Ave Maria!

Fr. Peter continues his discourse on the thought of Bl. John Duns Scotus. Scotus’ thoughts on the freedom of the will aren’t as shaky as some contemporary theologians would have us believe. He did not follow the heretical teachings of William of Occum. Scotus distinguished between the perfect will of God and the imperfect will of man, and we must be aware of this distinction when we attempt to compare God to ourselves. The basis of our personhood, our freedom, and our dignity lies in our will, and freedom itself is not license: it is the ability to guard and foster virtue, and it was never accomplished so perfectly in a human being as it was accomplished in Mary. Listen to this fascinating talk given by the master of Scotus and the Mother of God.

Ave Maria!

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Ave Maria!

In this episode of Standing Fast, Fr. Angelo takes on Ms. Rambo asking the question, “What has this woman, who looks like a starlet, but fights like an Amazon, got to do with the Dignity of Women?!!” Hear what he has to say …

Ave Maria!

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Homily #080523 ( 10min) Play – Fr Angelo, reflecting on the Gospel, highlights the permanency of marriage based on its lofty dignity established by God from the beginning. Listen as Father covers the basis for the high moral standard in marriage as asked for by Our Lady of America in 1956. Holy Mary pray for us.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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The post May 23 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Dignity of Marriage first appeared on AirMaria.com.

The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships.

The fulfillment of this duty has always posed problems to the conscience of married people, but the recent course of human society and the concomitant changes have provoked new questions. The Church cannot ignore these questions, for they concern matters intimately connected with the life and happiness of human beings.

Faithfulness to God’s Design

13. Men rightly observe that a conjugal act imposed on one’s partner without regard to his or her condition or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife. If they further reflect, they must also recognize that an act of mutual love which impairs the capacity to transmit life which God the Creator, through specific laws, has built into it, frustrates His design which constitutes the norm of marriage, and contradicts the will of the Author of life. Hence to use this divine gift while depriving it, even if only partially, of its meaning and purpose, is equally repugnant to the nature of man and of woman, and is consequently in opposition to the plan of God and His holy will. But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator. Just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, and with more particular reason, he has no such dominion over his specifically sexual faculties, for these are concerned by their very nature with the generation of life, of which God is the source. “Human life is sacred?all men must recognize that fact,” Our predecessor Pope John XXIII recalled. “From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God.”

Consequences of Artificial Methods

17. Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings?and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation?need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.

Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.

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IVF:? Part Three

(Part Two here)

“The Lord called me from birth:
from my mother’s womb
he gave me my name.”? (Isaiah 49: 1-6)

What’s the big deal? Have we not advanced to the point of making babies in lab dishes, so everyone can be a proud parent? I recall reading one woman’s indignation, demanding to know why the Pope did not want her to have a baby. You know some alert theologian could have jumped in at that time and presented the rock-bottom truth of our faith that, evil may not be done, even to secure some perceived good.

Some physicians have, as noted above, ethical concerns about all of this and have decided not to implant more than four embryos. This would supposedly reduce the risk of having to abort so many. “Four is the limit recommended by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine for women aged 35 to 40, although it will accept five for women older than that.”[i] Other doctors wonder if the woman has the right to expose babies in multiple pregnancies to future medical problems (and the studies continue to mount from all over the world about fetal abnormalities from IVF: birth defects, mental retardation, behavior disorders, etc.) What a high degree of “ethics” by the society above – don’t kill more than four! As opposed to “moral”, “ethical” is a nice semantic term you can take all over the place. Others express “distaste” about “reducing;” read that: uneasy.

How in the world did we get here? We got here because God’s authority continues to be completely rejected. There is societal indifference to what goes on, a disinterest in anything which does not directly affect me and my lifestyle. Is IVF more nuclear fall-out from abortion? That is one answer but incomplete; it is not the whole story. The key element was synthetic birth prevention. And, contrary to the ardent feminist denial of the facts, from the outset abortion became “backup contraception”. I remember the 60’s. I remember the triumph when the birth control pill was introduced to the world. The “women’s liberation” movement’s first plank then and now is equality is impossible without abortion. With the pill, they were jubilant. The pill would release forever a woman’s responsibility for the conception and nurturing of offspring.

Once procreation was separated from the conjugal act, the whole bowl of wax began to unfold. Pandora’s Box was shattered, freeing the evils that would bedevil mankind. Late-term pregnancy abortions gradually were accepted and are now de rigueur in certain clinics. With IVF we have arrived in contemporary America and the new world order at, to name a few: “make your own baby”, including “fetal reduction,” delayed motherhood, surrogate mothering, embryo transfer (moved embryo from one women to another), storage problems of half a million frozen embryos (90% of which do not survive their ice age,) “extra” embryos to be harvested as extra body parts; insurance coverage in many states; support groups for mothers who reduce; designer children; sex selection of children (banned in some countries;) “money-back” guarantees (frowned on by some meds); recruiters on college campuses for eggs/sperm donors (some provide photos of donors’ eyes, ears, etc., not to omit glowing intellectual and medical histories;) anonymous (drive-by) sperm donors; sperm banks; egg banks; egg donor ads, running regularly in daily newspapers, and on the Internet (“Apply on line to become an egg donor.”); the Yellow Pages; donor marketing agencies; serious medical complications from “hyper-stimulation” of ovaries to secure eggs; screening of embryos to avoid genetic hazards; cloning; cloning of human beings with other species, and on and on ad infinitum. By the by, “donors” are usually paid handsomely for selling their bodily wares. Some profess to do this for altruistic motives, to assist the childless. However, the very real probability that embryos will die or be eliminated makes that assertion of nobility something of an oxymoron.

Less I be accused of exaggeration, the above are facts gleaned from an enormous supply of material on the whole subject of IVF. At one library I pulled up relevant book lists; there were 39 under the heading of IVF. The internet is endless in its offerings of such material. Newspapers, journals are getting into this curious and controversial story, so fraught with extremes – sensationalism at its most provocative. A sub-plot showed up recently on the television series E.R., when several children gathered to meet their slightly abashed doctor “father”. Some of the “diaries,” books/journals describing a woman’s complete IVF experience, are often crude, discouraging the reader from pursuing the story line. To draw quotes from these would render their authors more attention.

Crudity is so common in our country we barely notice the daily bombardment and degradation. Subjects unmentionable are discussed casually on television at any hour. Disrobing has become an art form. In a doctor’s office recently, I saw the image of a full-term, pregnant, nude woman displayed on the cover of Newsweek (12/10/07). It was so blatantly bad–this image, casually available on the clinic coffee table. Such presentations utterly deprive women of any dignity whatsoever, pregnancy a public exposure of the most prurient type. There will be no reaction from our jaded culture. (Some maternity stores this season were displaying scanty bathing suits for advanced pregnancy.) To the more morally alert, it is just one more outrage, an execrable example of depraved media. It reminds you of the judge in the parable who “respected neither God nor man.” The result: We are all stricken with some kind of mental paralysis as we try to go about living in trendy America. We are numb. This is a kind of protective shield. How many shocks a day can an individual stand? We can’t – we don’t — ask anymore, what is next? There is no refuge to escape the panoply.

After spending several weeks on this essay, and reading more about IVF and affiliated horrors than I imagined at the beginning, I have come to the conclusion expressed well by Judy Brown of American Life League, the entire process must be outlawed, by legislatures, and if there is any dignity, integrity left in our courts, there too. We have created a monster, fulfilling what Pope Benedict anticipated and feared when he wrote Donum Vitae. Thank God, the church is always ahead of the movement of societal cultures – The gift to us Roman Catholics as well as to the world. On February 1, 2008, Pope Benedict said the following: “When human beings in the weakest and most defenseless state of their existence are selected, aborted, killed or used as pure ?biological material,’ how can it be denied that they are no longer… ?someone but something.'”[ii] This is food for thought in our over-hurried world – a world according to John Paul II with an over emphasis on “efficiency.”

[iii] reported an internet site which

Donor Sibling Registry Logo

Where are we going? What is next? The Fort Worth Star Telegram “connects children born from the same eggs or sperm.” In other words, the searcher endeavors to learn how many half-brothers and sisters he has out there somewhere – and their common sperm donor. A “Donor Sibling Registry” was established in 2000; about 19,000 people posted personal details; About 4,700 matches were found. People, the article tells us, are startled by the looks of strange children at the park sand lot, who look so much like their own child. In one search it was discovered that a single donor had sired more than 100 kids. I leave it to the imagination of the reader to follow this news into the future… Obviously there is a yawning distance between adopting a newborn infant, and utilizing an anonymous egg/sperm. As Abraham responded to the rich man seeking help from the poor Lazarus, between us there is a great chasm, so that we cannot cross over to your side.

In the last few months I have been removing stones from one of the flower gardens here in New England – stones tossed there by the builder, which prevent any flowers from taking real root. There are also roots to detach. It is hard work, though satisfying, but not complete because new dirt has to be inserted in the gaping holes. It reminds me of the indescribable lies, distortions and omissions thrown at our whole culture, the evils now so pronounced as to make it impossible for most to accept the truth about God and life. The garden is full of rocks, with long-running roots. It has been made infertile and must be cleansed and then replanted. Christ warned us that once evil is dismissed, care must be taken lest new and worse devils enter in. What is next?

The paucity of truth! What is it? “I AM the way, the truth and the life” says the Lord. American Heritage defines truth as “conformity to knowledge, fact or actuality; veracity.” The media appears to define truth through interviews (e.g., opinion); varied reports from random sources and those which are politically correct. Thus the opportunity for truth has been circumscribed. As evidenced by the prominence of IVF acceptance, the anti-Christ forces are masters of distortion. Dr. Leon Kass describes present day scientism as “soul-less”, which he says is an effort to reduce all questions of human life to the “purely material.”[iv]

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death!

[ii] Life Site News: from Catholic Online International News

[iii] Fort Worth Star Telegram, 3/23/08

[iv] Life Site News; 11/7/07, from a Manhattan Institute lecture

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Homily #090815 ( 13min) Play – In this event of the Assumption of Mary into heaven both body and soul, which we memorialize today, we honor all the virtues and events in Our Lady’s life that was so closely intertwined with Our Lord, her Son. Fr. Bonaventure relates this to the dignity of the human body which was created by God to give Him glory.
Ave Maria! Mass readings

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Face of Pro-Life #100 – Eileen Bianchini   ( 30min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Eileen Bianchini of the Gospel of Life ministry discusses with hostess Corinn Dahm the insidious issue of Assisted Suicide, how it is being promoted and how a loophole that could make it a national law overnight. It is being sold to physicians through the living will and to the public as a way to choose when we die. She mentions that we do not have a right to choose to die.

• An imposed death in not a good death.
• Suicidal tendencies, depression, are not healthy
• Fear of death, loss of dignity, incontinence, being a burden
• Cost reduction measures being remarketed.
• Rationing of healthcare
• “Choice” to die with “dignity” becomes a duty
• Sustinet in Connecticut already has rationing included
• Courts need “consensus” of just a few states to reopen a court case.
• Need more than a Living Will, Advanced Directive and a Durable Power of Attorney.
• International Task Force 1-800-958-5678.
• Priests for Life on the Right to Life.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Homily #100815 ( 18min) Play – Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, body and soul into Heaven and Fr. Bonaventure preaches on the connection between Mary’s prerogatives to the Kingship of Christ and so relates her dignity to his, her Queenship to his Kingship , His Ascension to to her Assumption. All granted by one and the same decree of predestination revealed by Paul in Eph 1:3-10. And given this connection between Mary, the New Eve, and Jesus, the New Adam, Father stresses the connection of upholding the honor of Our Lady with the general defense of Christianity against secularism and atheism.
Ave Maria! Readings:
1: Rev 11:19; 12:1-6,10
R: Ps 45:10-12,16
2: 1 Cor 15:20-27
G: Lk 1:39-56

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Homily #100926 ( 32min) Play – In today’s Gospel we have the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Fr. Bonaventure uses this to emphasize the impossibility of compromising the culture of Christ with that of death. He mentions that many Fathers of the Church call this a factual story and so we should take it very seriously. The rich man’s sin was not so much the indulging in extravagant pleasure but doing so when Lazarus was literally dying from poverty. On the contrary Lazarus went to heaven not so much because he suffered but in his misery did not condemn the rich man but prayed for him. The rich man did not have regard for the unique dignity of his fellow man while Lazarus did. The rich man thus followed the culture of death that lead to eternal death while Lazarus followed the culture of life and entered eternal life. Father relates this to modern forms of this same culture of death.
Ave Maria! 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Mass: OF, – Readings:
1st: amo 6:1, 4-7
Resp: psa 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
2nd: 1ti 6:11-16
Gsp: luk 16:19-31

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Homily #101107 ( 13min) Play – In today’s Gospel the Sadducees try to trip up Jesus with a question on marriage and in regard to life after death. He answers that there is life after death, but that marriage is not for the after life. Fr. Bonaventure takes these basic statements about marriage (where life begins) and death (where life ends) and preaches on the meaning and sanctity of human life. He mentions the reasons why God Created us, the relationship between God and man, and how Jesus and Mary is key to both of these and to attaining life everlasting.

Ave Maria! 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Mass: OF, – Readings:
1st: 2ma 7:1-2, 9-14
Resp: psa 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15
2nd: 2th 2:16-3:5
Gsp: luk 20:27-38

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