Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
Daily Archive
Pope Benedict’s World Day of Peace Message
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 02 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
1 JANUARY 2010
IF YOU WANT TO CULTIVATE PEACE, PROTECT CREATION
1. At the beginning of this New Year, I wish to offer heartfelt greetings of peace to all Christian communities, international leaders, and people of good will throughout the world. For this XLIII World Day of Peace I have chosen the theme: If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation. Respect for creation is of immense consequence, not least because “creation is the beginning and the foundation of all God’s works”,[1] and its preservation has now become essential for the pacific coexistence of mankind. Man’s inhumanity to man has given rise to numerous threats to peace and to authentic and integral human development – wars, international and regional conflicts, acts of terrorism, and violations of human rights. Yet no less troubling are the threats arising from the neglect – if not downright misuse – of the earth and the natural goods that God has given us. For this reason, it is imperative that mankind renew and strengthen “that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying”.[2]
2. In my Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, I noted that integral human development is closely linked to the obligations which flow from man’s relationship with the natural environment. The environment must be seen as God’s gift to all people, and the use we make of it entails a shared responsibility for all humanity, especially the poor and future generations. I also observed that whenever nature, and human beings in particular, are seen merely as products of chance or an evolutionary determinism, our overall sense of responsibility wanes.[3] On the other hand, seeing creation as God’s gift to humanity helps us understand our vocation and worth as human beings. With the Psalmist, we can exclaim with wonder: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars which you have established; what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps 8:4-5). Contemplating the beauty of creation inspires us to recognize the love of the Creator, that Love which “moves the sun and the other stars”.[4]
3. Twenty years ago, Pope John Paul II devoted his Message for the World Day of Peace to the theme: Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation. He emphasized our relationship, as God’s creatures, with the universe all around us. “In our day”, he wrote, “there is a growing awareness that world peace is threatened … also by a lack of due respect for nature”. He added that “ecological awareness, rather than being downplayed, needs to be helped to develop and mature, and find fitting expression in concrete programmes and initiatives”.[5] Previous Popes had spoken of the relationship between human beings and the environment. In 1971, for example, on the eightieth anniversary of Leo XIII’s Encyclical Rerum Novarum, Paul VI pointed out that “by an ill-considered exploitation of nature (man) risks destroying it and becoming in his turn the victim of this degradation”. He added that “not only is the material environment becoming a permanent menace – pollution and refuse, new illnesses and absolute destructive capacity – but the human framework is no longer under man’s control, thus creating an environment for tomorrow which may well be intolerable. This is a wide-ranging social problem which concerns the entire human family”.[6]
Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 02 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
Today’s feast of Saints Basil and Gregory serves as a yearly reminder of the necessity of friendship in the Christian life.
Made in the image and likeness of God to be social creatures, we should not be surprised that grace, too, which perfects our nature, is inherently social in character. As we see in so many of their lives, the saints live for others, for God and neighbor, in the union of truth and love.
As a goal of grace, friendship is also the means to its growth. We need others to help us learn the truth and grow in virtue. Daily interactions with family, friends, co-workers, and fellow believers provide the necessary context within which faith and love deepen and bear fruit.
The interconnected lives of Basil and Gregory (shown above with St. John Chrysostom) bring into high relief the beauty and necessity of Christian friendship. From the Roman breviary:
Basil was born of a Christian family at Caesarea in Cappadocia in 330. Conspicuous for his learning and virtue, for a time he led the life of a hermit but in 370 was made bishop of Caesarea. He fought against the Arians and wrote many admirable works, especially his monastic rule which many Eastern monks still follow. Saint Basil died in January 1, 379.
Gregory Nazianzen was also born in 330. Traveling as a youth in the pursuit of learning, he first joined his friend Basil as a hermit and was later ordained priest and bishop. In the year 381 he was elected bishop of Constantinople; however, because of factions dividing the Church, he returned to Nazianzen where he died on January 25, 389 or 390. He was calledtheologus because of his outstanding and eloquence.
The second lesson in today’s Office of Readings is taken from a letter in which St. Gregory describes his friendship with St. Basil.
The same hope inspired us: the pursuit of learning. This is an ambition especially subject to envy. Yet between us there was no envy. On the contrary, we made capital out of our rivalry. Our rivalry consisted, not in seeking the first place for oneself but in yielding it to the other, for we each looked on the other’s success as his own.
Our single object and ambition was virtue, and a life of hope in the blessings that are to come; we wanted to withdraw from this world before we departed from it. With this end in view we ordered ourlives and all our actions. We followed the guidance of God’s law and spurred each other on to virtue. If it is not too boastful to say, we found in each other a standard and rule for discerning right from wrong.
Different men have different names, with they owe to their parents or to themselves, that is, to their own pursuits and achievements. But our great pursuit, the great name we wanted, was to be Christians, to be called Christians.
In God’s providence for our happiness, may we too enjoy the peace and solace of holy friendships.
God our Father,
you inspired the Church
with the example and teaching of your saints Basil and Gregory.
In humility may we come to know your truth
and put it into action with faith and love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
“New women’s health center offers reproductive care, gynecology”
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 02 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
From the current edition of Catholic New York:
“New women’s health center offers reproductive care, gynecology”
By CLAUDIA McDONNELL
Women facing infertility and other reproductive difficulties have a new place to turn to for help. It’s in Manhattan, and it offers something that has not previously been available in the region: a specially developed infertility treatment that is both effective and pro-life.
The new facility is “Gianna: The Catholic Healthcare Center for Women.” In addition to treating infertility, it offers general women’s health care including obstetrics, prenatal care and routine gynecology. Everything it does is in accord with Church teaching on marriage, sexuality, procreation and the dignity of human life.
Its method of treating infertility is based on a complete understanding of the way a woman’s body works, and also can be used to avoid pregnancy.
All patients are welcome regardless of their beliefs, but the center’s pro-life ethic and its founders’ faith touch every aspect of its work.
“We are Catholic, so that shapes the way we treat each person,” said co-founder Dr. Anne Mielnik.
The Gianna Center is sponsored by St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan and is part of the hospital’s health care system. It is located at 15 E. 40th Street.
Dr. Mielnik is a family physician specializing in women’s health and infertility. Her co-founder is Joan Nolan of Syracuse, a specialist in natural family planning. Last year they established the John Paul II Center for Women, a nonprofit organization, with the goal of creating centers throughout the United States to offer pro-life medical care to women and to give them an alternative to treatments that are not pro-life, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The Gianna Center, which opened officially on Dec. 8, is the first of the centers they envision.
The center uses NaPro Technology to treat infertility and to assist couples to avoid pregnancy. NaPro—the trademarked name stands for “natural procreative technology” was developed by Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers, founder of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Neb.
“Word to Life” – January 1, 2010
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 02 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Word to Life
Click below to hear this week’s edition of “Word to Life.”
Joining me in the studio to discuss the readings for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord was Fr. Gabriel Gillen, OP, parochial vicar of the Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday at 1:00 PM EST on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
