50 YEARS OF MERCY

Dear Friends in Christ,

This past week has been a golden week for our parish school as we celebrate 50 years of Catholic education at St. John’s. The celebrations began earlier in the week when we received three Irish Sisters of Mercy who traveled here from the Emerald Isle to join us for this anniversary. They are Sr. Mary, Sr. Annunciata, and Sr. Nora, all of whom taught our children over the past five decades. Sr. Annunciata was the principal just before Sr. Vianney took over. We are blessed to have had such dedicated religious who have shared their faith and formed our children in the likeness of Christ.

On Thursday, we celebrated a Mass with all the school children present and our three guest Sisters were joined by Sr. Vianney and Sr. Rosaline (the provincial superior). During the Mass we unveiled the new stained glass window depicting Mother Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy.

On Friday evening we began with the unveiling of all the stained glass windows. Present were more than 20 Sisters of Mercy from southern California and several priests from St. Michael’s Abbey and other special guests. At the Mass we prayed through the intercession of Our Lady, Mother of Mercy, who is patroness of the Sisters of Mercy. How appropriate that we should celebrate God’s mercy during this year for priests. Priests are dispensers of God’s mercy especially in the confessional where they offer God’s mercy to all who come with a contrite heart.

Since each of our new stained glass windows contains a symbol of one of the sacraments, we thought it proper that Mother Catherine’s window should have the keys, symbol of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which unlocks the font of God’s mercy for us. I hope all of you have the opportunity to spend some time viewing our six new stained glass windows. They are a sign of the communion of saints who surround us as we gather together for divine worship. May they all pray for us and help us to persevere in faith and love until we join them in the kingdom of heaven.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Hildebrand

EXCERPTS FROM A LETTER OF BISHOP AQUILA ON HEALTH CARE

The Dignity of Human Life

Made in the image and likeness of God, each and every human person bears the mark of the Trinity’s own character and life. Because of this inherent dignity, each man and woman is to be reverenced with great care from the moment of conception through every stage of their life. From the right to life flow all other human duties and rights, including the duty to preserve and protect one’s own life and health with the right to the means of achieving this goal.

Any attempt to provide greater access to health care without safeguarding human life from the moment of conception is inherently inconsistent. Pope Benedict XVI shares this great wisdom of the Church in his latest encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate, when he recalls the words of John Paul II, “A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized”(Caritas in Veritate, 15; Evangelium Vitae, 101).

True health care begins with the unborn child in the womb. Wen a given plan to provide care fails to protect that life, it is no longer animated by a source of truth and justice, this it will not, and cannot, flourish. The killing of unborn children through abortion or as a means to do research has nothing to do with promoting health. Both encyclicals make clear the teaching of the Church that the destruction of human life by abortion and other evils can never be a neutral question or one that is promoted by any faithful Catholic.

Conscience Rights

One of the important developments that resulted from the Second Vatican Council is found in the document on religious freedom, Dignitatis Humanae. “Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in public” (DH 2). In the arena of health care, this statement applies both to those who work directly in health care, as well as to the general public who participate in health care plans through insurance premiums and taxes.

The practice of medicine is a tremendous gift whereby the seemingly endless illnesses and maladies that afflict the human body can be studied, known and healed. This in-depth knowledge which serves the progress of human health can also be used to promote death and destruction. The doctors, nurses and health care professionals who possess such medical expertise are prime candidates for coercion from those who would destroy the most vulnerable human lives. The right to follow one’s conscience, as informed by God, must be guaranteed. It is imperative that health professionals and institutions have the freedom to refuse to perform unethical procedures and even to refuse to refer a patient to another professional or institution for treatments they believe, according to the natural law, are immoral.

The consciences of participants in health care plans must also be respected. In no way should taxpayers or policy holders be forced to participate in plans, whether private or public, which fund procedures that violate the moral precepts of the faith. In his August 11, 2009 letter to the House of Representatives, Cardinal Justin Rigali addresses this very issue as he writes, “By what right, then, and by what precedent, would Congress make abortion coverage into a nationwide norm, or force Americans to subsidize it as a condition for participating in a public health program?” The protection of the freedom of conscience is a concern not only for those directly involved in medicine, but for all members of society.

Health Care Reform

Dear Friends in Christ,

The following is an excerpt of a letter from Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota. In it the Bishop points out some basic principles about the current Health Care Reform legislation.

At this time in our nation’s history, we continually face new challenges as we witness to the Gospel in an ever increasing secularized society. Currently our civil leaders are discussing different proposals to provide greater access to health care in our country. Indeed, the Church has officially manifested her teaching, since Pius XI to Benedict XVI, in the recognition of the great importance of ensuring that all peoples have access to health care.

In principle, the Church ought to always promote wider and more complete access to health care; however, that does not mean that in practice the Church ought to support each and every plan which is proposed by civil leaders. At this time, I want to offer you some key principles that should always be used when evaluating the moral value and justice of a given plan to provide health care. The following is a brief summary of these principles, after which I will offer further explanation and application:

1. Any provisions for actions which deny the dignity of human life, especially abortion, euthanasia, whether passive or active, and embryonic stem-cell research must be excluded from all health care plans.
2. The freedom of consciences must be safeguarded. The moral voice of individual doctors, nurses, health professionals, as well as the general public, deserve reverence and respect.
3. Access to health care ought to be available to all people, including the poor, legal immigrants, the handicapped, and especially the elderly and unborn members of society.
4. The means of providing access to health care should be governed by the principle of subsidiarity, being reasonably and equitably distributed among members of society.

Let us pray for our legislators as they work for health care reform.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Hildebrand