tribes. Storytelling and oral tradition are highly developed in Native American societies and many tribes have a number of legends. Tomie DePaola has taken an old Comanche tale about the origin of the bluebonnet flower and crafted the legend into a lovely story. He entitles the book: “The Legend of the Bluebonnet: An Old Tale of Texas.”
During a period of severe drought, the Comanche people suffer much want. Everyone is trying to explain how the drought happened and what is necessary to stop the phenomenon. The spiritual leader of the tribe, the shaman, goes into the hills to pray about the situation. He asks God to explain why this suffering is occurring. After several days, he returns to the village and states that God is angry with the people because of their selfishness. The only way the drought will end is for the people to make sacrifices to atone for the evils they have done. He tells them that they must each give up an important possession for this sacrifice. All of the gathered articles will then be burnt as an offering to God for the evils committed by the people. The Comanches immediately begin bringing their most important possessions to the shaman for the atoning sacrifice.
One little girl, She-Who-Is-Alone, family has died during the drought. The only item she still has is a doll given to her by her family. At night she clings to the doll because it is the last remaining link to her deceased relatives. But as the days go by, she begins to wonder if she should give the doll to help end the drought. She-Who-Is-Alone decides she must make the ultimate sacrifice of her doll so the tribe can be spared of further suffering. The little girl walks outside of the village and starts a fire. As the flames grow and her heart breaks, she makes her final decision. It is a decision that will change the history of her people and the landscape of Texas.
What does She-Who-Is-Alone do? Why is the decision so difficult that she has to lay down and sleep afterwards? What is she surrounded with the next day as a thanksgiving for her sacrifice? Have you ever given up something that you really treasured? Why did you do it? Why is it usually better to give than to receive? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out “The Legend of the Bluebonnet: An Old Tale of Texas” by Tomie DePaola.
Tomie DePaola is one of the most beloved author/illustrators in the history of children’s literature. His accomplishments are so numerous that it is hard to list them all. His books have a deep sense of peace, joy and love. DePaola draws and paints his characters with a childlike simplicity that is very appealing. His Irish/Italian background is quite obvious in his art as is his deep love for Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin. DePaola’s book, “Mary the Mother of Jesus” (reviewed May, 2007) is an affectionately written and lovingly drawn book about Our Lady. You just can’t go wrong with this wonderful writer/artist of children’s books. I hope you get a chance to read this touching book. Enjoy!
With only 13 legislative days remaining in their 2014 regular session, Nebraska’s 49 legislators are putting in longer hours on the floor of the George W. Norris Chamber at the State Capitol. Sessions that last into the night-time darkness have begun and are likely to be the routine for a majority of the remaining work days.
Some heavy-weight issues are still to be decided before sine die adjournment April 17, including corrections reforms, which stem in part from overcrowded conditions in the state’s prison system; a complex proposal to cover a gap in access to health care using the Medicaid-expansion provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act; water, tax and education policy issues, and final decisions about state spending for the remainder of the current biennium.
Last year, this Legislature adopted a state budget for the two fiscal years running July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014 (FY 2014) and July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015 (FY 2015). This year, the focus is on adjustments to that budget and new spending caused by new enactments.
At the first round of consideration by the Legislature as a whole, the budget adjustments recommended by the nine-member Appropriations Committee won overwhelming approval: the committee’s amendment to the mid-biennium budget bill—LB 905—was approved on a 34-0 vote and the bill advanced as amended to the second stage of floor discussion on a 37-2 vote. Additional amendments were considered likely during further deliberations.
The state’s fiscal condition is better now than it was when the Legislature adjourned its 2013 session early last June. Both actual receipts and projected revenues have increased. As a result, the variance from the minimum cash reserve has moved from a surplus of only about $1 million last June to a surplus now estimated to be $91.5 million.
The Appropriations Committee leads the way in deciding how much more to spend and how much to retain in the cash reserve fund.
The committee’s LB-905 adjustments for the biennium result in a net increase of General Fund appropriations of just $27,739. That net result takes into account deficits and recommended new spending, but also lapses of unexpended appropriations from prior years. Nevertheless, according to the committee’s narrative, “[T]he more significant net impact over the two years in $71 million of transfers from the General Fund to other Funds.”
For the remainder of the session, the “green sheet” will be a key budget document. It is an attachment to the daily agenda. Among many numbers, it updates the amount of the unobligated balance. This advises legislators and lobbyists about “A” bills, appropriations, as applicable, for proposed law and policy changes moving towards enactment.
This is also the time of the session when bills en route to passage become vehicles for other legislation not so well placed.
The state constitution prohibits legislative bills from having more than one subject, so amendments have to be germane to the underlying bill. Nonetheless, the “germaneness rule” typically receives a liberal interpretation. If neither the vehicle nor the add-on is controversial, the likelihood of either a procedural challenge or a constitutional challenge is slim.
A simple example of one bill taking on another is LB 359. It pertains to the child-care-subsidy program, proposing to allow a 10 percent disregard of household income at the time of eligibility redeterminations following 12 months of continuous eligibility. At the time of second-round floor action on LB 359, the provisions of LB 732 were added to it via an amendment.
For purposes of the child-care-subsidy program, and the food stamp program as well, LB 732 proposes to disregard certain assets—educational savings accounts, qualified tuition-assistance, or a similar plan established to save for qualified high-education expenses—and certain income—post-secondary scholarships or grants and post-secondary work-study programs—for purposes of eligibility determinations.
LB 359, as amended with LB 732, was pending on Final Reading as this week began.
A more substantive and complex example of one bill taking on another is LB 853. That bill itself proposes clarifications and improvements in a year-old program that assists the transition to adulthood for young people who have been wards of the State Department of Health and Human Services. For one thing it would aptly rename the program from the Young Adult Voluntary Services and Support Act to the Young Adult Bridge to Independence Act.
During the first round of floor action, General File, on a vote of 33-0, lawmakers added a 42-page amendment constituting the provisions of LB 503, the Child Protection and Family Safety Act. It proposes a pilot program, in up to five locations, of “alternative response” by DHHS to reports of child abuse or neglect.
Intake would trigger a comprehensive assessment of child safety, risk of future abuse or neglect, family strengths and needs, and provision of or referral for necessary services. If it is determined that the child is safe, the case would not be entered into the central registry of abuse and neglect cases and participation in services would be voluntary for the family.
LB 853, as amended with LB 503, awaited Select File consideration as the week began.
An interesting twist on this latter example is that while the carrier, LB 853, came through the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, the add-on, LB 503, started out in the Judiciary Committee.
Having lived and worked in Milwaukee for seven years before entering the seminary, I became used to a good fish fry on a Friday night. It is a Wisconsin tradition. There are good fish fries not only in Milwaukee but all over the state… fish of many kinds, prepared different ways, and good old Wisconsin potato pancakes.
Almost five years ago, we at Catholic Social Services started our own fish fry at our beautiful St. Joseph Center (located on 23rd and O streets at the edge of downtown Lincoln). The menu includes baked cod, fried pollack, fried catfish, breaded shrimp, tuna casserole, baked potatoes, and ‘cheezy potatoes,’ which has supplanted my potato pancakes! Also included is creamy coleslaw and dessert. The tuna casserole, cheezy potatoes, coleslaw, cocktail sauce and tartar sauce are all made from scratch. People are constantly asking for the recipes. But the author of these delicious niceties holds these recipes close to her chest like an Old West poker player dealing stud. Because these items are highly addictive, they are offered for sale in take-home portions.
It is all you can eat for $10, and $35 for a family. All proceeds go to the support of St. Gianna’s Women’s Homes which aid women who are escaping domestic violence and abortion.
Our fish fries are held on every First Friday outside of Lent, which means we are taking a break while many parishes and the Knights of Columbus are having their fish fries and other non-meat Lenten dinners. We encourage you to support them during this Lenten season!
Our fish fry for St. Gianna’s is totally run by our faithful volunteers. It has been a tradition since we began our fish fry to hold an appreciation dinner for our volunteers during our Lenten break. This year we made homemade meat loaf (Mom’s recipe) with mashed potatoes and a vegetable, with hors d’oeuvres and wine. As a finale, homemade cheesecake was served, with an array of toppings.
I would like to thank all of our volunteers for all their hard work, dedication and love for this successful program that benefits the ladies and their children who come to us escaping violent situations. I am happy to report that we have helped save our 18th baby! Thank you! I would also like to thank all of you who have faithfully exercised your taste buds by supporting our fish fry and look forward to seeing you on Friday, May 2 when we begin again.
St. Gianna, pray for us!
By the time this column is read, the Nebraska Legislature will have completed 43 legislative days out of the 60 days in this “short” session of the 103rd Legislature. Each Legislature has a two year cycle with the first year’s session lasting 90 legislative (not calendar) days and the second year’s session lasting 60 legislative days.
Every bill introduced is assigned to a committee and receives a public hearing. Following the hearing, with rare exceptions a bill must receive a majority vote by the committee members to advance to the full Legislature for debate and voting.
Most bills related to abortion are assigned to the Judiciary Committee. The Committee is currently chaired by Sen. Brad Ashford (Omaha) and has seven additional members: Sen. Ernie Chambers (Omaha), Sen. Steve Lathrop (Omaha), Sen. Amanda McGill (Lincoln), Sen. Al Davis (Hyannis), Sen. Les Seiler (Hastings), Sen. Mark Christensen (Imperial) and Sen. Colby Coash (Lincoln).
During last year’s long session, two bills supported by pro-life groups, LB 300 and LB 564, were introduced and received public hearings by the Judiciary Committee. LB 300 updates Nebraska’s informed consent for abortion law by requiring the Department of Health & Human Services website to link to a website that provides 4-D ultrasound images of fetal development and directs abortion facilities to include a link to the DHHS informed consent web page on their websites.
LB 564 would protect the right of health care providers and health care facilities to decline to participate in any health care function that violates their respective consciences. Neither bill was able to get sufficient votes last year to advance to the full Legislature and consequently carried over to this year’s session. Despite continued efforts since last year’s session, the pro-life lobby has not been able to get either bill advanced from the Judiciary Committee.
During this year’s session, three new abortion related bills were introduced. The pro-life lobby supports one bill (LB 1032) and opposes the other two bills (LB 1108 and LB 1109). LB 1032, introduced by Sen. Bill Kintner, would require abortion facilities to post a conspicuous sign notifying women that it is against the law for anyone to force them to have an abortion.
At the Feb. 27 public hearing, the Judiciary Committee heard compelling testimony by three individuals who experienced some level of coercion to obtain abortions. Each of them said that seeing a posted sign about coercion may have made a difference in extricating them from the situation of pressure that drove them to abortion.
In my letter to the Committee expressing support for LB 1032, I said “If there is one aspect in the debate over abortion for which there should be no disagreement by either side, it is that no woman should be coerced or pressured to have an abortion. There is evidence from groups on both sides of the abortion debate that there is more coercion in abortion decisions than most Americans would think.
“One study published in the Medical Science Monitor, found 64 percent of women studied felt pressured by others to abort. Even if the number pressured is half or one-quarter of what this study found, that equates to 150,000 to 300,000 women who seek abortions in the United States feeling some level of pressure to abort their children. This should be equally disturbing whether one identifies as pro-life or pro-choice.”
Unfortunately, even this modest bill is struggling to muster a majority of support by Judiciary Committee members. So far, only Sen. Colby Coash, Sen. Mark Christensen, and Sen. Al Davis have indicated support for the bill. I encourage readers to contact the other members of the Judiciary Committee and urge them to support this bill—especially if you are a constituent of one of the Committee members. Senator contact information (and bill information) is online at www.nebraskalegislature.gov.
The two bills opposed by the pro-life lobby were introduced by Sen Danielle Conrad (Lincoln). LB 1108 would undermine Nebraska’s law requiring parental consent before a minor can obtain an abortion. LB 1109 would replace the parental consent requirement with a less effective parental notification requirement. Neither bill was prioritized which makes it highly unlikely that either bill will advance.
“The Three Little Pigs” by Steven Kellogg, author and illustrator.
William Morrow & Company, New York, 1997, 32 pages, Grades K-3 (and adults wanting to laugh!)
Anthropomorphism is the principle of dressing animals in human clothes and having them carry on conversations. In children’s literature, anthropomorphism has a long history in novels with the characters in Alice in Wonderland serving as prime examples. In today’s film and literature industry, it is continually used as the characters become more delightful or fearful depending on the author’s intention. Fairy tales and fables lend themselves particularly well to anthropomorphism as readers easily connect with the main characters.
Steven Kellogg has written a hilarious account of “The Three Little Pigs” using this concept. It is so cleverly done that you will want to rer-ead the book when you are finished.
Serafina Sow has three little piglets to raise. Short on money, she comes up with a scheme to make ready cash by starting a portable waffle company. She bolts an old waffle iron onto a contraption on wheels and begins her business. Soon she and her three children are pushing the machine throughout nearby villages and everyone is eating her delicious waffles. The children enthusiastically help their mother. In short order, the family is rolling in money and is famous.
Given her new-found wealth, Serafina enrolls her youngsters in Hog Hollow Academy. Having been given this educational advantage, the three little pigs thrive and become outstanding athletes in hog basketball and superior actors in pig plays. With this, Serafina decides to retire to the Gulf of Pasta. After a touching goodbye, the children take over the waffle business.
Setting aside their mortar boards, the three little pigs continue the successful business started by Serafina. So successful is their business, that they each build a house for themselves. Percy builds a straw house on the top of a beautiful bluff. Pete constructs a log cabin on a nearby hill. Their sister, Prudence, designs and erects a lovely brick manor house in the valley. The wafflery continues to be wildly successful.
But this happy situation is rudely overturned when a big, bad wolf appears. They ask him what kind of waffle he wants and get the frightening response that he hates waffles but loves to eat sausage, bacon and ham. The wolf, named Tempesto, attacks the three little pigs. He overturns their waffle machine and chases them to their houses.
As he threatens to blow down Percy’s house, the little pig writes down a plea for help on a paper airplane and throws it out the window. Tempesto violently blows the house down.
Luckily, Percy escapes to Pete’s house. But the scenario looks dire as the wolf now approaches the second house. Prudence watches the scene anxiously from her brick house. Meanwhile, the paper airplane soars over a great distance and lands in Serafina’s salad plate. She realizes that something must be done and quickly acts.
What does Serafina do? Are all the houses blown down? How would you stop the big, bad wolf? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out this delightful adaptation of the famous tale.
This is one of the funniest, most entertaining picture books you will ever read. Be sure to pay close attention to all the small side drawings as half the fun is found in them. You will enjoy reading this book with children in your family. They will clap their hands at the antics of three little pigs and the wolf.
So if you ever need a laugh and an enjoyable family experience with a picture book, Steven Kellogg’s “The Three Little Pigs” provides it. Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
Those who have followed this column over the past several months have been introduced to six different aspects of the evangelization process. Each one represents an essential element of the cycle through which both individuals and parishes progress. Presently we will summarize these stages as a way of putting all of the pieces of this evangelization progression together into a cohesive structure that can help us better to appreciate the dynamics involved.
The full cycle included the following article titles: Invitations, Encounters, Communities of Life and Love, Faith Formation, Intentional Discipleship, Ministry and Outreach, and Pre-Evangelization. I began by reflecting on our need first to invite Jesus into our hearts, our families and our lives before we can share Him with others (i.e. evangelize) and participate in parish programs and activities to help ourselves to grow as disciples.
Encounters with the Lord essentially are our response to His invitation to become more closely united to Him. We described encounters as “deliberate and grace-filled opportunities for God’s children to have their hearts, minds and souls changed for the better by coming into close personal contact with the Lord of Life.” Such intimate contact with God often occurs during a retreat experience, such as a Cursillo, Marriage Encounter or Light of the World parish retreat. Encounter experiences remind us of the deep personal love God has for us and that He has meaningful and fulfilling plans for each of our lives.
Experiencing the love of Jesus enhances our ability to share this love with others in the context of a community of life and love, the most common being the family. Even while we strengthen family bonds we are building up our parish communities. The Holy Trinity provides us with the ideal community of persons who work intimately together in perfect love. Parish families strive to imitate such unity as they work and pray together, especially in small groups.
Faith formation takes place in the form of catechesis in a wide array of offerings at the parish, ranging from Bible studies to RCIA classes, from books and tapes to websites, from Catholic education to youth camps, and the list goes on. The availability of quality Catholic resources has never been greater than it is in our day. Each of us needs to be a life-long learner in order to be an effective evangelizer. As the old saying goes, “You can’t give what you ain’t got!”
Intentional discipleship flows naturally from those who begin to take their faith more seriously. It is what people see in those who advance beyond a minimalistic mentality and really strive to be the very best possible disciple of Jesus every single day. Intentional disciples take their prayer life seriously, practice generosity and charity, and conscientiously follow God’s commands. They participate actively in the mission of the Church, which is to share God’s love and the gift of salvation with all people. In short, they are dynamic Catholics.
Ministry and outreach is the work of those with the love of Jesus in their hearts. While there certainly exists a number of “do-gooders” in our society, the vast majority of work for the poor, the disadvantaged and the downtrodden is done by those who strive daily to imitate the charity of Jesus, which is fundamentally an extension of their own intimate love for Him.
Pre-evangelization brings the process full circle. Just as we invited Jesus more deeply into our lives, now we help set the stage for others to do so as well. We welcome and invite people into our churches by way of friendliness and hospitality. We share the joy we have in Christ by offering them resources that can establish, enlighten and enliven their faith.
As Catholics we are called to complete this “evangelization loop” in our lives, careful not simply to engage in one or another component of it. Likewise, our parishes strive to provide the opportunities and resources needed to employ every phase of the cycle. This process certainly is one in which we, as Catholics, want to stay “in the loop,” especially since so much is at stake.
Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” (Lk 9:23-25).
I recently read a commentary on this passage by St. John of the Cross, that great Carmelite mystic who lived in sixteenth century Spain. Specifically about this passage he said, “A genuine spirit seeks rather the distasteful in God than the delectable, leans more toward suffering than toward consolation, more toward going without everything for God than toward possession, and toward dryness and affliction than toward sweet consolation. It knows that this is the significance of following Christ and denying self, that the other method is perhaps the seeking of self in God – something entirely contrary to love. Seeking oneself in God is the same as looking for the caresses and consolations of God. Seeking God in oneself entails not only the desire to do without these consolations for God’s sake, but also the inclination to choose for the love of Christ all that is most distasteful whether in God or in the world; and this is what loving God means.”
Perhaps this can be the focus of our Lenten meditations, seeking God in self rather than self in God. How often I have to catch myself when praying in chapel when the focus is on me and my interests verses God and His interests. Oh the value of meditating on the passion of Christ!
Recently someone I know quite well said, “Father, I am going to go through my closets and donate everything I do not need to CSS. You should tell others to do the same.” She continued, “If everyone did that – just think of the donations you will receive!”
Items donated to Catholic Social Services are either given to those who need them, or sold at one of our four thrift stores in the diocese and the proceeds used to fund emergency services or grants for counseling for those who are un-insured or under-insured.
Whether it is a graduate of St. Gianna’s who is able to move in a house, or a homeless person or family that is moving into an apartment or home or a newly resettled refugee family, CSS has been able to give furniture and appliances, household items and other essentials to those in need to make their new house or apartment a home.
Whether it is food, clothing, furniture, appliances, kitchen or housewares items or even a car, a good Lenten exercise is to consider donating any items in your apartment, home or farm not needed. With these donations we will be able to help more individuals and families that come to us in crisis. In doing so, you will be heeding the advice of St. John of the Cross by finding God in self, rather than self in God. St. John of the Cross, pray for us!
On March 6, several pro-life groups in Nebraska hosted an event at the State Capitol called “Together for Life.” The objective of this event, which was inaugurated last year, is to expose state legislators and their staff to pro-life efforts outside of public policy.
This year’s event featured the extraordinary work of our state’s 30-plus pregnancy care centers. These centers, ranging from large, full-time facilities with several employees to small, all-volunteer facilities, helped roughly 15,000 Nebraska women and men in 2013. They operate almost entirely on donations, with a few hundred volunteers and minimal paid staff in the larger centers.
These centers provide a range of services (depending on the size of the center) that include: facilitating housing, instructional programs, materials assistance (diapers, formula, clothing, cribs, furniture, car seats), facilitating adoption, parenting classes, job training, medical care including pregnancy tests, prenatal and obstetrical care (including ultrasounds, STD testing, social services and financial assistance before and after birth, public and private school character-based abstinence education, and post-abortion counseling and support.
In addition to showcasing the great work of Nebraska’s pro life pregnancy care centers among our state legislators, Governor Dave Heineman agreed to issue a proclamation designating March 6, 2014 as Pregnancy Care Center Awareness Day in Nebraska.
Here is the text of the Governor’s proclamation:
WHEREAS, the life-affirming impact of pregnancy care centers on the women, men, children, and communities they serve is considerable and growing;
WHEREAS, pregnancy care centers serve women in Nebraska and across the United States with integrity and compassion;
WHEREAS, more than 30 pregnancy care centers in Nebraska and more than 2500 centers nationally provide comprehensive care to women and men facing unplanned pregnancies, including resources to meet their physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs;
WHEREAS, pregnancy care centers offer women free, confidential, and compassionate services, including pregnancy tests, peer counseling, 24-hour telephone hotlines, childbirth and parenting classes, and referrals to community health care, and other support services;
WHEREAS, pregnancy care centers provide important support and resources for women who choose childbirth over abortion;
WHEREAS, pregnancy care centers ensure that women are receiving prenatal information and services that lead to the birth of healthy infants;
WHEREAS, many pregnancy care centers work to prevent unplanned pregnancies by teaching effective abstinence education in public schools;
WHEREAS, pregnancy care centers operate primarily through reliance on the voluntary donations and time of individuals who are committed to caring for the needs of women and promoting and protecting life;
NOW THEREFORE, I, Dave Heineman, Governor of the State of Nebraska, do hereby observe March 6, 2014 as Pregnancy Care Center Awareness Day in Nebraska and commend the compassionate and exemplary work of the volunteers and paid staff at Nebraska’s Pregnancy Care Centers.
To see a complete list of pregnancy care centers in Nebraska, contact my office or download a reproducible flier (English and Spanish) at www.nebcathcon.org. During this Lent, please make a commitment to help support the center nearest you with your time, talent or treasure.
There are many important parts to the body of the pro-life movement, but in my view, pregnancy care centers are the heart. Their work is essential to achieving the movement’s ultimate goal: to make abortion unthinkable.
“Dr. Charles Drew: Medical Pioneer” by Susan Whitehurst.
The Children’s World, Minnesota, 2002, 40 pages, Grades 3-5.
Racial discrimination has been a plague afflicting the United States for hundreds of years. At its most basic form, racial discrimination is the negative, damning idea that people are inferior because of their color.
When people suffer because of racial discrimination, they commonly respond in two ways. First, they can lash out violently at those causing the problem. The trouble with this approach is that violence doesn’t necessarily cure violence. Sometimes, it cause more anger.
The second method is to endure and overcome the bigotry. It takes great courage to use this approach. However, this approach can be quite successful in the long term. An example of this is the life of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player.
This second approach is chosen by Dr. Charles Drew, the brilliant subject of this biography. Susan Whitehurst writes a compelling biography of this great doctor and scientist. It is entitled, “Dr. Charles Drew: Medical Pioneer.”
Young Charles is born in Washington D.C. on June 3, 1904. His family heritage includes a mixture of Irish, Native American, English and African. The Drews are a stable family and highly value education. From his earliest years, Charlie shows great promise academically and athletically.
Though he has red hair and freckles, Charlie is deemed by society to be African-American. He attends one of the finest black high schools in the United States and attends Amherst College in Massachusetts on a scholarship. One day he suffers a severe leg injury in a football game and is hospitalized. After observing the doctors making rounds, he decides to become a physician.
Since few medical schools will accept black students, he applies and is accepted at McGill University in Montreal. There he becomes an outstanding student and graduates with a Doctor of Medicine and a Master of Surgery. Upon returning to the United States, Dr. Drew is hired by Howard University as a medical professor. Howard is the preeminent medical school for African Americans in the United States.
It is here that Dr. Drew begins to develop an interest in the storage of blood. Even with refrigeration, whole blood begins to break down after 24 hours. With the increased need for blood transfusions, hospitals are desperate to lengthen the time that blood can be used. Dr. Drew begins thinking deeply about the four elements of blood: the red blood cells, the white blood cells, the platelets and the plasma. The red blood cells are the problem, as they break down the fastest. He begins looking at other parts of blood. What might be possible if blood transfusions could be made using the clear, liquid part of blood, the plasma? Plasma doesn’t deteriorate quickly.
Dr. Drew begins experimenting with plasma and makes an astonishing discovery that will change the face of medicine. It doesn’t come too soon, either. World War II has erupted and thousands of people need Drew’s discovery. What is it?
How does this brilliant man change medical practices throughout the world? How does he overcome the racial prejudice he has encountered in his life? Why is he truly a hero in the medical world? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out this fine biography, “Dr. Charles Drew: Medical Pioneer.”
This is an excellent biography for middle school students. It also lays to rest the falsehood that white doctors stood by as Dr. Drew bled to death after his fatal car crash. The truth is that the white physicians left their less critically ill white patients and diligently tried to save his life. Unfortunately, Drew’s injuries were too serious.
This is a commendable book, and students will learn a great deal about a noble American. Please encourage them to read the book.
The idea of charter schools is receiving some attention during the current session of the Nebraska Legislature. It has been a topic during floor debate on bills dealing separately with state aid for public-school districts and public-school performance and accountability. The idea also is the main subject of LB 972, Omaha Senator Scott Lautenbaugh’s priority bill. It had a lengthy and provocative public hearing in front of the Legislature’s Education Committee.
While it appears doubtful that LB 972 will make it through the process during the 20 days that remain in the session—the proposal has opposition and considerable skepticism—the fact that it is a point of attention and discussion in the expressed desire for elementary-and-secondary education reform is significant.
LB 972 would create a pilot program. It would authorize the State Board of Education to issue charters for up to five “independent public schools” in Omaha.
These schools would operate independently of the public-school district in which they are located. Each would be managed by a board of trustees, rather than any school-district board of education. Rules and regulations would apply, but would be considerably less in scope. Each would have a performance review after five years.
Persons or entities eligible to establish an “independent-public school” would include parents, community residents, non-profit organizations, public organizations, teachers and school administrators. The only entities explicitly excluded from applying for charters would be, guess what, “denominational and parochial schools” and unregulated, parentally managed schools.
Financing is a key element of chartering such-schools. Section 18 of LB 972 presents the policy: “The school district of residence of each student attending an independent public school shall annually pay to the independent public school an amount equal to the school district’s actual per pupil cost for the preceding fiscal year times the number of students residing in such district who attend such independent public school.” In other words, the funding follows the student. It’s the voucher concept.
Interesting, wouldn’t it be, if the qualifier word “public” was removed from “independent public school” each time it appears? That would make it more broadly the voucher concept; even more justly a parental-choice-in-education policy.
When this thought was pointed out to the Education Committee, one member, Senator Ken Haar from Malcolm, said the reference to vouchers was scary. Why so? Why would even better facilitation of parental choice in education be scary?
If vouchers are too complex or radical, there are other policy options that warrant open-minded, thoughtful deliberation, such as scholarship-support tax credits, educational-expense tax credits and policy-supported education savings accounts. The debate over charter schools should trigger broader discussion of parental-choice ideas.
On another, much less significant level involving schools, there is LB 1081. Its sponsor, Senator Russ Karpisek from Wilber, is worried about competitive balance in high-school sports. He wants more parity. So, for the second year in a row he has sought to spark discussion by introducing silly legislation that would intrude upon the independent, member-based governance of high-school extracurricular activities by the Nebraska School Activities Association.
Senator Karpisek’s crackerjack research staff apparently is responsible for uncovering and formulating this nugget of breath-taking information: from school year 1997-98 through school year 2003-04, about 26 percent of NSAA’s state sports championships were won by non-government, religiously affiliated high schools. But such schools only constituted about 12 percent of the total number of high schools in the state.
“There’s some smoke there” Senator Karpisek was quoted as saying at the public hearing on his LB 1081; “What’s going on?” Senator Bill Avery from Lincoln, a member of the Education Committee, expressed similar suspicion. From their points of view, success has to be about illegitimate recruiting, even though they don’t, or can’t, identify any specific situation. For them, even if Catholic kids go to Catholic schools and Lutheran kids go to Lutheran schools, or parents make school choices for whatever reasons, such motivations are presumed secondary; kids who are athletically competitive are being recruited.
Fortunately, the public hearing on LB 1081 also brought some balance to the discussion. It wasn’t a total waste of time; the premise and specifics of the legislative bill notwithstanding.
There was an acknowledgment that to whatever extent recruiting occurs, by no means is it a parochial-school phenomenon; public schools do it too. And, the executive director of the school activities association spoke of efforts the organization will be making to address issues of “undue influence,” the extent of penalties and the impact of summer camps and club teams.
And finally…. Here’s some wording that can be found in several bills dealing with early childhood education—a rapidly expanding emphasis: “…the goal [exists] of assuring that every family in Nebraska has access to such programs for, at the minimum, the school year prior to the school year for which the child will be eligible to attend kindergarten.”
That’s not mandatory early childhood education; yet. It also exudes a sense of a lower compulsory-education age.
“My brothers and sisters, show no partiality … For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly … and a poor person with shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes … have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? … However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors”
(Jas 2:1-9).
Recently after closing, I spied a man walking across the parking lot with two duffle bags, toward our front door. Our lights were off, and I remember thinking, ‘surely he knows we are closed.’
I opened the door and greeted him. He was a homeless man looking for help finding a place to stay. It was a fairly chilling February evening. He immediately began explaining his plight.
He showed me a few $20 bills and said he only needed $15 for a week’s stay at a nearby long-term motel. “Where did you get the money?” I asked. “From my mother, who lives in another state,” he replied.
He further explained he could not stay with her because she is in a retirement facility. I invited him in and after packing three sacks of groceries, we were off to the motel. During the ride I discovered he had been released earlier in the day from the hospital because of ‘mental issues.’
“I just couldn’t stand it any longer at the homeless shelter!” He related. I remember wondering how long I would last at a homeless shelter. His plan will be finding a job. He went into detail how he would begin his search. He will have difficulty because of a prior felony conviction.
Within minutes, we were at the motel’s front desk. Instead of CSS contributing $15 along with all the cash he had to pay for one week, I gave the manager my CSS credit card and instructed him to give this man two weeks. Moved with tears, he gave me a bear hug and exclaimed this was an answer to his prayers, for he had been praying all day. In his room, he had a kitchen to prepare the food we had given him.
At Catholic Social Services, we must remember to take St. James’ words to heart. No matter what a client looks like, we must remember they all are created in God’s image and likeness and whatever we do for the least, we do to Jesus (Mt 25:31-46).
Please pray for this man that he is successful in finding employment so he will not have to live on the street. May the intercession of St. Joseph the Worker obtain for this man a job he so desperately wants and needs. May we all with the grace of God see Jesus Christ in each and every person we meet, regardless of their appearance.
“However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”
(Jas 2:1-9)
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
(2 Chronicles 7:14)
Human beings, and especially males, tend to respond to a challenge or injustice by rolling up our sleeves and doing something. Unfortunately, our first response tends not to be prayer and fasting.
I must admit that in my early years as the Bishops’ pro-life director, I tended to subordinate prayer and fasting (at least interiorly) to more “concrete” activities such as education, public policy advocacy, and pastoral care efforts. It took me several years of pro-life work to discover the wisdom of God’s word in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Sooner or later, any reasonably astute soldier in the battle against the culture of death learns that this battle is spiritual at its core. Therefore, any effort not rooted in prayer will be in vain.
This year’s Lenten season begins next Wednesday. By now, many Catholics may have at least given some thought to what type of sacrifice they will embrace during this penitential season. However, most probably haven’t thought about offering their prayer and fasting for a particular intention(s).
I humbly ask Catholics to include the pro-life cause as a recipient of your prayers and fasting. Some particular prayer intentions could include seeking God’s help for women who are at risk of having an abortion; for innocent children who are at risk of perishing; for men and women who carry the pain of a past abortion experience; for workers at Planned Parenthood facilities and abortion centers; for local, regional, and national leaders; for revival and renewal in our churches; and for repentance and healing throughout our nation.
These prayer intentions are suggested to participants of the 40 Days for Life campaign. According to its organizers, the mission of 40 Days for Life is “to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity during a focused 40 day campaign of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion.”
As it’s mission states, part of the 40 Days for Life campaign involves “peaceful activism” that involves an around the clock presence of participants spending one hour praying outside an abortion mill. Organizers in Lincoln and Omaha are asking for help in filling these hours outside the three abortion mills (one in Lincoln, one in Omaha and one in Bellevue).
Interested participants can sign up for an hour online at www.40daysforlife.com (scroll down to Nebraska) or by calling 402-399-0299 for Omaha and Bellevue locations and 402-327-9015 for the Lincoln location.
The 40 Days for Life organizers point out that if you cannot pray outside one of the abortion mills then “pray at church, pray at work, pray in the car or pray at home… People of faith are also invited to fast throughout 40 Days for Life. Christ said there are demons that can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.
“A fast is not a Christian diet; it is a powerful means of drawing closer to God by blocking out distractions. Fast from certain foods. Fast from television. Fast from apathy and indifference. Fast from whatever it is that separates you from God.”
“We believe that when God’s people fast with a broken, repentant and contrite spirit, our heavenly Father will hear from heaven and heal our lives, our churches, our communities, our nation, and our world.” To that I say Amen!
“The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: A Scientific Mystery”
by Sandra Markle.
Millbrook Press, 2014, 48 pages, Grades 3-5.
Honeybees are among the most fascinating species of insects on earth. They constantly fly from flower to flower in the warm months of spring and summer, and then return to their hives filled with nectar and pollen. Upon depositing these choice products in the hive, the bees then tirelessly go out again. For centuries, writers and farmers have marveled at their endurance and industry. The honey and beeswax generated by bees is both delicious and fragrant.
But about seven years ago, a dreadful event began to happen. The honeybees start vanishing. Beekeepers throughout the world find hives full of honey but empty of bees. The crisis is so profound that it receives the name Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. Sandra Markle writes about this honeybee plague and the vigilant battle to overcome the disease. Her interesting book is entitled, “The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: A Scientific Mystery.”
By late 2006, professional beekeepers begin discovering that thousands of hives have no bees. Besides being financially disastrous, the beekeepers can’t make any sense of the situation. In many instances the hives are full of honey, so the disappearance cannot be due to starvation. Also, some of the terrible diseases afflicting bees, such as American Foul Brood, are not present. The bees just seem to have disappeared.
Immediately, bee keepers and bee scientists start looking at any number of scenarios to explain this tragedy. Since a queen bee can lay more than 1,000 eggs a day, there should never be a shortage of bees. So what is happening?
First, scientists begin looking at the evolution of agriculture. Since only one or two crops are planted in many areas, researchers wonder if the bees starve after the crops blossomed. Nectar can only be found in blooming crops.
A second possibility is that the bees are simply worn out and die because they are being transported hundreds of miles from one crop to the next.
A third possible explanation is that beekeepers are feeding the bees too much sugar syrup. Since bees make and eat honey, sugar syrup simply does not nourish bees as well. This lack of nutrition can cause a much shorter life span.
Also, new invading varroa mites are found to devastate bee populations. Even cell phones are thought to be part of the problem. However, this is later discounted as a cause.
The final culprit is thought to be the development of new pesticides. Everyone hopes to find a single cause that can be easily addressed. What scientists learn is that CCD is a multifaceted problem. There will be no easy answer.
What do researchers discover that greatly reduces CCD? How does a better understanding of how the biological environment operates partially solve the problem? Have people inadvertently caused CCD? Why is it necessary to make changes in professional beekeeping practices? And finally, what can we do to keep honeybees from vanishing? To find out, go to the library and check out this outstanding book, “The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees” by Sandra Markle.
This is an excellent book for use in science classes in the middle grades. The text is well written and the photographs are outstanding. Markle presents the problems involved with CCD and shows what bee keepers and scientists are doing to solve the disease. I hope you encourage the young people in your family to read this fine book. I learned a great deal from this book, and think you will as well. Without those industrious bees, the delicious strawberries we love cannot develop. Sandra Markle’s book can help us better understand the problems involved with the vanishing honeybees.
The news sometimes features the collapse of a building due to an undetected sinkhole beneath its foundation. Whether the cause was soil erosion over time or not having done quality dirt work and packing in the first place, the result is the same: ruination of the structure. The Church must protect itself from just such a demise.
The preparatory work we do in order to make evangelization possible, especially in its more formal expressions, is simply called pre-evangelization. Pope Francis has demonstrated an expertise in this area during the first year of his Pontificate. He has made a concerted effort to make the Catholic Church a more appealing institution to be associated with, equally for Catholics and those of other faith traditions. And he tirelessly has encouraged all of us, clergy and laity alike, to do the same.
The basis for pre-evangelization is making the Church—including its parishes, schools, hospitals and other sponsored institutions—places of warmth and welcome. This task sounds so simple, but, sadly, it is accomplished only with difficulty. One of our problems is that our physical inclinations too often direct our spiritual activity. All of us can relate to this tendency with regard to the cold of winter. Once we are inside enjoying the warmth and comfort of our own home, we don’t tend to go outside looking for others with whom to share this blessing. All too often, we also get overly comfortable in our spiritual home, the Church. Accordingly, we fail to reach out and invite others in. So sad!
Many parishes have a Welcome Ministry that is employed before Masses and other parish functions. This practice is easy to support and is very effective, especially in our larger parishes that have many visitors on a regular basis. A simple smile and a friendly “hello” go a long way in setting the stage for inviting people to share in the manifold graces and blessings that we have enjoyed and that our Church wants to share.
Some parishes have sponsored special events designed specifically to reach out to all members of the community, especially those who are not active members of the Church. A speaker or a quality video presentation might be used to attract people to the event. Oftentimes a free CD or book is given to those who attend, or a little gift might be included with the written invitations. Such special events can be repeated multiple times during the year, depending upon the size of the parish, and they certainly provide to all involved in the project a great opportunity to be involved in pre-evangelization work.
Our declining church attendance and the readiness of many Catholics to side with cultural trends rather than with the teachings of Jesus and His Church are having a corrosive effect that is creating perilous spiritual sinkholes. We sometimes need to get our hands “dirty” by challenging folks to practice their faith or to think about the eternal ramifications of their lifestyle. But that’s what it means to be a baptized Christian. We need to be professional welcomers and inviters in order to lay the groundwork for the essential work of evangelization. If that means getting our hands a bit dirty from time to time, so be it.
Several years ago, after Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach Center moved to their present location on North 27th St., homeless people and families started showing up at our doors at our St. Joseph Center (located at 23rd and O streets) for something to eat. For those living in the area without a car and for those in the streets, it is too far a walk to the several places in town that serve meals. Since a typical food pantry like ours supplies groceries, not meals, we decided to start handing out ready-to-eat food rather than bus passes.
At first we started handing out salads and sandwiches from several local grocery stores in town, but it soon became apparent that this was not enough. We decided to start a sack lunch program patterned after our Hastings Sack Lunch Program which is a collaborative effort between Catholic Social Services and multiple other entities and denominations in the Hastings area.
Ten years ago, we noticed a need in Hastings, and the rest is history. Last year, our sack lunch program in Hastings served almost 45,000 sack lunches – not bad for a town with a population of a little over 25,000. One has to remember though; this program is 10 years old.
At our St. John Vianney Center in Hastings, during normal business hours, anyone can receive a nutritious lunch, no questions asked. Since the word has spread, even those who live within driving distances pull up for a sack lunch. By the appearances of some of the cars, I know the people are truly in need.
In January, our Lincoln Sack Lunch Program celebrated its first anniversary. Last year, from our downtown Lincoln location, we served 5,000 lunches.
As in the beginning of our Hastings program, it took a while for the news to get out. Each month, there has been a steady increase in the number of meals served. Now anyone can receive a sack lunch, no questions asked, Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
I would like to thank our 46 volunteers from multiple parishes in Lincoln for all they are doing to feed Jesus who lives in the hungry (Mt 25:31-46)! If anyone is interested in jumping aboard, please send me an email!
“The power of language to color one’s view of reality is profound. In many instances, the most significant factor determining how an object will be perceived is not the nature of the object itself, but the words employed to characterize it…Words can also act as a force for justice or a weapon of repression, an instrument of enlightenment or a source of darkness.”
These words come from the introduction to the book, “Dehumanizing the Vulnerable: When Word Games Take Lives,” by Dr. William Brennan. Dr. Brennan is a professor of social work in the Saint Louis University School of Social Work. According to his bio, Dr. Brennan “has written and spoken extensively on how euphemisms and dehumanizing language facilitate massive oppression.”
In this book, Dr. Brennan focuses on seven “victimized groups” that he selected for analysis because they are among the most extensively oppressed on record: the unborn, the dependent and/or disabled, women, Jews and others exterminated in the Nazi Holocaust, the targets of Soviet tyranny, African Americans, and Native Americans.
In his research on these victimized groups, Dr. Brennan found that despite the varying times in history, each group was subject to “a universal set of dehumanizing designations” that fell into eight categories: deficient human, non-human, animal, parasite, disease, inanimate object, waste product, and non-person.
Dr. Brennan includes in his book a quick reference chart providing a sample of each type of dehumanizing term for each victimized group. The chart, available online at www.issues4life.org/pdfs/languageofoppression.pdf, is a sobering glimpse at what he calls the “semantics of oppression.” Here is a sample of the dehumanizing terms (with sources) Dr. Brennan found applied to African Americans:
“A subordinate and inferior class of beings” (U.S. Supreme Court, 1857); “The negro is not a human being” (Bucknor Payne, Publisher, 1867); “the negro is one of the lower animals” (Professor Charles Caroll, 1900); “They are parasites”(Dr. E.T. Brady, 1909); “Free blacks in our country are… a contagion” (American Colonization Soc., 1815-30); “A negro of the African race was regarded… as an article of property” (U.S. Supreme Court, 1857); “The negro race is… a heritage of organic and psychic debris” (Dr. William English, 1903); “In the eyes of the law…the slave is not a person” (Virginia Supreme Court decision, 1858).
Disabled persons are described in equally vile terms:
“A life… devoid of those qualities which give it human dignity” (Assessment of a child with disability, Dr. Harry Hartzell, 1978); “No newborn human should be declared human until it has passed certain tests” (Dr. Francis Crick, 1978); “Until a living being can take conscious management of life… it remains an animal” (Prof. George Ball, 1981); “That’s a real parasite” (Medical staff characterization of a debilitated patient, 1989); “New-born humans are neither persons nor even quasi-persons” (Philospher Michael Tooley, 1983).
Dr. Brennan includes these quotes regarding the “unwanted unborn”: “
The fetus, at most, represents only the potentiality of life” (U.S. Supreme Court, 1973); “Like… a primitive animal that’s poked with a stick” (Dr. Hart Peterson on fetal movement, 1985); “The fetus is a parasite” (Professor Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, 1984); “Pregnancy when not wanted is a disease…in fact a venereal disease” (Professor Joseph Fletcher, 1979); “The word ‘person,’ as used in the 14th Amendment, does not include the unborn” (U.S. Supreme Court, 1973).
Dr. Brennan’s research exposes a consistent component of radical social change: verbal engineering always precedes social engineering. Referencing the familiar children’s adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me,” Dr. Brennan points out that “[d]isparaging designations may inflict greater damage than physical blows and foster a climate of antagonism leading to the actual breaking of bones and other forms of violence.”
“I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban”
by Malala Yousafzai.
Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2013, 327 pages, Grades 8 and higher.
Sometimes people find the courage to do great things. They often do not see themselves as anything extraordinary, but their actions are heroic. In American history, people like Harriet Tubman are examples of this. Tubman helps countless slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. Faced with countless problems, Harriet Tubman lived her life with fortitude.
In modern times, we also find similar people. One of these is a young Pakistani girl named Malala Yousafzai. Her goal of going to school comes into conflict with the Taliban movement in Pakistan. These deluded zealots are determined to stop girls from going to school and are willing to kill those opposing them. The Yousafzai family believes the Taliban are vicious and ruinous to the Muslim religion. Their daughter, Malala, will be at the center of the violent confrontation between the Yousafzai family and the Taliban.
Malala is born into a society that has a restricted understanding of the roles of women. She relates that few people congratulate a family when girl children are born. Rarely is the need felt to send girls, especially in rural areas, to school. Malala states that women are supposed to cook, clean, take care of the children and only leave the home if accompanied by a male relative. As a result, large percentages of women are illiterate in Pakistan.
Malala’s father thinks that girls should go to school and develop their minds. He becomes a forceful advocate for girls going to school and even starts a school for girls. This is fortunate for Malala, as she shows great promise academically. The Yousafzai family lives in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, and “Aba,” (Daddy) as Mr. Yousafzai is called by Malala, faces financial and social strains as he tries to educate his students.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center, the world changes radically in Pakistan. War breaks out in neighboring Afghanistan which soon spills over into the nearby Swat Valley. A stern, bearded group of fundamental Muslims, the Taliban, begin to slowly gain control of the Swat Valley and other parts of Pakistan. Anything Western, such as televisions, CDs and cosmetics, are seized and destroyed by the Taliban. If people refuse to obey their dictates, the Taliban quickly executes them. So a reign of terror, death and destruction takes over the Swat Valley.
One of the major issues with the Taliban is the submission of women to traditional roles. Malala and her family refuse to acquiesce to the threats of the Taliban and continue to teach and learn in their privately-run school. Malala becomes something of an international celebrity through an Internet blog she creates exposing the viciousness of the Taliban. Death threats soon follow and assassins are finally sent to silence the girl. They stop and surround her school bus and then ominously enter. The killers ask one question: “Who is Malala?”
Why does Malala survive the brutal shooting? How does this savage attack have such a massive effect on public opinion? Why can a 5-foot-tall, 14-year-old girl stand up to the abuses and violence of the Taliban? Where does Malala discover her heroic courage and fortitude? To find out, go to the library and check out this harrowing, but heroic story of the girl that stood up to the Taliban.
Malala’s story is told with great compassion and sensitivity. It is only in October 2013 that she finally recovers from her savage attack. Obviously, this book is not some simple, pleasant story. But Malala’s stand against injustice is one that needs to be known.
The epic courage of Malala and her family is uplifting and inspiring. The Yousafzai family represents the best qualities in the human spirit. I hope you get a chance to read this outstanding book of courage, sorrow and triumph.
As originally introduced last year by Senator Danielle Conrad, Legislative Bill 485 would make it unlawful for employers of 15 or more employees to make decisions about hiring, firing, and terms and conditions of employment based on an individual’s “sexual orientation.” In addition, it would apply the same prohibitive standard to all contractors and subcontractors of the state and political subdivisions; and it would correspondingly expand the affirmative-action policy that guides state government.
This is about employment superficially, but it is considerably more than that. It is a multi-dimensional public-policy issue of cultural significance. A newly surfaced amendment backed by Senator Conrad makes the issue even weightier.
The employer mandate would be imposed through changes to the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act. That set of statutes now makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status or national origin.
LB 485 was one subject of an odd public hearing—conducted simultaneously along with two other, broadly related bills—in front of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on March 14, 2013. No amendments were submitted at that time. The committee carried the bill over to 2014.
In seeking to add sexual orientation as a protected classification subject to the state’s coercive authority to act against discrimination, LB 485 does not distinguish between sexual inclination (attraction) and sexual conduct. It encompasses both. This creates a weighty dilemma, both morally and in relation to public policy.
From the perspective of Catholic teaching and the views of many others, sexual conduct outside of marriage of a man and a woman, including same-sex sexual conduct, has no claim to special protection. LB 485 seeks to give it that, as well as legal affirmation. The legislation would eliminate, as a matter of public policy, the rights of a lot of employers to use discretion on the basis of known, morally opposed conduct. While such a law might forbid and punish some unjust discrimination, it also would forbid and punish decisions based upon moral disapproval of sexual conduct outside of marriage of a man and a woman. Other detriments tip the balance.
The legislation’s purported safeguard for religious freedom, which is a convoluted version of Federal Title VII’s exemptions, would cover only a subset of religious employers. This inadequacy threatens the institutional identity and integrity of some religious entities. There is no safeguard, other than the 15-employee threshold, for individual business owners who seek to operate their businesses in accord with religious beliefs and/or moral values.
There are broader public-policy repercussions as well. Some courts in other states have relied on state law prohibiting employment decisions on the basis of sexual orientation as part of a basis for creating a right to same-sex marriage. Make no mistake, such legislation is a prong of an ideologically motivated political strategy.
The public-policy shortcomings of such legislation are further exposed by the lack of empirically sound evidence that employment discrimination on the basis sexual orientation is pervasive or causing either significant or widespread economic disadvantage.
On Feb. 3, Senator Conrad chose LB 485 as her priority for the current session.
A few days later, the Judiciary Committee met in an executive session that had LB 485 on the agenda. Not long before that convening, committee members received a re-write of the bill, a “Strike-the-original-sections” amendment.
The re-write amendment has three changes of considerable substance and significance.
First and foremost, it proposes to add a second, new, separate classification for protection and legal affirmation; namely, “gender identity.”
Setting forth definitions of both “gender identity” and “sexual orientation,” is the second substantive change; and not only for purposes of LB 485 itself, but for purposes of statutory construction universally.
“Gender identity” is proposed to be defined as follows: “the actual or perceived appearance, expression, identity, or behavior of an individual, whether or not that appearance, expression, identity, or behavior is different from the individual’s assigned sex at birth.”
“Sexual orientation,” undefined in the original bill, is now proposed to be defined as “actual or perceived homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.”
The third substantive change is proposed inclusion of some confusing wording that is seems intended to exclude religiously sponsored educational entities from the proscription.
Within a day or so after the gender-identity-and-more amendment was revealed, the Judiciary Committee met again in executive session and this time took a vote on a motion to advance the amended version of LB 485 to the full Legislature.
To their credit, Senators Al Davis from Hyannis, Les Seiler from Hastings, Colby Coash from Lincoln and Mark Christensen from Imperial voted “no” and the motion failed. They deserve affirmation for doing so.
For the sake of sound public policy, so that morally controversial conduct is not specially protected, the Nebraska Catholic Conference hopes all four hold to that position in the event another vote is taken.
Recently while walking through our lobby, I greeted a man who seemed a little older than I. He seemed pleasant but quite concerned and worried. It turns out he was facing a three day eviction notice from his landlord. Seeing my clerical garb, he asked, “Would you please pray for me?” He then explained his plight. He informed me he had recently lost his housing voucher and was trying to adjust his finances in order to remain in his apartment. He was behind in his rent. He said he had nowhere else to turn.
I invited him to join me in our beautiful St. Joseph Chapel where we have the Blessed Sacrament reserved. As I knelt down I noticed him trying to do the same but was only able to go down on one knee because of a physical abnormality. I thanked God for all He has done for us and asked him to help His adopted son who was in need of assistance.
After our prayers he showed me a check written by one of the local Protestant congregations in town made out to his landlord for one third of the rent. The check was so recent, the “ink was wet.” After meeting with our social services case worker, and her assessment, he found out we were able to help with the rest of the rent. He left our office grateful for the help and the prayers said to Jesus in our chapel. He was heard repeating over and over in a loud voice, “Praised be Jesus! Praised be Jesus!”
This was not the first time I have been stopped in our lobby for the purpose of praying with a client and it will not be the last. We are grateful we have chapels in each of our four fixed sites. I cannot tell you how many times I walk past our chapel and make visits to the Lord during the day only to find someone off the streets talking to the Lord, some of whom are crying. It is in these same chapels we not only pray for our clients but for all of our donors too, for without you, we would not be able to help the countless individuals and families that come to us on a daily basis.
I am elated to relate that minutes before typing these words, Ray and Carolyn Mazour from Blue Hill stopped by our main office with a gift from Holy Trinity parish in Blue Hill - an extra tabernacle that was in storage. I would like to thank their pastor, Father James Schrader, and the parishioners of Holy Trinity. It is in great shape and will come in handy for an upcoming expansion project.
I would like to thank Ray and Carolyn for taking time to deliver this most precious gift. It is similar to the tabernacles in our St. Francis Chapel in Auburn, St. Isidore the Farmer Chapel in Imperial and Bishop James Conley’s chapel in his home.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us!
Last weekend, I witnessed several examples of the strength of the pro-life heartbeat in Nebraska. On Saturday, I was privileged to attend and serve as emcee for a pro-life prayer breakfast in Wayne. The event was organized by pro-life leaders in and around Wayne.
The chief organizer of this event was Bonnie Hoffman, the long-time pro-life coordinator for St. Mary Church in Wayne. This kind of leadership is the reason why my office recognized Mrs. Hoffman with the 2013 Gospel of Life award for the Archdiocese of Omaha.
This pro-life prayer breakfast drew an impressive crowd of more than 100 participants from several communities surrounding Wayne. I’m not at all surprised by this turnout, given the consistent and exemplary level of pro-life activity being sponsored by Catholic parish pro-life coordinators throughout northeast Nebraska.
The program featured a powerful short video on fetal development, local musicians and an inspiring presentation by keynote speaker Martha Hawthorne, host of “Praying with Mommy” on Sioux City’s Catholic radio station. Ms. Hawthorne shared her own pro-life testimony “as a single young mother and (her) story of prayer, forgiveness and mercy.”
Another example of pro-life dynamism on display at the breakfast was a gorgeous pro-life calendar, entitled “Celebration of Life 2014,” produced by the pro-life leaders in Wayne. A similar calendar was produced by parish pro-life coordinators in Hartington, a neighboring community to the north. These calendars feature very touching photos of local citizens, from babies to teens to seniors—all intended as a “Celebration of Life” and to raise funds for local pro-life activities.
The same day Wayne’s pro-life breakfast was held, the pro-life leaders in Fremont held a similar prayer breakfast, also attracting more than 100 participants. Fremont pro-life leaders have sponsored this annual pro-life breakfast for many years helping to keep the pro-life heartbeat going in Fremont.
Over last weekend, I also received a couple of reports from pro-life leaders in other parts of Nebraska. Among my e-mails was a message from Marian Czapla, a long-time pro-life coordinator from St. Rose of Lima Parish in Genoa. Mrs. Czapla gave me this report:
“Just finished our Magi collection—very pleased with the response considering we have had so many benefits in the past few months. We have $300, 14 dozen disposal diapers, 26 body suits, 14 outfits, five blankets, 21 sleepers and 16 misc. items. Plan to deliver to Birthright of Columbus tomorrow.” Epiphany and Advent baby showers are promoted among all parishes by my office.
And finally, I received a very moving e-mail from Janice Reinke, the volunteer director of Hope Pregnancy Center in Superior, in which she shares the extraordinary work being done by a group of caring volunteers. Here are some excerpts:
“We have faithful, willing volunteers that care deeply for each and every one of our parents. We teach mom, dads, and couples through our ‘Earn While You Learn’ curriculum. Those that are willing to attend their appointments and complete their lessons, are also thrilled to earn incentives as simple as toilet paper, diapers, laundry soap, or as great as cribs, safety gates, potty chairs or a washer. In our low-income communities, every little bit helps reduce their financial stress.
“We purchased our building in March of 2013, but celebrated our 15th anniversary in November. We have four female mentors and quite a few volunteers that do everything from sorting and organizing incentives, writing thank-yous, housekeeping tasks, bookkeeping, copying or writing lessons, writing grants or designing a newsletter, serving as board members, or speaking to groups.
“In 2013 we saw 30 women and seven men, parents to nearly 50 children. They attended 552 (90-minute) appointments, doing over 600 lessons and earning 2,421 ‘baby bucks’ (which would equal about $7,500 of product)…[some of which] were redeemed for 5,413 disposable diapers.”
In the 41 years since Roe v. Wade the pro-life movement has experienced many ups and downs, including attempts by some to write its obituary. The tireless work of pro-life champions like those mentioned herein, is compelling evidence that the heart of the pro-life movement is beating strong.
“The Lost and Found Pony”
by Tracy Dockray.
Feiwel and Friends, New York, 2011, 32 pages, Grades K-3.
Owning a horse is a life-changing event for children. Every day they must go to the barn and curry (comb) the animals and feed them. Additionally, they must exercise the horses. This is usually done on trail rides through parks or pastures, or by galloping through fields.
It is an exciting hobby. Additionally, young people develop deep friendship with their equine companions. These relationships allow children to develop character, compassion and self-discipline.
Tracy Dockray has written a lovely story of a young girl’s relationship with her horse. There are many trials for both the horse and the young girl, but the power of love shines through this beautiful tale. It is currently listed on the Golden Sower Book List for K-3 students and is entitled, “The Lost and Found Pony.”
The small colt is born and gazes up at the immense barn on the farm. All the other animals are much larger than the little pony and seem somewhat intimidating. But other small animals love the pony and together they run through the country pastures.
The family who owns the farm has a young daughter who is attracted to the sweet little pony. Since she is small as well, the pony seems to be the right size. Soon she rides the small horse around the farm and even enters jumping competitions.
For a while, all is well, but one day the jumps are simply too tall for the little horse. He refuses to jump over the high bars and the girl takes a dangerous tumble. With this, her parents refuse to let her daughter ride the pony any longer. The girl and the pony are heartbroken when the parents sell the little horse to a circus a few days later. The girl is given a large, powerful horse easily capable of clearing the bars in jumping competitions. But the girl’s interest in riding declines. She longs for her little pony.
Meanwhile, the pony gets a new owner at the circus. This man is friendly toward the pony and they become the stars of trick riding under the big circus tent. For years they travel throughout the country, performing for large crowds. But always during the performances, the little pony anxiously looks into the crowds, hoping to see the young girl he loves so.
But sadly, as people begin watching more television and playing more video games, the circus starts to fail. People quit coming to the circus and it goes bankrupt. The little pony is now old and less able to jump and run. What will become of him?
At the auction of all the circus animals, he stands sadly in a corral by himself. Suddenly something wonderful happens. A young woman strides over to buy him. He turns his tired head and joy tumbles over him.
Who is this young woman? Why is she so interested in the old, tired pony? What happens to the pony? Have you ever found something you had lost? How did it make you feel? How do the woman and the old pony feel? To find out, go to the library and check out this touching story, “The Lost and Found Pony,” by Tracy Dockray.
This book is so poignant that it will bring tears to your eyes. As well, readers will learn that the little pony never is angry about being small, but tries to develop himself positively. He always loves and in return is loved. We can learn a great deal about ourselves through this beautifully told story. The pictures will simply capture your heart and I hope you get the chance to share this touching book with the younger members of your family. I loved the story and think you will too. Enjoy!
The Office for Evangelization has selected "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic" to be the next One Book, One Diocese selection.
The author, Matthew Kelly, is a popular motivational Catholic writer and speaker who challenges his readers and listeners to become a “better-version-of-yourself.” He does so by helping us first to know and appreciate our Catholic Faith and then to live it and share it. He has put his ideas in writing in very easy to read books.
The book chosen for our present consideration describes four typical qualities of “dynamic” Catholics, which Mr. Kelly identifies as: prayer, study, generosity and evangelization. He singles out people who do not seek to do the mere minimum required to be considered Catholic. Rather, dynamic Catholics strive to be the best possible disciples they can be, each and every day.
What this means is that prayer is a daily activity that takes priority over many superficial ones. Dynamic Catholics are lifelong learners, doing what they can to grow in knowledge and understanding of the Faith. They are known also for their generosity in time, talent and treasure shared with God and His Church. And, finally, their love for Jesus is evident in the various ways that they share their faith with others.
Most of us probably would like to be known as dynamic Catholics. So what is stopping us? We don’t want to stand out in the crowd. We’re too busy. We don’t have what it takes. These typical excuses cause us to be unmotivated to take a step forward in our spiritual life. Oftentimes this is the result of thinking we have to make radical changes all at once. Mr. Kelly suggests that we take one small step at a time, which will reap great spiritual rewards over time.
Begin with a commitment of just a couple minutes (or extra minutes) of prayer each day. Add just five pages of daily reading from a good Catholic book. Deliberately plan to incrementally increase financial support of the parish and charity until reaching a full 10% tithe. Finally, try to share your faith in some simple way just once each week. Any serious well-intentioned Catholic should be able to say, “I can do that!”
Matthew Kelly suggests that few Catholics presently could be described as “dynamic”, but he proposes realistic ways to increase those numbers. Many Catholics are dutiful--that is, they attend Mass regularly and are active in their parishes. But the New Evangelization needed to revitalize the Church in our day requires that dutiful Catholics become dynamic so that the Church may not only preserve its influence in society, but also may begin to transform it in radical ways.
The reform of the world must begin with the reform of individuals. Matthew Kelly provides us with helpful hints for moving forward in our quest for holiness by becoming the-best-version-of-ourselves. His insights are worthy not only of personal reflection, but also of group study. This book is inexpensive and already has been distributed widely. Plan now to join another person or group in delving into each chapter of this engaging book so that we might challenge one another to deepen and enliven our Catholic faith.
“The Lord came and stood forth, calling … ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Speak, for thy servant hears’” (1 Sam 3:10). We should all be aware of the initial calling of the young boy Samuel, who became one of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets and was involved in the calling of Saul (the first king of Israel) and then David (after Saul lost his kingship because of his disobedience and lack of true repentance).
The Second Vatican Council document Sacrosanctum Concilium says in paragraph seven: “To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister, ‘the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross,’ but especially under the Eucharistic species. By His power He is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself who baptizes. He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. He is present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings, for He promised: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Matt. 18:20).”
However, sometimes God speaks to us in extra-ordinary ways. Just days ago, a worried and concerned woman in need called me imploring our help. I have known this woman for over 10 years. She had some medical problems and underwent surgery. Unable to pay the portion she owed, her wages were garnished. She wanted help with her electric bill. I asked her to come in the office for an appointment and felt confident we would be able to help. Literally seconds later, I found myself talking to another woman who said, “Father, God told me to donate some money for someone’s electric bill!” I asked her how much and shook my head in amazement. It was the same amount needed for the woman’s electric bill mentioned above.
You might wonder what the second woman was doing when she heard the voice of God as the young Samuel did. When reading the beginning part of First Samuel, we learn that the boy Samuel was in the temple of the Lord, not far from the Ark of the Covenant. It was the arc that contained the stone tablets where the word of the Lord was inscribed. The woman mentioned above, who heard God’s voice was in a church (temple) in front of the tabernacle (arc) which contains the Word made Flesh, which is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. He is the one who said, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).
This is not the first time something like this has happened. For example, when we have a particular need we start praying and before long someone comes forth who has been inspired by God and is the instrument by which God answers our particular prayer intention. I would like to thank not only the woman mentioned above who answered God’s call but all of our donors who daily answer God’s calling through the Holy Spirit, the real and only reason we are able to help Jesus who is present in the poor and needy.
In 2011, the Obama Administration decided to use the heavy hand of the federal government to force almost every healthcare plan to include coverage of female sterilization and contraception, including those methods that work as abortifacients. Only a very narrow category of religious entities (primarily houses of worship) are exempted, leaving many Catholic/religious institutions (schools, hospitals, social services, etc.) and every for-profit business still subject to the mandate.
With good reason, those who are not exempted from this offensive and unjust mandate strongly objected to the Administration’s unprecedented infringement upon their religious freedom. However, instead of accepting the much broader religious exemption long enshrined in other areas of federal law, the Obama Administration dug in its heals and accused objectors of engaging in a “war on women.”
Ironically, this phony “war on women” has been turned upside down with the help and faithfulness of the Little Sisters of the Poor. This order of nuns operates thirty homes in the United States where it cares for impoverished elderly and dying persons. Worldwide, the Little Sisters serve more than 13,000 elderly poor people in thirty-one countries.
In the mind of the Obama Administration, however, the Little Sisters are not “religious” enough to be considered a religious employer exempted from this mandate. Why? Because they don’t limit their service primarily to Catholics and will serve anyone in need.
To their eternal credit, the Little Sisters refuse to violate Catholic moral teaching by submitting to the Administration’s bullying. Consequently, they sued the federal government for violating their religious liberty and, thanks be to God, have been granted preliminary relief from the mandate by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Little Sisters case is before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals but this Court refused to grant injunctive relief to the Sisters while the case is being adjudicated. So the Sisters appealed that decision to the Supreme Court and, on January 24th, were granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the mandate until the Circuit Court rules on the merits of the case.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which provides legal representation for the Little Sisters, said in a news release:
“The injunction means that the Little Sisters will not be forced to sign and deliver the controversial government forms authorizing and instructing their benefits administrator to provide contraceptives, sterilization, and drugs and devices that may cause early abortions. The Court’s order also provides protection to more than 400 other Catholic organizations that receive health benefits through the same Catholic benefits provider, Christian Brothers.”
On its excellent website (becketfund.org), the Becket Fund keeps track of the 92 lawsuits that have been filed against the mandate. Half of these lawsuits have been filed by for-profit employers and half by non-profit employers. Nineteen of the non-profit employers (like the Little Sisters) have received injunctive relief and only one has been denied relief.
For-profit employers are having equally good success with 33 receiving injunctive relief and only six being denied relief, so far. Two of these for-profit cases, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood, are currently before the U.S. Supreme Court with rulings expected this June.
As of January 30, there were 81 amicus (friend of the Court) briefs submitted to the Supreme Court in these two cases. More than 70 percent (58) of the briefs were in support of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood. These included briefs by 107 bipartisan members of Congress (including 5 of Nebraska’s 6 members of Congress), 20 states (including Nebraska), leading scholars, doctors and women’s organizations, prominent Protestant and Catholic theologians and a diversity of religious groups.
All of these briefs are posted on the Becket Fund website mentioned previously. I encourage you to go to the website and read the brief submitted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. And while you are on the website, check out the great video about those “rockstar” Little Sisters!
“A Ball for Daisy” by Chris Raschka.
Schwartz & Wade Books, New York, 2011, 32 pages, Grades pre-school - K.
Wordless picture books are some of the most fascinating stories in children’s literature. Whereas most picture books have text, which tells readers as much as the drawings, wordless books must carry the story through the art in the work. As a result, artists must be doubly effective with their illustrations to inform and delight readers. While many wordless texts are designed for a preschool audience, others can be drawn to interest high school students. Chris Raschka has created a charming wordless picture book entitled “A Ball For Daisy.”
The book begins with Daisy, a young puppy, playing and chewing on a red ball. She rolls over on her back and holds the ball on her stomach. Next, she tries to balance the ball on her nose. Eventually, she pushes the ball and it goes flying away. Fortunately, the red ball lands on a sofa. After spying it laying there, Daisy jumps up on the davenport and lies down. Yawning, Daisy rests her head on the ball and falls asleep. But soon this happy interlude ends when the lady of the house brings in the dog leash. This excites Daisy as going for walks is always fun. The lady knows how much the red ball means to Daisy and brings it along. When they get to a park with a fence, the woman throws the ball. Daisy quickly chases the ball but it rolls under a fence. Now the puppy is at a complete loss of what to do. How do you get the ball? It is stuck behind a steel fence. Daisy collapses on the ground and looks longingly at the ball. Lucky for her, the lady reaches over the fence and retrieves the ball. Daisy is thrilled to have her toy back. But bad luck comes quickly. A brown dog runs in front of Daisy and takes her red ball. The other dog pushes the ball and runs away with it. Daisy chases the brown dog and they begin fighting over the red ball. All of a sudden the brown dog bites the ball and it explodes. His owner rapidly takes him away. But Daisy’s favorite toy is completely ruined. She lays down and looks at the ball and is so sad that she tries to shake the red ball to make it work again. But she soon sees that nothing can fix the red ball. With this she sits back and howls in anguish. Her owner picks up the wrecked ball and throws it in the garbage can. Now Daisy knows for sure that she has lost her best friend. She doesn’t know if she will ever be happy again. Her owner leads the crushed and saddened Daisy home. As Daisy lays on the sofa, the little girl in the family pets her. Then during a walk on another day, a wonderful thing happens to Daisy. It is so terrific that she leaps for joy.
What has happened? What causes Daisy to go from depression to happiness so quickly? Have you lost something that meant a great deal to you? What happened when it was replaced? What lovely present does Daisy receive? To find out, go to the library and checkout this delightful book, “A Ball For Daisy” by Chris Raschka.
“A Ball For Daisy” won the 2012 Caldecott Medal for the picture book making the most distinguished contribution to children’s literature. This is a lovely book to share with younger members of your family. It is easy to identify with Daisy’s joys and sorrows. The pictures are delightfully childlike and will make you want to bend down and pet Daisy. You will have as much fun “reading” this wordless picture book as your youngsters will have “listening” to it. It is great fun. Enjoy!
The Nebraska Legislature has completed more than a third of its 2014 session of 60 legislative days. Most of that time was devoted to morning floor debate on legislation carried over from last year and to afternoon committee hearings on bills newly introduced this year.
Legislators will have been in session for 18 consecutive week days by the time they take a four-day weekend for Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. It would be a stretch to say that accomplishments matched the time spent. Then again, it’s not necessarily a negative effect when the legislative process moves slowly, although pressure will build to pass more bills.
A key day upcoming will be Feb. 20. It’s the deadline for designation of senator and committee priority bills. The priority-designation period opened this week. As those bills are advanced from the committees, they will begin to appear on the daily agendas for the full Legislature.
Catholic testimony
LB 675 had its hearing, but appears unlikely to be advanced by the Revenue Committee or to be designated a priority. It’s the bill introduced by Senator Ernie Chambers that proposes to terminate the eligibility of any property that is both owned by a religious organization and used predominantly for religious purposes for exemption from ad valorem taxation.
The public hearing on LB 675 was not complex or stirring. Senator Chambers introduced the bill and spent a half-hour or so presenting his own theological musings on the Scripture-based “Tribute Episode” (“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s….”) and talking about why churches don’t deserve tax exemptions. One witness, representing an organization of secularists, testified in support of the bill.
The only testimony in opposition to the bill was presented on behalf of the Catholic Diocesan Bishops in their affiliation as the Nebraska Catholic Conference. No other denominations were represented, even though a public record was being created. Apparently they take for granted the permissive public policy that has existed for more than a century.
Excerpts from the Catholic Conference testimony follow. The full text is on the NCC’s website: www.nebcathcon.org:
“There is no compelling or sufficient reason to terminate this traditional exemption, which is so firmly grounded in meeting human needs and serving the common good.
“Churches are not just ongoing associations of faith and spirituality; they are anchors; a beneficial and stabilizing influence in community life of all sorts. Through their dedication to, and facilitation of, worship, prayer, faith-study and fellowship, they help their members find meaning in life…. Perhaps even more significantly, churches are reservoirs and resources of hope, hope not just for the future, but hope in the face of so many new and ongoing challenges and struggles. Hope that often overcomes despair, bitterness and resentment. These are incalculable values for personal lives, family and societal relationships and the common good.
“Churches are voluntary associations of individuals and families, who already pay taxes individually and as households. They associate and assemble, not to evade taxes, but to worship and pray, study the tenets of their faith, enrich their morality and spirituality and engage in mission and ministry. They should not be taxed again for the time, effort, interest and money they contribute to the facilitation of these collective activities.
“Many churches, especially in older neighborhoods, low-income neighborhoods and rural communities, would be greatly and unjustly burdened by the added demands of property taxes and already-tight budgets. What’s more, the power to tax is, in the long run, the power to control or suppress. Such tax burdens could suppress the freedom to exercise religion freely, as well as the opportunity and ability to render unto God what is God’s.”
Immigration reform
On another matter, 14 legislators, led by Senator John Wightman from Lexington, introduced Legislative Resolution 399, which urges Nebraska’s delegation in the U.S. House and Senate to act vigorously to enact comprehensive immigration reform.
Such reform, according to LR 399, should update the nation’s immigration system. It should “recognize the need to protect the borders of the United States, maintain respect for the law, embody fairness, and protect families.” It should “protect agriculture, small businesses, and working Nebraskans and facilitate increases in the labor market and professions necessary to protect rural communities from further economic decline.”
Immigration policy is a federal jurisdiction and there is not much a state legislature can do about reforming it. But an encouraging resolution is something that can be done. It is symbolic, but significant. It would be even more significant if each state legislator would call each member of Nebraska’s Congressional delegation and personally urge action to accomplish just, meaningful, common-sense immigration reform.
LR 399 had a public hearing recently in front of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. It can be advanced to the full Legislature to be discussed and adopted. It deserves that attention.
Bipartisan Co-sponsors
And finally….. LB 857 must be a really good bill. It certainly has some uniqueness, including 37 co-sponsors. But even more, from the perspective of political philosophies, bills are few and far between on which one finds names such as these joined in offering a policy proposal: Lathrop, McGill, Mello, Nordquist, Avery, Bolz, Crawford and Kolowski from the left leaning; Kintner, Janssen, Brasch, McCoy, Bloomfield, Christensen, Watermeier and Schilz from the right-leaning. Surely the Capitol is quivering.
A few days ago, a homeless woman who found an apartment needed a place to stay for a week before she could move in. She was happy to be employed now and did not want to sleep in her car because of the cold weather. A priest in the diocese suggested she call Catholic Social Services. She called us and came in for an appointment. We were able to pay for a motel room for a one week stay.
Later that same day as she was filling her car with gas, she spied another priest filling his car with gas. Knowing he was a priest because of his clerical clothes, she ran over and asked, “Do you know ‘Father Kobart’?” She then proceeded to tell him what we had done.
On Sunday, Feb. 16, we will celebrate our 27th annual “Celebration of Caring” banquet at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln. The social hour begins at 4:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m.
This is our time to present briefly our ‘state of the union,’ outlining what God has allowed us to accomplish through the generosity of our donors and volunteers. There are many stories big and small to share like the one outlined above, which was huge for the lady involved. Whether it is helping a homeless individual or family find housing, or helping an individual or family stay into their home, helping women escape abortion and domestic violence, the provision of food, clothing, vehicles, furniture, appliances, or to provide some person, couple, or family with a grant for counseling services because they are un-insured or under-insured, all those who are helped are as excited and thankful as the woman mentioned above.
I am happy to announce that Jerry and Kay Wessel from St. James Parish in Crete will receive the Cor Christi award for exhibiting by their actions the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. They have both done a lot not only for their local parish but for other diocesan entities across the diocese. Jerry is a member of our Board of Administrators and is one of our volunteers. He has done many things for Catholic Social Services over the years, including starting our donation trailer rotation which visits 35 parishes across southern Nebraska. He has also helped other diocesan entities including Camp Kateri.
Kay is active in the LDCCW and has started the yearly diaper drive which benefits not only Catholic Social Services and St. Gianna Women’s Homes but many other pro-life agencies across southern Nebraska. She too has given herself in a self-less manner by her volunteerism. She also makes soup like no one else I know, except maybe Father Bourek.
In addition to this there will be a small number of silent auction items, including one live auction item – a gourmet dinner with Bishop Conley at his home. I look forward to seeing some of you there and for those who cannot come, please pray for the success of this yearly event where we thank God and our donors who are inspired to help us help Jesus who lives in the poor and needy (Mt 25:31-46). Please be assured of our prayers for you and your family. Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us, Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us, all of our patron saints, pray for us!
Last week I was privileged to be one of the hundreds of thousands of participants in the 41st annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. As usual, it pumped me up with enthusiasm and encouragement for the future of the pro-life movement.
The most obvious sign of encouragement is the increasingly youthful face of the marchers. A quick scan of the crowd revealed one group after another of students—clearly the vast majority of marchers—each with their distinctly colored stocking cap or scarf. Even the Washington Post (usually quite unsympathetic to the pro-life cause) acknowledged in an article that “the world’s largest antiabortion event… grows younger each year.”
I was very proud of the large—and growing—number of students from Nebraska who attended the March. The Archdiocese of Omaha brought seven busloads of students (about 365 individuals). The Diocese of Lincoln brought five busloads (about 260 individuals) which was two busloads more than last year! And the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Newman Center brought two busloads (about 100).
A few years ago, this demographic shift of young people from the pro-abortion movement to the pro-life movement prompted then president of NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League), Nancy Keenan, to resign her position so a younger president could try to reverse this momentum.
Another positive sign for the pro-life movement mentioned at the March is the shift in number of pro-life pregnancy-help centers versus the number of abortion mills. Not long ago, there were more abortion mills in this country than pregnancy-help centers. Today, there are 4-5 times as many pregnancy-help centers as there are surgical abortion mills.
According to a survey by the pro-life group Operation Rescue, a record number of surgical abortion clinics in the United States closed in 2013, reducing the number by 12 percent to 582. Even more encouraging, the number of surgical abortion mills has dropped 73 percent from a 1991 high of 2,176.
To be clear, our ultimate objective as a pro-life movement is not to make abortion illegal or harder to obtain, it is to make it unthinkable. Certainly, a critical part of this objective is to secure legal protection for unborn children, but we must go a step further to ensure that we address the injustices that drive women to procure an abortion.
These encouraging signs were countered by a very impoverished statement by President Obama enthusiastically embracing the view that access to abortion is critical to a woman’s ability to participate and advance in our society. Here’s his statement:
“Today, as we reflect on the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, we recommit ourselves to the decision’s guiding principle: that every woman should be able to make her own choices about her body and her health. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to protecting a woman’s access to safe, affordable health care and her constitutional right to privacy, including the right to reproductive freedom.
“And we resolve to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, support maternal and child health, and continue to build safe and healthy communities for all our children. Because this is a country where everyone deserves the same freedom and opportunities to fulfill their dreams.”
This statement is beneath the dignity of the presidency; it is nothing more than facile pro-abortion propaganda and is absent of thoughtful public discourse. His reference to the unborn child as being a part of the woman’s body is ancient rhetoric that is embarrassing from the perspective of modern science.
Furthermore, the president’s characterization of abortion as providing women with the freedom and opportunity to fulfill their dreams is insulting to women. Championing legal abortion as an achievement for women’s rights does nothing to address the real injustices that pregnant women face in our society. Rather, this view abandons women, leaving them to (in the words of Feminists for Life president Serrin Foster) “submit to these injustices by destroying their pregnancies.”
In the shadows of the Feast of St. Paul’s conversion, let us pray daily for the conversion of President Obama and all pro-abortion public officials that they would see the light of Truth.
“Peyton Manning” by Jim Gigliotto.
Child’s World Press, Chanhassen, Minn., 2007, 32 pages, Grades 3-5.
Sports heroes often give needed inspiration to young fans. If children feel down or need inspirational role figures, athletes can provide this needed boost. Sometimes the personal life of sports figures does not meet their public images. So when the public encounters someone with a remarkable public and private life, a faithful following will result.
Occasionally, an entire family will be public heroes. This is particularly true with the famous Manning family. The father, Archie, was an outstanding quarterback in the National Football League. Two of his sons, Peyton and Eli, will follow his example. Jim Gigliotti has written a fine biography of the current quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning. On February 2, 2014, Peyton Manning will attempt to lead Denver to a Super Bowl victory. This book is his story.
Growing up, Peyton is not particularly attracted to football. He sits in on team meetings with his father and learns many basic ideas about football and life. But he is more interested in baseball and doesn’t play football until junior high school. It quickly becomes obvious that this boy is talented. He is also tall and very athletic. Peyton leads his New Orleans high school to many triumphs and by his senior year in 1993 is one of the most recruited players in the United States. His dad, Archie, is so famous at his Alma Mater, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), that the speed limit on campus is the number on his football jersey. Everyone expects Peyton to quickly sign at Ole Miss and continue the Manning legacy. Much to their displeasure, Peyton signs with the University of Tennessee. Immediately cries of treason to the University of Mississippi are hurled at Peyton and the Manning family. This anger doesn’t really die out until a few years later when Peyton’s younger brother, Eli, does sign at Ole Miss and leads the school back into football fame.
At the University of Tennessee, Peyton becomes a star quarterback and leads his team into national championship contention. He is as successful in the classroom as the football field and graduates with honors in only three years. In the 1998 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts selected Peyton Manning as the first choice off the draft board. It is a choice that paid many dividends to the team in the succeeding years. Peyton’s brilliant passing and play calling will keep the Colts continually in the hunt of league championships. His great play will be rewarded with a triumph in the Super Bowl. In the last two seasons, Peyton has played for the Denver Broncos and has turned the team into one of the most exciting offenses in the history of football.
Do you enjoy watching football? Do you have any heroes in the college or pro games? Besides his great passing, why have people in Nebraska become so pleased to watch Peyton? What does Peyton shout when he audibles and changes a play at the line of scrimmage? If you don’t know, watch the Super Bowl and you will be in for a treat.
To find out more about this remarkable quarterback, go to the library and check out this fine biography, “Peyton Manning,” by Jim Gigliotti.
This is an excellent book for children in the middle grades. The text is very well written and the photographs bring the story of Peyton Manning to life. At the conclusion of the book is a list of his many accomplishments. Encourage your children and young family members to read this well-written book.
Just a few short weeks ago, we brought the liturgical season of Christmas to a close and entered into what is known simply as Ordinary Time. During the first few weeks of this “ordinary” season, the Gospel readings at Mass have shown Jesus actively involved in comforting, healing and strengthening people, doing what can be defined fundamentally as ministry and outreach.
What is important to note is that our Lord did not begin His work as a teacher, but as a healer. It was His power to restore people to a state of well-being that made Him initially so attractive to the masses, not His clarity and authority in teaching. In order for Him to teach effectively, it was necessary first for Jesus to dispose the crowds properly for a receptive acceptance of the eternal truths He came to profess. He accomplished this task first by reaching out to all who were hurting and then by ministering to their particular needs.
Jesus did this even before calling His first disciples to follow Him, and this was quite intentional. Note from last weekend’s Gospel how well disposed Peter and his brother Andrew were toward Jesus when He said, “Come after me.” St. Matthew reported, “At once they left their nets and followed him.” Equally striking was the sacrifice that James and John were ready to make: “Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.” The urgent and radical nature of their response was dependent upon the reputation that Jesus had already established well beforehand.
We have much to learn not only from what Jesus did in His ministry and outreach, but also from when and why He did it. His timing was always purposeful. He reached out to the flock in the ministry of healing so as to predispose the sheep to recognize and heed His voice, most especially as a safeguard against the deceptive voices of the “wolves” who would be constantly on the prowl to lead one astray, making it vulnerable to an attack and a kill. Yes, Jesus got the people’s attention by exercising love and mercy before He began to teach them about entering the Kingdom of God.
In our day and age, many have become ill-disposed to hearing, learning and following the ways of the Lord. We would do well to take a page out of Jesus’ instruction manual, the Bible, and imitate His “M.O.” (modus operandi, or method of operation). Before asking folks to do something for Him, He did something for them. We need to do the same by being responsive to the needs of others before expecting them to respond to our invitations to follow the Commandments better or to be more obedient to the moral laws of the Church. This M.O. is also effective--perhaps even essential--in garnering respect and obedience from children.
Our own ministry and outreach can take many forms. Catholics have the advantage of being part of a Church that provides many opportunities to serve others through its own institutions and their outreach ministries, such as: Catholic Social Services, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Knights of Columbus and Legion of Mary, among others. We also know that we need to tend to particular needs of specific individuals in order to help make them better disposed to receive spiritual advice and direction.
All of what we do in terms of ministry and outreach--be it general or specific--forms us as evangelizers and readies others to hear and accept the saving Gospel message that Jesus came to proclaim. It is incumbent upon us as disciples to take that flame of faith that burns in our hearts and to carry it to the ends of the earth, beginning, of course, in our own back yards!
For centuries, many mistakenly thought that reaching the heights of sanctity was reserved, for the most part, for clergy and religious. Those who held this view admitted there were exceptions to this rule. Then in the 16th century came St. Francis de Sales, who devoted much of his time dispelling this myth from the hearts of believers wherever he went. This was the point of his famous book entitled, “Introduction to the Devout Life,” which is still in print and can be purchased.
In this important work he states that people who really love God think of Him constantly throughout the day. To those who think this odd or impossible, consider the following: How many times have you heard, “I just met Clem and I am so ‘madly in love’ with him that I cannot stop thinking of him!”
Or, “I just met Betty Lou, and I am so ‘madly in love’ with her that I am having a hard time getting my work done because she’s always on my mind!” Sound familiar? Of course we are talking about a mixture of infatuation and love, because it is impossible to love someone without knowing them, but you get the point. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that if someone truly, truly loves God with all of their heart, soul and strength (Dt 6:5; Mk 12:30), they will be constantly thinking of God.
In a similar manner, it makes sense that those who love music during the months of January and February, will be constantly thinking of Trumpet Fest!
Yes, Trumpet Fest. I am elated to announce that Catholic Social Services and Kevin Murray will hold our 10th annual Trumpet Fest Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. at Pius X High School, 6000 A St. in Lincoln.
For those who have attended in the past, know how wonderful and entertaining this is. Our performers this year include, Mac McCune, Kevin Murray, Darryl White, Barb Schmit, Jeff Patton, Debbie Bouffard, Kensey Berggren, Maria Pytlik and many more talented musicians.
Hats will be passed for a free-will offering and the proceeds will benefit needy individuals and families that come to us. Please visit our website, www.cssisus.org and click on the picture to get a taste of what you see.
For those who will be attending, I will see you then, for all others, please pray for its success. St. Francis DeSales, pray for us!
Forty-one years ago, on January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court announced its abortion rulings of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. In these companion cases, the Court effectively legalized abortion during all nine months of pregnancy for virtually any reason. The result? More than 55 million unborn human lives ended, countless mothers and fathers, grandparents and siblings wounded, human life at every stage cheapened, and the conscience of our nation dulled.
Blessed Mother Teresa said “Roe vs. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts—a child—as a competitor, an intrusion and an inconvenience.”
Rewind the clock to the late 1960s and a budding new feminist movement working for equal rights between men and women. What if Betty Friedan and her fellow feminists at NOW [National Organization of Women] had followed in the footsteps of the founders of the women’s movement and condemned abortion as an abandonment and degradation of women?
One of those founders, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, said “When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.” Another founder, Mattie Brinkerhoff, said “When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society—so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged.”
Unfortunately, Betty Friedan and her cohorts followed instead the advice of two men, Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Lawrence Lader, who were on a crusade to legalize abortion. In his 1979 book “Aborting America,” Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who became pro-life, said Lader convinced Friedan that if a woman wanted to be educated like a man, hired like a man, and promoted like a man, women shouldn’t expect their employers to accommodate pregnancy.
“We got them to see legal abortion as a civil rights issue, a basic women’s rights issue,” Nathanson explained.
This impoverished reasoning was clearly espoused by Sarah Weddington in her arguments before the Supreme Court representing Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade. Weddington made this argument in favor of legalizing abortion: “There are many schools where a woman is forced to quit if she becomes pregnant. ... In the matter of employment, she often is forced to quit at an early point in her pregnancy. She has no provision for maternity leave.... She cannot get unemployment compensation under our laws, because the laws hold that she is not eligible for employment, being pregnant, and therefore is eligible for no unemployment compensation.”
Serrin Foster, president of Feminists for Life, points out that “Weddington saw the discrimination and other injustices faced by pregnant women. But she did not demand that these injustices be remedied. Instead, she demanded for women the ‘right’ to submit to these injustices by destroying their pregnancies.”
“Weddington repeatedly said that women need ‘relief’ from pregnancy,” Foster added, “instead of arguing that women need relief from these injustices. What if Weddington had used her legal acumen to challenge the system to address women’s needs?”
“In short,” Foster says, “abortion has masked rather than solved the problems women face. Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. Clearly, women deserve better.”
The pro-life movement must persistently challenge the lie that abortion helps women and amplify the pro-life feminism espoused by the pioneers of the feminist movement and their authentic successors at Feminists for Life.
“Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics”
by Sue Macy.
National Geographic Society, Washington D.C., 2006, 96 pages, Grades 5-7.
The Olympic Games are among the most storied events in sports. Though the Olympics are famous in Greek history, they had died out by the time of the Roman Empire. In 1896, the Olympic Games were reintroduced. The first games were held in Athens and were then scheduled every four years.
At the beginning of the Olympic movement, winter sports were not included. An exception to this rule is figure skating, which is curiously held during the Summer Olympics. After a period of nearly 30 years in Olympic history, a Winter Olympiad was held in 1924. This will be the first Winter Olympics in history.
Sue Macy tells the story of the Winter Olympics in her excellent book entitled. “Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics.” In this excellently written and photographed book, readers are treated to many of the great champions of the Winter Olympics.
In the early Olympics, many unusual events took place. The first serious problem of the Winter Olympics was the weather. The temperature would sometimes rise and the snow and ice would melt. Needless to say, this put an end to skiing and skating competitions. This problem was solved many years later with the invention of indoor ice rinks and artificial snow machines. Now Mother Nature would not have the final say on when Olympic events would be held.
Because the sports in the Winter Olympics require cold weather, the number of nations entering the Olympics is small in comparison to the Summer Olympics - usually only 25% as large as the Summer Olympics. This does not mean, however, that the Winter Olympics does not have an avid following.
Macy details many Olympic champions in this book. There are a number of pictures of Sonja Henie, the famous Norwegian figure skater, and winner of three gold medals in the Winter Olympics. Snow skiing is also a very famous part of the Winter Olympics, and readers are treated to descriptions of famous skiing champions such as Jean Claude Killy, the winner of three gold medals in the 1968 Winter Olympics.
Some of the controversies that have dogged the Winter Olympics are also discussed. This primarily concerns the judging of figure skating events. It was not unusual to see judges rating the skaters from their own nations with higher scores than they should have earned. It became so blatant in several Olympics, that the scoring system was eventually modified and made more objective.
There still is controversy in this matter, however. Macy also discusses the celebrated case of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Thugs hired by Harding’s husband attacked Kerrigan several weeks before the Olympic Games. Fortunately, Kerrigan was able to recover and compete. It was later determined that Harding’s group was behind the attack and Harding was banned from the sport of figure skating.
The book closes with a discussion of a number of the sports that have been included in the Olympics, such as snowboarding and short track speed skating.
This is an excellent book for students wanting to learn about the Winter Olympics. The author has written excellent accounts of most of the Winter Olympics. She has included short excerpts of many Olympic champions.
I would like to proudly state that I taught history to Bonnie Blair at Centennial High School in Champaign, Ill. Bonnie won five speed skating gold medals and one bronze in three Winter Olympics. She is a great person. Not that I am bragging, of course.
I would encourage you to share this book with the younger members of your family. It is a great introduction to the marvelous athletic events of the Winter Olympics. I think you will enjoy this book as much as I have.
