This is my body - a pro life song in prayer

Priest arrested at Notre Dame (aka Notre Shame)

For the benefit of those few parishioners who read this blog, this is the film I referred to in my homily today.

I live with the very wrong decision that I made...

Here is a testimony from a parishioner who was moved to write following the SPUC White Flower Appeal that was held here on Sunday 11th January. My thanks to Professor Tom Healy who gave the appeal.

Listening to the talk a few weeks ago about SPUC I came out of Church feeling as if a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders when I heard the words "all those unborn babies go to heaven." I felt they were safe.

Even through my selfishness some good has come for these babies I chose not to have.

I live with the very wrong decision that I made not once but twice and wish every day that I could turn back the clock and un-do the wrong I chose to make things right for myself.

The first time I was young and had a 6mth old child and had just recovered from cervical problems and it seemed at the time to be almost justifiable. I know now that it was not.

The second time was just pure selfishness from both parties. 100% inexcusable. We already had a number of children and "this new addition" just didn't fit into our busy materialistic lives. There was no room for one more!

I laid in the bath the morning of the termination placed my hand over my flat stomach and thought "it's not too late to change my mind." But things were arranged and I tried to convince myself it was the "right" thing to do.

I had no one to ask... "Help me do what deep down I know is right, tell me it's wrong." I had no one to put their hand out to me and say ... "I'm here for you, it's going to be fine." I was alone.

I have been to confession many times since but am still tormented by the grief and the unjust choices that I made for those two tiny lives that depended totally on me.

Forgiveness has to begin with forgiving myself.

I am happy for this to be read out at Mass or passed on to SPUC in the hope that it prevents other women making the same mistakes as I have.

Amen!

SPUC Coffee Morning

I was most impressed and gratified by the enthusiastic response to the Coffee Morning held last Sunday after the 10.00am Mass. So many people got involved in its organisation and there was a great crowd in the hall after Mass, buying cakes at the bring-and-buy sale and staying for teas/coffees. Total raised for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children was £170.16. Well done!

Day for Life - 1st July 2007 "Blessed is the fruit of your womb"

The Bishops of England & Wales have set Sunday 1st July as a special day for life. Together with the Episcopal Conferences of Scotland and Ireland they have set up a special website which is well worth visiting.

As I'm sure you will be aware, there have been a number of interventions by the ecclesiastical hierarchy which have made the news recently.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Scotland, compared the daily abortion of children in Scotland to two Dunblane Massacres every day. In his homily, which you can read in full here, he said:

I call on all politicians to answer one simple question: will you protect the right to life of all persons in our society from conception until natural death? And I call on you to hold these elected representatives to account.

For those unwilling to give this support we must be unwilling to give our vote. History will judge us on where we stood in this crucial issue. But there is a judgement more important than history. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.

I urge politicians to have no truck with the evil trade of abortion. For those at Westminster this means finding means of overthrowing the legislation, which makes the killing possible. For those at Holyrood that means refusing to allow our health services to participate in the wanton killing of the innocent. Peace cannot be built in the shadow of the abortion rooms.

In making this call, I speak most especially to those who claim to be Catholic. I ask them to examine their consciences and discern if they are playing any part in sustaining this social evil. I remind them to avoid cooperating in the unspeakable crime of abortion and the barrier such cooperation erects to receiving Holy Communion. As St. Paul warns us “whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”

I would be failing as a pastor not to highlight the gravity of this situation not just to law makers but to anyone: mother; father; boyfriend; counsellor who in any way leads a mother to abortion.

As reported by Zenit, Cardinal Murphy O'Connor has also recently spoken out:

I would urge all Catholics, especially those who hold positions of public responsibility, to educate themselves about the teaching of the Church, and to seek pastoral advice so that they can make informed decisions with consistency and integrity... The Catholic Church believes that every life has been created by God in his own image and likeness. This means that all life is sacred, with value and meaning at every stage and in every condition, from the moment of conception to the point of natural death... It is for this reason that the Church strongly opposes abortion because it is the taking of an innocent human life... The long-standing tradition of the Church teaches that anyone who freely and knowingly commits a serious wrong -- that is, a mortal sin -- should approach the Eucharist only after receiving faithfully the sacrament of penance.

I would add that the Canon Law of the Catholic Church (Cann. 1398 & 1329(2)) states that anyone who actually procures an abortion, together with any accomplices without whose assistence the abortion would not have been procured, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication, i.e. they are automatically barred from receiving the sacraments. Normally such excommunications can only be lifted by a Bishop, but most priests have the faculty to lift this excommunication in the course of sacramental confession. Anyone affected by this is therefore lovingly advised to go to Confession and encounter the mercy and forgiveness of Christ the Good Shepherd.

Naturally, I am already considering my homily for the Day for Life. Do you have a question about life issues that you would like me to address? Is there any clarification that you think would be helpful for you or for the parish in general?

After Anthony Ozimic's talk last Thursday, one parishioner asked for clarification about the Church's teaching in the case of a pregnancy that is a cause of danger to the life of the mother. This is the sort of relevant question you might like me to address.

I hope to present the Church's teaching in a positive yet clear manner. Knowing what is on the minds of parishioners might be helpful to me in framing my comments.

Why not leave your thoughts as comments? Alternatively, email them to me. I am quite happy to accept anonymous submissions as I know that these matters (contraception, abortion, IVF, euthanasia etc.) might affect people very deeply.

Thursday Talks at St Simon's

Since my last post on this subject we have had two talks.

On 7th June Father Stephen Dingley came to give a talk entitled Christ and the Church - Answer to the Modern World. In his talk, Father Dingley traced the decline of Christianity from the Reformation through Liberal Modernism and Materialistic Secularism. He then went through the principal world religions to examine their response, including Irrationalism (New Age, Superstitions etc.), Hinduism with it pluralistic and polytheistic theories, Buddhism (nihilistic), Islam (revelation of and obedience - submission as the word 'Islam' means - to the will of God, revelation being above the requirements of reason) and Christianity.

Fr Stephen enjoys a conversation with Suzy Gray after the talk.

In Christianity we have a religion that is both revealed and appeals to reason, as St Paul wrote:
Ever since God created the world, his everlasting power and deity — however invisible — have been there for the mind to see in the things he has made. (Rom 1:20)

Thus the world of science and of religion are interconnected, not opposed.

As St John wrote in his Gospel: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.

Yesterday (14th June) Anthony Ozimic, Policitical Secretary of SPUC, gave a talk entitled Being Pro-life - The Most Important Work on Earth. Rather than speaking about his work in lobbying and preparing briefings for MP's, he addressed the pro-life vocation that all of us have, drawing abundantly on documents of the Magisterium, notably Lumen Gentium (Second Vatican Council) on the role of the laity and Evangelium Vitae (Pope John Paul II). Pope John Paul apparently told Father Paul Marx, founder of Human Life International, that his work was the most important work on earth. The defence of life is the foundation for the defence of human rights.

Anthony (centre) with Mark and Margaret after the talk.

Next Thursday we shall welcome Father Roger Nesbitt, Parish Priest of Our Lady Help of Christians and St Aloysius, Folkestone, and co-founder of the Faith movement. His talk will be entitled:

JESUS IS WITH US - The Meaning of the Tabernacle.

Do come along! (7.30pm, Thursday 21st June, in the Church Hall).