Catholic Family Roundup Digest
Catholic Family Roundup Digest
Tim Matthews, tim@cfnews.demon.co.uk
Contents
Evangelium Vitae : We are our brothers' keepers.
LITHUANIA APPEAL
NEW CATECHISM - 'A NORM'
ME AND MY 'RIGHTS'
HAVE YOU HEARD?
INTERNATIONAL
FAMILY EXCHANGES
'COMMONSENSE'
POPULATION NOTES
LISTEN, IT'S A FACT ...
THE MASS
QUOTES
BOOKS & CASSETTES
PRAYER
MEDIA MATTERS
HOMESCHOOLING
PRACTICALITIES
GETTING OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT
'A gift for all'
The Rosary
'A comprehensive survey'
The Pope speaks
On prayer
NACF members write
Facts
Travel
Population: 'power of the lie'
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Evangelium Vitae : We are our brothers' keepers.
CIVILISATION is in the grip of a struggle between the 'culture of life' and the 'culture of death', is the message given to us by Pope John Paul II in his eleventh encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life). 'By the authority which Christ conferred on Peter and his successors and in communion with the Bishops of the Roman Church, I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral'. The Pope's unambiguous message is 1ikely to be judged as one of the most important of his reign.
In vivid language, the Pope reiterates the traditional teaching of the Church, denouncing relativist thinking that insists nothing is intrinsically right or wrong. Any action which is intrinsically wrong, he says, cannot be made right. This rule, then, must be extended to all experimentation with embryos. Abortion is wrong. The killing of the sick or aged, even for the relief of pain, is a 'grave violation of the law of God'.
While re-affirming the value and dignity of life, the Pope is concerned with what he sees as a 'prevailing 'culture of death'. The Church must speak up for the weak and the defenceless, and amongst their enemies the Pope recognises the 'scandalous arms trade', drug companies which develop abortion treatments, and a 'conspiracy against life, involving even international institutions, engaged in encouraging and carrying out actual campaigns to make contraception, sterilisation and abortion widely available'.
The Pope writes of the disastrous contradiction in attitudes 'between the solemn affirmation of human rights and their tragic denial in practise'. This stems from an idea 'that exalts the isolated individual in an absolute way and gives no place to solidarity, to openess to others and service of them'. Governments that pass laws that disregard the dignity of individuals 'undermine the very fabric of society', and play a large part in the unfolding tragedy. We are our brothers' keepers.
'For my part', Cardinal Hume told a press conference at which the 189-page document was released, ' I find the whole of this authoritative statement to be an inspiring exposition which goes to the heart of the most fundamental moral question there is: the value of human life'.
LITHUANIA APPEAL
AS A FOLLOW-UP follow-up to our efforts during the International Year of the Family, we wish to support Spiecius, the Association of Catholic Families in Lithuania, who are very much in need of basic essentials, and find their incomes insufficient to support themselves due to the countrys economic crisis, writes NACF member Bronwen Burgess from Abingdon, Oxon. Were starting to raise funds for a second- hand mini-bus which theyve asked for, and which could be driven to Lithuania with many of the goods they require. Fourteen boxes of clothes have already been despatched to Vilnius from where weve received two faxes from Vita Evaldas of the Association of Catholic Families Spiecius. "We received most of the boxes, the remainder will reach us soon. We already inspected your parcel and we have found many nice things for us and for other families from our association. Especially for those who have a little baby. We think all food products are very dainty. Thank you and all people that have done this big work for our families"! In a second fax Vita reported that "yesterday evening last boxes have arrived. It was second Christmas to our family and especially for children. I and my husband were very deeply moved. Thank you, your family and families ... I think that this parcel is not only from you, but it is from God too".
To raise money for the mini-bus, adds NACF member Sarah Churchill from Wallington, 'were hoping to hold a craft fair at the annual NACF pilgrimage to Walsingham and need the following: home-made fare, e.g. cakes, biscuits and preserves; home-made linen and knitwear, e.g. oven-gloves, quilts, toys, baby blankets, childrens jumpers; pot plants and bedding plants; good-as-new baby and childrens clothes, toys and books. There will also be a raffle. If NACF groups around the country could also hold their own cake sales or bring-and-buy sales in conjunction with Family Days, this would also help. Plans are also afoot to produce a recipe book with the French NACF. All donations please (and bright fund-raising ideas), to: NACF Lithuanian Families Appeal, 8 Green Lane, Bayworth, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 6RG, Tel: 01865 730163, or 18 Oaklands Way, Wallington, Surrey SM6 9RR, Tel: 0181 669 6296.
PS: From Vilnius we hear that the President of Lithuania, a past member of the Communist party, has returned to the practise of the Faith.
NEW CATECHISM - 'A NORM'
AS WE face the Jubilee Year, a more lively adherence to the mysteries of Revelation becomes more urgent through the frequent meditation on the Word of God, aided by permanent catechesis. This was the message delivered by Pope John Paul II to Argentinian bishops during their recent ad limina visit to the Vatican.
His Holiness expressed his joy at the widespread distribution of the Catechism of the Catholic Church amongst the faithful. Its dogmatic, liturgical, moral and spiritual riches must reach all, especially children and young people, through diversified catechisms to be used in the parish, in the family, at school, or for formation within the different movements or associations of faithful The new Catechism, he said must be taken as a norm.
Meanwhile, in New York, addressing 350 of his priests at St Joseph's Seminary, John Cardinal O'Connor insisted that they become 'intimately familiar' with the new Catechism of the Catholic Church. 'Now we have the benchmark. We have the authorised means to clarify our teaching. The people are hungry for this Catechism, and I urge you to give it to them'. The Cardinal went on to say 'I don't think it has anything to do with preaching ability or inability. It has everything to do with the hunger people have been experiencing since the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council'. Father Farley, Spiritual Director at St Joseph's, later reminded the assembled priests that Cardinal Newman always kept the Catechism of the Council of Trent on his desk 'as a reminder of our responsibilities'.
In this respect, it is worth noting that a book that is proving very popular is Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Cardinal Ratzinger and Bishop Christoph Schonborn. It is published by Words Ink (PO Box 97, Chichester, Sussex PO18 AY. 8.50 ISBN 0-89870-485-5) and is a fluent, clear and readable introduction to the new catechism by the Cardinal heading the bishops commission for its implementation, and the bishop who is its general editor.
ME AND MY 'RIGHTS'
I CANNOT claim anything as a moral right until I can prove that it is necessary for the fulfilment of some essential duty. Hence it is that if I can keep this idea well before my mind, I am in little danger of getting selfish in my life. If, whenever I find myself speaking of my rights (even in ordinary conversation), I set to work at once to see whether they are rights at all and what corresponding duties they oblige me to perform, I shall find that I shall not be so quick or so insistent in asserting them. It is a pity that the word "right" has become so popular a word, and the word "duty" so dull and respectable: for many people cannot stop talking about the one who imagine it to be old-fashioned even to mention the other. Duties themselves do, indeed, demand in their performance some tax upon my pleasure or my will. I must deny myself something: to do what I ought to do, there must always be some self-sacrifice. My rights, therefore, become nothing more than the requisite opportunities for denying my own will. Let me clamour, therefore, through life, never for rights, but for the better understanding of my own destiny, and only assert that I must be allowed to fulfil my duty. Let me never use the word "right" without the swift consciousness of the duty involved: for rights from the very nature of the thing have nothing at all to do with private privileges (which are exceptions on the whole to be reprobated, and seldom if ever to be demanded), but sacred obligations. Fr. Bede Jarrett, OP. Meditations for Layfolk.
HAVE YOU HEARD?
You may remember that recently NACF members acted as host to some children from Gomel in Byelarus? Byelarus bore the brunt of the fallout from Chernobyl and unhappily it is reported that since that incident there has been a 200-fold increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer in the area - in some pockets of Byelarus the increase is ten times higher than that. In all, as many as 2.3 million children may have been exposed to Chernobyl's fallout. Evidence suggests that the consequences of exposure to this radiation will last for at least 40 years.
A new family support group, Education for Chastity, designed to combat harmful sex education has been set up in Northern Ireland. For information contact Mrs Kathleen McQuaid, Nunsmeadow House, Quarry Lane, Dungannon, Co.Tyrone BT70 1HX.
One group of families badly in need of our prayers (and financial support) are those of ministers of religion who have been led by conscience to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. St Barnabas Society , formerly the Coverts Aid Society, was founded to help such families. St Barnabas, you will remember, was the good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith who made friends and welcomed St Paul after his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. (Acts 11.24) Address: 4 First Turn, Wolvercote, Oxford OX2 8AH.. Yours in the Holy Family, Tim.
INTERNATIONAL
It is hoped to establish a branch of the NACF in Kenya. Those interested should contact Stephen de la Bedoyere at St Johns, Beaumont, Old Windsor, Berks SL4 2JN. Tel: 01784 431460.
You might be interested to know that the Foyer of Charity at Courset, only half an hours drive from Boulogne, has a retreat which is translated into English every summer, usually at the end of July, writes Donal Foley. These are well suited to the needs of families since children are looked after at no extra cost. People are only asked to pay what they can afford for their stay. The Foyers would like to establish a community in this country but it probably needs more families and individuals to go over and experience the retreats for themselves, before we can expect this to happen. For more information, contact Donal at 103 Harriet Street, Cathays, Cardiff CF2 4BX. Tel: 01222 345204 or Martin Blake at 4 Dunkerton Close, Glastonbury, Somerset. BA6 8LZ. Tel: 01458 833726
The first Catholic newspaper has been published in Siberia , the largest Catholic diocese in the world. It has 100,000 Catholics, scattered over 12 million square kilometers.
A 12ft section of the infamous Berlin Wall now stands peacefully in the Vatican Gardens. It was given to the Pope as a gift after being auctioned in Monte Carlo. It bears a sketch of a church and tower which was drawn on the west side by East German escapees. On marble slab next to the wall is inscribed the Pope's words: "Have no fear... throw open the doors to Christ, to his power of salvation, open the states' frontiers and the economic systems as well as the political ones. Have no fear."
The Bishops of Mexico have attended a course on bioethics organised by the Pontifical Council for the Family. Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, the President of the Council gave several of the papers . All of the important areas of bioethics and marriage and the family were dealt with. It is now intended to hold similar conferences for priests, religious and lay people who are involved in pastoral work with families.
The first Catholic seminary to exist in Albania since 1939 is to be opened in Scutari. It will have 150 seminarians. It will be named after Bishop Pjeter Meshkala who died in an Albanian prison after 25 years of forced labour.
Bishop Karl Lehmann of Mainz, head of the German Bishops Conference denies that the German bishops are involved in any rebellion against papal authority. "We defend ourselves against the insinuation of such anti-Roman and anti-Papal stances. We know we are strictly bound to the successor of St. Peter and in this we want to be second to none."
FAMILY EXCHANGES
Great care should be always be taken when making arrangements for family exchanges. It is best to have some form of written agreement right at the start - it can avoid later disputes.
A family in our sister French organisation (Grenoble region) seeks UK family and school to welcome their son Thibault, 15, for one or two months in the summer term. In return, they can welcome a boy into their home. Contact: Monsieur J.F. Ruchon- Granger, 2 rue Colonel Escallon, 38350 La Mure, France.
Our good friend Pre Marie-Benot writes to say that a family he knows well has a 19- year-old daughter who would like to help by working with a UK family during the summer holidays. Contact: Marina Monneret, Route de Riboux, 13780 Cuges les Pins. Tel: 42-73-83-49.
'COMMONSENSE'
IF THE Catholic makes commonsense his guide, he reduces his service of God to a service of human wisdom. It is not a service of Divine Wisdom - because the whole point of commonsense is that it is the sense of the common man - and so is not a supernatural act at all. It may be a wise thing to follow the advice of a clever man, but it is certainly a very stupid thing to follow the dictates of cleverness in preference to the promptings of obedience. Obedience is supernatural: cleverness is not. Far from obedience being the submission which the unintelligent yield to the intelligent, it may on occasion be the exact reverse: it may mean that wise men have to defer to unwise ones. Indeed it is in the circumstances of this sort that the quality of obedience is shown at its best. A soul is being really wise when it bows to the decision of a stupid superior. If Our Lord left Himself to be disposed of by foolish and wicked men, His followers should not be too ready to quote commonsense against those to whom they owe obedience. Dom Hubert van Zeller, OSB (Dom Hubert's books are on sale at the Book Shop at Downside Abbey, Somerset).
POPULATION NOTES
A RECENT report has shown that it is quite feasible to feed a global population of 10 billion and still leave room for areas of natural wilderness. The present world population is less than 6 billion. The report also shows that there is plenty of room for improving current crop yields using current technology. The introduction of new technologies would enable yields to be increased even further. In India, it is pointed out, the Green Revolution has seen food production increase fivefold with an increase of only three- quarters of the amount of land used. Source: People Count, pub.by the Committee on Population & The Economy, 13 Norfolk House, Courtlands, Sheen Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 5AT.
In a talk to a symposium sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II appealed to world leaders 'to make the necessary means available for research and education in the area of natural methods of family planning'. Such knowledge helps couples in achieving as well as avoiding pregnancies. What must also be understood, he said, is 'the essential moral difference between those methods which artificially interrupt a process which of itself is open to life, and other methods'.
After the 1990 victory of the HDZ conservative party, a public drive for a "spiritual renaissance" began in Croatia. Among the proposed reforms were the outlawing of abortion and a special tax on childless bachelors over the age of 25. But these reforms were suspended when war erupted in 1991. Now a grass- roots 'One Child More' group has been formed for the express purpose of encouraging Croatian families to have more children. The group believes that not having children is contrary to Christian values, and that having more children will be good both spiritually and materially. Nicholas berstadt of the American Enterprise Institute says, Eastern Germanys adults appear to have come as close to a temporary suspension of child- bearing as any large population in human experience.
In Japan the contraceptive pill is banned, officially, on health grounds. Another reason is that the number of children being born (1.5 per couple) is well below the replacement level of 2.11. Source: Far Eastern Review
A number of towns and cities in Italy are giving money and other incentives to Italians who have children. Mayor Edamo Barbien of the northwest town of Bagnone says his municipal council will pay 500,000 lire ($315) to each couple having a baby. "After World War II there were about 7,000 people living in Bagnone, now there are 2,000 and the median age is 65. Our town is dying. There is a culture of egoism and individualism in Italy. People aren't interested in the future. It's this attitude that has to be changed."
LISTEN, IT'S A FACT ...
IRELAND produces almost 250% more vocations per head of its Catholic population as Australia. It is not without significance that the parish in Ireland producing the greatest number of vocations is one which has perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Mother Teresa claims that a similar fruitfulness in vocations in her order is helped by the fact that each nun must spend an hour every day before the Blessed Sacrament.
Record numbers of people have been dragged into the UK's tax net by the cut in the married couples allowance, reducing the level of earnings at which couples begin to pay tax from around 100 to 93 a week. Your income is 30,000 a year? If youre a retired married couple the tax man will relieve you of 5,000 at the end of the year. If you trying to raise a family with two children on a similar salary, earned by one spouse, then the tax man will take over 7,500 - some 2,500 more than hell take off the retired couple with fewer responsibilities. The allowances which have traditionally protected families should be restored.
According to an article in the Sunday Telegraph, 90% of British women want to be mothers of at least two children, yet more and more married women find themselves mortgage trapped and find themselves leading sterile working lives instead of fruitful family lives.
THE MASS
THE MASS is the most perfect form of prayer. It is a Sacrifice. Every time we go to Mass it is as if were present at Calvary when Our Lord died. It is said that for each Mass we hear with devotion, Our Lord sends a saint to comfort us at death; Padre Pio said the world could exist more easily that if we knew the true value of the Mass, we would die of joy; St Anselm said that a single Mass offered for oneself during our lifetime is worth more than 1,000 after death; St Theresa was told by Our Lord to thank Him for all His gifts by attending one Mass; Our Lady says that Jesus so loves those who assist at Mass that if necessary Hed die for them as many times as they heard Mass. Remember, the four ends of the Mass are (1) Adoration: we adore Almighty God who made Heaven and earth. (2) Thanksgiving: we thank Him for all our spiritual and temporal gifts (3) Expiation: we pay the penalty and make amends for our sins> (4) Petition: we ask God to meet all our needs.
QUOTES
I CANNOT, with the utmost energy of imagination, conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance is called drudgery ... all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges at home - as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colourless and of small import to the soul, then, as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labours and holidays; to be Whitely within a certain area, providing toys, books, cakes and boots; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology and hygiene. I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a larger career to tell other peoples children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell ones own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a womans function is laborious; but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.
G.K.Chesterton Whats Wrong with the World
The Pope says to you: I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene ...walk! (Acts 3:6) Yes, my young friends, the Pope has come here today to give you the strength of Christ, to give you a companion you can trust! Can you trust, at least once, someone who has never disappointed anyone? Open your heart to Jesus Christ and you will have the courage that never fails, no matter how great the obstacles are: you will know a love that is stronger than death! I cannot fail to testify to and praise this power of God, this sure love that has already saved my life from death! Young people, believe and you will live! Young people, believe and stake everything on love! Young people, believe and decide this very day to build an eternal home in your life! My young friends and brothers and sisters, re-discover self-confidence and build your life, your love, your family in Christ! I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, no present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38). A young person who is faithful to Christ will know true and unending happiness. Homily to the young people in Luanda, Angola.
I call self-will that which we don't have in common with either God or with men, but is our's alone; when, whatever we will, we don't will for the honour of God or for the service of our brothers and sisters, but solely for our own interest, not intending to please God or profit our brethren, but to satisfy our own inclinations. What is it that God hates or punishes other than self-will? Take away self-will and there'll be no hell. St Bernard, Paschaltide Sermon III 3.
In a world like the West where money and wealth are the measure of all things, and where the model of the free market imposes its implacable laws on every aspect of life, authentic Catholic ethics appear to many as an alien body from time long past, a kind of meteorite which is in opposition, not only to the concrete habits of life, but also to the ways of thinking underlying them'. Cardinal Ratzinger.
Our generation has been forced to realise how fragile and unsubstantial are the barriers that separate civilisation from the forces of destruction. We have learnt that barbarism is not a picturesque myth or a half-forgotten memory of a long-passed stage of history, but an ugly, underlying reality which may erupt with shattering force whenever the moral authority of a civilisation loses its control'. Christopher Dawson.
Modern liberalism asserts there is no such thing as an objective, universal moral truth. All of us, it says, are makers of moral values. Instead of being founded in some higher reality, values reflect personal preferences. No one's values can thus be wrong. Liberalism admits of one wrong only: the idea that there is a real wrong; and one sole absolute: there notion that there are absolutely no absolutes. Its favourite line is: values are subjective, so don't impose yours on me! The fallacy of modern liberalism is easy enough to detect. The assertion 'there is no objective moral truth' contradicts its own content: it claims to be a universal and objective truth while denying the very possibility of such a truth. At a more practical level, liberalism is incapable of providing for a stable society. If values are subjective, there can be no lasting social consensus. Richard Bastien in 'Challenge'.
Everything is so tightly compressed in the Church's Year. Within a few months, in the fleeting moment between Christmas and Easter, we commemorate the 33 years of the greatest revolution of all times -- the radical transformation of our fate by this one human life-span which takes us from the sweet Childhood of Bethlehem to the terrible Sign of Contradiction. Millions show less interest in this earth-shaking transformation than in a football match on the television ...and yet for them too the Lord will come -- will come the Day when the Son of Man will judge them. Fr Werenfried, ACN Mirror.
BOOKS & CASSETTES
AGED 86, conscious of his approaching death, Dietrich von Hildebrand told his wife: Ive been battling against death for years; I wanted to remain with you, but now I must face the fact that I am losing the fight. It is time to face death, and I have accepted it. Taking up his pen, he wrote quickly but deliberately for two weeks. The result: a powerful book, Jaws of Death; Gate of Heaven, ($17.95) in which the author confronts death in all its aspects. I have sought to draw out for you truths about dying which are valid for all men. In his final book Dietrich von Hildebrand shows how even deaths horrible aspects can be viewed in the light of Christ. Learn from him the profound meaning that Christ gives to death - and how He vanquished it with His tender, infinite, all-merciful love. Sophia Institute Press. Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108, USA.
Two other important books have been published by the Sophia Institute Press. Devoutly I Adore Thee; the Prayers and Hymns of St Thomas Aquinas. (ISBN 0- 918477-19-0. $13.95) 'This is no ordinary book! says Fr John Hardon, SJ, editor of the Homiletic and Pastoral Review, These prayers are especially needed today, when so much Christian piety is devoid of solid Catholic doctrine. Of The New Tower of Babel, (ISBN 0-918477-22-0 $16.95) Cardinal OConnor of New York writes: Just after the Second Vatican Council, Dietrich von Hildebrand warned that secularism was invading society and even the Church. This book reveals the roots of that secularization and shows how to fight it.
Advocates of sex education in schools claim that it encourages more responsible behaviour, its opponents say it encourages promiscuity. Who is right? In Teaching Sex in Schools, Robert Whelan examines recent research evidence which suggests that only programmes which encourage resistance skills - i.e. saying NO to sex - have any beneficial effect. (2.00. Family Education Trust, 322 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 7NS)
NACF families in the northeast have invented a new way of establishing a Catholic library for member families. Each family has a list of their own books, pamphlets, videos etc., that might be of interest to other members. The library now consists of some 500 items, all entered on a computerised index. Anyone interested in the technical side of setting up such a loan-service should contact Andrew Plasom-Scott on 44 0191 281 3900.
Audio-cassettes of the evening talks, daytime classes and evening talks given at the 13th Catholic Summer School, held in Gloucestershire in July 1994, can be obtained from Mark Swires, Little Tomkyns, Tompkyns Lane, Upminster, Essex RM14 1T8.
In the late 1960s Dr William Coulson pioneered the values clarification method that lies at the heart of most modern sex-education programmes (neutral discussions of contraception, premarital sex, abortion etc.). In Psychology in Education: Friend or Foe? a series of three cassettes published by CV Productions (PO Box 14, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8EJ, 12.95 a set), Dr Coulson shows concerned parents how to combat those destructive techniques which, he admits, he helped to create but later came to regret. Unhappily many Catholic bureaucrats are still promoting this out-dated teaching method . In his talks, Dr Coulson explains to parents how they can fight this out-dated type of sex-education on doctrinal and psychological grounds.
GOOD news for French-speakers. 'The parents of very young children are often at a loss to know where and how to begin teaching the life of prayer and piety', writes Alan Robinson. 'It was a joy to find a new French group, Association Transmettre, the aims of which is to help parents, catechists, teachers and priests to transmit the Catholic Faith and practise to children. (BP 11, 84330 Caromb, Vaulcuse, France, Tel: 90 62 53 85, Fax 90 62 33 27) Much of the writing is the work of Madame Monique Berger, (one of her sons is a secular priest, another a Benedictine monk). The Association publishes books for both children and parents. Sur les genoux des Mamans, written for mothers, is strongly influenced by the Benedictine spirit and by the Montessori method. The main work of the Association, however, is its monthly newsletter. In recent issues there have been selections of extracts from Papal teaching, articles on Christian education, angels, a guide to catechisms, and practical notes about feast-days and seasons. Their teaching is in full accord with living tradition and the Pontifical Magisterium'. There are a number of good books now being published in France. Les Editions Tequi (82 rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris) has published two good books for small children on the Mass, refreshingly dignified and modern.
An Alphabet of Saints for Young People by NACF member Pamela Flavin is an informative booklet, written to acquaint young people with the lives of some better known saint. Pamela first came into contact with Catholicism through Catholic girls at her school and 'when I became a Catholic myself at the age of 18, I loved to learn about the saints and martyrs and it makes me happy to be able to pass this on to other children'. .Adelphi Press, ISBN 1 85654128 2. 2.50
Aged 86 and conscious of his approaching death, Dietrich von Hildebrand told his wife: 'I've been battling against death for years; I wanted to remain with you, but now I must face the fact that I am losing the fight. It is time to face death, and I have accepted it'. Taking up his pen, he wrote quickly but deliberately for two weeks. The result: a powerful book, Jaws of Death; Gate of Heaven, in which the author confronts death in all its aspects. 'I have sought to draw out for you truths about dying which are valid for all men. In his final book Dietrich von Hildebrand shows how even death's horrible aspects can be viewed in the light of Christ. Learn from him the profound meaning that Christ gives to death - and how He vanquished it with His tender, infinite, all-merciful love. Sophia Institute Press, Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108, USA. $17.95.
Family Publications, 77 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6LF, issue a catalogue containing a wide selection of sound books. For a free copy, send an A5 s.a.e.
Natural family planning: a cassette
DOCTOR John Billings and his wife, Evelyn, have spent 40 years pioneering Natural Family Planning throughout the world, 'a method for everyone, for the literate and the illiterate, for Muslims, Hindus and Christians'. The Billings were recently in London giving conferences to mark the International Year of the Family. One of their helpful talks is now available as an audio-cassette and is published by Christus Vincit Productions, PO Box 14, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8EJ.
PRAYER
THE BABY sitting in the supermarket trundler, quite at home there among all those grown-up shoppers, looks at everything with wondering eyes but no fear. Why, little baby, when you are so small, so weak and vulnerable, with no adult assurance or understanding, why are you so comfortable and confident? Because your mother is with you, isnt that it? She is busy, preoccupied, flitting along the shelves, but her being there spells, safety, comfort, protection, love, not the sugary kind, effusive kind but taken for granted like daylight or death, sure as breath. Our Lady of the Rosary, I am like that baby in the supermarket, trundling along in my ineffectual way through the mysteries of our redemption by your Sons sacrificial life and death. I hold your hand and it is warm and strong and look with my weak eyes and understanding, knowing that you will lead me and show me and look after me. Thank you, Mother. Amen. Prayer sent by Mrs June Dunn of Auckland, New Zealand.
O heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say and to answer all their questions kindly. Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them. Make them as courteous to them as I would have them be to me. Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes, or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me. May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show them my power. Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal and guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do, that honesty produces happiness. Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me and when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue. May I be ever mindful that my children are children and I should not expect of them the judgement of adults. Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests and the courage to deny them privileges I know will harm them. Make me fair and just and kind. And fit me, O Lord, to be loved and respected and imitated by my children. Amen. Prayer sent by grandmother Kathleen Vidal from Ipswich, used by her ever since she was given it as an Air Force wife in the USA .
MEDIA MATTERS
In Octobers Family Roundup, Kevin Hanlon drew our attention to the weekly 'Christian Comment' which several Christians write, in turn, for the Aire Valley Target, a weekly free newspaper read by a million people. 'My address was given for further information but nobody contacted me. No response highlights a big problem we Catholics face - reluctance to go public for the cause of Christ and the Church. This is a serious weakness because others with alien views to Christianity are only too keen to get into the media, to spread their views. Increasingly articles in newspapers are knocking Christianity. For example, at Easter 1993, in the Sunday Observer there were some 14 articles on Christianity - all undermining Christianity in some way or another. The Targets editor is very keen about our comments and only once in four years has the article not appeared - and this was by accident. If local papers are open to such weekly comments, then it is a God-given opportunity to engage in what St John (Jn.23) calls a ministry of the mind. Further details of the scheme are available from Kevin Hanlon at 65 Moorhead Crescent, Shipley, West Yorks BD18 4LQ.
In a new book published in Canada, Media Virus, author Douglas Rushkoff says that childrens programming has become the medias best conduit for controversial messages. There is a subtle, usually satiric or ironic communication going on between the makers of kids TV and the parents who are watching alongside their children. This communication almost has an irreverent tone, as if to counter balance the moral uprightness of the shows main message.
IT is an unhappy fact of life that not only are an increasing number of teenagers being exposed to pornographic computer material, but the problem will undoubtedly grow. It even exists in primary schools. The University of Central Lancashire found that some 15 percent of primary school teachers (30 percent in secondary schools) were aware that computer pornography was present in their schools. ELSPA (European Leisure Software Publishers Association) has launched an initiative to combat the spread of this disease, and is calling upon parents to educate themselves on how computers work and the sort of things to look for. * Ensure that computer software is always bought from reputable suppliers. * Avoid buying software from car-boot sales or similar places where it's difficult to return in order to complain. * Learn how computers work and examine the contents of files: pornographic material is usually contained in graphics files with the extensions .GIF, ..JPG, .BMP and .PCX. . * Game consoles like Sega and Nintendo won't run pornographic files; they'll only be found on computers like PCs, Macintoshes and Amigas. * Keep the family computer in the living room, not in the bedroom. * Look out for the ELSPA age-rating on any disks. * Never allow your children to buy or use pirated software, not only is it illegal but you may never know what else has been included. ELSPA has set up a computer pornography hotline (01386 833810) which you can call for advice, or report any cases that you come across.
HOMESCHOOLING
TEACHING your own children at home may seem an incredible idea to man Catholic families in the UK - but it is now a way of life to many in the USA, writes NACF member Jenny Pfang of Norfolk. There are several Catholic homeschool correspondence courses in the USA which provide multi-subject curriculum, support via the telephone, and regular magazines. Examples of these correspondence courses include Seton and Our Lady of the Rosary. The emphasis is on sound Catholic teaching, based on sound doctrinal knowledge and traditional devotion. Leafing through the US homeschool magazines, one finds that the family sizes of those who practise homeschooling vary from a few to many: I even counted one family with nine children. My husband and I have decided to homeschool for two main reasons. Firstly we see it as our duty before God to ensure our precious children have a truly Catholic education. We hope they will acquire a good knowledge of sound doctrine, Scripture and Church history. Our personal experience is that today, even priests question fundamental doctrinal points. Our children will have to be even better grounded in the Faith to be able to overcome this confusion. Secondly, in our increasingly pagan world, any Christian child will need to have a very strong and well-formed character to stand up against the pressure of his peers and the liberal media. How easy is it for any school to cater for these two needs?
If anyone is interested in pursuing Catholic homeschooling, books on the subject will shortly be available from the Spanish Place Bookshop, Spanish Place Rectory, 22 George Street, London W1H 5RB. Send a s.a.e. for a catalogue. It is my attention to compile a list of useful resource material and ideas for Catholic homeschoolers. If you are interested in receiving this information, send a s.a.e. to me, Mrs Jenny Pfang, PO Box 777, ereham, Norfolk NR20 4UF. And be patient!
Recently a small group of Catholic homeschoolers met to exchange ideas and experiences. The meeting was recorded and the tape can be obtained from CV Productions, PO Box 14, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8EJ.
PRACTICALITIES
A TEAM from Exeter University is co-ordinating trials in the UK, Ireland and Germany in a natural method of contraception which relies on monitoring fertility and which appears to be better than 90 percent effective. The system has taken 15 years to develop by Unipath, a subsidiary of Unilver. A hand- held monitor takes readings from disposable urine dipsticks, displaying a green light during the safe period and a red light when a woman is fertile. The monitor, no larger than a spectacles case. measures changes in the wavelength of light absorbed by the dipstick which is coated with antibodies that bind with two hormones found in the urine. The monitor also stores readings for the past 6-months and so is able to take account of how the fertile period varies for individual women.
State-of-the-art home security can be expensive to install, but Cheshire police are recommending a cheaper way of going about things. They suggest planting thorn bushes round your house and have produced a colour leaflet listing the densest and thorniest shrubs. Their leaflet is available at 32 garden centres in the county.
GETTING OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT
WHERE the thought of self obscures the thought of God, prayer and praise languish, and only preaching flourishes. Divine worship is simply contemplating our Maker, Redeemer, Sanctifier and Judge; but discoursing, conversing, making speeches, arguing, reading and writing about religion, tend to make us forget Him in ourselves. Cardinal Newman, Lectures on Justification.
'A gift for all'
THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH must be the basis and point of reference of Catholic teaching in our schools, said Cardinal Hume, President of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, in his preface to a recently published document What are we to Teach?. In the same document, Bishop Mullins, Chairman of the Committee for Catechetics, reminds us that all the Church's Pastors and the Christian faithful have been asked to receive this Catechism not only in a spirit of communion but 'to use it assiduously'.
Pope John Paul II has described the new Catechism as 'a gift for all ... addressed to all and must reach all'. It is quite unacceptable, then, that it should be pushed aside or mocked by teachers. The headmaster of a school in South Wales is reported in the press as saying that the new Catechism would be made available in his Staff Room only over his dead body.
As parents (especially those amongst us who are school governors, we have a duty to insist that the instructions of the Bishops' Committee for Catechetics are implemented in our schools and that the teachers are given comprehensive training in knowledge and use of the new Catechism. The quoted view of a head teacher in Wales, that the New Catechism would be introduced into his school staff room only over his dead body is not acceptable to us.
'If we consider that more than a thousand bishops gave their own opinions to the draft of the revised text' noted Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who headed the Bishops' Commission for the implementation of the Catechism, 'and that 24,000 of their observations were incorporated into the text, we realise that this book represents a 'collegial' event of bishops and through them the voice of the universal Church is speaking with collegial authority. If ever the Holy Spirit speaks through the authority of the Church, then it is the Holy Spirit who is speaking to us here. The new Catechism is not, in the dismissive words of one of our seminary teachers, 'just a blip in an on-going situation' but is, in the words of the Pope, 'the sure and authentic teaching of the Church'.
The Ignatius Press have published two relevant books about the new Catechism: The first is an Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, written by Cardinal Ratzinger and Bishop Christoph Schonborn who was its general editor .(ISBN 0-89870- 485-5, 8.95). The second book is The Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a complete reference volume of all the texts quoted in the Catechism (ISBN 0- 89870-450-0 25.95). A 90-minute recording of a talk about the Catechism, God's Timely Gift, given by James Likoudis, President of Catholics United for the Faith, at St James's, Spanish Place, London, in 1994. is available from Christus Vincit Productions, PO Box 14, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8EJ. 4.30 incl.UK postage.
The Rosary
RECOVERING from a serious stroke, '(now walking about 60-ft along the corridor outside my room with the aid of a tripod with four legs') Canon Kevin Byrne, an old friend of the NACF, has come up with a proposal that we should add five public mysteries to the Rosary. 'I say them every night when I have finished the fifteen others. They are: the Sermon on the Mount, Cana, the Transfiguration, the forgiveness of a woman who was a sinner, the raising of Lazarus. I always offer up the second mystery for the NACF. I pray that Jesus will visit your families, and turn all their actions into pure gold, raise them up and make them full of life in the spirit. I have said Mass for you and will do the same tomorrow'.
'A comprehensive survey'
WHEN a not specifically Catholic forum comes into being,, writes David Foster of 'Families for Tomorrow' the proceedings of the 16th International Congress for the Family held in Brighton in 1990', one always fears that essential Catholic teaching will be suppressed or omitted - notably on the limitation of families. On the whole, one is reassured: the talks on natural family planning, and on the effects of contraceptives on individuals and society, are among the most enlightening.
The talks are arranged on a plan which begins with an exploration of the family as the key natural institution. There are contributions by Cardinal Hume ('Christians stand for all that is authentically human ... the intransigence of the Church on these issues is well-founded'), by the Chief Rabbi Lord Jakobovits ('the problem today is not that children get lost, but that our mummies and daddies lost') and by Graham Leonard, then Anglican Bishop of London.
In a particularly penetrating set of reflections, one remark by Fr Peter Elliott, based in the Vatican, is worth quoting: 'Is not the so-called social consensus simply organised by those who determine mass media policy'?
The sections which follow all inevitably reflect the problems created by enemies of the family: by population policies involving propaganda for contraception, sterilisation and abortion; by shifting views of medical ethics; by influences making for short-term gratification and aiming at a specific 'youth culture'. (See The Electronic Generation by Michael Keating); by feminist attacks on fatherhood - and motherhood; by sex education in schools (Dr Melvin Anchell's analysis is the most damning I have read); by government policies which penalise parants and families. In this last connection, I found Kathrine Runske's account of the situation in her own native Sweden possibly the most chilling contribution in the book: an epitome, in extreme form, of all that we have seen gradually developing in other western countries, including our own.
But as Dr Digby Anderson puts it, 'do not overdo the current tribulations of the family' - one only enables the enemies to pretend that the abnormal is established as the norm. And indeed there is much that is heartening in the last third of the book.
Incidentally, if you want to seize whatever opportunities for human can be found, you may gain amusement from the contortions of a former Minister who is apparently unaware of the inconsistencies in her recommendations.
One must be grateful for this collection; it informs us, and offers us help, on such a variety of fronts. It is as comprehensive a survey as I have ever read of the points at which modern life touches the family.
The Pope speaks
* Sacred Scripture teaches that husband and wife are called to be 'one flesh', actually a covenant of love. Through the union of their bodies they express the depth and finality of their mutual gift. Precisely in the light of this totality one understands why sexual union must take place exclusively in marriage. Is not the promise to be the only man and the only woman for each other part of authentic conjugal love? This witness of love and unity is also the most natural expectation of children, who are the fruit of one man and one woman's love. And they require this love with every fibre of their being. May the Blessed Virgin teach everyone the meaning of love. Angelus address, Rome.
* The Pope says to you: 'I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene ... walk'! (Acts 3:6) Yes, my young friends, the Pope has come here today to give you the strength of Christ, to give you a companion you can trust! Can you trust, at least once, someone who has never disappointed anyone? Open your heart to Jesus Christ and you will have the courage that never fails, no matter how great the obstacles are: you will know a love that is stronger than death! I cannot fail to testify to and praise this power of God, this sure love that has already saved my life from death! Young people, believe and you will live! Young people, believe and stake everything on love! Young people, believe and decide this very day to build an eternal home in your life! My young friends and brothers and sisters, re-discover self-confidence and build your life, your love, your family in Christ! 'I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, no present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord'. (Rom 8:38). A young person who is faithful to Christ will know true and unending happiness. Homily to the young people in Luanda, Angola.
* The laity, because of their vocation to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, should be well-grounded in the Church's social doctrine and, through their presence in public life, contribute to strengthening the fabric of society through their diligence and industriousness, reliability and fidelity in interpersonal relations, and courage in undertaking responsibilities in the field of economics and politics. Address to the Bishops of Zimbabwe, Vatican City.
* The value of motherhood was raised to the highest level in Mary. It is the woman who plays the most important role at the beginning of every human life. The baby is not an object that the mother can dispose of at will, but a person to whom she is obliged to devote herself, with all the sacrifices that motherhood entails, but also with the joys it provides. Woman in virtue of her special experience of motherhood seems to have a specific sensitivity towards the human person. Hence it is not an exaggeration to define woman's place in the Church and in society as a 'key position'. General Audience address.
* Women who renounce having children in order to advance their careers or material well-being deny an essential part of their identity. 'For all the opportunities opening to women for professional work in society and for apostolates in the church, nothing could ever equal the eminent dignity which belongs to her maternity when it is lived in all its dimensions... 'No matter how the roles of women multiply and expand, everything about her - physiology, psychology, habits that practically belong to her nature, moral, religious and even aesthetic sensitivity - reveal and exalt her aptitude, ability and mission to generate new life'. Society needs to be reminded of the value of motherhood which is not an 'archaic idea' restricting her freedom. Such erroneous ideas push many women to renounce motherhood. 'Many even claim the right to suppress the life of a child through abortion as if the right they have over their own bodies implies a right of property towards their conceived child'. Weekly General Audience.
* The Church is sometimes accused of making sex a 'taboo'. The truth is quite different. Sexuality belongs to the Creator's original plan and the Church cannot fail to hold it in high esteem. At the same time, however, she must ask everyone to respect it in its inmost nature. Sexuality has a specific language of its own at the service of love. It actually has its own unique psychological and biological structure, aimed at both communion between man and woman and at the birth of new persons. Respecting this structure is concern for the truth of what it means to be human, to be a person. Angelus talk, Rome.
* Woman bears within her a likeness with God no less than man does. She was created in God's image in her own personal characteristics as a woman. This is equality in diversity. Therefore perfection for woman is not to be like man, making herself masculine to the point of losing her specific qualities as a woman: her perfection is to be woman, equal to man but different. The value attributed to the person and mission of woman is fully revealed in Mary. Today, Mary's light can spread throughout the world of woman, to embrace woman's old and new problems, helping everyone to understand her dignity and to recognise her rights. Women receive a special grace: they receive it to live in covenant with God, at the level of their dignity and mission. They are called to be united in their own way - an excellent way - with Christ's redeeming work. Women have a great role in the Church. This can be understood very clearly in the light of the Gospel and of the sublime figure of Mary. General audience Rome.
* The Church, an expert in mankind, cannot cease proclaiming the truth on marriage and the family as God established it. Ceasing to do so would be a serious pastoral omission which would lead believers to error as well as those who have the important responsibility of making decisions on the common good of the nation. The pastoral ministry of the family must consider as well the inestimable and irreplaceable educational vocation of the couple when, as parents, they are called to the great responsibility of instructing their children...Awaken -- in Christian families -- apostolic zeal so they make the task of the new evangelization their own'. Address to the Bishops of Chile on their 'ad limina' visit to Rome, October 1994.
On prayer
BEG God to teach you anything about the subject that you cannot understand.....If anyone tries to prevent your prayer or advises you to give it up, do not trust what he says but look upon him as a false prophet. In these times you must not listen to everybody: if today someone tells you that you have nothing to fear, there is no knowing what he will say tomorrow. To know how to recite the Our Father well will show you how to say all other prayers ... It comprises the whole spiritual life from the very beginning until God absorbs the soul into Himself ... St Teresa of Avila.
NACF members write
* The time between holding that newborn baby, looking into those wondering, all- gazing eyes, to waving goodbye to the little figure skipping off to school, can feel like a lifetime, writes Sarah Churchill. So much development, so many stages, so much emotion from frustration to pure joy, from anger to pure love. The parents' role has been total, absolute, the child has been central to all that happened in the home. So, before Mrs Smith gets him in the infants, what has life been like in the past five years? Perhaps we should start at the beginning, and I mean 'the beginning', at conception. Life being pregnant is well documented, and every experience is different. For some it is easy, for others it is nine months of ill health. For most of us, it is something in between - but already our responsibility as parents has begun. A priest once said we should 'think of our body as a house, and make that house a permanently joyful place for our most favoured guest, Jesus. Despite the nausea, veins and heartburn, surely we should feel like this about nurturing a baby for nine months.
* Always say morning and night prayers with your children' writes Pam Talbot, either 'official' prayers, or make them up yourself. Keep morning prayers short, try and say evening prayers together with the whole family before everyone is too tired. Remember to say Grace at mealtimes Keep a set time during the week to study the Catechism with the children, and go over the readings for the Sunday Mass. Try and keep a time each day to read to the children - lives of the saints, Bible stories and so on. Whose feast day is it today? Who is your patron saint? What is an angel? Sacramentals are very important. Make sure you always have something blessed on you, make use of Holy Water in the home. For the Friday penance, take the children to visit the Blessed Sacrament, say the Stations of the Cross. While in the Church, point out and explain some of the features. Try and make feast days special.
Facts
Out of 37,000 AIDS sufferers in New York, only 70 had caught the disease from heterosexual sources. In Britain, people suffering from AIDS have twenty six times as much money spent on them as those suffering from heart disease or lung cancer. The government 'ring fences' AIDS money which means that any unspent money cannot be transferred to other health programmes.
We keep being told that the Netherlands has the lowest teenager pregnancy rate in Europe, and that we should therefore imitate Dutch sex-education programmes. But this fact is simply not true. The Dutch describe numerous abortions as 'menstrual extraction's' and therefore do not record them in their statistics. There are many more abortions in the Netherlands than the official figures reveal.
Travel
MORE than 400,000 pilgrims visit Cana in Galillee every year. The Mayor of Cana, Wasil Taha, is inviting couples to visit the town next summer to renew their marriage vows in the Franciscan Church in Galillee, built on the traditional site of the famous miracle. For detailed information and registration, Tel: 972 6 517741 or fax 972 6 516251
* Inter-Church Travel is the UK's largest operator of religious tours, Amongst tours on offer are a visit to Orthodox churches and monasteries in Romania; Santiago de Compostella for the Feast of St James; Rome, including a general audience with the Pope; the Holy Land; Biblical sites in Greece, Crete, Santorini, Rhodes and Turkey. Inter-Church's programmes of retreat holidays, using retreat houses, monasteries and convents cover twelve centres in eight countries including Lourdes, Bec Abbey in Northern France, St Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai, Assisi, and the remote Sambata monastery in Romania. Inter-Church tours are not sold through travel agents, but details are available by calling (free) on 0800 300 444 or by writing to Inter- Church Travel Ltd, Freepost, PO Box 58, Folkestone, Kent CT20 1YB.
Population: 'power of the lie'
'ONE thing, at least, we know after Cairo which we did not know before Cairo. We know now that the power of the Lie has never been so great as it is today, Hitler lied very well. Stalin lied even better. But never before was it possible to get the whole world repeating a lie as it had in 1994. In Cairo, at the UN Population Conference, we were told that the world population crisis had exceeded all known limits. It hadn't. Population all over the world is decreasing. We were told that population was outstripping food supplies, bringing famine in its wake. It isn't. The world's people are better fed than ever before, We were told that the whole world agreed on state- subsidised abortion as the only means to curb disaster. It isn't. "If 174 hands go up and only 6 don't", said a US delegate, "that's consensus". In fact, 12 of the largest nations spoke against abortion in the strongest terms as a means of demographic control. Most Islamic nations didn't vote. And in the end the conference failed to agree. This was a remarkable result for a conference masterminded by the world's abortion ideologues, backed by the US Clinton Administration and heavily propagandised by the media. A blatant attempt to bamboozle the entire world into legalising abortion, with Family Planning in control, has been stopped in its tracks. Not a bad result for a Christian minority, led by the Church. Bravo, Holy Father! Challenge Magazine, Canada.
* The world's population growth-rate has sunk to its lowest rate for 40 years (1.5 percent). Economically, this declining birthrights mean heavy strains on national budgets. In Germany, where 20.6 percent of the population is over sixty, pensions are becoming the biggest government expense. In Italy in 1993 deaths outstripped births by 5,265. Rather than seeing a child as a 'joy for the future', observed an editorial in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, couples regard children as cutting into 'the comfortableness of the present'.
* The Committee on Population and the Economy has produced a helpful pack containing easy to absorb information on the relationship between population and such topics as food, the environment, resources, feminism, 'unmet needs', and others.. A New Resource on Population: the Population Information Pack. 4.00 from CPE, 13 Norfolk House, Courtlands, Sheen Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 5AT.
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