True Freedom

Freedom is not the ability to do whatever we want. As Americans and people of the post-modern era we like to think it is. "If it makes you feel good, do it" we say. But doing what we want all the time ends in regrets. Our children want to eat candy all the time, but if they did, they may have no teeth and be so wound up, they will agitate each other.
So what is true freedom? True freedom lies in our ends or in our purpose. The purpose of a thing determines what is good for it and what is bad for it. For us, it determines what is good and virtuous. This is our freedom in the means. In this way we come to our purpose and hence fulfillment (Freedom of the ends). Ice creme is made for human consumption (ends). When this happens, there is joy! But why is there joy? Because the ice creme has come to it's fulfillment. In the same way, when we come to our fulfillment (Heaven), there is joy!
Like anything else that has a purpose, directions must be followed through the freedom of the means. It is best to follow the directions of the one who made it. How many times do we disregard the instruction of a manufacturer only to break something or have to put it together ten times before we surrender to the instructions? God made us. So we need to follow His directions. If we choose not to follow the directions to make spaghetti and refuse to put water in the pot, we will end up with a burnt meal. In the same way, if we do not follow the directions God gives us, we end up getting burnt. This hurts. Nobody likes to get burnt.
Unfortunately, we tend to deny our source of instructions and then wonder why we hurt so much. We do what we want, but only to our detriment. Therefore; if all freedom is, is to do whatever we want, then how can it be such a great good? We use our "freedom" to do evil. Rather, when we do what helps us come to fulfillment and do good and act in virtue, we are empowered to be the person we want to be. We come to our fulfillment and there is joy!

Why Vote Pro-Life

"What one woman decides does not seem to effect me. It's her business" some may say. Or is it? In fact it effects us more than we think. Since Roe v. Wade (1973) women have had the ability to abort any child for whatever reason. This means that anybody born since that time could have been aborted. Who are these people? They are our sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, nieces and nephews, cousins and friends and yes even our aunts and uncles.They are people in our lives. How many people do you know were born since January of 1973? Take a second to think about it.
It is estimated that about one third of that population has been killed through abortion. One Third! How can we imagine that none of these could have been our sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, nieces and nephews, cousins and friends and yes even our aunts and uncles?
Even if we think we have survived the curse of abortion, we still have to wonder about the spouses of those generations. I have to ask myself about the future spouses of my niece and nephews. God created one for them. Did they get aborted? Are they going to wonder around looking for their soul mate only to find "they [are] no more". (Mt 2:18)
In the end, when my kin sees me after this life, how can I look them in the eye and tell them that I voted for someone because I thought this or that issue was more important? I just can't do it. Moreover; how can I vote for somebody who although may think it is immoral, yet also think it is OK for our sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, nieces and nephews, cousins and friends and yes even our aunts and uncles to be aborted.

Institutional Religion is Good and Even Necessary

Institutions have gotten a bad wrap these last decades. We may see all the bad things that people have done in institutions of governing bodies, businesses or organizations. Somehow, this has been translated into the thought that all institutions are bad and especially churches. Nothing could be further from the truth. Take for example non-for-profit organizations. Typically speaking, they do good. The Catholic Church has Saint Vincent De Paul Society, Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services that help those in need. On top of that, we can look at all the holy orders with their multitude of religious sisters and brothers to tend to the poor and outcast; who have bound up wounds in hospitals and even founded them (Mother Cabrini); who teach at all levels of education; who continue to do so with dedication; all these throughout the world. The support one gets from the church community can be invaluable for those in crises. If that were not enough, where else do we get to receive the grace of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist daily and are offered reconciliation with Jesus in confession and Holy Anointing. Institutional Religion provides a structure by which all these things can happen. The Institution of our faith allows us to put our faith into action. And if we do not put our faith into action, "it is dead" 2 James 14-17. But I suppose some prefer it that way.

Morals and Natural Law

It does not take religion to see that morals do not change over time. In other words, what might have been bad to do years ago, is still bad to do today. Natural Law helps us realize this. Take, for example the eye. We know that the nature and purpose of the eye is to help the person see. Suppose an object gets lodged into the eye. This would hinder the eye from fulfilling it's purpose. When this happens, it would be considered an evil. But suppose that one goes to the eye doctor and helps that person see again. That would be considered a good. What helps a thing come to fulfillment is good and what hinders a thing from its fulfillment is bad. So when it comes to ethics, what determines good from evil would be weather or not that action helps that person and society obtain its purpose. Does it go against its nature or not.
Without religion, we can see we are made for community. In order for society to build, reproduction needs to happen. Darwin understood that. This requires a male and female, a community of two persons. Moreover; a child cannot feed itself. The mother needs to look after the child. So the mother and father needs to look after the common good of that societal unit. Sociologists should understand that. So we need community and to do the common good for the community of humanity. Murder is bad for society, just like a thing lodged in the eye is bad for the eye. Their purpose is defeated. That is why contraception, abortion, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, fraud, dishonesty, jealousy and anything else that hinders the building up of humanity is bad. It wounds society.
That is where God comes in and offers us healing. Note: This was just pure reasoning. Pagans believed this. There is more reasoning which comes from God. God's reasoning is not natural like the reasoning above. It is rather supernatural. So from the religious point of view, it still comes up short, but it is not wrong.

Abortion and Rape or Incest

This is one of the more emotionally difficult questions. Why should we not allow for abortions in cases of rape or incest. There are a couple reasons why from the health of the baby, the woman and society. The first answer is because the Embryo is still a baby. Science proves this not Only with the sonogram, but also in genetics. If it is a baby, we would be giving the baby a death sentence for something it did not do. If this would be OK to abort a child, that would be to the detriment to society as well. Why? Because of the reason for the abortion. The woman is raped and so is in anguish. The emotion of the event is linked to the child. Therefore, the child becomes a source of great anguish to the woman. So it is the anguish that should give the woman the "right" to take the life of a child. If this is true, then it should be equally a "right" for one person to murder another because it just causes too much anguish for him/her. Lastly, it is detrimental to the woman as well. She typically does not see how anything good could come from the pregnancy. Some may even think the child is evil because he/she was conceived in evil. She has no hope, so she gets the abortion. But once the abortion happens, she realizes something is not right. The cloud is lifted and are many times horrified at what happened. However, since the rape justifies the abortion, she has to hold on to the evil of rape in order to stuff the guilt of the abortion down. This makes the pain of the rape more acute. So now, the problem is worse than what she started with. It goes against her dignity. Actually, I have found that when women choose to allow the baby to live, she can start to see how something good could come from something so evil. The child becomes a gift to bring healing for her. But ultimately,she needs real psychological and spiritual counseling; not just a cold "get over it". It's about time the professional fields stop violating these women for their money just because they violated sexually.

We Need God

OK God, I have said my prayers and done all that you asked of me. So why haven't you answered my prayers? There may be times in our life we feel this way. Maybe we become angry at God for not answering our prayers. Maybe we feel abandoned by Him. After all if I do this, I should get that. but when we do this, we start to treat God as an object. He becomes a "candy dispenser" god. I put my money in and push the button, so I should get that. God owes it to me. We forget that God gains nothing from our prayers. What happens, is that we come closer to Him, and that is to our benefit. So even when things seem to be another burden God puts on us, they actually benefit us. In fact, they become a source of our joy. They become a means by which we enter into a relationship with Him. This pulls us out of this worlds darkness and raises us up to the supernatural and infinite love of God. What a joy it is that God invites us all to that love. Praise God!

Is God Dead? Or is this Utopia Empty?

This is the story of “The Madman” in Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Gay Science. It is an interesting challenge for Christians. I found the text on the web at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/nietzsche-madman.html
THE MADMAN----Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly: "I seek God! I seek God!"---As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. Has he got lost? asked one. Did he lose his way like a child? asked another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? emigrated?---Thus they yelled and laughed
The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. "Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him---you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.
"How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whoever is born after us---for the sake of this deed he will belong to a higher history than all history hitherto."
Here the madman fell silent and looked again at his listeners; and they, too, were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern on the ground, and it broke into pieces and went out. "I have come too early," he said then; "my time is not yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time; the light of the stars requires time; deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than most distant stars---and yet they have done it themselves.
It has been related further that on the same day the madman forced his way into several churches and there struck up his requiem aeternam deo. Led out and called to account, he is said always to have replied nothing but: "What after all are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?"
Source: Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1882, 1887) para. 125; Walter Kaufmann ed. (New York: Vintage, 1974), pp.181-82.]
In response to Christians; is Jesus alive in our homes, or have we killed Him? Have we put a pillow over His face while He should have been resting in our homes and hearts? To Nietzsche, I would reply; my faith does not depend on others; it relies on the reality of Jesus loving us to death on the cross. This is a reality that happened in time and history. My faith is based on a reality, not a utopia.